smartphonesRSS

Google launches Chrome browser for Android with no Flash

Google launches Chrome for Android

Google has announced the availability of a beta version of its Chrome web browser for its Android platform. The browser is available on handsets and tablets running the 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS, and is downloadable via Android Market in select countries and languages.

Buyer’s Market

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As the global director for terminals marketing at the Vodafone Group, Peter Becker-Pennrich holds decision making powers over a procurement strategy that deals in serious volumes. Vodafone buys between 60 and 70 million handsets each year, spending $8bn across it’s footprint, including affiliates and partner markets. In this exclusive interview Becker-Pennrich offers frank assessments of the different strategies adopted by the vendor community, their chances for success and the nature of the relationship – ever evolving – between operators, vendors and platform developers.

Huawei shows off new devices, sets up UK design centre

Huawei's Vision smartphone

Chinese telecoms solutions provider has unveiled two new devices in an attempt to gain a stronger foothold in the smartphone and tablet markets. The firm also announced that it will open a dedicated European design centre for its mobile device business in London in Q1 2012.

Nokia smartphones “too expensive” says Telefónica handset chief

Nokia's Lumia is too expensive at €420, according to Simon Lee-Smith

Nokia’s high end smartphones are “too expensive” according to the European general manager for devices at international carrier Telefónica. Simon Lee-Smith told Telecoms.com that Nokia’s premium devices are “not yet at the right price point,” adding: “If Nokia wants to sell in volume, they need to bring out devices which are cost-competitive.”

HTC spreads bets with WP7 Mango handsets

The Titan is HTC's flagship WP7 Mango handset

Taiwanese handset vendor HTC has previewed two Windows Phone 7 smartphones to consumers across Europe, ahead of the products’ commercial release in October. The Titan and Radar handsets are the first from HTC to run the latest version of WP7, dubbed Mango.

Nokia wheels out Symbian update for mass market smartphones

Symbian Belle brings smartphones to the mass market

Troubled handset giant Nokia has unveiled the latest flavour of its Symbian operating system, which it will use to attack the mass market smartphone sector. Symbian Belle is the latest in a series of planned software updates, increasing the number of home screens from three to six and enhancing the capabilities of live widgets.

First Windows Phone 7 Mango handset to hit KDDI in September

The first Windows Phone 7 Mango device will appear in Japan in December

The next version of Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform will finally bear fruit in September when a phone featuring the Mango update will hit Japanese shelves. The software giant has company has now officially signed off on the RTM version off the OS and in a blog post, Terry Myerson, corporate vice president of phone engineering said that this, “marks the point in the development process where we hand code to our handset and mobile that operator partners to optimize Mango for their specific phone and network configurations.”

Mend games

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Vendors and carriers can make savings and enhance customer relations by improving the workflow around handset repair and trouble shooting, says Karim Barkawi, founder and CEO of B2X Care Solutions.

Nokia warns of poor performance, withdraws financial targets

Stephen Elop is under pressure to rejuvenate Nokia's fortunes in the smartphone market

Troubled Finnish handset vendor Nokia has said that it will not hit its sales or margin targets for the second quarter of 2011 due to a range of factors impacting negatively on its business. The firm said its difficulties are such that it was “no longer appropriate to provide annual targets for 2011.”

Android to win half the smartphone market by 2012, says Gartner

Growth in lower end smartphones, particularly in emerging markets, will fuel the growth in Android's market share

The Google-backed Android OS will account for almost 50 per cent of the smartphone market by the end of 2012, according to Gartner research, giving it an enormous lead on its competitors. Gartner forecasts that Android sales will hit 310 million in 2012 as the smartphone market surges to 630.5 million devices for the year.