"smartphones" articles

A couple of new announcements from Sonos, the developer of wireless multi-room music systems for the home: Sonos System Software 2.7 gives users access to Pandora and Last.fm stations through Sonos Radio; and There is now a Sonos Controller for the iPhone , which allows the smartphone to act as a Sonos remote controller.

Apple released its quarterly earnings after the bell today. The most prominent data is the iPhone 3G sales: 6.9 million units. That’s more than the total unit sales of the first-generation iPhones over five quarters. The performance also dwarfs Research-in-Motion’s. In its quarter ended in August 30, the Blackberry maker reported unit sales of 6.1 million units. But forget about competition for a while, it is good news for the smartphone industry. The whole category is exploding,...

A pair of handset makers made their earning announcements recently. Nokia, the world’s largest mobile phone maker, announced results on Thursday. Although revenue dipped 5% from a year ago, handset unit shipments increased 5%. More importantly, Nokia assured the industry and investors by affirming its outlook for handset unit volume for the industry in 2008: 1.26 billion. Even though Europe and North American markets suffered weakened demand, Nokia’s executive sounded confident that...

Today, Sprint has launched its first official WiMAX network in Baltimore, MD. Initially, the service is rumored to offer 2-4 MBps speeds for about $30 per month plus the cost of USB modem (about $60). Sprint offers the service without contract and even offers flexible 1-day passes for $10, to try-before-you-buy experience. If Sprint can successfully pull off the WiMAX launch in Baltimore, it would put the feather in its cap and help to silence the skeptics. What’s even more...

Google showed off its new brainchild yesterday: a smartphone design in collaboration with its Android partners, Taiwan’s handset maker HTC, and the wireless carrier T-Mobile USA. The phone specs are all over the place on the Internet. It looks quite attractive but perhaps because of Apple iPhone’s lasting impression, many tech pundits gave only a “pass” grade on its appearance. The biggest design difference between the iPhone and Google’s G1 (BTW, an unimpressive name that...

A couple of weeks ago, I had written about the EMBARQ eGo™ , a screen phone that combines standard calling features (Caller ID, etc.) with widget-like information (customized news, weather, etc.), and local directory search with automated dialing. OpenPeak had developed a product for Verizon's ' Verizon One' Home Communications Center that was announced in January 2007. (I'm not clear as to whether Verizon still offers this - I have requests into both Verizon and OpenPeak to figure...

New applications and consumer demand will push installed base to 60 million in 2012 -- Consumer demand for intelligent control applications will push U.S. revenues for wireless and powerline controls from $740 million in 2008 to over $3 billion in 2012, according to Opportunities for Wireless & Powerline Controls. This new report forecasts the installed base for these technologies will skyrocket to nearly 60 million in 2012, thanks in large part to key players entering...

Dear Pearl – I am so, so sorry. I never meant to hurt you or make you feel like last year’s hot item. Will you please take me back? My little fling with iPhone wasn’t that serious and lasted only four weeks, so surely you can see I was not (very) unfaithful. It wasn’t that I doubted your loyalty and undying service -- it was that sexy screen, you see, with those big, luscious, crisp and clear You Tube videos… everyone was doing it and talking about it. I couldn’t...