comScore: Android shows a small decline in the United States

The digital measurement and analytics firm comScore released its latest report showcasing the latest trends on the smartphone market in the United States. Google’s Android remains the most dominant mobile OS, with Apple iOS coming in second.

According to comScore’s data Android holds 51.6% total smartphones subscribers in August 2013– 0.8% less than it did in May this year. Android’s loss was Apple’s gain – iOS saw a bump of 1.5% on its way to a 40.7% share.

BlackBerry, Microsoft, and Symbian complete the picture with 4%, 3.2%, and 0.3% respectively. The troubled Canadian manufacturer saw a 0.8% drop in its share, while Microsoft registered a gain of 0.2%. Symbian is slowly, but surely on its way out of the market – it lost 0.1% in the last three months.

In the smartphone manufacturer’s field, Apple retained its top spot with 40.7% of the market in August 2013. The Cupertino giant registered an increase of 1.5% in its market share before the launch of its latest iPhone lineup, likely thanks to its recent partnership with T-Mobile.

Samsung unsurprisingly came in second with 24.3% of the smartphone market – an increase of 1.3% compared to May this year. HTC is third with 7.4% of the market –1.3% less than in May. Motorola and LG complete the picture with 6.9 and 6.7% respectively.

Source

Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/android_share_shows_a_small_decline_in_the_united_states-news-6916.php

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$179 BLU Studio 5.5 now official with two SIM slots, quad-core CPU

BLU has announced its Studio 5.5 affordable smartphone, which offers a large screen and a quad-core CPU at a very attractive price point. It's built around a 5.5" TFT display with a resolution of 480 x 854 pixels, which makes for a pixel density of 178ppi.

Under the hood, the BLU Studio 5.5 packs a 1.2GHz quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU and a PowerVR SGX544 GPU on the MediaTek MTM6589 platform. There's 1GB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage, which is expandable via the microSD card slot. At the back, there's a 5MP shooter with an LED flash and 1080p video recording, while at the front sits a VGA camera.

Popping the battery cover reveals two SIM card slots as well as the 2,250mAh Li-Ion battery, which BLU says is good for up to 300 hours of standby or 4 hours of 3G talk time.

The Blu Studio 5.5 measures 157 x 79.5 x 9.5mm and weighs 184 grams. It runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, but BLU hasn't detailed its plans for future updates at this point.

Available win a number of bright colors including yellow, blue, red as well as black and white, the BLU Studio 5.5 will retail for $179 off-contract. You can grab it from Amazon and Best Buy in a couple of months.

Source | Via

Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/blu_studio_55_is_official_with_two_sim_slots_and_a_quadcore_cpu-news-6915.php

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Moto Maker rumored to hit Verizon Wireless on November 11

As expected the AT&T exclusivity of the Moto Maker customization tool for the Moto X is nearing an end. According to a @evleaks, Verizon Wireless will begin offering the service to its customers next month, on November 11.

Currently, Verizon customers interested in the Moto X can pick only between two color schemes – Woven White and Woven Black. It is needless to say that having the Moto Maker available will greatly increase the smartphone’s appeal.

You can take a look at the Moto Maker tool in our Moto X review over here.

Source

Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/moto_maker_rumored_to_hit_verizon_wireless_on_november_11-news-6914.php

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As Apple marks anniversary of Steve Jobs death, employees recall first iPhone launch

The iPhone was arguably Jobs' crowning achievement

With Apple marking the anniversary of Steve Jobs' death, a new book has offered an insight into life at Cupertino in the lead up to the launch of perhaps the tech visionary's finest achievement - the iPhone.

The New York Times has published excerpts from the forthcoming Dogfight: How Apple and Google Went to War and Started a Revolution, book revealing the fraught and tense atmosphere within the company.

journalist Fred Vogelstein's interviewed several of the key players involved in the development and initial launch of the device, which changed the way we think about mobile technology.

Andy Grignon, a senior engineer who built the iPhone's radios gained 50lbs during the development process and suffered from exhaustion as a result of his work on the device.

He said: "It was very dramatic. It had been drilled into everyone's head that this was the next big thing to come out of Apple. So you put all these supersmart people with huge egos into very tight, confined quarters, with that kind of pressure, and crazy stuff starts to happen."

Loud and stern

Grignon also revealed the terrifying build up to the launch event itself, as Apple trusted its still buggy hardware and software to behave itself on the biggest stage, when it had done anything but during rehearsals.

He said: "At first it was just really cool to be at rehearsals at all — kind of like a cred badge, but it quickly got really uncomfortable. Very rarely did I see him [Jobs] become completely unglued — it happened, but mostly he just looked at you and very directly said in a very loud and stern voice 'You are [expletive] up my company,' or, 'If we fail, it will be because of you.'

"He was just very intense. And you would always feel an inch tall It felt like we'd gone through the demo a hundred times, and each time something went wrong. "It wasn't a good feeling."

Of course the event, which Grignon and colleagues spend "draining" a whiskey flask, went off without a hitch and the tech world was changed forever.

'He left the world a better place....'

While the book marks some of the pronounced darker sides of Jobs' driven personality, Apple CEO Tim Cook marked the anniversary with a short email to employees stressing that the company's founder would be 'proud' of them.

He wrote: "Team-
Tomorrow marks the second anniversary of Steve's death. I hope everyone will reflect on what he meant to all of us and to the world. Steve was an amazing human being and left the world a better place.
I think of him often and find enormous strength in memories of his friendship, vision and leadership. He left behind a company that only he could have built and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple. We will continue to honor his memory by dedicating ourselves to the work he loved so much. There is no higher tribute to his memory. I know that he would be proud of all of you.
Best,
Tim"

What are some of your favourite Steve memories? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

• Steve Jobs: 1955-2011

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/apple/as-apple-marks-anniversary-of-steve-jobs-death-employees-recall-first-iphone-launch-1186774

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Windows Phone Facebook users can now ditch people they don't like

Unfriend 'til your heart's content

Windows Phone users have awoken to a new Facebook update, which allows them to clean house of all of those annoying sort-of-friends, from the comfort of their smartphone.

The Facebook 5.1 update adds the ability to unfriend contacts from the application as well as 'unlike' content they have previously liked directly from the app.

Users can also benefit from inline @tagging of friends within posts.

Another useful addition is multiple photo uploads directly from the app, as well as the ability to attach photos to messages, a feature that has been available to iOS and Android users for some time.

Performance boost

The app also promises navigation and performance improvements.

Facebook 5.1 for Windows Phone, which now offers support for 19 languages, is available to download from the Windows Store now.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/software/applications/windows-phone-facebook-users-can-now-ditch-people-they-don-t-like-1186770

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Google, Samsung, LG, Intel and more reportedly weighing up BlackBerry bids

Could a tech giant fancy a slice of BlackBerry pie?

Tech giants Google, Samsung, Intel and Samsung are reportedly in talks with BlackBerry over a potential buyout of some, or all of the struggling smartphone giant.

Reuters brings word that the firms, which are also said to include Cisco and SAP, have responded to a plea from BlackBerry for interest from potential late bidders for the firm.

According to the report, BlackBerry has requested "preliminary expressions of interest" from all of the companies and has asked that they reply in the next week if they fancy a piece of the action.

As yet, it is completely unclear as to whether any of the company's would stake a claim for BlackBerry's hardware, software or patent properties.

Deal in place

BlackBerry itself is still shopping around for the best deal, despite agreeing in principal to sell the ailing firm to a consortium led by Fairfax Financial for $4.7 billion (about £2.93bn, AU$4.98b)

As part of that agreement, the Warterloo-based firm was permitted to seek a better deal, while Fairfax performed its due diligence.

Should nothing materialise from other potential bidders and the Fairfax consortium is satisfied with the outcome of its research then a deal should be completed by early November.

One thing that may interest the likes of Google and Samsung is BlackBerry's strong patent arsenal, but the value of which is likely to halve within the next 18 months, Reuters reports. It's secure messaging, and email services could also provide a boost to the aforementioned companies.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/google-samsung-lg-intel-and-more-reportedly-weighing-up-blackberry-bids-1186761

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