November 6, 2009 |
Smartphone sales on the up
Despite the troubled economy, sales of smartphones rose four percent over the past year. Nokia retained its number one slot, but RIM was the biggest winner.
Figures from research firm IDC show that 43.3 million “converged mobile devices” were sold in worldwide between July and September, up from 41.1 million last year. That’s tremendous news for the industry, though it’s arguable that figures for the next two quarters (holiday sales, followed by purchases from people who got cash or vouchers for Christmas) may prove more important.
T-Mobile is to have its own channel for customers using the Android app store. It’s also allowing any purchases from the store to simply be added on to the monthly bill rather than having to pay via credit card.
Verizon is to double the fee it charges customers to cancel their service contract. The change may be designed to deter buyers from getting a subsidized phone upon release and then selling it at a profit.
Verizon says it isn’t worried by claims that additional costs for using Microsoft Exchange will put business users off the forthcoming Motorola Droid handset. It notes the policy applies to all handsets and says the Droid is “primarily a consumer phone.”
The iPhone will launch on a second British network next week, but with little in the way of price competition. It could be an indicator of what competition for AT&T could mean in the much larger U.S. market.
If the stock market is any indicator, Google’s announcement that the next edition of the Android system will include navigation tools is seriously bad news for traditional satellite navigation manufacturers. But there’s some debate about whether that doom is too imminent to escape.
Google has cut the list of blocked numbers on its Voice service to under 100. But that’s unlikely to satisfy critics who argue that blocking even one number breaches regulations.
Until now, Google Voice’s biggest drawback has been the need to learn and pass round a new phone number. That’s about to change with the introduction of tools allowing users to tie an account to their existing number, though with some limitations.
T-Mobile is bidding to increase its disappointing market share with a new range of cheap service plans. They include a full range of plans for people who don’t want to sign a contract.