Sony releases Android 4.0 Beta ROM for certain Xperia handsets

Sony Mobile has released a beta of the Android 4.0.3 ROM for certain Xperia handsets. These include the Xperia arc S, Xperia neo V and Xperia ray. Compared to the alpha ROM released back in December, the beta enables GSM radio and FM radio functionalities, which means you can make and receive calls and browse the web. However, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth functionalities are still unavailable.

The new beta ROM includes features such as the new lockscreen, which includes the ability to control the music player and launching the camera. Sony will also include the face unlock feature found on the Galaxy Nexus in the final version, but it is currently unavailable. Other new features include the ability to bring up a list of messages that you can send after you decline a call and a new dialler app which features the highly useful quick dial mode.

Apart from this you get the usual Ice Cream Sandwich goodies, such as the new multi-tasking view and notification screen where you can use the swipe gesture to remove items from the screen. The beta ROM does not include the usual Google applications, however, such as Gmail, Google Maps, Android Market, etc. but they will obviously be added in the final version.

The ROM is now available for download on Sony's website but before you go ahead and download it do keep in mind all the limitations of the current ROM mentioned above. There are also some issues, such as having to unlock the bootloader, which means you won't be able to download the final version when it comes out a couple of months later. So make sure you go through all the warnings and instructions in the source link below before you install it on your phone.

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Gartner releases phone market share report for 2011

The analysts over at Gartner released its annual report on the mobile industry. To no one's surprise, 2011 has been the year of the smartphone, where almost every third mobile device sold is a smartphone. Gartner predicts this statistic should rise to 39% in 2012.

Gartner Results

In terms of global market presence of all mobile devices (ie. not just smartphones), none of the statistics should come as much of a surprise. Apple has increased its market share to 5%, while Nokia has lost almost 5 points from the previous year. Samsung also had a solid year, and control virtually the same 17% market share as it did in 2010.

ZTE and Huawei were two of 2011's fastest growing manufacturers, where thanks to an emerging Chinese market, they now make up almost 7% of the global market. Taiwanese company HTC also had a good year, going from 1.5% market share to 2.3%.

The lion's share still belongs to Nokia, however, and 2012 will be a key year in determining whether the Finnish giant can turn a profit with its Windows Phone devices. The Lumia 710 and Lumia 800 debuts were not enough to stem the fall of WP market share, which saw a 65% decline compared to 2010.

RIM, LG and Sony Ericsson also posted some poor numbers, and RIM's struggles are expected to continue into 2012, due to the delay of BlackBerry 10 and a lack a of a developer database. Sony and LG will have to see how their new products will fare in 2012, although with the highly anticipated Xperia S and Optimus 3D 2 we suspect they might take back some of their lost ground.

In terms of mobile operating systems, both Android and Apple saw huge gains?at the expense of Symbian. Android now has just over half of the smartphone market, at 50.9%, while Apple is up 8 points from 2010 to 23.8%. It's important to note that these figures do not take into account non-mobile devices running these OS's (such as tablets), and that while Apple rakes in all the profits from iOS, Android profits are instead split amongst its various manufacturers.

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Motorola releases Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade schedule

A couple of months ago Motorola had put up a post on their site talking about the difficulties in getting Ice Cream Sandwich to your phone. Today, they have released a schedule that shows when each of their Android smartphones will receive the coveted ICS upgrade, according to the region.

Starting with the US, we can see that XOOM Family Edition, ATRIX 2 and the ATRIX 4G MB860 will receive the update in the third quarter this year. Others like the DROID series, however, are still in the evaluation and planning stage. Meanwhile, older phones like the DEFY, DROID original, DROID X, etc. will remain on Froyo forever.

In Canada the RAZR will get the update in Q2 but the ATRIX 4G will remain on Gingerbread.

Moving over to the EMEA region, the RAZR and XOOM Wi-Fi will be upgraded in Q2 and the XOOM 2 in Q3. ATRIX update is still being planned whereas the DEFY+ will remain on Gingerbread.

In Asia Pacific, The RAZR and the XOOM will receive the update in Q2 and the ATRIX 2 and XOOM 2 in Q3. The DEFY, DEFY+ and the older phones will not be upgraded.

Lastly, in Latin America and Mexico, RAZR and XOOM will be upgraded in Q2, ATRIX 2 and XOOM 2 in Q3 and the the update for ATRIX and MILESTONE 3 is still being planned. Again, no update for the DEFY.

If you want to check out the full list of handsets, click on the source link below.

Source

View the original article here

Gartner releases phone market share report for 2011

The analysts over at Gartner released its annual report on the mobile industry. To no one's surprise, 2011 has been the year of the smartphone, where almost every third mobile device sold is a smartphone. Gartner predicts this statistic should rise to 39% in 2012.

Gartner Results

In terms of global market presence of all mobile devices (ie. not just smartphones), none of the statistics should come as much of a surprise. Apple has increased its market share to 5%, while Nokia has lost almost 5 points from the previous year. Samsung also had a solid year, and control virtually the same 17% market share as it did in 2010.

ZTE and Huawei were two of 2011's fastest growing manufacturers, where thanks to an emerging Chinese market, they now make up almost 7% of the global market. Taiwanese company HTC also had a good year, going from 1.5% market share to 2.3%.

The lion's share still belongs to Nokia, however, and 2012 will be a key year in determining whether the Finnish giant can turn a profit with its Windows Phone devices. The Lumia 710 and Lumia 800 debuts were not enough to stem the fall of WP market share, which saw a 65% decline compared to 2010.

RIM, LG and Sony Ericsson also posted some poor numbers, and RIM's struggles are expected to continue into 2012, due to the delay of BlackBerry 10 and a lack a of a developer database. Sony and LG will have to see how their new products will fare in 2012, although with the highly anticipated Xperia S and Optimus 3D 2 we suspect they might take back some of their lost ground.

In terms of mobile operating systems, both Android and Apple saw huge gains?at the expense of Symbian. Android now has just over half of the smartphone market, at 50.9%, while Apple is up 8 points from 2010 to 23.8%. It's important to note that these figures do not take into account non-mobile devices running these OS's (such as tablets), and that while Apple rakes in all the profits from iOS, Android profits are instead split amongst its various manufacturers.

Source

View the original article here

Motorola releases Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade schedule

A couple of months ago Motorola had put up a post on their site talking about the difficulties in getting Ice Cream Sandwich to your phone. Today, they have released a schedule that shows when each of their Android smartphones will receive the coveted ICS upgrade, according to the region.

Starting with the US, we can see that XOOM Family Edition, ATRIX 2 and the ATRIX 4G MB860 will receive the update in the third quarter this year. Others like the DROID series, however, are still in the evaluation and planning stage. Meanwhile, older phones like the DEFY, DROID original, DROID X, etc. will remain on Froyo forever.

In Canada the RAZR will get the update in Q2 but the ATRIX 4G will remain on Gingerbread.

Moving over to the EMEA region, the RAZR and XOOM Wi-Fi will be upgraded in Q2 and the XOOM 2 in Q3. ATRIX update is still being planned whereas the DEFY+ will remain on Gingerbread.

In Asia Pacific, The RAZR and the XOOM will receive the update in Q2 and the ATRIX 2 and XOOM 2 in Q3. The DEFY, DEFY+ and the older phones will not be upgraded.

Lastly, in Latin America and Mexico, RAZR and XOOM will be upgraded in Q2, ATRIX 2 and XOOM 2 in Q3 and the the update for ATRIX and MILESTONE 3 is still being planned. Again, no update for the DEFY.

If you want to check out the full list of handsets, click on the source link below.

Source

View the original article here