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Mar

[Update: Study Seriously Flawed] After 45,000 Page Loads, Extensive Study Determines Android's Browser Is 52% Faster Than iPhone's

Posted by Will Shanklin in Android OS, News, Nexus S (Crespo/Soju)

Last Updated: March 18th, 2011

Update: After getting a lot of initial press, experts are weighing in and crying foul with the methodology of this study. Apparently the custom app the researchers used relied on Apple's UIWebView, which doesn't utilize recent optimizations made to the actual Safari browser.

John Gruber of Daring Fireball says:

"That's not to say it isn't interesting that Android's WebView for apps is faster than iOS's UIWebView for apps, but it just isn't true that these results are indicative of anything regarding Mobile Safari's performance. It's easy to see that Mobile Safari is faster than UIWebView - just run something like the SunSpider benchmark twice, once in Mobile Safari and once in any app from the App Store with a web content view.

Feb

Battle Of The Best: AnandTech Benchmarks 27 Devices, Including 4 Dual-Cores, 3 iPhones, An iPad, A Blackberry, And A WP7 Device

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, Atrix 4G (Olympus), Devices By Manufacturer, Galaxy S II, News, Optimus 2X (Star, p990), Optimus 3D (p920) / Thrill 4G (p925)

In what's sure to be a hit with hardware nerds, AnandTech has run a suite of benchmarks on 27 different devices. The line-up is dominated by Android, but also includes the iPhone 3GS (both on 4.1 and 4.2.1), iPhone 4, iPad, Blackberry Torch, and the WP7-powered HTC Surround. The results? Broadly speaking, Android comes out looking damn good. As for the dual cores - well, as you'd expect, they performed even better.

The hardware was all over the map, including dual-core devices such as the TI OMAP 4430-powered LG Optimus 3D, the Tegra 2-powered Optimus 2X, and the Exynos 4210-powered Samsung Galaxy S II, all the way through today's run of the mill (single core) high(er)-end devices packing A4's, Hummingbirds, Snapdragons and beyond.

Feb

Motorola XOOM Coming To Best Buy On February 24th, HTC Thunderbolt On February 14th

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in News, Thunderbolt (Mecha), XOOM

A short while ago, the Best Buy Grand Rapids Facebook page prematurely posted a status update indicating the release dates of the Motorola XOOM tablet and the HTC Thunderbolt.

The status update suggests that the Motorola XOOM will be available for sale at Best Buy from February 24, while the HTC Thunderbolt will be available starting February 14 (the day after Mobile World Congress 2011 officially kicks off). Additionally, the Verizon iPhone 4 will be coming to Best Buy on February 10, and the Samsung Presto 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot will be available from February 17.

A Facebook page of a Best Buy outlet does not seem like the most appropriate place to disseminate information on release dates; however, we have also received independent confirmation from a reliable source indicating that the HTC Thunderbolt will go on sale online on or around the date mentioned in the Facebook message.

Feb

[Updated] AT&T Officially Reveals Release Date, Pricing Details For Motorola Atrix 4G: $200 On Contract, $500 With Laptop Dock

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in AT&T, Atrix 4G (Olympus), Motorola

We're hearing quite a bit of news about the Atrix 4G today, and from all over the web, no less. First and foremost, AT&T has officially revealed that the Atrix will go on sale March 6, for $200 with a two-year contract. Electronista is reporting that you can buy it bundled with the laptop dock for $500; if you choose to buy the phone first (for $200) and the dock at a later date, you'll still end up paying $500 for the dock (bringing your total to $700).

Update: Official press release from AT&T, which also introduces the Entertainment Access Kit, is now included below.

Feb

Android, iOS and BlackBerry In A Three-Way Tie In The US In Q4 2010

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Android OS, News

According to Don Kellogg from the Nielsen Company, 31% of all mobile phone users in the U.S. own some type of a smartphone. More interestingly, it appears that the race for market share in the U.S. by the leading smartphone platforms - Android, iOS and BlackBerry - is in a dead heat.

We have already learnt from analysts at Canalys that shipments of Android-based smartphones globally commanded a 32.9% share of the market, followed by devices running Nokia's Symbian OS at 30.6%, Apple's iPhone OS at 16%, and RIM's BlackBerry OS at 14.4%. Nielsen's report today shows that RIM and Apple are still fairly popular in the US, being on equal terms with Android in terms of market share.

Jan

Verizon Drops To One 3G Data Plan, Premium 4G Pricing Imminent

Posted by David Ruddock in News, Verizon Wireless

Last Updated: December 30th, 2011

Well, we knew it was coming. Did you honestly think Big Red would bundle your 3G and 4G into one big, happy family? Neither did we. An anonymous Engadget tipster snapped a picture of Verizon's latest data plans - probably set to be released in time for the iPhone 4. Check it out:

Droid-Life posted a helpful companion image of the old pricing for comparison's sake:

Notice the 150MB smartphone plan has vanished, along with an increased base data cap for feature phones. This is likely meant to simplify things for upcoming 4G devices and new iPhone 4 adopters - Verizon doesn't want to have more than one 3G smartphone plan confusing customers, they'll leave that to the more profitable 4G tiers.

Jan

Remember The New Toshiba Tablet Site? This Is What Happens If You Visit It On An iOS Device

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in News, Thrive / Regza / Antares / AT100, Toshiba

Last Updated: April 16th, 2011

You didn't think Toshiba would let Motorola take jabs at Apple without throwing one of its own, did you?

^{Motorola called the iPad a giant iPhone back in December}

Remember the Toshiba Tablet teaser site we found yesterday? Here is what happens when you visit it from an iOS device:

Such a Shame.

Add this to the list of the interesting places on the internet you can't see on your device. Of course, if you had a Toshiba Tablet you would enjoy the entire internet. Yep, Flash sites too.

Nicely done, Toshiba, besides the fact that, you know, nobody has the said Toshiba Tablet because it hasn't been released or even given a name yet.

Jan

Editorial: iPhone 4 Is Coming To Verizon Wireless - Should Android Be Worried?

Posted by David Ruddock in AT&T, Editorials, News, Verizon Wireless

The big question on everyone's mind (well, at least ours) today is: How will the iPhone coming to Verizon next month change the smartphone landscape? At this point, it's anyone's guess, but Android's unabashed domination on the US's largest wireless carrier will certainly be challenged in the coming months. However, there are significant forces at work that won't exactly help the iPhone with its Verizon debut - namely, Verizon and Android. That's not to say the Verizon iPhone won't be a success, it's just a question of exactly how much of a success it will be. Here's our take.

Upgrade or Downgrade?

Jan

Nielsen Releases Smartphone Market Share Figures, Android Domination Imminent?

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, News

America's most trusted name in bar graphs, Nielsen, released an updated look at smartphone market share distribution today. The results aren't terribly surprising: Android is growing, and quickly at that. Blackberry's free-fall into the abyss has slowed to a steady death march. But what about Apple's fare?

Since the release of the iPhone 4 in June, Apple's total share of the smartphone market has increased by a paltry 0.7%, while Android has gained 10.8% more of the smartphone pie to reach 25.8% of the total - a mere 2.8% behind Apple, as you can see below.

Meanwhile, Android is outright dominating smartphone purchases made in the last six months, representing over 40% of all smartphones purchased since June.

Nov

T-Mobile Goes After The iPhone And AT&T In A New 4G Campaign [Video]

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in News, T-Mobile, Videos

Yesterday, T-Mobile officially rebranded its new HSPA+ network as "4G" in an effort to gain that extra G that consumers are so obsessed with (relevant: [1] [2]). In order to promote this newly proclaimed largest 4G network in the country along with the myTouch 4G that was released today, the company launched a video campaign that will air on major TV networks and websites.

The first campaign video features a fresher, younger, and even more vibrant replacement for Catherine Zeta-Jones (who has been T-Mobile's regular face in the last few years) in a familiar and kind of overplayed "Hi, I'm a Mac, and I'm a PC" style.