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Global smartphone shipments tanked in Q1 2022, because *gestures at everything*
A bevy of reasons might be at play, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine
Although vaccines have allowed some of us to return to a semblance of normality, we've spent the last two years in absolute global economic chaos due to the ongoing pandemic and global supply shortages. And it's looking like market normality isn't quite back yet. According to experts, the global smartphone market is continuing to plunge, as global smartphone shipments are even lower than last year.
There are now 4 billion smartphones on Earth (only 3.9 billion with cracked screens)
An analytics report claims that half of the planet's population owns a smartphone
The last decade or so of worldwide culture has been defined by one thing: immediate and growing access to data. The biggest change is, of course, the shift from old-fashioned cell phones to smartphones, giving users in every geographical and economic niche access to the width and breadth of the internet everywhere they go. A recent analytical report has put that cultural shift into clear focus: half the people on the planet now own a smartphone.
Vivo's gimbal camera-toting X50 Pro is coming to international markets
Along with the regular X50 model and TWS Neo true wireless earbuds
Vivo's impressive gimbal camera system was first announced with the Apex 2020 concept phone in March this year but made its way into a handset people can buy soon after. The flagship series unveiled in China last month consisted of an X50, X50 Pro, and X50 Pro+. The priciest Pro+ model is still only available in China, but the other two are set to come to global markets over the coming months.
A year ago, Facebook launched Watch for its U.S. users, but today, the social media giant announced that Watch is available globally, so everyone can discover new content and interact with each other. This also opens up wider audiences for creators, and gives new ones the ability to join the fray.
The #1 rule when it comes to consumer electronics is this: Nothing holds its value forever. The latest device to see its price hit an all-time low is Samsung's global dual-SIM variant of the S8 (SM-G950FD), which has just hit $430 on eBay, falling a further $45 since two months ago.
After its introduction at CES, the curvtastic LG G Flex 2 is almost ready for primetime. The phone has been available for pre-order on Sprint in the US for a few days with a free Quick Circle case, but its global rollout is about to commence. It will first be offered on "major carriers in the United States, Hong Kong, Singapore, France, Germany, and the U.K," according to an LG Press Release, followed by key markets in North and South America, Europe, and Asia.
A few days ago, Facebook quietly released its Pages Manager app for Android to the Play Store. The app, which had been making iOS-toting page managers' lives easier for quite some time, was a welcome addition, save for one thing: it could only be installed in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, leaving US users in the dark.
The LG Optimus G, the tantalizing flagship device for which LG released an teaser video last week, is finally official.
Here's The Full Changelog Of HTC Rezound's 4.03.605.2 Update
Remember the sudden 4.03.605.1 OTA update that unexpectedly hit some HTC Rezound devices earlier this week and brought global roaming with it? And the
Remember the sudden 4.03.605.1 OTA update that unexpectedly hit some HTC Rezound devices earlier this week and brought global roaming with it? And the 4.03.605.2 full RUU that we followed up with shortly after? We've just gotten a hold of the full low-level Verizon changelog for these releases (the .2 one to be exact), so here's what's different compared to that final ICS OTA from only a few weeks ago (remember, half of the changelogs' value comes from knowing what to not expect):
[Update: Global Confirmed] Big Verizon HTC Rezound 4.03.605.1 OTA Update Rolling Out, Bringing Global Capabilities [Installation Instructions]
Verizon is possibly pushing out an over-the-air update v4.03.605.1 to the HTC Rezound which only just received ICS (v3.14.605.12) last week. The 104MB
Verizon is possibly pushing out an over-the-air update v4.03.605.1 to the HTC Rezound which only just received ICS (v3.14.605.12) last week. The 104MB update is pretty hefty for only a few weeks of work, which has puzzled many XDA members and made things turn pretty ugly in the relevant thread. The reason I'm saying "possibly" is only one person at XDA has received it so far, which may indicate there's some sort of soak testing going on.
Samsung Officially Launches The Galaxy Note 10.1, Throws In Smart Stay And 2GB Of RAM, Includes Global Availability
After a long series of post-MWC changes, Samsung has finally readied its long-awaited flagship Galaxy Note 10.1 Android tablet and officially announced
After a long series of post-MWC changes, Samsung has finally readied its long-awaited flagship Galaxy Note 10.1 Android tablet and officially announced its global availability. The release schedule is set to start immediately with the United States, United Kingdom, Korea, and Germany, followed by other markets "starting in August." The initial release includes only the Wi-Fi only and the 3G/HSPA+-enabled variants, with the LTE flavor coming later this year.
Sprint Announces The Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE With A Full QWERTY Slider And Ice Cream Sandwich
During Sprint's earnings call, CEO Dan Hesse outed a the Motorola Photon Q, stating that it's "coming soon." With the cat out of the bag, The Now Network
During Sprint's earnings call, CEO Dan Hesse outed a the Motorola Photon Q, stating that it's "coming soon." With the cat out of the bag, The Now Network just sent out the press release making the device official, thought it's still missing pricing and release date information.
Heads up, jetsetters! CNN has released an app for those of you who like to travel abroad. Specifically, those of you who travel to Asia or Australia will find the app particularly useful, but everyone who's about to leave their 20 square mile home area should take a look. The app aggregates local info, photos, and news coverage that you can filter by region.
Despite recent stumbles, Netflix has successfully managed to become the de facto video streaming service in the US, Canada, and Latin America and now it has set its sights on Europe by launching in the United Kingdom and Ireland. This also means that the highly rated Netflix Android app is now available to Android device owners in those same countries.
Motorola is apparently hard at work on another high-end handset known as the DROID HD - and boy, is it a good-looking piece of kit. Just take a look:
The Droid Bionic, Verizon's most anticipated and delayed phone of 2011 (alongside the SGS2), expected to show up around September 8th, just got a few details we were curious about confirmed in its FCC filing docs, along with a slew of photos. Hilariously, it looks like either FCC has been testing this phone in a warzone or they have a pack of wild puppies around the office, because the device looks like it's just been through battle and gotten a Purple Heart.
Analytics firm Canalys is reporting that global smartphone market share for Google’s Android OS platform is at a colossal 48%, with an overall lead in 35 out of the 56 countries tracked by Canalys. According to the report, the total global smartphone market has grown by 73% year-on-year with a total of 107.7 million devices shipped in Q2 2011. Android-based devices are the main culprit behind this astounding growth with an increase in shipments of 379% from over a year ago totalling 51.9 million units shipped in Q2 2011. Android sales in the Asia-Pacific region are particularly impressive, especially in South Korea and Taiwan where Android holds 85% and 71% market share, respectively.
Well, after some rumors that the HTC Merge might never arrive, it seems the mysterious but often-seen slider device will be coming stateside sooner rather than later. An official HTC press release for the company's first Android CDMA world-phone popped up only minutes ago:
So look, Verizon's price for the Motorola Droid 2 Global is nice (or at least pretty decent for a phone loaded with a 1.2GHz processor and dual GSM/CDMA radios), but it can't stand up to the deals you and I both know Wirefly's been cooking up. Well now the Internet's largest authorized retailer of cell phones has come out and made it official - it's selling both the white and the regular versions of the phone for just $99.99 with a new two-year contract. As for add-a-line plans, you'll be coughing up $129.99 , while existing Verizon customers looking to upgrade will be handing over $149.99. However, there are no taxes, mail-in-rebates, or shipping fees on any of the deals, meaning that all three prices are still lower than Big Red's lowest ($199 on a new two-year contract). The party starts at the source links.