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iPhone Passes Windows Mobile in Smartphone OS Market Share


Windows Mobile, Microsoft’s increasingly embarrassing single entrant in the smartphone OS field, can’t seem to hold onto the attention of the world’s consumers. A new survey by market research firm comScore sees Windows Mobile dropping one place in the overall rankings, and Apple’s iPhone gaining one, which puts it ahead of Microsoft.

The iPhone climbs to No. 2 in terms of general smartphone OS market share in the U.S., while Windows Mobile drops to third. Research In Motion’s BlackBerry OS still tops the list, and in fact does so with an impressive gain in customers over the course of 2009, according to a breakdown of the report by DailyTech.

comScore compiles its results for the smartphone survey every three months, collecting data from thousands of U.S. consumers. The latest three-month period, the one which is detailed in this latest report, ended in October of this year.

RIM, as mentioned, saw pretty significant growth throughout the year. At the beginning of 2009, it had just under 10 million customers, and according to the comScore report, it now boasts 14.96 million in the U.S. RIM has been employing aggressive pricing strategies to compete with the iPhone’s success, including handset giveaways and deep discounts, and it looks like the BlackBerry maker’s efforts have paid off nicely.

Windows Mobile actually showed negative growth — it’s the only smartphone company that can make this unfortunate claim, and now has around 7.13 million users. Buyers could be shy of committing to a device that runs Windows Mobile 6.5 when version 7 is set to launch sometime early in 2010. Everyone else, including Palm’s WebOS, Google’s Android, and Symbian all experienced modest gains. Android still tails all others, but during the most recent period it broke the 1 million mark, and I’d expect to see it surge even further on the strength of the Droid in upcoming surveys.

As for the iPhone, it grew to 8.97 million users over the period ending in October. That’s a pretty impressive lead over Windows Mobile, though it means Apple still has a lot of ground to make up before it can snatch the crown from powerhouse RIM. It’s even more impressive when you consider that at the beginning of the year, the iPhone only had around 5 million users, meaning it experienced about 70 percent growth over the course of 2009, a performance that likely has a lot to do with the release of the 3GS and the significant price drop and continued sales of the 3G model.

Overall, the smartphone market continues to do well. Roughly 11.8 percent of the American population claims to now own one, according to this most recent poll.

Apple Making Mobile Safari Web Apps Better, Faster, Stronger

iPhone web apps aren’t being left behind by Apple, despite the fact that the App Store has gone onto become such a huge success following its introduction in 2008. In fact, according to John Gruber at Daring Fireball, recent efforts on the Mac maker’s part show a real dedication to improving the platform’s web application experience.

Apple Granted Permanent Injuction Against Psystar

Despite Apple and Psystar having discussed a potential settlement in their drawn-out battle, the agreement was dependent upon the outcome of Apple’s motion for a permanent injunction. Yesterday, the California U.S. District Court responsible for ruling in the matter issued its decision, and the outcome is not favorable for the Mac clone maker.

Chrome Passes Safari in Market Share

As predicted, Chrome has eclipsed Safari in web browser market share. According to web analytics firm Net Applications, Chrome’s share is now 4.4 percent, just edging out Safari at 4.37 percent.

Apple Approves Video Recording App for iPhone 2G and 3G

If you’ve been reconsidering your position as a jailbreaker thanks to recent security threats or Apple’s strong disapproval, there’s now one more reason to consider going legit. Apple just approved a new app that allows iPhones other than the 3GS to record video. That’s right, both your iPhone 3G and even the older 2G model can now shoot video, without jailbreak.

Apple Delays iMac Shipments, Says Sorry

Back in November we reported on the news that some of Apple’s new 27-inch iMacs were turning up with shattered screens and dodgy “flashing” displays. At the time, the most plausible explanation for the physical damage was that the packaging designed to protect the machines during transit was insufficient. The crazy flashing? Well, that’s anyone’s guess.

Apple Looking to Have Record iPhone Quarter: Report

According to information gathered from parts suppliers for Apple’s iPhone 3GS, the handset is headed for a record quarter. Apple’s Taiwanese suppliers for the iPhone’s components have reported a 31 percent increase in volume of orders placed for the parts, which should indicate a very healthy spike in sales of the smartphone.

Apple Looking to Hire In-House Video Game Talent

Apple’s posted job listings seem to provoke no end of exciting speculation, and one of its latest open calls for applications is certainly no exception. New job postings call for a software engineer for the iPhone Gaming Group, and a video game artist. Last month’s call for a game/media software engineer was somewhat open to interpretation, but this time around, there’s no ambiguity involved.

Rumor Has It: Foxconn Receives Order for Next-Gen iPhone

The inevitable iPhone update is looming ever closer in the distance, and accordingly, the iPhone rumor mill is heating up. Today, news came that frequent Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn, a Taiwanese hardware company, received an order to build the new iPhone, which still won’t arrive in consumer hands until mid-2010.

Rumor Has It: Apple Tablet Due in March or April, Says Analyst

Source: Piper Jaffray Apple is all set to begin production of a 10.1-inch LCD tablet starting in February 2010, according to a recent analyst note by Oppenheimer’s Yair Reiner. Following that, the device should then go on sale in March or April, Reiner says, with an initial production run of around 1 million units.

Rewind 2009: “Best of” Lists in the iTunes Store

Apple has published the “best” and most popular choices for 2009 at the iTunes Store, and the results are interesting, if not necessarily representative of the world outside the store.

Apple Bans a Thousand Apps Over Review Fraud

A story that began 10 days ago with a blog posting at iPhoneography and a letter to Apple VP Phil Schiller has ended with Apple banning prolific developer Molinker from the App Store. The developer has been charged with review fraud (not to mention poor grammar).

Apple Tops U.S. Retail Sales Rankings in October

NPD Group has released its latest numbers for U.S. computer sales in October, and Macs are occupying many spots at or near the top of the list in all categories. Sales of both Mac desktop and notebook computers were very impressive for the month, but a good amount of that success can be attributed to the introduction of new models.

The App Store Opus and the Unasked Question

In a 3,000-word analysis of a paradigm shift in personal technology fit for a press release, the New York Times has declared the App Store worthy of buzzword status. Including comments from Apple executives Phil Schiller and Eddy Cue, “Apple’s Game Changer, Downloading Now” is also something of a Rorschach test on the App Store review process.

China Unicom Sells Just Five iPhones Through Major Chinese Online Retailer

It’s only been open for two weeks, but according to recently released sales figures from a store on a major digital retailer in China, the iPhone isn’t doing that great — at least, not through official channels. China Unicom has sold only five iPhones through large retail site Taobao.com so far, according to PC World.

Rumor Has It: iTunes LP Authoring and Submission Coming to iDVD

When Apple revealed its documents and templates detailing the process of creating iTunes LP and Extras for small studios and indie artists to take advantage of, it also noted that for the time being, submission would be manual, but that automated electronic submission was on its way. A new report suggests the vehicle of delivery for that submission could be none other than Apple’s own iDVD media authoring program, part of the iLife suite.

Mac OS X, iPhone OS, Safari Down or Flat in November

November was not a great month for Apple, at least according to web metrics firm Net Applications. While one could argue the launch of Windows 7 in October may have negatively impacted market share for OS X, Safari also lost ground to Chrome, and even the iPhone OS saw a slight decline against competitors.

Psystar and Apple Ink Settlement Deal in Copyright Case

In an unexpected twist in the drawn-out battle between Psystar and Apple, the two companies agreed Monday to a partial settlement that could end the case after 17 months of back-and-forth between them, Computerworld is reporting. Details on the settlement are sparse, but what is known is quite surprising.

Tweetie 2.1 Update Brings List Support, New Retweet Implementation

Not one to be outdone by Twittelator Pro’s most recent update, atebits’ latest update for Tweetie 2 (iTunes link) brings implementations of the two newest official Twitter features: Lists and Retweet. As someone who isn’t particularly crazy about the official retweet implementation, I’m not so excited about that, but there’s still a “Quote Tweet” option as well, which lets you do things the old way.

Mystery iPhone Rides BART

A chain of evidence shows what may be an as-yet-unreleased iPhone being used outside Apple’s industrial design lab, MacRumors is reporting, but in this case unreleased may not mean new.

Live Music Comes to iTunes

It’s such an obvious idea it’s amazing it didn’t happen sooner. Wired reports that Apple has teamed up with promoter Live Nation to bring Live music to its iTunes Store.

Magazine Publishers’ Plans May Not Be Tablet-Specific

Source: Piper Jaffray One of the strongest pieces of evidence in support of the existence of an Apple tablet has come into question today. Reports that Condé Nast, publisher of many magazine titles, including The New Yorker and Vogue, was preparing a digital format specifically for the Apple tablet may have overstated the case.

Reason to Quit: Apple Warranties Void for Smokers

I quit smoking four years ago, but before that, I was a dedicated smoker for a solid decade. Luckily, I never had any Mac trouble that would necessitate a warranty replacement during those 10 years, or I might’ve been out of luck. Apple has denied Applecare warranty service in at least two separate instances due to the effects of secondhand smoke, according to Consumerist.

Magic Mouse Drivers for Windows Magically Appear

Apple unveiled its Mighty Mouse replacement, the Magic Mouse, last month alongside new versions of the iMac, Mac mini and entry-level Macbook. The mouse was well-received, perhaps due in part to the disappointment most felt about its predecessor. Better tracking and touch gestures combined to deliver a much better experience overall.

Rumor Has It: Camera Still Bound for iPod Touch

At the Apple iPod event this past September, the iPod nano got a video upgrade, but despite rumors to the contrary, the iPod touch didn’t get a similar treatment. The Internet was ablaze with expectation thanks to the appearance of a number of iPod touch cases with camera holes built in, all positioned the same, which seemed like a fair indicator that video was coming to the touchscreen iPod.

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