Palm Unveils 'Pre' Smartphone

Google's operating system barely edges out Apple's

(NEWSER) - Is Apple losing its grip on smartphone buyers? Google's Android is already the most widely-used operating system , and a new survey shows it may also be the most wanted. In a poll of US cell phone consumers this year, Nielsen found that 31% planned to buy a new smartphone and wanted an Android phone. The iPhone was a close second at 30%, the Los Angeles Times reports, followed by the BlackBerry at 11%. More»

Passes Symbian; iPhone at No. 3

(NEWSER) - Google’s Android is now the world’s most popular smartphone platform, having edged past Nokia’s Symbian in the fourth quarter of 2010. Vendors shipped 33.3 million Android-based phones that quarter, beating Symbian’s 31 million, a report out today finds. That’s good news for Android phone vendors LG and Acer, who saw sales volume boosts of 4,127% and 709% from Q4 of 2009—and for Samsung and HTC, who together shipped nearly 45% of all Android phones in the period, reports CNET . More»

RIM dominates in sales, but the iPhone has big advantages

(NEWSER) - The iPhone has become a cultural phenomenon, but RIM sells way more units than Apple does. Why, then, does the BlackBerry have such obvious flaws? Wired lists five improvements RIM needs to make:

1. Browser. The web looks much the same on an iPhone or Palm Pre as it does on a PC. But the BlackBerry presents a bare-bones mobile version of most websites—and is slow, to boot.
2. Touchscreen. The BlackBerry Storm's "clickable" screen was supposed to feel like a real keypad, but it just made typing slower.

Demo of new smartphone has revi

(NEWSER) - Palm's new Pre smartphone is the hottest product at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show by a long stretch, a smitten Lance Ulanoff writes at PC Magazine. Ulanoff heard a lot about the Pre before yesterday's rollout, but was still blown away by the smartphone's impressive specs, fresh interface, and groundbreaking innovations like the below-screen gesture area. More»

Maker RIM will instead focus on business customers

(AP) - Struggling BlackBerry maker Research in Motion said today it will cede most consumer markets after failing to compete with flashier touch-screen phones such as Apple's iPhone and models that run Google's Android software. Instead, RIM said it will return to its roots and focus on business customers, many of whom prefer BlackBerrys for their security. RIM has had limited success trying to enter consumer markets in recent years, and RIM CEO Thorsten Heins said a turnaround required "substantial change." More»