Apple Sues HTC Over Smartphone Related Patents

It seems as though the competition is heating up in the smartphone market in more ways than one! Apple has decided to confront HTC in the courts with claims of patent infringement on more than 20 of it's patents related to user interface and hardware.

“We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement. “We’ve decided to do something about it.” 

For it's part HTC spokeswoman Linda Mills said “HTC values patent rights and their enforcement but is also committed to defending its own technology innovations,”

It was bound to happen sooner or later, HTC and Android based phones are starting to make a dent in the market place...

 

Source: Globe and Mail

iPhone And Android Operating Systems See Solid Growth

Sales of smartphones using the iPhone operating system jumped from 33% market share to 40% from February to August according to a report released Wednesday by AdMob. The only other real winner during that time was the Android operating system which jumped by 5% to a 7% total market share. Symbian OS, Windows Mobile, Palm OS, and RIM OS all saw losses during the period. As for the top selling phones world wide:

Looks like my HTC Dream is making some headway ;)

Source: AdMob

HTC Rumoured To Have Low Price Android Phone Ready

The yet to be announced HTC Click, which is expected to launch in the fourth quarter, is reported to cost around $300. This price point would put the Click in the range of being one the lowest priced Android phones available.

According to cnet "The Click's design is similar to the MyTouch 3G with some minor changes. The phone is touch screen only and it features a smaller 2.8-inch display. Gone is the trackball and in its place is a large circular directional pad. HTC has committed to start including a 3.5-millimeter headset jack on all phones and the Click has this highly requested feature." and the phone is said to offer the full android experience even at the low price, which is good news to those looking at getting into a smartphone but not wanting to blow the rent money.

Air Canada Launches iPhone App

Air Canada has released an iPhone/iPod Touch application that, according to the CBC, allows passengers to "check in with their device, select their seat, retrieve electronic boarding passes and keep track of real-time flight status and information."

"This is only the first iteration of our app, and we will continue to add new features in response to customer demand." Air Canada executive vice-president Ben Smith said of the application developed for the airline by IBM Canada.

Microsoft And Nokia Hooking Up - Office On Smartphones

Microsoft and Nokia are rumored to be announcing a deal today that will bring Microsoft Office to Nokia handsets. The move is a preemptive strike at the emerging competitive threat from free Web-based word processing, spreadsheet and other office related software, from Google primarily. Both companies are feeling the heat in their perspective market places, Nokia is losing smartphone market share to Apple's iPhone line, Research in Motion's BlackBerry devices and Google Android powered devices. Microsoft on the other hand is fighting to keep it's cash cow Office line relevant.

Source: New York Times

Top 10 Smartphones in US for Q2

IDC Research has released its' list of the top ten smartphones in the U.S. for the second quarter of '09. The list includess 4 BlackBerry devices and 2 iPhones:

1. BlackBerry Curve (83xx series and 8900)
2. Apple iPhone 3GS (both 16GB and 32GB versions)
3. BlackBerry Pearl (81xx series not including the Pearl Flip)
4. Apple iPhone 3G (8GB and 16GB versions)
5. BlackBerry Bold
6. BlackBerry Storm
7. T-Mobile G1
8. Palm Pre
9. HTC Touch Pro
10. HTC Touch Diamond

The top ten list broken down by smartphone platform:

1. BlackBerry- 4
2. Windows Mobile- 2
3. iPhone- 2
4. WebOS (Pre)- 1
5. Android- 1

I expect the Androids to come on strong for Q4 with dozens of new phones promised.

Black Hatters Reveil SMS Security Concern

Speaking to the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas, Charlie Miller and Collin Mulliner told the audience that smartphones operating Apple's, Microsoft's, or Google's operating systems were vulnerable to an SMS based attack that would be executed by code arriving in a text message. The malicious code could knock a phone off of a network, access data on the phone, or access the programs installed on the phone. The pair have published their findings to encourage the OS makers to fix the holes and have said the they contacted Apple, Microsoft, and Google directly but Google is the only one who has addressed the issue todate.

BBC story.

Rise Of The Smart Phone

According to Samsung Mobile Display, a Samsung Electronics company, the global smart phone market is anticipated to grow to 500 million units in 2012 up from 170 million in expected this year. The display maker also expects touchscreens to be used in about 50 per cent of major portable devices – mobile phones, digital cameras, navigations and digital media players – to be sold in 2013. This despite an overall slowing of the mobile market globally.

Source: The Globe and Mail.

Nokia and Skype Strike Deal

Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is about to get a big boost into the world of cellphones. Starting with the release of the N97 in June, Nokia is going to embed Skype into it's devices allowing users to make VoIP calls either on a 3G network or while connected to WiFi. According to Cnet's Marguerite Reardon "Adding Skype to smartphones is a great benefit for consumers, especially people who travel internationally or have friends and family overseas. While pricing on domestic voice services has been dropping like a brick from a third-story window, international rates have remained high."

Bell To Offer Unlimited Data Smartphone Plan

Rogers announced it's iPhone rates earlier this week and disappointed Canadians from coast to coast, with more than 30,000 signatures on an online petition at ruinediphone.com. Yesterday Bell upped the ante by announcing an unlimited data plan with the Samsung Instinct that the company will begin selling on August 8th. The lowest Bell plan for the Instinct will come in at just under $40 before taxes, including a $10 unlimited data plan, while the Rogers iPhone plan's cheapest rate is $60 a month plus system access fee of $6.95, which offers 150 daytime minutes and just 400 megabytes of data usage. The Instinct will costs $149.95 on a three-year contract, $249.95 on a two-year contract, $399.95 on a one-year contract or can be purchased outright for $449.95.

By comparrison the Instinct does not support a Wi-Fi connection, but has many features in common with the iPhone, including touch-screen interface and HTML web browsing. According to the CBC "Bell spokesperson Jason Laszlo said the unlimited data plan includes web browsing, web-based e-mail and downloads. Other services, including GPS navigation, access to Bell's Full Track Music, Sirius satellite radio and on-demand TV content, are available at additional charges."

This ought to open up the gates a bit... it will be interesting to see how the other carriers respond.