Look out, world -- Apple's on the hunt for that number one spot in worldwide mobile market share! Of course, it's got like a bazillion miles to go before it gets there, but achieving that magical 1 percent is always a day worth tearing up about. According to data in a recent ABI Research study, iPhones now make up 1.1 percent of all cellphones, which is a pretty nice bump from the 0.3 percent share the original iphone held in 2007. As expected, Nokia's still making everyone else look bad with 38.6 percent, while Samsung (16.2 percent) notched the silver and Motorola / LG tied for third with 8.3 percent apiece. Number lovers can dive into the links below for more where this came from, and feel free to dispute the facts 'til your heart's content down in comments.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Apple crosses the magical 1% mark in global phone market share
Look out, world -- Apple's on the hunt for that number one spot in worldwide mobile market share! Of course, it's got like a bazillion miles to go before it gets there, but achieving that magical 1 percent is always a day worth tearing up about. According to data in a recent ABI Research study, iPhones now make up 1.1 percent of all cellphones, which is a pretty nice bump from the 0.3 percent share the original iphone held in 2007. As expected, Nokia's still making everyone else look bad with 38.6 percent, while Samsung (16.2 percent) notched the silver and Motorola / LG tied for third with 8.3 percent apiece. Number lovers can dive into the links below for more where this came from, and feel free to dispute the facts 'til your heart's content down in comments.
SOLiCharger Powers iPhones Through Every Means Under the Sun [IPhone]
The SOLiCharger is solar-chargeable lithium ion pack for your iphone that can fill to capacity in four hours of sunlight. Priced at $40 and available now, the SOLiCharger battery pack (left) is compatible with all of your standard iPhone charging options (AC, USB and car), but its big claim to fame is the ability to recharge itself via bundled solar panel (right). The only catch is that the SOLiCharger contains only half the battery capacity of the iPhone, meaning that a theoretical 8 hours of sunlight would be needed to fill the iPhone entirely. But if you're stuck in the desert, your leg trapped under a rock, and just want to browse the NYTimes in your remaining time on earth, it seems like a feasible, decently-priced solution pending your blood loss is not too rapid.iPod / iPhone CES pavilion sells out in record time, quadruples to include Mac products -- goodbye, Macworld?
Damn, it hasn't even been a month since Apple's final Macworld Expo appearance, and it already looks like the show's in trouble -- the CEA just announced that its iPod / iPhone-centric iLounge Pavilion sold out just a week after being announced, and that it's quadrupling in size to include Mac-specific products and retailers as well. That means there's going to be 18,000 square feet of CES solely dedicated to the Apple ecosystem, and without the draw of an Apple product announcement to bring the press to Macworld, it's going to be pretty tough for it to attract the top-tier companies and product launches it needs to survive in the face of the CES juggernaut. We'll see how this plays out -- we've got a feeling next year's Macworld is going to be dramatically different.
P.S.- Regardless of what happens, we still think it's really unlikely that Apple itself comes to CES -- why would it ever want to share the spotlight?
2010 INTERNATIONAL CES iLOUNGE PAVILION SELLS OUT IN RECORD TIME; SPACE QUADRUPLED TO ACCOMMODATE CUSTOMER DEMAND
2010 CES iLounge Pavilion to Feature Largest Display of iPod, iPhone and Mac Technologies in Show History
Arlington, Va., January 29, 2009 – The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)® today announced that the iLounge® Pavilion, a unified iPod®, Phone® and Mac® exhibition area at the 2010 International CES®, has quadrupled in size since its official launch last week. The iLounge Pavilion, co-sponsored by CEA and iLounge.com, will feature manufacturers and retailers of iPod and iPhone accessories, related products and services, and based on requests from vendors, will now grow to include leading Mac developers and retailers as well. Owned and produced by CEA, the 2010 International CES, the world's largest tradeshow for consumer technology, is scheduled for January 7-10, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
"We have received an incredible response from companies interested in exhibiting in the iLounge Pavilion at the 2010 International CES," said Karen Chupka, senior vice president, events and conferences, CEA. "In fact, the original space allocated for the pavilion sold out in less than one week – a CES show record - and we've quadrupled the space to accommodate the overwhelming demand. This exciting new CES Pavilion brings momentum to the consumer technology industry and reinforces the International CES as the global hub for the latest innovative technologies."
"Leading Apple developers and retailers are excited to have such an outstanding stage at the 2010 International CES," said Jeremy Horwitz, editor-in-chief, iLounge. "Whether they're showing off iPod accessories, iPhone applications, or the latest and coolest new Mac products, they know that they'll find the world's largest audience at this great new pavilion."
The iLounge Pavilion, originally floored with 4,000 net square feet of exhibit space which sold out in the first week following the launch, has increased to 18,000 net square feet. Exhibiting companies in the 2010 CES iLounge Pavilion, which will be housed in the Las Vegas Convention Center, South Hall 2, include Griffin Technology, Mobis Technology, Pro Clip USA, Scosche, Incase Designs, Incipio Technologies, iSkin and GelaSkins.
About CEA:
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is the preeminent trade association promoting growth in the $172 billion U.S. consumer electronics industry. More than 2,200 companies enjoy the benefits of CEA membership, including legislative advocacy, market research, technical training and education, industry promotion and the fostering of business and strategic relationships. CEA also sponsors and manages the International CES - Where Entertainment, Technology and Business Converge. All profits from CES are reinvested into CEA's industry services. Find CEA online at www.CE.org.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
OnPar's touchscreen GPS rangefinder could almost be a phone
If uPlay's uPro was the "iPhone of golf GPS technology," what then would you call this? Savant GPS has just come clean with what's likely to be the most sophisticated GPS rangefinder to date. The simply-titled OnPar measures in at 4.17- x 2.8- x 0.63-inches and features full touchscreen (3.5-inch) operation. It's also claiming to be the planet's first "GPS rangefinder with a dynamic hole layout display and GPS positioning that provides instant distances to anywhere and remaining distance to the green, personalized club averages, and simple score and shot tracking." The unit is designed to hold up to 300 golf courses with no membership fees or course map fees, and it'll be available for the taking (er, purchasing, we should say) early next month for an undisclosed price.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
New iPhone software improves Safari stability
The latest iPhone firmware update should be available Tuesday in iTunes.(Credit: Tom Krazit/CNET News) Apple has released a minor iPhone firmware update that is supposed to help improve the stability of its Safari browser. The update should be popping up Tuesday if you connect your iPhone to iTunes. Update 2.2.1 is the first tweak released since Apple added Google's Street View to the iPhone's software back in November with the 2.2 release. Despite the brief list of new features and fixes, this update is just as big as that release, weighing in at 246.4MB. As a result, it's taking awhile to download and install. I'll let you know if I encounter any problems, and likewise, please let us know if you experience any issues downloading and installing the update. Update 11:15am - iPod touch owners had an additional fix as part of the update. Apple fixed an issue with Apple Lossless files that tended to skip during playback, according to The Unofficial Apple Weblog. Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Six must-have iPhone freebies
- Mancala FS5 I love the Mancala board game, and this iPhone edition is even better. It teaches beginners the basics, automatically moves your beads, and supports Internet multiplayer! (You can even play against your AIM buddies.) Consider splurging on the $1.99 full version to enjoy ad-free play.
- NPR Mobile Though not an official NPR app, it lets you browse broadcasts by topic, series, and even commentator, then stream to your heart's content. It can also do a location search, great for when you're traveling and want to tune the car radio to the nearest NPR station.
- Slacker Radio Best. Streaming music app. Ever. I know some folks prefer Pandora, but I've always loved the Web-based Slacker and its robust custom-station building. The new iPhone app (pictured) is just plain fantastic. Read my full review here.
- Sportacular At the risk of ruining my geek cred, I do follow (and even play) some sports. Sportacular gives you scores, standings, schedules, stats, and more. It also lets you designate favorite teams so you can track them more easily.
- Stanza Remember the nine free e-books I wrote about awhile back? Turns out you can download them directly from Stanza, arguably the iPhone's best e-book reader. The latest version can also tap your eReader and Fictionwise libraries. Right now I'm devouring Charles Huston's exceptional crime-novel Caught Stealing.
- Topple Part Tetris, part Jenga, Topple challenges you to stack amusingly animated blocks as high as you can before the tower topples over. Great fun for kids and grown-ups alike. Again, here's my review.
Monday, January 19, 2009
App Store hits 500 million downloads: thanks, iFart
Wowsers, that little App store side project apple has going on sure doesn't seem to be settling down. After launching in July of '08 and hitting 100 million downloads in September, the App Store has just crossed the 500 million download mark -- a mere six months after opening. Compare that to the iTunes Music Store, which took two whole years to cross the 500 million mark, though to be fair we have little idea of the paid to free ratio of app downloads. There are over 15,000 apps in the App Store currently, and sure, 14,500 of them are crap, with the rest being tip calculators, but we gotta hand it to apple for pretty much unprecedented success in the mobile download space -- now let us download SNES emulators!
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