According to a new research report from the analyst firm Berg Insight, the number of mobile subscribers using a turn-by-turn navigation service or application on their handset grew 57 percent from H1-2009 to H1-2010 and reached 44 million worldwide.
Smartphone News
Microsoft announced nine new Windows Phone 7 handsets that will be available this October and November from over 60 mobile operators in 30 countries in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific.
Sony announced the commercialization of two new "Exmor R" back-illuminated CMOS image sensors with improved photographic performance including high sensitivity and low noise. In addition, Sony will launch two new lens modules equipped with these image sensors, which also include the smallest and thinnest model for mobile phones.
Verizon Wireless and Motorola today unveiled Droid Pro, an Android 2.2-based smartphone optimized for business use. According to the companies, Droid Pro meets employers’ and employees’ needs by addressing the productivity tools businesses require, including corporate connectivity and security; full push corporate e-mail with corporate level security; unified calendar with additional work features and pre-loaded Quickoffice Mobile Suite.
By year-end 2013, location information or profile information from mobile phones will be used to validate 90 percent of mobile transactions, according to Gartner. The research firm says that the rapid adoption of smartphones is forcing banks, social networks and other e-commerce providers to implement the kinds of fraud detection capabilities that have become mainstream with fixed-line computing.
Microsoft today filed a patent infringement action against Motorola for infringement of nine Microsoft patents by Motorola’s Android-based smartphones. The patents at issue relate to a range of functionality embodied in Motorola’s Android smartphone devices that are “essentiall” to the smartphone user experience.
Marvell has introduced the world’s first 1.5 GHz tri-core application processor, the Marvell ARMADA 628. It incorporates a full System-on-a-Chip design (SoC) with three Marvell-designed, ARM-compliant CPU cores operating as the world’s first commercially available heterogeneous, multi-core, applications processor.
Samsung Mobile and MetroPCS have just announced the commercial launch of the world’s first 4G LTE-enabled, multi-mode, CDMA handset, the Samsung Craft (SCH-r900). Samsung Mobile also supplied the LTE infrastructure for MetroPCS’ commercial launch of 4G LTE service in Las Vegas, the first in the United States.
Rapidly rising sales of smartphones and tablet PCs in 2010 will cause the global market for small- and medium-sized TFT LCD panels to expand at its fastest pace in three years, according to iSuppli.
picoChip today unveiled the PC333, the first chip specifically designed to extend the femtocell into the realm of public access infrastructure such as metro femto, rural femto and strand-mounted systems.