22% of U.S. Smart Phones Sold were 4G Capable

About 22 percent of smart phones purchased by U.S. consumers in the second quarter of 2011 were capable of running at 4G speeds. 


A year ago, just three percent of U.S. smart phones sold could run on a 4G network, according to the NPD Group. 

The top four smart phone 4G manufacturers, based on consumer sales in Q2 2011:
1.HTC: 62%
2.Samsung: 22%
3.Motorola: 11%
4.LG: 4%


What the study did not look at, but seems correct, is that "4G" is not yet a distinct "service." It is faster than 3G, which is good, but not yet in any way a truly different "service" than 3G. So far, 4G is a "better pipe," but just that: a better pipe, as a 10 Mbps connection is better than a 5 Mbps connection. 


For 4G is anything more than "table stakes" for mobile service providers, the end use experience will have to change. So far, that hasn't happened. 

20% of Smart phones Sold in Q2 2011 Were 4G-Capable

Samsung aims to block iPhone 4S sales in Italy, France

Samsung plans to file patent infringement claims against Apple’s new iPhone 4S and stop it from being sold in France and Italy, the latest move in a wide-ranging commercial dispute around patent infringement that also includes Apple suing to block the sale of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia on grounds that it violated Apple’s patents.


Apple has refused settlement offers with Samsung in hopes of blocking the Tab 10.1′s Australian launch altogether.

Some of us would continue to say that though there are legitimate issues of intellectual property protection, the patent process itself shows severe signs of misuse. Some would argue business success ought to emerge from decisions made by consumers, not lawyers, and that this increasingly seems not to be the case.

Samsung aims to block iPhone 4S sales in Italy, France

Apple Sues Samsung Over Tablets, Smart Phones

Apple is suing Samsung, alleging the Galaxy line of phones and tablets infringe on a number of the company’s patents and trademarks.

The suit, filed on Friday in U.S. District Court in Northern California, alleges patent and trademark infringement, as well as unfair competition. Apple is seeking injunctions, actual damages and punitive damages, as well as a finding that the alleged infringement was willful

The smartphone industry is filled with patent actions, including an ongoing battle between Apple and Nokia, suits between Microsoft and Motorola, as well as a suit by Oracle against Google. See this, for example.

Apple Sues Samsung, Saying Galaxy Phones and Tablets Too Close To iPad and iPhone Design | Ina Fried | Mobilized | AllThingsD

Signs of Trouble in the Mobile Handset Business?

Trouble might be brewing in the mobile handset business, if one looks at profits in the industry. Apple is the outstanding winner, and Research in Motion isn't immediately troubled, either.

But Apple's growth seems to have come at the expense of other providers, and doesn't seem to have grown the market.

Industry profits dipped to a bit under $4 billion at the trough of the recession, and have recovered to nearly $6 billion in the holiday quarter last year. But the aggregate data hides a stunning shift of market share.

Motorola and Sony Ericsson had been losing money and only recently have reached breakeven status. LG turned negative in the second quarter of 2010.

Samsung has been consistently profitable and has gained market share.

But Apple and RIM now ern about 65 percent of all profits in the business.

asymco

Samsung Galaxy S to Debut On All 4 Big Carriers

Samsung's flagship Google Android smartphone, Galaxy S, will be available on the AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobileand Verizon Wireless networks.

The Samsung Galaxy S will be called the Samsung Fascinate on Verizon, Samsung Captivate on AT&T, Samsung Vibrant on T-Mobile, and Samsung Epic 4G on Sprint.

Hot Samsung Galaxy S to Debut On Four Big U.S. Carriers - PCWorld

Apple and RIM Are Winners in Handset Market, Profit-Wise

The Apple iPhone might not be the only reason the mobile handset market has changed over the past several years, but it is a major influence, according to a new analysis by analysts at Deutsche Bank.

In 2006, before the iPhone was available, Nokia had nearly half--47 percent--of industry profits. By the end of 2010, it will have 25 percent.

In 2006, Sony Ericsson had 11 percent share. By the end of 2010 it will have a negative one percent operating profit.

Motorola had 18 percent share in 2006 and will have declined to about a negative one percent by the end of 2010.

By the end of 2010 Apple will have an estimated 37 percent share, while Research in Motion, which had four percent share in 2006, will have grown to 16 percent.

Most of the other suppliers will have remained about where they were in 2006, except for Lucky Goldstar, which will have grown from one percent to six percent.

Keep in mind, these figures reflect profits, not handset share.

Is Mobile Handset Market Heating Up?

Handset shipments suffered another annual decline in the third quarter but are forecast to rebound in the key final quarter of the year, according to Strategy Analytics and IDC. Virtually all observers attribute the slowdown to slower handset replacement caused by consumer caution in the face of the recession.

Strategy Analytics estimates that global handset shipments reached 291 million units in the third quarter, down four percent from 304 million units year over year.

IDC estimates third quarter 2009 shipments totalled 287.1 million units worldwide, down six percent from a year earlier, but up 5.6 percent from the second quarter.

"The mobile phone market is showing the first signs of improvement since the onset of the economic crisis," says Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst at IDC. "During the third quarter, we saw a number of channels promoting older devices at significantly lower prices. For many, this was enough to spur demand and push volumes higher."

Strategy Analytics forecasts that 300 million handsets will be shipped in the key fourth quarter, an increase of three percent increase on the 294 million units shipped in the last quarter of 2008.

"We believe this will be the first time the industry has returned to positive growth since the third quarter of 2008, signalling an end to the handset recession after four quarters of decline," Strategy Analytics says.

Of course, industry-wide averages sometimes obscure market share changes. Nokia sales dipped eight percent, year over year, while Samsung grew 16 percent. LG grew 37 percent. Both Sony Ericsson and Motorola reported declines.

Samsung Instinct Available in June

Sprint Nextel will roll out the new Samsung Instinct, a full touch-screen device running on the Rev. A network, in June. Sprint will have exclusive right to sell the device, initially.

Samsung Instinct will be seen as a competitor to the Apple iPhone, of course.

It is designed for fast Web browsing, email access, commercial-free radio and Sprint Navigation, powered by Telenav, with GPS-enabled audio and visual turn-by-turn driving directions, one-click traffic rerouting and more than 10 million local listings.

Live Search for Sprint, powered by Microsoft, provides easy access to directory information on-the-go, GPS-enabled directions, interactive maps and one-touch click to call access

Sprint TV offers live and on-demand programming.
Sprint Exclusive Entertainment offers made-for-mobile sports and entertainment video.

Sprint Music Store allows users to browse and wirelessly download full-length songs directly to their phone for 99 cents each.

Pocket Express offers up-to-date information on sports, weather, news, movie showtimes and other options customized to the user's zip code.

Three dedicated keys on the lower portion of the handset make operation of the device very straightforward and easy to navigate, the company says. The phone key always takes the user back to essential voice calling and features including speed dial, visual voicemail, contacts and the dial pad. The back key is a consistent way to take a step back in the operation.

The home key on the Samsung Instinct provides quick access to the four menus of functionality:

"Favorites" provides one-touch access to the things a user does most, making customization and personalization extremely simple. Web sites, TV channels, text messaging friends and much more can be saved in the Favorites menu so the items used most are always at the user's fingertips.

"Main" includes applications such as Messaging, Voicemail, GPS Navigation and more.

The "Fun" menu brings up music, TV, photos and games.

"Web" takes a user straight to Web site options.

Samsung Instinct features Visual Voicemail, allowing users to listen to messages in their order of preference and manage them with a simple tap of the screen.

Both corporate and consumer (POP3) email accounts are supported.

Multitasking capabilities allow the user to play music in background mode while surfing the Internet, texting or playing games,.

Pricing for Samsung Instinct has not yet been announced. In order for customers to experience the full capabilities of the device, Samsung Instinct requires activation on a Sprint Everything pricing plan offering unlimited data starting at just $69.99 per month.

Another Ridiculous Patent Suit

Technology Patents, a Maryland entity having its principal place of business in Potomac, Md, (address P.O. Box 61220, Potomac, MD 20859, http://www.arismardirossian.com/), has filed a patent infringement suit claiming that 131 carriers, handset suppliers and application providers have infringed a patent covering global transmission of text or short message service (SMS) communications.

Technology Patents alleges that all of the defendants, which include T-Mobile, Vodafone, China Resources Peoples Telephone Company Ltd, AT&T, Samsung, Palm, Microsoft, and Yahoo! (among the 131 defendants), have caused international text or SMS messages to be sent to and from Maryland, thereby resulting in infringement of the asserted patents in Maryland.

TPLLC has asked for a permanent injunction against the defendants, enjoining them from providing international messaging operations and capabilities in the U.S. market.

My views on this, as previously mentioned, are that there is way too much use of "patents" as a business weapon or means of extortion, and too little use of patents as a genuine way to spur the formation of intellectual capital. We aren't talking about one or two "infringers." We are talking virtually the entire global telecommunications industry here. Can that possibly be the case? Or is this yet another example of "prior art" that should never have been given patent status in the first place?

It's crap.

iPhone Not Enterprise Class? Avaya Says It Is

Avaya says its Avaya one-X Mobile unified communications platform will support Apple iPhone. The company also announced the availability of Avaya one-X™ Mobile for RIM, Palm, Java and WAP mobile devices. The first company to announce access to enterprise communications from the iPhone, Avaya now extends this access from the broadest range of mobile devices of any enterprise communications manufacturer today.

Avaya one-X Mobile unites enterprise and mobile networks, allowing the two to work together more effectively while increasing the value of existing investments in communications infrastructure.

With Avaya one-X Mobile, mobile devices from Apple, RIM, Palm, Motorola, LG, Nokia, Samsung, Sanyo, Sony Ericsson and others become endpoints on the corporate network.

From the iPhone, users will have iPhone optimized access to the Avaya one-X Mobile interface, providing the same ability to make the iPhone their personal remote control for enterprise communications.

RIM Lawsuit is Silly

Most litigation in the U.S. business markets is crap. So put Research in Motion into the camp of crappers. RIM is suing to prevent LG from using the words "Black Label, Strawberry and Black Cherry" for its wireless phones, arguing that the "fruit" names are too similar to its own, and infringe on its trademarks.

I don't know. I just can't imagine anybody confusing a BlackBerry with any other device, no matter what the name.

LG isn't the only company to have faced a challenge from RIM over the BlackBerry name. Last December, RIM filed a suit in the same court against Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. alleging that company's BlackJack wireless device was creating confusion between the two products. RIM and Samsung settled the suit.

The current dispute with LG appears to go back to March, 2006, when LG filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to use the Black Label brand.

Over the next 10 months, LG filed additional applications for the Chocolate Black Label Series, Black Jewel, Black Jewelry, Blackruby, Blackpearl, and Pearlring names, which were disputed by RIM, the complaint alleges.

Then in May, 2007, U.S. wireless carrier Verizon Wireless allegedly asked RIM for permission to use the names Black Cherry and Blueberry for the line of Chocolate wireless devices it carried from LG. RIM said no.

It's crap, really.

In Business, BlackBerry Users Happiest

BlackBerry devices manufactured by Research in Motion rank highest in overall customer satisfaction among business wireless smartphone users, according to J.D. Power and Associates.

RIM ranks highest in overall smartphone customer satisfaction with a score of 702 points on a 1,000-point scale, performing particularly well in the operating system factor, which includes the speed of moving between applications and speed of sending/receiving e-mails. RIM also performs particularly well in battery aspects, including the length of battery life. Treo manufacturer Palm (698) and Samsung (698) tie to closely follow RIM in the ranking.

Highly satisfied owners are more than 50 percent more likely to repurchase the same brand than those who are not satisfied with their smartphone, J.D. Power says.

Google Launches Mobile Assault

Count Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile amongst its carrier partners. Count Samsung and Motorola among its handset partners. Don't look for Symbian or Nokia support, as Google will launch a rival operating system based on Linux, integrating Gmail, mapping and optimized search.

The phones are expected to come on the market around the middle of 2008 and will feature Google software as the anchor around which third party apps also will be added.

About 25 alliance partners already are working with Google.

at&t seems to have some barriers to working with Google as a result of its Apple deal, while Verizon might still be worried about facing Google as a rival network operator. Still, Google's new push will help create a new category of mobile devices not optimized around voice, email or music, but around Web applications.

New Verizon Wireless Prepay Plans

Verizon Wireless today announced new INpulse prepay plans essentially customized for various lighter use or episodic use modes.The new plans, INpulse Core, INpulse Plus and INpulse Power, charge customers a daily access fee only on the days of use and include unlimited calling to Verizon Wireless customers nationwide.

INpulse Core offers daily access at 99 cents and calls at 10 cents a minute. Text messages are charged at 10 cents for each message. INpulse Plus costs $1.99 a day, on the days a user wants to talk or text, with unlimited night minutes and voice calling at five cents a minute and five-cent text messages.

INpulse Power costs $2.99, with unlimited night minutes of use and calls at two cents a minute. Text messages cost two cents each.

Customers who set up an INpulse account with an initial payment of $15 may purchase any Verizon Wireless phone (excluding smartphones, PDAs) at the same price as Verizon Wireless customers who sign a one-year customer agreement.

In addition, INpulse Core, INpulse Plus and INpulse Power customers who decide later to move to monthly postpay customer agreements may now keep their INpulse prepay phone numbers when they switch plans. INpulse account balances will be used as a credit toward the new postpay monthly customer agreement.

Verizon Wireless offers INpulse in pre-packaged plans built around three handsets, including $10 of airtime at activation. Those phones are the Samsung SCH-u340, the
Samsung SCH-a870 and the Motorola RAZR V3m.

Microsoft Aims to Mobilize the Enterprise

One issue enterprise information technology staffs must contend with is the difficulty of managing and securing mobile devices used by enterprise associates in the same way they manage desktop PCs. But Microsoft thinks it has a solution. Microsoft next year will roll out the Microsoft System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008, a new mobile-dedicated server solution that helps companies manage Windows Mobile phones as they would their Windows-based laptops and PCs.

Using Mobile Device Manager, companies can deliver new applications to phones over the air as well as by mobile virtual private network. Samsung's Blackjack II smart phone and at&t Wireless are two early partners.

Blackjack II, a new Windows Mobile 6 phone featuring GPS that will be updatable to support Mobile Device Manager, will be deployed by at&t in a Mobile Device Manager 2008 configuration.

In fact, at&t and Sprint both say they will support Mobile Device Manager for business customers next year.

Sprint Launches Airave Femtocell Service

I happen to live in one of the neighborhoods in Denver where Sprint is rolling out its new Airave femtocell network, and i do have mobile service with Sprint (I also use Verizon, T-Mobile and at&t). That doesn't necessarily mean I am going to test it or use it, but I can. The service also is available in some parts of Indianapolis.

Make no mistake: this is a landline replacement service. In my case the incremental cost of the femtocell service, offset by the abandonment of my landline, would save $20 a month or so. That might be an interesting number for lots of consumers.

It makes possible unlimited incoming, outgoing, and long distance calls using any handset Sprint sells and supports. As I have argued before, handset freedom will be vitally important in the fixed-mobile convergence space. Dual-mode phones don't make as much sense to me, for precisely that reason.

Airave vastly improves indoor mobile coverage (something desperately needed in my neigborhood. All you have to do is watch all my neighbors out on their front porches talking on their mobiles.

Airave costs $15 per month for individuals and $30 per month for families, above the existing wireless plan any user has.

The Airave base station costs $49.99. Sprint plans to make the AIRAVE available later this year to customers in the remainder of Denver and Indianapolis, along with Nashville, and to customers nationwide in 2008.

The Samsung-built Airave base station covers approximately 5,000 square feet. Up to three Sprint subscribers can use the AIRAVE simultaneously as long as they are registered with the device.

Airave is Sprint's answer to T-Mobile's HotSpot@Home service. So watch the deployment numbers, when they ultimately are available.