This week HP announced that their mobile operating system webOS will be contributed to the open source community. While HP assures us that they will be active in the development and support of webOS in the future, they’re now offering the operating system up to the “development power” of the open source community where they’re sure both applications and web services will be developed en masse for the next generation of mobile devices.
Nielsen: Android expands smartphone OS lead in Q3, Apple still top vendor
November 3, 2011 Updated at 12:00 pm
Google’s lead among smartphone platforms grew wider in the United States last quarter as Research In Motion and Microsoft each lost share to Android. Just-released data from Nielsen for the third quarter shows that Google’s share of the smartphone market in the U.S.
Samsung demands iPhone 4S source code and subsidy secrets
November 1, 2011 Updated at 9:41 am
Samsung has demanded the iPhone 4S source code so that it can hunt for potential Apple patent infringement, in the latest escalation of the legal battle between the two companies. Just weeks after Apple secured a sales ban against the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia, Samsung’s lawyers asked courts in the country to order Apple to hand over the iPhone 4S code, Smart Office reports, in addition to details on subsidies agreed with Australian carriers.
Apple Lossless Audio Codec goes Open-Source
October 28, 2011 Updated at 2:20 pm
Apple has made its Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) open-source , the company’s codec for compressing audio files without losing data – and hence music fidelity – along the way. Introduced to OS X back in 2004, and now supported on Macs, in iTunes, on iPods, iPhones and iPads, ALAC is also used in AirPlay on the AirPort Express.
Android usage poised to pass Symbian in Nokia’s backyard; iOS already No. 1
October 24, 2011 Updated at 6:00 pm
CEM4Mobile: Android on Track to Take the Pole Position ESPOO, Finland, October 24, 2011/PRNewswire/ – New Research and a Forecast: iOS Leading, Android and Symbian Head to Head Over the past several years Finland’s and the world’s leading supplier of Mobile Analytics and Customer Experience Management (CEM) for mobile content and value-added services, CEM4Mobile Solutions, has been monitoring the different trends in the mobile market. The past year has shown extremely strong growth for the market share of Android OS based devices when analyzed from usage of mobile services.
Meltemi tipped as Nokia’s new open-source OS ambition
September 29, 2011 Updated at 7:57 am
Nokia is rumored to be developing an open-source OS for its low-end handsets, codenamed Meltemi, despite having failed to drive MeeGo to the point where it could save the company’s smartphones. Apparently being led by Nokia EVP of Mobile Phones Mary McDowell, so the WSJ ‘s sources tell them, Meltemi named after “the Greek word for dry summer winds that blow across the Aegean Sea from the north.” Whatever the etymology, the rumors are likely to surprise long-time Nokia watchers who have seen the company struggle to find its footing amid the cellphone OS shake-up of the past five years.
Nokia CEO prepares troops to jump into the unknown — AKA Microsoft
February 9, 2011 Updated at 6:09 am
“We … are standing on a ‘burning platform,’ and we must decide how we are going to change our behaviour,” Nokia chief executive Stephen Elop (pictured right) wrote in an infamous memo that’s been making the rounds among news sites today. The memo, which clocks in at 1,300 words, was confirmed as legitimate by Engadget and is a clear sign that Elop aims to shake things up on Friday, when he’s due to unveil his new grand strategy for Nokia.
Visualized: Nokia R&D spending, almost 3 times its peers
February 3, 2011 Updated at 12:45 pm
Our initial reaction to the Bernstein Research chart above is to wonder what value Nokia’s massive R&D spending has achieved. Sadly, that’s our second and third reaction, too, having spent some time with the company’s Symbian OS.
Nokia loses smartphone market share and operating profit, hints at OS switch
January 27, 2011 Updated at 5:05 pm
Despite increased smartphone shipments in the fourth quarter of 2010, Nokia still lost ground to the iPhone and Android in market share — something which hurt the phone manufacturer when it came to operating profit, according to the company’s fourth quarter 2010n earnings report . But new CEO Stephen Elop has some ideas on how he can turn around Nokia’s fortune: in particular, he hinted in a call with investors that the company may consider adopting a competing operating system in its high-end end devices.
AT&T Nokia X7 cancelled: Mediocre carrier support blamed
January 20, 2011 Updated at 10:00 am
Nokia has reportedly axed plans to launch the Nokia X7 on AT&T, with insiders suggesting concerns over the amount of marketing and subsidy support the Finnish company felt it could expect from the carrier led to it pulling the plug on the deal. According to the WSJ , the X7 – which has been positioned as a gaming device in previous leaked information – will still be released in other markets.