When we first laid eyes on the LG Viewty’s spec-sheet, we knew LG had a sure winner on their hands. The LG Viewty mates a 3-inch touchscreen display with a high quality Schneider Kreuznach 5-megapixel camera that doesn’t compromise functionality just because its part of a cellphone. With auto-focus, image stabilization, xenon flash, the ability to record video at 120fps, and world renowned optics, the LG Viewty can hang with the best point-and-shoot cameras on the market.
And, with an array of available color options, it’s no wonder LG has sold over 5 million units worldwide. LG has announced today that their 5 megaixel cameraphone has found homes in 350,000 South Korean pockets and 4,650,000 pockets across Europe and Asia. The LG Viewty’s success sets LG up for a repeat success with their Viewty successor - the 8 megapixel LG KC910 Renoir.
LG is making some serious headway into a cameraphone market that desperately needs to see hardware geared towards more serious camera features. Let’s hope LG brings the Renoir to CES 2009!
There’s little doubt that 2009 is going to see a continued slide in mobile phone sales. The decreased growth in cellphone sales that started in late-2008 was buoyed by the success of the smartphone market, but it now seems that even the hot-ticket smartphone segment will see a downturn in market growth for 2009.
But, even the stormiest of financial clouds has its silver lining. In this case, big-name handset manufacturers might benefit from the global cellphone market’s slowdown. Market leaders like Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and Samsung will still take a hit in mobile phone sales, but will likely weather the storm better than their smaller, lower-profile competitors. The weakened global economy that is widely believed to be dousing the mobile market’s once-growing flames may end up entrenching market incumbents. Smaller players will likely see their market share eroded significantly.
Forecasts for mobile phone sales range from a 3.5% decrease in sales to as much as a 14% decline from the handset market’s booming success in 2007 and 2008.
Motorola (NYSE: MOT), Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE), and Palm (NSDQ: PALM) are expected to take their fair share of beatings in 2009. The trio has seen their market share slowly being gobbled up by the likes of Nokia and Samsung, and 2009 may prove to be an even harsher year.
It’s unclear just how much more market share the top-dogs will pick up by the end of 2009, especially if the market turns around in mid- to late-2009.
With the UIQ codebase integrated into the SymbianSymbian OS holdings Foundation’s comprehensive , UIQ’s future as a stand-alone mobile operating system is bleak. And, with news today that UIQ, which is jointly owned by Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) and Motorola (NYSE: MOT), has filed for bankruptcy, the UIQ platform is all but dead.
We’ve been expecting UIQ to slowly become phased out of the mobile space, but the bankruptcy filing is a bit of a surprise. “There are no opportunities to create a new line of business in the current financial climate,” UIQ Chief Executive Johan Sandberg told Reuters.
With the Symbian Foundation promising an open-source environment for the Symbian ecosystem, UIQ is now a thing of the past. UIQ employees have been warned of impending layoffs and we’d imagine that the company is gearing up to liquidate anything that’s not bolted down (and possibly even stuff that is bolted down).
The company’s insolvency announcement puts the final nail in the coffins of many UIQ-based handsets that were rumored to be in development. Unfortunately, that likely also means that Motorola’s investment in UIQ is a red-stain on Moto’s balance sheet.
This is strictly still in “rumor-land,” but the latest murmurs along the grapevine indicate that T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) won’t be endowing their T-Mobile Shadow II with high-speed 3G wireless data speeds. T-Mobile has just recently started to roll out devices with support for the carrier’s 3G network on the AWS 1700Mhz frequency band, but word on the street is that the Shadow II (expected to be called the Shadow 2009) won’t be one of T-Mo’s 3G handsets.
The Shadow II picks up where the original, consumer-friendly Shadow left off. We’re looking forward to the Shadow 2009 (Shadow II) packin’ Windows Mobile 6.1 and support for T-Mobile’s HotSpot @Home UMA service. Unfortunately, wireless data speeds will be limited to GPRS/EDGE speeds.
Interestingly, the T-Mobile Shadow II showed up at the FCC with support for the 1700Mhz frequency band. That little tidbit alone is enough to keep our hopes of a 3G-capable T-Mobile Shadow 2009 alive and kicking.
If you’ve been holding out on Google (NSDQ: GOOG) making their own computer OS, some enterprising individuals have shoehorned Android onto this EE-PC here. Aw, our little robot is growing up. Isn’t that cute? Just don’t get too excited - as outlined in their FAQ on the project, there are some fundamental limitations that don’t make it viable for full PCs, but it does foretell a promising future for Android in places other than phones. In terms of evolution, it’s interesting that unlike Windows Mobile, Android is starting with mobile and working its way up to the desktop computer, and just like WinMo, could provide great interoperability between phone and computer operating system; what do you think, will Android succeed it making the leap?
The folks at Unify4Life first popped on the scene back at last years’ CES. They demonstrated and delivered a remote control system that allows you to control all of your audio and video equipment from the palm (NSDQ: PALM) of your hand… From your BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM). Incredibly cool.
By the sounds of things, it looks like the folks at Unify4Life have been busy bees getting a new application ready for the Berry-loving public, and I think it’ll be a hit. Called Garage|Shadow, the new app will let BlackBerry users open and close their garage door from their BlackBerry device. How cool is that? After a long day at work, no doubt most berry-toting professionals will appreciate the ability to open their garage door with a simple input on their Berry. No doubt most folks will be talking or texting on their Berry at the time anyway
Garage|Shadow will be demonstrated at CES from the RIM booth, and is apparently due out in early April of this year. Look for more news on this one shortly.
It’s always a little sad when OS gaps are big enough for third parties to make whole products out of them (BBSmart’s BlackBerry HTML e-mail viewer and the variouscut and pasteutilities on the iPhone come to mind), and one of the more noticeable holes in the BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) Storm is an unlocked screen when taking phone calls. That means unexpected hangups, starting conference calls with random people, and all sorts of nonsense. Luckily, CellAvant has cooked up this little app called TalkLock, which, as you might expect, locks down the Storm screen while you’re on the phone. Don’t know how I feel about seeing that distinctly iPhone-esque “Slide to unlock” deal on the Storm, though…
Lets say you love the look, feel and features of the beautiful HTC Touch HD. I think we can all agree it is one sexy looking device. That said, you might not be too eager to hop on to the HTC Touch HD train, mostly because you don’t want to be running Windows Mobile on the device. What if I told you that you could possibly run Android instead?
A new video has appeared on the interwebs this morning that shows the very attractive HTC Touch HD running Android in all its glory. The video quality is wonderfully horrible, but I think you’ll get the point after checking it out for yourself.
I can remember reading reports of HTC prepping the Touch HD to be the second flagship device to run Android (waaaay back in October I believe), so this video doesn’t surprise me too much. Could it be the G2? I’ve got a word in with a contact of mine at HTC… Will keep you all posted.
In a somewhat surprising and unexpected move, Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs has stepped up and published a letter to the Apple community at large to help put all of the rumors and suspicions about his health to bed. I say good on Steve for doing this, even though it’s a shame it had to come to this point. In the letter, he explains why he has Phil Schiller delivering the keynote at Macworld this year, and he also touches on a few of the details of his current health issues. Keep reading after the jump for the full letter.
For those of you that read my Android Tattoo post late last night, I happened to stumble upon a new picture for all of the Android geeks in the audience. Yes, that’s Natalie “Kommodore” Thompson pictured above… I’m going to see if I can make her even more famous. Perhaps we should get her on the line for our next podcast? I’m sure Simon wouldn’t mind calling her up?
I can already hear the ‘wheeeeing’ and whining-type noises being generated by the hardcore android geeks out there. Kind of like the sounds Mort Goldman makes (obscure Family Guy reference) from time to time. Yes, I’m a geek too.
ANYWAYS… I think I’ll shut the door on this one. Still can’t believe she has an Android ‘Andy’ tattoo. But hey, whatever floats yer boat.
When we first laid eyes on the LG Viewty’s spec-sheet, we knew LG had a sure winner on their hands. The LG Viewty mates a 3-inch touchscreen display with a high quality Schneider Kreuznach 5-megapixel camera that doesn’t compromise functionality just because its part of a cellphone. With auto-focus, image stabilization, xenon flash, the ability to record video at 120fps, and world renowned optics, the LG Viewty can hang with the best point-and-shoot cameras on the market.
With the UIQ codebase
