Nielsen: Smartphones account for nearly 50 percent of US mobile phones as of February

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Joe Pollicino

Nielsen Mobile Insights' latest statistics are in -- and would you look at that. It's the rise of smartphone owners crossing paths with the decline of those still clinging to their feature-focused devices. According to its latest Smartphone Penetration report, through February 2012, 49.7 percent of US mobile phone owners now sport the "smarter" types (up from only 36 percent a year ago). On a unsurprising note, Nielsen also found that two-thirds of mobile phone buyers in the last three months purchased smartphones over dumbphones. According to its latest report on Smartphone OS shares, of those smartphone purchases, 48 percent of buyers went with Android, 43 percent landed iOS a close second and five percent helped RIM scrape the bottom of the barrel with the remaining four percent listed as "other." That said, it's a only slight deviation from January's numbers, when 51.7 percent of folks went with Android, while 37 percent went for the route leading to Apple. Don't take our word for it, though, there's another graph past the break and full details at the source link below.

Continue reading Nielsen: Smartphones account for nearly 50 percent of US mobile phones as of February

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Nielsen: Smartphones account for nearly 50 percent of US mobile phones as of February originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Mar 2012 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hands-on with LG Viper, an LTE smartphone coming to Sprint

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Zachary Lutz

Here we are in the caverns of the Venetian Hotel, where LG was kind enough to give us a quick look at the Viper -- a pre-production LTE handset that's destined for Sprint. While the device shares a similar heritage to the Connect 4G on MetroPCS, no release date is yet determined. Still, LG seems intent to join Samsung in the Now Network's futuristic 4G spotlight. The device features a 1.2GHz dual-core CPU, along with a 4-inch Nova Display and Android 2.3.7. The WVGA screen is bright, crisp and quite pleasing. While the display's coating was rather glossy, Nova Displays typically perform well in direct sunlight -- no way to test that claim today, however. A 5 megapixel camera with LED flash occupies the rear of the device, and for those moments of self-indulgence, there's also a VGA cam up front. Rounding out the media specs, LG tells us the phone will carry DLNA certification. We were also curious to learn that the Viper will be one of the more eco-friendly devices in Sprint's lineup. For example, the case is made entirely from recycled plastic and the charger is said to be quite energy efficient.

With a glossy plastic front and a brushed metal rear, the Viper is a collision of design philosophies and appears a bit dated. This felt particularly true with respect to the sides of the device, which struck us as eerily reminiscent of a fourth-generation iPod. In fact, the Viper seems a bit chunky, but that's not to suggest it's unwelcome. To the contrary, the handset felt like absolute money in the palm of our hand. Because this little guy is a work in progress, we kept our interactions with the software to a minimum. Sprint ID was apparent from the outset, and while it's unclear whether Google Wallet will come standard, LG tells us that the Viper will fully support both it and NFC. We're told that Life's Good for 2012, and we have no doubt that the folks in Overland Park would agree.

Brian Heater contributed to this report

Gallery: LG Viper hands-on at CES 2012

Filed under: Cellphones, CES

Hands-on with LG Viper, an LTE smartphone coming to Sprint originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Jan 2012 13:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DirecTV HDUI is rolling out across the land, iPad app adds 12 more live streaming channels

Posted on December 24, 2011 by Richard Lawler

DirecTV began quietly seeding its HDUI to customers back in November, but judging by our tips inbox it has recently picked up the pace of the rollout. It's live in many areas already where you're probably enjoying the sweet, sweet new guide with its 16x9 graphics and speedier interface, but if you don't yet have it, check out the thread at DBSTalk with estimated rollout dates for many areas. Also by way of the forum comes word of 12 new channels including AMC, Velocity and HD Net that were just added to DirecTV's live TV streaming iPad app. Of course, the update still won't play nicely with jailbroken iPads, so a cracked version will be required in those cases. Check out the list of channels after the break, if you're not seeing them in the app try hitting the "edit" button at the top right, finding them in the list and clicking the green plus symbol to add them manually.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading DirecTV HDUI is rolling out across the land, iPad app adds 12 more live streaming channels

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DirecTV HDUI is rolling out across the land, iPad app adds 12 more live streaming channels originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 24 Dec 2011 13:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Prada phone by LG 3.0 hands-on (video)

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Mat Smith

This is the latest fruit to be borne from LG and Prada's renewed creative partnership. It's Prada Phone by LG 3.0 and it's also an attempt to marry fashion pedigree with, if not leading technological specifications, then at least competitive ones. There's a respectable 8 megapixel autofocus camera, and LG's bright, outdoor-friendly 4.3-inch NOVA display, here projecting an 800 x 480 WVGA touchscreen. It wears its Prada branding on its sleeve, and the fashion label's creative input has even gone so far as to affect the Android OS, with understated black and white themes papered over the cheerful -- in comparison -- Gingerbread interface. So how does it stand up? Is it just another brainless designer phone? You'll have to read on to find out.

Gallery: Prada phone by LG 3.0 hands-on

Continue reading Prada phone by LG 3.0 hands-on (video)

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Prada phone by LG 3.0 hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG Prada 3.0 peeks out from the curtain ahead of its catwalk launch (update: it’s official)

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Mat Smith

While our shirt is still being pressed ahead of the launch event in London later today, yet more details have leaked on the LG Prada 3.0. Some decidedly realistic press shots have surfaced ahead of the phone's big debut, alongside some ~~concrete-looking~~ confirmed specifications. The dual-core OMAP 4430 processor seen last week is apparently clocked at 1GHz, with a high definition screen showing off a classy monotone Android skin, lying over Gingerbread version 2.3.7. The spec sheet also reveals 8GB of storage, expandable by microSD, with an eight megapixel auto-focus camera peering out from the textured backing. Interestingly, the slab with style will also pack NFC according to the leak. We've got a few more hours to wait until we can give it a personal going-over -- fashion phone obsessives, hold on.

Update: We've added the (Google-translated) press release after the break.

Gallery: LG Prada 3.0