Hasta La Gadget!

Finnish manufacturer Nokia shipped the most smartphones in 2008, but its worldwide market share continues to decrease as rivals roll out popular, high-profile handsets, according to Gartner. It also said Apple and Research In Motion commanded some of the biggest year-over-year gains at Nokia’s expense, with HTC showing a healthy increase as well.

According to the research firm, Nokia sold 60.9 million smartphones last year for a total market share of 43.7 percent. That’s more than double the market share of its closest competitor, Research In Motion, which commanded 16.6 percent.

But even as Nokia continues to claim the biggest piece of cell phone pie, its outlook is mixed. From 2007, Nokia’s smartphone sales grew by just 0.8 percent and its market share dropped from 49.4 percent. While Gartner predicts that the company’s low-end smartphones will continue to remain competitive, its higher-end N series handsets are facing stiff competition.

Thanks to devices like the BlackBerry Bold and the BlackBerry Storm, RIM’s market share went from 9.6 percent in 2007 to 16.6 percent in 2008. It also boosted overall sales by 96.7 percent.

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We got to play with the Viliv S5 at CES, and now the gang at UMPC Portal have some detailed impressions they’d like to share with the world. The haptic touchscreen device has “one of the best” on-screen keyboards this reviewer’s seen, although it pales in comparison to a physical keyboard. Other minor issues include a lack of a microphone and physical mouse pointer, though you could quite conceivably get along just fine without ’em. That said, this bad boy apparently has “an overall good feeling” that makes the reviewer want to use the device more and give the touchscreen typing situation “a chance.” Kudos for the “incredibly impressive” battery life, and not even the lack of 3G and an SSD prevents him from declaring it “the best pocketable UMPC,” one that “raises the bar.” But that ain’t all — check out the video after the break for the handheld in all its glory.

Continue reading Viliv S5 MID detailed impressions, now with video!

Filed under: Handhelds

Viliv S5 MID detailed impressions, now with video! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Mar 2009 19:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This week we discuss Palm’s latest phone for Sprint, and no, it’s not the Pre. We also go over the new Nokia phones, our take on the Verizon Hub, more reviews, and of course, we answer your questions.

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Nokia tunes up new music phones
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Originally posted at Dialed In Podcast

Just in case the HDGuru didn’t carry enough credibility for you, Panasonic has finally issued a press release with prices and shipping months for most of its 2009 VIERA brand lineup. We’ve taken a peek, and everything appears to line up with the leaked figures, including that slim wireless HD equipped Z1 and its $5,999 pricetag, while only copping to a summer ship date. The rest of the lineup proceeds downward in pricing and features from there, the wall-busting details are but a mere click of the read link away.

Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Panasonic 2009 VIERA HDTVs official pricing revealed originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Mar 2009 19:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, after weeks of speculations and false alarms, it looks like T-Mobile’s officially saying the “Cupcake” Android update will hit the G1 sometime next month. That’s at least the word according to the T-Mo spokeperson Pocket-lint got hold of — who went out of his way to disclaim any connection with the upcoming launch of the HTC Magic. In any event, we’re hoping all this bake time has fixed some of those bugs and lag problems, but we’ll see in a few weeks.

[Via Talk Android]

Filed under: Cellphones

Cupcake Android update coming to G1 in April originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Mar 2009 18:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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