Hasta La Gadget!

The two new iPhones, iPhone 5c and iPhone 5S, which were released late last year might have bumped up Apple’s smartphone sales, but appears that even they could not stop the smartphone’s market share from falling down. Kantar Worldpanel ComTech has released the latest figures which indicate that in the three months ending November 2013, Apple’s smartphone market share dropped in almost all regions as compared to the same time back in 2012. On the other hand, both Android and Windows Phone market share grew during the same period. Apple is down almost 9.9 percent in the U.S. whereas Android and Windows Phone are up 8 percent and 2.1 percent respectively.

Windows Phone was able to perform particularly well in Europe where its now the third largest OS with over 10 percent of the market share, double than what it commanded just last year. Dominic Sunnebo, insight director at Kantar, said that despite strong sales of its new iPhones, Apple found it increasingly hard to post year-on-year market share gains due to “resurgent performances” by LG, Sony and Nokia. Japan is the only market where Apple closed out on top with over 69 percent of the smartphone market share. This doesn’t come as a surprise, given the fact that Japan is one of Apple’s fastest growing markets.

Market Research Indicates Fall In iPhone Market Share original content from Ubergizmo.

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Bluetooth speakers are all the same right? You connect your phone to them to wirelessly beam bumping music. Not Vizio’s brand new Smart Audio speakers though. Vizio’s Bluetooth speakers also have a freaking Android tablet running Kit Kat built in. Yes, there are 7-inch and 4.7-inch tablets on speakers now.

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Google is hoping to do it again with Android — and cars. The 2007 Open Handset Alliance helped drive Google’s mobile OS from new-kid-on-the-block to dominant force in smartphones. Today, the company has announced the Open Automotive Alliance (OAA) to attempt the same trick but for cars — persuading a small coterie of car makers and others to join it as founder members of the OAA.

As well as Mountain View itself, Audi, GM, Honda, Hyundai and NVIDIA have put their names to the OAA, which is described as “a global alliance of technology and auto industry leaders committed to bringing the Android platform to cars starting in 2014″. The OAA will be focused on establishing a common platform for Android integration with connected cars.

Google notes:

We’re working with our partners to enable better integration between cars and Android devices in order to create a safer, car optimized experience. We’re also developing new Android platform features that will enable the car itself to become a connected Android device. Stay tuned for more details coming soon.

As with Android, Google is a little late to the party here: back in June Apple confirmed it is working with car makers on an initiative called ‘iOS in The Car’ to enable iDevice owners to use their gadgets to do stuff like play music, display maps, dictate messages in their cars, starting in 2014.

Car makers signed up to Apple’s earlier automotive initiative are a little more plentiful and include Honda, Mercedes Benz, Nissan, Ferrari, Chevy, Infiniti, Kia, Hyundai, Volvo, Jaguar, and Acura. (So Honda and Hyundai are playing in both camps.)

The first cars with “Android integration” are expected by the end of this year, according to the OAA’s inaugural release (it does not say which car maker is expected to be first).