Apple's tablet market falls to 50.4%

The old Silicon Valley joke, which claimed that “there is no tablet market, only an iPad market,” is obviously no longer true. 

Apple‘s tablet market share has dropped to 50.4% in Q3 2012, down from 59.7% in the same period last year, IDC’s latest report reveals.

Samsung, on the other hand, has experienced huge growth, jumping from 6.5% to 18.4% in that same period. Amazon holds the third place with 9%, followed by Asus with 8.6% and Lenovo with 1.4%.

According to IDC’s numbers, Samsung shipped 5.1 million tablets worldwide in 3Q12, up 115% from 2Q12 and 325% from 3Q11.

Amazon is in good position because rapidly expanding Kindle Fire lineup has helped it double its market share quarter-over-quarter.

30 million units of Galaxy S3 are sold

Samsung has released the sales figures and according to them, the company has sold, 30 million Samsung Galaxy S III devices worldwide. That’s quite the impressive figure, and shows a substantial growth of 10 million units in just two months. Samsung’s announcement comes on the heels of news in which the company said 3 million Galaxy Note II units have been sold across the world.

It’s fantastic news for Samsung, and Android as a whole, as we head into the busy holiday season. Samsung revealed just how much time and effort went into the making of its S III, and the numerous rave reviews — and now, sales — show it was all time well spent. With Jelly Bean rolling out to the device all over the world, the sales are expected to only increase during the final stretch of 2012.

Courtesy: The Verge

Android growth chart: Nov 2012

Google has released the growth chart of Android Versions, with new Jelly Bean.

At merely 2.7%, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean usage has jumped just 0.9% compared to September, 2012. The OS debuted exactly 6 months ago, in Jun 2012, and despite Samsung and HTC's best efforts to update their high-end devices, Jelly Bean still needs help.

Ice Cream Sandwich distribution is also on the rise clocking in at 25.8%, almost 2 points up from last month. With most manufacturers having completed their scheduled ICS updates, we don't expect this number to continue to climb. Especially with the majority shifting their attention to Jelly Bean.

Finally, Gingerbread is continuing to drop from 55.8% in September to 53.9% in October. With most devices comprising this number being low-end droids that would never see an update in their life, this number isn't likely to plummet anytime soon.

Courtesy: GSMArena

Samsung ATIV Odyssey Windows Phone 8 device coming soon

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer just revealed that the Samsung ATIV Odyssey Windows Phone 8 smartphone will be coming to Verizon Wireless this December. The Odyssey is Samsung's first ATIV smartphone in the US and joins the HTC Windows Phone 8X and Nokia Lumia 822 in Verizon's Windows Phone 8 lineup. However, Microsoft did not provide and details regarding Odyssey's specs or pricing.

Courtesy: The Verge

Google announces new Nexus tablets and smartphone

Google announced lots of new hardware today via blog post, after an event in New York was canceled in anticipation of Hurricane Sandy. The major announcements are:

Google Nexus 4: Nexus 4 is Google's latest smartphone, developed together with LG. It has a quad-core processor which means it's super fast, a crisp 4.7" (320 ppi) display that's perfect for looking at photos and watching YouTube, and with wireless charging you just set the phone down on a charging surface to power it up, no wires needed.

• Google Nexus 4 smartphone: Developed with LG, it features a quad-core processor, a 4.2-inch display, 8 MP Photo Sphere camera and a wireless charging feature that lets you power the phone by setting it down on a charging service. It runs Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) and a feature called Photo Sphere for creating 360-degree panoramas. The phone goes on sale Nov. 13 for $299.

• Google Nexus 7: Nexus 7 now comes in new Wi-Fi models that are 16GB (for $199) and 32GB (for $249). Google also is making a version available with an HSPA+ cellular connection -- $32GB for $299. It's on sale Nov. 13.

• Google Nexus 10: developed with Samsung, offers what Google calls the highest-resolution screen in the tablet marketplace at 300 pixels per square inch. That 2560 by 1600 pixel display will still get nine hours of video playback, Google says. And it has an account-switching feature that lets multiple users share the tablet more easily. The 16GB model goes for for $399; the 32GB model costs for $499. It's available from Nov. 14.

Google also announced updates for Google Now and Google Play

• Google Play: More entertainment, more countries. A ton of great new entertainment items are added to Google Play, such as movies and TV shows from Twentieth Century Fox. Earlier this year the service was expanded service beyond movie rentals and now you can purchase movies and build a library of your favorites in Google Play. Movie purchasing is available in more countries - Canada, the U.K., France, Spain and Australia.

• Google Now: Its predictive-search feature that presents information on a series of cards without the user having to search. In addition to weather and traffic information, cards will now display flight information, restaurant reservations, hotel confirmations and shipping details. 

Courtesy: CNET

HTC OneX JellyBean Update in October for Asia and Europe

HTC announced that Android 4.1 would roll out for its One X and One S handsets in October, and it looks like the company has hit one of its targets.

Android Central reports that the Jelly Bean update has already started rolling out for customers with the HTC One X in Asia and Europe. The Android update will also include HTC's Sense 4+ skin, two new Gallery app views, a refreshed HTC Watch app, and Google Now. There's no word on when the update will hit in the US.

Courtesy: The Verge

IE and Firefox Cake giving tradition

Internet Explorer is no longer the best web browser, its dominated by Firefox and chrome. But it does not stop the Redmond company to stop the its team from continuing its cake-giving tradition with the makers of Firefox.

According to Mozilla employee Matt Brubeck, the IE team began it all when it sent over a cake to congratulate the company on the launch of Firefox 2 in 2006. Since then, the Internet Explorer crew has continued to send over cakes for each new version, though they smartly switched over to less-costly cupcakes when Mozilla began its accelerated 6-week upgrade cycles. 

To return the favor, Matt hand delivered a massive cake to celebrate the launch of Internet Explorer 10 this week to the Microsoft team's headquarters in Redmond, and signed it "Love  Mozilla." Competition  is only in the field of business, not in kindness.

Courtesy: The Verge