Top 5 Most-anticipated Smartphones of 2010

According to sources at CNET.com, the following smartphones are the years most anticipated models and are definitely going to make some noise upon their release.

Windows Phone 7

With the introduction of Windows Phone 7, people are, once again, interested in Microsoft's mobile operating system. WP7 brings with it a complete overhaul of the user interface and additional features, such as the integration of Zune and Xbox Live. Unfortunately, devices won't be ready to ship till the holiday season.

Samsung Galaxy S

Introduced at CTIA 2010, the Samsung Galaxy S is Samsung's latest Google Android phone, and it might be their best one yet. The Android 2.1 device boasts a brilliant 4-inch Super AMOLED screen and can play back video at 720p resolution. In addition, Samsung will work with content partners so you can download full-length movies, TV shows, and even books and magazines. The Samsung Galaxy S is expected to be available in the U.S. this summer and, rumor has it, all carriers will get it.

Motorola i1

The Motorola i1 is the first push-to-talk Google Android smartphone due to launch on Sprint Nextel's iDEN network. It will support Nextel's Direct Connect services and, like a lot of Nextel's handsets, the i1 meets Military Specifications 810f so it can withstand dust, shock, vibration, rain, humidity, fog, and more. Other highlights include a 5-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, and the Opera mini browser. Pricing and a release date have not been revealed at this time.

Kyocera Zio M6000

At CTIA 2010, Kyocera introduced its first Google Android phone, the Zio M6000. It's the first U.S. smartphone from Kyocera, as well. The Zio runs Android 1.6, and offers a 3.5-inch QVGA touch screen, a 3.2-megapixel camera, and support for 3G EV-DO networks. It will be available in Q2 for $169 to $219 before carrier subsidy. Cricket Wireless is already on-board, and we hear Sprint might be, too.

HTC Desire

Introduced alongside the HTC Legend, the HTC Desire is like the Nexus One but with HTC's Sense user experience rather than the standard Android interface. This means you'll get HTC's widgets, including a couple of new ones like revamped mail and agenda widgets. Also, in the browser, you can now do a long-press over some text to bring up a bar that allows you to select a word that you can then look up in the dictionary or on Wikipedia. The HTC Desire is available in Europe now, but will be headed to U.S. Cellular this summer.

Top 5 Most-anticipated Smartphones of 2010

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8 Ways to Further Enhance Your Smartphone

Is your smartphone being used to it's maximum potential? Chances are that it probably is not, which is the case with most smartphone owners who typically push their devices up to only about half of their full potential. Here are 8 fantastic smartphone apps to help your Android, BlackBerry, or iPhone become much more than you thought it possibly could. Thanks to PC World for the info!


Turn Apps Into a Social Activity

Want to show off all your apps to your friends? Interested in how other Android users rate the apps they have downloaded? AppBrain is the service for you. AppBrain creates a personal app catalog that you can share with other users, as well as peruse the apps of your AppBrain friends and other users. For Apple users, similar services exist for the iPhone, too. Download AppsFire or Appfinder from the iTunes App Store to start sharing your favorite apps.


Communicate With All Your Friends via Fring

A unifying social networking platform for your mobile phone, Fring allows you to use one single app to communicate across multiple social networking platforms, including AIM, GoogleTalk, ICQ, Skype, Twitter, and Yahoo Messenger. Fring eliminates the need to download specialized apps for each social network or communication tool; now you only have to worry about which friends you want to reach. Fring is available for iPhone, Android, and Nokia devices.


Make Your Android Powered Phone Location-Aware

The smartphone app Locale for Android lets you set automatic preferences for your phone based on your location. If, say, you tend to forget to turn your ringer off when you reach the office, just customize your phone using Locale to switch your ringer to vibrate whenever you get to work. Once you experience Locale's power and convenience, you'll never want to be without it.


Get Around Town With Ease

Hopstop is one of the best ways to plan bus and subway routes in cities with massive (and often confusing) transit systems. Hopstop is available in 16 U.S. cities, including Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. The Hopstop service is available as a mobile Web application compatible with any smartphone that has a browser. For Apple handset users, the Hopstop iPhone app includes phone numbers for taxi services. An SMS version is available for directions, as well.


Find Wi-Fi in Your Area

Apple may have cut Wi-Fi stumblers out of the App Store, but you can still turn to Wi-Fi directories such as JiWire's Wi-Fi Finder to discover over 280,000 hotspots in 140 countries worldwide. JiWire also has an app for Android. A similar service, WeFi, can also help you find a nearby Wi-Fi hotspot; in fact, Fring recently released a WeFi add-on.


Master Automated Menus

Dial Zero is a free application for Android, BlackBerry, and iPhone that promises to deliver the best phone number or strategy for getting a human being on the phone when you're calling a company's toll-free number. Just as Fonolo.com allows you to skip automated menu services for big companies, so does Dial Zero. The major difference is that Fonolo.com automates the process, limiting the number of companies it works with. Dial Zero, in contrast, offers instructions and tricks on how you can reach a real person.


Compare Prices With ShopSavvy

You can find many applications out there that turn your smartphone into a bar-code reader, but the best one out there is ShopSavvy. This app quickly scans any product bar code to do price-comparison shopping online and at local stores. You can also create wish lists or set up price alerts based on your scanned items. ShopSavvy is available for Android, iPhone, and Nokia smartphone devices.


Use Your iPhone as a Mouse

For iPhone users, Logitech offers a handy free app called TouchMouse that turns your iPhone into a wireless mouse by way of your Wi-Fi network. This could be great if you wanted to sit back on the couch and control a laptop hooked up to a TV, for instance. All you need is the iPhone app and the desktop software for Windows or Mac. If you find TouchMouse difficult to control, adjust the "Scrolling Speed" option under "Settings" on the iPhone app.

8 Ways to Further Enhance Your Smartphone

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Android Shakes Up U.S. Smartphone Market Outselling the iPhone

According to information from The NPD Group's Mobile Phone Track there has been a shift in the smartphone market as the Android OS has edged out Apple's iPhone OS for the number-two position just behind RIM. NPD’s leading wireless market research reveals that based on unit sales last quarter, the Android operating system moved into the second position at 28%, ahead of Apple’s OS at 21%, while RIM's OS remained at the number one spot with 36%.

"As in the past, carrier distribution and promotion have played a crucial role in determining smartphone market share," said Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis for NPD. "In order to compete with the iPhone, Verizon Wireless has expanded its buy-one-get-one offer beyond RIM devices to now include all of their smartphones."

Strong sales of the Droid, Droid Eris, and Blackberry Curve via these promotions helped keep Verizon Wireless’s smartphone sales on par with AT&T in Q1. According to NPD’s Mobile Phone Track, smartphone sales at AT&T comprised nearly a third of the entire smartphone market (32%), followed by Verizon Wireless (30%), T-Mobile (17%) and Sprint (15%).

"Recent previews of BlackBerry 6, the recently announced acquisition of Palm by HP, and the pending release of Windows Phone 7 demonstrates the industry’s willingness to make investments to address consumer demand for smartphones and other mobile devices," Rubin said. "Carriers continue to offer attractive pricing for devices, but will need to present other data-plan options to attract more customers in the future."

The continued popularity of messaging phones and smartphones resulted in slightly higher prices for all mobile phones, despite an overall drop in the number of mobile phones purchased in the first quarter. The average selling price for all mobile phones in Q1 reached $88, which is a 5 percent increase from Q1 2009. Smartphone unit prices, by comparison, averaged $151 in Q1 2010, which is a 3 percent decrease over the previous year.

[via NPD.com]

Android Shakes Up U.S. Smartphone Market Outselling the iPhone

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