Symbian

Samsung is still the biggest maker of mobile phones, but Apple is gaining ground, according to data released today by market researcher ComScore.

Samsung accounted for 25.6 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers for the three months ending November 11, a slight increase of 0.3 percent over the previous three months. While Apple came in fourth with 11.2 percent, its 1.4 percent increase was the greatest market share increase for the previous three months.

Samsung and Apple were the only mobile phone makers in the top 5 to boost their share of the market during that … Read more

Is it finally time to say good-bye to the Symbian name?

Nokia announced on its blog today that the Symbian Belle operating system it has been touting over the last several months has been renamed Nokia Belle.

"The all new Nokia Belle (previously Symbian Belle) user interface will soon be available for download to some existing smartphones and begin shipping with a selection of smartphones that are already on the market," the company wrote on its blog.

Nokia has been slowly but surely moving away from Symbian. Earlier this year, the company signed an agreement with Microsoft that … Read more

Amazon's Kindle Fire was one of the hottest devices tracked by ad network Millennial Media in November though it didn't debut until halfway through the month.

Millennial Media's November Mobile Mix report found that the number of ad impressions on the Fire grew at an average daily rate of 19 percent, slightly outshining the growth of the first iPad in early 2010.

"We're not just seeing millions of impressions, we're seeing a monthly run rate of hundreds of millions of impressions," said the report of the Fire.

The Kindle Fire is also facing … Read more

commentary Hewlett-Packard may think it's resuscitating WebOS by turning it into an open-source platform, but the truth is the plug was pulled a long time ago.

In a case of too little, too late, HP said it felt the open-source route was the best one for WebOS. The company is gambling that the operating system will take off on its own.

It's a bad bet. Past open-source platforms have had a mixed record of success. And people who had any interest in WebOS, whether consumers or developers, have been jerked around enough by the companies that have mismanaged … Read more

Android's surge in popularity has triggered an accompanying surge in malware aimed at the mobile OS, says a new study today from Fortinet.

Analyzing the malware landscape this year, the security vendor tracked a 90 percent jump in Android malware families in 2011 compared with 2010. That figure doesn't account for infection rates or severity, only the rise in malware seeking to infect Android devices.

In comparison, malware directed toward Apple's iOS rose by only 25 percent over last year.

Fortinet pointed to two reasons for the larger bull's eye painted on Android's back.

Google'… Read more

Android continues to woo more customers, increasing its lead over Apple's iOS in the U.S. smartphone arena, according to new stats from ComScore today.

For the three months ended October, Android's share of U.S. smartphone users grew 4.4 points over the prior three months, helping it scoop up 46.3 percent of the market. Apple stayed firmly in second place, gaining an extra percentage point to win a 28.1 percent share.

In third place was BlackBerry maker RIM with 17.2 percent of the market, a loss of 4.5 points from the prior … Read more

In the fight against malware, Apple's iOS outshines Android as a safer environment, but no mobile device is free from risk, says a new report from McAfee (PDF).

Apple has so far done a good job of securing its devices, according to the report, noting that there have been no known cases of malware affecting iPhones, at least those that haven't been jailbroken. One reason iOS is more secure is because Apple restricts the way users can download apps.

iOS device owners can only download apps through Apple's App Store or through Mobile Device Management, which gives … Read more

Android continues to outpace iOS as the top smartphone OS, but Apple remains the dominant manufacturer of handsets.

Google's mobile OS captured a 42.8 percent share of smartphone subscribers in the third quarter, according to the latest stats from Nielsen. That left Apple's iOS in second place with 28.3 percent.

The latest figures revealed gains for both platforms, according to a Nielsen report that showed Android with a 38 percent share and IOS with 27 percent during the months from March to May.

The news was less positive for the remaining players in the mobile OS … Read more

Android continues to inch its way higher as the leading mobile OS on Millennial Media, according to the ad network's October Mobile Mix report.

Google's mobile platform grabbed 56 percent of all ad impressions on the network last month, double iOS's 28 percent share, figures that include both smartphones and tablets together. Android has been the leading mobile OS on Millennial Media's network for almost a year now.

Among the rest of the pack, RIM's BlackBerry OS took home a 13 percent share, leaving 1 percent each for Nokia's Symbian, Microsoft's Windows Phone, … Read more