As Apple and Research In Motion have won a greater share in the Wi-Fi handset market over the past year, Nokia has lost share.
Though Nokia is still the leading vendor for dual-mode smartphones (Wi-Fi and cellular), its market share dropped to 35 percent in the second quarter, compared with 50 percent in the same period a year ago, according to a report released Monday from In-Stat.
The report "Wi-Fi in Mobile Phones: Dual Mode Becomes the In Thing" tracked the major Wi-Fi phone vendors, including Nokia, Apple, Research In Motion, HTC, and Samsung. Among those, Apple has enjoyed the greatest growth in market share, from 3 percent in the second quarter of 2008 to 20 percent in this year's second quarter.
Market share for both RIM and Samsung has also weakened the past few quarters, though less so than Nokia's. RIM's 15.7 percent chunk of the market for the second quarter of the year was down from its first-quarter high of 17.6 percent. Samsung's share has been relatively flat but usually dips a bit from the first to the second quarter, notes In-Stat.
In sheer unit volume, Nokia has done well the past few quarters, with 9.3 million Wi-Fi handsets shipped in the second quarter of the year compared with Apple's 5.2 million shipments. However, Nokia's shipments have dropped since the first quarter of 2008 when it saw 12 million units fly out the door. Over the same period, Apple, RIM, and HTC have seen their shipments grow.
As the No. 2 Wi-Fi handset vendor, Apple has also outsold third-place RIM in dual-mode phone shipments, says In-Stat. Though RIM still has a larger market presence, not all of its Blackberry devices include Wi-Fi. HTC and Samsung rounded out In-Stat's list as the fourth and fifth top Wi-Fi handset vendors, respectively.
(Credit:
In-Stat)
The report also detailed the growth of the Wi-Fi smartphone market overall. The industry shipped 37 million handsets in 2007, and 103 million units in 2008. That rise is because of several factors, notes In-Stat, including greater functionality, lower prices, and carrier promotions. Initially targeted to the business market, smartphones are also now an entrenched hit with consumers, which In-Stat attributes to the success of the iPhone.
Wi-Fi handset shipments are expected to rise just 25 percent to 128.4 million units for 2009. That compares with a nearly 180 percent jump in 2008.
But In-Stat sees gains ahead. By 2010, the growth rate is likely to climb to 43 percent. Though that rate may not be sustainable, it should remain strong in the coming years. Wi-Fi will also become more prevalent in mobile phones. This year, 11.5 percent of handsets include Wi-Fi; by 2012, that figure will grow to 25 percent, predicts In-Stat.
To compile the report, In-Stat relied on its own data as well as interviews with Wi-Fi equipment vendors.
Kohjinsha's transforming dual-display notebook.
(Credit: Scott Ard/CNET)CHIBA, Japan--This otherwise run-of-the-mill laptop from local PC purveyor Kohjinsha has not one, but two widescreen displays.
One of the 10.1-inch screens actually slides behind the other, so it's able to be closed like a normal laptop. When they slideout they form an admittedly odd-looking, but useful dual display setup.
Also inside the laptop: a 1.6 Ghz AMD Athlon Neo-MV40, 4GB of memory, Bluetooth, a TV tuner, and a biometric fingerprint reader. The OS will be Windows 7 Home Premium, graphics are DirectX 10 compatible, and the whole thing weighs about 4 pounds. More photos of the sliding screens in action after the jump.... Read more
Since my CES blog on Netgear's WNDR3700, I have received a numerous e-mails asking about the availability of the product. Today, I can provide readers with a definitive answer.
Netgear announced Tuesday the immediate availability of what it calls "the ultimate networking machine for gamers, media enthusiasts, and small businesses," the RangeMax Dual Band Wireless-N Gigabit router WNDR3700.
The WNDR3700 wireless router
(Credit: Netgear)This is Netgear's highest-end draft-N router that offers true dual-band (concurrent signals in both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency bands), as well as other features such as ReadyShare for high-speed access to a USB hard drive from any device on the network, broadband usage metering, Digital Living Network Alliance support and video quality of service.
According to Netgear, the router is equipped with a 680MHz processor to offer up to 500Mbps WAN to LAN speeds and up to 350Mbps real-world wireless throughput. It's also on of the first consumer wireless routers that compatible with DLNA-certified products. This supposedly makes it better at streaming digital media than other non-DLNA compatible routers.
The broadband usage metering is actually the first to be seen in a consumer-grade wireless router. This is a feature that lets users monitor the download traffic used; it is especially useful for broadband users with bandwidth quotas, such as Comcast members.
The RangeMax Dual Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router is now available worldwide. The router comes with a one-year warranty, 24/7 technical support, and has an estimated price of $190. You can get it now or wait for my review of the product, which will be available later this month.
OS X 10.6 includes Boot Camp 3.0, a new collection of software drivers that make Windows run much better on Mac hardware.
(Credit: Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET)Every time I see the "I'm a Mac/I'm a PC" ads on TV, I can't help but wonder, "Why not both?" And it has never been a better time for that.
Overall, personally, I found that while the new Mac OS doesn't warrant a "wow," it's still definitely worth the $29 upgrade price. Snow Leopard offers an even more streamlined Mac experience than Leopard and noticeably faster interface responsiveness. The application performance, however, is slightly slower than it is with Leopard, at least on the MacBook Pro we used as our test machine. As the OS is now a pure 64-bit operating system, expect the application performance to improve over Leopard as you add RAM or use it with a high-end desktop.
Mac users can read more about Snow Leopard in my colleague Jason Parker's full review. On the other hand, for Windows users, especially Windows 7, the release of Snow Leopard is straight-on great news.
Boot Camp 3.0 enables Windows to read files from OS X's partition.
(Credit: Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET)I recently blogged about running Windows 7 on a 15-inch Unibody Macbook Pro, which required some tweaking with Boot Camp 2.1. Snow Leopard comes with Boot Camp 3.0, which makes installing and running Windows on a laptop a much more pleasant experience.
First of all, the new Boot Camp includes all the drivers necessary to run both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7 smoothly on the Mac hardware.
(Note that you only need to run the Boot Camp Assistant, BCA, if you want to dual-boot OS X and Windows on the same machine. The utility will then create a new partition for the installation of Windows. In this case, make sure you run the BCA first when the computer boots up to avoid file errors. If you want to run just Windows and skip OS X altogether, you can boot from the Windows 7 install DVD and start the installation the way you would install the OS on any PC from scratch.)
After the installation is done, Boot Camp 3.0 can be installed from the Snow Leopard DVD. Then, without further ado, you got yourself a great Windows computer.
... Read more
From this angle the screen almost looks like sunglasses, with cold, dead eyes watching you underneath...
(Credit: Josh P. Miller/CNET)They say that once you've had two displays, you'll never walk away. (Well, I don't know if they actually say that, but i think you get the idea.) From my time spent with the EVGA InterView Dual Monitor System I'd tend to agree. Having two screens at my disposal really does seem to increase my productivity. Being able to write on one screen while referencing another--as I'm doing now--really makes for an efficient working environment.
The most unique feature of the display is its ability to rotate each screen back 180 degrees. While the casual user may not have much practical use for this, the business user, especially those who conduct plenty of office meetings, could probably come up with a number of justifications for owning this.
For its purposes, the only real stumbling block is price. At $650 you're going to need lots of justification to convince your IS department that your livelihood depends on owning this. Check out my full review of the EVGA InterView Dual Monitor System to see if that price is worth it. Also, check here for the latest CNET LCD computer monitor reviews.
Now to go buy my IS manager that long overdue lunch.
Yep, that's a doorknob hole in the desk.
(Credit: Eric Franklin/CNET)And by closer look, I mean that literally. I put the camera almost uncomfortably close to the monitor and pressed the picture-taking button. I got so close at times that I think I may actually owe the monitor dinner now.
Check out these shots of EVGA's Interview dual-screen monitor that was announced last week.
The screen is crazy reflective, so I can't really be held responsible for the secrets you find in the shots.
I'm hoping to have a review up soon, if there's demand for one, that is. Is there?
The InterView with the left screen flipped.
(Credit: EVGA)I look at a lot of monitors. So many, in fact, that these days I immediately notice the smallest differences between them. Almost instinctively, I notice the bezel width, whether or not the panel slopes, and how easy the connections options are to access. I don't say this to brag; it's just that most monitors look so similar that I'm forced to find the smallest differences just to keep my job exciting.
So please forgive my utter elation and downright giddiness at EVGA's just-announced InterView Dual Monitor System.
The InterView is a dual-screen monitor with two rotatable 17-inch screens, each with a resolution of 1440x900. The monitors are mounted on a desktop stand that includes four USB ports, a mic input, a built-in Webcam, and a DMS video connection. The latter allows the video signal to be pumped to both monitors, thanks to the included DMS-to-dual-DVI cord.
Each monitor can rotate back 180 degrees to face the opposite direction, and according to EVGA, the onscreen image automatically inverts to appear right side up.
Other specs include a 500:1 contrast ratio, 8ms pixel response time, and a 200 candelas per square meter brightness.
We just got the InterView in this week, so look for a slideshow soon and a full review of the $649 display(s) soon after that. I now return to my extremely giddy testing.
(Credit:
Aïssa Logerot)
I'm a bachelor. As such, I always look a bit off (I don't own a full-length mirror) and my clothes are wrinkled (I don't own an ironing board). So when my editor forwarded me a link from Boing Boing Gadgets about this combo ironing board/full-length mirror I figured she was giving me a hint. Thankfully she just wanted to share it with all of you.
And look how cool it is. In an urban apartment like mine, every square inch is valuable. That's why items with dual (or more!) uses are so great. And this one has a theme: making you look better. That's awesome.
I'm also a fan of things that transform, as this does, albeit simply. Right now it's just a concept by French designer Aïssa Logerot, but I wouldn't be surprised to see these showing up at IKEAs all over the world pretty soon.
I mean, who wouldn't want to disguise their vanity with function? As a guy who likes cute nerd girls, if I ever meet a girl with one of these in her apartment, I might go ring shopping.
Shake, rattle, and roll over.
(Credit: iLuv)Heavy sleepers rejoice. iLuv will soon be shipping an iPod clock radio that features not only dual-audio alarms but a "unique" vibrating bed shaking accessory that it claims will "wake even the deepest of sleepers."
The official name of the product is the iLuv iMM153 Desktop Dual Alarm Clock with Bed Shaker for iPod. It comes in four colors (black, blue, white, and pink) and will be shipping in July with an MSRP of $59.99. (More info here).
Personally, I'm waiting for the Desktop Dual Alarm Clock with Cattle Prod, but I guess this is a step in the right direction.
Comments? Jokes welcome.
(Credit:
iLuv)
Hewlett-Packard was one of the early trendsetters in the ultrathin laptop market with its Voodoo design. But the product has languished for more than a year. What happened--or what will happen--isn't clear.
The ultrathin laptop market is hot and one of the most visible laptop segments today. And activity in this segment has spiked recently in the wake of a raft of new, inexpensive thin laptops from MSI, Acer, and Lenovo, using low-power Intel chips.
HP's Voodoo Envy was a trendsetting ultrathin laptop but it hasn't been updated in a year.
(Credit: Hewlett-Packard)The Apple MacBook Air and Dell Adamo are two of the most prominent designs. The Air has now been refreshed twice. Dell's svelte Adamo was announced in March, complementing its ultrathin business laptop, the Latitude E4200.
But the razor-thin 0.7-inch-thick Voodoo Envy 133--first announced in June 2008--has stood still. ... Read more
