Posted on 05/10/2010 11:24:56 AM PDT by SmokingJoe
* Google's Android OS in 28 pct of U.S. smartphones in Q1
* Apple U.S. iPhone share 21 pct in Q1
* Research in Motion retains No. 1 rank with 36 pct share
SAN FRANCISCO, May 10 (Reuters) - Google Inc (GOOG.O) displaced iPhone maker Apple Inc (AAPL.O) to become the second most popular provider of smartphone software in the United States during the first quarter, the latest sign of the increasing competition in the fast-growing mobile market.
Smartphones featuring Google's Android operating system accounted for 28 percent of U.S. smartphone unit sales in the first quarter according to NPD Group, behind top-ranked Research in Motion (RIM.TO), maker of the Blackberry phone, which had a 36 percent share of the market.
Smartphones, which allow consumers to surf the web, send email and run specialized applications on wide, color screens, are increasingly replacing no-frills cell phones for many U.S. consumers.
The devices have become a prime battleground for a variety of tech companies seeking to ensure a good position in the evolving market.
Last month, Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ.N) said it would pay $1.2 billion to acquire Palm Inc (PALM.O), which sells two smartphone models based on its WebOS operating system. Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), whose Windows operating system is used in the majority of the world's PCs, unveiled a pair of smartphones last month and recently launched a revamped version of its mobile operating system.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
What’s the adavantage of Droid over iPhone?
Apple isn’t worried because the iPad is”THE new game changer.”
lol
Droids will take over the world soon.
It's not Apple? ;-)
Really, it's the open source O/S. There are multiple Android-based phones, but only one iPhone. Competition is a Good Thing.
I don’t have any statistics to back up this guess but... I’ll be that most would-be purchasers of the iPhone are wisely waiting for the next one due to be announced next month. I have the 3g version... and I can’t wait!
On top of the flying lawsuits, having to deal with the blow back from having that editor’s house ransaked by the police,their public argument with Adobe and the new scrutiny into their trade practices, this has been a tough 2 weeks for Steve-o and crew.
It’s open source software, whereas the iPhone software is proprietary.
I think you are right...I’m waiting for the new iPhone in June.
But competition is great for all of us!
It’s not AT&T.
iphone is more user friendly.. The Droid is more technical and takes getting used to.. What I don’t like about the Droid is it’s too easy to touch a button you didn’t intend on touching.. Very frustrating!
Droid is Verizon and you are not tied in to only Apple approved apps. Both are very good. I have an Ipod Touch and now a Droid, and love both interfaces. Android is the first thing I have seen that remotely rivals the Apple interface. It is different, but not better or worse. Both are A+ quality, IMO.
Cost, functionality, configurability. Oh, and Android phones don’t care what you run on them, you’re free do run any application you like, and develop in any language you like.
Amongst other things, Android will be getting Flash in June, and the iPhone will never get Flash. If you to surf the hundreds of thousands of web sites that only use Flash, don't buy the iPhone.
“Confirmed: Flash Coming to Android Phones in June
In an official blog post, Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch confirmed that Flash 10.1 support will be coming to Google Android phones in June, with a developer preview at the Google I/O conference on May 19-20.
This may dovetail with the launch of Android 2.2, which Google vice president Andy Rubin said earlier this week will include Flash.
We saw Flash running on Android phones back in February. Back then, Adobe said that Flash will run on phones with ARM Cortex-A8 processors and 50 MBytes or more of available RAM. That means Flash will run on the Google Nexus One, HTC Incredible, and Motorola Droid, but not the T-Mobile G1, MyTouch 3G, HTC Hero, or HTC Droid Eris, for instance.
While Apple is obviously off the list for Flash support, Lynch reconfirmed that Adobe is continuing to develop Flash for other platforms, including “RIM, Palm (soon to be HP), Microsoft, Nokia and others.” RIM confirmed earlier this week that it's working on Flash for BlackBerrys, and Adobe had a basic demo of Flash on a Palm Pre at the Mobile World Congress trade show in February.”
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2363274,00.asp
Great, can’t wait! Will the new version let me make phone calls? If it will, then my iPhone will be perfect.
Android is an OS that is running several phones right now, from at least two different companies. iPhone OS runs in only one phone. Apples and oranges, IMO.
But to me the problem with Android is it cannot do hands-free voice dialing and that is the deal breaker.
Serves him bloody right.
He is now worse than any run of the mill dictator. The Gestapo style pre-down raid and breaking down of the doors of the Gizmodo editor was beyond the pale.
Then Steve Jobs boycotts Fox for criticizing 0bama, while at the same time promoting the arch terrorist Che Guevara. Time for conservative consumers to start dumping Steve Jobs little toy and buying other smart phone instead.
The Pod people will be dropping by shortly to put an end to your heresy.
You know there is more than one version of the iPhone on sale right now. As for the iPhone being sold only on AT&T, well that was Apple's decision wasn't it? They tried to impose intolerable conditions on Verizon to start off with, so Verizon refused to bite.
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