Android “Shakes Up” Smartphone Market according to NPD Group

The leading market research company, The NPD Group, has announced that Android has surpassed Apple’s OS market (primarily being the IPhone) to be now only behind RIM in the mobile market. Based on unit sales to consumers last quarter, the Android operating system moved into second place at 28 percent behind RIM’s OS (at 36 percent) and ahead of Apple’s OS (at 21 percent).

So what does this mean now that the grasshopper OS, being popularized for only two years, has surpassed its Apple predecessor which has had a year head start over it. More importantly, what does it mean for “Big Giant” RIM, whom held the market by storm for years now, seeing smaller, younger OSes gobbling up their market share.

Tell us your thoughts!

Read on for the official press release!

The Government Is Trying To Stick Their Noses In Your Pocket

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has started working with mobile phone manufactures, including Qualcomm, Apple, Samsung, and LG, to begin implementing poison chemical detectors. The detectors will be used to help notify users of a chemical release. The implementation of this chip would also be linked to a network,which through multiple unique detections and …

How Many Apps In That App Store?

Apps, apps, apps! With Google’s recent announcement that the Android Market has reached 38,000 applications, I decided to find out how many applications are in each of the major smartphone app stores. Remember that these figures are only for the number of applications in the official application store and do not include the total number …

iPhone OS 4.0 Unveiled

We know we don’t have many iPhone members here, but this is newsworthy anyway, especially since its all about competition in the smartphone world. Apple unveiled iPhone OS 4.0 today with some interesting features. First of all, the iPhone 4.0 will be shipping this summer with a developer preview to come later today. The iPhone 3GS will be upgradeable and will get all of the new features. Click to read more about the announcement.

Apple Set To Showcase iPhone OS 4.0

Apple is set to unveil it’s next major OS update for the iPhone on Thursday, April 8th at 10AM PT. Little is known about what the update will contain, but speculation includes the arrival of true multitasking to support for a future CDMA and/or 4G iPhone. Only 3 day’s until the truth is set free …

No Contract iPhone From Apple for $500-$700

The Apple iPhone will now be sold sans a contractual agreement, according to an internal document obtained by Gizmodo. Before this, any customer who wished to purchase an Apple iPhone was required to show proof of an AT&T contract to obtain the device (through official channels at least ). Now anybody who wishes to own …

Apple Sues HTC for Patent Infringement

There was a big news story today that involved two of the biggest phone manufacturers in the world, HTC and Apple. As the morning went on, the story kept developing, so we finally have the details for you. Apple is suing HTC over “20 Apple patents related to the iPhone’s user interface, underlying architecture and hardware”. Thanks for everyone that sent us this tip! Apple’s asking for a permanent injunction, which would bar HTC from importing or selling phones here that use these patents, along with triple damages with maximum interest. As you can see, some of the patents are fairly broad, like “unlocking a device by performing gestures on an unlock image”.

BlackBerry Curve outsells iPhone in 4th Quarter, Droid 3rd

According to research firm IDC, RIM has sold more BlackBerry Curves than the Apple iPhone 3GS in the 4th Quarter of 2009. Remembering that the Curve is offered on 7 different carriers as opposed to the iPhone’s exclusive deal with AT&T, this is still a momentous occasion as iPhone sales increased by 100%, to 8.7 …

Apple Announced iPad

After all the hoopla and rumors going around the internet over the last couple of days, the biggest rumor of an iTablet has finally been announced, officially called the iPad. The specs include: -0.5″ thick and 1.5lbs light -9.7″ IPS display, capacitive multitouch touchscreen -Built-in accelerometer, mic, 30-pin connector, 802.11n Wi-Fi, compass, Bluetooth 2.1 + …

Google Voice in your Mobile Browser

Definition of workaround- A workaround is a bypass of a recognized problem in a system. A workaround is typically a temporary fix that implies that a genuine solution to the problem is needed. Frequently workarounds are as creative as true solutions, involving outside the box thinking in their creation. Google has definitely engaged in a …

Nintendo64 Emulator Released for iPhone/iPod

If you’re lucky enough to have a jailbroken iPhone 3GS or an iPod Touch 3G, you can now play your favorite N64 games on your device! We’ve seen a video of this app a while back, but it wasn’t available to the public. You can find it for $2.49 in the ZodTTD repository. It uses …

Only 5 out of 1.3 Billion Chinese buy iPhone online

According to a report in PC World, only 5 Apple iPhone’s were sold on the official website in China in the first 2 weeks of availability. The store, Taobao.com, the biggest Chinese e-commerce Web site and is similar to eBay in how it handles transactions, has sold just two 8GB iPhones and three 16GB iPhones, …

[OP/ED]- Microsoft to ditch Mobile OS?

An interesting article has been posted by the UK’s newspaper The Guardian hypothesizes that Microsoft could abandon their Mobile OS platform, Windows Mobile, all together and call it quits. They cite that the 3.1 percent drop of their share of the Mobile OS Pie (down from 11 to 7.9%), the increasing support for Android from …

Apple’s 3G Money Gambit

If you want to create a 3G-operating device, do you know who you will have to pay a license fee to? If you guessed Qualcomm, you would be right  as they currently hold a multitude of patents related to 3G technology. However, something you most likely do not know is that Apple has seemingly gotten …

[PPCG Recommended Joke]- iPhone or Droid?

With all the hardships we face each day (scratched screens, dead batteries, no 3G coverage), I would like to share a comic with you from Randall Munroe over at xkcd.com. It covers a topic PPCG has covered in the past and is especially relevant due to the recent launch of the Droid smart phone. So …