Report: Apple retail stores to nix boxed software

stshank: Stephen Elop's blistering memo: Nokia is years behind competition. Expect radical overhaul announcement Friday. http://cnet.co/eY2HgV
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Apple, Android surge in 2010; Nokia, RIM slip

(Credit: IDC)
In 2010, the smartphone arena continued its shift with Apple and Android vendors grabbing a greater slice of the global market and Nokia and Research In Motion watching their shares drop, according to research firm IDC.
The year as a whole still found Nokia and BlackBerry maker RIM in first and second places, respectively, with the highest market shares and units shipped across the globe, according to IDC's latest "Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker," which was released today. But Nokia saw its annual market share fall to 33.1 percent, from 39 percent in 2009, while RIM's share dropped to 16.1 percent from almost 20 percent.
Those numbers contrasted with third-place Apple, whose share rose to 15.7 percent from 14.5 percent and shipped 47.5 million phones, up from the 25.1 million shipped in 2009.
The iPhone captured a great chunk of global smartphone customers last year, with solid growth coming from Asia/Pacific and Japan. Apple's flagship phone also found its way further entrenched in the enterprise market, IDC noted, as more businesses have added the iPhone to their list of approved smartphones. For the final quarter, Apple actually surged past RIM as the world's second leading smartphone vendor.
The biggest waves, though, were created by Google's Android as vendors Samsung and HTC rounded out the top five list of global mobile smartphone vendors. Shipping 23 million smartphones last year compared with 5.5 million in 2009, Samsung's market share climbed to 7.6 percent from 3.2 percent. And with 21.5 million units shipped last year versus only 8.1 million the prior year, HTC saw its share jump to 7.1 percent from 4.7 percent.
"Android continues to gain by leaps and bounds, helping to drive the smartphone market," Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Phone Technology and Trends team, said in a statement. "It has become the cornerstone of multiple vendors' smartphone strategies, and has quickly become a challenger to market leader Symbian. Although Symbian has the backing of market leader Nokia, Android has multiple vendors, including HTC, LG Electronics, Motorola, Samsung and a growing list of companies deploying Android on their devices."
Despite the ups and downs of individual smartphone vendors, the overall industry boomed during 2010 and the quarter that ended it.
The year as a whole saw 302.6 million smartphones shipped, a gain of 74 percent from the 173.5 million shipped in 2009. The fourth quarter alone accounted for 100.9 million smartphones shipped, up 87.2 percent from the 53.9 million shipped in the prior year's final quarter.
Looking at 2011, IDC is eyeing further gains for the smartphone industry as vendors continue to expand their product lineups. Though the high-end smartphone market has helped drive growth over the past few years, more mid-range and low-end models are expected to hit the market. That will make smartphones in general more affordable by pushing down prices on higher-end units and ramping up overall competition in the industry.
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Apple still reigns in film downloads, study says

Apple's iTunes owns over two thirds of the download-to-own and Internet video-on-demand markets, iSuppli says.
(Credit: Screen shot by Greg Sandoval/CNET)
Netflix may be the Web's top movie rental service, but nobody sells more download-to-own movies than Apple, according to market research by iSuppli.
Apple's iTunes accounted for 64.5 percent of all the money spent in 2010 on electronic sell through (EIS) and Internet video on demand (IVOD) despite facing increased competitive pressure from Microsoft's Zune (Xbox), Amazon, Sony's Playstation, and Wal-Mart.
"Microsoft in 2010 accounted for 17.9 percent of U.S. movie EST/IVOD consumer spending, up from 11.6 percent in 2009," iSuppli found. "Sony in 2010 maintained the No. 3 position in the U.S. with a 7.2 percent share, up from 5.7 percent in 2009."
Apple, however, did give up some ground last year. In 2009, iTunes held 74.4 market share, and its share fell 9 percent last year, according to iSuppli. The good news is that the overall market grew by more than 60 percent. Could this increase in download sales have hurt DVD sales?
Last week, several of the top Hollywood studios reported dismal disc sales in the holiday quarter.
According to iSuppli, Apple managed to hang on to such a big market lead with the help of the iPad and the upgraded Apple TV, the research firm said.
"We expect that in the United States, Apple's strong performance in IVOD will allow it to continue to bypass the video-on-demand services offered by many major cable operators."
Here's more from iSuppli about how competition is heating up in the sector.

Competition from Microsoft intensified...because of the highly successful launch of its Kinect 3D motion controller system for its Xbox 360. This resulted in a bumper fourth quarter for movie revenue on the Zune Video platform, cementing the No. 2 market rank for Microsoft.
Wal-Mart's aggressive drive for market share for its U.S. online movies service Vudu has generated a spike in consumption for the service starting in the fourth quarter of 2010. The company announced $0.99 promotional pricing on IVOD movies and support for a wider range of living room devices, including Sony's PlayStation 3 video game console.

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Apple, Android surge in 2010; Nokia, RIM slip

 (Credit: IDC)
In 2010, the smartphone arena continued its shift with Apple and Android vendors grabbing a greater slice of the global market and Nokia and Research In Motion watching their shares drop, according to research firm IDC.
The year as a whole still found Nokia and BlackBerry maker RIM in first and second places, respectively, with the highest market shares and units shipped across the globe, according to IDC's latest "Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker," which was released today. But Nokia saw its annual market share fall to 33.1 percent, from 39 percent in 2009, while RIM's share dropped to 16.1 percent from almost 20 percent.
Those numbers contrasted with third-place Apple, whose share rose to 15.7 percent from 14.5 percent and shipped 47.5 million phones, up from the 25.1 million shipped in 2009.
The iPhone captured a great chunk of global smartphone customers last year, with solid growth coming from Asia/Pacific and Japan. Apple's flagship phone also found its way further entrenched in the enterprise market, IDC noted, as more businesses have added the iPhone to their list of approved smartphones. For the final quarter, Apple actually surged past RIM as the world's second leading smartphone vendor.
The biggest waves, though, were created by Google's Android as vendors Samsung and HTC rounded out the top five list of global mobile smartphone vendors. Shipping 23 million smartphones last year compared with 5.5 million in 2009, Samsung's market share climbed to 7.6 percent from 3.2 percent. And with 21.5 million units shipped last year versus only 8.1 million the prior year, HTC saw its share jump to 7.1 percent from 4.7 percent.
"Android continues to gain by leaps and bounds, helping to drive the smartphone market," Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Phone Technology and Trends team, said in a statement. "It has become the cornerstone of multiple vendors' smartphone strategies, and has quickly become a challenger to market leader Symbian. Although Symbian has the backing of market leader Nokia, Android has multiple vendors, including HTC, LG Electronics, Motorola, Samsung and a growing list of companies deploying Android on their devices."
Despite the ups and downs of individual smartphone vendors, the overall industry boomed during 2010 and the quarter that ended it.
The year as a whole saw 302.6 million smartphones shipped, a gain of 74 percent from the 173.5 million shipped in 2009. The fourth quarter alone accounted for 100.9 million smartphones shipped, up 87.2 percent from the 53.9 million shipped in the prior year's final quarter.
Looking at 2011, IDC is eyeing further gains for the smartphone industry as vendors continue to expand their product lineups. Though the high-end smartphone market has helped drive growth over the past few years, more mid-range and low-end models are expected to hit the market. That will make smartphones in general more affordable by pushing down prices on higher-end units and ramping up overall competition in the industry.
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Android outshines Apple in 4th quarter

Android has swiped second place from Apple as it climbs the ranks of the top smartphone platforms in the U.S., ComScore reported yesterday.
In the fourth quarter, the Android operating system accounted for 28.7 percent of U.S. smartphone market share, edging out Apple's OS, which captured 25 percent of the market. That represents a reversal from the third quarter when ComScore tracked Android with a 21.4 percent share and Apple with 24.3 percent.

 (Credit: ComScore)
The rankings show BlackBerry maker Research In Motion still at the top. However, its 31.6 percent slice of the market was a 5.7 point drop from the third quarter.
In fourth place with 8.4 percent share was Microsoft, which released its new Windows Phone 7 platform in October. The No. 5 slot went to Hewlett-Packard's Palm, which held 3.7 percent of the market.
For the quarter, only Android and Apple showed gains in smartphone market share among the top five, noted ComScore. But the market as a whole continues to swell. Overall, 63.2 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the quarter, a 60 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2009.
Android's rise in the U.S. market reflects its growth worldwide, according to a recent report from Canalys.
Eyeing the entire mobile phone landscape--not just smartphones--Samsung devices grabbed 24.8 percent of U.S. subscribers in the fourth quarter, ComScore said. Capturing the highest market share among all device makers, Samsung was also the only handset maker among the top five to see its share increase during the quarter. LG, Motorola, RIM, and Nokia rounded out ComScore's list of top handset makers.
ComScore also reported on how people are using their phones. Beyond talking, more people are using their cell phones for text messaging (68 percent) and mobile browsing (36.4 percent). Using downloaded apps (34.4 percent), accessing social network sites (24.7 percent), playing games (23.2 percent), and listening to music (15.7 percent) were also top activities.
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Motorola Tablet Pokes Fun at Apple Users, Gets Priced at $800 - TIME

First things first! Did you see the Motorola Xoom ad during the Super Bowl last night? If not, here it is.

You'll notice that Motorola's taking a shot at Apple users, which seems like kind of an odd choice considering someone who might be interested in the iPad fits roughly the same demographic as a potential Xoom owner.
Secondly, earlier rumors had indicated that the Xoom may have been available on February 17th with a price tag of $700. It now appears, according to a Best Buy ad apparently leaked to Engadget, that the Xoom will be available on February 24th with a price tag of $800.
As far as specs go, the Xoom lines up most closely with the 32GB version of the 3G+Wi-Fi iPad that costs $729. Your extra $71 gets you a dual-core processor, a slightly larger screen size with a higher resolution, four times as much RAM, front- and rear-facing cameras, expandable storage, and the ability to work on Verizon's new high-speed 4G network via a future update.
See this previous post for a comparison between the iPad and the Xoom.
From the looks of the ad, it appears that you won't have to agree to any sort of long-term Verizon data contract in order to get the Xoom for $800. However—and this is just plain weird—the ad's fine print indicates that in order to activate the Wi-Fi chip inside the tablet, you'll apparently have to pay for one month of Verizon data starting at $20.
Basically, if you want to use the Xoom as a Wi-Fi-only tablet, you'll have to pony up $20 to unlock it. Again, that's just weird.
As the first Android 3.0 tablet (Google's mobile operating system designed specifically for tablets), the Motorola Xoom certainly seems compelling if only because of its impressive hardware specs. An $800 price tag already makes it a tough sell, though, and people aren't going to take kindly to being required to pay $20 to Verizon so they can use the Wi-Fi chip.
If I may make a not-so-bold prediction: the first well-designed Wi-Fi-only Android 3.0 tablet to come out from a major manufacturer with a starting price of under $500 gets to enjoy some decent sales numbers. Stuffing more technology into a tablet and pricing it at $800 (like Motorola's doing) may appeal to a small subset of power users but most "regular" people likely opt for the $499 iPad based almost purely on price.
More on TIME.com:
Motorola 'Xoom' Tablet Tipped For February 17 Release At $700
The Best and Worst Super Bowl Commercials of 2011
It's Not Going to Be Easy to Make Interesting Tablets
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Motorola Super Bowl ad rips Apple drones - Register

Motorola has released a 15-second snippet of an advert for its upcoming Xoom tablet, a parody rip-off homage take-off send-up of Apple's iconic 1984 ad.

As did Apple's 27-year-old Big Brother–busting Macintosh introducer, Motorola's full ad will debut during this Sunday's Super Bowl, America's annual orgy of hyperthyroid meat monsters displaying their spandex-encased musculature to millions of Doritos and salsa–scarfing couch potatoes.

The quarter-minute clip shows an oh-so-cute male Xoom user – reading Orwell's dystopian novel, natch – boarding a subway train in the company of hordes of white-earbudded drones clad in identical white hoodies and baggy pants.

Mr. Xoom, as might be guessed, is hoodie-free. Carrying a lovely, colorful posy he boards a car, and is followed by an oh-so-cute female earbud wearer. Hmm... Whatever might happen?

Friday's come-on comes one day after Motorola released a one-minute YouTube teaser that opens with an image of the earth, followed by a countdown to 1984 that expands to the snappy one-liner "2011 looks a lot like 1984."

Next up is a series of marketing blurbs, ending with the arguably retro, Batmanesque Motorola logo emblazoned on a rather unpleasant-looking planet, along with the tagline: "It's time to live a free life."

A "free life" provided by Motorola? As Electronista rightly reminds us, that smartphone maker is "one of the most restrictive Android device makers and has a bootloader lock that forces deeper hacks to install the user's choice of firmware."

And the Android Honeycomb operating system that will power the Xoom is provided by Google, a company whose idea of freedom is to track your movements around the web in order to better sell ads based on your online peregrinations.

Überfanboi website MacDailyNews, true to form, castigated Motorola's effort to ride on the original 1984-ad heroine's T-shirttails, saying: "When doing a half-assed knockoff of an iconic Apple product, why not do the same to their famous Super Bowl ad, too?"

Here at The Reg, we're at least relieved that Motorola's Super Bowl time-waster doesn't take the same tack as did one of the company's original muy macho Droid adverts, which featured a rather disquieting circular saw–banana interaction. ®

This isn't the first time that Apple's 1984 ad has invoked an Androidian acknowledgment. Last May, when introducing Android 2.2, aka Froyo, Google vice president of engineering Vic Gundotra warned of a future without Android while standing in front a slide that read: "Not a Future We Want. 1984."

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