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Samsung has become the number two mobile manufacturer in Ireland. Samsung's share equates to about 26 percent of the Irish market. Some 300,000 of 497,000 Samsung phones sold last year were touchscreen devices. The market leader remains the same – Nokia, and third place is now Sony Ericsson.
We are just at the beginning of a new wireless era where smartphones will become the standard device consumers will use to connect to friends, the internet and the world at large – said Roger Entner, a telecom analyst at Nielsen research company. They predict that sales of smartphones in the US will overtake sales of older-generation "feature phones" by the end of next year.
The research also shows that people are actually taking advantage of the device capabilities. The percentage of people who use their phone for only voice communications drops from 14% among new feature phone owners to 3% of smartphone owners.
Microsoft has launched new Windows® Phone targeted at young consumers and designed around social-networking features. “We built KIN for people who live to be connected, share, express and relate to their friends and family. This social generation wants and needs more from their phone. KIN is the one place to get the stuff you care about to the people you care about most.” said Robbie Bach, president of the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. There are two models called KIN ONE and KIN TWO. Both phones feature a touch screen and slide-out keyboard. ONE is small and compact, making it a perfect fit for a pocket and to operate with one hand. TWO has a larger screen and keyboard, in addition to more memory, a higher resolution camera, and the ability to record high-definition video. Visit http://kin.com/ for more info.
Irish Independent reports that Three Mobile is gearing up to unveil a new brand identity, based around the concept of "3 your mind". "We're trying to create a surreal experience, something people never thought could happen, and do it in an entertaining way," says 3 marketing boss Elaine Carey. The initial €2.5m campaign will run for six weeks featuring the TV ads as well as some press, radio, TV, outdoor and online, marking 3's biggest marketing push so far this year. Carey stresses, that, the concept will endure for much longer. "This will be the core brand strategy for the next 12 to 18 months," she says. "We're going to be living and breathing this."
Nokia has acquired 100pc of outstanding shares of Novarra – provider of a mobile browser and service platform , employing over 100 employees. Novarra's mobile browser and services platform will be used by Nokia to deliver enhanced Internet experiences on Nokia mobile devices. "Connecting the next billion consumers to the Internet will happen primarily on mobile devices," said Niklas Savander, Executive Vice President, Services, Nokia, "and delivering an optimized internet experience on our devices is core to our mission. By driving innovation in all segments of our portfolio, we are building one of the largest consumer audiences for web services and content. Novarra's Internet services technology delivered on the world's most widely-used mobile platform, Nokia's Series 40, will help us achieve this."
 iPhone OS 4
iPhone OS 4 will be available as a software update to iPhone and iPod touch users this summer. New version will include 100 new features, like multitasking (allow tasks to be performed in the background while preserving performance and battery life.), folders (with drag-and-drop function), iBooks and an improved email (all your email accounts displayed together in a unified inbox).
Image: http://images.apple.com/iphone/images/iphone-os-preview-hero20100407.png
250,000 iPhones in Ireland
Research carried out by Digital Reach Group (DRG) reveals that the number of iPhones currently in circulation in Ireland adds up to 250,000 devices. iPhone mobile traffic is shared by O2 (35%), Vodafone (10 %) and WI-Fi users (remaining 55%). The most popular individual smartphone handset is the Apple iPhone followed by handsets from Nokia’s E and N series and Blackberry’s 8000 series respectively.
iPad launch
Apple said that high demand for the iPad will delay the launch of the device in Europe until May. There will be two versions of the iPad in the market – a Wi-Fi only device which is available in the US, and a 3G and Wi-Fi version most likely to be sold by mobile operators. iPad tablet computer from Apple will be sold in the UK by O2, Vodafone and Orange. Mass markets like the UK, Germany, France and Italy are more than likely to get the iPad devices before smaller markets like Ireland.
Opera - most downloaded free app
Opera Mini – the first alternative Web browser for the iPhone, was downloaded more than one million times during the first day of its release. “Today iPhone users have a choice, and, as the numbers show, they are eager to explore new and faster ways to surf the Web on the iPhone - especially during heavy Web traffic,” said Lars Boilesen, CEO, Opera Software. “With any widely available and frequently downloaded Opera product, we are appreciative of all the feedback we are getting, as it helps us to continually improve our product and better meet the needs of our users.”
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New standard for in-car systems
