mobilephone

Latest

  • Meizu MX Quad-core launching with Android 4.0 in June, gets 32GB and 64GB flavors

    by 
    Richard Lai
    Richard Lai
    04.15.2012

    Can't say we're surprised, but Meizu's finally giving us the lowdown on the quad-core variant of its flagship Android smartphone. Simply dubbed the MX Quad-core, this new device will be powered by a Cortex-A9-based, 32nm HKMG (High-K Metal Gate) quad-core Samsung Exynos chip -- no word on the clock speed or RAM, but we're betting our money on the Exynos 4412 that goes up to 1.5GHz. Meizu claims this will save up to 20 percent of CPU power consumption compared to its dual-core counterpart. Also, the battery will be bumped up from 1,600mAh to 1,700mAh -- we shall see how much difference this makes when we eventually get our hands on the phone. And yes, in addition to the original white back cover, you'll be able to swap it with one of the five optional colored covers pictured above.On the software side you'll get a Meizu-customized Ice Cream Sandwich system (aka Flyme OS), though it isn't clear whether the company will stick to its old promise of simultaneously releasing a vanilla ROM. The rest of the new phone's identical to the dual-core MX, especially the 4-inch 960 x 640 ASV display and the eight-megapixel BSI camera. While there's still no microSD expansion, here's some good news to make up for this flaw: the base model starts at 32GB and it'll cost the same as the current 16GB MX! In other words, come June the unsubsidized MX Quad-core will go from ¥2,999 (US$480) in China and HK$3,099 (US$400) in Hong Kong; and then there'll also be a 64GB version priced at ¥3,999 (US$635) and HK$4,099 (US$530), respectively. Meanwhile, starting today, the original MX is reduced to ¥2,399 (US$380) and HK$2,599 (US$335). Press release after the break.Now, with Meizu proudly claiming to have the world's first smartphone to utilize the quad-core Exynos chip, we wonder where Samsung's at with its own unicorn device?

  • LG renames Optimus LTE to Optimus True HD LTE, disses Samsung's HD Super AMOLED

    by 
    Richard Lai
    Richard Lai
    04.13.2012

    While the Optimus LTE's already made its way to South Korea, Japan and the US (in the guise of the Spectrum and the Nitro HD), LG's decided to give this dual-core handset a new name ahead of its Hong Kong launch at the end of this month. Ladies and gentlemen, meet the Optimus True HD LTE. Alas, the "true HD" part here doesn't actually mean the phone's getting 1080p resolution on a 4.5-inch panel (which would be 490ppi; yet Toshiba's actually done it!); but we were told that 'tis really just a dig at Samsung's HD Super AMOLED technology -- you know, the magic behind that 4.65-inch screen on the Galaxy Nexus and the Galaxy S II HD LTE.Simply put, LG doesn't think that 1,280 x 720 on PenTile counts as HD due to the lower number of sub-pixels; and while it's at it, the company also criticized AMOLED's over-expressed colors and higher power consumption in "normal user environment" -- for the latter, LG showed that its AH-IPS has a more consistent power consumption across varying levels of overall whiteness. You can see the relevant slides after the break.Of course, we've already expressed (twice) how much we like the HD Super AMOLED display on the Galaxy Nexus. The clearness issue now is much less noticeable when compared to the original Super AMOLED; but as for color accuracy, many of us are indeed deceived by the vibrancy that we naturally enjoy -- except when you need to inspect photos, of course. Regardless, we're pretty sure that it's only a matter of time before Samsung strikes back with a, ahem, "true HD" Super AMOLED (Plus) panel -- hopefully in time for the upcoming Galaxy S III.

  • Nokia: Two million Lumia phones sold in Q1 but profits still falling

    by 
    Daniel Cooper
    Daniel Cooper
    04.11.2012

    Nokia's announced preliminary information on its forthcoming Q1 results due on April 19th. It's reportedly sold €4.2 billion worth of phones, €2.3 billion coming from the sale of 71 million dumbphones and €1.7 billion coming from smart devices. On the upside, sales of the Lumia handsets are still growing, selling two million of the series in the last three months alone. However, "competitive industry dynamics" and the cost of its painful transition into a modern smartphone player have meant the numbers aren't too pleasing. The figures mean that the company will make a loss of around three percent below "break even," but Stephen Elop remains bullish, saying that his team is "continuing to increase the clock speed of the company" and that "the change is tangible."

  • SIM-free Nokia 808 PureView up for pre-order in Italy, expected to launch in May

    by 
    Richard Lai
    Richard Lai
    04.09.2012

    Eager to tinker with Nokia's 41-megapixel cameraphone ahead of everyone else (especially if you're based in North America)? Then it looks like you might want to take a trip to Italy next month, as online retailer NStore.it is now accepting pre-orders for the 808 PureView ahead of its "expected" May availability. Il costo? €599, which works out to be about $780 -- not cheap for a SIM-free, Symbian Belle-powered device, but at least the option's there for the mobile photography connoisseurs. Alternatively, keep an eye out for that Lumia PureView unicorn.

  • Lenovo K800's initial benchmark scores look promising, but not ambitious

    by 
    Richard Lai
    Richard Lai
    04.06.2012

    If Lenovo's sticking to its promise, it should only be another two months maximum before its Intel Medfield-powered K800 smartphone debuts in China. Until then, we won't know the full potential of the 1.6GHz Atom Z2460 powering Ice Cream Sandwich, but we do have the next best thing for now: what we've just obtained are some benchmark results from a K800 prototype with Android 2.3.7, and while the graphics performance wasn't top notch this time round, the general score performance came close to that of the Galaxy Note (powered by a 1.4GHz dual-core Exynos chipset). However, the K800 did beat pretty much everyone -- including the brand-spanking-new One X and One S from HTC -- in the SunSpider 0.91 Javascript test, where it only took 1,270ms to complete! What remains to be seen is whether Medfield will really deliver a better battery performance than its competitors; so until we find the answer (along with improved scores) on a final unit, you'll just have to make do with our list of scores after the break.

  • Panasonic KX-TG7740 and KX-TG7730 cordless phones feature Link2Cell, iPhone ringtone integration

    by 
    Zach Honig
    Zach Honig
    04.05.2012

    Sure, you may have long ditched the landline, but you could still be in the market for a cordless phone. Two such rigs from Panasonic let you tap your mob for a voice connection, with Link2Cell. The KX-TG7740 and KX-TG7730 can both sync up with Bluetooth-enabled phones, letting you make calls through your smartphone as it charges in another room. You can also transfer up to 3,050 address book entries to the household system, while this year's models add an extra layer of iPhone integration, enabling ringtone matching and transfer -- you'll now be able to hear that iOS jingle through any connected handset. Both models also include the standard gamut of features, including talking caller ID, call block for pre-programed numbers and a handset locator. The 7730 series ships with three handsets for $100 (TG-7733S), two handsets for $80 (7732S) or a single handset for $60 (7731S). Likewise, the 7740 adds a dial pad to the base, and is available with five handsets for $150 (7745S), three for $110 (7743S), two for $90 (7742S) or one for $70 (7741S). You'll find the full PR rundown just past the break.

  • Samsung: We're still not into 3D smartphones

    by 
    Richard Lai
    Richard Lai
    04.05.2012

    By now you may have already seen a handful of "leaks" on Samsung's imminent Galaxy S III, but if you ask us, they all smell like a cruel prank on anticipating fans. As far as we're concerned, the only reliable tidbits so far are the GT-i9300 and GT-i9308 codenames (the latter likely a TD-SCDMA variant for China Mobile) on Samsung's support page; along with murmurs from executives about a certain quad-core chipset and a release date. Funnily enough, we just received the following statement from Sammy who's probably not too happy about some of the speculations out there: Although Samsung Electronics is constantly exploring new technologies for our mobile devices, we have no immediate plan to include displays featuring 3D technology in our upcoming smartphones.So there you have it: the upcoming Galaxy S III, along with its new siblings, definitely won't feature a 3D display; and you can certainly forget that 4-inch 3D handset we heard about last February. Unless, of course, LG can convince its Korean buddy to think otherwise.

  • ASUS PadFone priced and ready for pre-order in Taiwan tomorrow, launches mid-April

    by 
    Mat Smith
    Mat Smith
    04.05.2012

    We were promised that the phone-that-goes-tablet would ship in April, and it looks like ASUS is keeping its word. The PadFone and its corresponding tablet shell and keyboard dock, will be up for pre-order in Taiwan starting tomorrow, going on sale April 20th. On its own, the Snapdragon S4-powered 1.5GHz dual-core phone is priced at NT$17,990 (US$610), while the tablet set -- including that curious Bluetooth headset / stylus -- will set you back NT$24,980 (around US$850). If you're thinking keyboard add-ons are all the rage, expect to pay around NT$28,901 (US$980). Need more of an excuse to step into pre-order territory? Well, ASUS is offering up an extra battery for those that do. While we wait for some global roll-out details, you can remind yourself of what to expect in our hands-on from MWC.

  • China officially tops one billion mobile subscribers

    by 
    Donald Melanson
    Donald Melanson
    03.30.2012

    We heard last year that China was approaching 900 million mobile phone subscribers, and it looks like it's now finally hit the big one. The country's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology confirmed today that, as of the end of February, there were more than a billion mobile subscribers in the country (1.01 billion, to be specific). As the AFP notes, that's individual subscriptions, which includes users with more than one phone, but any way you slice it that's a whole lot of cellphone users. Of those, 144 million are on 3G networks, which is fully double the number from April of 2011. Not surprisingly, much of that growth comes at the expense of landline phones, which have dropped a further 828,000 in the first two months of the year to 284.3 million. Internet use also continues to be on the upswing, with more than half a billion people having internet access of some sort, and 154.96 million having broadband access (up nearly five million during those same two months).

  • T-Mobile's next MyTouch: Huawei Ascend G312 QWERTY hands-on

    by 
    Richard Lai
    Richard Lai
    03.28.2012

    First the leaked product shots, then the Mr. Blurrycam pictures, and now the real deal in our own hands! When we spotted this upcoming T-Mobile MyTouch slider, we just so happened to be chilling out at Huawei's headquarters in Shenzhen where the phone was displayed as the Ascend G312 QWERTY, or "Buddy" according to the "About phone" info ("MyTouch Buddy"?). We didn't see the non-QWERTY variant, but judging by the name, we don't doubt that there's also an Ascend G312 lurking somewhere.Anyhow, this new MyTouch packs a 1.4GHz Qualcomm MSM8255T chip, a 4-inch WVGA screen, 1GB of RAM, 4GB of storage and microSD expansion, along with features like DLNA connectivity and five-second fast boot. As for image capturing you get a 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera plus a five-megapixel main camera (with 720p recording) on the back, and you'll find a handy camera button at the usual place as well. Interestingly, the spec sheet listed Ice Cream Sandwich while the demo unit was only running on Android 2.3.6, so we'll probably need to wait for T-Mobile's final say on this end.During our quick hands-on we were pretty satisfied by the phone's overall build quality, especially with its spring-loaded sliding mechanism and keyboard feedback. The screen isn't the best in class when it comes to viewing angle and contrast, but bearing in mind that this phone comes with a Snapdragon S2 processor, we expect it to be priced almost as sensibly as LG's MyTouch handsets -- stay tuned for the official announcement, of course. Hands-on video after the break.

  • GSMA and WBA team up to develop WiFi roaming framework for cellphones, tablets

    by 
    James Trew
    James Trew
    03.20.2012

    Many phones have WiFi, and there are hotspots in all sorts of places these days, so wouldn't it be cool if you could use them for roaming, regardless of provider? Well, if a new collaboration between the GSMA and the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) has any say in the matter, one day you might be able to do just that. The goal is to simplify how cellphones can connect to those hotspots, by developing a technical framework for seamless WiFi roaming. The new standard will be based on the WBA's "Next Generation Hotspot" initiative and the WiFi Alliance's "Passpoint certification" system, taking cues from the GSMA's established roaming experience. The basic principles have already been laid down, and just require network formalities such as security and billing to be taken care of. No peep on when we might start seeing dividends, alas, so for now your subway ride can continue in (relative) peace.

  • Samsung patents using a phone as a pointer while wearing a head-mounted display

    by 
    Terrence O'Brien
    Terrence O'Brien
    03.14.2012

    We're not sure how many head-mounted displays you've had your follicles on, but generally the answer around the Engadget compound is, "quite a few." If you've ever played with such a wearable gadget though, you'd know that head-tracking, while intuitive, isn't always the most accurate way to control a device. Samsung has patented an alternative method that lets you keep wearing those silly goggles, but uses your cellphone almost like a gyroscopic mouse to pilot a pointer. Rather than use a gyroscope or accelerometer (both of which are present in many modern smartphones), Samsung's patent turns to the camera -- a feature found in even the lowliest dumbphone. The primarily software-based solution would require that both the phone's sensor and the display have an agreed upon background marker to help line up the motions. If you're the type that loves to dig through the minutiae of patents there's something seriously wrong with you, but you'll find what you're looking for at the source.

  • iPhone is top-selling cellphone in Japan

    by 
    Kelly Hodgkins
    Kelly Hodgkins
    03.09.2012

    A report in the Mainichi Daily News suggests the iPhone 4S is the top-selling mobile phone in Japan. The iPhone 4S is reportedly beating out handsets from local favorites like Fujitsu-Toshiba, Sharp and Panasonic. According to IDC Japan estimates, the iPhone grabbed 26.6 percent of all mobile phone shipments in the October-December 2011 quarter. Fujitsu-Toshiba claimed the second spot with 18.3 percent of shipments and Sharp ranked third with 15.7 percent. Total mobile phone shipments in Japan climbed to 10.65 million units in the year-ending quarter. The iPhone 4S went on sale in Japan starting in October 2011. Early sales were strong and the iPhone climbed to the top of Japan's handset market within a few weeks. The handset is sold by local carriers SoftBank and KDDI. [Electronista]

  • China claims one billion mobile phone users, India shrugs

    by 
    Sharif Sakr
    Sharif Sakr
    03.05.2012

    China claimed 900 million mobile users last April, but back then it still seemed possible that India might reach the billion user milestone first. China was ahead in absolute terms, while India's user base was growing faster. According to the latest figures from its government, however, China is ready to stake its claim. It had 997 million phone owners by late February, with growth of around three million per week, which means it should have tipped the scales in the last few days. Of course, it's not really about who gets there first: The salient fact is that millions more humans can now ring each other up, just, you know, to chat.

  • HTC Titan aka Triumph to become China's first official Windows Phone

    by 
    Richard Lai
    Richard Lai
    03.04.2012

    Look who just beat Nokia, ZTE and Lenovo to launching the first official Windows Phone in China? At the opening of HTC's first Chinese flagship store in Beijing yesterday (pictured after the break), Sina Tech's Zāng Zhì Yuān noticed that the company's already accepting pre-orders for the 4.7-inch Titan, which is priced at ¥4,399 or about $700 sans contract -- very much in the high-end of the market, surprisingly enough. In fact, we had already heard HTC's managers claiming to have the first Chinese Windows Phone at MWC last week, except they couldn't comment on the actual timing.Judging by the sign above, the only noticeable difference here -- depending on your Chinese literacy -- is that the phone's dubbed Triumph locally; but additionally, HTC informed us that its first Chinese Windows Phone will be powered by WP7.5 Tango, with its Facebook and Twitter integration replaced by the likes of Sina Weibo, Tencent Weixin and SkyDrive to play the local rules. If you'll recall, such localization is very much what Nokia's Stephen Elop had confirmed in our Engadget Show interview back in November. So, any bets on who's next in line to climb over the Great Wall?

  • Lumigon T2 hands-on at MWC 2012 (video)

    by 
    Mat Smith
    Mat Smith
    02.27.2012

    We've been waiting for Lumigon to get around to launching its Android opus for a while now. Fortunately, MWC is precisely the right kind of place for a new company to catch the eye of the mobile press. With Ice Cream Sandwich and Bang and Olufsen involvement, we had to take a look at the Lumigon T2 for ourselves. First impressions are after the break, with a video run-through of the stainless-steel lined phone thrown in for good measure.

  • ASUS PadFone formally unveiled: 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display, Snapdragon S4 CPU, ICS, HSPA+, coming in April

    by 
    Dana Wollman
    Dana Wollman
    02.27.2012

    Just like it said it would, ASUS has formally unveiled its versatile, form-changing PadFone at Mobile World Congress. There are two stories here, and they're both quite compelling, frankly. On the one hand, you've got yet another high-end device, with a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED qHD display, Snapdragon's new dual-core S4 chip, an Adreno 225 GPU, Ice Cream Sandwich and an 8-megapixel rear camera with an LED flash and f/2.2 autofocusing lens. (The front camera records at VGA resolution.) Other specs include 16 to 64GB of internal storage (expandable via microSD), Bluetooth 4.0, HDMI, GPS, A-GPS, a gyroscope, 1,520mAh battery and a compass. Connectivity options include WCDMA (900, 2100 MHz), EDGE / GPRS / GSM (850, 1800 and 1900 MHz) and HSPA+, with theoretical download speeds topping out at 42Mbps. Barring LTE, we wouldn't expect much less from a flagship launched at the world's premier wireless show. But those are just specs. If you focus solely on its chip and 9.2mm-thick frame you'd be missing its most distinguishing attribute: it's ability to parade around in tablet's clothing (albeit, with the help of some optional, still-unpriced accessories.) Taking a cue from Motorola's Lapdock-friendly handsets, the PadFone can slide into an optional station that effectively allows you to use it as if it were a 10.1-inch tablet. Like the optional docks sold alongside ASUS' Transformer tablets, the station not only improves the ergonomics, but also extends the battery life -- in this case, by nine-fold. Speaking of keyboard docks, ASUS will be selling one for this product, too, so that you can tuck that 10-inch phone-tablet into something with a full physical keyboard. Finally, there's that guy you see up there, which looks like a stylus (and is!), but also doubles as a headset for receiving calls. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the future. And when can you make it yours? ASUS confirmed that the PadFone will ship in April. Unfortunately, the company stopped short of revealing any pricing, so you'll have to stay tuned for some country-specific details. For now, though, we're planning on getting hands-on with the device as soon as we can, giving you a much closer look than we were able to when we spied a prototype back at CES. Update: And our hands-on is up now. Enjoy! Update 2: ASUS just confirmed that the LTE flavor of the PadFone will be available in early Q3 -- see the slide after the break.

  • Lumigon's T2 smartphone wants to control your TV, obey your commands

    by 
    Sean Buckley
    Sean Buckley
    02.26.2012

    Ever notice how often you lose your TV remote, but how rarely lose track of that social lifeline you call a smartphone? So did the folks at Denmark-based Lumigon, that's why they've put their Scandinavian heads together to build the Lumigon T2, a Android 4.0 smartphone that's also a universal remote control. In addition to this handset's 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 8 megapixel rear facing camera and Bang & Olufsen ICEpower sound, this phone's northern lip can copy commands from remote controls and emulate them using on screen buttons or programmable gestures. Above the T2's 3.8-inch Gorilla glass screen is a dual-action "activity button" that can reportedly be programmed to perform any function the phone has to offer -- like activating an LED flashlight, initiating speed-dial or even turning on and off your TV. Sound pretty sweet? Sure it is -- just don't lose it in the couch. The T2 is scheduled to hit select markets in Europe in Asia later this year, hit the break for the official press release.

  • ViewSonic goes dual-SIM with ViewPhone 4s, 4e and 5e, all packing Android Ice Cream Sandwich

    by 
    Richard Lai
    Richard Lai
    02.24.2012

    When you're ready, here's yet another load of pre-MWC goodness. This year ViewSonic decided that merely slapping Ice Cream Sandwich on its new ViewPhones isn't good enough, so instead, the company's just-announced 4s, 4e and 5e also come with an extra SIM slot. Starting from the left we have the ViewPhone 4s featuring an impressive 3.5-inch 960 x 640 Super Clear IPS LCD (which, should be very similar to Apple's Retina Display from LG -- rather ironic given the phone's name), along with a five-megapixel camera, a VGA front-facing imager and a 1GHz chip. Pictured in the middle is a similar-looking ViewPhone 4e but packing a 3.5-inch 480 x 320 LCD, a slower processor at 650MHz only, a three-megapixel camera and one extra touch button than its sibling; all of this made with budget in mind, obviously, though somehow ViewSonic's very proud of its 10.3mm thickness.If 3.5-inch displays aren't your cup of tea then you'll have to jump straight to the 5-inch ViewPhone 5e, but so far all we've been told is its 800 × 480 screen resolution. Could there be more in this dual-SIM beast? Stay tuned to our MWC coverage and you'll know as soon as we do.

  • Gartner reports Apple top among smartphone vendors

    by 
    Kelly Hodgkins
    Kelly Hodgkins
    02.15.2012

    Gartner released its quarterly and yearly mobile phone sales estimates and, not surprisingly, Apple was the leader in the smartphone market. Apple sold 37 million iPhones in the quarter and became the world's top smartphone vendor with 23.8 percent market share. Worldwide smartphone sales climbed to 149 million units in Q4 2011, a 47.3 percent year over year increase. Apple is also the top smartphone vendor for the year with a 19 percent market share. Total smartphone sales in 2011 grew 58 percent year over year and reached a staggering 472 million units sold. Both Apple and Samsung topped the smartphone charts, while LG, Motorola, RIM and Sony Ericsson struggled. Nokia remains the leader in overall mobile phone sales, but its numbers are declining. Apple, however, continued its march upward and slid ahead of LG to become number three in mobile phone sales. All the handset makers combined to sell 1.8 billion phones in 2011. Some of Apple's stellar performance last quarter is attributed to pent up demand from buyers who waited to purchase an iPhone until the 4S arrived in October. In this current quarter, there is no pent up demand and Apple sales will likely decline quarter over quarter. Some of this decline will be offset by increased global availability and Apple will continue its strong performance, says Gartner. Show full PR text Gartner Says Worldwide Smartphone Sales Soared in Fourth Quarter of 2011 Apple Became Top Smartphone Vendor in Fourth Quarter of 2011 and in 2011 as a Whole Egham, UK, February 15, 2012- Worldwide smartphone sales to end users soared to 149 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011, a 47.3 per cent increase from the fourth quarter of 2010, according to Gartner, Inc. Total smartphone sales in 2011 reached 472 million units and accounted for 31 percent of all mobile devices sales, up 58 percent from 2010. Smartphone volumes during the quarter rose due to record sales of Apple iPhones. As a result, Apple became the third-largest mobile phone vendor in the world, overtaking LG. Apple also became the world's top smartphone vendor, with a market share of 23.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, and the top smartphone vendor for 2011 as a whole, with a 19 percent market share. "Western Europe and North America led most of the smartphone growth for Apple during the fourth quarter of 2011," said Roberta Cozza, principal research analyst at Gartner. "In Western Europe the spike in iPhone sales in the fourth quarter saved the overall smartphone market after two consecutive quarters of slow sales." The quarter saw Samsung and Apple cement their positions further at the top of the market as their brands and new products clearly stood out. LG, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and Research In Motion (RIM) again recorded disappointing results as they struggled to improve volumes and profits significantly. These vendors were also exposed to a much stronger threat from the midrange and low end of the smartphone market as ZTE and Huawei continued to gain share during the quarter. Worldwide mobile device sales to end users totaled 476.5 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011, a 5.4 percent increase from the same period in 2010 (see Table 1). In 2011 as a whole, end users bought 1.8 billion units, an 11.1 percent increase from 2010 (see Table 2). "Expectations for 2012 are for the overall market to grow by about 7 percent, while smartphone growth is expected to slow to around 39 percent," said Annette Zimmermann, principal research analyst at Gartner. In the fourth quarter of 2011, Nokia's mobile phone sales numbered 111.7 million units, an 8.7 percent decrease from last year. "Samsung closed the gap with Nokia in overall market share," said Ms. Cozza. "Samsung profited from strong smartphone sales of 34 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011. The troubled economic environment in Europe and Nokia's weakened brand status posed challenges that were hard to overcome in just one quarter. However, Nokia proved its ability to execute and deliver on time with its new Lumia 710 and 800 handsets. Nokia will have to continue to offer aggressive prices to encourage communications service providers (CSPs) to add its products to portfolios currently dominated by Android-based devices." Apple had an exceptional fourth quarter, selling 35.5 million smartphones to end users, a 121.4 percent increase year on year. Apple's continued attention to channel management helped it take full advantage of the strong quarter to further close the gap with Samsung, which saw some inventory build up for its smartphone range. Apple's strong performance will continue into the first quarter of 2012 as availability of the iPhone 4S widens. However, since Apple will not benefit from delayed purchases as it did in the fourth quarter of 2011, Gartner analysts expect its sales to decline quarter-on-quarter. After Apple, ZTE and Huawei were the fastest-growing vendors in the fourth quarter of 2011. "These vendors expanded their market reach and kept on improving the user experience of their Android devices," said Ms. Cozza. In the fourth quarter of 2011, ZTE moved into fourth place in the global handset market. ZTE posted a strong smartphone sales increase of 71 percent sequentially. The company was able to extend its portfolio to three CSPs in its home market and benefited from consumers' interest in low-cost smartphones. Huawei moved ahead of LG in the Android marketplace to become a top-four Android manufacturer, thanks to strong smartphone growth in the quarter. Huawei has made significant progress in moving to its own-branded devices, and it has continued to expand its portfolio into higher tiers as its tries to build more iconic products. RIM dropped to the No. 7 spot in the fourth quarter of 2011, with a 10.7 percent decline. RIM's delay with its BlackBerry 10 platform will further impair its ability to retain users. However, RIM's biggest challenge is still to expand the developer base around its ecosystem and convince developers to work and innovate with BlackBerry 10. In the smartphone OS market (see Table 3), competition between Google and Apple intensified. Android's share declined slightly sequentially. This was due to strong iPhone sales, driven in particular by the iPhone 4S in mature markets and the weakness of key Android vendors as they struggled to create unique and differentiated devices. Samsung remained the main contributor to Android share gains in the second half of 2011. iOS's market share grew 8 percentage points year-on-year, but Gartner analysts expect Apple's share to drop in the next couple of quarters as the upgrade cycle to the iPhone 4S slows. Nokia's first Windows Phone smartphones, the Lumia 710 and 800, made their debut, but, as expected, sales were not enough to prevent a fall in Microsoft's smartphone market share.