At first, no-one thought it could happen, then some began to see its possibility. Now, it has happened: Apple is officially the number 1 smartphone maker on the planet, pushing the incumbent Nokia to number 3 position. Samsung, who have been on Nokia’s tail for years, finally edged out the Finnish company to sit at the number 2 spot.

Here’s how the 2nd Quarter 2011 smartphone shipments went:

1. Apple: 20.3 million units
2. Samsung: 19.2 million units
3. Nokia: 16.7 million units

As already mentioned here on MobilityNigeria, the Samsung Galaxy S II is currently regarded as the hottest smartphone on the planet, having sold 5 million units in less than 3 months. Perhaps someday, Samsung will sit at the top of the smartphone food chain.

In the modern smartphone market, that is not impossible. Congrats, Apple! An amazing feat indeed, considering that it took just 4 years to pull off.

Remember my earlier articles, If you get a tablet, what would you need a smartphone for? and Can I really go back to carrying two devices around?

If you haven’t read those articles, I recommend that you do that so you can have a clear background to this subject. Basically, I am finally considering replacing my almost 3-year old netbook with a tablet. And in doing so, I need to take into consideration the issues I raised in those articles.

Someone like Dayo simply just uses his Galaxy Tab as a tablet and phone, so he has no need of two devices. And, no; he does not hold the Tab to his ear for calls!!!

For me, if I get a tablet, I’d want to have a proper mobile phone on me. The question now is, What phone do I use with a tablet? You see, I do not see how it makes sense to carry around a mini laptop like the E7 with me if I have a tablet on me. Having a tablet should mean being at liberty to use a more phone-centric device – something compact and with good battery life, but also smart enough to meet my geeky needs.

What Tablet?
I have toyed on and off with the idea of getting a tablet for quite a while now. But with the early reviews of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9, finally it looks to me that we have a tablet that can really replace a netbook for me. I prefer the 8.9-inch version of the Tab over the 10-inch version for portability reasons.

I can copy all my files on my old Acer AspireOne to the Tab 8.9 with minimal fuss and simply get on with my life. No fusses about lack of mass storage mode, or requiring some PC software to synchronise a limited range of media files. Add to that the superb UI and functionality of the Tab 8.9, and if the battery life of the original Tab is anything to go by, the Tab 8.9 should meet my stringent battery performance requirements. I am betting that I have a winner.

What Phone?
Looking around, there is no other device that looks like it will cut it besides the soon-to-be launched Nokia E6. Symbian meets all my basic and advanced needs. It packs all the functionality of the E7 in an ultra-compact form, and delivers amazing battery life.

Nokia claim that the E6 offers unbeatable power with its long-lasting battery. So powerful you can talk throughout your workday or watch four movies without a break. That can’t be far from the truth – a 1500 mAh battery on a 680 MHz porocessor powering a 2.46-inch display. Sounds like the real deal.

Conclusions

So, bar any surprises, for my mobility needs, I am going to end up carrying around the E6, a Symbian Anna smartphone and the Tab 8.9, an Android 3.0 tablet. Both of them can talk to one another via USB and Bluetooth. They can also talk to other USB devices, which is a basic computing need for me. Both of them have exemplary battery life. The combination is certainly looking good for me.

However, your mileage may vary. If you had to choose a phone-tablet combination for your use, what combination would it be?

With the recent opening up of the Android Market to 26 more African countries, the smartphone war in Africa has only really just begun. Before now, there was no war – there was Symbian as the supreme lord, and all others fighting insignificant guerilla campaigns.

Perhaps Android’s greatest asset on the African continent (and probably globally) is the Korean company named Samsung, and I will state why.

Samsung is the world’s second largest mobile manufacturer after Nokia.

Samsung it was who declared that they were going after Nokia in marketshare and aiming to take the top spot by 2014.

Samsung is that manufacturer whose devices get mentioned the most alongside Apples’ iOS devices, be it in the smartphone or tablet segments.

Samsung it is who have made a household name of their Galaxy brand. There is a Galaxy for everyone – touch, QWERTY, budget, premium, teenagers, students, etc, etc.

According to market research firm IDC’s 1st quarter 2011 figures, Samsung is currently the world’s number 4 smartphone manufacturer (after Nokia, Apple and RIM at numbers 1, 2 and 3 respectively). On the African continent, both Apple and RIM are not doing as fine, and Samsung holds the number 2 position here. Note, this is smartphones.

Samsung, I daresay, is the manufacturer to watch on almost all fronts.

While there has been a general conception that Apple is the greatest threat to Nokia, the truth is that the honour goes to Samsung. And here on the African continent (and indeed here in Nigeria), it is Samsung who will drive Android adoption rates from west to east, and north to south.

With all the noise of the BlackBerry craze, BlackBerry adoption on the contiment has largely remained a niche phenomenom, limited to mostly elite circles. Of course, with the introduction of more mid-range BlackBerry devices, RIM is looking to see BB adoption rates grow some more.

It will take some time, but Samsung are aggressive and seem to have hit a homerun with their Galaxy smartphones and tablets. Nokia’s switch from Symbian to Windowsphone as primary smartphone OS will help Samsung’s cause. It means that Symbian’s share will drop further and certainly more drastically.

Years ago, Motorola fell from the coveted position of the world’s largest mobile manufacturer, but they are not doomed. They are in business and churning out great products. I do not believe that Nokia is doomed in anyway.

Such a transition on the scale that Nokia is making will – even if only in the short-medium term – slow down the Finnish giant in some way. And even if Nokia loses the top spot in the long term, I do not belong to the camp of those who see doom with all things Nokia.

Nokia will need to speed up their delivery process. Nokia will need to convince hard-core Symbian fans to switch to Windowsphone. Nokia will need to find a way to offer Nokia Windowsphone smartphones at budget levels (a hard task, considering Windowsphone minimum specifications). Its going to be a tough job. And while Nokia is at all that, Samsung who have built tremendous momentum over the years, will be pushing. Pushing hard.

Without doubt, this transition from Symbian to Windowsphone will be at a significant cost to Nokia. And guess who will be closing fast while this transition takes place? Samsung, of course. And this Korean love affair with Android looks exactly like the right recipe for this brutal campaign to take the number one spot.

Globally, Samsung is already closing in on Nokia in the smartphone race. If they pull it off in Africa, Samsung would have succeeded in taking a major Nokia stronghold and getting closer to their objectives.

Ladies and gentlemen, however this turns out, things sure are getting more interesting by the day.

Samsung has announced plans to launch new payment options in its Samsung Apps store. Basically, apps purchases can be charged directly to the user’s phone bill or to the balance on the user’s SIM card.

Rollout should start April 28, and launch in the UK and other countries such as Germany, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Ukraine, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and India.

Take a look at the white Samsung Galaxy Pro B7510 above. We think its one of the sexiest smartphones in the market after the sleek, silver Nokia E7 that we have been drooling over.

What do you think?

Samsung has published adverts in major dailies promoting four new Galaxy smartphones, the Galaxy Ace, Galaxy Pro, Galaxy Gio, and Galaxy Mini.

This implies that these devices are now available in the country, and if you Samsung fans have been waiting for any of them, get your wallets out and go splash some cash.

All the devices run the Android OS. While Android has no official support from Google here in Nigeria and users have no access to purchase commercial apps from the MarketPlace, free apps are available, and Samsung do support their products here through their service centres nationwide.

We took delivery of a Samsung Galaxy Tab late this afternoon. Of course, you can expect a review, which Dayo will be primarilly handling. In the meantime, a few appetising pictures.

One thing is sure – this guy is huge. But then, it is a tablet, not exactly a smartphone. Expect Dayo’s review(s) of this gargantuan device.

Microsoft’s new Windowsphone 7 OS got off with a flying start today with the announcement of a deluge of devices, many of which will be in the market in weeks.

HTC
HTC took the spotlight with five (5) devices announced. They include:

1. HTC 7 Surround: 3.8″ display. Features a Dolby Mobile system with SRS WOW HD sound. Exclusive to AT&T in the US
2. HTC 7 Mozart: 3.7″ display. 8 megapixel camera. Built from a single piece of aluminum.
3. HTC 7 Trophy: a 3.8″ display
4. HTC HD7: 4.3″ display. T-Mobile.
5. HTC 7 Pro: slide-out QWERTY keyboard. For Sprint

Samsung
Samsung have two devices in their WP7 lineup:

1. Samsung i8700 Omnia 7 – 4″ Super AMOLED screen
2. Samsung Focus for AT&T – 4″ Super AMOLED screen. Has microSD slot.

LG
LG also has two (2) devices announced:

1. Optimus 7 – 3.8″ display
2. Optimus 7Q – 3.5″ with QWERTY keyboard

Dell
Surprise, surprise! Dell throws in the Dell Venue Pro, a vertical slider with a QWERTY keyboard, 4.1″ AMOLED display with scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass.

This is quite a show of force for Windowsphone 7 at launch. It is certainly a more spectacular launch compared to Android’s launch with just the T-mobile G1. Can WP7 wip up the frenzy required to push it into contention in the mobile smartphone market?

I am hoping so, if only for the sake of competition.

Samsung is discontinuing its Symbian support service from December 31st 2010. Symbian development lab and Symbian forum will be shut down and ALL Symbian content removed from their servers.

An excerpt from the announcement to developers:

We recommend posting any new discussion board queries no later than the 10th of December 2010 to ensure your issue can be addressed prior to the Forum’s closure. Please take this opportunity to download any required documentation before all content is removed. Registration and certification of Symbian applications for the Samsung Apps store will cease from 08:00am on the 31st of December 2010.

We would like to thank you for your continued support and interest. Please refer to Symbian.org for alternative Symbian development forums.

Source: A message on behalf of Samsung Mobile Innovator

This is much more severe than Sony Ericsson’s position. Samsung is making a total break from Symbian, and not mincing words about it. For whatever reason that Nokia spent all that money to acquire Symbian and setup The Symbian Foundation not too long ago, they shouldn’t have bothered. Looks like its going to be abandoned by everyone else anyway. The money spent looks like a big waste.

Still, I find it odd that all support is being withdrawn. I can imagine the anger and disappointment of Samsung’s loyal customers who purchased some of the high-end Symbian devices that Samsung made. Are these consumers being left out in the cold?

Not that Samsung really supported a top-end device like the GT-i8910 which was plagued with numerous issues from the word Go. They released the device and almost immediately abandoned it.

Sales of Samsung’s first Bada OS device, the SuperAMOLED-packing S8500 Wave have exceeded 1 million units worldwide, just under four short weeks after its release.

That is sure impressive if you note that the first iPhone didn’t hit the 1 million mark in sales until after two months.

Via

Samsung’s first Bada-powered device is the S8500 Wave. That device is soon to get a bunch of siblings, including two side-sliding QWERTY keyboard devices.

You’ve read our reviews of the Samsung S8003 Jet, as well as demos of the S8500 Wave, so you have a good idea of what to expect from Samsung’s Bada OS. Now, think of that gorgeous display, sweet user interface, add some even more advanced functionality and then slap a QWERTY keyboard on those. Smartphone heaven?

Samsung is reported to have displayed four new Bada devices at a Bada Developer Day. Reports from the event state that there is no detailed information on these new smartphones, besides them being cheaper, and two of them having a hardware slide-out QWERTY keyboard in addition to touchscreens.

Highlights of the event:

• info on latest user interface, TouchWIZ 3.0
• info on integrated Social Hub
• Samsung’s plans to expand its Bada smartphone to 75 countries, 156 operators, and offer more than 6 500 apps to go with it
• Samsung’s ambitous target of overtaking Nokia in terms of marketshare

Source

Samsung is officially after Nokia’s marketshare? We knew that those guys were ambitious, but this is setting it in stone. Go, Samsung!

Watch these pages for more information on the upcoming devices, launch dates and prices.

Custom ROMS abound on a variety of mobile platforms. They usually spring from attempts by users to address one or more core and unresolved failings in a device’s firmware.

Take the modding scene for the Samsung i8910 HD, for example: Samsung promised a device that offered 720p video recording at 24fps, but that came out delivering much less on both audio and video formats. Samsung later released a fix for the audio, but that only messed up the video some more, leaving users with a bitter taste in the mouth. In addition, a powerful multimedia device such as the i8910 should not come with the 18mb free space on drive :C, as it does (latest firmware).

Thanks to the modding scene, Samsung’s failings with that device have now been addressed.

• Faster operation, more free space on disk C: (around 80MB! The official latest Samsung firmware has only about 18MB free)
• Full 24fps 720p video recording with higher quality audio capture; using the same settings as Vivaz
• Pre-autofocus in video recorder; re-enabling what Samsung couldn’t make work in the prototype firmwares
• Full kinetic scrolling across whole interface
• Better theme transitions

Source

This scenario of a lone individual or a group of individuals so improving on a device that the results produce a much better device can be replicated across other mobile platforms. For example, a great deal of such work goes on at XDA Developers.

The subject of the necesitty of custom ROMs naturally raise a few issues, which we present below.

Manufacturers
Why is it so hard for manufacturers to deliver devices with optimised firmware and that deliver what was promised? For example, is it so hard for Samsung to produce the same results as obtains with the HX-V3-17 custom ROM? Or Nokia with its litany of crippled devices?

Why sell crippled devices in the first place? Are there no testing procedures or is it that commercial interests override these? What of consumer protection? Any channels for legal redress?

Where a manufacturer has pushed out a crippled device, they should push out firmwares to resolve any issues as fast as possible as a matter of integrity and best business practice. A situation in which firmware issues remain unresolved a year after a device’s release is simply unacceptable.

Lastly, we love the way that Android handles firmare updates – even the most technology-ignorant users can get their devices updated with the latest firmware. Its all done over-the-air and in the background, though the option to do it manually is available as well.

Asking users to go through complex procedures of updating firmware by installing PC suite and connecting phones by data cable, backing up user data et al is simply ice-age and so not user-friendly. We would love to see the day that all manufacturers implement background OTA updates.

Consumers
If you have had the bitter pill of buying a device that does not deliver on its promises forced down your throat and you really want to get the best of your device via custom ROMs, do note the following:

1. custom ROMs invalidates your warranty (but what good is the warranty offered by a manufacturer if they can’t even deliver on their promise?)
2. the risk of bricking your phone (rendering it unusable) is always there. If it happens, you are on your own
3. lastly, the search for improvements to a device can be time-consuming and addictive. Depending on how busy you are with real life, it may turn out to be a tremendous consumer of your precious time flashing and trying out one ROM after the other