Internet company Tucows this week announced no-contract cell phone plans with mix and match options.  Customers must purchase a device for full price from the carrier, which range from $45 for the Samsung Reclaim to $545 for the Motorola Photon.  Plans are named from XS to XXL, and range from $0 to $126 depending on the number of minutes, texts and amount data desired.  For example, a 100 minute plan with 2000 SMS messages and 3GB of data is $71 per month, and a 500 minute plan with 1000 SMS messages and no data is only $14.  A $6 minimum per month is required to keep service active.  Ting is a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) that runs on the Sprint network.

Source: Ting via TechCrunch via Engadget

Google Wallet is now appearing for some in the Android Market running the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and Nexus S with an AT&T SIM.  Users can download, install and use the NFC-based service to make mobile payments wherever the service is accepted.

Download Link: Android Market

Source: The Verge and Droid Life

ComScore Thursday released its U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share findings for the last quarter of 2011.  On the phone vendor side, Samsung remained on top with a 25.3% market share, no change from the third quarter. LG dropped 0.6 points to a 20% share, followed by Motorola, who fell 0.5 points to 13.3%. Apple came in fourth with 12.4%, up 2.2 points, and RIM fell 0.4 points to a 6.7% share.

On the OS side, Android remains on top in the United States with a 47.3% share, that’s up 2.5 points from the third quarter.  iOS came next, up 2.2 points to a 29.6%.  BlackBerry, Windows and Symbian all fell, 2.9 points to 16%, 0.9 points to 4.7% and 0.4 points to 1.4% respectively.

97.9 million U.S. residents owned a smartphone during the three months ended December 2011, accounting for 40% of all mobile subscribers. comScore also said 234 million Americans over 13 own a mobile device.

Press Release:

comScore Reports December 2011 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share

Smartphone Penetration Climbs Over 40 Percent during December Holiday Shopping Season

RESTON, VA, February 2, 2012 – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending December 2011. The study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers and found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 25.3 percent market share. Google Android strengthened its lead in the smartphone market to reach 47.3 percent market share.

OEM Market Share

For the three-month average period ending in December, 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 25.3 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers, followed by LG with 20 percent share and Motorola with 13.3 percent share. Apple continued to gain ground in the OEM market with 12.4 percent share of total mobile subscribers (up 2.2 percentage points), while RIM rounded out the top five with 6.7 percent share.

Smartphone Platform Market Share

97.9 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in December, representing 40 percent of all mobile subscribers. Google Android ranked as the top smartphone platform with 47.3 percent market share, up 2.5 percentage points from September. Apple maintained its #2 position, growing 2.2 percentage points to 29.6 percent of the smartphone market. RIM ranked third with 16 percent share, followed by Microsoft (4.7 percent) and Symbian (1.4 percent).

Mobile Content Usage

In December, 74.3 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device, up 3.2 percentage points. Downloaded applications were used by 47.6 percent of subscribers (up 5.1 percentage points), while browsers were used by 47.5 percent (up 4.6 percentage points). Accessing of social networking sites or blogs increased 3.8 percentage points to 35.3 percent of mobile subscribers. Game-playing was done by 31.4 percent of the mobile audience (up 2.6 percentage points), while 23.8 percent listened to music on their phones (up 2.9 percentage points).

Source: BGR

IDC this week released Q4 numbers on the top mobile phone vendors worldwide, reflecting the sharp increase in unit shipments for Apple, and pushing them above LG into the third place slot.

Apple jumped into the third spot globally from the fifth spot last quarter thanks to a record-breaking quarter of shipments. That represents the Cupertino-based company’s highest-ever ranking on IDC’s Top 5 global mobile phone leaderboard. [...] Device sales in the U.S. and Japan were particularly strong given extra sales days in the quarter and carrier distribution.

According to the results, Nokia remained in the top spot with 113.5 million units shipped, followed by Samsung’s 97.6 million and Apple’s 37 million.

Source: IDC via iMore

Sprint Thursday announced the ZTE Optic, an Android 3.2 Honeycomb tablet.  The device features a 1280 by 800 7-inch screen, dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor at 1.2GHz, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, a 4,000 mAh battery and 3G connectivity.  The device will be released on Sprint for $99 on contract, and is being released Sunday February 5^th.

Press Release:

ZTE Optik is an Android Tablet Offering Sprint Customers a Combination E-reader, Media Player and
Portable Computing Device at an Affordable Price

Available beginning Feb. 5, ZTE Optik boasts a 7-inch touchscreen display, Android 3.2, Honeycomb, and dual cameras for under $100

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. & RICHARDSON, Texas – Feb. 2, 2012 – Beginning on Sunday, Feb. 5, Sprint (NYSE:S) will introduce its first tablet for under $100, ZTE Optik™, a Sprint 3G tablet featuring a 7-inch touchscreen display with WXGA 1280×800 resolution and pinch-to-zoom, Android™ 3.2, Honeycomb, and dual cameras.

ZTE Optik will be available through Sprint direct ship sales channels, including Sprint Stores, Sprint Business Sales, Telesales (1-800-SPRINT1) and online (www.sprint.com) for just $99.99 with a new line or eligible upgrade and two-year service agreement. It will also be available without a service agreement for $349.99, and business customers may qualify for special pricing. (All pricing excludes tax.)

“Sprint is committed to delivering exceptional value and feature-rich devices to our customers,” said David Owens, vice president – Product Development, Sprint. “ZTE Optik packs great features for under $100. When this device is combined with our Tablet Connection plans, customers can easily keep their personal and professional lives organized, stay connected with their social networks and get things done while on the go.”

Powered by Android 3.2, Honeycomb, the version of Android designed specifically for tablets, ZTE Optik is a dynamic e-reader, media player and portable computing device. It features a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm^® Snapdragon^® processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage and 7-inch capacitive touchscreen that allows the user to get work done or stay entertained surfing the web, playing games and watching videos with Adobe^® Flash^® enabled websites. It has two cameras – a rear-facing 5-megapixel camera and front-facing 2-megapixel camera that enables video chat.

“ZTE Optik is ZTE’s first tablet in North America and makes the tablet experience available to a new segment of consumers,” said Lixin Cheng, CEO, ZTE USA and president, North America Region, ZTE. “Paired with Sprint’s cutting-edge network, ZTE Optik provides an exceptional user experience to consumers who demand affordability, flexibility and mobility in one package.”

For those that want to get more out of their tablet, ZTE Optik provides access to Android Market™, which features more than 400,000 useful apps, games and widgets. Additional key features of ZTE Optik include:

• Google mobile services such as Google Search™, Gmail™, Google Maps™ with Navigation, Google Books™ and YouTube™
• Wi-Fi^® (802.11 b/g)
• Swype™
• Integrated GPS
• 4000 mAh Lithium-ion battery
• Expandable memory slot, supporting up to a 32GB microSD card (not included)
• Bluetooth v2.1 + EDR
• Stereo speakers
• 3.5mm headset
• Sprint Zone, Sprint TV, Sprint Music Plus, Sprint Navigation, Sprint Football Live and NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile^SM

ZTE Optik can be activated on one of Sprint’s Tablet Connection plans. Sprint offers four plans designed specifically for tablets, starting at $19.99 for 1GB of data, $34.99 for 3GB of data, $49.99 for 6GB of data and $79.99 for 12GB of data.¹ (All pricing excludes taxes and surcharges.) Customers are able to view their data usage by logging into My Sprint at www.sprint.com.

ZTE Optik can also be used as a Mobile Hotspot allowing up to five users to simultaneously surf the web using Wi-Fi^®. The Mobile Hotspot option is available for an additional $29.99 per month and utilizes data in the customer’s tablet plan. (All pricing excludes taxes and surcharges).

Source: Sprint

Facebook announced plans to raise more than $5 billion through an initial public stock offering Wednesday.  That amount could be raised to as much as $10 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.  With $3.7 billion in revenue and $1 billion in net income in 2011, the social media company will trade under the symbol FB, but the filing did not say whether the New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq Stock Market would be chosen, or when trading might start.  The company said it “may use a portion of the proceeds for acquisitions of complementary businesses, technologies or other assets.”

Source: iMore

Qualcomm Thursday announced the first reported voice call handoff from an LTE network to a WCDMA network using Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC).  The SRVCC, part of the underlying technology for voice-over-LTE (VoLTE), is required for calls to switch back and forth between the two networks.  The call was done on December 23^rd, using an Ericsson network and a handset with a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 3G/LTE processor.  Demonstrations of the calls will be done at Mobile World Congress later this month.

Press Release:

SAN DIEGO – February 02, 2012 – Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) today announced that the Company, working with Ericsson, has successfully completed the first voice call handover from an LTE mobile network to a WCDMA network using Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC). An important technology required for voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) support, SRVCC is a 3GPP specified feature that enables continuity of service by seamlessly switching to a WCDMA network when a consumer on a VoLTE call leaves the LTE network’s coverage area. This milestone occurred on December 23, 2011 with an Ericsson network using a handset which incorporated Qualcomm’s Snapdragon™ S4 MSM8960 3G/LTE multimode processor. A demonstration will be available at Qualcomm’s booth at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain February 27 – March 1, 2012.

“As LTE networks are deployed alongside 3G networks, the ability for multimode 3G/LTE mobile devices to connect to different network technologies will be an important part of providing the best possible mobile voice and data experience to consumers,” said Cristiano Amon, senior vice president of product management, Qualcomm. “Qualcomm is committed to the successful deployment of LTE networks worldwide in conjunction with 3G networks, and the milestone we’ve achieved with Ericsson is another step towards making VoLTE technology a commercial reality.”

SRVCC is the next logical step in the 4G LTE voice roadmap following the commercial launch of circuit-switched fallback technology (CSFB) on smartphones in 2011. CSFB allows a single radio in the handset to dynamically switch from an LTE data connection to a 3G connection when the user needs to make or receive a call. Similarly, SRVCC support enables a single radio in the handset to execute a seamless handover of a voice call from an LTE network to a 3G network. Furthermore, SRVCC and CSFB allow both LTE and 3G network connections to be supported on a single chip, eliminating the need for smartphones to use separate LTE and 3G radios and modems. This allows OEMs to design handsets with lower power consumption and component costs and a smaller size. Given that 3G networks will continue to be deployed in conjunction with LTE networks for quite some time, SRVCC and CSFB are essential to provide a seamless voice experience to customers using LTE multimode handsets once VoLTE is commercially deployed. Qualcomm is committed to ensuring the best voice performance to users in LTE networks through industry-leading CSFB and SRVCC technologies.

Source: The Verge

HTC began issuing a software patch for a security issue related to the WiFi in certain devices.  A problem with the “access_wifi_state” permission allowed network password sniffing through the devices.  Affected handsets include the Desire HD, myTouch 4G, Desire S, Sensation, Evo 3D, Droid Incredible, and Thunderbolt.  The update will come over the air, though a manual update will be made available this coming week.

Source: Phonescoop

Google Wednesday announced Google Docs for Android had been updated, bringing support for offline document viewing.  Users must select files they’d like to view offline ahead of time, which will then be downloaded and stored on the device.  Files are then synced when a device is back online.  The update also brought high resolution view of documents on the tablet, along with page swiping for navigation.

Also updated was the Chrome to Phone application, allowing users to send links from their Chrome browser to the browser on their Android device.

Both updates are available for free in the Android Market.

Download: Chrome to Phone, Google Docs

Source: Android Central

After we heard about plans of network plans, and the reiteration of those plans last month, US Cellular has firmed up their timing, and will launch their 4G LTE network beginning in March.  Covering approximately 25% of their network, the launch markets include:

• Milwaukee, Madison and Racine, Wisconsin
• Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Davenport, Iowa
• Portland and Bangor, Maine
• Greenville, N.C.

Also announced Wednesday, the first two LTE-capable devices.  First, the Samsung Galaxy S Aviator, featuring Android 2.3.6 with a 4.3-inch WVGA Super AMOLED+ screen, 8MP rear along with front cameras and HDMI output.  Second, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, with Android 2.3 Honeycomb, a 10.1” WXGA screen and Adobe Flash support.  More information will be provided about pricing and availability as the release dates draw near.

Source: US Cellular 1 and US Cellular 2 via The Verge