Apple overtakes RIM in phone sales

Research in Motion (RIM) has been squeezed out to fifth place as Apple has become the fourth largest mobile phone vendor on the planet.

According to IDC's quarterly statistics, Apple and RIM posted the highest growth rates out of the top five vendors. However, it wasn't enough to save RIM's skin as the company fell out of the top four. Apple blindsided RIM with 1.7 million more units sold. That still leaves Nokia in first place by a huge margin with Samsung and LG in second and third.

The drop to fifth will hurt RIM but it will smart all the more because the company is losing much needed ground, in particular in sales of Iphones to the great unwashed. Both companies are pushing into each other's product space with RIM consumerisng its portfolio and Apple heading in the other direction, getting its products seen as viable business tools.

The handbags at dawn rivalry came to a head recently with an astounding claim from a reality distorting Steve Jobs. The INQUIRER reported last week that Jobs said during Apple's third quarter earnings call that RIM wouldn't catch up now that Apple had overtaken itin phone sales. Does Jobs not know that sales can go up as well as down? In the great scheme of phone sales, 1.7 million is a mere whisker.

While Apple and RIM are fighting tit-for-tat battles, both firms have lost sight of the bigger picture. Neither has a snowball's chance in hell of catching Nokia's 32.4 per cent market share and a 98 million sales lead. But who will get that information through Jobs' reality distortion field?

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Google Nexus Two may be Samsung Galaxy S with front camera

The recently uncovered Nexus Two may be a relatively modest phone if unveiled next week, a reported hands-on with a prototype hinted this evening. Backing rumors that the phone is made by Samsung, a source with purported access described it as resembling a touch-only Galaxy S but with a front camera and tapering on both the front and back. It may go so far as to include the same four-inch Super AMOLED screen, Gizmodo was told, but the build quality would be a step down from the Nexus One's metal to glossy plastic.

Software would likely be the distinctive feature. The device, whose name may change if it's released as expected, would be the first shipping hardware with the just-finished Gingerbread release of Android. Likely to be called Android 2.3, it should have a video chat feature similar to what's found in Gmail and with at least a passing resemblance to Apple's FaceTime. Many other features are still mysteries, though tight integration with Google TV and extra visual polish are probable. Samsung would keep to the stock Android rather than depend on the TouchWiz UI it runs on its usual Galaxy S phones.

The existence of the phone still has its doubts given official denials, but Samsung's November 8 event is due to center around an Android device and is unusual given that Samsung has already unveiled most of its main devices so far. The only other main candidate is the Continuum, a dual-screen, Verizon-only model.

When Google introduced the Nexus One, it had tried to position the device both as a way of shaking up the traditional carrier model but also as a form of rival to the iPhone that would have one company control both the hardware and the software. It was pulled half a year later after low sales and a lack of exposure, but Google may be eager to avoid repeating mistakes with retail launches and much more public attention.

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Opera Mini 5.1 beta hits Symbian, and it's a native app

Why would you prefer the trimmed down Opera Mini over the vastly superior Opera Mobile browser is beyond us, but if you do, here comes some good news. The Norwegian company just released the Opera Mini 5.1 and you can take it for a spin right away.

Of course you could use Opera Mini 5.1 on Symbian even before that but that was the Java version and now we are talking some native coding.

The new version promises improved start-up and page loading times as well as better performance when scrolling. It also lets you use whatever text input options your device offers (Swype, anyone?) and comes with new fonts that should be easier on the eye.

The final new feature of Opera Mini 5.1 for Symbian is the option to set a default access point once and for all, which puts paid to all those annoying dialogs.

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