Rdio Releases New Andro...

Today, Rdio is releasing a brand new application for Android phones chock-full of fresh features, which is awesome. Mainly because it gives me an excuse to write up a related rant I would have published at some point anyway. But let’s get the new Android app part out of the way first: “The new app offers intuitive navigation with one-click access to features previously available on Rdio for Android, along with several new enhancements and key features including collection, playlists, new releases, top charts, recommendations, and support for Android Ice Cream Sandwich’s new remote control client. Now Android users not only have easy access to Rdio’s catalog of more than 12 million songs, they can also take advantage of Rdio’s rich social features and extensive music discovery options.” Great. Swell. Cool. If you’re an Android phone user. Which I’m not, at least not anymore. A few months ago I started using Nokia’s Lumia 800 as my primary smartphone. One of the apps I really need on any platform happens to be Rdio, which I gladly pay for every month. There has been an official WP7 Rdio app since November 2010 , so no problem. At least, it shouldn’t be a problem. Instead, it’s a major source of daily frustration. You see, the Rdio app for Windows Phone has one fatal flaw: it doesn’t actually play music. It also doesn’t go out to buy my groceries for me, nor does it clip my toe nails, but the point is that I have a right to be flabbergasted by its lack of music playing ability. You know, because I pay the company for being able to play music on my phone. Not for crashing apps. Not for playlists, albums and songs that never load. Not for ‘black screens of death’ while I’m discovering new music. Not for half-assed offline syncing features. Browsing the company’s help forums, it seems I’m not the only one who’s frustrated by the extremely poor quality of Rdio’s Windows Phone app (with some people even taking to canceling their subscriptions as a result of their justifiable dissatisfaction). For months, Rdio employees have been promising complainers that the issues will be resolved on those very forums, but so far these promises have not been kept. I mean, they’re still asking users to restart their devices to see if that fixes the problem. Well, it doesn’t. Rdio folks, please just look at those ratings and user reviews on WP Marketplace , and be ashamed. Look, I get it. I’m in the minority as a Windows Phone user, and there’s no critical mass in sight yet. You have every right to focus your development efforts on apps for iOS and Android, given that most of your users likely use devices that run those operating systems. It’s a sensible thing to do. The thing is, I’m a paying customer. I fork over $9.99 a month to access my Rdio account on the Web, my Sonos system and my phone. That phone happens to be a Windows Phone device, which you built an app for, which you’re actively advertising on your website. Yet, it’s helplessly broken. The Spotify app for Windows Phone, meanwhile, works perfectly. There’s absolutely no reason for me to put up with this, and I’m close to canceling my subscription over this. Not really because your Windows Phone app has issues, which is understandable, but because you’ve demonstrated clearly that you do not care about repairing them and giving your paying customers any reasonable indication of how to fix it themselves, or when a problem-fixing update will finally make its way to the Marketplace. My view is this: either you develop an app for a mobile platform and proudly commit to enhancing and supporting it over time, and fixing problems that may arise within a reasonable timeframe, or you stay away from that platform entirely. I don’t know or care if Nokia or Microsoft paid you to build the app, but you should hang your heads in shame for offering it to users in its current state. Rant over, for now. But hey, at least the new Android app apparently rocks , right?

Nokia: The White Lumia ...

Forget about the Lumia 900 for a minute. Nokia just announced white Nokia Lumia 800 is finally on the release block and scheduled to hit stores later this month. Availability will be limited to Europe initially but it will eventually hit other countries as well. Other than the stark white exterior, it’s essentially the same phone as its colored counterparts. The albino edition (not the official name) still has the same 3.7-inch screen, 16GB of storage, 1.4GHz processor and WinPhone 7.5 operating system. Nokia didn’t go into pricing details, probably because the phone is set to hit so many different markets, each with a different pricing strategy. However, Nokia has seemed to stress affordability with their Windows Phones so far so this white edition will likely follow the same mantra. Alright, enough with the Lumia 800, bring on the 900!

Apple Overtakes Samsung...

According to the latest report from Strategy Analytics, Apple has now overtaken Samsung to become the world’s largest smartphone vendor by volume. Apple achieved 23.9% market share during Q4 2011, narrowly beating out Samsung’s 23.5% share. In addition, Apple shipped 37 million units in Q4, again going neck-and-neck with Samsung and its 36.5 million units shipped during the same time. However, notes Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, “while Apple took the top spot in smartphones on a quarterly basis, Samsung became the market leader in annual terms for the first time with 20% global share during 2011.” Apple’s annual share, meanwhile, was 19%. In other words, Apple won the quarter, not the year. Smartphone global shipments reached nearly half a billion units in 2011 (488.5 million units), the firm found, turning the smartphone battle into a two-horse race between Apple and Samsung in terms of units shipped. Nokia, the one-time smartphone leader, is still holding onto a top spot, in position #3, with 19.6 million units shipped during Q4 and 77.3 million shipped during 2011. But Nokia’s global share has been halved from 33% in 2010 to just 16% in 2011, indicating its ongoing decline. Although Strategy’s numbers paint the Samsung vs. Apple battle as a tight race between mobile giants, there’s a big difference between the numbers being reported here. As MacRumors points out, Samsung no longer reports its mobile phone sales numbers, while Apple discloses its units sold each quarter. That means analysts are estimating Samsung’s numbers, but Apple’s numbers are provided by the company itself. It could be that Apple’s lead is even greater than what’s seen here. Update : A report from the analysts at Canalys has just come in, and confirms the same thing – it’s an Apple vs. Samsung battle. According to the firm’s latest findings, Apple’s record shipment of 37 million iPhones shipped in Q4 beat the previous record held by Nokia of 28.3 million phones shipped in Q4 2010. Another shocking figure: the huge volume of iPhones shipped exceeded the size of the entire market of 4 years ago, when 35.5 million smartphones shipped globally. The firm also noted Nokia’s shipment of 19.6 million phones, calling it “a decent performance given its current transitional state.” However, Canalys stopped short of estimating Samsung’s phone shipments at this time, saying that the company doesn’t disclose these numbers publicly. They did say that Samsung’s quarterly smartphone growth was around 30% and mobile phone shipments were up 10%, though. Says Canalys Vice President and Principal Analyst Chris Jones, “the numbers are still coming in, but our early take on the state of the smartphone market is that, while Apple and Samsung clearly saw phenomenal performances, many other vendors have struggled. The full impact of this difficult quarter on hardware and software vendors will become clearer over the next week, when final results from the likes HTC, LG, Huawei and ZTE are announced, and Canalys publishes its full Q4 2011 worldwide country-level databases.”

Android Reaches 39% Tab...

Apple’s iPad reigns supreme from whatever angle you choose to look at the tablet market (profits, apps, quality, market share, mindshare, you name it), but research firm Strategy Analytics this morning said Android did manage to capture a record 39 percent tablet OS market share in the fourth quarter of 2011. Apple maintains the lead with 58 percent market share in Q4 2011 (down from 68 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010). Peter King, a research director at Strategy Analytics, says global tablet shipments (the research firm explains that these refer to ‘sell-in’ and not over-the-counter sales—an important difference, those Android tabs could sit on the shelves forever at Best Buy and never be bought) reached an all-time high of 26.8 million units in Q4 2011, surging 150 percent from 10.7 million in Q4 2010. He added: “Apple shipped a robust 15.4 million iPads worldwide and maintained its strong market leadership with 58 percent share during the fourth quarter of 2011. Apple shrugged off the much-hyped threat from entry-level Android models this quarter.” They did indeed, even if these aren’t really ‘threatening’ Apple at all . Android climbing to 39 percent share (up from 29 percent in Q4 2010) is, nevertheless, meaningful, but here’s the thing: Strategy Analytics includes Amazon’s Kindle Fire in the list of Android models it tracks the distribution of. The Kindle Fire runs a heavily customized version of Android , sure, but it’s a different beast from, say, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab or Motorola’s Xoom. I would love to know how much of that 39 percent market share can be attributed to the undeniably strong sales numbers of the Kindle Fire. Put differently, imagine if Amazon didn’t opt for Android or hadn’t yet released the Fire. Which Android tablet makers would be posing a serious threat to Apple then? I wouldn’t go as far as to say Android tablets ‘failed’ miserably in 2011, but it’s a far cry from success if you ask me. A lot of people expected Android to be on par with iOS by now. Worth noting: Strategy Analytics is not including Android-powered ebook readers in its latest report. I have no doubt Android tablets will actually end up commanding a larger tablet OS market share than Apple’s iOS over time, but that will be a logical result of its distribution model and not “Android winning” (basically, Apple chooses not to focus on market share but on profit margins ). That Android model also comes with a real, unquestionable fragmentation problem . Apple shouldn’t worry about the surge of Android in terms of tablet market share, desktop PC makers and the likes of RIM, Nokia and Microsoft should. Especially with an iPad 3 coming in 2012. Something that crossed my mind: Strategy Analytics estimates that Microsoft captured a mere 1.5 percent global tablet OS market share in Q4 2011, which is very ironic if you think about how early the software giant started thinking about tablet computers and their potential in the enterprise and getting such devices into consumers’ hands. Says Strategy Analytics: “The upcoming release of Windows 8 this year cannot come quickly enough for Microsoft, so its hardware partners can start competing more effectively in the tablet space”. No shit.

$99 Nokia Lumia 900 To ...

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop was all to eager to show off the Lumia 900 at this year’s CES, but he unforunately kept to himself when it came to its price or release date. Now, thanks to a timely leak, it looks as though Nokia’s flagship Windows Phone could hit AT&T’s shelves on March 18. That’s apparently the plan, anyway. The date, given to BGR by their anonymous sources, seemingly confirms earlier rumors about the device’s launch window, though they’re quick to note that the date isn’t set in stone since the 900 hasn’t yet completed the technical acceptance process. While the release date may not come a big surprise to some of you, the Lumia 900′s price tag probably will. The device will reportedly cost a mere $99 with a two-year contract, putting Nokia’s LTE-capable flagship handset right alongside bestselling AT&T handsets like the 8GB iPhone 4. Still, its solid spec sheet — LTE radio, 4.3-inch display 1.4GHz processor, 8-megapixel camera — could provide enough impetus for buyers on the fence to take a leap on Windows Phone. Between the dirt-cheap Lumia 710 (which can be found for free, if you’re diligent enough) and now the more-than-reasonably priced Lumia 900, Nokia is clearly aiming to sweep new and potential smartphone users off of their feet. If the leak is indeed true, it almost looks like Nokia is mirroring their aggressive European plan to push those units into people’s hands first and worry about profits later. Could this be the right phone at the right time with the right price tag for Windows Phone to make its long-awaited splash in a crowded market? It may well be — Windows Phone is generally a joy to use, and it’s about time that people started taking a chance on it. Nokia and AT&T’s forthcoming promotional plans will do their part in making sure people hear about the Lumia 900, so here’s hoping that its time will come soon.