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Bluetooth headset use plummets in the US, humanity celebrates a small victory

by Darren Murph Sep 6th 2009 @ 3:34AM


Join us as we rejoice together: "Finally!" Look, we can't straight up say that Bluetooth headsets don't have their place in this world, but seriously, we've yet to not be freaked out when walking up to someone who's apparently speaking to the ghost we can't see. In a recent survey conducted by the quizzical minds over at Strategy Analytics, they found that only 26 percent of US-based Bluetooth headset owners use their device each and every day. That figure is down from 43 percent in 2008, proving that style may have just notched a minor victory over utility. Of course, the study also found that daily BT headset use was up slightly in Europe, but hey, it takes awhile for these so-called "trends" to float across the pond.

[Image courtesy of eHow, via HotHardware]

Plucky little iPhone 3GS confounds expectations, tops Japanese sales for July

by Joseph L. Flatley Aug 17th 2009 @ 7:34PM

Well, look at that: The iPhone 3GS 32GB was the best-selling phone in Japan for the month of July, according to a survey being reported by a number of sites, including Electronista and Mainichi Daily News. Not bad for a handset that doesn't even support 1seg TV, huh? Trailing behind the aforementioned handset at number nine (and the only other American model to make the top ten) is a little something called the iPhone 3GS 16GB. Of course, the mobile market in Japan features plenty of virtually identical phones that manufacturers assign different model numbers to, depending on carrier -- so we're going to take this with a grain of salt. But still, we have to wonder what, exactly, to attribute Apple's new found Japanese popularity to. Maybe it's because they got the phone a mere month after the Stateside 3GS launch, while the hype machine was still in motion? Or maybe someone juked the stats? We can't be sure just yet, but we do have the top ten for you -- in handy list form -- after the break.

[Via Electronista]

Continue reading Plucky little iPhone 3GS confounds expectations, tops Japanese sales for July

Captain Obvious reports: AT&T sees surge in WiFi use post-iPhone OS 3.0

by Darren Murph Jul 31st 2009 @ 5:04AM


You know, there's something to be said about making something easy: people usually take advantage. So seems to be the case with AT&T's WiFi connections after the release of iPhone OS 3.0, which finally became useful when users could seamlessly connect to one of the thousands of AT&T hotspots around the nation rather than having to stumble through a painfully long process on iPhone OS 2.x. According to an AT&T spokesperson speaking with AppleInsider, the amount of iPhone users linking up with AT&T's WiFi network tripled in June, and overall, it saw a 41 percent increase in connections compared to the prior quarter. It comes as no surprise to hear that AT&T is working feverishly to expand said network in order to relieve strain from its house of cards-styled 3G network, and while we'd definitely prefer a bit more reliability with the latter, we'll happily accept more WiFi in the meanwhile.

Quigo ad placement

Best Buy-sponsored survey shows that Americans want smartphones even though they don't understand them

by Tim Stevens Jul 1st 2009 @ 6:57AM

Best Buy-sponsored survey shows that Americans want smartphones even though they don't understand them
Do you understand your smartphone... really understand it? Know its moods, its wants, its desires? A survey hosted by Best Buy Mobile shows that half of people don't, with 47 percent saying the things confuse the heck out of them, while 60 percent of those aged 35 - 49 feel that people with smartphones spend too much time working and not enough time playing Wii Sports Bowling. Those feelings of confusion and ire doesn't stop a "sizable segment" of the rest of the 1,000 people surveyed from wanting a handset with brains, with most desiring access to the sort of apps you can't get on dumbphones, and 14 percent of women saying that playing games was "very important" -- only nine percent of men said the same. Sadly, there was no figure indicating how many people enjoy paying too much for text messages and signing their lives away on lengthy contracts.

Verizon survey suggests carrier is a little self-conscious about the iPhone

by Chris Ziegler Mar 4th 2009 @ 3:38PM


With phones like the Versa and Dare already on the market and a host of other interesting devices inbound for Verizon in the next few weeks, we'd say Verizon has enough juice in the marketing tank to fight off the iPhone for the time being -- but be that as it may, they'd still like to know if you've been swayed by Cupertino's gravitational pull. A tipster to Boy Genius Report sent in some screenshots of an exit survey sent after canceling his service, and of the things Verizon could have "offered to keep you as a customer," the iPhone was the only hardware called out by name. Apple's baby goes on to appear in two more of the survey's questions, suggesting that there's some concern out there in Basking Ridge -- and considering that rumors of a CDMA iPhone for Verizon refuse to die down, maybe they're planning on doing something about it. Or... you know, maybe all you needed was an apology to be swayed to stay, you big softie, you.

Survey finds mobile phone setup to be excruciatingly difficult

by Darren Murph Jan 25th 2009 @ 6:47AM


We can't say we've ever toyed with a mobile that was so difficult to setup that we'd rather move our bank account from one institution to another just to experience something easier, but apparently we're in a quaint minority. According to research gathered by Mformation, some 85 percent of those polled were "frustrated by the difficulty of getting a new phone up and working." Out of the 4,000 individuals that were surveyed, all but 5 percent said they would "try more new services if phones were easier to set up." In fact, 61 percent admitted that they would simply stop using an application if they couldn't get it working right away, with actions such as web browsing, reading email and sending picture messages being atop the list of "greatest wants." Hear that, carriers? That's the sound of lost revenue from selling phones that people can't operate.

[Via All About Symbian]

Quigo ad placement

Survey suggests AT&T still hard at work on femtocell offering

by Chris Ziegler Jan 15th 2009 @ 6:10PM


There are apparently sorta maybe femtocell trials already underway on AT&T -- somewhere, with somebody -- but we certainly don't have one on our hearth, and we suspect you don't either. Sprint got way out ahead of the pack on the outsource-our-infrastructure-costs-to-the-consumer trend by popping out the Airave a while back, but other carriers have failed to respond in a timely fashion, despite the pressing need to get more bars into the deepest, darkest corners of our homes and offices. For what it's worth, though, AT&T seems to still have femtocells somewhere on the front burner with surveys going out to subscribers asking whether they'd be interested in a "small, security-enabled cellular base station" they can call their own. If it were up to us, they'd get a few thousand "very interested" responses, but hey, we didn't receive the survey, now did we?

[Thanks, Andrew J.]

Motorola's ride at the top nearly over, or so says likely accurate research

by Darren Murph Dec 11th 2008 @ 11:54PM


Back in November, Apple's iPhone 3G overtook the almighty RAZR as the best-selling handset on US soil, and merely a week later, analysts pinpointed Motorola (and Sony Ericsson, in fairness) as being handset makers that could have a tough time "weathering the storm." Now, a new piece of research from MultiMedia Intelligence has it that Motorola's market share dominance is about to end, and end quickly. If forecasts are accurate, rivals LG and Samsung will surpass Moto in 2009 (in America), and with RIM and Apple selling their fair share as well, it's doubtful Motorola will be able to simply swipe away users of other handsets without something revolutionary on the table. Hear that Moto? Revolutionary? We love to be surprised, you know.

[Via mocoNews, image courtesy of SynergyGroup]

Research finds mobile TV as unseductive as ever, though VOD seems interesting

by Darren Murph Nov 15th 2008 @ 4:10PM


News flash: mobile TV is not enticing. Like, at all. The viability of watching TV on one's handset has been questioned for years, and now we've got the numbers to prove that interest is waning. Recent research has found that mobile TV adoption sits at just 1% now, and interest in all types of mobile TV is just over 50% of what it was in 2006. The report places the blame on "patchy network coverage, limited channel lineup, poor video quality, excessive prices and a penchant among high-end phone users for business handsets rather than video phones," and we'd certainly have a tough time disagreeing. That being the case, it was still found that 15% of those surveyed on the topic would actually enjoy watching recorded TV shows later on their phone, suggesting that a little bit of choice when it comes to content may not be a bad idea. Rest assured, players in this space are already looking at ways to make it happen, and for those with SlingPlayer, you know all too well what we're getting at.

Nokia still atop global market share chart after Q3 2008

by Darren Murph Nov 3rd 2008 @ 7:40AM


Nokia's market share may have slipped ever-so-slightly after a rough Q3, but that's not to say the current champ has been knocked from its throne -- far from it, actually. According to fresh numbers compiled by research firm IDC, Nokia's global market share after Q3 was 39.4%, while Samsung notched the silver with 17.3% and Sony Ericsson the bronze with 8.6%. Trailing the top trio was Motorola and LG with 8.5% and 7.7%, respectively. Each of the five still saw net gains when compared to Q3 2007 save for SE and Moto, which saw their market share slip 0.8% and 31.7%, respectively. Man, a 31.7% slide in twelve months -- is something wrong at Motorola's handset division, or have we just been living under a gigantic boulder for the last calender year?

Verizon notches gold in retail satisfaction study

by Darren Murph Oct 24th 2008 @ 4:24PM


While Sprint recently saw its CSR response times skyrocket, Verizon's doing a happy dance of its own after pulling down a gold medal from a recent J.D. Power and Associates survey. Curiously enough, it's not one we see as being particularly awesome -- call us crazy, but we tend to care about amazing coverage more than how spiffy a sales associate looks -- but the carrier is apparently numero uno in retail satisfaction. What's that mean, you ask? It takes into account four factors: sales staff, store display, store facility and price / promotion. Evidently, Verizon has the whole B&M experience thing locked down, and these days, we reckon you take every chance you get to celebrate. Party on, in that case.

[Via RCRWireless, image courtesy of DayLife]

Nokia survey finds that many Americans work on the can

by Darren Murph Oct 21st 2008 @ 3:33PM


We already know that a solid chunk of Britons use mobile internet while in the throes of passion, and now Captain Obvious (today known as Nokia) has awkwardly landed to tell the world that Americans do too. A recent survey, which we can only imagine was absolutely thrilling to conduct, found that some 53% of working Americans "have been interrupted by a work-related phone call or e-mail while in the bathroom." Furthermore, some 23% have allowed a call / e-mail to interrupt them while on a date, but that's probably because 59% of those polled never, ever turn off their mobile. Just think -- the next time your buddy answers with a hint of stress in his / her voice, there's a statistically significant chance that you're barging in on some seriously personal business.

[Image courtesy of fletchy182]

Sprint's CSR response time skyrockets to first in recent survey

by Darren Murph Oct 20th 2008 @ 5:36PM

Last summer, Sprint was the laughing stock of the major US carriers in terms of customer service. Fast forward 15 months, and the very same carrier is now sitting atop the pile. A recent report compiled by Pali Research has found that Sprint's wireless customer care response times were best in class, and just 2.5 years ago in its first survey, Sprint was dead last. The carrier answered a whopping 91% of calls that researchers placed to the care center in under 30 seconds, while 99% of calls were answered within 2 minutes. If you're curious how the other guys did, try this: Verizon grabbed the silver with 85%, T-Mobile followed with 43% and AT&T took home the award of shame with just 33% of test calls answered within half a minute. So, the real question is: have you Sprint customers noticed an uptick in service levels? And are you AT&T subscribers growing increasingly impatient?

[Via phoneArena]

Luxury handset sector on the rise as the rich get richer

by Darren Murph Sep 14th 2008 @ 9:27AM

Shortly after seeing an all new Vertu hit the FCC, in flies word confirming that the handset maker may actually sell quite a few (by its standards). According to a new report from ABI Research, the annual global revenue for opulent cellphones will exceed $41 billion next year and surpass $43 billion by 2013. This year, just under 6 million "luxury handsets" are expected to be sold (what exactly defines "luxury?"), with Western Europe leading the way in demand, followed by North America and Asia. Of course, the writeup also asserts that sales of these kinds will remain extraordinarily low compared to all those free-on-contract sets, but don't be surprised to see a few new faces (and their accompanying mobiles) at this year's debutante ball.

82% of America never uses text messaging

by Darren Murph Jul 7th 2008 @ 6:18PM


While there has been quite the kerfuffle about banning texting while driving and educating Australian youngsters on text speak, a new survey shows that the vast majority of us haven't even sent a single SMS. Research firm Ipsos MediaCT polled individuals in a variety of countries and came to one general conclusion: If folks are using SMS, "they're using it frequently." On the flip-side, those who aren't savvy with text messaging aren't apt to just dabble in it. For instance, 82% of respondents in America said "that they never used text messaging, while 3% said that they used it monthly or less" and 15% reported using it "every week or even more. Who knows what that figure would be if carriers stopping charging an arm and a leg for per-use messaging.

[Via Textually, image courtesy of ugo]




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