Chitika says iPhone still tops smartphone market, not Android

We’ve heard plenty of stories lately about Android overtaking iPhone/iOS as the leading smartphone platform, but Chitika thinks otherwise. Recently, comScore released a study that shows Android surpassing and being well ahead of iOS in terms of mobile platforms, but Chitika, the ad company, sees its own data contradicting comScore.

According to Chitika, the iPhone is still the top smartphone on the market by a long shot. Based on 13.5 million smartphone browser impressions, the iPhone comprised 38% whereas Android was down at %29. It’s quite a stark difference when we consider the study released by comScore where Android had 31.2% and the iPhone had only 24%.

Chitika does get to see a lot of trends and usage that most others don’t because of its position as a mobile advertising unit. However, the problem I have with the Chitika study is that it’s not a sure-fire indicator of who owns the smartphone market based on impressions from the mobile browser. Perhaps a more clear title for its study would have been, “iPhone tops mobile browser market for ad impressions.”

Of course, Chitika sort of admits this:

This, folks, is part of the joy of online statistics – everybody’s data set is a little different and has a slightly different bias.  Keep in mind that our network doesn’t take into account apps, and is purely based on a large collection of websites.  This is useful in that the data set is consistent, but assumes that web browser usage is the same among the mobile devices (in other words, all Android devices and iPhones are running Mobile Safari or Chrome Mobile 50% of the time).

iPhone users just might be using their browsers a little more than Android users. There are a number of factors to consider, but I don’t think that iOS is beating Android based on Chitika’s survey of 13 million impressions. The assumption that browser usage is the same across devices is a huge assumption to make, and drawing the conclusion that the iPhone is still the number one smartphone in the U.S. based on that limited data set is even bigger.

Bell Motorola Atrix now available for pre-order at Best Buy

Best Buy wants to capitalize on the days before Bell officially releases the Motorola ATRIX. They have gone ahead and given customers the option of pre-ordering the Android-powered device. They state on the site that “Visit your local Best Buy Mobile and place a $50 deposit. As soon as the Motorola Atrix phones arrive in our stores, we will notify you immediately so you can get your phone ahead of everyone else. See in-store for details.”
Who’s buying?

BlackBerry 2011 CDMA Lineup Leaks Including New Curve Touch, Plus More OS 6.1 Details

The 2011 CDMA BlackBerry lineup leaked out that showed several devices such as the Dakota (touchscreen Bold), Monaco Touch (known as the Storm 3), Sedona (next gen Curve) and the Curve Touch. Many of these devices will have increased specs such as a 1.2 GHz processor, NFC capabilities and HD video recording. In addition, RIM’s 2011 BlackBerry Software Roadmap recently found itself online that revealed BlackBerry OS 7 is coming this year.
Today, a few GSM devices has leaked out too. The above doc looks to be a Q2 T-Mobile presentation slide but these devices will probably find their way up north to us Canadians. The doc shows the PlayBook is coming in the next few weeks (as expected), along with the BlackBerry Dakota (Internal code name of R005) that will be released in the May/June period. Following is the BlackBerry Torch 2 (next gen BlackBerry Torch 9800) that could see a release date at the end of May or early June. In addition, the BlackBerry Apollo (Internal code name of R006 and is the next-gen Curve) has an estimated release date July.
You like any of these devices?

Owning an iPad 2 may cost more than Motorola Xoom, but do you care?

When the iPad 2 was announced and Steve Jobs told the world that it would be priced just like the first model, it made the Motorola Xoom seem that much more expensive. After all, at the low end, the iPad only costs $499 without a contract or commitment to anyone. For the Xoom, the non-commitment price is $799, which had really struck a nerve with Android fans. But is the iPad really cheaper to own than the Motorola Xoom? Well, that all depends on your needs.
The Motorola Xoom comes in two pricing flavors: $599 with a two-year contract at Verizon, and $799 off contract. Both are rather pricey, but when you consider the comparable offer from Apple, things seem to even out a bit.
The Motorola Xoom offers 32GB of storage and 3G EV-DO connectivity. For a 32GB iPad 2 with 3G connectivity, you’d be paying $729. Suddenly, things don’t look so rosy for the iPad in terms of pricing alone. If you opt to pay month to month for data on the iPad, you’re forking over $25 for 2GB of data. Contract users with the Xoom pay just $599 for their devices, but they also pay $20 a month for unlimited data on Verizon’s network. Over time, the total cost of ownership for a comparable iPad 2 will cost more.
But are you buying a tablet for the long term, and will you be using data every single month for two years? Consider the trade-offs if you decide to go for the price factor alone. A tablet is far less necessary than owning a phone, so I still consider it a luxury item. Are you going to buy the arguably lesser experience just to save a little bit of dough?
The iPad 2 has 65,000 apps made just for its screen and resolution, and hundreds of thousands more iOS apps will work on it, too. The Xoom, which is powered by Android 3.0 Honeycomb, has somewhere in the neighborhood of about 100. When you consider apps made by entertainment companies, publishers, businesses and other services you might use often, they usually develop for iOS or the iPad first. My point is this: don’t just consider pricing when you’re talking about a luxury item, or an item that you are buying because you want it, not because you need it. You’ll also need to think about whether the device is relatively future-proof, not just in terms of hardware, but also software and support.

AT&T Ad for HTC Inspire 4G brings the action, the laughs and the 4G network

AT&T decided to go for the laughs while promoting the HTC Inspire 4G on television with a commercial. The Android device with the high-end specs is priced like a mid-range model with a $99.99 contract price, and in the television spot, the phone never leaves the hands of a bumbling Detective who accidentally is able to make the collar.

The HTC Inspire 4G has given AT&T customers plenty to think about with its 4.3 inch screen with 480 x 800 resolution, 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 768MB of RAM and an 8MP camera with dual flash. Sure, while the Motorola ATRIX 4G has the specifications that belong to the newer breed of high-end Android models, it wasn't so long ago that the Inspire 4G would have been considered at the top of the Android food chain. And when you consider the $99.99 price with a signed 2-year contract, the handset offers value which is something not talked about so much in the world of high-end devices.

Kinect Sets World Record, Sells Faster Than IPhone, IPad

Microsoft's Kinect sensor is the fastest-selling consumer electronics device on record, according to Guinness World Records, beating previous records held by Apple's iPhone and iPad as the race between rivals heats up with the imminent iPad 2 launch.

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The Redmond, Wash.-based company sold more than 10 million Kinect gaming sensors since the device's launch in November, selling an average rate of 133,333 Kinect sensors a day between its launch in November and the beginning of January, according to the Guinness World Records. The Kinect is a motion-control sensor for the company's Xbox gaming system, making a whole new style of full-body gameplay possible.
"We can confirm that no other consumer electronics device sold faster within a 60-day time span, an incredible achievement considering the strength of the sector," said Gaz Davies, editor of "Guinness World Records 2011 Gamer's Edition." The company also indicated that Kinect sales eclipsed "both the iPhone and the iPad for the equivalent periods after launch."
But the race will only heat up as Microsoft rival Apple gears up to release the iPad 2 to market tomorrow, where online sales open at 4 a.m. EST through Apple's website. The device is expected to be a blockbuster despite the growing field of competitors in the emerging tablet market, which the company's previous iPad defined and lead easily in 2010. While upstarts like Motorola's Xoom and Samsung's Galaxy Tab eroded Apple's initial 96 percent market share in the first half of 2010, the iPad easily still held 75 percent of the sector in the last quarter of 2010, according to research firm Strategy Analytics.
Apple is also set to release the iPhone 5 this year, expected in June or July. Previous iPhones were launched with great fanfare, featuring crowds in its retail locations and lines around the block to get the device.
The Kinect world record must be highly-satisfying for Microsoft, which has struggled against Apple in the mobile market. The software giant, once a market leader with its Windows Mobile OS on a variety of smartphones, found its presence eclipsed by Apple's iPhone and the growing slate of devices powered by Google's Android platform. It failed with efforts like the ill-fated Kin to create a compelling hardware offering.
Its new operating system, Windows Phone 7, which was designed to get the software maker back in the game, has received good reviews but has failed to gain traction against rivals, particularly Android. Microsoft recently partnered with Nokia, however, to bring Windows Phone to Nokia phones around the globe, upping the profile of the still-young system, and has ramped up development efforts to bring more apps to its mobile system.
But Microsoft has remained a leader in gaming with its Xbox device, and clearly Kinect has found an audience and boosted the company as it flagged elsewhere. However, its rivals show no signs of stopping, and the Guinness world record may shift a few times before we see a definitive, long-running winner.

Best Buy chops the price of the Google Nexus S in half to $100 for 2 weeks only

Sure it might have been under the radar of late, especially when we’ve seen so many impressive Android devices coming to market, but if you’ve been waiting around patiently, it’s now ripe to take part with the Android 2.3 Gingerbread powered Google Nexus S.

From now until March 23rd, Best Buy has the beloved smartphone priced in half to the 2-year contract price of only $100. At that rate, you’re presented with a high-end device that you know will always be up-to-date thanks to its status of being a developer’s phone. Moreover, with the additional extra savings you’ll be getting, you don't have to stress out too much about saving a lot for this one.

Now if only we can see some kind of price drop with its flat out full retail cost…