Camera Comparison: Sony Xperia S, Samsung Galaxy S2, HTC Sensation XL, Nokia N8 and Fujifilm Finepix T200

The HTC Sensation XL, Nokia N8 and Samsung Galaxy S2 have all in their own right won a Recombu Camera Phone Faceoff so it makes sense we pit them against one another. The Sony Xperia S should get in on the action being the latest 12-megapixel handset coming out in March.

As a category of tech however, all these handsets are out to prove a point - that they can take on the real deal - compact cameras. Most likely to suffer from camera-phone leaps and bounds are the sub £100 cameras such as the Fuji Finepix T200, so we've got one, are comparing it against the best phones of today and tomorrow, and sharing our raw data so you can reach your own conclusions.

A note to readers, our Sony Xperia S sample is not final build software, so there is room for change in terms of processing of images (noise handling, exposure etc).



In standard comparison style, we've created a grid of images above, these can be clicked through so peruse and abuse until you decide upon your own winner (once we've announced ours of course). We've taken a series of shots: four outdoor testing different scenes, two macro shots and two indoor shots, one with flash and one without. The aims today are to find a camera phone king and question whether a camera phone can take on a fully fledged compact camera.

Let the shootout commence:

Outdoor: Direct light source

Aside from the Sony Xperia S, these phone are all winners of previous challenges so we're starting at the deep end. The light in the tunnel was very bright with the sun right behind and a scene like this is just asking for a washed out photo. So how did our contenders do?



The instant winner is the Fuji Finepix. With the most balanced exposure and best dynamic range the shot doesn't look washed out and detail is discernable in the darks and lights. A very close second is the Nokia N8. More washed out, the 12-megapixel Finn offers some very clean lines surrounding the light-source proving that older tech isn't necessarily worse tech. Neither however is new tech, with the only other 12-megapixel contender, the upcoming Sony Xperia S, picking up third place with an ever so slight white wash when compared to the silver and gold.

Outdoor: 70:30

They say that when shooting the sky, a rough 70:30 split between earth and air makes for the most visually appealing picture. The problem with 70:30 splits on a clear day? Over exposure. Skies become white instead of blue in order to make the foreground stand out. How did our 70:30 snappers fair?



The new kid on the block, the Sony Xperia S has snatched the crown in this round. Proving that better saturated roofs can swing a win, with great foreground detail and colour coupled with a very attractive sky, it maintains good contrast levels and produces a great overall image. Second is the Nokia N8. Slightly more subdued and delivering arguably the most realistic colours, great sky detailing is coupled with an agreeable depth to the image. Third is the HTC Sensation. Good levels of saturation in the background make way to very nice levels of detail in the foreground. As with the Sony Xperia S, it's picked up on the slight yellow daylight hue in the air and picks up a very respecable bronze in the process.

Outdoor: Backlight + Macro = Oh no

Usually, we'd either give a camera a backlit shot or a macro shot to handle. Not in this test - these are winners remember.

In turn, we focus on a dark bud on a tree and a bright blue sky. All were taken as close as focus would permit on the specific camera (which is why, for example the N8 is much further away than the HTC Sensation XL) and the Nokia N8 and Fuji T200 had to be forced into Macro. We will decide our winner by how well the camera balances background and foreground lighting, not necessarily the most in focus shot.



Winning. It's just something the Sony Xperia S does very well and you guessed it - it's just won again. Despite being test-software, it's delivered a pretty incredible amount of detail on the tree while retaining a huge amount of background colouration, in contrast to, say, the Fujifilm T200 which loses out in the backdrop. We'd strongly advise clicking through on the image to see just how impressive this level of detail is. In addition, it was a breeze to focus on the bud, a blessing in the face of other devices requiring we take as many as 4 shots to focus. Winning.

Second is the HTC Sensation XL. Also a breeze to focus with just a touch, it produced a less detailed but very handsome picture with a great amount of information on the branch and no overblown skys. While the N8 may have produced an arguably better picture than the HTC Sensation XL, it was a nightmare to focus with us having to re-frame the shot in order to achieve the one we got. Still, we think you'll agree, very good, balanced outcomes are worth the effort giving Nokia's N8 a bronze.

Detail: "Can you read that number plate?"

You're car's been scraped, the assailant drives off, you pull out your phone and snap a picture. You'll need some pretty receptive megapixels to track your perpetrator and we're here to tell you which camera would do the best job. Reason would have us believe that the Fujifilm with its 14-megapixel sensor would be in the best position to grab as much information as possible, with the two 12-megapixeled camera phones tailing its tracks, the reality however might prove surprising:



The unquestionable winner in this round is the Sony Xperia S. In fact, it's the Xperia S' picture that prompted us to black-bar the number plate it was so legible. There is a fair amount of grain on the shot, so when compared to the Fuji, it looks a lot less smooth, however in a detail round it's detail that scores points and it's the Sony Xperia S that delivered the only legible number-plate of the bunch.

The best overall picture and a close second is the Fujifilm Finepix T200. While it goes without saying that had we used its impressive 10x zoom it would have won, at its widest angle, we got five of the seven digits of the license plate. That it softened the image more will prove more flattering when shooting things like people, but in a round like this, every crevice counts.

Coming in third is the Nokia N8 proving our anticipated top three to be near enough on the money. With two digits legible, it hammers the final nail in the coffin - for tiny number plate capture, 12-megapixels is better than 8.

Outdoor macro

Once again, we are taking a macro shot with some pretty spectacular lighting and a good amount of depth. With a coin from Mauritius, we do our best to identify which camera handles tricky metal while also assessing how close we can get to our subject.



If the last round was about landscape detail, this round is about close up detail and while it produces arguably the most attractive shot, the Fuji T200 softens the harsh detail on the coin missing out on our top three. With the Nokia N8 not even focusing properly in close quarters, the winners are the remaining handsets. It's such a close call, were almost begrudged to pick one, however if we must we'd call the Samsung Galaxy S2 the winner with its incredible detailing of every chip, nick and scratch. Second would be the HTC Sensation XL and third the Sony Xperia S. All were a breeze to focus on and impressed us no-end in this round.

Indoor Macro

We usually take a picture of a flower to illustrate freshness, insinuate an aroma and capture nature's colour pallet at its most vibrant. Not today. These are dried flowers, cob-webbed with dust and altogether a little more Miss Haversham than Hermione Granger. The camera winner will therefore need to pick up the withered within the beauty.



As with the first round, our winner is the Fujifilm Finepix T200, followed by the Sony Xperia S and closely trailed by the HTC Sensation XL. With the best overall exposure, the Fuji T200 captured the off yellow of the flower's pale petals. The webbing is clear and the whole shot looks accurate. The Sony Xperia S captured a great amount of detail in the centre of the rose, just falling behind on overall exposure while the HTC Sensation over-yellowed the flower and over-greened the leaves ever so slightly despite fantastic detail placing it third.

Indoor: No flash

This is a noise round and Nugo's fur is a prime spot for noise to breed, with its dark colouration there's every danger that rather than a detailed grey it will become a speckled colour bath. Despite all the cameras compensating well, the scene wasn't lit well from the front with no artifical lighting.



Which camera handles itself best when challenged with a furry subject indoors? The Nokia N8 does. With the most amount of detail against the least amount of noise, fur is discernable as are Nugo's eyes and the overall shot is well exposed. Second is the Sony Xperia S. While producing some noise, the overall scene is well exposed and there is depth across Nugo's face, with more in the pink areas than any other contender. Finally, in third place is the Samsung Galaxy S2. Producing more noise than either Nokia or Sony's efforts, it nevertheless betters the other two shooters with a fine amount of detail and depth.

Indoors: Flash

To fill out Nugo's wrinkles and create an altogether more flattering shot, we get out our fill-flash. This should take some strain off the noise processing so detail on Nugo's fur should be more life-like. In addition, we can also hope for a well balanced overall scene.



The reality is thankfully in-line with our expectations, at least from three of the cameras. Unsurprisingly the Xenon flashes of the Fujifilm Finepix T200 (gold) and Nokia N8 (silver) win the final round with Xenon being a standard on compacts and one that has fared well for the Nokia N8 in previous tests. The Samsung Galaxy S2 with its dual LED flash comes in third concluding our final round and deciding on a winner.

Conclusion

Our leader-board is as follows:

Sony Xperia S - 14 points
Fujifilm Finepix T200 - 11 points
Nokia N8 - 11 points
HTC Sensation XL - 5 points
Samsung Galaxy S2 - 5 points
Ironically, we've got a joint second and third. The newest device, the Sony Xperia S has managed to seize the crown despite not sporting final release software. It captures a shot incredibly fast, produces a fine picture and also offers amongst the most intuitive UI with a great focusing system. The joint second place goes to the Fujifilm T200 and Nokia N8, though the prior is considerably easier to use and more adept to macro shots. The winner's board pits the HTC Sensation XL and the Samsung Galaxy S2 joint in third place with both showing a real forte for macro and along with the Sony Xperia S, delivering the best focusing systems of our test.

The leader-board isn't the only reason we put together this comparison, we wanted to ask the question, can a mobile phone camera rival a sub-£100 compact camera. Clearly, the answer is yes - to a degree.

To what degree exactly? With a 10x optical zoom as opposed to no optical zoom on any of the mobiles, the Fujifilm would be the only viable option to take on, say, a holiday to Florence or to your child's nativity play when you're two rows from the back. Also, as is clear in the final shot, if you plan on using a flash - nothing beats Xenon, something 99% of compacts have.

What this comparison shows is that now, top-end camera-phones can indeed rival compacts for day to day snaps and produce some incredible pictures, with the latest from Sony whetting our appetites for the MWC reveals next week. Until a decent optical zoom lands on a mobile phone however, as much as we love our camera-phones, our compact is here to stay.


source

Samsung I9070 Galaxy S Advance user interface

A demo video of the Samsung Galaxy S Advance

MIUI v4 unofficial port to samsung galaxy ace.mov

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We are the first group to port MIUI to mdpi devices.

Samsung gives peek at quad-core mobile CPU

Samsung gave an early peek at its first quad-core mobile application processor at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference here. The unannounced chip is Samsung’s first to use its 32 nm high-k metal gate process and sports advances in performance and battery life over its existing 45 nm Exynos chips.

The new chip comes in versions using two or four ARM Cortex A9 cores running at rates from 200 MHz to 1.5 GHz along with a 64-bit ARM Neon media processing block. The cores share a 1 Mbyte L2 cache with a snoop control unit. The chip does not include an integrated baseband.

Samsung is using the latest version of its own graphics unit for the chip. It includes four pixel processors and one geometry engine with a dedicated 128 KByte L2 cache. The graphics support the OpenGL ES 2.0 API and can generate up to 57 Mpolygons/s.

The chip supports two LPDDR2 or DDR3 interfaces running up to 400 MHz for a total memory bandwidth of up to 6.4 Gbytes/s.

Thanks both to the 32 nm process and a handful of power and thermal management techniques, the chip can deliver up to 26 percent more performance overall than Samsung’s current Exynos chip made in a 45 nm polysilicon process. It also can deliver improvements in battery life ranging from 34 to 50 percent, depending on the application.

Samsung said the new chip delivers up to 26.3 percent improvements in video frame rates. In a demo, Samsung showed the chip using 48 percent less power on 3-D calculations and 45 percent less power in CPU jobs than the 45 nm chip.

The Samsung 32 nm HKMG process keep transistor and gate leakage nearly to the levels of the company’s 45 nm polysilicon process, much lower than expected for 32 nm polysilicon technology. Samsung tuned the process to a sweet spot somewhere between its potential for delivering 40 percent more performance or a tenth the leakage, said Se-Hyung Yang, a principal engineer for SoC development at Samsung Electronics who presented the paper.

The chip has four independent power domains and several power sub-domains. Each ARM core and up to a half of the cache memory can be turned off or on independently. A set of media accelerator blocks are similarly power gated independently.

The chip dynamically uses either forward or reverse body-biasing on n-wells to improve performance or reduce leakage as needed. It also uses thermal monitors and a thermal management unit to trigger power management actions including shutting down blocks as needed to protect devices from over-heating and keep a handset below a fixed surface temperature set by handset makers.

“Recently power consumption for mobile devices have increased a lot and mobile devices have limited cooling capability,” said Yang, underlining a growing problem in smartphone design.

Samsung optimized its 45 nm processor for performance first and later found it could not get its full performance without exceeding power consumption limits. The 32 nm chip was optimized first for power consumption, said Yang.

Samsung will formally announce the product soon, said Yang, presumably at next week’s Mobile World Congress. Nvidia grabbed the lead in rolling out a quad-core mobile chip last year.

source

Samsung demonstrated a quad-core processors Exynos

Samsung has officially demonstrated several new chipsets on display Exynos International Solid-State Circuits Conference. The new models combine increased productivity and reduced energopotrebenie and are based on the Cortex-A9 cores and a new graphics accelerator. Models are made ​​of 32-nm technology, while the previous generation were made ​​on 45-nm. Any of the core platform can be disabled, as well as half of the 1-MB second level cache to conserve battery power. According to Samsung's new Exynos processors have the performance to 26% faster than before. However, power consumption is not increased and decreased. At the highest load on the processor - up to 45%, and the processing of three-dimensional video - by 48%. It is reported that the platform includes a new graphics accelerator with a geometric engine and four pixel processors. Clock Speed ​​Samsung Exynos can vary from 200 MHz to 1.5 GHz. Support to the memory and LPDDR2 LPDDR3. In the future, will be released and the modification of the dual-core, which will differ a similar performance but lower cost. The platform will be showcased at MWC, but will at the same Samsung display devices based on it - not reported.

Samsung prepares Android-smartphone with a display without a frame

According to the Korean Resource MK News, Samsung Electronics Company is preparing to release a smartphone based operating system Android, which is a characteristic feature is the almost complete absence of the screen frame. If you believe the source, the display apparatus is so wide that it takes almost the entire front panel, and only the top left little room for the camera and speaker. model called the Samsung Galaxy B, although it may not yet have a final name. There are no images smartphone and it is difficult to estimate how truly managed to make it a "frameless", are not reported and the technical characteristics of the device. The source mentioned that the release of the new model can take place in the second or third quarter of this year.

Samsung Rugby Smart: dust-and waterproof Android smartphone for AT & T subscribers

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and North American mobile operator AT & T introduced a new, protected from dust and water, the model Android smartphone Samsung Rugby Smart, whose sales will begin on March 4 at a price of $ 99.99, subject to signing a two-year subscriber carrier agreement.

Novelty has a brutal appearance, and its protection from external influences meets military specifications of the military standard MIL-STD 810F. However, she is running an operating system Android 2.3 and is equipped with 5 megapixel camera with support for HD video, 3.7-inch WVGA Super AMOLED display, and supports 4G services and Wi-Fi network.

The remaining specifications Samsung Rugby Smart:

Support communications standards: UMTS, HSPA +; GSM, EDGE
Dimensions: 122.4 x65, 9x12, 19 mm
Weight: 119 g.
Platform: Android 2.3
Display: 3.7 inch, Super AMOLED, WVGA resolution
Main camera: 5 megapixel autofocus camera, lighting and HD (720p) video shooting
Front camera: 1.3 MP
Memory: 4 GB of built-in slot for microSD memory cards
Communications capabilities: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS
Battery: Li-Ion Pol, 1650 mA / h

SAMSUNG & AT&T Deliver Brains And Brawn

Waterproof and Dustproof Samsung Rugby® Smart Available Starting March 4

On March 4, AT&T* will begin selling the Samsung Rugby® Smart in company-owned retail stores and online. The smartphone will be sold for $99.99 with a two-year commitment and monthly minimum data plan.
Samsung Rugby® Smart is dustproof, can be submerged in up to 1m of water for 30 minutes, and can withstand extreme temperatures.**

Runs on Android™ 2.3 with 4G capabilities and boasts a virtual QWERTY keyboard, 3.7-inch Super AMOLED™ touchscreen display, 5MP camera and an integrated flashlight.

Samsung Rugby® Smart
The Samsung Rugby® Smart is a rugged, dustproof device designed to handle the elements with water resistance (submergible up to 1m for 30 minutes) and built to mil-std 810f military spec standards**.The Android 2.3 smartphone features a 3.7-inch WVGA Super AMOLED touchscreen display and a 5MP camera with HD video recording***. It also supports 4G service, Wi-Fi®, corporate email and the full line of media including location, music and social networking services. From the work site to the camp site and beyond, Rugby Smart fulfills all your smartphone needs with the physical strength to handle whatever life throws at it.

Specifications

Technology: GSM, EDGE, UMTS, HSPA+
Operating System: Android 2.3
Display: 3.7-inch WVGA Super AMOLED display
External Memory: Supports up to 32GB via microSD™
Internal Memory: 4GB
Dimensions: 122.4mm x 65.9mm x 12.19mm
Weight: 4.2 oz
Camera: 5MP rear facing with flash and auto focus with HD 720p video capture; 1.3 MP front facing camera;
Battery: 1650 mAh LiIon Poly
Talk Time: Up to 8 hours
Standby Time: Up to 16 days


Quotes
“The Samsung Rugby Smart is perfect for active customers who need another level of durability with their smartphone,” said Jeff Bradley, senior vice president, Devices, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. “It is water and dustproof and has all the features of a leading smartphone.”

“We continue to bring the highest quality devices – the Rugby Smart is the ultimate smartphone to withstand extreme conditions,” said Dale Sohn, president of Samsung Mobile. “AT&T customers are now able to stay connected with a durable smartphone while experiencing even the roughest environment.”

SAMSUNG Launches New Wireless Printers For More Efficient Home and Small Business Use

Cost-efficient ML-2165W and SCX-3405FW are equipped with faster speeds, sleek design and enhanced capabilities

Samsung Electronics America Inc., a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Corporation, announced its newest monochrome laser printers ideal for the small office or home office setting. The multifunction, wireless SCX-3405FW and wireless ML-2165W printers feature a more economical and eco-conscious toner system, faster print speeds and a smaller footprint, perfect for printing boarding passes ,bank statements or expense reports and proposals at home or in the office.

“At Samsung, we strive to develop printers that provide our customers with efficiency, quality and a lower total cost of ownership” said Peter Richardson, manager of printer marketing at Samsung Electronics Enterprise Business Division. “The SCX-3405FW and ML-2165W are built with wireless functionality and a simple all-in-one toner cartridge that offers our customers a more efficient experience and continues to establish Samsung’s growth in the printer industry.”

INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY AND CONNECTIVITY
Both the SCX-3405FW and ML-2165W are equipped for quick and quality printing, which means more time to print and less time to wait. Both printers have a 10,000-page monthly duty cycle, print speeds of up to 21 pages per minute, and a first print out time of less than 8.5 seconds. The SCX-3405FW provides all-in-one functionality with print, copy, scan, and fax, along with an automatic document feeder.

In addition, the models come with wireless ability, allowing for less cable clutter and providing a simple solution for connecting multiple computers to the printers. Both models feature a one-touch WPS button, which allows users to easily and securely connect to their existing wireless networks without the need to configure advanced settings.

As an added benefit, both models are compatible with Samsung’s Mobile Print App, available on the Android, iOS, and Windows Phone 7 operating systems. The app allows users to print from their mobile device to any Samsung Printer, as well as scan from any MFP, on the same wireless network as the mobile device. Samsung’s Mobile Print App supports standard documents such as jpegs and PDFs, as well as Microsoft® Office™ documents such as Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations and Word documents. This is perfect for quick printing when traveling for business, working remotely, or visiting with friends and family.

SLEEK, COMPACT AND CLEAN DESIGN
With compact footprints (SCX-3405FW – 15.8” W x 11.5” D x 11.7” H/ML-2165W – 13.0” W x 8.5” D x 7.0” H), the SCX-3405FW and the ML-2165W are about the size of a toaster oven, which conveniently fit on the home bookshelf or home office desk.

Built to create less overall noise and a quieter work environment, both printers have sound levels that are less than 50 decibels (about the sound of a normal conversation) while printing. With sleek and clean designs on the SCX-3405FW and the ML-2165W, the printers seamlessly blend into the home and small office.


ECONOMICAL AND ECO-CONSCIOUS
Samsung’s latest printers are equipped with a 1,500-page all-in-one (AIO) toner cartridge. This helps reduce the number of times users need to replace the cartridge and makes them simple to change, without the mess.

For toner savings and reduced paper consumption, the SCX-3405FW comes with a one-touch ECO button that allows the user to customize output to save toner and paper.

As part of Samsung’s commitment to the environment, both models come with Samsung’s S.T.A.R. Program, a free service that recycles empty cartridges into their major usable component materials and then reuses for other products. Single and bulk returns are available.

The ML-2165W and SCX-3405FW are available now for $119.99 and $199.99, respectively.

All Samsung printers can be found at select Samsung resellers and channel partners. Local availability can be determined by calling 1-800-SAMSUNG or by visiting www.samsung.com or www.samsung.com/business .

About Samsung Electronics America Enterprise Business Division
As a global leader in Information Technology, Samsung's Enterprise Business Division (EBD) is committed to bringing meaningful innovation to businesses of all types from small/medium businesses to the Fortune 500 elite and public agencies alike. Samsung offers a complete portfolio of solutions including virtualization, printing, displays, notebook and tablet PCs and digital signage that help reduce operating cost, the environmental footprint and encourage dynamic learning. Samsung EBD is a division of Samsung Electronics America (SEA), a U.S. subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Company, Ltd. (SEC) and is among the world's largest technology companies. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com/business or calling 1-866-SAM-4BIZ.


About Samsung Electronics America, Inc.
Samsung Electronics America, Inc. (SEA), based in Ridgefield Park, NJ, is a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. The company markets a broad range of award-winning consumer electronics, information systems, and home appliance products, as well as oversees all of Samsung’s North American operations including Samsung Telecommunications America, LP, Samsung Semiconductor Inc., Samsung Electronics Canada, Inc. and Samsung Electronics Mexico, Inc. As a result of its commitment to innovation and unique design, the Samsung organization is one of the most decorated brands in the electronics industry. The company was ranked #19 in BusinessWeek/Interbrand “100 Best Global Brands,” and named as one of Fast Company’s “50 Most Innovative Companies of 2010.” For more information, please visit www.samsung.com. You can also Fan Samsung on www.Facebook.com/SamsungUSA or follow Samsung via Twitter @SamsungTweets.

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2010 consolidated sales of US$135.8 billion. Employing approximately 190,500 people in 206 offices across 68 countries, the company operates two separate organizations to coordinate its nine independent business units: Digital Media & Communications, comprising Visual Display, Mobile Communications, Telecommunication Systems, Digital Appliances, IT Solutions, and Digital Imaging; and Device Solutions, consisting of Memory, System LSI and LCD. Recognized for its industry-leading performance across a range of economic, environmental and social criteria, Samsung Electronics was named the world’s most sustainable technology company in the 2011 Dow Jones Sustainability Index. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.

Samsung Rugby Smart Durability Test

The Samsung Rugby Smart is a new waterproof, dust proof and shock resistant. Watch AT&T Product Manager Mark Causey conduct several durability tests and see how this new smartphone responds to water submersion, dust, drops and more.

New Samsung Rugby Smart Mobile Minute

Learn about the new Samsung Rugby Smart. This durable smartphone is dust proof and waterproof in addition to being shock resistant. It is built to military specifications on AT&T's 4G HSPA+ network.

For more information visit us online:
http://facebook.com/att
http://twitter.com/att

Samsung & AT&T Deliver Brains and Brawn

Waterproof and Dustproof Samsung Rugby® Smart Available Starting March 4

On March 4, AT&T* will begin selling the Samsung Rugby® Smart in company-owned retail stores and online. The smartphone will be sold for $99.99 with a two-year commitment and monthly minimum data plan.
Samsung Rugby® Smart is dustproof, can be submerged in up to 1m of water for 30 minutes, and can withstand extreme temperatures.**
Runs on Android™ 2.3 with 4G capabilities and boasts a virtual QWERTY keyboard, 3.7-inch Super AMOLED™ touchscreen display, 5MP camera and an integrated flashlight.
Samsung Rugby® Smart

The Samsung Rugby® Smart is a rugged, dustproof device designed to handle the elements with water resistance (submergible up to 1m for 30 minutes) and built to mil-std 810f  military spec standards**.The Android 2.3 smartphone features a 3.7-inch WVGA Super AMOLED touchscreen display and a 5MP camera with HD video recording***. It also supports 4G service, Wi-Fi®, corporate email and the full line of media including location, music and social networking services. From the work site to the camp site and beyond, Rugby Smart fulfills all your smartphone needs with the physical strength to handle whatever life throws at it.

Specifications

Technology: GSM, EDGE, UMTS, HSPA+
Operating System:  Android 2.3
Display:  3.7-inch WVGA Super AMOLED display
External Memory: Supports up to 32GB via microSD™
Internal Memory: 4GB
Dimensions: 122.4mm x 65.9mm x 12.19mm
Weight: 4.2 oz
Camera: 5MP rear facing with flash and auto focus with HD 720p video capture; 1.3 MP front facing camera;
Battery: 1650 mAh LiIon Poly
Talk Time: Up to 8 hours
Standby Time: Up to 16 days
Quotes        

“The Samsung Rugby Smart is perfect for active customers who need another level of durability with their smartphone,” said Jeff Bradley, senior vice president, Devices, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets.  “It is water and dustproof and has all the features of a leading smartphone.”

“We continue to bring the highest quality devices – the Rugby Smart is the ultimate smartphone to withstand extreme conditions,” said Dale Sohn, president of Samsung Mobile. “AT&T customers are now able to stay connected with a durable smartphone while experiencing even the roughest environment.”

4G speeds not available everywhere.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.


** Meets US Mil-STD 810F for Dust, Humidity, Rain, Shock and Temperature. Waterproof against incidental exposure to water when all ports are tightly closed. NOT designed or intended for in water use. Submersible up to 1 meter for up to 30 minutes. Waterproof based on IP67 rating.

*** Screen resolution 480x800

Limited-time offer. New two-year wireless agreement with qualifying voice and data plan required. Terms of service may vary depending on your business agreement. Wireless Service: Subject to Wireless Customer Agreement. Coverage and services not available everywhere. Credit approval required. Activation Fee up to $36/line. Geographic, usage and other terms, conditions and restrictions apply, and may result in service termination. See store or visit att.com for complete details and coverage maps. Data Requirements: See att.com/dataplans or www.wireless.att.com/businesscenter/plans/data-plans/smartphone-data-plans.jsp for details and overage rates if you exceed your monthly data allowance. Access to corporate email, company intranet sites and business applications requires a DataPro Enterprise Plan Other Monthly Charges/line may include a Regulatory Cost Recovery Charge (up to $1.25), a gross receipts surcharge, federal and state universal svc charges, fees and charges for other gov’t assessments. These are not taxes or gov’t req’d charges.   Early Termination Fee (ETF): After 30 days, ETF up to $325 based on device (details att.com/ equipmentETF). Restocking fee up to $35. Taxes and other charges apply. Samsung, Super AMOLED and Rugby Smart are trademarks of Samsung Electronics

About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a premier communications holding company and one of the most honored companies in the world. Its subsidiaries and affiliates – AT&T operating companies – are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation’s fastest mobile broadband network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet, voice and cloud-based services. A leader in mobile broadband and emerging 4G capabilities, AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide of any U.S. carrier, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries. It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&T U-verse® and AT&T |DIRECTV brands. The company’s suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world. In domestic markets, AT&T Advertising Solutions and AT&T Interactive are known for their leadership in local search and advertising.

Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com. This AT&T news release and other announcements are available at http://www.att.com/newsroom and as part of an RSS feed at www.att.com/rss. Or follow our news on Twitter at @ATT.

About Samsung Telecommunications America

Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC, a Dallas-based subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., researches, develops and markets wireless handsets and telecommunications products throughout North America. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2010 consolidated sales of US$135.8 billion. Employing approximately 190,500 people in 206 offices across 68 countries, the company operates two separate organizations to coordinate its nine independent business units: Digital Media & Communications, comprising Visual Display, Mobile Communications, Telecommunication Systems, Digital Appliances, IT Solutions, and Digital Imaging; and Device Solutions, consisting of Memory, System LSI and LCD. Recognized for its industry-leading performance across a range of economic, environmental and social criteria, Samsung Electronics was named the world’s most sustainable technology company in the 2011 Dow Jones Sustainability Index. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com

© 2012 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. Mobile broadband not available in all areas. AT&T, the AT&T logo and all other marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

Samsung and Bobby Brown presented for women pink Galaxy S II Bobby Brown

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., and Bobby Brown cosmetics company announced the release of a limited edition pink version of the Galaxy S II Bobby Brown, intended for a female audience.

In the complete Galaxy S II Bobby Brown, in addition to pink Galaxy S II, will be presented to a cosmetic set by Bobby Brown and a coupon for a make-up services.

Samsung S2 Galaxy Galaxy S followed by the 20 million sales have achieved a remarkable record.

in 10 months since its launch in April last year sold 20 million

on February 23, Samsung, smartphone Galaxy S2 strategy since its release last year by the end of April 20 million in 10 months in the global market (supply base) exceeded says.

Galaxy S2 20 million record sales in seven months was shorter than the Galaxy S, so far sold 22 million Galaxy S and the accumulation of the two models combined We've stopped sales of over 4,000 million units.

Galaxy S2 in the just released 24 days after the three months sold 1,000,000 5,000,000, 5 months and 10 million records sold and still continues, and in 2011 # 1 global smartphone market, has contributed greatly to achieve.


high product satisfaction and various global local marketing secrets hit

the popularity of these Galaxy S2 Super AMOLED 4.3 inches, plus a dual-core processor, 8mm-to-slim design for high performance products, including customer satisfaction and various global local marketing to be due to looks.

In particular, the recent Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs organized by the Media Arts Festival Galaxy S2's "Space Balloon '(Space Balloon) campaigns Entertainment Prize awarded were as high as interest moat can.

S2 Galaxy in July last year, the campaign apparatus loaded on a small elevation after spending up to 30km, consumers registered SNS message on the screen in real time junggyehan Galaxy S2 as the number of total viewers, including 380,000 people to break through the large top-selling Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs event "in smartphones over the Internet and social media for simultaneous viewing and sharing the experience provided to users appreciate," he says why hypothalamus.

Samsung Electronics official said, "20 million customers worldwide through Galaxy S2 SMART LIFE're able to enjoy the rewarding feeling," said "in the future to meet the expectations of our customers will try to showcase their products," he says.

Samsung delivers a faster web on non-smartphones

Enjoying a fast web browsing experience does not require a smartphone. The speed of web browsing on non-smartphones can be as fast as that on smartphones--if you have the right browser. And, it can go even faster when you are on a crowded network! Samsung has now preinstalled the Opera Mini mobile browser on its new feature phones to deliver faster and cost-saving web browsing. The browser is now available on the Star3, Star 3 Duos, Champ Deluxe and Champ Deluxe Duos. More new models with Opera Mini preinstalled will be released in 2012.

Opera Mini is built for speed. Webpages are compressed before being sent to the phone, resulting in page loading that’s up to 10 times faster and consumes up to 90% less data. In addition, the browser has pioneered mobile-web browsing and delivered most of the innovations that make browsing the web on mobile phones easier and more convenient, including tabs, password manager, Opera Link and Speed Dial.

“These days, the difference between feature phones and smartphones has decreased. No matter the hardware specification or the user experience, feature phones are matching what the smartphone can offer,” said Lars Boilesen, CEO, Opera Software. “Samsung bridges the gap between smartphones and feature phones by choosing to preinstall Opera Mini on its new feature phones so that people can enjoy a fast and affordable web.”

Opera Mini is now the most popular mobile browser in the world, with more than 160 million monthly unique users. In January 2012, Opera Mini users generated over 1,832 million MB of data for operators worldwide. If this data were uncompressed, Opera Mini users would have viewed over 12.24 petabytes of data, which is equivalent to approximately 200 years of continuously running HD-quality video.

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2011 consolidated sales of US$143.1 billion. Employing approximately 222,000 people in 205 offices across 71 countries, the company operates two separate organizations to coordinate its nine independent business units: Digital Media & Communications, comprising Visual Display, Mobile Communications, Telecommunication Systems, Digital Appliances, IT Solutions, and Digital Imaging; and Device Solutions, consisting of Memory, System LSI and LCD. Recognized for its industry-leading performance across a range of economic, environmental and social criteria, Samsung Electronics was named the world’s most sustainable technology company in the 2011 Dow Jones Sustainability Index. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.

About Opera Software ASA

The worldwide World Wide Web — any device, any platform, any bandwidth, absolutely anywhere in the world. Opera Software was founded in 1994, based on the idea that access to the web should be a universal right. 250 million people (and counting) use the Opera web browsers for computers, mobile phones, TVs and other connected devices. Opera also delivers tools, distribution, engagement, monetization and market insights to developers, publishers and brands around the world. We are passionate about breaking down barriers, so everyone can share in the power of the internet. Our vision of one web for all remains at the heart of what we do, because we believe that participation changes everything. Opera Software ASA is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol OPERA. Learn more about Opera at www.opera.com.

Samsung has sold 20 million smartphones Galaxy S II

The South Korean company Samsung Electronics announced that since the start of sales in April last year of its new Android smartphone - Galaxy S II, its global sales after 10 months amounted to over 20 million units.

In this case the manufacturer specifically states that such indicators for the "second galaxy" in comparison with the previous model - Galaxy S, was reached at the 7 months faster.

In total, to date, total sales of Galaxy S and Galaxy S II amounted to 40 million copies.

Smartphone Final Numbers 2011 - All the stats including Q4 by handset brands, operating systems and installed bases

Time to do the final count for 2011 smartphone numbers. This is the one big blog about all the smartphone numbers you could ever hope for.. So please mark this page for your reference in the future and do send your colleagues here too. If you blog or write about smartphones, you may want to link here.


As always, this Quarterly and Annual blog article series is as heavily based on global stats and facts as possile. So each of the major smartphone manufacturers has provided their Quarterly results for Q4 (not all provided the numbers we hoped to receive) and the big 4 analyst houses (Gartner, IDC, Canalys and Strategy Analytics) have each given their count of total smartphone sales (or shipments, depending on their methodology). As usual, I use the average of the big 4 as the starting point, then use the best available info to calculate or closely estimate the actual numbers for each individual brand. If you want to see last year's numbers and analysis, they are here.

So while my own analysis suggested somewhat a larger number of smartphones sold in Q4 when adding all of my individual data points, the total we have to live with for Q4 is 155.1 Million units sold. And yes, we have now celebrated the first full year when smartphones have sold more than all types of personal computers (including tablet PCs like the iPad) combined. I do a separate calculation of the biggest computer makers by units sold, when smartphones are included in the count. Last year's top manufacturer list is here.

This blog article is also my official estimate (and that of my company, TomiAhonen Consulting) of the market shares both for Q4 of 2011, and as we finished the full year, this is also the final count for the full year 2011. As I started to do a year earlier, in 2010 the 'Year of the Bloodbath' in smartphones - I also will grade each major smartphone maker for the quarter and full year, for their performance with some commentary for this ended year 2011 which I called 'Year 2 of the Bloodbath, the Electric Boogaloo'.

I know some want the big picture numbers so here they are, first the full year - what will be most useful in the longer run - and then the Q4 results:

2011 FULL YEAR SMARTPHONE SALES STATISTICS


Rank . Brand . . . . 2011 units . Market Share . 2010 units . Market Share

1 (3)  . Apple  . . . . 93.1 M . . . 19.1% . . . . . . . 47.5 M . . . . 15.9%
2 (5)  . Samsung  . 90.9 M . . . 18.7% . . . . . . . 24.0 M . . . .   8.0%
3 (1)  . Nokia . . . .  77.3 M . . . 15.9% . . . . . . 100.3 M . . . .  33.7%
4 (2)  . RIM . . . . . . 52.5 M . . . 10.8% . . . . . . . 48.0 M . . . . 16.1%
5 (4)  . HTC  . . . . . 44.6 M . . .   9.2% . . . . . . .  24.6 M . . . .  8.3%
6 (7)  . Sony . . . . . 26.8 M . . .   5.5% . . . . . . . .  9.5 M . . . .  3.2%
7 (8)  . LG  . . . . . . 23.3 M . . . . 4.8% . . . . . . . .  7.0 M . . . .  2.4%
8 (-) . . Huawei . . . 20.0 M . . . .  4.1% . . . . . . . . 5.0 M . . . .  1.5%
9 (6)  . Motorola . . 18.6 M . . . .  3.8% . . . . . . . 13.7 M . . . . . 4.6%
10 (-) . ZTE . . . . .  12.0 M . . . .  2.5% . . . . . . . . 3.5 M . . . . . 1.2%
Other . . . . . . . . . . 26.5 M . . . .  5.6%
TOTAL . . . . . . . ..486.0 M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .297.8 M

Source: TomiAhonen Almanac 2012
This data may be freely used and repeated

The overall industry grew by 63.2% in just one year. Apple did incredibly well growing by 96% and taking top honors for the year. Samsung had an even more monsterous year, more than tripling in size growing by 279% and coming within a hair from the top. Past master, Nokia which was bigger than its two nearest rivals put together just a year ago, had a horrid year, declining by 23% for the full year and tumbling from the top to third place and losing more than half of its market share within one 12 month period - this is a world record fall for a market leader in any industry ever, in a period of only one year. RIM was also often called for a lousy year, but at least they managed to grow a bit, with 9% growth for the year and falling in rankings from 2nd to 4th. HTC, ZTE, SonyEricsson - since rebranded to only Sony - and Huawei had strong growth years. Motorola had a bad year and was bought by Google. Sharp and Fujitsu fell out of the top 10 chart replaced by ZTE and Huawei.


2011 FULL YEAR OPERATING SYSTEM MARKET SHARES

Rank . . OS . . . . . . . .  2011 units . market share . 2010 units . market share
1 (2) . .  Android  . . .  .  208 M . . . . 43% . . . . . . . . . 54 M . . . . 18%
2 (4) . .  iOS . . . . . . . . . . 93 M . . . . 19% . . . . . . . . . 48 M . . . . 16%
3 (1) . .  Symbian . . . . . .  81 M . . . . 17% . . . . . . . . 116 M . . . . 39%
4 (3) . .  Blackberry . . . . . 52 M . . . . 11% . . . . . . . .   48 M . . . . 16%
5 (7) . .  bada * . . . . . . . . . 9 M . . . . . 2% . . . . . . . . . . 3 M *  . . . 1% *
6 (8) . .  Windows Phone * . 5 M . . . .  1% . . . . . . . . . . 2 M * . . . . 1% *
7 (5) . .  Windows Mobile . . 4 M . . . .  1% . . . . . . . . . 11 M . . . . . 4%
Others . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  28 M . . . .  6%
TOTAL . . . . . . . . . . . . .  486 M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298 M

Source: TomiAhonen Almanac 2012
This data may be freely used and repeated
* - the two operating systems, bada by Samsung and Windows Phone by Microsoft were launched at the end of 2010, so the full year-to-year comparison is not valid. See analysis below by each brand of smartphone OS

In the operating system wars, Symbian and Android essentially swapped places, Symbian fell from 39% to 17% while Android went from 18% to 43%. In the second battle, Apple's iPhone iOS pulled strongly ahead from its near rival Blackberry OS and iOS even passed Symbian in the process. Among the backmarkers, Microsoft's new Windows Phone finally passed its older and incompatible sibling, Windows Mobile but still lingers in the 1% range. Samsung's bada has pulled well away now being almost twice the size of Microsoft's best. Among the others we find past major platforms that died like Palm Web/OS, Maemo and LiMo, as well as the orphaned new Nokia and Intel OS MeeGo among many others.

Please remember, I am only counting smartphones. So for example iOS has a larger number of new sales (and installed base) due to iPads and iPod Touch devices. Same true for many of the platforms, Android is increasingly also on tablets etc. The data in this blog is always only about smartphones, not all possible digital devices that might use that platform.


2011 SMARTPHONE OS INSTALLED BASE

Rank . . OS . . . . . . . .  . 2011 base . market share . 2010 base . market share
1 (1) . .  Symbian . . . . .  314 M . . . . 35% . . . . . . . . 346 M . . . . . 49%
2 (4) . .  Android  . . . . .   247 M . . . . 27% . . . . . . . . . 61 M . . . . . . 9%
3 (3) . .  iOS . . . . . . . . . 149 M . . . . 16% . . . . . . . . . 77 M . . . . . 11%
4 (2) . .  Blackberry . . . . 106 M . . . . 12% . . . . . . . .   95 M . . . . . 14%
5 (5) . .  Windows Mobile . 20 M . . . . . 2% . . . . . . . . . 48 M . . . . . . 7%
6 (7) . .  bada . . . . . . . . .  13 M . . . .   1% . . . . . . . . . . 3 M . . . . . .  0%
7 (8) . .  Windows Phone . . 7 M . . . . . 1% . . . . . . . . . . 2 M . . . . . .  0%
Others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 M
TOTAL  . . . . . . . . . . . . 910 M  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 700 M

Source: TomiAhonen Almanac 2012

This data may be freely used and repeated

Symbian still rules the world in the installed base of smartphones, benefitted also by the strong second-hand appeal of Nokia smartphones in Africa and less affluent parts of Asia and Latin America. Android's strong growth will move it past Symbian shortly in the installed base. Apple and RIM fight for the title of third and fourth biggest OS by installed base. And two years from launch, Windows Phone is nowhere near the reach of its older incompatible cousin, Windows Mobile and continues to be overshadowed by Samsung's bada.

Q4 NUMBERS

That was the full year. But the smartphone bloodbath was indeed quite tumultuous in year 2011 and the Q4 numbers will be much more indicative of where the race stands today, than the full-year picture which is obviously somewhat lagging. So lets do Q4 results

SMARTPHONE Q4 SALES BY BRAND


Rank . Brand . . . . Q4 units . Market Share . Q3 units . . . .  Market Share

1 (2)  . Apple  . . . . 37.0M . . . 23.9% . . . . . . . 17.1 M . . . . 14.4%
2 (1)  . Samsung  . 35.4 M . . . 22.8% . . . . . . . 25.1 M . . . . 21.2%
3 (3)  . Nokia . . . . 19.6 M . . . 12.6% . . . . . . . 16.8 M . . . . 14.2%
4 (5)  . RIM . . . . .  14.1 M . . . . 9.1% . . . . . . . 10.6 M . . . .  8.9%
5 (4)  . HTC  . . . . .  9.5 M . . . . 6.1% . . . . . . . 13.2 M . . . . 11.1%
6 (6)  . Sony . . . . .  9.0 M . . .   5.8% . . . . . . . . 7.6 M . . . .  6.4%
7 (8) . . Huawei . . . . 7.5 M . . .   4.8% . . . . . . .  5.4 M . . . . 4.6%
8 (7)  . LG  . . . . . . . 7.3 M . . . . 4.5% . . . . . . .  6.2 M . . . .  5.2%
9 (9)  . Motorola . . .  5.3 M . . . . 3.4% . . . . . . .  4.8 M . . . .  4.1%
10 (10) ZTE  . . . . . . 3.8 M . . . . 2.5% . . . . . . .  3.0 M . . . .  2.5%
Other . . . . . . . . . . . 6.9 M . . . . 4.5%
TOTAL . . . . . . . ..155.1 M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118.5 M

Source: TomiAhonen Consulting 2012
This data may be freely used and repeated

The fight was tight between Samsung and Apple as we expected. As Samsung didn't release official numbers, I used the average as reported by the Big 4. But none of the four had Sammy ahead of the iPhone so we can safely trust that this ranking order is correct. Yet it was close. Nokia continued its slide after the Elop Effect. RIM and HTC reversed positions with Blackberry having a resurgence. Sony (ex SonyEricsson) is making a strong showing of fighting into the Top 5. And in the bottom half of the Top 10, Motorola continues its slide and Huawei is growing strongly. LG and ZTE are keeping pace with the industry.

Q4 OPERATING SYSTEM MARKET SHARES

Rank . . OS . . . . . . . .  Q4 units . market share . . Q3 units . market share
1 (1) . .  Android  . . . . . 76 M . . . . 49% . . . . . . . . . 56 M . . . . 48%
2 (3) . .  iOS . . . . . . . .  37 M . . . . 24% . . . . . . . . . 17 M . . . . 15%
3 (2) . .  Symbian . . . . . 18 M . . . . 11% . . . . . . . . . 18 M . . . . 15%
4 (4) . .  Blackberry . . .  14 M . . . . . 9% . . . . . . . . . 11 M . . . . . 9%
5 (5) . .  bada . . . . . . . .  4 M . . . . . 2% . . . . . . . . . . 3 M . . . . . 2%
6 (6) . .  Windows Phone  2 M . . . . . 1% . . . . . . . . . . 1 M . . . . . 1%
7 (-) . .  MeeGo . . . . . . .  2 M . . . . . 1% . . . . . . . . . (launched Q4 of 2011)
8 (7) . .  Windows Mobile  1 M . . . . . 0% . . . . . . . . . . 1 M . . . . . 1%
Others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 M . . . .  1%
TOTAL . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 M

Source: TomiAhonen Consulting 2012
This data may be freely used and repeated

Android continues to dominate, and nears the half-level of all smartphones sold. Apple's iOS took a solid second place and Symbian continues to crash. Blackberry held steady. In the small ranks we have bada the strongest outside the top 4. Windows Phone saw the first 600,000 phones sold by Nokia under its Lumia series in Q4 which turned the long decline of Windows Phone into a modest growth. Still, the brand new MeeGo from Nokia, even with its very limited launch availability almost tied all Windows Phone sales by all brands. I have Windows Phone at 1.8 million units and MeeGo at 1.75 million. Thus within Nokia, MeeGo and the N9 outsold all Microsoft Windows Phone based Lumia phones by.. 3 to 1. And Windows Mobile is doing its slow death. Again even the combined sales of both Microsoft platforms, Windows Mobile and Windows Phone did not match Samsung's bada sales.

ANDROID, WINDOWS PHONE MANUFACTURER SHARES

I have also been providing the market shares for the various operating systems that had more than one manufacturer, where it was 'relevant'. Recently the only OS worth monitoring was the Google Android OS family with Symbian shrinking to being mostly only Nokia and Windows Mobile shrinking overall to oblivion, but now that Nokia has launched its Lumia series, I will also give my measure of Windows Phone OS family market shares for Q4.

ANDROID FAMILY MARKET SHARES Q4
Samsung . . . 41%
Sony . . . . . .12%
HTC . . . . . . 11%
Huawei . . . . 10%
LG . . . . . . .   9%
Motorola . . . . 7%
Others . . . . . 9%
TOTAL . . . . 76.0 Million

Source: TomiAhonen Consulting 2012
This data may be freely used and repeated


WINDOWS PHONE FAMILY MARKET SHARES Q4
HTC . . . . . 39%
Nokia . . . . 33%
Samsung . 17%
Others . . . 11%
Total . . . .  1.8 Million

Source: TomiAhonen Consulting 2012
This data may be freely used and repeated


These are approximate market shares, to fit the overall numbers as best as possible. I do not find any particularly 'glaring' problem with any of those numbers for this past quarter (sometimes some number does not seem to be right, these are reasonable).


GRADING FULL YEAR 2011 PERFORMANCE

So, we come to the end of 2011, in the Bloodbath it was Year 2, Electric Boogaloo. We expected carnage and intrigue but the year got even more of a roller-coaster ride when Nokia suddenly committed market share suicide with the Elop Effect (combining the Ratner Effect with the Osborne Effect). As I predicted when giving a preliminary analysis of what it would cause - Nokia's market share crashed - my first prediction on February 15, when I said Nokia would end in Q4 having 12% market share haha.

The Nokia give-away was a once-in-a-lifetime type of opportunity for the swift to capitalize, and move quickly, to steal market share. The fastest to take advantage were Samsung, Apple, ZTE and Huawei. Surprisingly the usually nimble HTC didn't manage to capitalize and RIM utterly failed in its chances, unfortunately putting all its attention to the tablet PC they launched which failed miserably in the market as well. But lets look at each brand now, and a quick analysis of how well they fared in the Electric Boogaloo. As usual, I will grade each contestant by the order of their finish starting from the biggest.

APPLE - 93M, 19% - Grew unit sales strongly and grew profits strongly - Grade A

Apple had a monster year. Yes, its iPhone 4S was delayed by more than a quarter, but even then the 4 sold well and once the 4S came along, Apple had a phenomenal Christmas. More than half of Apple's income now comes from the iPhone and Apple generates easily most of the profits of the handset industry. Even while making only smartphones, Apple has crashed into the Top 3 biggest handset makers, ahead of LG and behind only Nokia and Samsung, all three of which of course make most of their phones as 'dumbphones'. What an achievement!

For Q4 Apple is doing even better, selling 24% of all smartphones sold on the planet, so Apple's trajectory is even stronger than its annual performance. And while Samsung was briefly the biggest smartphone manufacturer in Q3, Apple took back that title in Q4 - giving us a different leader in the smartphone race every Quarter of the year. Congratulations Apple, perfect year, I give you an A.

SAMSUNG - 91M, 19% - Grew sales explosively and made huge profits - Grade A+

Samsung did the nearly impossible - it had an even better year than Apple in smartphones. Before you say 'but but' - remember, Apple only doubled its sales in smartphones, Samsung more than tripled its smartphone sales - all while also being very profitable. Samsung was briefly the biggest smartphone manufacturer in Q3, partly because the iPhone 4S was delayed, and now gave the lead back to Apple. But Sammy is growing far faster than Apple and is destined to run away with the smartphone crown for the full year 2012. The race will be close still in Q1 but from Q2 Samsung should be clear of Apple...

Samsung's Q4 was also strong growing well faster than the industry and holding 23% market share. Samsung sells most of its smartphones on the Android platform, but also sells on bada and Windows Phone (and is developing Tizen with Intel for the future). The Galaxy series is synonymous with industry tech leadership currently. I grade Samsung an A+

NOKIA - 77M sales, 16% market share - lost sales massively and generated huge losses - Grade F-

Nokia's Annus Horribilis was a self-induced wound. Not a wound. A self-induced serial crippling. Yes, a year of torture by the CEO. A year of water-boarding in fact. A year ago Nokia grew by 48% and made a proft. This year as the industry grew 62% Nokia sales crashed 23% and produced massive losses. Nokia's market share in 2010 was 34%. By Q4 it was just above 12%. Nokia had scared away 65% of its customer base in just one year! We witnessed the establishment of a world record in market share destruction - not only in telecoms but in all industries. Stephen Elop will go into the Business Hall of Shame as the all-time costliest CEO. The biggest loss ever, for a current market leader. Nokia was twice as big as Apple exactly one year ago. Today (based on Q4 sales) Apple is almost exactly twice as big as Nokia in smartphones. That is a total comprehensive collapse. Nokia was doing just fine through the middle of February of last year - had an excellent early year in China sales for example, as we saw from its Q1 results - but then from February 9, Nokia's CEO had his brain-freeze and insanity took over. I have chronicled enough of the carnage on this blog, suffice it to say that his Elop Effect and the year of lunacy caused total damages so severe, Nokia destroyed a Blackberry-sized slice of Nokia's business, and yes, the CEO's moronic actions caused 3.9 Billion dollars of damage to Nokia last year. So yes, for those who remember, Siemens died fast in dumbphones, as did Motorola. Palm died fast in smartphones, as did Windows Mobile. Those market share disasters were child's play compared to what Nokia did last year. That was epic. The biggest damage to any global leader ever. EVER. Any industry. ANY INDUSTRY. Not like New Coke, not like the BP oil spill, not like British Airways Terminal 5 fiasco, etc etc etc. The biggest damage to any company in any one year, EVER.

But yes, what of that wonderful promised 'third ecosystem' fantasy by delusion-boy Elop? There were some who thought Microsoft plus Nokia would be a sure winner. There were others who felt that partnership was a case of two turkeys who will not make an eagle. It was sheer speculation until we got to see the Lumia launch. The Nokia CEO had total control of the most important new phone series launch in Nokia's history. Elop could control every aspect of it, from the design of the phones, to where they would be marketed and offered to what carriers/networks, to the pricing, to the promotion. Total control of the launch of what Nokia branded the Lumia smartphones that run on Windows Phone. The previous comparison point was the launch of Nokia's previous new operating system based smartphones, the S^3 platform of Symbian with the flagship smartphone N8, one year ago for Q4. Those sold 4 million units. Just counting for the growth in the industry of 62% Nokia should have easily sold 6.4 million Lumia smartphones under any reasonably bright CEO, without the extra effort of the most important launch ever. And Nokia threw the biggest marketing push for this smartphone series, ever. And on top of that, Microsoft came in and threw hundreds of millions of dollars more in marketing support - including giving away free Xbox 360 videogaming consoles to buyers of the Lumia800 for example in the UK. How many sales did Nokia do of all Lumia phones in Q4? More than 6.4 million? No. Not even close. 600,000 is what Nokia managed. Literally they managed only one tenth the level they did a year ago (when adjusted for industry growth in the past year). That is utterly horrid performance and the signs were all there. The Lumia is not succeeding, and will not succeed. Anyone who hopes or thinks or expects that Lumia and Microsoft can rescue Nokia, has now facts - it will not. The Lumia launch is a total dud. And major analyst houses like Morgan Stanley see Nokia struggling far more this year, that market share of 12% will end at 8% according to Morgan Stanley's projection by the end of this year.

There is a ray of hope, it is called the N9 and MeeGo (And the N950 and other MeeGo devices either designed or otherwise MeeGo compatible like the N900). MeeGo outsold Lumia by 3 to 1 (more about MeeGo below). But Nokia's psycopathic CEO refuses to let the highly desirable N9 to be sold in Nokia's major markets - to the degree in Germany the biggest newsmagazine, Der Stern actually recommended to its readers to drive to Austria or Switzerland to go buy the N9 rather than Lumia smartphones. And bizarrely he refuses to sell the sister device, the N950 anywhere! Highly desirable 'hit' phones are very rare in this industry and Nokia dearly could use one right now. Only a fool as CEO refuses to sell a hot product globally. Only a fool. As long as Elop is in charge, Nokia is continuing its death-dance and has to sell its best assets just to survive. For the company that set the world record for market share destruction in a year, and going from big profits to huge losses, Nokia deserves the worst grade ever given. Unfortunately I can only fail Nokia and give it an F-

RIM - 53M units, 11% market share - grew modestly and remained modestly profitable - Grade C+

Blackberry maker RIM had a bad year. The Blackberry had grown market share every year up to 2009. Then their sales stalled, and Android (not the iPhone) started to eat into Blackberry's share. This year they were uniquely poised to steal most of Nokia's collapsing sales of its E-Series QWERTY based business-oriented smartphones. RIM should have had an easy time taking at least 6 million Nokia customers without batting an eyelash. And in a year of 62% growth, if RIM otherwise held steady for the year, they should have been in the scale of 84 million units of Blackberry sales. Yet they didn't. RIM launched its doomed tablet PC - which took the focus away from the management. RIM's strong profits vanished and in its panic, the co-CEO's fired tons of valuable sales and marketing (and design) staff which were needed right then to capture the slice of the Nokia customer give-away. And then the OS was delayed and Blackberry's troubles just compounded. No wonder the co-CEO's were both replaced by the end of the year.

In Q4 we see a rebound, strong sales on paper, but actually the growth in Blackberry sales from Q3 is only on par with the strong growth of the overall Christmas period Q4, so RIM actually only kept pace with the industry. However, as the previous two quarters had seen actual sales declines (not just market share declines), the turn-around was welcome and signals a possibly recovering RIM for 2012. Still, for their 2011 performance, I grade Research in Motion with a C+

HTC - 45M sales, 9% market share - grew unit sales strongly and made profits - Grade C

Taiwanese HTC had a good year, inspite of the bad press. Their smartphone sales grew stronger than the industry, by 81% in fact - and HTC did report a profit every quarter. They issued a series of downgrades to their forecasts, which has been more the source of the bad press. But they outgrew the market in one of the most dynamic big industries ever seen, and they grabbed market share in a very topsy-turvy year. HTC sold smartphones on Android and both Windows based platforms.

In Q4 we see HTC stumbling quite badly and falling in market share down to 6%, so the current trend is perilous for HTC, even as it manages profits. So I find it a reasonable and kind of 'average' mid-fielder performance, I grade HTC at a C.

SONY - 27M sales, 6% market share - grew unit sales but was in and out of profits - Grade B-

The long partnership saga of Sony and Ericsson was finally ended in 2011 and Ericsson exited the handset industry (focusing only on the infrastructure side of telecoms hardware). That leaves us a potentially far stronger Sony - consumer electronics powerhouse - and owner of a slew of consumer electronics brands led by PlayStation and a vast catalog of content from movies to music. Sony(Ericsson) grew sales strongly close to 3x in size, and took a lot of market share. The partnership was notoriously poor in profitability and slipped in and out of profits in the year. As Sony(Ericsson) shifted away from Symbian and Windows Mobile to focus on Android, with its Xperia series Sony became highly desirable. The company sells about 80% of all of its handsets now as smartphones and said it will complete the transition to 100% smartphones this year. That would make Sony the first legacy handset maker to achieve that major transformation of its business (and surviving it too, haha, many rivals like Siemens, Motorola and yes, Ericsson, didn't survive that transition).

For Q4 Sony grew a little slower than the industry so its market share gains are stalling, but still for the full year, I grade Sony at a B-

LG - 23 M sales, 5% market share, grew strongly but made losses - B-

LG seems to have had an almost identical performance as Sony. LG more than tripled its sales for the year, but like Sony, LG also was both in and out of profits in its handset unit. LG offers smartphones on Android and a few token Windows Phone units. The last quarter saw worse performance from LG with the company slipping in the standings. But as it did grow strongly and is borderline in profits/losses, I grade LG with a B-

HUAWEI - 20 M Sales, 4% market share, grew explosively and made profits - Grade A

Huawei is better known for its major business of telecoms networking infrastructure (like Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent) than its handset unit, where its close sibling Chinese rival ZTE is more reversed, doing more in handsets than infrastructure. But in smartphones, Huawei has leaped ahead of ZTE and had a monster monster year. Huawei mainly offers Android based smartphones and usually at the low end of the price range. For Q4 they again grew faster than the industry. I find no fault in a perfect year for Huawei and grade them with a solid A

MOTOROLA (GOOGLE) - 19 M units, 4% share - grew modestly but continued big losses - D+

Motorola was bought by Google last year or more precisely, Google announced its intention to buy Moto, and they are now in the legal process to complete that deal. I will for now continue to call its Motorola unit as Motorola. So Moto-Moto, what have you done for me lately? Not much. Was yet another under-par year for the former giant known for the Razr. So how did it go in the Electric Boogaloo? Moto grew sales yes, but less than the rate of the industry, so they lost market share. Motorola had abandoned Symbian already a while back and also ended its use of Microsoft based operating systems, concentrating only on Android. They were 'thanked' by Microsoft with a lawsuit on patent infringements.. (Microsoft simply doesn't 'get it' that lawsuits in mobile will only make you more hated and the major players in this industry have very long memories). For Q4 Motorola continued its slide, growing less fast than the industry. So when you bleed market share, and do that unprofitably, that is bad business. I grade Motorola year 2011 at a D+

ZTE - 12M units, 3% market share, grew massively while making a profit - A-

Just like its bigger brother Huawei, ZTE also grew enormously in 2011, more than 3x bigger. They made a profits. They only provide Android handsets. Their only minor blemish was that in Q4 they grew a little less fast than the industry overall while not enough to lose market share. That is why I grade them an A-

FUJITSU - out of Top 10 - F

Fujitsu promised they will re-enter the global market and did launch in some Asian markets. So far their record is poor for 2011 and they fell out of the Top 10. I score them an F

SHARP - out of Top 10 - F

Sharp had already started on their come-back to the world stage, but that had its series of stumbles and bumps (they were the manufacturer of Microsoft's Kin series, a pair of youth phones that established a world record for new launch and market removal of 6 weeks in 2010). As they made some Android based moves to some markets around the world, their sales did not keep them in the Top 10. I grade them an F


OPERATING SYSTEMS ANALYSIS

Now lets do the operating systems. Two died in 2011 (Palm Web/OS by Hewlett Packard and LiMo by the Linux Foundation). Two more had their deaths announced (Symbian and MeeGo). One new OS launched (MeeGo). Two more were announced (Tizen and Meltemi). And Android continued to roll as the huge steamroller of the OS wars while Microsoft Windows Phone - then the 8th ecosystem - convinced Nokia to join in the propaganda to promote the Windows Phone as supposedly the 'Third Ecosystem' haha. What a laugh. But like with the phones, lets do these in size from biggest to smallest.

ANDROID - 208 M units, 43% market share - grew explosively - Grade A

Google's Android is now three years of age and it has taken the world's most competitive global industry ever, and is on the brink of having captured half of it (some analyst houses have jumped the gun and claim Android is already past 50% in smartphones in Q4 but Google's own activation numbers do not support that view). Android grew almost 4-fold in 2011 from 54 million to 208 million units per year. Android features smartphones made by Samsung, HTC, Sony, LG, Huawei, Motorola (Google) and ZTE out of the Top 10 plus many smarpthones outside the Top 10 like Fujitsu, Sharp, Mi-Fone, etc. In Q4 the sales growth slowed a bit but was still well faster than the industry growth rate. All in all, perfect year for Android. I grade them an A

iOS - 93 M units, 19% share - grew strongly - Grade A-

Apple's iOS grew very strongly in 2011, nearly doubling in size and taking a lot of market share. Not much more to report. Sold only on Apple iPhones in the smartphone races (plus some other Apple products). The Q4 was a stellar quarter but Q3 was under-par due to the late launch of the iPhone 4S. Still a near perfect year for the iOS platform, I grade it an A-

SYMBIAN - 81 M units, 17% market share - collapsed - Grade F

What can I say? Symbian towered over its rivals a year ago  Now its a shadow of what it was and while Nokia's delusional CEO Stephen Elop first promised Nokia would produce another 150 million more Symbian smarphones when he said Nokia would transition to Microsoft - and most analysts said that was a ludicrous pipe-dream - today Elop has admitted it was a futile attempt and has reneged on that promise. If I was a Nokia app developer partner, I could not imagine a more disasterous year from Nokia, from abandoning the replacement platform MeeGo and the promised migration path to it via Qt, to badmouthing Symbian and the ecosystem, to unbranding the Ovi store, to shifting Nokia handset production to outsourced Taiwanese Compal, to switching away from Nokia staple components, to abandoning Nokia standard (and industry-leading) features - to now turning back on the solid promise of 150 million more Symbian devices. Yes, only a year ago, in January 2011, Nokia's Ovi had become the world's second biggest app store by downloads - and was rapidly catching up to Apple. Now all that is wasted..

So yes, while the industry grew 62%, Symbian saw sales crash by 31%. The last Symbian partners were solidly committed for big sales of Symbian, in particular in Japan, and very importantly NTT DoCoMo the biggest carrier/operator of Japan, but that all died in February of last year with the dual death-nails of the Elop Effect. By Q4 Symbian's death-spiral is only accelerating - with now the third straight decline of Symbian sales. Not decline of market share, but true decline of sales. This from a platform so strong, it grew 44% just the year before. If you lose actual sales in a year when the industry grows 62% - then you have failed and I grade Symbian an F

BLACKBERRY - 52 M units, 11% market share - anemic growth - C-

Blackberry did grow, but barely for the year. RIM is the only manufacturer making Blackberry compatible smarpthones (but interestingly and perhaps ironically, they are migrating to be compatible with Nokia's Qt developer tools - the ones that Nokia itself is now moving away from as Qt is compatible with Symbian and with MeeGo but not with Windows Phone). For Q4 they had a little bit of a come-back but only still grew at the pace of the industry, not more. Thus for the year I grade the Blackberry OS with a C-

bada - 9 M sales, 2% market share - massive growth - A-

Samsung's bada is the biggest and best-growing of the three new operating systems, and where Microsoft sells the fantasy of Windows Phone being somehow a 'third' ecosystem, in reality bada is very legitimately now the 5th ecosystem. bada only powers Samsung based smartphones and Samsung stepped into the place vacated by Nokia with the MeeGo partnership, to join Intel to develop Tizen as the next open source based smartphone OS to power not just Samsung but many other brand smartphones. Note that the comparison between 2011 and 2010 data is not comparable, because bada launched in the last quarter of 2010, so the right comparison is only Q4 of 2011 to Q4 of 2010 where the growth was 3.5x ie truly massive. bada grew ever consecutive quarter and once again in Q4 it grew faster than the industry. This is excellent for a new OS platform - I grade bada at A-

Windows Phone - 5 M sales, 1% market share - declining sales - grade D+

Note just like bada, Windows Phone data cannot be compared directly between 2011 and 2010, because Windows Phone launched at the end of 2010 so the sales number is not for full year 2010 but only Q4 of 2010. And when we compare Q4 2011 to Q4 2010, Microsoft's brand new Windows Phone OS sales have.. yes.. declined. In Q4 of 2010, Microsoft's Windows Phone shipped 2 million units (most of which were free early trial smarphones) By Q4 of 2011, Windows Phone sold only 1.8 million units which included the launch of Nokia and its Lumia smartphones, which accounted for 600,000 out of the Windows Phone totals or exactly one third. The others came mostly from HTC and Samsung. Note that Windows Phone lost unit sales for three quarters straight, Q1, Q2 and Q3 and then Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer fired the Windows Phone President (sorry, no he was not fired, he was demoted). Ballmer himself expressed frustration time and again in 2011 how Windows Phone sales were declining and disappointing. In Microsoft's best market, the USA, even in Q4 the older and obsolete (and incompatible) Windows Mobile OS still outsold Windows Phone! And Microsoft started to hide the true division by making a big marketing PR push to call now all Windows Mobile smartphones also Windows Phone (which they obviously are not) and each of the big 4 analyst houses have stopped separating the two OS platforms, calling it simply Microsoft. The performance of Windows Phone is dismal and I grade it at D+

WINDOWS MOBILE - 5M sales, 1% market share - declined sales - C-

Yes, Windows Mobile did decline more than Windows Phone - but Windows Mobile was announced dead more than two years ago, and it simply refuses to die. Like I said, in the USA, Microsoft's best market, it still stubbornly outsells Windows Phone in Q4 of 2011. For the full year, Windows Phone lost almost two thirds of its sales and its market share fell into the toilet from 4% to 1%. But it just refuses to go away, to Microsoft's great dismay. Yes its about to vanish and yes it fell massively, but I salute the attitude of refusing to go quietly, and I give that spunkiness a bit of respect and grade good ole WinMo with C-

MEEGO - 2M sales, 0% market share - new launch OS first quarter - B+

The newest and hottest of the three new operating systems, MeeGo by Nokia and Intel, is also already a dead-man-walking. In a bizarre decision by the delusional Nokia CEO, Stephen Elop, he announced in the summer, that even if the sales of the N9 - the first MeeGo handset - were exceptionally good - he would not authorize any more MeeGo devices to be made by Nokia (beyond the N9 and its sister N950 which was already announced). So Nokia took all the trouble to create a fully functional touch-screen optimized smartphone OS, which by all reviews is excellent - and which is open source, Linux based, and compatible with Qt, Nokia's developer tools - and which does not cost one cent to Nokia to use in any handsets - and which works on Nokia's standard components and can be manufactured in Nokia's mostly idling massive factories (so badly idling, Nokia has already been forced to shut down and/or sell 3 of them just because of the collapse of Nokia sales last year). And then Nokia announce it will replace MeeGo with Windows Phone, which is not open source, is not Linux based, is not compatible with Qt, and for which Nokia has to pay a license to Microsoft for every handset ever sold, which does not work with Nokia standard components, and at least the first Lumia phones were made in Taiwanese factories of Compal, not in Nokia's own (idling) factories. And this OS, MeeGo, the CEO says he won't ever use again? What is wrong with him? I can see if the alternate was 'not open' or 'expensive to use ie needs a royalty payment' or 'not compatible with Nokia's tools' but where MeeGo is in every way better than Windows Phone - I didn't even mention how many ways Windows Phone is not compatible with Nokia standard features and functions (but MeeGo of course is)..

So, we have an excellent launch Quarter for Nokia's MeeGo - a launch which was totally abandoned by the CEO who spent all the money on the Lumia Windows Phone launch (simultaneously). The N9 was the only handset sold (bizarrely, the N950 also on MeeGo is manufactured yes, but in tiny numbers. Mad!) and the N9 is only sold in obscure or tiny countries. Like New Zealand or Nigeria or Kazakhstan - no offense to my friends in any of those countries haha.. MeeGo did about 1.75 million units of sales - three times as many as the two Lumia smartphones in the same Quarter - and the one handset N9 alone almost matched all Windows Phone smartphones made by HTC, Nokia, Samsung and the other Windows Phone partners in Q4, which were obviously sold in most of the biggest smartphone countries and definitely the most affluent countries. Considering that Nokia gave it no support and deliberately prevented the N9 from being sold in any major countries - I mentioned the German magazine actually telling readers to drive to another country to buy it, that it is so good - I grade 1.75 million sales - and a 1% market share for its launch quarter a good performance at B+

PALM WEB/OS - terminated in 2011 - F

Hewlett-Packard bought Palm when its Web/OS and the latest Palm smartphones were rated second best on many tech sites behind only the iPhone. HP could have 'easily' turned its Palm asset into what the iPhone is to Apple - to deliver half of sales and most of profits - and help push the company to the top of the most profitable companies on the planet - as the Palm purchase was optimally timed if HP - already a maker of smartphones - wanted to capitalize on the massive smartphone industry expansion. It utterly failed, rather than using the existing Palm devices and rebadging them with HP and rapidly flooding the market with a hot smartphone - instead HP decided that a smartphone is a pocket PC and tried to make a business tool out of its Palm unit. That silly adventure ended last year when the Palm Web/OS unit was turned into an open source project. Palm is for all practical purposes dead now. Hence, if you die in the year that the industry grew by 62% - you failed. Miserably. I grade Hewlett-Packard's Palm misadventure as an F

For those interested to quote these numbers - you may fully use any analysis, and any numbers - and the tables - freely. I ask you list as your source if it is a printed document like book, article or white paper or infographic or for example powerpoint slide etc - please list source: TomiAhonen Almanac 2012. If you quote info from here on a website or blog or Facebook, Twitter etc mentions, please include web link to this page. I have also created an easy short permalink on Tinyurl for you to copy-and-paste if you prefer to this page, which is:


http://tinyurl.com/FoneStats

Also note, you may freely recreate the above tables into better form, including any diagrams and graphs if you like as long as you mention the source.


IF YOU WANT MORE INFO

I have published the TomiAhonen Phone Book 2010 about the mobile phone handset industry statistics and data up to the end of year 2010. It has 98 tables and charts about the handset industry, including cameraphone resolutions, browsers, bluetooth, 3G, etc and regional data and user data and all sorts of facts. It is only available as an eBook with pages formated for the small screens of smartphones, so you can carry the pdf file with you to have the stats everywhere. The Phone Book costs only 9.99 Euros so it won't damage your budget. See more at this link TomiAhonen Phone Book 2010.

If you like this information about smartphones but are more interested in the overall mobile telecoms industry from data services to subcribers to revenues to advertising to consumers etc, I publish an annual statistical volume, called the TomiAhonen Almanac with 94 tables and charts. It has of course one chapter on handsets and the above data in this blog article is part of that chapter. The current edition is from year 2011 but I am about to release the 2012 edition within literally days from now with all data current to January 2012. So if you buy the 2011 edition today as we are less than one month from the next edition, I will actually deliver to you both, so that 2011 edition immediately, and the new 2012 edition when it is released, for the same low price of 9.99 Euros. Please do not buy the wrong eBook, as they have some overlap! See more including table of contents at TomiAhonen Almanac 2011.

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T-Mobile Announces March Availability for SAMSUNG Galaxy S Blaze 4G

The latest addition to T-Mobile’s fastest 4G device lineup, the Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G keeps consumers entertained and connected

T-Mobile USA, Inc. and Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile), the No. 1 mobile phone provider in the U.S.,1 confirmed the upcoming March availability of the Samsung Galaxy S® Blaze™ 4G, exclusively from T-Mobile®. The Galaxy S Blaze 4G is the latest addition to the successful Galaxy S line of products, and T-Mobile’s newest fast 4G smartphone to take advantage of 4G (HSPA+42) technology, providing customers with the ability to browse the Web faster than the average home Internet2 connection while on the go.

Consumers are increasingly demanding more from their smartphones — keeping them entertained, staying connected with loved ones and enabling them to complete more tasks using a single device. A recent T-Mobile survey3 found 79 percent of smartphone users are less likely to carry other technology devices, such as cameras, laptops and GPS devices, when they have their smartphone.

T-Mobile’s newest 4G smartphone offers a variety of features and applications to help consumers be entertained and have access to the information they need when they need it. The Galaxy S Blaze 4G entertainment offerings make it easy for T-Mobile customers to stream their favorite movies on Netflix®, enjoy live or on-demand TV programs on T-Mobile® TV in mobile HD4 or download a popular movie or TV show using Samsung Media Hub. Additionally, the smartphone features TeleNav GPS Navigator, which provides hands-free, voice-guided turn-by-turn driving directions, real-time traffic alerts, full-color 3-D moving maps and local alerts, helping customers get to where they need to go. The Galaxy S Blaze 4G also comes preloaded with a customized version of the Yelp mobile application, featuring the ability to save profiles so users can keep preferences the same with one touch in any city, making it easy to find and read reviews for local places to eat, shop, drink and play.

Also pre-loaded on the device, the T-Mobile 4GPro App Pack offers an aggregation of key business applications, such as DropBox, Evernote, Square, TripIt, Camscanner and LinkedIn, helping busy consumers be even more productive while balancing their professional and personal lives.

“The Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G is loaded with rich features and services to keep consumers entertained and connected virtually anywhere they want to go,” said Andrew Sherrard, senior vice president, marketing, T-Mobile USA. “Paired with T-Mobile’s fast 4G network and our unlimited data plans, we’re making it easy for consumers to enjoy the benefits of 4G experiences at a price they can afford.”

Featuring a sleek and stylish form factor, the smartphone comes in a carbon black color and runs on Android™ 2.3 Gingerbread. The Galaxy S Blaze 4G also features a Snapdragon™ S3 processor by Qualcomm® with 1.5 GHz dual-core CPUs and a beautiful 3.97-inch Super AMOLED™ touch screen providing consumers with a rich experience watching their favorite movie or TV show on the device.

The Galaxy S Blaze 4G also makes it easy to connect and share photos and video with loved ones. It features a 720p HD video recorder, 5-megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom, flash and advanced shooting modes, as well as a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for video chat.

Availability
The Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G is expected to be available at T-Mobile retail stores, select dealers and retailers nationwide, and online at www.t-mobile.com starting late March. The Galaxy S Blaze 4G is expected to cost $149.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate card, with a two-year service agreement and qualifying Classic voice and data plan. For more information, visit galaxy-s.t-mobile.com/samsung-galaxy-blaze.

1 No. 1 mobile phone provider in the U.S. claim for Samsung Mobile based upon reported shipment data, according to Strategy Analytics Q4 2011 U.S. Market Share Handset Shipments Report.

2 Based on average download speeds on T-Mobile’s 4G HSPA+ 42 Mbps network in four major markets versus average home Internet speeds as determined by independent third-party testing.

3 Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of T-Mobile USA from December 20-22, 2011 among 2,573 adults ages 18 and older, among whom 235 will be first time smartphone buyers in 2012, and 988 are current smartphone users who will remain smartphone users in 2012. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact kmcfadzean@waggeneredstrom.com.

4 Mobile HD TV can deliver a bit rate of 800 kbps and 16:9 resolution; the bit rate and resolution you experience will vary based on many factors (e.g., programming, network connection, and device). Playback on the device limited to 480x800.

T-Mobile’s HSPA+ 4G network is not available everywhere. See coverage details at www.t-mobile.com.
4G used in connection with the Galaxy S Blaze 4G product name refers to the fact that the Galaxy S Blaze 4G is designed with HSPA+ technology.

About T-Mobile USA:
Based in Bellevue, Wash., T-Mobile USA, Inc. is the U.S. wireless operation of Deutsche Telekom AG (OTCQX: DTEGY). By the end of the third quarter of 2011, approximately 129 million mobile customers were served by the mobile communication segments of the Deutsche Telekom group — 33.7 million by T-Mobile USA — all via a common technology platform based on GSM and UMTS and additionally HSPA+ 21/HSPA+ 42. T-Mobile USA’s wireless products and services help empower people to connect to those who matter most. Multiple independent research studies continue to rank T-Mobile USA among the highest in numerous regions throughout the U.S. in wireless customer care and call quality. For more information, please visit http://www.T-Mobile.com. T-Mobile is a federally registered trademark of Deutsche Telekom AG. For further information on Deutsche Telekom, please visit www.telekom.de/investor-relations.

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2010 consolidated sales of US$135.8 billion. Employing approximately 190,500 people in 206 offices across 68 countries, the company operates two separate organizations to coordinate its nine independent business units: Digital Media & Communications, comprising Visual Display, Mobile Communications, Telecommunication Systems, Digital Appliances, IT Solutions, and Digital Imaging; and Device Solutions, consisting of Memory, System LSI and LCD. Recognized for its industry-leading performance across a range of economic, environmental and social criteria, Samsung Electronics was named the world’s most sustainable technology company in the 2011 Dow Jones Sustainability Index. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.

About Samsung Telecommunications America
Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC, a Dallas-based subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., researches, develops and markets wireless handsets, wireless infrastructure and other telecommunications products throughout North America. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.

T-Mobile Announces March Availability For Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G

T-Mobile USA, Inc. and Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile), the No. 1 mobile phone provider in the U.S., 1 today confirmed the upcoming March availability of the Samsung Galaxy S ® Blaze ™ 4G, exclusively from T-Mobile ®. The Galaxy S Blaze 4G is the latest addition to the successful Galaxy S line of products, and T-Mobile’s newest fast 4G smartphone to take advantage of 4G (HSPA+42) technology, providing customers with the ability to browse the Web faster than the average home Internet 2 connection while on the go.

Consumers are increasingly demanding more from their smartphones — keeping them entertained, staying connected with loved ones and enabling them to complete more tasks using a single device. A recent T-Mobile survey 3 found 79 percent of smartphone users are less likely to carry other technology devices, such as cameras, laptops and GPS devices, when they have their smartphone.

T-Mobile’s newest 4G smartphone offers a variety of features and applications to help consumers be entertained and have access to the information they need when they need it. The Galaxy S Blaze 4G entertainment offerings make it easy for T-Mobile customers to stream their favorite movies on Netflix ®, enjoy live or on-demand TV programs on T-Mobile ® TV in mobile HD 4 or download a popular movie or TV show using Samsung Media Hub. Additionally, the smartphone features TeleNav GPS Navigator, which provides hands-free, voice-guided turn-by-turn driving directions, real-time traffic alerts, full-color 3-D moving maps and local alerts, helping customers get to where they need to go. The Galaxy S Blaze 4G also comes preloaded with a customized version of the Yelp mobile application, featuring the ability to save profiles so users can keep preferences the same with one touch in any city, making it easy to find and read reviews for local places to eat, shop, drink and play.

Also pre-loaded on the device, the T-Mobile 4GPro App Pack offers an aggregation of key business applications, such as DropBox, Evernote, Square, TripIt, Camscanner and LinkedIn, helping busy consumers be even more productive while balancing their professional and personal lives.

source

Smartphone Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G will be released in March

American operator T-Mobile revealed details about the smartphone Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G, and spoke about his date of issue and cost. This device was introduced in January, it is built on a 1.5 GHz dual-core CPU Snapdragon S3 and supports high-speed standard HSPA + (42 Mbit / s). The smartphone running Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and is equipped with 3.97-inch touch screen Super AMOLED.

Also, Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G is equipped with a 5-megapixel integrated camera with video recording at 720p and 1.3-megapixel front camera. Start selling smartphone in the U.S. market in March this year. The model will cost $ 149.99, taking into account the two-year contract and rebates of $ 50.