Michelle Maisto

China’s gray-market cell phone shipments are slowing, iSuppli reported Dec. 16. While still set to ship a considerable 255 million units in 2011-up from 228 million in 2010-it’s a considerably slower pace than the 43.6 percent growth between 2009 and 2010. “The object of a nationwide government crackdown, the gray cell phone market in the […]

Jon Rubinstein, the head of Hewlett-Packard’s Palm division has rather lamely, or at least vaguely, confirmed that an HP tablet running WebOS will arrive in “early 2011.” Thanks to an analyst at BMO Capital Markets, however, that date has been narrowed down to March. Analyst Keith Bachman, after meeting with more than 30 tech companies […]

Dell is the latest phone maker to stumble as it hurries to meet user demand-a happy problem, the glass-half-full folks might say, but a bummer for those hoping for a Dell Venue Pro under the Christmas tree. Responding to media reports of shipment delays-such as Matt Miller writing at ZDNet that the posted delivery date […]

Smartphone sales may be surging, but the opposite end of the handset market is also expected to rise, fueled by emerging economies such as those in China, India, Africa, Latin America and parts of Asia, ABI Research reported Dec. 14. With economies beginning to rebound from the global recession, ABI expects shipments of “ultra-low-cost handsets” […]

The Apple iPad and the numerous tablets that are springing up to compete with it-or at least address the market it created-will have “massive implications” on the technology world, research firm iSuppli said in a Dec. 14 report. The devices represent a convergence of computers, consumer devices and communications that’s expected to spur competition among […]

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is expected to introduce a number of tablet devices meant to-you guessed it-compete with the Apple iPad in the market that Microsoft first created in 2000 and that Apple revived and reinvented this year with the iPad. Citing “people familiar with Microsoft’s plans,” The New York Times reported Dec. 13 that […]

Nokia is postponing shipment of its E7 smartphone, Reuters first reported Dec. 14. Similar to the Nokia flagship E8, but with a physical slideout keypad, the E7 is one of the handful of new devices that Nokia introduced at the Nokia World 2010 conference in London in September, along with the C7 and C6. “To […]

Verizon Wireless is reportedly at work on some kinks in the LTE (Long-Term Evolution) 4G network that it officially launched Dec. 5. Several media sites have reported a problem with the handoff between Verizon’s 3G and 4G networks, and Verizon spokesperson Jeffrey Nelson confirmed to PCMag that users with Verizon’s new 4G modems “could experience […]

The patent infringement lawsuit that Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen filed against Apple, Google and a handful of other companies in August has been dismissed by a district judge, ABC News has reported. The suit, filed by Allen’s Interval Licensing, was said to pertain to patents relevant to e-commerce and search technologies, including ways to call […]

Research In Motion’s BlackBerry smartphones are no longer Verizon Wireless’s best-selling devices. That distinction now belongs to its Android-running handsets-such as the Motorola Droid and the Samsung Fascinate Galaxy S phone-according to data from ITG Investment Research, posted by All Things D. If not surprising, the data is at least unhappy news for RIM, which […]

Lenovo has introduced three new Idea PCs with Intel technology that will begin shipping in early 2011. Hello, youth market! The IdeaPad Y460p and IdeaPad Y560p pair high-performance processors – from the Second Generation Intel Core family, up to the Core i7 -with multimedia features. Perfect, says Lenovo, “for young adults who seek the ultimate […]

Apple, Google, Sprint Among Winners in Yankee’s 2011 4G Predictions by Michelle Maisto Prediction: 4G Will Be a Drop in the Ocean By the end of 2011, only 25 percent of North American consumers will understand what 4G means, says Yankee Group. Incumbent operators, such as Vodafone and AT&T, will win out, as they’ll “be […]