The iPhone today claimed an even larger edge in satisfaction versus its rivals in JD Power's second phone satisfaction study of 2009. Apple's smartphone climbed ten points from an earlier score to 811 out of 1,000 while its closest rival, LG, managed just a four-point increase to 776. The two were the only smartphone designers to score above the industry average.
Apple's latest iPhone, the 3GS, ranks almost squarely in the middle of smartphones in terms of radiation output, a non-profit activist organization says. The Environmental Working Group notes that according to compiled data, the 3GS produces approximately 1.19W/kg of radiation. The figure is substantially lower than the worst-case examples, the T-Mobile myTouch 3G and the Kyocera Jax S1300, which each produce 1.55W/kg.
Fractus has revealed that it has sued 10 cellphone manufacturers this week over their allegedly violating nine different patents relating to internal cellphone antenna technology. The Spanish company's targets are most important world firms and involve HTC, Kyocera, LG, Palm, Pantech, Research in Motion, Samsung, Sharp, Sanyo and UTStarcom. These companies were aware of the patents but violated their use all the same, Fractus claims.
JD Power on Thursday gave Apple's iPhone the highest score on its consumer satisfaction study for cellphones in early 2009. The touchscreen device earned a score of 791 out of 1,000 and beat out both those in its own smartphone category as well as traditional phones. The owners commenting on the phone gave it especially high marks for ease of use, the quality of the operating system, the feature set and the hardware design.
Kyocera at CTIA today announced a pair of new CDMA handsets for North America with the G2GO (“Good-to-Go”) M2000 and Laylo M1400. The former is the company's third-generation QWERTY-equipped handset that comes in a horizontally-sliding form factor, while the latter is a more common vertical slider with a regular keypad. The G2GO M2000 is meant for heavy text- and instant-messaging uses and is due to replace the Lingo M1000 handset. The phone has Bluetooth support and a 1.3-megapixel camera and has dedicated keys for zooming into and out of and editing photos. An accelerometer switches the orientation of the 2.4-inch 240x320 display as needed.
Virgin Mobile has without fanfare added a pair of Kyocera phones to its roster. Of the two, the X-tc is the most advanced and has a lateral, slide-out QWERTY keyboard for heavy-duty IM and SMS messaging. It also brings features that are still less common on Virgin phones, like a 1.3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth with stereo audio, dedicated music controls and microSD storage. It should be available today and sell for $99 prepaid.
Apple's iPhone line and Research in Motion's BlackBerry have skewed the US cellphone market in favor of more expensive phones and designs, according to new ComScore m:metrics data. Following a year-over-year surge in which the iPhone jumped to second place for smartphone market share in the country, the researchers note that the average monthly percentage of touchscreen phones in use during the summer almost tripled from just 3.6 percent in September 2007 to exactly 10 percent a year later. Fixed QWERTY phones like the BlackBerry Curve also more than doubled their influence from 9.5 percent of users to 22.6 percent.
Virgin Mobile plans to carry Helio's planned Ocean sequel but doesn't have plans for it until next year, says company spokesperson Jayne Wallace. Although confirming that the device has been built and that Virgin will take over releasing the device to market, Wallace says the new Ocean isn't yet ready and that it should be launched in early 2009, when it will perform as "best" as possible. Little is known about the Pantech-made device other than that it should continue to use a dual slider and that it will have a cosmetic makeover.
Virgin Mobile's US branch today picked up the TNT!, one of its lowest-cost cellphones but with a handful of additions beyond the very low end. Made by Kyocera, the flip phone has an external display missing on the Aloha and Oystr and is also capable of basic web browsing on a 1xRTT data link.
Helping start the CTIA phone expo, Kyocera today introduced three phones all intended for CDMA phone networks such as those offered by Sprint and Verizon. The Neo E1100 (pictured) is the company's latest effort in designing a fashion phone and includes a completely smooth outer shell with only a blue, illuminated strip of light and a 1.3-megapixel camera breaking up the outer design; a small, hidden display lights up to reveal inbound calls. The handset also features a notebook-like hinge that allows the display to pivot back more than on some flip phones.
Kyocera today said it had settled on terms to pick up Sanyo's cellphone business. Confirming earlier moves, the former will acquire all of Sanyo's cellphone and cellular technology assets. However, the deal will initially see virtually unchanged business: not only will none of Sanyo's related jobs be cut, but Sanyo-branded phones will continue to exist "for the foreseeable future," Kyocera says. The deal itself is estimated to be worth about $375 million after factoring in associated costs.
