April 30 - 6:20pm EDT   First-quarter cellphone shipments showed the worst fall ever, with a 13-percent drop from last year's numbers, according to a Strategy Analytics report. The industry experienced a similar drop in 2001, with a slide of 11 percent. The analysts explained the results as a consequence of retailer de-stocking and lowered consumer spending. All of the top five manufacturers saw a similar decline, although Samsung's sales only fell by one percent. [full story]

April 16 - 12:00pm EDT   The Internet-connected Verizon Hub home phone may soon get its own applications store, according to a Wednesday report. The phone, launched in the US on February 1st, already gets updates through the Internet for weather and traffic information, and users can watch videos via Verizon's V CAST service, but is now set to open to third-party software that would enable new tasks using the Internet, GPS or both. One new use for it would be to give users the ability to access Internet radio stations, for example. [full story]

April 6 - 4:50pm EDT   Basic specs of three upcoming BlackBerry handsets only known by their codenames have been leaked out by an unnamed source. A weekend BGR report reveals the BlackBerry Onyx will be a GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS device featuring a GPS sensor, camera, Wi-Fi without UMA support, a large screen with 480x360 resolution and a QWERTY keyboard. AT&T will be the exclusive carrier of this handset. [full story]

April 1 - 11:05am EDT   Research in Motion (RIM) has used the opening of the CTIA conference to launch the BlackBerry App World, accessible via BlackBerry handsets. Users in the US, UK and Canada must have the v4.2 operating system loaded, but can then download free and paid apps made for their specific BlackBerry model, via Wi-Fi or cellular connections. [full story]

March 5 - 1:05pm EST   Research in Motion's Niagara smartphone has been revealed as the BlackBerry 9630, according to an alleged leak. If confirmed the phone should be only the second 9000-series BlackBerry to enter production, following the Bold. The 9630 is said to be a CDMA device, and a cosmetic hybrid of the Bold and the Curve 8900. While using the flattened keys of the Bold, the size, borders and display of the 9630 are closer in nature to the 8900. [full story]

February 17 - 3:55pm EST   Yahoo on Tuesday announced at Mobile World Congress in Spain that it will soon release the Yahoo Mobile app for devices that include Apple's iPhone as well as feature phones and smartphones from Samsung, Nokia, RIM, Sony Ericsson and Motorola. Other phones that run on Windows Mobile will also be compatible with the new application. Among other things, Yahoo Mobile will let users search the Internet through its own engine and access new map tools. [full story]

January 30 - 12:05pm EST   The Apple iPhone and RIM BlackBerry Curve have taken the place of cheaper devices as the most popular mediums for downloading cellphone games, according to a new comScore study. The iPhone in particular is said to have accounted for 14 percent of all game downloads in November, helping to displace Motorola's RAZR -- and other low- to mid-range devices -- as a primary platform. Some 32.4 percent of iPhone users are said to have downloaded a game in the month, compared to an industry average of just 3.8 percent. [full story]

January 20 - 12:45pm EST   BlackBerry maker Research in Motion has set out timing related to its forthcoming Application Center, reports say. Speaking at a music business conference in Cannes, co-CEO Jim Balsillie has announced that the company is currently accepting app submissions from developers, and will officially open the App Center in March as planned. It is unclear if submissions actually began in December, as first scheduled. [full story]

January 5 - 11:05am EST   Adding to recently-released browser figures, Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu notes that use of the Mac OS is not only growing, but accelerating. Figures based on OS and browser use are said to show that the Mac OS -- combining versions for computers and the iPhone -- grew its marketshare to 10 percent in December, a 0.75 percent increase over the 9.25 percent share achieved in November. November's growth was just 0.65 percent, Wu comments, and only a year ago, the Mac OS held 7.3 percent of the market. [full story]

December 31 - 6:30pm EST   A leaked image posted on Tuesday revealed the upcoming release dates for a number of new cell phones coming to wireless provider T-Mobile. While some of the releases range from the relatively unexciting news of a new color option for an entry-level flip phone, the Sony Ericsson TM506 in a scarlet color on January 21st, and the release of Nokia's music-capable clamshell, the 7510, on the same date, they do include much-anticipated handsets such as the Shadow on January 28th. [full story]

December 24 - 11:00am EST   The Blackberry Curve 8900 will be released on February 18th, 2009, alongside the Samsung Memoir handset with an 8MP camera, according to a Tuesday report. While this is not an official announcement from Blackberry manufacturer Research In Motion (RIM) and the source has not been revealed, the date is one week later than an earlier, allegedely leaked launch date of February 11th and narrows down a projected timeframe. [full story]

December 24 - 10:50am EST   Research in Motion has posted an initial release, dubbed the Preview Version, of BlackBerry Media Sync for Mac. The software is used to sync iTunes libraries with RIM's BlackBerry phones, which may otherwise require third-party apps to load music from a Mac. Much as with regular iPod and iPhone syncing, Media Sync allows users to transfer select playlists to a BlackBerry, or else a randomly-chosen assortment of songs. [full story]

December 22 - 11:20pm EST   Apple has closed the gap with RIM in the smartphone market and leads in initial consumer satisfaction, according to a recent ChangeWave survey. The iPhone has steadily increased its market share, growing from just 11 percent in June to 23 percent in the December survey. Momentum continued well after the 3G launch, with a gain of six points from September to December. BlackBerry devices have held a fairly level dominance, with a slight drop of one point to 41 percent in the same period. [full story]

December 19 - 11:05am EST   BlackBerry maker Research in Motion is surviving quite well in spite of the economy and competition from Apple, says UBS analyst Maynard Um. In announcing the results of its fall quarter yesterday, RIM revealed that it had shipped 6.7 million phones during the period, well ahead of what forecasts had predicted. This is being attributed to the release of two high-profile BlackBerries, the Storm and the Bold, which have drawn considerable attention from both the media and the public. [full story]

December 5 - 4:00pm EST   Verizon has officially released the 4.7.0.75 firmware update today for the BlackBerry Storm handset made by Research In Motion (RIM). The update addresses the newly released handset's numerous issues, including a large amount of lag, voice-dialing problems and need to perform reboots. While the update was leaked to a select few Storm users last week, this release will cover all Storm owners. [full story]