The Year Apple and RIM Ate Everyone Else’s Lunch [Data]

For today’s data dump: the iPhone now accounts for nearly a fifth of new smartphones, and BlackBerrys are on a surprisingly serious tear, passing a 20% in world market share. So, uh, who’s losing?

Well, for one, Nokia, whose smartphones have failed to penetrate at all in the US, despite massive popularity overseas, and whose Symbian OS is starting to look downright old. Manufacturers like LG and Motorola, who for the last year were depending mostly on the waning Windows Mobile 6.1, have had a rough time of it, while Palm, presumably included in the “Other” category, consolidated its line to one phone for the duration of 2009, which has done wonders for its image, but unfortunately not for its sales.

Interestingly enough, Apple and RIM are doing spectacularly well for similar reasons: both have appealed to mainstream consumers with new products—the marked-down iPhone 3G and cheap-but-decent BlackBerry Curve line, respectively—while pushing app stores as a selling point. And honestly, look around. Smartphones are decidedly a thing right now.

I’ll be interested to see what happens next year, when Android’s had a little time to spread its wings. It looks like Google helped buoy HTC a little bit this year, but Android phones are still a rare sight. [Ars]

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AMD Phenom II Breaks 7GHz Barrier [Amd]

7.08GHz. That’s the record-shattering speed an AMD Phenom II processor was overclocked to using a massive amount of liquid helium. You can watch the whole process in this documentary video set to one kickass soundtrack. [Crunchgear]

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HP dm3t review

We’re really into the new influx of inexpensive CULV-based laptops that’s arrived with Windows 7, and just like the ASUS UL80Vt, we knew we had to check out the starts-at-$599 HP dm3t the second we saw the first leak. In many ways, it’s the perfect throw-it-in-a-bag-and-go portable on paper, with a sleek and rigid case design, a 1.3GHz Intel SU7300 Core 2 Duo processor, and a 13.3-inch screen, but there’s a big difference between loving a machine’s spec sheets and reviews and loving it in real life, so we spent a couple days playing with a spec’d-up $819 model — read on for our impressions.

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Filed under: Laptops

HP dm3t review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At What Point Would Our Cyborg-selves Cease To Be Human? [Question Of The Day]

Yes, it’s the RoboCop question. How much of your body would you have to replace with machines before you could no longer be considered human? Let’s break it down into percentages.

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Kivu’s G-Five KTNO2 netbook sports ridiculous ‘aerodynamic’ design, could be the wind beneath your wings

There are a lot of improvements we here at Engadget like to see in netbooks — more SSD storage, higher-resolution screens, less flimsy construction — but not a one of us put “greater aerodynamic lift” anywhere on our list. Someone at Kivu Technology Co. apparently did, as the company has launched this G-Five KTNO2 netbook, a machine that is at the same time boringly derivative and patently ludicrous. It was modeled after an aircraft’s wing and, while it looks sophisticated enough with that titanium hue, you’ll have a hard time taking it seriously after seeing the graphic after the break comparing it to a bird’s wing. Specs? Everything you’d expect in an otherwise copycat 10-inch netbook, from the 1.6GHz Atom processor to the 160GB HDD. Fly away, little netbook, fly away.

[Via PMP Today]

Continue reading Kivu’s G-Five KTNO2 netbook sports ridiculous ‘aerodynamic’ design, could be the wind beneath your wings

Filed under: Laptops

Kivu’s G-Five KTNO2 netbook sports ridiculous ‘aerodynamic’ design, could be the wind beneath your wings originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Year Apple and RIM Ate Everyone Else’s Lunch [Data]

For today’s data dump: the iPhone now accounts for nearly a fifth of new smartphones, and BlackBerrys are on a surprisingly serious tear, passing a 20% in world market share. So, uh, who’s losing?

Well, for one, Nokia, whose smartphones have failed to penetrate at all in the US, despite massive popularity overseas, and whose Symbian OS is starting to look downright old. Manufacturers like LG and Motorola, who for the last year were depending mostly on the waning Windows Mobile 6.1, have had a rough time of it, while Palm, presumably included in the “Other” category, consolidated its line to one phone for the duration of 2009, which has done wonders for its image, but unfortunately not for its sales.

Interestingly enough, Apple and RIM are doing spectacularly well for similar reasons: both have appealed to mainstream consumers with new products—the marked-down iPhone 3G and cheap-but-decent BlackBerry Curve line, respectively—while pushing app stores as a selling point. And honestly, look around. Smartphones are decidedly a thing right now.

I’ll be interested to see what happens next year, when Android’s had a little time to spread its wings. It looks like Google helped buoy HTC a little bit this year, but Android phones are still a rare sight. [Ars]

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Remainders - Stuff We Didn’t Post (and Why) [Remainders]

Apple Issues Update for Current-Gen iPod Nano…Barnes & Noble Giftcards Won’t Buy Ebooks, Screwing Some Nook Pre-Orderers…Dell Mini 3 Officially Launched in China…Palm Stock Skyrockets After Nokia Takeover Rumor…

Apple Issues Update for Current-Gen iPod Nano

Apple quietly issued a firmware update for its newest, video-taking iPod Nano, and it’s pretty minor but does fix a few problems. Audio podcasts can now be played back in Normal, Slow or Fast modes, and a few random bugs were patched (Nike+ integration, mono audio, VoiceOver). It’s in Remainders because it really is a minor update—we wouldn’t even bother with it except the Nano is such a ridiculously huge seller. [TUAW]

Barnes & Noble Giftcards Won’t Buy Ebooks, Screwing Some Nook Pre-Orderers

Apparently Barnes & Noble’s giftcards will buy you everything B&N sells—except ebooks. It’s an inexplicable and irritating omission, but what makes it really rankle is that nobody seems to know about it, even those who work at the stores. Check out this story:

My wife and kids pre-ordered a nook for my birthday at our local B&N. The sales person also sold her a $100 gift card to “get my eBook collection started.” When I tried to purchase a few books, I found out that gift cards can’t be used on eBooks.

What a dick move! We’re going to assume ignorance on B&N’s part, but this is sloppy stuff, especially given our proximity to the holidays—their giftcards are incredibly popular and this will not be an isolated incident. Get it together, B&N. [Consumerist]

Dell Mini 3 Officially Launched in China

The Android-running Dell Mini 3 smartphone officially began its launch sequence today. It’s been shipped out to sellers in China today, for release later this month, with a Brazil release to follow later this year. In early 2010 it should hit AT&T and Verizon—we’ll see if we care by then. It’s a noticeably low-key release, considering it’s the first handheld in years from Dell, but it ends up in Remainders due to its current China-only status. [Electronista]

Palm Stock Skyrockets After Nokia Takeover Rumor

Palm stock skyrocketed today, with trading over 15 times heavier than normal, due to an odd rumor that Nokia would be buying the company. It doesn’t really make any sense to us—Nokia is really unlikely to be purchasing a competitor to its Symbian line, and buying the beleaguered Palm would be a weird way to try to make gains in the US market. This one plops into Remainders because it’s both unlikely and mere financial news, which isn’t really that exciting. [Electronista]

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