Research group claims LG overtook Apple as #2 US handset maker in December

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Five of the top six mobile apps in the U.S. during December, were from Google

Metrics firm comScore recently charted the top ten mobile apps in the U.S. for December, based on the number of unique visitors. The result? Five out of the top six names were produced by Google. Actually, the number one app is the one that is non-Google as Facebook led the way with 85.5 million unique visitors for the month. Google Maps was second with 74.6 million unique visitors during December. Google Play was next (61.5 million unique visitors), followed by Google Search, Gmail and YouTube. Those three had 60.6 million, 53.9 million and 52.6 million unique visitors in December, respectively.  Rounding out the top ten is Pandora Radio, Apple iTunes, Cooliris and Yahoo! Messenger. Apple removed YouTube and Google Maps from iOS 6 and that decision shows up in the chart comparing the number of unique visitors monthly for both the Facebook app and Google Maps. You can see how Google Maps fell behind Facebook at the same time the former app was removed from iOS 6.

Another chart shows that the  Facebook app is more "sticky" than Google's mobile apps in the U.S. In other words, users spent more time using the social networking site's app, which actually accounted for 23% of the time U.S. mobile device users spent using apps in December. Facebook owned Instagram accounts for another 3%. Last month, U.S. app users spent 10% of their time using apps from Google. Combined, one of every 3 minutes U.S. mobile device users spent using an app in December was on an app created by Facebook or Google. The numbers that comScore used were from U.S. based iOS and Android users 18 and older, during December.

source: comScore via BGR

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Samsung Galaxy Note II 4G phablet coming to Telstra Australia on December 26

Telstra is getting prepare to bring the most popular phablet that known as the Samsung Galaxy Note II 4G in Australia. Reportedly, this Samsung hybrid tablet/smartphone device should be arriving on Telstra’s shelves starting December 26th. Unfortunately, there is no word on pricing yet. As noted, both Optus and Vodafone have already launched this phablet for Australia market.

Running on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS, the Samsung Galaxy Note II 4G phablet sports a 1.6GHz Exynos quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM. This handset has features a 5.5-inch touchscreen Super AMOLED HD display, a 1.9MP front-facing camera, and an 8MP camera on the back. Moreover, Telstra’ Samsung Galaxy Note II 4G smartphone is support for 4G LTE connectivity.

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Verizon announces new LTE markets to be live on December 20th

Like we noted last month, Verizon has all the major market service areas covered with its speedy LTE network, so these updates are covering areas that most people do not know about, even people that live in those states.

We are going to miss seeing these regular monthly updates from “Big Red” after the LTE network rollout is complete next year.  Sure, we will have regular updates from the other carriers as they catch up over the next several years, but we would not be surprised if Verizon was on track to start rolling out LTE-Advanced by the time the other players are done catching up to deploy LTE.

Subscribers in these Rocky Mountain and northwestern areas have a new network coming their way on December 20th:

Lamar and La Junta, Colorado, which are in the southeast part of the state, east of Pueblo.Price and Richfield, Utah, located in the central area of the state, south of Provo.Jackson Hole, Teton Village, Kemmerer and Pinedale, Wyoming, all in the western part of the state, home to some of the best skiing and most beautiful scenery in the world.Port Angeles, Port Townsend and Sequim, Washington, in the northern shore of the state, along the Strait of Juan de Fuca which comprises part of the border with Canada.Kennewick, Pasco and Richland, Washington, which lie on the opposite corner from Port Townsend, southeast Washington, bordering Oregon.Klamath Falls and Roseburg, Oregon. Roseburg is along the Interstate-5 corridor and Klamath Falls is nestled in the south-central part of the state, close to northern California.
We hope you enjoyed the geography lesson, and we hope you enjoy the new LTE coverage coming your way.

source: Verizon (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

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Samsung ATIV S to launch December 13th-14th in U.K. and Canada

Just the other day, we told you that the long awaited Samsung ATIV S would be available Tuesday from T-Mobile Austria free on contract. Those kidders at T-Mobile Austria even took a picture of the phone laying on Tuesday's newspaper as proof that it was in stock. That's the kind of humor we love to see. What we also love to see is more countries with the Samsung ATIV S and it would seem that a few U.K. retailers will have the device starting as soon as today. Clove's web site shows the phone arriving at the retailer on Thursday while Unlocked-Mobile and Expansys both say that its customers who pre-ordered the Windows Phone 8 flavored handset, will have it shipped on December 14th. Unlocked-Mobile has the phone priced at £424.98 ($686 USD) while Clove's price tag reads £442.80 ($714 USD) and Expansys' shows £459.99 ($742 USD).

Also on the 14th, a couple of Canadian carriers will be launching the phone. TELUS will have a limited quantity of the Samsung ATIV S while Bell will also offer the device on Friday. Both have the model priced at under $100 on contract.

The Samsung ATIV S was the first of the new Windows Phone 8 models to be announced and now it looks like it will be among the last to be launched. Still, it beats the rumored February launch date that was making the rounds recently until the speculation was quashed by Samsung.

source: UnlockedMobile, Clove, Expansys via WMPoweruser, UnwiredView

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BlackBerry 10 SDK arriving to developers on December 11th, two months before first devices launch in Feb 2013

RIM is getting ready for its big BlackBerry 10 launch, and it will launch the BB10 Gold SDK for developers on December 11th. This will give developers around two months to bring their newest apps until the first devices arrive. Devs will get an early SDK release with important fixes so they have even more time up front.

Research in Motion is holding its BlackBerry 10 launch on January 30th, and will initially introduce two devices, one typical ‘Berry with a keyboard, and another, modern touchscreen phone.

Here are the six dates RIM has highlighted in its latest announcement:

November 29 – BlackBerry 10 SDK update.November 29-30 – BlackBerry Jam Asia (in Bangkok, Thailand).December 11 – BlackBerry 10 Gold SDK launch.January 21 – Deadline to have apps submitted to the BlackBerry App World storefront for the 10k Developer Commitment where we guarantee $10,000 USD revenue in the first year.January 30 – BlackBerry 10 launch events.February 5-6 – BlackBerry Jam Europe (in Amsterdam).
Two months sounds like just enough time for committed ‘Berry developers, but it would be challenging for RIM to convince developers on other platforms to switch. We’ll soon learn how well the company did.

source: BlackBerry Developer via The Next Web

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