Wireless broadband subscribers exceeded half a billion in 2010, in the 32 developed countries that make up the OECD.

Korea is the leading country for wireless broadband subscriptions, with 89.8 per 100 inhabitants, followed by Finland (84.8), Sweden (82.9) and Norway (79.9). This compares to an OECD average of 41.6 and a total of just under 512 million. Fixed broadband subscriptions reached 300 million.

dailywireless.org

Sony Ericsson has announced their numbers for Q4 of 2010, and it looks like they did really well, considering they actually sold less phones than in 2009. 43.1 million Ericsson handsets were sold in 2010, which is less than the 57.1 million sold in 2009. I know, you’re thinking what we’re thinking, how is that better?

Sony made more money even though they sold less phones in 2010. The reason is larger profit margins on the handsets up from 15% to 29%, as well as operating income in the positive. It’s very likely that this will be even larger in 2011, especially with all the hype over the new Xperia line, including the Xperia Play.

Sony Ericsson sold 43.1 million phones in 2010

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We all love to brag about how fast our Android phone is compared to someone else’s. Historically we only had 2 main applications that would give us at least some basis to start with, even if they could be slightly off. Looks like I am little late to the game on sharing this application, better late then never right?

The company that created this application states it may deliver lower results on some Galaxy S devices. As we just saw a little bit ago, that didn’t seem to be the case on the Epic 4G. I have run the test on my href="http://androidspin.com/tag/T-Mobile-Vibrant/" target="_blank"> Samsung Vibrant, which is sporting href="http://androidspin.com/tag/Team-Whiskey/" target="_blank">Team Whiskeys Nero V5 ROM.  I am not 100% sure at this moment, but I think I have lost my Voodoo for some reason. That’s what I get for playing around to much. Either way I was still very pleased with my scores. I know they could or should be  a little higher then they are though. Especially since the top devices beating me out right now are other Galaxy S devices. Give this app a go and let us know your results. I am very interested to see how other devices and ROMs fair.

Back in mid-December I let you know about the Ovi Daily App Must Have Apps contest and I was informed that Nokia has announced the winners and are working on notifying the winner of the N8. The N8 winner was selected from the group of people who correctly picked the six winning apps and it was definitely not me.

The six winning apps were as follows:

• Game: Doodle Jump
• Business/Productivity: Mobile Documents
• Entertainment: Touchnote Postcards
• Music: Shazam
• Social networking: Gravity
• Utilities: Joikuspot WiFi Hot Spot

I picked 4 out of 6, but missed the Mobile Documents and Touchnote Postcards apps. I actually just installed Mobile Documents thanks to Rita’s recommendation, but have never tried the Touchnote Postcards app.

Did any readers pick all six of these correctly?

View full post on Nokia Experts

“2010 was the year of the smartphone, and its popularity certainly did not wane during the holiday shopping season,” said Andy Zeinfeld, CEO of Simplexity, which tracked their top 10 best-selling cell phones during the 2010 holiday shopping season. Their sales figures may not include Apple’s popular iPhone, but it is interesting.

Here are their top sellers:

1. HTC Evo, (on Sprint’s network)
2. Droid Incredible by HTC (Verizon)
3. Samsung Captivate (on AT&T)
4. Motorola Droid X (on Verizon)
5. Samsung Intercept (on Sprint)
6. BlackBerry Torch 9800 (AT&T)
7. Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 (AT&T)
8. Droid 2 Global by Motorola (Verizon)
9. Samsung Epic 4G (Sprint)
10. Samsung Fascinate(Verizon)

“We predict that many of the trends that began to emerge during the last half of 2010 will continue to gain popularity in 2011,” Zeinfeld said. “However, ours is an extremely competitive and dynamic market, so we also expect to see the emergence of new technology and new trends in the coming year.”

James Martin has the Top Mobile Trends of 2011

• Tablet Mania Will Accelerate
• Laptops Will Look More Like Netbooks
• Smartphones Will Get Smarter
• Smartphones Will Be Just About Everywhere
• 4G Network Availability Will Continue to Grow
• Social Media Use Will Be More Mobile
• Location-based Marketing Continues Its Popularity
• Advertising on the iPad

eMarketer estimates the iPad will account for 90 percent of the 10 million tablets sold in the U.S. in 2010 and 80 percent of the 24 million tablets purchased in the U.S. in 2011. Forrester Research predicts U.S. tablet sales will surpass netbook and desktop sales by 2015.

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Presented for your delight: the stories you readers loved and hated in 2010.

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Howdy and welcome to the weekly app roundup! We’ve corralled some apps we reckon you folks want to take a gander at. So how did everyone make out? Was a certain, portly gift giver good to you? Just remember that it isn’t all about presents, you greedy varmit. Today, we announce the winners of the Trillian giveaway and also give you the chance to win one of 10 copies of Holidays 2011 Edition! How’s that for timing? Have a rootin’ tootin’ weekend! And a Happy New Year! Giddy up!

Freebies of the Week: Vulkano Player, Oopost, Newegg Mobile

In Case You Missed It: autoTRADER, Ringtone Remix

New This Week: PhotoDial, Cellphone Tracker, GPS Tool Plus

Cool at BlackBerry App World: Navita Sports

Contest: Win one of 10 copies of Holidays 2011 Edition!

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CrackBerry.com‘s feed sponsored by ShopCrackBerry.com. BlackBerry App Roundup for December 31st, 2010! Win 1 of 10 copies of Holidays 2011 Edition!

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"And the Golden Meeple goes to…"

I don’t know about you, but 2010 was a great year for board games. Although it hasn’t always been easy getting people over for game night (much of my core group of gamers is currently in college), I’ve gotten to try out a whole lot of different games this year and so have several of other GeekDad contributors.

It’s hard to narrow down the list to just a few, but we’ve picked some of our favorite games that we reviewed last year. Note: not all of these games were released in 2010; that’s just when we wrote about them. However, the majority were new games.

Jonathan’s Picks:

• Best Picture: Iconica – Gorgeously designed and fun to play
• Best Stunts: The Adventurers – Press your luck, Indiana Jones style
• Best Supporting Actors: Forbidden Island – Cooperate or die
• Best Comedy: Sounds Like a Plan – Laugh-inducing advice
• Best Original Game Mechanic: Wok Star – Real-time food prep
• Most Deduction: Mystery Express – Like Clue on Expert mode
• Most Monsters: Thunderstone – Deck-building monster-slaying
• Winning Words: Scrabble Flash – Addicting electronic word-building
• Best Makeup: Last Night on Earth/Invasion from Outer Space (tie) – Fantastic theme and setting
• Best Adaptation: Small World – Incredibly satisfying territorial dominance game

Jenny’s Picks:

• Best Original Story: Rory’s Story Cubes – Storytelling with dice
• Best Use of Acrylic: Pajaggle – More than a puzzle (also reviewed on GeekMom)
• Best Family Game: Word on the Street – Word-making for all ages
• Best, Uh, Um …: Anomia – What was I saying again?

Michael’s Picks:

• Best Halloween Game: Betrayal at House on the Hill – Explore a spooky haunted house
• Best Game for Four-Year-Olds: Rush Hour Jr. – Get the ice cream truck out of the traffic jam

Of course, there are some notable games that we’ve played in 2010 that we just haven’t gotten to review quite yet, but we’re looking forward to telling you all about those in 2011. Until then, happy gaming!

How about you—what were your favorite discoveries this past year?

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Here are Macworld’s 20 top stories for 2010, as determined entirely by page views.

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December 31st is here, which means it’s time for some quality fluff posts! Lol. This one is actually quality without the fluff though, as we roundup the links to some of our most-viewed news, reviews and video content of 2010. Keep in mind I pull this data from our site analytics, which means stories published earlier in 2010 have more time to generate views throughout the year. That noted, it’s clear to see the BlackBerry Torch was hugely in demand this year as content related to the Torch are at the top of the lists. And for good measure, we tossed in our editors’ favorites as well (you can probably guess what mine was..lol). What was your favorite story of 2010? Sound off in the comments! 

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CrackBerry.com‘s feed sponsored by ShopCrackBerry.com. Most Viewed CrackBerry Reviews, News and Videos in 2010

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Here are the 5 Best Android Apps that we have reviewed for December 2010 in no particular order.

Angry Birds Seasons Android App
The Angry Birds Seasons Android App by Rovio Mobile is a seasons and holiday version of the Angry Birds game. This game features theme and holiday New Angry Birds levels.

Dungeon Defenders: First Wave Android App
The Dungeon Defenders: First Wave Android App by Trendy Entertainment is an online cooperative Action-RPG meets Tower Defense game for the Android platform.

Game Dev Story Android App
The Game Dev Story Android App by Kairosoft Co.,Ltd is a simulation game where the object is to manage your own game company and try to create a million-selling game.

Sketchbook Mobile Android App
The Sketchbook Mobile Android App by Autodesk Inc. is a professional grade paint and drawing app for the Android platform. The app offers a full set of sketching tools and a streamlined and intuitive user interface.

Toyshop Adventures Android App
The Toyshop Adventures Android App by Glu Mobile is a game for the Android platform where the object is to help the shopkeeper find his special marbles that he has lost. To collect the marbles you will make your way through the toy shop over coming obstacles along the way.

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That’s it. 2010 is history. Following up on last year’s 2009 year-end special, we jumped on the podcast lines this morning to take a look back and say farewell to the 2010 BlackBerry year. It was definitely an interesting 365 days for RIM. The company has seen its greatest success ever in terms of units shipped/sales/profit, yet at the same time has had to deal with more competition and changing consumer tastes.

We go through it all in this one, including our thoughts on what we may see in 2011, so sit back, grab some bubbly, and listen to Adam, Bla1ze, Joseph and myself ring in the New Year CrackBerry style! Enjoy the show, and Happy New Year! 

CrackBerry.com‘s feed sponsored by ShopCrackBerry.com. CrackBerry Podcast 062: 2010 BlackBerry Year in Review Special!!

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Apple’s total 2010 iPad sales are expected to be around 10 million, outpacing sales of the original iPhone. The iPad debuted in April.

DigiTimes reported that the company may ship 65 million of the tablet devices in 2011 — that from estimates by companies that manufacture parts for the iPad. That far outstrips current market estimates of about 45 million.

The Taiwanese Web site also says that the iPad 2 will have three new versions, with dual cameras and a faster processor. It is expected to be available in March or April and is rumored to connect to UMTS, CDMA and WiFi. Sprint and Verzion use CDMA. Mashable has a Comprehensive Guide to iPad 2 Rumors.

Apple will have sold 8.5 million iPads in the US by the end of this year, according to eMarketer estimates.

By 2012, eMarketer forecasts nearly 41 million Americans will have a tablet device, or 12.8% of the total. More than 1 in 5 Americans will own a tablet by 2014, says a new survey by Harris Interactive, and 37 percent of them will own them for business use, according to the survey. About half of all tablet owners plan to use the devices for social networking.

View full post on dailywireless.org

Well Christmas has come and gone and the new year is literally just days away. In 2010 the CrackBerry theme roundup brought you over 250 themes, and we intend to keep it up in 2011! We can’t do it without you guys though, so keep sending in tips for themes you would like to see showcased. Developers, keep developing! Hopefully the new year will see some exciting releases from RIM, and with those releases, themes for devices that as of yet have none. I know my fingers are crossed! Have a safe and happy New Year’s everyone!

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CrackBerry.com‘s feed sponsored by ShopCrackBerry.com. BlackBerry theme roundup for Dec 28, 2010 – 50 copies of Core by jmerhi up for grabs!

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Forget, for a moment, that this article is about finding the most expensive iPhone app and complete the following sentence: For $999, you can…

2010 brought us a totally revamped Apple TV, a new crop of iPods, iTunes 10, and much more. Here’s a quick wrap-up of some of the big events of the past 12 months in the world of Apple and entertainment.

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Image © Warner Bros. Animation

Science fiction makes a lot of predictions about the future — that’s really the point, isn’t it? The best science fiction looks at the future, trying to see where we are headed and what it will be like when we get there. Some authors are so good at this it seems as though they actually are able to peer into the future (even if only through a scanner darkly) and tell stories of what is to come. But even the best sci-fi has, over the years, gotten a lot wrong about what was the future when it was written.

2010 is almost over, and I thought it would be an appropriate time to look at a few things that were supposed to happen (or have happened) by this year, but didn’t.

1. Flying Cars — This is a popular one to gripe about, but I’ve got bad news for you: it ain’t ever gonna happen. It’s not that flying cars are technically impossible, but they are socially impossible. I have little doubt that if our best and brightest applied themselves to the task, we could mass-produce personal travel devices that would allow us to rise off the ground and zoom through the air just like George Jetson. But imagine a world where the millions of cars on the road are replaced by millions of flying cars, or, should I say, millions of potential flying bombs. Even if we were to create some system that automatically forces cars to avoid buildings, how long before some moron with a beef against a particular government, philosophy, or just against sanity in general hacks that system and heads towards the closest sky scraper in a flying car packed with C4 explosive? No thanks, I’ll stick to the ground.
2. A Moon Base — We were supposed to have  Moon Base Alpha by 1999, or at least by 2001, but for sure by 2010. That didn’t happen. What did happen in 2010 was some unmanned moon landings (deliberate crashes, really) that provided new evidence that it might be technically possible and financially rewarding one-day to establish a permanent (but small) outpost on our lonely satellite. Well, I guess that’s something. The goalpost for a working Moon base has now been pushed all the way to 2069, according to a recent design challenge from Shift Boston. I’ll be 101 years old in 2069, so I just hope we have anti-aging pills soon.
3. Anti-Aging Pills — Although you can not yet pop a pill and stay 36 forever, the possibility of arresting or reversing aging is looking promising. New advances in unlikely places such as nano-technology are pointing to ways that we might ingest little robots that rebuild our systems from within. But nano-bots are also the bane of a lot of sci-fi stories, turning the world into a mass of gray goo.
4. Trips to Jupiter — Zooming off to planets far was a staple of 1950s sci-fi. What’s changed in the nearly-50 years since Yuri Gagarin took the first off-planet jaunt is that we learned space is a really inhospitable climate. No air, no water, no heat, no gravity and no magnetosphere leads to dead humans. And recreating all of this in a portable format has proven far more elusive than the dreamers of the golden-age of sci-fi first thought. Even the more realistic versions shown in 2001: A Space Odyssey and it’s sequel 2010: Odyssey Two may be centuries away.
5. Nuclear Holocaust — OK, so it’s a good thing this one didn’t happen, obviously, but when I was a child in the 1970s, it seemed like a high probability. Growing up with the specter of MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction, for anyone too young to remember it) looming over you was a way of life that we hoped no one was mad enough to test. The made-for-TV movie The Day After scared the hell out of me when I was a teen. But no one would have guessed in 1980 that by the end of the decade the Soviet Union would no longer exist. The nuclear threat may not have disappeared with it; however, the constant specter of nuclear holocaust has, if not disappeared, at least become less of a daily concern.

6. Virtual Reality — Sure, we have Second Life, World of Warcraft and Toy Story 3D, but the truly immersive user interface that is virtual reality is still just a dream. There’s some promising work being done with wearable computing, but its still a long way from being able to jack your cranium straight into the net as in Neuromancer, or even hacking your optic nerve with VR goggles as in Snow Crash.
7. AI Robot Butlers & Self-Driving Cars — I want my piña colada served to me on the veranda at the perfect temperature by a slave robot. I want to be chauffeured around the city at night in my high speed luxury electric car while it reads to me the news of the day customized to my unique interests. I want all of this and I want it all guilt free. Oh sure, I can get a Roomba to vacuum my house or a Lexus which can park itself, but that’s not really the same thing, is it?
8. Computer Overlords — On the up side, none of the non-existent robot butlers and self-aware cars have risen up to overthrow their human oppressors and imprison them in The Matrix. We’ll call this one and #7 even.
9. Commercial Supersonic Air Travel — We actually had this mode of travel, but lost it in 2003 with the last flight of the Concorde (although we did get a very funny semi-eponymous TV show). There is some movement to bring back supersonic commercial flights, but I suspect you’ll be buying tickets to Moon Base Alpha before you are buying supersonic airplane tickets again.
10. Cheap, Clean, and Unlimited Energy — Nikola Tesla’s dream of free and unlimited electricity seems even more impossible today than when he first proposed it in the early 20th century. Many of the wars on this small blue marble we call home are in large or small part over energy resources. Global climate change is intrinsically linked to the ways in which we produce energy. Whether it’s gas for your car or electricity for your house, we all spend a lot of money on energy. A limitless, non-polluting, inexpensive (or even free) energy source could completely transform humanity, taking us out of the energy dark age we live in now, and leading to a true peace on Earth and good will between all mankind. That’s my wintertime wish for the future. Do you have one?

Later this week: 10 for ‘10: 10 things sci-fi promised that DID happen in (or by) 2010.

Jason Cranford Teague is a writer, speaker, and the Director of UX for Forum One who still wears his 12 foot long Doctor Who scarf to work. He lives near Washington, DC with his 2 kids, 2 cats, but just the one wife.

Follow Jason on @jasonspeaking and @fluidwebtype.

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CrackBerry.com‘s feed sponsored by ShopCrackBerry.com. Best of Smartphone Experts, 26 Dec 2010

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Howdy and welcome to the weekly app roundup! We’ve corralled some apps we reckon you folks want to take a gander at. This is it folks; if you left your Holiday shopping until the last minute I suggest you get out there now. Santa is making his visit tonight, so get out those cookies and milk! If you have a BlackBerry user on your list, maybe you should check out the app gift ideas. Today, we announce the winners of the GPS Ski Maps giveaway and also give you the chance to win one of 100 copies of Trillian! Have a rootin’ tootin’ weekend! Giddy up! Ho-Ho-Hope you have a Merry Christmas!

Freebies of the Week: Code Muncher Free, CallTick, TheBirthdayApp

In Case You Missed It: SOTI Pocket Controller-Pro, BlackBerry News Feeds

New This Week: ControlExtra Ultimate Edition, KeepMySms, An Office Fitness (Yoga)

Cool at BlackBerry App World: urArtist

Contest: Win one of 100 copies of Trillian!

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CrackBerry.com‘s feed sponsored by ShopCrackBerry.com. BlackBerry App Roundup for December 24th, 2010! Win 1 of 100 copies of Trillian!

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The holidays are finally here and you know what that means. Well, yes.. eggnog and awkward moments with relatives.. as well as awesome holiday sales on Android devices!

The holidays are a perfect time to grab a new Android smartphone for yourself or others, as many devices are virtually being offered for free around this time of year.

Hit the break to check out some awesome deals on Android devices. Happy holidays, everyone!

Read More…

Android Holiday 2010 Sales Roundup

View full post on Android News, Rumours, and Updates

Contest: Win a free copy of Corky by BerryGoodThemes for your BlackBerry!

The holidays are in full swing with just a few days left until Santa makes his way around to all the good boys and girls. I assume you have all been good CrackBerrians this year, so why not treat yourself (and your BlackBerry!) to a theme or two? Better yet, gift a theme to someone special in your life, and know you’ve given a gift that keeps on giving. Don’t forget to read through to the end and enter to win a free copy of Corky by BerryGoodThemes. Here’s hoping you all have a safe and very happy holiday!  

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CrackBerry.com‘s feed sponsored by ShopCrackBerry.com. BlackBerry theme roundup for December 21, 2010 – 50 copies of Corky by BerryGoodThemes up for grabs!

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CrackBerry.com‘s feed sponsored by ShopCrackBerry.com. Best of Smartphone Experts, 19 Dec 2010

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While the BlackBerry PlayBook and new QNX-based OS have been getting a lot of positive attention in the techsphere since getting announced back in September, it hasn’t been quite the same on the phone side for RIM. Despite BlackBerry 6 offering numerous incremental feature improvements and RIM continuing to post their biggest quarterly earnings reports in the company’s history, a lot of the tech press has been beating up on good ole BlackBerry as of late.

But over at LapTop Mag, the results are in and once again the BlackBerry users have spoken, as the BlackBerry Torch 9800 has won their Reader’s Choice Award as the top smartphone of 2010. In a poll with over 11,000 respondents, the Torch beat out the Evo 4G, iPhone 4, Droid X, Palm Pre Plus, Epic 4G, Samsung Focus, and T-Mo My Touch. With the Torch lacking HD video recording and not getting a boost in CPU speed or screen resolution as compared to previous generation BBs, I’m not sure its *totally* deserving of the win this year, but what the heck, we’ll take it!

Whether you agree or disagree with Laptop’s results, I’m curious to see among CrackBerry readers which new BlackBerry Smartphone of 2010 is the preferred choice. Cast your vote on what you think was the best (whether you own it or not) and we’ll see which holds the true CrackBerry crown!

CrackBerry.com‘s feed sponsored by ShopCrackBerry.com. BlackBerry Torch wins Laptops Readers Choice Award as Best Smartphone of 2010

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