May 11

The official results are in, and the first quarter sales figures for 2010 are significantly in favor of Google’s Android smart phone. The war has waged for quite some time between Apple’s iPhone–with apps that pale in comparison to the amount of hype backing it up–and Google’s Android which has dedicated its operating system to various phone models and carriers across the board.

The iPhone, as many of you know, is paired only with AT&T service–and while Apple pushes its weight around the market, it rests firmly in the corner where only AT&T users and Mac Geeks dwell.

AT&T is big–really big. But Verizon is much bigger. You know those “coverage maps” you see in all the ‘Verizon VS AT&T‘ commercials? Those attempt to illustrate a whopping 92.8% of Verizon’s customers enjoying a relatively limitless wireless coverage zone.

iPhone’s biggest claim to fame is the App Store, featuring obscene numbers of user and professionally created applications for just about everything you’d ever want to do–from grocery shopping, to making fart-noises on the bus. The Google Android is gaining speed, however. They’re up to a healthy 50,000 applications and counting–and I believe they’ve even hosted their own fart-noise apps, so…good news there!

Because of Verizon’s dominant network, they have become a huge sponsor of Google’s Android–providing them with lots of advertising and marketing funds.

The last–and probably most important–factor that pushes the Android ahead is the pricing. Where the average price for a smart phone in 2010 is around $599 (retail price), the top-tier iPhones can be as pricey as $999 (used iphones for less than $200 and cheap droid phones). Because Google has the freedom to pick and choose its carriers and hosts models in varying price ranges, they have the potential to dominate every market.

The Android’s sales have outfoxed the iPhone, but not by much. With the first quarter percentages for the Android being 28%, and the iPhone’s being 21%, it is still a close race…but it is still only a race for 2nd place.

It should be no surprise that Reasearch in Motion’s Blackberry is still king of the smart phones with a first quarter sales rate of 36 percent. Across the board, new and refurbished Blackberrys make a huge impact on smart phone sales. They are efficient, inexpensive, and part of the largest networks in the country.

So, for now, Blackberry watches as Google and Apple duke it out–but there’s a lot more time left in 2010–and something tells me that the iPad won’t be the last tech gadget people are talking about this year.

Sources: Yahoo! Finance | ARS Technica | Android Community | Boy Genius Report

–Alex

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Nov 27

htc3I just came across a video that is really interesting and seems to represent the future of text messaging on your new and refurbished cell phones. The software is called Swype and what it enables you to do is text on a touch screen without having to lift your finger, allowing a trained user to text a much quicker speeds than are possible with traditional texting (I think the guy in the video texts a something like 55 words per minute).

The way the system works is you slide your finger from letter to letter, and the software instantly figures out the word you are intending to type. It’s kind of hard to explain, so check out the video for a demonstration.

When the video first started, my initial reaction was, “That’s stupid,” but as the video went on, I began to see the possibilities that this system offers. It seems undeniable that Swype allows you to text faster (once you get used to it) but being a traditional touch typist, I am not sure that I want to train myself to text with one finger. I guess I’d have to try it to really know.

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Oct 22

CellphoneMoneyIn previous articles we’ve talked about why refurbished cell phones are basically brand new, about how buying refurbished is good for the environment, and about how buying refurbished cell phones is a great way to save money, but we’ve never really gone through the actual figures. Below is a break down of what some of the most popular phones on the market cost if you were to buy them in a store compared to what you can get them for by purchasing refurbished. When you actually run the numbers, the average savings are over 50%.

 

New                            Refurbished

Blackberrys

Curve 8310                                     $349.95                        $188.95

Curve 8330                                     $679.99                        $229.89

7100i                                                $379.99                        $39.95

8830 World                                    $549.99                        $119.99

8703e                                               $349.99                        $48.99

7130e                                                $379.99                        $28.99

Pearl 8130                                       $399.99                        $109.99

Flip 8230                                         $679.99                        $174.99

Motorola

Q9c                                                    $499.99                        $129.99

Q                                                        $419.99                        $44.95

LG

Glimmer                                           $549.95                        $139.95

VX8300                                           $199.99                        $69.99

Samsung

Blackjack                                        $499.99                        $89.99

SPH-i830                                       $479.99                        $99.95

HTC

Mogul                                             $649.99                        $139.95

Dash                                                $399.99                        $114.99

T-Mobile

Sidekick LX                                    $399.99                        $129.99

Palm

Treo 650                                         $399.99                        $65.99

Treo 700w                                     $699.99                        $75.99

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