It looks like Motorola’s getting ready to launch its Q9h in exciting new gray. The new gray devices come pre-loaded with the Windows Mobile 6.1 update. While I’m not sure of the cost of the new gray Q9h, but I think it’s safe to assume that it’ll be similar to the prices of its blacker, sleeker counterpart.
[via Engadget Mobile]
The guys at unwired think that - in light of their poor showing at Mobile World Congress - Motorola might drop the highly anticipated Q10, the heir apparent to the successful Q9. The Q10’s key new feature is rumored to be a touchscreen, which would be a real draw for many.
CTIA (April 1 - 3) might also see the launch of several other Motorola handsets, including a cameraphone that looks to have come from their partnership with Kodak. Check out the original post for pics.
Our friends at BlackBerry Cool have posted some information on a escalating war of lawyers between Motorola and RIM.
Motorola sued RIM, claiming that RIM is using 7 Motorola patents without permission. RIM sued right back with 9 claims of patent infringement, and accused Motorola of refusing to license some of their patents in a “fair and reasonable” manner.
Neither company appears to be winning so far, so we’ll just have to wait and see where this one goes.
Our friends at BlackBerry Cool got the scoop on another report that looks at the present and future of smartphones.
The report from ChangeWave shows Apple’s large lead, with 17% of mobile phone users polled saying they plan to buy an iPhone in the next six months and 16% planning on buying a BlackBerry. Motorola has continued their downward plunge, with 11% of users planning on buying one of them in the next six months compared to over 30% in July of ‘06.
Apple again topped the charts with 72% customer satisfaction, followed by RIM with 55%. Most other manufacturers hovered in the mid-30s, and Palm sat dead last with only 30% satisfaction.
The gang at PalmInfocenter posted the results of a smartphone usage report by Canayls, which shows off the strong growth of smartphones in 2007.
The report compared market share between some of the bigger players in the smartphone industry. Total shipments grew almost 72% just in the 4th quarter of 2007, from 20 million units to over 35 million. RIM was the leader in growth, shipping 121% more units than in the preview quarter. Newcomer Apple shipped 2.3 million units, beating veteran player Motorola by only around 20,000 units.
Unsurprisingly, Nokia was the strong leader, shipping nearly 19 million units.