"Symbian's future looks uncertain, because the price decrease has its limits and the competition in the low price range will heat up in 2011 when MediaTek will offer an inexpensive chipset for smartphones, especially the models build on Android. This will allow selling devices at the retail price of around $100-120. Android market will get a new push with Symbian on the defensive. Nokia will have to lower the prices again, but the bottom prices could be reached by then. In 2010-2011 nothing will change the situation around Symbian. The market is ever changing and Symbian may have a break only in 2012 if the right decisions are taken today. So far we have not seen any move in the right direction" Read more here:

"It's no great secret that AMOLED screens are in short supply, the effects having been felt across the industry. Manufacturers just can't get enough of them to keep pace with demand and that's despite Samsung having ramped up production. HTC is the latest manufacturer to feel the heat and has decided to switch away from using AMOLED technology in both the Desire and Nexus One. Instead the Taiwanese company will be opting for Super LCD screens, which are more plentiful and thus shouldn't constrain production, indeed HTC are saying that use of SLCD screens will allow them to 'ramp' production up. The actual announcement from HTC mentions that SLCD screens will be used in a 'variety of HTC phones' so newer models will probably be seeing the switch too. The proposed changes should kick in sometime later this summer. The full statement from HTC is presented below:
"Taoyuan, TAIWAN – July 26, 2010 – HTC Corporation, a global designer of smartphones, today introduced Super LCD display (SLCD) technology into a variety of HTC phones including the HTC Desire and global Nexus One later this summer. The SLCD display offers an exceptional natural balanced colour, clear contrast, broad viewing angles and improved power efficiency.
"HTC is experiencing high-demand for many of our phones, specifically our phones with 3.7 inch displays. The new SLCD display technology enables us to ramp up our production capabilities quickly to meet the high-demand," said Peter Chou, CEO of HTC Corporation. "The SLCD displays provide consumers with a comparable visual experience to HTC's current 3.7 inch displays with some additional benefits including battery performance."
SLCD is the latest generation of LCD technology that offers improved performance from earlier LCD panels including approximately five times better power management. SLCDs also offer an enhanced viewing experience with wider viewing angles that are enabled by Sony's new VSPEC III™ technology." via mobile-review.com

"It's no great secret that AMOLED screens are in short supply, the effects having been felt across the industry. Manufacturers just can't get enough of them to keep pace with demand and that's despite Samsung having ramped up production. HTC is the latest manufacturer to feel the heat and has decided to switch away from using AMOLED technology in both the Desire and Nexus One. Instead the Taiwanese company will be opting for Super LCD screens, which are more plentiful and thus shouldn't constrain production, indeed HTC are saying that use of SLCD screens will allow them to 'ramp' production up. The actual announcement from HTC mentions that SLCD screens will be used in a 'variety of HTC phones' so newer models will probably be seeing the switch too. The proposed changes should kick in sometime later this summer. The full statement from HTC is presented below:
"Taoyuan, TAIWAN – July 26, 2010 – HTC Corporation, a global designer of smartphones, today introduced Super LCD display (SLCD) technology into a variety of HTC phones including the HTC Desire and global Nexus One later this summer. The SLCD display offers an exceptional natural balanced colour, clear contrast, broad viewing angles and improved power efficiency.
"HTC is experiencing high-demand for many of our phones, specifically our phones with 3.7 inch displays. The new SLCD display technology enables us to ramp up our production capabilities quickly to meet the high-demand," said Peter Chou, CEO of HTC Corporation. "The SLCD displays provide consumers with a comparable visual experience to HTC's current 3.7 inch displays with some additional benefits including battery performance."
SLCD is the latest generation of LCD technology that offers improved performance from earlier LCD panels including approximately five times better power management. SLCDs also offer an enhanced viewing experience with wider viewing angles that are enabled by Sony's new VSPEC III™ technology." via mobile-review.com

"FORGOTTEN SMARTPHONE DEVELOPER Microsoft has named the handset manufacturers that it hopes will help stave off its demise in the smartphone market. Microsoft is desperately pinning its hopes on Windows Phone 7 to reverse its trip to oblivion. However until now it remained quiet about who will help it do so. Now the Vole has finally revealed that handsets running Windows Phone 7 will be produced by Asustek, Dell, HTC, LG and Samsung. That's about all Microsoft was willing to say on the matter as it tries to drum up interest in its next mobile operating system. The handsets themselves are nowhere to be found, with release dates equally elusive. Microsoft is passing around a Samsung handset to developers in the hope that some applications will be created for its operating system at launch. Apparently the handset itself isn't what will end up in punters' hands, so that doesn't provide too many clues either. The Vole is playing a dangerous game by not giving away enough information about its smartphone plans. Even Apple, known for its secrecy, announces its Iphones months ahead of launch, allowing customers to ditch their mobile operators or save up for its expensive toys. Microsoft's silence on the matter could mean that it is nowhere near getting phones running Windows Phone 7 on the market. In the meantime, Apple's shiny toy and the numerous devices running Google's Android operating system are luring potential customers away from Microsoft. It will be interesting to see how many phones from the aforementioned manufacturers will actually run the Vole's operating system. HTC in particular has been a vocal supporter of Google's Android, while Samsung's Galaxy S has emerged to be one of the firm's most successful high-end handsets. For Microsoft, name dropping won't be nearly enough to lure smartphone customers away from the very credible alternatives that already exist today." via theinquirer.net

Nokia has released their Q2 2010 results, reporting an operating profit of €295 million, with net sales €10.0billion (up 1% Year-on-Year). Nokia's device and service division's profits were €643 million, down 16% year on year. Margins in devices and services were 9.5% (down 2.7% YoY and down 2.6% QoQ). Converged devices sales (smartphones) were significantly up, at 24 million, compared with 16.9 million units in Q2 2009 (so up 42% YoY) and compared with 21.5 million units in Q1 2010 (up 12%, QoQ). As such, worldwide smartphone marketshare was 41%, stable sequentially and year on year. Full story and comments here:

Crazysoft has an 'app idea contest' running in their Facebook page.
Here it is:

What kind of app would you like us to develop?
The best idea wins $cash!

Write your app idea on CrazySoft's Facebook wall and win!

Rules:
1) Write your short app idea on the Facebook fan page wall.
2) This contest lasts until 20 of August.
3) The best app idea will be decided by CrazySoft's creativity department.
4) The idea that wins will get the symbolic Paypal cash price of $200.

"ChangeWave's latest smart phone survey of 4,028 consumers shows an explosive transformation occurring in consumer demand – resulting in some major new winners and losers for second half 2010. The survey – completed June 24th – took a close-up look at consumer demand for the new Apple iPhone 4 and the HTC Droid Incredible, along with the impact these and other offerings are having on the rest of the smart phone industry. Among key emerging trends:

• Next 90 day projections show the most extensive growth in consumer smart phone sales ever recorded in a ChangeWave survey
• Big leaps forward for Apple and HTC are occurring at the expense of Motorola and RIM
• The accompanying transformation in mobile OS preferences is being led by a huge increase in demand for the Apple OS and an accelerating downturn for the RIM OS." Read more here:
  

"According to IDC in 2010 Samsung has the chance to lead in all areas in Europe as they already lead in the segment of usual phones. I mentioned before that Samsung first enters the markets important for the brand image and drive Nokia out to the developing countries, where cheap products are in demand. It is a fragment of the overall strategy. The primary objective of Samsung is to generate demand for its phones in the mature markets, because the behavior of its consumers is copied in developing countries 1.5-2 years afterwards. I think you know what it means. Samsung has a lot to offer in terms of cheap models, but they leave this area for Nokia at the moment. The average price of Nokia phones is around €64, when Samsung has a much higher parameter. If you can win earning money there is no need to lose it." Read more here: