Report after report, same old, same old: Android and iOS continue to kick everyone’s arse in the mobile market. The latest comScore report is out, and once again, these two remain the only ones gaining any market share. Android continues to lead the pack with 48.6% (up 2.3 percentage points) while iOS remains in second with 29.5% (up 1.4 percentage points). Everyone else continues to lose market share with RIM holding the third position at 15.2% (down 2 percentage points. After that it’s Microsoft with 4.4% (down 1 percentage point) followed by Symbian with 1.5% (down .1 percentage point). Overall Android and iOS occupy 78.1% of the market with no signs of slowing down.
In a move that would surely have Steve Jobs — the man willing to go thermonuclear war against Android — rolling over in his grave, Apple has apparently offered licensing deals to Samsung and Motorola in an attempt to settle ongoing and future patent suits. According to sources speaking with Dow Jones Newswires, Apple has offered licensing deals in the tune of $5 to $15 per device or the equivalent of 1% to 2.5% of net sales per device. Interestingly enough, these fees are on par with what Apple deemed “unreasonable” after attempts to license patents from Motorola.
Verizon today announced a list of devices they expect to receive the Android 4.0 update. Many manufacturers have already confirmed this information but it’s always nice to hear it straight from a carriers mouth. While no official dates have been given, the list includes devices from HTC, Motorola, Samsung and LG. You can find the full list after the break so stay tuned to see if your Verizon device was given the thumbs up from Big Red.
To kick off the new Google Play media hub, Google is hosting a slew of deals in their “7 days to play” promotion. For the next week, Google will be discounting various digital content from apps to music and some of the deals are incredible. You’ll find entire music albums or top selling apps for a mere $.25. We’ve scoured through the Play Store and compiled a list to get you on your way. Hit the links after the break to check out some of the great deals going on right now in the Google Play Store.
Google completely caught us off guard today when they announced the rebranding of the Android Market and the consolidation of all their digital media into the new Android Play media hub. Apparently Google has decided it’s better to have a single Google Play branding versus the multitude of names including Android Market, Google Music, Google Books, etc. Everything will now fall under the Google Play umbrella and other than the name change, everything looks to be the same.
