Nokia out of 5 in global market

Finnish mobile handset manufacturer Nokia, which is facing a major crisis in global sales, still tops the list of mobile handset market in India even as it has been displaced from the fifth spot in global sales by the beleaguered BlackBerry maker  Research in Motion (RIM).

According to a report by Cybermedia, Nokia had 22.2 per cent share of the Indian handset market in terms of total unit shipments in the first half of 2012, followed by Samsung with 13 per cent and Micromax in the third spot with 5.5 per cent share.

India's total mobile handset shipments topped 102.43 million units, of which 5.50 million were smartphones, as per the report. Samsung topped the list of smartphone shipments, followed by Nokia and RIM.

The report also revealed that Android (with 56.4% market share) was the leading operating system (OS) in India, followed by Symbian (17.4% share), BlackBerry (12.1% share), Bada (8.5% share), iOS (3.0% share) and Windows Mobile (2.6% share) on a base of 5.50 million units, during the same period.

India is one of the few markets where Nokia still has a hold. As per an IDC report, the Finnish company has now dropped off the Top 5 list of smartphone vendors, which is led by Samsung and Apple at number 1 and 2 positions. Nokia was replaced by RIM at fifth position whose shipment volumes appear to have flattened though the company posted the second-highest year-over-year decline among any the leading vendors.

According to Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, Nokia's share losses and the company's transition away from Symbian to Windows Phone has left ample opportunity for rivals to steal share away from Nokia over the past 18 months. 

Steve Jobs wanted to scrap Google Search from iPhones

Apple has been panned across the world for its new Maps application, which has been riddled with errors. Company CEO Tim Cook recently issued a public apology over the Maps fiasco and even went to recommend rivals map applications like Google and Nokia's to users of devices running on iOS 6. 

However, reportedly it was Steve Jobs' displeasure with Google over Android mobile OS which made Apple build its in-house Map app. Not just this, Jobs even wanted to scrap Google Search from all iOS devices. 

According to a report in Bloomberg Business Week, Jobs wanted to pull the plug on Google Search as well, but decided against it as users would not take that move lightly, considering Google's strength in the search department. 

The report says that Jobs, who envisioned the iPhone and the iPad, wanted to replace Google Maps as the mapping app for iDevices due to his hatred for the search giant. As per the report in Bloomberg Business Week, "Apple insiders say Jobs himself initiated the mapping project, putting mobile software chief Forstall in charge. He installed a secret team on the third floor of Building 2 on Apple's campus to replace Google Maps on the iPhone." 

Steve Jobs' hatred for Google was over certain features that it was not releasing for Apple devices. The report said, "At the time of his death, Jobs had come to loathe Google, which he felt was copying features of the iPhone while withholding a key feature of Google Maps that allows smartphones to dictate turn-by-turn directions aloud."

Windows 8 needs improvement: Microsoft co-founder

Describing elements of  Windows 8 as 'puzzling',  Microsoft co-founder Paul Allenhas admitted that the upcoming operating system needs some improvement. 

Allen said some elements of the operating system 'can induce confusion', but added that he was 'excited and impressed' by the new programme overall. 

"Windows 8 does certainly require a brief adjustment period before users become familiar and comfortable with the new 'bimodal' operating system," the Telegraph quoted Allen, as saying. 

Allen said he had been using Windows 8 on both a desktop computer and on a tablet, but described the dual operating system as confusing and said it was difficult to know which mode to choose when opening an application or a file. 

"A few minor issues aside, I'm impressed with its clever integration of a bimodal interface to simultaneously support both desktop and tablet use in the same operating system," he added. (ANI) 

iPhone 4 and 4S to get a price cut in India

Reports from various news sources claim that the iPhone 4 and 4S will soon get a price cut in India. The 16GB iPhone 4S is expected to see a price cut of Rs 3,100 to Rs 41,400. The iPhone 3GS, which last saw a price cut to Rs 9,999 via Aircel, has been discontinued.

The 8 GB iPhone 4, now the new entry-level iPhone, gets a price cut of Rs 9,100 to Rs 28,300. According to BGR.in, Apple will not be selling the iPhone 5 through Airtel or Aircel, and has appointed Ingram Micro and Redington for the launch of the iPhone 5 in India.

The phone is expected to launch in India by November. Meanwhile the iPhone 5 is already available online and in the grey market, at starting prices of Rs 60,000 for the 16 GB version and a drop dead rate of Rs 1,05,000 for the 64 GB variant.

The phone uses a nano-SIM, an even more slimmer version of the SIM card than its predecessor, which will have to be sourced from the carrier.

Three Apple resellers in Bangalore gave no confirmation on the availability of stocks and the new prices of the iPhone 4 or 4S.

1 billion-user mark

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerbergtoday announced on the website that the world's biggest social network now has over 1 billion users. In an associated fact sheet, the company said that it surpassed the 1 billion-user mark on September 14, at 12.45 pm (Pacific Time).

The company stated that the median age of users joining the week that Facebook hit the 1 billion-mark was 22 years. Facebook's five biggest markets are Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico and the United States, as per the company fact sheet. It also said that it has 600 million users logging into the website from their mobile devices. Since February 2009, Facebook has witnessed 1.13 trillion users' likes, 219 billion photos being uploaded and 17 billion location-tagged pictures.
The world's biggest social network, Facebook hit the 500 million user mark in July 2010. At the end of June 2012, it had 955 million active members.

The Menlo Park, California-based company has had a difficult time of late. There were trading glitches the day it went public in May and concerns since then about its revenue potential. It's also facing lawsuits from disgruntled shareholders. CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently said that the company is going through a bit of a rough patch following its rocky initial public offering.