The alaTest Blog

Windows Mobile was always a very popular smartphone operating system, from its beginnings as Pocket PC 2000, back in the year 2000, up until version 6.5 running late into 2009. When it was created, smartphone users were a very select crowd, comprised almost entirely of enterprise users, so it was no surprise that Windows Mobile focused almost entirely on enterprise solutions. It wasn’t until smartphones started becoming popular amongst general users (coinciding with the success of the Apple iPhone) that Windows Mobile started losing ground. Over the last few years of its life, Windows Mobile lost a hefty portion of its market share, leading to a complete system overhaul and introduction of Windows Phone 7. Read the rest of this entry »

When it comes to smartphones, Android is by far and away the leader of the pack, with 38 percent of the world’s market share (Apple’s iOS is in second place at just 26 percent). Yet despite its popularity, there is still a lot of confusion around the Android name. Is Android a phone? Is it a lot of phones? Is it the “Google Phone?” Read the rest of this entry »

Smartphones these days do a little bit of everything, but that’s the catch; it’s only a little bit of everything. Many people think that because their smartphone has an 8 megapixel camera and can shoot 1080p HD video (like the HTC Sensation 4G), they have no need for a compact digital camera. Unfortunately, smartphones have small image sensors and lack key features to make them suitable for any serious photography. Read the rest of this entry »

Battery life is one of the most important factors of a smartphone. A phone could be the most elegant device ever created, five times faster than anything on the market, and none of it would matter if you couldn’t rely on it to last throughout the day. It’s important to find a smartphone that offers a balance of performance and battery life, and even more important to find one that suits your style of use. Read the rest of this entry »

Those of you who are regular readers of our blog probably remember our last alaTest Trends article from back in March. Back then, the most popular products on alaTest were the Nokia C7, Sony Ericsson Xperia X8, LG LE5300 Series LED TVs, Canon EOS Rebel T2i, and Sony KDL-HX800 Series 3D TVs. But as expected in the technology world, trends are constantly shifting, and we have a new set of top items based on our data from May 2011.

Read more on the Most Popular Products for May 2011

It seems we can’t even go a week without hearing about a new Android phone coming to the market. Just the other day, the Nexus S 4G was released on Sprint. Shortly before that, the Droid Charge hit Verizon Wireless.T-Mobile got in on the action with the G2x prior to that, and AT&T had the Atrix 4G and Inspire 4G to compete with Verizon’s Thunderbolt released right around the same time. The Droid Incredible 2 came out somewhere between all of that too. Well, as you’d expect, more Android phones are due to hit the market soon, and we have a list of some of the most anticipated.
Read more on new Android smartphones

The Android operating system and iOS (the iPhone’s operating system) are the two titans in today’s Smartphone market. We’ve pitted the two platforms against each other in a battle amongst several categories which are integral to a Smartphone.

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