Perhaps it has to do with Apple positioning itself as a mobile devices company, but the iPhone is on a serious upswing in the U.S. smartphone market, even while all of its competitors seem to be losing ground. Except for one, that is, and the rate at which that company is building up steam should give the Mac maker cause for some concern. For the moment, though, Apple is doing much better than anyone in the space, really. The latest comScore report , which covers a three month period from September to December of 2009, shows Apple as having 25.3 percent of the total smartphone market share, up 1.2 points from 24.1 percent at the beginning of the period measured. Research In Motion (RIM) came in first place overall once again, with 41.6 percent of U.S. smartphone subscribers opting for a BlackBerry device. But that number represented a slide, ultimately, as RIM began the measurement period with 42.6 percent. Microsoft and Palm likewise slipped, with MS dropping from 19 to 18 percent, and Palm losing 2.2 points, down to 6.1 percent. Google had the lowest market share of the bunch, with 5.2 percent of subscribers. But that number was up from only 2.5 percent in September, suggesting that it was probably helped along considerably with the introduction of the Motorola Droid.

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Just before Christmas, we asked you: What were your favorite desktop apps of 2009? Based on the responses we got, two apps got fractionally more mentions than most: Google Chrome, and OmmWriter. Neither of which were apps I expected to see topping many end-of-year lists. Chrome appeared as an official Mac beta just at the beginning of

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Filed under: Retail , Apple , Holidays In some more bright, shiny, and happy Apple news for this first day of 2010, Computerworld is reporting that Apple’s online store took top honors for customer satisfaction in terms of the holiday shopping experience at a computer or electronics manufacturer’s site. The numbers from Michigan-based ForeSee Results showed Apple’s satisfaction rate at 82%, four percentage points higher than those in 2008. The market research firm measures customer satisfaction by surveying more than 10,000 visitors to the top 40 retail Web sites as ranked by annual sales revenue. The two closest computer and electronics sites to Apple were Newegg.com and TigerDirect.com , posting scores of 81% and 80%. Dell and HP came in at 79% and 78%, respectively, while the least satisfying shopping experience was provided by Circuit City’s Web site at 73%. While Apple led computer and electronics Web sites in terms of satisfaction, the company wasn’t even in the same ballpark as Amazon.com . The online shopping giant grabbed a whopping 87% customer satisfaction rating in ForeSee’s survey figures. Other companies that were ahead of Apple in the rankings were Netflix (86%) and QVC.com (83%). The ForeSee report also notes that the biggest retailers are getting both larger and better, at the expense of smaller online retailers

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Filed under: Retail , Apple , Holidays In some more bright, shiny, and happy Apple news for this first day of 2010, Computerworld is reporting that Apple’s online store took top honors for customer satisfaction in terms of the holiday shopping experience at a computer or electronics manufacturer’s site. The numbers from Michigan-based ForeSee Results showed Apple’s satisfaction rate at 82%, four percentage points higher than those in 2008. The market research firm measures customer satisfaction by surveying more than 10,000 visitors to the top 40 retail Web sites as ranked by annual sales revenue. The two closest computer and electronics sites to Apple were Newegg.com and TigerDirect.com , posting scores of 81% and 80%. Dell and HP came in at 79% and 78%, respectively, while the least satisfying shopping experience was provided by Circuit City’s Web site at 73%. While Apple led computer and electronics Web sites in terms of satisfaction, the company wasn’t even in the same ballpark as Amazon.com . The online shopping giant grabbed a whopping 87% customer satisfaction rating in ForeSee’s survey figures. Other companies that were ahead of Apple in the rankings were Netflix (86%) and QVC.com (83%). The ForeSee report also notes that the biggest retailers are getting both larger and better, at the expense of smaller online retailers. The big boys on the block can offer larger discounts, free shipping and better customer support that can’t be matched by the small fry

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Section: iPod + iTunes , iPod touch , iPhone , iPhone , iPhone SDK & Apps , Reviews Seller: Gamez 4 Touch Compatibility: iPhone and iPod Touch Requirements: iPhone OS 3.0 or later Version Reviewed: 1.0.0 File Size: 8.6MB Price: $1.99 Age Rating: 4+ Musical Lights is an application that allows the user to tap on an image they have chosen to add Christmas lights of various shapes, sizes, and colors. From there, the user can choose a song to play through the iPhone and have the lights turn on and off to the beat of the music. While it does have some ability to change settings and appearances, it is a pretty simple application that does what it says it does. When you first launch MusicalLights, you are presented with a scroll style selector to choose an image (see below) in landscape mode (this app doesn’t use portrait mode). A pop-up from the bottom of the application will walk you through all the steps as you go. It does come with some holiday themed stock images, but you can also add any image you want from your photo library or simply take one using the iPhone’s camera. Once you pick the image, it goes to full screen. To decorate it, tap where you want the lights to appear. A bar along the bottom of the application allows the user to return to the image selector and rename the picture, among other things. For instance, you can also choose to email your creation or delete the lights from it. However, the real fun part is in the bulb settings (see below) that allow you to change the color, style, and size of the bulbs. This allows room for some creativity based on the image you chose to decorate.

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Still not recovered from the sugar-laced holidays? What better way to recuperate and get ready for 2010 by perusing some great deals on gadgets? We start off with a trio of Apple products, ranging from iPods to iMacs. If you didn’t get an iPod touch for Christmas, there’s still time to nab an 8GB version

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Over at InfoWorld, Randall C. Kennedy has posted up his thoughts on the forthcoming Apple tablet, conservatively placed under the non-confrontational headline, “Why Apple’s rumored iTablet will fail big time.” Kennedy’s points are all good ones, if a bit petulantly phrased. First, he points out the history of the tablet PC, noting that every major computer

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Flurry, the biggest mobile app analytics company, is reporting that Apple’s App Store had a very merry Christmas, indeed. According to MobileCrunch , Flurry’s early numbers are showing a nearly 1,000% jump in downloads on Christmas Day from the iPod touch. Overall, the App Store saw a 51% increase in downloads from November to December, compared with a 15% increase from October to November. Flurry’s numbers note an interesting trend that we’ve documented previously: Christmas was the first day where iPod touch app downloads actually surpassed iPhone app downloads. Those numbers aren’t surprising since the iPod touch makes for a cheaper Christmas gift, since the iPhone can only be had with a 2-year AT&T contract (assuming it’s not a used model, that is). MobileCrunch notes that parents bought iPod touch devices in droves for their kids, citing previous Flurry data that shows teens and pre-teens tend to download far more apps than older iPod and iPhone owners. This is the second Christmas for the App Store, and app developers will certainly be taking note of the huge increase for next year’s holiday season. The App Store wasn’t alone in its success: Android Market got a nice 20% bump in app sales as well, with a full 49% of those Christmas download sales coming from the new Motorola Droid. The remaining share was split almost evenly between the T-Mobile G1 and its newer MyTouch as well as the HTC Hero.

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Section: Software + Apps , Miscellaneous , Third-Party , iPod + iTunes , iPod touch , iPhone , iPhone , iPhone SDK & Apps , Mac + Computers , Software Macintosh and iPhone/iPod updates and announcements for December 24, 2009: Macintosh Digital Rebellion LLC has announced FCP Versioner , a utility to automatically back up Final Cut Pro projects in XML format and generate changelogs to show modifications between revisions. FCP Versioner is an essential tool in managing Final Cut Pro projects, providing feedback to producers and ensuring that projects are safely backed up in case of disaster. Versioner also offers a wealth of options for managing backups to ensure they don’t consume too much disk space. Playrix Entertainment has made its first published title— Elementals: The Magic Key —available for the Apple Macintosh line of personal computers. In Elementals: The Magic Key, players plunge into the world of magic and mystery inhabited by elementals. Their mission is to help Albert, a young magician, restore the Key of Eiron and save the unique world of elementals by solving puzzles, hunting for hidden items and winning board battles. Opcoders has released GraphicDesignerToolbox 1.3.0 , a free update to their powerful Mac OS X graphics editor.

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Section: Software + Apps , Home and Personal , Music , Video , iPod + iTunes , iPod touch , iTunes , iPhone , iPhone , iPhone SDK & Apps , Mac + Computers , Software , Features , How-To , Originals Being the go-to Mac guy amongst my family and some friends, I’m no longer surprised by the questions I’m asked. Or how many times I’m asked. This is the case with iTunes gift cards. They’re becoming more and more common as the popularity of the Mac and iPhone/iPod continues to grow, but the giver doesn’t always understand that the recipient may be new to these devices and is unaware of how they work. Thankfully, it’s actually quite basic once you know where to go. iTunes If you’re downloading music/videos for your Mac, or the same plus games for your iPhone or iPod touch, you can easily handle all of this through iTunes. iPhone and iPod touch owners will already have an account. If you’re a Mac user checking out iTunes for the first time, you’ll need to create your account. Apple has basic instructions on this at their support site . Okay, now that we’re all past that, let’s hit the iTunes App Store. Log in, if you haven’t already. You do that by clicking on “Sign In” in the upper right of the window and filling in your information. If you’re already logged in, you’ll see your account name here instead of “Sign In.” With this done, on the left hand side, you’ll see the little green shopping bag icon next to “iTunes Store.” Click on that. After a loading period, you’ll see the welcome screen of the store hawking the latest releases. Ignore all of that and look up at the upper right of the window

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