- Nokia unveils buttonless MeeGo-based N9 smartphone Nokia have unveiled their first MeeGo-based smartphone at the Nokia Connection event in Singapore today. The Nokia N9 is also the first ever buttonless mobile device, relying purely on touch input, and will be released sometime “later this year”.
- Tactile feedback on smartphone recreates real sensation of button press Japanese telecommunications provider KDDI have developed a smartphone with a multiple layer haptic feedback touchscreen capable of recreating the sensation of pressing a physical button.
- Android will power half of world’s smartphone market by 2012 According to market research firm Gartner, Android will power almost half of the world’s smartphone market by 2015. Android, Google’s mobile device operating system, will continue to see phenomenal growth in 2011, as it has done throughout last year, and finish with over 38% market share by the end of this year.
- Mobile Ireland 2011 – Smartphone usage in Ireland [Infographic] Mindshare Ireland have published an interesting infographic regarding smartphone usage in Ireland. The survey, conducted by Sponge It in November 2010, suggests that while over half of Irish consumers own a smartphone, many don’t use their device to its full potential.
- Google Nexus S to arrive in Ireland sooner than expected Following our coverage earlier this week regarding the intentions of Carphone Warehouse Ireland to stock the Google Nexus S smartphone "soon", we can now confirm that they have at least one of the handsets in their possession. This means that the device may become available sooner than expected here in Ireland.
- Labour party turn to QR codes to bolster numbers Earlier this week we asked the question - Are QR codes ready for mainstream adoption? Labour, the centre-left Irish political party, would appear to believe so as they introduced the technology to their website last week.
- Vizio announces Android powered smartphone and tablet Vizio, the TV manufacturer giant, have announced plans to launch their own Android powered smartphone and tablet devices. The devices are expected to be known as the VIA Phone and the VIA Tablet.
- Zynga launches first mobile browser-based game Zynga, one of the best known social games developers, have launched a mobile browser-based version of their existing title Mafia Wars Atlantic City. The game currently has over 20 million players.