droid

Handsets based on Google's Android mobile operating system accounted for 32.9% of worldwide smartphone shipments in the fourth quarter, compared with Symbian's 30.6% market share, according to a new report from market researcher Canalys. Apple's iOS was a distant third, with 16%.

Deutsche Bank's insightful technology analyst Jonathan Goldberg says Android has already pulled away from the pack in China. And not just in smartphones and tablets: Android is finding its way into all sorts of platforms, from laptops to set-top boxes to ATMs.

Now the No. 1. U.S. seller of LCD TVs, Vizio is setting its sights on the smartphone and tablet computer markets. But will its low-cost business model translate to the mobile electronics market? That's not a sure bet, but it'll be interesting to watch.

Just a day after Motorola split in two, its mobility division has unveiled the much-anticipated Xoom, the first tablet to run on a tablet-specific version of Android version called Honeycomb. Could this tablet be the one to give the Apple iPad a run for its money?

Now broken up, the new Motorolas have distinct corporate personalities: the riskier but higher-growth potential Motorola Mobility, which includes Droid smartphones, and the duller but steadier Motorola Solutions, which makes things like bar-code scanners.

After 80 years of tech achievements, Motorola has run into a nemesis unlike others it has overcome in the past. And it's not for lack of trying. Even as Motorola restructures and launches new products, it keeps getting upstaged by the iPhone.

Apple's iPhone operating system software stumbled in the third quarter, losing year-over-year quarterly market share for the first time, as Google's Android mobile operating system pulled further ahead, according to a Gartner Research report released Wednesday.

Amazon.com is reportedly planning to start its own Android app store, putting it into direct competition with Google to sell applications for the mobile operating system. The move would also help Amazon flank the Apple Apps Store which distributes software for the iPhone and iPad.

Verizon Wireless will sell the Droid Pro, Motorola's (MOT) first device for business customers that uses the Google (GOOG) Android operating platform. The new device will feature corporate-level security on e-mails, Reuters reported. It will also support Flash software and have Wi-Fi short-range...

Google's Android mobile operating system is now more popular than Apple's iPhone or RIM's Blackberry among recent smartphone buyers, according to new data from market research firm Nielsen. The sales figures are further evidence of the astonishing rise of Android devices.