Samsung notches record profits, aims to sell ten million Galaxy S phones this year

My, how a year changes things. Q3 2009 was a nightmare for mega-corps in terms of earnings, but things have definitely been on the up and up just 12 months later. After Sony pushed out a glowing quarterly report this morning, rival Samsung has done likewise. The company saw record breaking revenues of ₩40.23 trillion ($35.8 billion) as well as profits (₩4.46 trillion; $3.96 billion) in this most recent quarter, with Sammy crediting strong semiconductor performance for the bulk of its newfound fortune. A tip of the hat was also given to its mobile communications business, with the outfit moving a staggering 71.4 million phones during Q3 2010 (a 19 percent boost year-over-year). Reports are noting that between five and seven million of those were of the Galaxy S variety, and it's hoping to sell ten million of 'em before the close of this year. All that said, the firm isn't expecting an equally rosy Q4, noting that a strengthening won and heightened price pressures around LCD panels and DRAM could put a damper on skyrocketing profits. So much for taking a day to celebrate, eh?

How would you change Motorola's Droid 2?

You've already told us (and the world, we might add) how you'd change just about every other Droid phone out there, so why not? Motorola's Droid 2 has been in the hands of loyal can-doers for a few months now, giving the user base plenty of time to nitpick and stew about things that aren't... quite... right. We had a few bones to pick with the handset during our August review, but as the regulars know, this space isn't about rekindling old flames. It's about you telling us how you'd change things if given the lead design position on this here phone. Would you have upgraded the camera? Changed the slide? Tweaked the Android build? Offered it on another carrier? Hit us with your best shot in comments below.

Sony PlayStation phone to join crowded field?

A Sony PlayStation phone -- long talked about, but late to the mobile party -- may be coming after all.

Engadget shared photos of a prototype PlayStation phone it said may be out this year, although 2011 is "looking much more realistic."

Sony Ericsson, contacted by msnbc.com, says it "does not comment on rumours, speculation or unannounced products," which leaves the issue fairly muddled.

With the iPhone (and iPod Touch) a heavy player in the mobile games market, and Android growing quickly as well, the notion of a PlayStation phone seems almost ... quaint, something that might have made sense several years ago, but is outdated now.

Not necessarily so, says Avi Greengart, research director for consumer devices at Current Analysis.

While the PlayStation phone is "only a rumor at this point ... mobile gaming on phones is a large and growing trend."

Sony Ericsson's phones are not as high-profile or alluring as iPhones, Android devices or BlackBerrys. And Microsoft, with its new Windows Phone 7 integrating Xbox Live, looks to finally have real life. (Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)

But it's all those threats that make a PlayStation phone's chances good, says Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis for The NPD Group research firm.

"Games have been among the most popular apps for smart phones, and Apple has been able to leverage developer interest in the iPhone to make the iPod Touch a more direct competitor to handheld consoles," he said.

Sony Ericsson could use a win here. The company's overall cell phone shipment ranking fell to sixth place in the second quarter, down from fourth in the first quarter, according to a recent report from iSuppli research.

That "marked the first time in at least three years that Sony Ericsson didn’t rank among the Top 5 global cell phone brands."

But, notes iSuppli, Sony Ericsson also "achieved a 15.4 percent increase in smart phone shipments during the second quarter. This made Sony Ericsson the fourth fastest growing smart phone brand during the second quarter."

With its "shift" from "volume to value-add" -- and a PlayStation phone would be that -- the company is "positioning itself to cash in on the fastest growing and most profitable segment of the global wireless market,” said Tina Teng, senior analyst for wireless communications at iSuppli.

The PlayStation phone, according to Engadget, would use Google's increasingly popular Android operating system, and Sony Ericsson CEO Bert Nordberg recently said that the company's goal is to "become the global No. 1 handset provider on the Android platform."

Engadget says the PlayStation phone will use Android and Sony's "Marketplace, which will allow you to purchase and download games designed for the new platform ... The device ... is sporting a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 ... 512MB of RAM, 1GB of ROM, and the screen is in the range of 3.7 to 4.1 inches."

Gaming website NowGamer, based in Britain, thinks the phone is fake. A "closer look at the top screen in particular reveals a number of telltale signs, such as a large amount of dirt collecting around the screen, as well as mention of 'A' and 'B' buttons on the interface."

Whether the prototype is real or not, a PlayStation phone stands a good chance, says Rubin, who makes a good point.

"A handset that has close ties to a home console has an opportunity to be a more casual companion since gamers need to carry phones anyway."

Extend Your Evo 4G's Battery Life With These Tweaks

When you think of HTC’s EVO 4G phone, two things immediately pop-up in your mind: 1) wow this thing is amazing, and 2) wow this battery life is absolutely terrible. But there is some good news: The phone is still amazing, and now there are some ways that can help combat the battery issue.

First things first; let’s get the easy tweaks (that you probably already know) out of the way:

1. Turn off 3G/4G when you’re not using either of them;
2. Turn off the GPS if you’re not using it;
3. Lower the brightness to something reasonably bearable/useable to you;
4. If you are using wallpapers/backgrounds, use black-colored ones (blackle, anyone?);

Okay, I know what you’re thinking: “Well, that was dumb. I already know that.” But here’s the fun part! Visit the XDA Developers community find out how to calibrate the battery, clear the battery stats, experiment with Kernels, and use the Collin_ph Battery Tweak.

Most of the XDA tips are simple and straightforward (minus that last one, for most users), so I’m not going to repost what they’ve already done. Trust me, as a fellow EVO 4G user, you can’t imagine how much better this made my day. Happy tweaking!

Mobile Phones and Apps: Best of 2010

The popular Android 2.2 operating system for Google smartphones, the Samsung Epic 4G phone, and a host of interesting apps for both business and pleasure top our list.

Call 2010 the year of the smartphone and mobile software. Phones like the Motorola Droid X, the HTC Incredible, and the Apple iPhone 4--and the many creative apps we liked this year--made this the largest category of products in the PCWorld 100.

Google Android 2.2

Smartphone operating system; included with phone Mobility led the tech industry in innovation in 2010, and amid a flourishing array of great mobile products, we found one consistent standout this year: Google Android. Expected to eclipse Apple's iOS in market share by year's end, Android brings powerful apps, a slick interface, and extreme customizability to a host of phones and tablets available across a multitude of carriers. As a result, Android provides selection--the one thing that the iPhone platform can't promise. Add to that mix a flexible browser with Flash 10.1 support, OS-wide voice control and dictation features, and a rapidly expanding app ecosystem, and Android 2.2 (aka "Froyo") is the OS to beat in the burgeoning mobile age.

Best Tech Products 2010: Full List, 1-100

One of the best parts of our job is looking at hundreds of products every year. Many perform well, some are silly, and a select group rises above the pack. Here are the hardware, software, services, sites, and apps that we decided--after much discussion--stood out this year.

1. Google Android 2.2

2. Apple iPad

3. Amazon Kindle (third-generation)

4. Netflix

5. Samsung Galaxy Tab

6. Sony Alpha NEX-5

7. HP Envy 14 Beats Edition

8. Samsung Epic 4G

9. Instapaper

10. Microsoft Security Essentials

11. Samsung UN55C8000

12. HP TouchSmart 600 Quad

13. Apple iPhone 4

14. Google Chrome

15. HTC HD7

16. Crucial RealSSD C300

17. Blizzard Entertainment StarCraft II

18. Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5

19. Microsoft Office 2010

20. Samsung LN46C650

21. Apple TV

22. Western Digital WD TV Live Plus

23. Canon Pixma MG8120

24. Blizzard Entertainment World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

25. Motorola Droid X

26. Adobe Creative Suite 5

27. Canon EOS 7D

28. Sony Handycam NEX-VG10

29. Alienware M11x (second revision)

30. Sonos ZonePlayer S5

31. Sony Reader Pocket Edition PRS-350

32. nVidia GeForce GTX 460

33. Origin Genesis Midtower

34. Google Voice

35. Logitech C910

36. Bump

37. Norton Antivirus 2011

38. MOG

39. AMD Phenom II X6 1090T

40. Livescribe Echo Smartpen

41. Google Gmail

42. Western Digital 3TB My Book Essential

43. Clickfree Network CN2

44. Flipboard

45. Panasonic HDC-SDT750

46. Handcent SMS

47. HTC Droid Incredible

48. SlingPlayer Mobile

49. At Bat 2010 for iPad

50. XMind

51. PC Tools Internet Security 2011

52. Seagate Momentus XT

53. Cisco M20 Valet Plus

54. Rovio Angry Birds

55. MyInnergie mCube Mini

56. Lookout Mobile Security

57. Maingear F131

58. ATI Radeon HD 5870

59. iVina BulletScan S300

60. DimDim

61. Smartfish ErgoMotion Mouse

62. Lenovo ThinkPad x100e

63. Second Rotation Gazelle

64. Facebook

65. Plantronics K100

66. Taptrix Brushes

67. Alphonso Labs Pulse News Reader

68. Corsair 800D

69. Qnap TS-259 Pro Turbo NAS

70. Fuze Box Fuze Meeting

71. Evernote

72. Iomega eGo SuperSpeed USB 3.0

73. Gateway SX2840-01

74. Jabra Clipper

75. Lenovo ThinkPad W701ds

76. FitNow Lose It

77. Cisco Flip UltraHD 8GB with FlipPort

78. Samsung BD-C6500

79. PopCap Games Plants vs. Zombies HD

80. Asus Eee PC 1201n

81. Genieo

82. Jabra Extreme

83. Virgin Mobile Beyond Talk Plans

84. Dell UltraSharp U2711

85. Grooveshark for Android

86. Epson PictureMate Show PM 300

87. Polar WearLink+ Transmitter Nike+

88. RideCharge Taxi Magic

89. Belkin Conserve Smart AV

90. Bitalpha Taska

91. 3M MPro120

92. B&W P5 Mobile Hi-Fi Headphones

93. Apple iPod Touch (2010 version)

94. TheFind.com

95. Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse

96. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3

97. Astro A30 Headset

98. Prezi

99. TomTom XXL 550-TM

100. Ubuntu 10.10

AT&T Adds Record Number of iPhones

AT&T Inc. added a record number of iPhone subscribers in the third quarter, but paid heavily to do so.

The company, which is the exclusive U.S. carrier for the Apple Inc. phone, said Thursday it activated 5.2 million iPhones in the quarter, 62% more than the record set earlier this year. About a quarter of the phones sold in the latest quarter were to new subscribers, highlighting the device's importance to AT&T's core wireless business

With the gains, AT&T locked customers into two-year contracts ahead of a possible loss of iPhone exclusivity next year.

But the growth came at a cost, with the high subsidies that AT&T pays to Apple cutting into the carrier's profit.

AT&T's third-quarter earnings nearly quadrupled on a tax settlement and the sale of the company's business-software arm. But expenses in the Dallas-based company's wireless business jumped by $1.5 billion to $11.7 billion, which AT&T said came from costs associated with adding new devices.

"The iPhone activations were off the charts," said Jonathan Chaplin, an analyst at Credit Suisse.

A majority of the iPhone activations came from existing customers after AT&T allowed for early upgrades, locking the customers into new two-year contracts. AT&T is banking on those contracts to blunt potential defections when it is no longer the sole U.S. carrier to offer the iPhone. Verizon Wireless, a joint venture betweenVerizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group PLC, will start selling the iPhone early next year.

AT&T in the last few months also has been expanding its portfolio of smartphones, including devices using Google Inc.'s Android software, Research In Motion Ltd.'s new BlackBerry Torch and the coming line of phones using Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Phone 7 platform.

AT&T signed up a net of 745,000 new wireless customers in the third quarter, bucking a string of quarters with disappointing customer growth. The results ran counter to the broader wireless industry's slower growth. Nearly all consumers already carry a cellphone and many consumers are moving to less-expensive, contract-free offerings. The iPhone, however, has proven to be impervious to those trends.

AT&T reported profit of $12.34 billion, or $2.08 a share, compared with $3.19 billion, or 54 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding a tax settlement and the sale of the Sterling Commerce business-software unit to International Business Machines Corp. earnings came were 55 cents share. That compares with 53 a share excluding items a year earlier.

AT&T's revenue rose 2.8% to $31.58 billion.

"The trends on a whole were fine, although uninspiring," Mr. Chaplin said.

Sales were driven by a 10.5% increase in wireless-service revenue as more customers signed up for pricier data plans. AT&T over the summer adopted a tiered pricing structure, restricting the amount of data a customer can receive or send on a cellphone at a less-expensive introductory rate that has been effective at convincing customers to upgrade plans for smartphones.

Beyond typical cellphones, AT&T has been connecting nontraditional wireless devices, including dog collars and medicine bottles. The company added 1.2 million so-called connected devices in the quarter.

Sales in AT&T's land-line business declined slightly, to $15.3 billion. AT&T continues to lose traditional fixed-line phone customers, although the company has offset those losses with new business. The company's U-Verse service, which benefits from an upgraded network, added 236,000 TV customers and 148,000 Internet connections.

Consumer revenue rose for the first time in nearly three years, Mr. Chaplin said, adding that heavy cost cuts led to an improvement in margins.

The business arm posted a 3.9% decline in revenue, although the company said it sees further signs of stabilization with corporate spending, which is heavily tied into employment.