iOS

According to a report from AppleInsider, oil field services provider Halliburton has decided to drop Research In Motion's BlackBerry platform in favor of Apple's iOS for its workforce.

An internal newsletter outlined the plan for the nearly 70,000 employees who work for Halliburton in more than 70 countries. "Over the next year, we will begin expanding the use of our mobile technology by transitioning from the BlackBerry (RIM) platform that we currently use to smartphone technology via the iPhone."

After what is dubbed as significant research, Halliburton determined that Apple's iOS offers greater security, … Read more

Apple was named the best-selling U.S. handset brand during the fourth quarter, according to a new report from the NPD Group.

However, the findings suggest that while iOS has won this battle, Android is really winning the war.

Take a look at the graph below:

Not only do 48 percent of all smartphone buyers own Android smartphones (versus a close 43 percent on iOS), there is a much bigger disparity for first-time smartphone buyers. Android is attracting more than half of them at 57 percent, while Apple is considerably behind at 34 percent.

There are several possible contributing factors … Read more

The big game is this weekend and most American's will tell you it's a lot more than just a football game.

Many people make an event out of the game with parties, barbecues, and betting pools, even if their favorite team isn't in the running. Even the commercials shown during the game are an event in themselves with advertisers spending huge amounts of money for 30-second and 1-minute spots.

While you wait for the Sunday's festivities to kick off, I've put together a collection of mobile games to get you excited for the main event. … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is where to go for all your questions.

This week people wrote in with issues ranging from how to replace missing or damaged foot pads for Apple's MacBook systems to what versions of iOS will work on specific iPod Touch models. One reader's CD drives are not accepting any discs, another is missing toolbars in programs like Mail, and one user wants to know how to migrate from a PC to a Mac. We welcome alternative approaches and views from readers, so post your own suggestions in the comments!

Question: New feet for a MacBook system … Read more

Free My Apps is giving away promo codes for popular paid iOS apps in exchange for you downloading and using one of the sponsor apps for a minimum of 30 seconds.

While the paid apps end up being free, your time is the real cost here. Downloading and using a sponsor app for 30 seconds adds up fast, especially if you are trying to earn enough points for one of the bigger name apps.

Who knows, maybe during the process you will find some free apps you never knew about, but can no longer live without. After all, that's … Read more

There are no chat room viewers to keep us on topic now that we've stopped live streaming.

So fair warning: we spend most of the first half explaining the concept of Goodwill stores to Jeff, whose ignorance I still suspect is a veiled attempt at live trolling.… Read more

All the PCs in the world couldn't compete with the popularity of smartphones--literally.

IT research firm Canalys released its shipment estimates this morning for each country for the final quarter of 2011. When it tallied the annual numbers and did some quick cross-referencing it found vendors shipped 488 million smartphones in 2011, compared to 415 million client PCs during the same period. The definition of client PCs in this case includes not just laptops and desktops, but also Netbooks and "pads" or tablets, which were the fastest growing segment by far.

But even with the successful launch … Read more

Apple seems to have no desire to sell cheaper smartphones, according to a report from Citigroup technology analyst Richard Gardner.

Meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook and Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer yesterday, Citigroup analysts discussed a variety of topics with the two executives, notably the smartphone market.

Asked about the sustainability of Apple's average selling prices and margins for the iPhone, Oppenheimer suggested that the company will keep focusing on producing "great products," believing that customers are willing to pay more for them.

"We did not get the impression that Apple feels a burning need … Read more

Apple and Android both grabbed a bigger piece of the pie last quarter, but Google's mobile OS kept the top spot with almost half of all U.S. smartphone customers.

For the quarter, Android's market share rose to 47.3 percent, according to ComScore, up from 44.8 in the prior quarter. Apple also watched its share rise to 29.6 percent from 27.4 percent but remained in second place by a wide margin.

Apple enjoyed a huge gain in smartphone sales during the holiday quarter, selling a record 37 million handsets. But Android continued its onslaught … Read more