Driven largely by emerging economies, global sales of new mobile handsets continued to grow in the second quarter, according to new figures from the research firm Gartner.Almost 305 million mobiles were sold in the three months from April to June, up 12 per cent from the same period a year earlier. With the world’s developed economies in a slowdown, sales grew at a slower pace than previously, but remained strong in key markets.

Sales growth was highest in the emerging markets of Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe. The worst numbers were in Japan, where the number of phones sold dropped by 22 per cent, a decrease twice as large as in the previous quarter.One of the fastest and earliest adopters of high-end mobile phones, the Japanese market is saturated and awaiting a new technical innovation to drive replacement purchases, the report said. Japanese mobile makers like Sharp, Panasonic and Kyocera have suffered as their home market slowed and international expansion efforts were unsuccessful.

The biggest loser among manufacturers was Motorola, whose troubled mobile handset business has been bleeding market share for two years. The company sold almost 10 million less phones in the second quarter of 2008 than it did a year earlier, and its market share dropped to 10 per cent, down from 18 per cent at the end of 2005.Motorola has not had a hit product since its hugely successful Razr phone, and Gartner expects it will be forced to cut costs and enter low-end markets to remain competitive. In March, the company announced it was separating its underperforming handset division from the rest of the business.

Motorola’s lost market share was swallowed largely by Nokia, which sold more than 1m mobile phones for every day of the quarter, reaching a total of 120m, just under 40 per cent of the market. The company’s market share grew by three per cent over the same period in 2007.The introduction of Apple’s iPhone has invigorated demand for high-end smartphones and Gartner expects total sales in the segment to more than double in 2008, reaching 190m units, or 15 per cent of the total market. Industry watchers say Apple could sell upwards of five million iPhones in the coming year.

But the vast majority of the 1.28 billion phones expected to be sold in 2008 will be low-cost devices targeted at poor, first-time customers in the developing world.“Mobile phone manufacturers will be put under pressure to maintain healthy margins while they intend to further break through the emerging markets to increase sales,” said Carolina Milanesi, the research director for mobile devices at Gartner.

tgara@thenational.ae

Just in time for the first really scary hurricane of the season, Weather Underground is providing an iPhone-specific version of their mobile site that includes a tropical storm tracker. The mobile site URL is http://i.wund.com, and the tropical storm page can be accessed directly athttp://i.wund.com/tropical.As you can see in the screenshot above, the tracker shows the location, intensity, and other statistical information about each storm. In this case we’re looking at Tropical Storm Gustav, which appears to now be a Category 3 hurricane. The full-screen view seen above requires a flip to landscape mode.If you’re an iPhone user and live in any location where tropical storms can be a hazard to life and property, you might want to add this site to your Home screen.

(Credit: Apple)

If you’ve been waiting to pull the trigger on the “iPhone without the phone,” now might be the time. You can get arefurbished 16GB iPod Touch for $269.99 shipped from Buy.com. That’s 30 bucks lower than I’ve seen it anywhere else.

I imagine most of you are familiar with the Touch by now, so I won’t waste your time with specs and info–all of which you can find in CNET’s review. I will say it’s my single favorite gadget of all time, and that if I’m wearing pants, you can bet I’m carrying it with me.

A few caveats. First, Buy.com offers only a 60-day warranty. If you buy a refurb Touch from Apple (currently $299), you get a one-year warranty. Second, plan on spending another $10 for the recent 2.0 software update (which isn’t included with Apple’s refurbs, either). Finally, rumor has it Apple plans to unveil some new iPods in a couple weeks, and a newer/better Touch could be among them. But none of that changes the fact that this is the best price you can get on a 16GB iPod Touch. I reckon they’ll sell out fast, so don’t mull for long.

‘Fame’: The woman’s photo has caused a stir on internet chat forums

A factory worker has become an unlikely internet celebrity after her grinning face was uploaded onto a new mobile phone and then shipped to the other side of the world.

The unknown face was snapped in Apple’s iPhone factory in the southern city of Shenzhen in China with a big smile on her face and making a peace sign.

But her colleague forgot to delete the image before it was packaged and then sold to a customer in Britain.

The photo created a stir on internet chat forums after the customer - who called himself Mark M - shared his discovery on iPhone messaging website, MacRumors.com.

Some people even joked on the website that they were planning to return their model of the phone and ask for one with the photo loaded onto the memory.

Spokesman Liu Kun, for Foxconn, which assembles the phones for Apple, said only one phone was known to have the picture. 

‘Small mistakes are unavoidable,’ he said.

‘I would call this a beautiful mistake.’

Mr Liu said the factory worker became concerned following the sudden fame and feared the blunder might have seen her sacked.

But bosses reassured her not to worry.

Mr Liu added: ‘Even passers-by recognise her face and can’t help noticing her.

‘She is quite nervous right now because she has never experienced this much attention.’

But one internet poster suggested the idea could become a new craze: ‘It would be great for every Chinese worker who makes your iPhones to take a snap of herself or her factory friends… a hello from a person you would never otherwise meet.

‘Fame’: The woman’s photo has caused a stir on internet chat forums

A factory worker has become an unlikely internet celebrity after her grinning face was uploaded onto a new mobile phone and then shipped to the other side of the world.

The unknown face was snapped in Apple’s iPhone factory in the southern city of Shenzhen in China with a big smile on her face and making a peace sign.

But her colleague forgot to delete the image before it was packaged and then sold to a customer in Britain.

The photo created a stir on internet chat forums after the customer - who called himself Mark M - shared his discovery on iPhone messaging website, MacRumors.com.

Some people even joked on the website that they were planning to return their model of the phone and ask for one with the photo loaded onto the memory.

Spokesman Liu Kun, for Foxconn, which assembles the phones for Apple, said only one phone was known to have the picture. 

‘Small mistakes are unavoidable,’ he said.

‘I would call this a beautiful mistake.’

Mr Liu said the factory worker became concerned following the sudden fame and feared the blunder might have seen her sacked.

But bosses reassured her not to worry.

Mr Liu added: ‘Even passers-by recognise her face and can’t help noticing her.

‘She is quite nervous right now because she has never experienced this much attention.’

But one internet poster suggested the idea could become a new craze: ‘It would be great for every Chinese worker who makes your iPhones to take a snap of herself or her factory friends… a hello from a person you would never otherwise meet.

Click above to enlargeGeneral Motors continues to eek out teaser shots of the production Chevy Volt, but it appears that an image of the production interior has slipped through the Empire’s net of control. All we have to go on for this image posted on the Motive.com forums is the image itself, which is part of a display panel at what appears to be a sneak preview of the vehicle for god knows who. What we see is a sleek, all-white center console with virtually no buttons. The controls appear to be touch sensitive instead, leaving the face of the console as smooth as a Frigidaire. Good luck installing an aftermarket stereo in this one. Completely flush air vents flank the console, which stands out in contrast to the black dash panel. On top of it all sits the information display, seen here showing the relationship between the “range extending” engine and lithium-ion batteries. What say you? We all know the production Volt isn’t going to be as wild as the concept, but does this innovative center console meet your expectations? Also keep in mind that this might not be the real deal, but it seems to be from all appearances. Thanks for the tip, Brandon!

Gallery: Production Chevy Volt

[Source: Motive.com]