It comes as no surprise that smartphones are ruling the marketplace. RIM’s BlackBerry retains it lead over the iPhone while Android smartphones like the Droid are moving into the smartphone market place.

Smartphone shipments in North America totalled 47.2 million units in 2009, an increase of 27% over the volume seen in 2008, helped by a strong fourth quarter. This healthy growth is forecast to accelerate to 38% in 2010, bringing total shipments in the region to 65.1 million units reports Canlysis.

Millennial has released their latest S.M.A.R.T. report and the mobile web increased by approximately 4%, to 69.6M users in January,

Mobile behavior trends increased time-wise. January's average user session time of 4:57 (min:sec), increased to 5:14 (min:sec) in February, the longest session time we have seen since the June '09 S.M.A.R.T.

The iPhone remains the top smartphone, followed by the BlackBerry Curve, and Samsung Instinct.

Android impressions increased 25.3%; the largest month over month increase the OS has had on our network.   Apple increased once again and remained the number one device manufacturer with approximately 39% share of impressions. Following Apple's impression share lead, the Touchscreen category increased 17% month over month within the Device Input Method mix and led with a 54% share of impressions.Wi-Fi also retained the largest impression share of the U.S. Carrier Mix in February and held 26% share of impressions. 

BlackBerry developers can now push information to BlackBerry users.The BlackBerry Push Service allows the application to process information in the background and alert users.

The BlackBerry Push Service developer website suggests that developers use the BlackBerry Push Service to incorporate the characteristics smartphone customers love into your applications, including improved battery life, applications that run in the background and the ability to get instant information.

The BlackBerry Tour2, documented to be now named BlackBerry Bold 9650 may be coming to carriers in May.

At first it was rumored that the BlackBerry 9650 Tour2, later called the new BlackBerry Bold 9650 would be coming in February.  RIM even hinted that the BlackBerry Tour2 9650 was coming soon on their Facebook page. 

An unnamed source noted that the would be called BlackBerry Bold 9650. Uniits were sent back from Sprint for Wi-Fi issues and from Verizon to update the OS to BlackBerry 5.0.

New reports suggest a May release with a "don't really know for sure," caveat while web reports suggest it's ready for prime time.

Al Sacco at CIO wrote "May sounds like a likely release-date for Research In Motion's (RIM) successor to it BlackBerry Tour 9630, which will reportedly be named the BlackBerry "Bold" 9650, because pictures, technical specifications and even leaked operating systems."

Sacco suggests that RIM's really big show the WES is  April 27-29 and good time for revealing the BlackBerry Bold 9650 Tour2. The BlackBerry Bold 9000 was revealed at WES.

Features of the BlackBerry Bold 9650 include a trackpad that works well and a faster processor, the same as the BlackBerry Storm2, which makes it run faster. It's about the same size as the original BlackBerry Tour, while the bottom row of keys is slightly shorter than the original BlackBerry Tour. The BlackBerry Bold 9650 has a better camera possibly 5 megabytes.  It may have the new improved BlackBerry Webkit browser.

BlackBerry smartphone owners are thinking of switching to either iPhone or Android notes a new study from Crowd Science. Android users are almost as loyal as iPhone owners.

Nearly 40% of Blackberry users continue to prefer an iPhone as their next smartphone purchase, but a third of them would also switch to the Android operating system, according to the second smartphone brand loyalty survey conducted semi-annually via Crowd Science. The Crowd Scientists also found Android users rivaling iPhone users in loyalty, with about 90% of each user group planning to stick with their current brand when buying their next phone.

Asked specifically if they'd swap their present phone for the Nexus One, 32% of Blackberry users said "yes," compared with just 9% of iPhone users. This figure zoomed to 60% for users of smartphones not made by Blackberry or Apple.

RIM has made production changes to update Verizon's BlackBerry Storm2. It appears the changes are to improve "touchpad performance and tactile issues."  Verizon Wireless is returning their old BlackBerry Storm2 stock for the improved BlackBerry Storm2.

"There is no value in us selling our customers phones with problems, we want customers to walk out satisfied with the device they purchase," said Verizon spokeswoman Brenda Raney,  "Our standard policy on any device we sell is for a customer to bring it back if they have a problem and we'll determine the appropriate action."

Getfugu,  mobile search tool, announced that they have added a new feature for its popular mobile search tool called "Get Tickets."

Getfugu users can search and purchase tickets directly on their mobile phone by simply saying the name of the event into their phone.

For example, a user could ask for events like Lakers (by saying "Lakers Tickets") or concerts (by saying "Bon Jovi tickets"). Getfugu's Get Tickets application will provide dates, times, specify the venue and even tell the consumer how many tickets are available for purchase.

Directed Electronics' Viper SmartStart, remote auto-started is now available for most BlackBerry smartphones starting today.

Particularly popular in cold weather climates, remote start allows users to start their vehicle by remote control to defrost the windows and pre-warm the cabin in the winter or pre-cool the car in the summer, so they get into a comfortable car that's ready to drive. Most remote start systems use a small remote control on the user's keychain to activate remote start, but these "keyfobs" typically have limited range. Viper SmartStart has virtually unlimited range - an important feature to remote start users.

BlackBerry Curve 8530 Rated 3.5 out of 5 by Wireless and Mobile News' Review of Reviews

The BlackBerry Curve 8530 (Verizon) doesn't out-feature the latest smartphones but it does a great job of what BlackBerry does best, email, messaging and business docs, reviewers reported.  All reviews noted that the BlackBerry Cuve 8530  plays music and video well. Reviewers also all liked the call quality and messaging features. The addition of Wi-Fi  and fast snappy processor were praised.

Reviewers called the BlackBerry Curve 8530, entry-level and for first-time buyers and the photo quality was poor. With the latest price of $29.99 (from Verizon after rebates) it can offer value, however, buyers will still have to pay for a data plan like they do with the higher priced smartphones.

Some reviewers liked the new trackpad and keyboard, while some reviewers found the trackpad unresponsive and the QWERTY keyboard worked fine, but was cramped. Reviewers of all BlackBerry smartphones lately have be knocking the BlackBerry browser, an easy remedy is to install the BOLT browser, a favorite of all our readers for PC-like rendering.

The BlackBerry Curve 8530 comes in smokey black and violet. The phone is light and small, therefore you may want to try it out before you buy it. A QWERTY keyboard is always helpful and the violet color is appealing. Most reviewers rated it around 3.5 which is just slightly less than other higher priced smartphones. The BlackBerry Curve 8530 does quality for the popular a Buy One BlackBerry Get Any Free BlackBerry or Select Device deal offer from Verzion and costs $29.99 after a rebate with qualifying contracts. Don't forget you can avoid waiting for a rebate when you use the Wireless and Mobile News' online coupon-link Instant Phone Rebate Only Available with Online Purchase.

Online retailer  Wirefly is offering the BlackBerry Curve 8530 for free with a new Verizon account.Wirefly always offers free shipping.

The future of smartphones, look less like a clamshell, more like the Palm Pre and Nexus One according to these recent reports.  There are a number of smartphone devices being retired, a photo shows a new form factor for BlackBerry and the next 'Nexus One" is at the FCC and it is suspected to be for Verizon.

Leaked documents revealed the BlackBerry Flip (the only clamshell BlackBerry), BlackBerry Storm(the first BlackBerry touchscreen)  and BlackBerry Curve 8830 are now considered "Current devices with limited or no remaining shipments from the vendor." Other dying devices are the popular Samsung Omnia and Samsung Saga.

An unnamed source has posted photos of a next generation BlackBerry that is a portrait slider, somewhat like the Palm Pre.   If  you look at the photo the top portion looks like the BlackBerry Storm, suggesting a possible touchscreen too. 

Slacker has updated Slacker Radio to 3.0 for BlackBerry smartphones. BlackBerry users can now cache their favorite Slacker stations wirelessly to enjoy personalized radio on-the-go regardless if they are still connected to a wireless network or not.

The new version of Slacker Radio has enhanced touch features for BlackBerry Storm and BlackBerry Storm2.  It also works on the BlackBerry Bold, BlackBerry Curve, BlackBerry Tour and all current BlackBerry smartphohnes. We previously named Slacker Radio our BlackBerry Storm and BlackBerry Tour Apps of the Day.

With Slacker Radio 3.0 and a Slacker Radio Plus subscription, music enthusiasts using a BlackBerry smartphone can wirelessly cache their favorite stations simply by selecting "Cache Station" from the menu within the application. Listeners can choose to manually cache their favorite stations or use "Auto Refresh," enabling BlackBerry smartphones to automatically wake during overnight charging and refresh station content, providing new music daily with no additional effort.

Slacker Radio 3.0 for BlackBerry updates include :

• Updated interface.
• Faster application startup time.
• Significantly smaller application size.
• Improved touch interface for BlackBerry Storm
• Greatly improved battery life.
• New settings menu options.
• Tabbed info view for lyrics, reviews and biographies.
• Context Aware - click a highlighted artist name in a text message or email to enable direct launch of a related Slacker station.
• Create custom stations based on artists or songs.
• View album art and photos.
• Rate songs as favorites.
• Ban the songs and artists you don't like.

Gartner has publihsed their worldwide mobile report.  Although there was a slight decline in total sales and single digit growth, the market is considered positive due to increased strong smartphone growth and low-end handset sales. RIM's BlackBerry was 19.9% and Apple's iPhone was 14.4% of the world smartphone market.

Worldwide mobile phone sales to end users totalled 1.211 billion units in 2009, a 0.9 per cent decline from 2008, according to Gartner, Inc. In the fourth quarter of 2009, the market registered a single-digit growth as mobile phone sales to end users surpassed 340 million units, an 8.3 per cent increase from the fourth quarter of 2008.

"The mobile devices market finished on a very positive note, driven by growth in smartphones and low-end devices," said Carolina Milanesi, research director at Gartner. "Smartphone sales to end users continued their strong growth in the fourth quarter of 2009, totalling 53.8 million units, up 41.1 per cent from the same period in 2008. In 2009, smartphone sales reached 172.4 million units, a 23.8 per cent increase from 2008. In 2009, smartphone-focused vendors like Apple and Research In Motion (RIM) successfully captured market share from other larger device producers, controlling 14.4 and 19.9 per cent of the worldwide smartphone market, respectively."

According to an email from someone who works at RIM sent to Mobility Site, the BlackBerry Tour2 aka BlackBerry 9650 release has been delayed at Verizon and Sprint.

Verizon will not release the BlackBerry Tour2 until the BlackBerry Tour 9630 is updated to OS.5.0.  The Sprint BlackBerry 9650 has issues with Wi-Fi.  The email also revealed that the new BlackBerry 9650 will be called "BlackBerry Bold 9650."

"Some Verizon stores did get the 9650. They were sent back for "updates". Verizon won't release the 9650 until the official OS 5.0 arrives for the Tour 9630. The Sprint 9650's are having Wi-Fi issues and Sprint is working that out. And at the end of the email he states: "it won't be called the Tour 2. It's the Bold 9650."

The name change seems odd, because according to an official BlackBerry Facebook post, the name BlackBerry Tour 9650 was shown using the trademark symbol. The numbering of 9600 BlackBerry smartphones puts it in the "Tour" name family.  BlackBerry Storm's are numbered with 9500. There is a BlackBerry Bold 9000 and BlackBerry Bold 9700.

Millennial media published their first industry-first snapshot 2009 Year-in-Review Scorecard for Mobile Advertising Reach and Targeting (S.M.A.R.T.).
Highlights:

Here are Some of their Mobile Marketing Stats:

• Brand business grew 756%.
• Average deal size increased 353% year-over-year.
• Top Ten 2009 Advertising Verticals by Spend (this will likely radically change in '10, with Pharma, auto, and retail leading the charge)
  
• Non-U.S. impressions increased 117% year over year (Europe primarily drove this large increase)

Increased Impressions

• 357% increase in Apple OS impressions.
• 90% increase in RIM OS impressions.
• Of the top 5 devices on the network three are BlackBerry devices.
• Top ad impression are on the iPhone, BlackBerry Curve, T-Mobile G1 and BlackBerry Storm.
  

This year-end summary is based on observed traffic, server log reports, etc., on our network. Since Millennial Media is the largest mobile ad platform, we anticipate much of this data is fairly representative of the mobile ad industry as a whole.

Amazon has released a  free app for BlackBerry enabling users to read books on BlackBerry Storm, BlackBerry Curve, BlackBerry Tour and BlackBerry Bold, kind of like they do on the Kindle.

Kindle users can access Kindle books and automatically synchronizes the last page read, annotations, bookmarks between the Kindle and BlackBerry with Whispersync.

Kindle BlackBerry app users can search and browse more than 400,000 books, including 101 of 112 New York Times®Best Sellers. ew York Times Best Sellers and new releases cost $9.99, unless marked otherwise noted.

Books purchased can be read on a Kindle, computer, or other Kindle-compatible mobile device. Kindle newspapers, magazines, and blogs are not currently available for Kindle for BlackBerry.

At Mobile World Congress, RIM's co-CEO Mike Lazaridis wowed the audience with a new BlackBerry WebKit browser and "super-apps".

BlackBerry smartphones have been criticized for what reviewers call a "sub-par" browser. RIM acquired WebKit browser company Torch Mobile last summer. WebKit is an open source web browser engine.

Lazaridis pointed out that the BlackBerry WebKit browser is very efficient with faster panning, zooming and scrolling.

The BlackBerry WebKit browser loads JavaScript faster, supports HTML 5.0 and CSS3. The browser scored 100 per cent on the Acid 3 test for "fidelity" in rendering the web for more PC-like browsing.

He called the BlackBerry WebKit browser "blazing fast" and also network efficient. A video of the new BlackBerry WebKit browser appears at the end of this article.

RIM announced they will offering  BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express for free in March.  When BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express is connected to Microsoft Exchange or Microsoft Windows Small Business Server, BlackBerry smartphone users will be able to:

• Wirelessly synchronize their email, calendar, contacts, notes and tasks.
• Manage email folders and search email on the mail server remotely.
• Book meetings and appointments, check availability and forward calendar attachments.
• Set an out-of-office reply.
• Edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files using Documents To Go.
• Access files stored on the company network.
• Use mobile applications to access business systems behind the firewall.

RIM's official Twitter for BlackBerry smartphones was released through limited invite code.  Reviewers have called it prettier than other Twitter clients. Another reviewer suggested more keyboard shortcuts. TechCrunch called it average at best. This is all for an app that is still in private Beta!

BlackBerry for Twitter has these features:

• The Twitter for BlackBerry looks and feels like BlackBerry.
• You get notifed you of your direct messages as soon as they arrive.
• Bit.ly URL shortening to share your favorite BlackBerry App World applications, interesting websites or a random picture from your camera with your Twitter followers.
  
• Send BlackBerry camera photos traight to TwitPic.
• Reply to tweets, re-tweet and send direct messages.
• Post a link from your BlackBerry Browser.

The Handmark Winter Sports apps gives you lots of 2010 Winter Olympic Games information on your BlackBerry or iPhone.. The app gives real-time access to news, photos, scores, and more straight from the Games.

Winter Sports Live is available to download free now in the App Store for iPhone and iPod touch users and BlackBerry App World for BlackBerry smartphone users.

The Winter Sports Live application, developed by Handmark, features trusted news content from the AFP organized into the following categories:

• Live from Vancouver - top stories, updated in real-time.
• Competition News - covering news on individual events.
• Word on the Street - general news, scores and analysis.
• Picture of the Day - the day's top moment in pictures.
• Photo Gallery - a collection of the best photos from the Games.
• Olympic Champions - features on past and present Olympic champs.
• Quotes of the Day - top comments from participants and spectators.

SIRIUS XM Radio now has a free application for BlackBerry smartphones, including  the BlackBerry Storm, Bold, Tour and Curve.

The free SIRIUS XM App for BlackBerry gives mobile consumers the freedom to listen to SIRIUS XM's Premium Online content on the go on their BlackBerry smartphones over cellular and WiFi networks.

SIRIUS XM App for BlackBerry allows users to: 

• Surf through over 120 channels of SIRIUS XM Premium Online programming on the go.
• Bookmark SIRIUS XM Internet channels for fast, easy access through a "Favorites" function.
• View the current channel plus what is playing on all other available channels via the "Lookaround" function.

SIRIUS XM App for BlackBerry is available as a free download by visiting www.siriusxm.com/blackberry on your computer or BlackBerry browser. After downloading the free App, users of compatible BlackBerry devices can register for a 7-day free trial to SIRIUS XM Premium Online on their smartphone.