Apple and Google extended their dominance in the
US smartphone market as 2012 neared its close, industry tracker comScore
said on Thursday.
The share of smartphone service subscribers
relying on Google's Android software inched up to 53.7 percent in the
three months leading up to December, while Apple's portion grew to 35
percent from 34.3 percent, comScore reported.
The most popular mobile phones were made by
South Korean consumer electronics titan Samsung, whose handsets were
used by 26.9 percent of US telecom service subscribers, according to
comScore.
Apple's coveted iPhones accounted for 18.5
percent of subscribers in the overall mobile phone market, up from 17.1
percent at the end of August.
Figures showing that the California companies
are tightening their grips on the smartphone market were released as
London-based Canonical weighed in with a business-oriented smartphone
platform.
Canonical announced a smartphone interface
version of its Ubuntu desktop computer operating system based on
open-source Linux code.
Ubuntu smartphones will be able to dock with
keyboards and monitors to provide personal computer capabilities,
according to Canonical.
"We expect Ubuntu to be popular in the
enterprise market, enabling customers to provision a single secure
device for all PC, thin client and phone functions," Canonical chief
executive Jane Silber said in a release.
"We also see an opportunity in basic smartphones that are used for the phone, SMS, web and email."
Dell, Lenovo, and Hewlett Packard are listed
among computer makers who build Ubuntu into machines for the global
market. Ubuntu runs on more than 20 million desktop computers, according
to Canonical.
Smartphones powered by Ubuntu are not expected to be available until late this year or early next year.
© 2013 AFP
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