Study: BlackBerry has twice the failure rate of iPhone

November 14, 2008 · Filed Under Apple, Gadgets, Iphone, Phones, blackberry, cellphones · Comment 

Apple’s iPhone has half the failure rate of RIM’s BlackBerry in the first year of use, a study carried out by a mobile-phone warranty firm has found. 

The SquareTrade study

Figures from the analyst firm Canalysys, released last week, showed Apple has now overtaken RIM in the global smartphone sales stakes.

SquareTrade had to project their figures for the iPhone’s failure rate over a two-year period, as the handset has not been available for that long — nonetheless, that rate came in at between nine to 11 percent. The equivalent failure rate for BlackBerry handsets was 14.3 percent, with the Treo coming in at 21 percent.

Breaking the figures down, the most prominent malfunctions for iPhone users appear to be touchscreen-related, accounting for a third of all reported issues with that handset. However, 12 percent of iPhone users reported accidental damage to their handsets within the first year of use — the average for other handsets is nine percent.

“It’s likely that any iPhone owner can guess the reason iPhone accidents are so common,” the authors wrote. “After two minutes of handling an iPhone, it’s impossible to escape noticing that the handsets are incredibly slippery. The form doesn’t help, either. The dimensions make for a difficult grip, especially for those with small hands. These two factors conspire to make the iPhone more accident prone than just about any other handset model we’ve seen.”

The report’s authors also noted that fewer than half-a-percent of iPhone owners reported battery problems after a year of use, compared with around one percent for BlackBerry and Treo users.

SquareTrade’s study did not take into account software issues handled directly by the retailer or fixed by firmware updates.

ZDNet UK has requested comment on SquareTrade’s report from both RIM and Apple, but had not received it at the time of writing.

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Cameraphones with 12-Megapixels Coming Soon Says Sony

November 13, 2008 · Filed Under Sony, cellphones · Comment 

 Mobile phone cameras are set to get more powerful as the race to see who can deliver the most megapixels is on.

Sony_cmos_sensorsSony has said it will commercialize a new image sensor that could deliver up to 12.25-megapixel resolution.

The latest sensor is designed to meet the increasing demand for better cameras inside mobile phones, says Sony.

The company also announced that it will produce two additional sensors, a type 1/3.2 CMOS image sensor with 8.11 effective megapixel resolution and a type 1/4 sensor with 5.15 effective megapixel resolution. (Complete explanation of sensor types is here.)

Sony said it will also produce compact lenses to make it easier for the cameras to be integrated with phones. The company will make two modules, a type 1/3.2 lens module with the 12.25 MP resolution sensor and a type 1/3.2 lens module with 8.11 MP resolution sensor. The modules have lens and auto focus functions and are the industry’s smallest and thinnest, says Sony.

Miniaturization of mobile phone camera technology has become important as phones are getting smaller. But the process of shrinking the components challenges the image quality and camera sensitivity.

Sony says its new image sensors can improve sensitivity levels and offer a high signal-to-noise ratio, even while the number of pixels increases.

Sony rival Samsung has already released a 10-megapixel camera phone in Korea. By comparison Apple has a 2-megapixel camera for the iPhone, while the latest BlackBerry Storm touchscreen phone to be released on Verizon Wireless later this month will have a 3.2-megapixel camera.

Complete Specifications for the Sony Sensors 

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