Market research firm The NPD Group on Monday published the latest data surrounding sales of supersized smartphones in the U.S. Using its “Mobile Phone Track,” which tracks smartphone sales in the U.S., NPD has determined that smartphones with screens sized 4 inches and above became tremendously popular in 2010. Devices like Sprint’s HTC EVO 4G and  Verizon Wireless’ Motorola DROID X, which launched in the second quarter of 2010, grew to encompass 24% of the U.S. smartphone market by the fourth quarter last year. The EVO 4G was the most popular supersized smartphone in 2010, followed by the DROID X. Samsung’s Fascinate, Captive and Vibrant rounded out the top-5 in that order, according to NPD Group. The firm’s report also notes that fourth-quarter sales of smartphones with screens between 3.5 and 3.9 inches grew just 2% compared to the same quarter in 2009, and sales of smartphones with screens sized 3.4 inches and below dropped 63% over the same period. Hit the break for the full press release.

The NPD Group: Larger Smartphone Screens Gain in Popularity

Driven largely by sales of high-end Android phones, mobile handsets with screens that are 4 inches or larger now comprise nearly one quarter of all smartphone sales.

PORT WASHINGTON, NEW YORK, March 21, 2011 – According to The NPD Group, a leading market research company, U.S. consumers are willing to give up room in their pockets and handbags to gain a richer media experience on their mobile devices. The U.S. market share for iPhones and other smartphones with screen sizes between 3.5 inches and 3.9 inches have remained steady, but smartphones with the largest screens (4 inches or larger) have grabbed market share from devices with screen sizes that are less than 3.5 inches.

Based on the latest information from NPD’s Mobile Phone Track, smartphones with 4-inch-or-larger screens, like Samsung’s Galaxy S, HTC’s EVO 4G and Motorola’s Droid X, which debuted in the second quarter (Q2) of 2010, quickly grew to encompass 24 percent of the market by Q4 2010. The market share for iPhones and other smartphones with screen sizes between 3.5 inches and 3.9 inches increased 2 percent over the prior year’s Q4; while the market share of smartphones with screens smaller than 3.4 inches, declined from 63 percent in Q4 2009 to just 36 percent of the smartphone market in Q4 2010.

The five best-selling handset models in 2010 that had screen sizes of 4 inches or larger were as follows:

1. HTC EVO 4G
2. Motorola Droid X
3. Samsung Fascinate
4. Samsung Captivate
5. Samsung Vibrant

“The explosion in Web and video content available for smartphones has caused consumers to rethink their phones’ sizes,” said Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis for NPD. “Larger displays offer a richer media experience, as well as a roomier surface for on-screen keyboards. Handset vendors are continuing to push the envelope of pocket real estate to complement the video capabilities of 4G handsets.”

While men still make up the largest share of consumers purchasing smartphones with the largest screen sizes, women are increasingly likely to buy them. In Q2 2010 just 30 percent of large-screen smartphone purchasers were women, but by Q4 2010 women represented 40 percent of large-screen smartphone sales.

Data Note: The information in this press release is from Mobile Phone Track – NPD’s consumer tracking of U.S. consumers, aged 18 and older, who reported purchasing a mobile phone. NPD does not track corporate/enterprise mobile phone purchases.

Research In Motion’s “best BlackBerry ever” — the BlackBerry Torch — definitely wasn’t the most competitive device to hit the smartphone market place. But it looks like RIM is trying to change all that with a new take on its QWERTY, horizontal-slider: the BlackBerry Torch 2. BGR has exclusively obtained a photo of the BlackBerry Torch 2 along with the device’s full specifications. Was the Torch’s 600MHz CPU a bit too underpowered for you? You’re in luck, as we can now confirm that the BlackBerry Torch 2 will feature a 1.2GHz CPU with hardware acceleration. Full specifications after the break!

• 1.2GHz processor
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
• Tri-band HSPA 14.4Mbps
• 3.2-inch VGA 640 x 480 capacitive display
• 8GB built-in memory
• 512MB RAM
• Bluetooth 2.1
• GPS
• NFC
• 5-megapixel camera with flash
• Magnetometer
• Accelerometer
• Proximity sensor
• 1300 mAh battery
• BlackBerry OS 6.1
• OpenGL ES
• 14.6mm thin

Yes, the BlackBerry Torch 2 looks very similar to the original Torch, and we’re told it’s basically the same on the exterior except for a matte silver finish. Internally, however, you can see that there have been quite a few changes made. The BlackBerry Torch 2 is tracking for a late Q3 release on AT&T.

We just got our hands on a crystal clear photo of the BlackBerry Dakota — you know, the device that’s going to sit right at the head of the BlackBerry family dinner table. What about the specifications for the BlackBerry Dakota? What, you thought we’d skimp out on you? How about the famous original Bold styling, HD video recording, NFC, 3G Mobile hotspot, magnetometer and much, much more! Full specs after the break!

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
• Tri-band UMTS
• 5 megapixel camera with HD video recording, flash, and image stabilization
• 4GB of built in storage, 768MB of RAM
• 2.8-inch VGA 640 x 480 capacitive screen
• WiFi b,g,n on 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies
• 3G mobile hotspot!
• MicroUSB port
• Bluetooth
• NFC
• Magnetometer
• Accelerometer
• Proximity sensor
• 10.5mm thin
• Launches with BlackBerry OS 6.1

Well, what do you guys think? Is this your dream BlackBerry or what?

Some might say a capacitive touchscreen that also accepts input from a stylus or a gloved finger is the white whale of the cell phone industry. Ok — most people probably wouldn’t say that. But a single touchscreen that can respond just as well to a finger as it can to a stylus is a huge breakthrough in the mobile world. This versatile display could address the U.S. and European markets just as well as it addresses Asian markets, where handwriting recognition and stylus input are requirements for many. At this year’s IFD International conference, Hitachi showed the world that we’re not as far away from these all-purpose displays as one might think. Hitachi’s new touchscreen panels definitely aren’t ready for primetime — look at how shaky those lines are — but seeds have most definitely been planted and the company thinks it should have a ready-for-market product by the end of 2011. Hit the break for a video showing off the new tech.

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DigiTimes is reporting that Apple has started receiving touch panels for testing in next-gen iMacs from company Sintek Photonics. As far as the size of the displays? No, they are not 1 inch squares this time — they are said to be around 20″ in diagonal size and feature the same capacitive touch elements as the displays on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. As as usability is concerned, while everyone on this side tries to figure out how a computing device like this would be used, we’re sure Apple has that covered if they are indeed planning on launching a product such as this. They’re trying to reinvent computing, ok?

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Today in Berlin, Huawei announced the official launch of its affordable, accessible Android 2.2 handset, the Ideos. The Ideos handset comes complete with a 2.8-inch capacitive touchscreen display (320 x 240), 528 MHz processor, 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera (no flash), HSDPA 3G, Wi-Fi, 3G hotspot capabilities, and a micro-SD card slot. The device carries the “with Google” moniker (which means no Android skinning of any kind) and Huawei touted that Google was heavily involved in the designing of the Ideos. The company elaborated that Google’s direct involvement with the Ideos would ensure its owners OS updates with minimal delay, Nexus One style. The device will be available in mid-October for right around $175 off-contract; no word yet on whether or not this little guy will be coming Stateside. The phone is obviously meant to make an Android 2.2, touchscreen handset available to the masses… time will tell if the masses choose to oblige Huawei’s efforts. 

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According to a USPTO document, HP has recently submitted a trademark application for the term “Palmpad”, a moniker that would be fitting for its first attempt at a webOS tablet. The application form lists the target goods/services as “Computers, computer hardware, computer software, computer peripherals, portable computers, handheld and mobile computers, PDAs, electronic notepads, mobile digital electronic devices”, a category of devices that describes a tablet to a tee. Another circulating rumor suggests that this “Palmpad” may ship with a capacitive touchscreen that supports digital pen input. A carryover from HP’s popular lineup of TabletPCs and Palm’s PalmPilot devices, this pen input would serve to set the webOS tablet apart from its primary competitor, the iPad. Anyone interested heightened by the possibility of inking or perhaps even graffiti on this rumored webOS tablet?

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Ah, yes 4.3-inches of sensual haptic, multitouch glass strapped to a 1 GHz processor, 8 megapixel camera, and so much more. The Motorola DROID X is the latest and greatest Android handset to be unleashed upon the U.S. market, and it will be making its debut on America’s largest network — Verizon Wireless — on July 15th. We’ve been using, abusing, and confusing our review unit for just over a week, so lets jump right into our review. Buckle up and hit the break.

First — we just need to get this out of the way — there may be a comparison or two to the iPhone 4 or EVO 4G. We aren’t trying to pit the three devices against each other, but they happen to be the most current, and perhaps hottest, handsets available in the U.S. market. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get to the good stuff!

Size/Build

This phone is solid, like really solid. Its form factor doesn’t ooze sex quite like the iPhone 4′s, but it brings its own unique design charms to the table. First, the weight. It is really good. The DROID X feels like a high-end, well-built piece of electronics that is made to last. Surprisingly, it doesn’t feel as heavy as the original DROID does (no pun intended), the weight is distributed nicely throughout the phone; we put together an initial impressions video that has several size comparison at the end for those of you who would like them. We even fulfilled a commenter request to see how “pocketable” the device is. The moral of the story: both the construction and weight feel great to us.

There is no give or wiggle in the lock button or the volume up/down keys, and while there is a little in the dedicated camera button, that is by design. The camera button has a double-press action built into it; halfway down to focus, all the way down to capture. The four front keys move north and south a bit. The two left keys (Menu and Home) are attached, and wiggling one will move the other; the same goes for the next two dedicated keys (Back and Search). The front keys are raised higher than all the other exterior keys on the DROID X and are made from plastic — which could account for the wiggle we feel (see video). There is a tiny bit of give in the left-middle of the phones case. If you grab the phone by its “waist” there is a little bit of bend on the left hand side of the frame due to the battery bay (see video). Despite this, if you pick the phone up and physically shake it there is no rattling or movement of any kind.

The phone has an equator that runs around its horizontal axis which creates a very nice, tight line. The the top half of the phone (with the display) is black and the bottom half (with the camera) is slate gray. The back cover is made of metal and snaps in firmly, the battery has an easy to handle pull tab for removal (which is appreciated), and the micro-SD card slot is flush with the battery (meaning if you want to take out the SD card you have to remove the battery). Honestly, the wiggling keys and outer-frame bend didn’t really bother us, however we thought those of you with discerning eyes (and hands) would want to know about it. All-in-all, the construction, and QA on this device looks really, really tight.

Display

The display really is great. 4.3-inches of WVGA multitouch, haptic goodness with a 480 x 854 resolution. Who wouldn’t like that? Text is crisp and clear, images are bright and have depth on the screen; it is something you have to see for yourself to appreciate. The contrast ratio and pixel density not quite as good as the iPhone 4′s, but unless you have the two side-by-side (or switch from one to the other after extended use) we’re sure you won’t mind. Motorola also confirmed to us — via email — that The X uses the same Gorilla Glass as the original DROID.

Phone

These things are still phones right? It’s funny to see a manufacturer press release that contains phrases like “ultra high-speed Web browsing” and “intuitive social messaging” but never any mention of the devices ability to function as a phone. Even though it isn’t stated, the DROID X is a really, really solid phone. The reception on the phone is great; the bars and signal strength – in dB — matched that of a BlackBerry Bold 9650 we had lying around. The DROID Incredible doesn’t seem to get as strong of a cellular signal as some of our other Verizon Wireless devices, so we were pleased to see this was not the case with the DX.

As we’ve mentioned several times in earlier posts, the DROID X has a trio of microphones at its disposal that it uses to discern your voice from background noise and stray sounds. The call clarity emanating from the ear piece is superb; thanks in part to Verizon Wireless’ network and in part to Motorola’s engineering. As an iPhone user myself, the call quality on the DROID X makes me green with envy. The unit is equipped with a voice-dialing feature that works as expected, saying “call home” or “Call Boy Genius” yielded accurate results. Double-tapping the home key will activate voice-dialing or you can get to it from a soft-key in the Android dialer. The speakerphone is loud, although not the loudest we’ve ever heard. The E73 Mode and the iPhone 4 both seemed to be much louder when on a call or playing media.

Typing

If you dislike on-screen keyboards, you might actually like this one. Like the EVO 4G, the extra screen real estate yields a bigger on-screen keyboard, thus making it easier to accurately type. Coming from an iPhone we had no problem diving right in and typing with both speed and accuracy. If you lean towards/love a physical keyboard, we still recommend trying before you buy. The speech-to-text option is super convenient as always; it is one of those simple features that really sets Android apart from its competitors.

Camera/Video Camera

So, we’ve complied several video and still image comparisons between the DROID X and the iPhone 4. All things considered we were thrilled with the audio recording quality, satisfied with the 720p video quality, and a little disappointed with the still-camera.

Again, the DROID X has three microphones, and when you record video it utilizes all three. Audio is clear and crisp, perhaps a little high on the treble, but not muffled like we’ve come to expect from smartphones. The video quality was generally great in 720p mode. The DROID X shoots 720p video at 24 fps (30 fps for lower quality video) and the color accuracy is spot-on.

The camera we can’t quite fully endorse. The DROID X has an 8 megapixel, mechanical-shutter camera that, by looking at the stat sheet, seems quite impressive. Our gripe has to do with our inability to take clear shots on the first try. The DROID X defaults to shooting in 6 megapixel mode to save space on your SD-card, and while a quick adjustment of the settings will get you shooting up to the phones full potential, we can’t figure out why you would slap an 8 megapixel camera on the phone and not use it. Shots from distance and outdoors are completely acceptable and above average for a phone. Shots from close range and indoors tended to be a bit blurry and grainy. Now, we understand this isn’t an SLR or a point-and-shoot — this is your cell phone we’re talking about here — but we did expect a little more from the DROID X’s camera.

SMS/MMS

Android is very efficient at handling MMS and SMS messages and the DROID X is no different.  Messages are displayed in a threaded conversations with chat bubbles alternating left and right. Speech-to-text is amazing. This is obviously an Android thing, not a DROID X thing, but we had to mention it again. Love it. Hitting the menu button from within a text will give you several options including “insert file.” You can attach: pictures, audio, video, a slide show, or name cards to MMS messages. You can access SMS/MMS messages from the “Text Messages” icon, the “Messaging” center, or the unified inbox.

Calendar/Contacts

There is only one calendar application on the DROID X and it combines the calendars of all your synchronized accounts (Exchange, Gmail, etc.). You can turn certain calendars on and off if you want them visible, and adding new events is quite easy. Not much else to say about the calendar application, so moving right along.

Contacts works like it does in any other Android phone, you see an alphabetized list, recent contacts, and favorites. The favorites list does have a “Most Frequently Contacted” section at the bottom of it that we found quite useful.

Browser

The browser really benefits from the extra screen real estate on the DROID X. The resizing of webpages isn’t quite as accurate as the iPhone but a pinch here and double-tap there usually gets things right where you want them. The browser feels really snappy and renders webpages as fast, if not faster, than any other smartphone currently available. We can’t wait to see what this puppy can do with Android 2.2 on it!

The big news with the browser is obviously that, at some point this summer, it will support Flash. We have to wait until “summer” like everyone else for Flash (as it wasn’t available on our demo units), but we’ll be sure to chime in with our thoughts as soon as it hits the streets.

Email/Accounts

The email and account implementation on the DROID X is very well done. The DROID X actually has an icon in the main applications window called “My Accounts” launch that app and you see a list of the accounts you currently have configured on the phone. Click “add” and you are brought to a screen that asks you if you would like to aadd a: Backup Assistant, Corporate Sync (Exchange), Email, Facebook, Google, MySpace, Photobucket, Picasa, Skype Mobile, Twitter, Visual Voicemail, or Yahoo! Mail account to your DX. Once you have an account added you can hit the “Messaging” icon to access the Universal Inbox and view badged icons for each account.” The only thing not shown in the Universal Inbox are Gmail messages. Like all Android phone that are “with Google” they are in their own separate Gmail app.

Battery

The DROID X’s battery was not an issue for us. When we first got the device — and pawed at it for about 3 hours straight –the battery lasted for roughly 8 hours. With normal to moderate use we got at least a day out of the battery (unless we were tethering of course).  The X has a Battery Manager that lets you to set custom battery profiles –allowing you to turn push services on/off at certain times — and see what applications are taxing your battery the most. There is also a Data Manager application that allows you to customize how often applications using background data should update. The Data Manager also allows you to force certain applications (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) to update over Wi-Fi only. The battery is 1570 mAh, and seems to get the job done. Verizon said there will be a 1930 mAh extended-life battery offered soon, it will add 1mm of thickness to the phone via a custom back cover.

A few nice features…

Since each Android device gets customized just a little bit (depending on carrier and manufacturer) we thought we would point out some of the niceties Motorola and Verizon included in the DROID X. Mercifully, Motorola has added a security lock timeout feature. You can set a passcode (or pass-pattern) and have the unit require that code after the phone has been locked for a specific interval of time. This is a welcome feature.

Wireless DLNA support is also built into the phone and will allow you to share your DROID X’s media with other DLNA devices.

Summary

We enjoyed our time with the Motorola DROID X, and feel it is a well-balanced, powerful addition to Verizon Wireless’ Android lineup. We would have liked the device to have a better camera, a front facing camera, and perhaps some sort of optical tracking device for easier text correction, but all things considered…we really like this device. If you are or plan on being a Verizon Wireless customer, and love Android — or maybe are just Android curious — you definitely have to take a good, long look at the DROID X.

Click on over to our DROID X Gallery!

Apart from scattered complaints that the glass display on the HTC EVO has a tendency to separate from the devices housing, word from xda-developers is that the EVO likely suffers from the same poorly grounded capacitive display issues on another popular HTC device, the Droid Incredible. What this means that is if an EVO with an improperly grounded display is placed on a flat surface, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to operate. But complete the connection by placing a finger on the side of the display and — voilà! — the issue goes away. We should be perfectly clear and say that not all devices suffer from this issue, but from what we’ve read it seems that this is a real problem that needs to be jointly addressed by HTC and Sprint. How is your EVO’s display functioning?

[Via Good and EVO]

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Well hello again, sexy. Courtesy of Gadget University, we now have some wonderful new images of the Motorola Droid X (known aliases: Extreme, Xtreme and Shadow) to get us through the weekend. Apart from noting that the device is solidly built, it was noted that the 4.3″ WVGA display (some still contend it’s 4.1″) is not AMOLED, but it’s said to be quite the stunner likely feature IPS technology. It’s also been confirmed that the Droid X will feature a new version of MOTOBLUR, although the lads at Gadget University say it’s “not as bad as what you may think.” Unfortunately we didn’t get treated to a few sample pics from the 8 megapixel camera or even some if its 720p video, but us beggars can’t really be choosers, now can we? Skip over the break to check out some more photos.

Thanks, Edvard!

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While it could just as easily be a Photoshop job involving a Droid Incredible and an EVO 4G, let’s assume for a moment that what we’re looking at is the AT&T-bound HTC Aria. Shot up by one of AndroidGuy’s “pretty solid” tipsters while situated next to a business card to give us an idea of the overall size of the device, it’s said that the Aria will be the “smallest Android device” yet with a display under 3″. Other alleged specs are said to include a 5 megapixel camera, optical trackpad, microUSB port and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Of course previous rumors would see the Aria come complete with a sliding QWERTY keypad, but as we said above, let’s assume this is legit. Nothing fancy, but at least it runs Android 2.1 with Sense UI and shows more promise that AT&T’s current Android offering which consists of nothing more than the Motorola BACKFLIP. Dying to know more? Apparently it’s due for an official outing on June 7th. A poor choice of days, we know.

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Speaking at the Reuters Global Technology Summit on Thursday, Lee Wong-jong, VP of marketing for Samsung, said that the global shortage of OLED displays will continue in foreseeable future as demand has greatly outpaced supply. Said Lee, ”demand for high-end displays is very strong and we may continue to fail to meet all customer requirements, even after expanding capacity by seven-fold, until next year.” Such delays are part of the reason Verizon is having great difficulties meeting sales quotas with the HTC Droid Incredible. Last week Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam said the failure of Samsung and other part suppliers to deliver crucial components were the reason the Droid Incredible has yet to outsell the Motorola DROID. To combat this, Samsung recently committed $2.15 billion through 2012 to create the largest fleet of AMOLED displays. But in the meantime, delays will be the new reality as smartphone sales for 2010 are expected to be 50% higher than in 2009.

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With only a few weeks to go before sales officially kick off, retail pricing for T-Mobile’s myTouch 3G Slide has leaked out. Pegged at $399.99 on an Even More Plus plan and $149.99 with an Even More plan after $50 MIR, there’s also an option to pay $23 per month over 20 months (apparently the $3 monthly premium nets you $60 worth of accessories). A part of us wants to be believe that this information is correct and the actual pricing will be a bit lower, but considering its the same price T-Mobile is currently asking for the original and slide-less myTouch 3G, we’re not about to risk holding our breath. The myTouch 3G Slide was initially rumored to land on June 2nd, but some people who claim to be in the know are now calling for a June 16th release.

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Apple’s not the only company dealing with a misplaced prototype this morning, as the Samsung GT-i5801 has been giving the hands on treatment by HoFo founder Howard Chui. Much like the Galaxy Spica, the i5801 — which may or may not be branded as the Galaxy 3 — is an entry-level Android smartphone. What sets it apart however, is that it is sporting Android 2.1 and appears to have an AMOLED display — albeit at a resolution of 240×400. Other features include: a 3 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth (possibly 3.0), around 300MB of internal memory, and the same awful custom UI as seen on the Galaxy S. Is this something you’d rock? Check out the video after the break and report back!

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Dream about a sliding Android device for T-Mobile? Well, your wish is HTC’s command as the T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide just got official. No stranger to leaks, the device slides in at 15mm thick and features a 3.4″ HVGA screen, Android 2.1, 5 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, 3G, and even a Genius button powered by Dragon Dictation that’s ready to take your voice input and convert it into calls, sending text messages, and more. If that roomy slide-out QWERTY keyboard and aforementioned specs tickle your fancy, then you won’t have to wait much longer as this handset is geared up to hit in June in either black, white, or red, exclusively from T-Mobile. Pricing information isn’t available at this time.