LG Only Wants To Support Android

Smartphone-maker LG Electronics has backed off manufacturing Windows Phone devices for now and will instead focus on Android phones, according to a report.

The Korea Herald reported Monday that LG, based in Seoul, South Korea, will take a step back from the Windows Phone platform, though it intends to “continue research and development efforts” on the Microsoft operating system.

LG currently makes the Optimus 7 based on Windows Phone 7 and other WP7 handsets.

LG has noted that Windows Phone 7-based devices hold less than 2% of the global smartphone market, according to multiple market analysts.

“The total unit[s] of Windows Phone sold in the global market is not a meaningful figure,” an LG spokesman told the Korea Herald.

In 2009, LG had decided to make Windows Phone its primary smartphone OS, with plans for 26 new Windows phones in 2012.

Ken Dulaney, an analyst at Gartner, said the LG decision to cut its Windows Phone plans, at least temporarily, is likely not an absolute reversal of strategy.

He theorized that LG may be waiting for Windows Phone 8 to materialize late this year before producing more devices on the platform.

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Want A $19/Month Mobile Plan?

A new wireless operator is gearing up to launch next week with plans offering unlimited data, voice and texting for $19 a month and no contract.

Republic Wireless, a division of Bandwith.com, will provide the service through Voice over IP using the nearest available Wi-Fi hotspot starting Tuesday, Nov. 8, a spokesman confirmed via email.

When a wireless phone user is traveling, the service will be provided through traditional cellular connections, initially over the Sprint network.

One important catch: Republic will require that its users have a new Android-based smartphone equipped with hardware and software that supports automatic switching from Wi-Fi to cellular. The device must have single phone number that works on both networks.

Republic hasn’t disclosed further details on phones the network will support. The company said more details will be made available on the launch date.

Republic calls its Wi-Fi and cellular mixture “Hybrid Calling,” a strategy it said reduces the costs for network services and makes the $19 flat monthly “membership” rate possible.

Republic estimates that smartphone users are within reach of Wi-Fi over 60% of the time, said the spokesman, Kevin LaHaise.

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Tablets Boosts Corporate Spending on Wi-Fi

The ever increasing popularity of tablets and smartphones has boosted sales of Wi-Fi equipment to new heights as businesses upgrade their wireless networks, analysts reported earlier this month.

Worldwide sales of wireless LAN equipment rose to $769 million in the fourth quarter of 2010, up 28% from the same period in 2009, according to Infonetics Research. Research firm Dell’Oro Group reported that for the full year, wireless network revenue surged by 25%, surpassing $5 billion. Read More……

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