wmpoweruser.com - The worldwide smartphone market hit a new high in Q3 2015, likely driven by the release of the iPhone 6S.
According to the latest preliminary results from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped a total of 355.2 million smartphones worldwide in the third quarter of 2015 (3Q15), up 6.8% from the 332.6 million units in 3Q14, marking the second highest quarter of shipments on record.
Windows Phones however did not join in this success, seeing their lowest shipments since 2012, only hitting 5.8 million, and not enough to deserve a mention by the IDC.
Microsoft has said this was in line with their expectations and strategy, but at only 1.6% market share it is clear Windows phones will now only succeed or fail as part of the Windows 10 universal app ecosystem, as such low numbers are not attractive enough to sustain an independent application market.
Microsoft hoped to attract other smartphone vendors to take over the volume of the market, and if this strategy does not succeed over the next 2 quarters I believe, already being well past the beginning of the end, we may be heading towards the end of the end of Windows phones.

computerworld.com - Apple yesterday updated OS X, iOS 9 and watchOS with a slew of point upgrades. While these patches mostly deliver performance and stability improvements and support for new Emojis, a few other items stand out. Here they are:
OS X 10.11.1 improvements
The latest OS X update provided two key changes:
Office 2016
The latest OS X 10.11.1 update fixes the legendarily annoying crashes recently suffered by Microsoft Office 2016 users.
Emoji
Almost 200 new emoji characters (full list here) are made available in the update. These include the historically important middle finger and popular taco emojis; Historically important? Yes indeed. The single finger gesture goes way back to the Ancient Greeks.
You don't own it
Lawyer/developer, Robb Schecter read the El Capitan user agreement to figure out what it means - among other things it means you don't own the software. More here.
iOS 9.1 improvements
With iOS 9 now installed on over 60 percent of devices Apple maintains its focus on protecting its non-fragmented mobile ecosystem.
Messages
New Messages options in Settings let you see photos of your contacts in your Messages list.
Wi-Fi calling
iOS 9 introduced a feature enabling T-Mobile users to place and receive Wi-Fi calls on a compatible iOS or OS X device, even when their main iPhone was off or lacked coverage. iOS 9.1 extends this to Sprint customers, too. More here.
Live Photos
Live Photos now senses when you raise or lower your iPhone and stops recording those movements when capturing images. So you don't see amusing moving images of your fingers, glasses, or feet.
Emoji
Support for the new emoji's has also been made available to iOS 9.1
News app
Apple News is now available in the UK and Australia. The initial range of content providers seems OK, though the near criminal lack of a direct link to my blog here at Computerworld is surely something Apple staff will enthusiastically address.
watchOS 2.0.1 enhancements
A smattering of improvements for Apple Watch users, mostly focused on stability and performance the only real addition here being introduction of support for new emojis, and (I suspect) support for TVos and the latest Apple TV software when these ship next week to enable use of the watch as a remote.
Additional items
Apps
Apple shipped new versions of Pages, Keynote and Numbers for iOS and OS X last week.
One more thing
Apple also added a Find My Friends app to iCloud's online suite - now even Windows users can access this feature through their browser.
And TV...
With the next edition of Apple TV scheduled to ship next week, Apple has begun accepting apps created by third party developers using the TVos developer kits it introduced earlier this year.
Of course, some iPhone and iPad users can expect to gain access to apps on their Apple TV just as soon as they install the new model. That's because developers can create apps as universal bundles with their iPhone or iPad counterparts, which means some apps will be made available for download to all these platforms right away, if developers choose to offer them this way. If you're a developer, please let me know about your TVos apps as they appear.

deloitte.wsj.com - Technical updates and peer pressure often compel smartphone users to replace existing devices, a dynamic expected to lead to 1 billion smartphone upgrades this year.
For the very first time, Deloitte predicts at least 1 billion smartphone upgrades in 2015. Given that full touch-screen smartphones have only existed for about eight years, iteration is constant. While existing owners frequently don't actually "need" new devices, they often replace their smartphones anyway due to a number of factors, both technical and behavioral.
"It does seem a bit strange to replace a rectangular piece of plastic, metal, and glass with another that looks largely the same," concedes Paul Lee, head of global technology, media, and telecommunications (TMT) research at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited. But "under the hood" upgrades, which often include faster processors and more random access memory (RAM), can enable smartphone owners to run more complex software, he says.
Smartphone cameras, an especially popular feature with users, tend to improve with each new version, Lee says. As more smartphone owners access 4G networks, they will be able to send these higher-quality photos more quickly, and will likely share more of them, he says.
In addition, as better-quality materials become available, the devices themselves become more rugged, increasingly resistant to water and dust, with screens less likely to shatter if mishandled, he says.
These software and hardware upgrades are alluring, but there's also a behavioral component to purchasing a new smartphone. "One of the big drivers is peer pressure," Lee says. "This is the most personal of all the devices we have. We regard it almost as an extension of our character."
In this TMT Predictions video, Lee and Duncan Stewart, director of TMT research for Deloitte Canada, discuss the factors that prompt users to purchase new smartphones, including why mobile payments might lead to another tipping point for new purchases.

cnbc.com - Microsoft is expected to unveil its latest set of smartphones as it looks to take another swing at forging a winning mobile strategy in a world dominated by Apple's iOS and Google's Android. Key to it is its Windows 10 operating system.
On Tuesday, Microsoft is set to launch two premium handsets at an event in New York along with other devices such as a new wearable and 2-in-1 Surface tablet and the mobile version of Windows 10.
But with the company forecast to hold just 2.6 percent smartphone market share this year, according to IDC, the mass market is shut to Microsoft, analysts said.
"They know they've lost this generation," Ian Fogg, head of mobile at IHS, told CNBC by phone.
"Windows as a mobile operating system is now irrelevant for the smartphone market. The reason Microsoft is still continuing to make hardware is to maintain a toehold in that part of the market."
'Achilles heel'
Microsoft's restructuring announcement in July was a realization of this. In July, it took a $7.6 billion writedown on the handset business it bought from Nokia which completed last year and said it will ax 7,800 workers, mostly from the mobile division.
At the time, Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella said the technology giant would focus on running a "more effective phone portfolio" and to "narrow our focus" on three segments. "We'll bring business customers the best management, security and productivity experiences they need; value phone buyers the communications services they want; and Windows fans the flagship devices they'll love," Nadella said in an email to employees in July.
At the heart of this is Windows 10 operating system which was launched this summer. Microsoft's big push for the operating system is that it works seamlessly across all devices. A feature called "Universal Apps" allows developers to create software that can work on mobile devices and desktops without the need to drastically change the coding. Windows 10 is seen as something that can work cross-platform.
"It's critical for us, we are looking at it as part of a broader ecosystem. We want you to experience Windows across all the devices," a source with knowledge of the matter who asked to remain anonymous told CNBC, adding that the company is being aggressive in pushing its Internet of Things (IoT) offerings which go beyond smartphones to encompass wearables and cloud computing.
Analysts estimate that already 100 million devices have Windows 10 installed on them. For Microsoft, the operating system is as a potential driver for consumers to adopt its mobile devices, but analysts are not clear whether this maybe be the case with iOS and Android controlling around 96 percent of the market.
"A clear Achilles heel for Microsoft is its troubled consumer device strategy, which now appears to be on a trajectory to get a lift on the heels of Windows 10, although the jury is still out on its potential success," Daniel Ives, analyst at FBR Capital Markets, said in a note on Monday.
Business a 'key opportunity'
But Microsoft has already made moves to diversify away from relying on hardware sales and this is their future strategy - not a producer of wide-selling smartphones, but as a provider of services for other operating systems which it can monetize.
Microsoft Office - its software previously reserved for Windows devices only - was opened up to Android phones and tablets as well as the iPhone and iPad earlier this year. It also produces the Surface tablet which shows off the capabilities of Windows 10 in the hope other manufacturers begin making similar devices using the OS. Lenovo is already doing this.
In addition, Microsoft has bought a few companies including cloud security company Adallom and calendar app Sunrise. What they all have in common is a focus on productivity, a theme Nadella has been pushing heavily. If Microsoft can get its software and services onto Android and iOS devices, it is able to access majority of the smartphone market and drive revenues, a move analysts see as more fruitful than trying to get people to buy their hardware.
"It's a much more pragmatic strategy and it's part of a longer term strategy to rebuild and reignite the Windows operating system in smartphones," Fogg said.
And ultimately, the opportunity for Microsoft lays in the enterprise business where it can take advantage of the gap left by BlackBerry's downfall.
"Productivity is the general Microsoft focus and within that business is a key opportunity especially when you look the weakness of BlackBerry in smartphones," Fogg added.

pcmag.com - A sweet treat is coming your way, Nexus device owners.
Google on Monday started rolling out Android 6.0 Marshmallow to Nexus devices. That includes the Nexus 5, 6, 7, 9, and Nexus Player.
Previewed at Google I/O and officially announced in August, Android 6.0 "is the sweetest, smartest Android version yet," Google Vice President of Android Product Management Brian Rakowski wrote in a blog post. The new mobile OS includes a feature called Now on Tap as well as battery life improvements, more privacy and security controls, and easier device setup.
Exclusive to Marshmallow, Now on Tap "stays on task alongside you, instantly pulling up relevant info and helping you get more done," Rakowski wrote. Say, for instance, you receive an email from a friend asking if you want to go to the zoo. Just tap and hold the home button, and Now on Tap will offer up links to relevant information about the zoo, shortcuts to relevant apps, and can even create a calendar event for you.
Google also added two new features - Doze and App Standby - which "dramatically decrease your device's thirst for power," Rakowski wrote. Doze recognizes when your device is idle and automatically goes into a deep sleep state to conserve power while App Standby puts seldom-used apps into a "reduced activity state."
On the privacy front, there's a new app permissions model, which lets you pick and choose which permissions to grant apps and disable any permission for any app, at any time. You can also now use your fingerprint to unlock your device, authorize transactions in the Google Play Store, sign into apps, and checkout with Android Pay on devices with a fingerprint sensor.
Marshmallow will also help you set up a new Android TV or tablet. Just say "OK Google, set up my device from your phone," and Android will migrate your apps, app data, and transfer over Wi-Fi passwords.
The new mobile OS will, of course, also come pre-loaded on the Nexus 6P and 5X, which are available for pre-order now via the Google Store, and will ship in late October. For more, check out Google's Marshmallow page.