55% of $VZ smartphones sold were iPhones. 4.2M of 7.7M. $AAPL

— Turley Muller (@turleymuller) January 24, 2012

So not only is the iPhone the best selling phone on Verizon¹, iOS is the best selling mobile operating system on what most believe to be the dominate Android carrier. So the old argument that lower sales for multiple different Android phones still would cumulatively outsell the iPhone is wrong.

^{1. and most likely the best selling phone on all carriers it is sold on↩}

Chloe Albanesius via PCMag

Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt on Tuesday took issue with the idea that the Android mobile operating system is fragmented, arguing that there is instead a “differentiation” between devices.

“Differentiation is positive, fragmentation is negative,” Schmidt said during an appearance here at the Consumer Electronics Show. “Differentiation means that you have a choice and the people who are making the phones, they’re going to compete on their view of innovation, and they’re going to try and convince you that theirs is better than somebody else.”

Fragmentation, however, means that you have an app and it runs on one device but not the other, he said.

HorseSchmidt

MG Siegler via parislemon

Hard to pick the most ridiculous element of these updated numbers.

I can’t decide. You choose.

For reference

Donny Benfield via The Gadget Gurus

Ice Cream Sandwich is a really, really, nice update for Android. Love or hate the looks of it, Google has really pushed forward with the user interface on the platform.

Let’s hit on the 3rd party apps. Android is no where close at all, to having the quality 3rd party apps that iOS has.

This is a great overview of the device and lines up with my opinions after playing with the Galaxy Nexus for only a few minutes.

• ICS is a huge improvement and really is pleasant to use even with some odd UI inconsistencies.
• AMOLED is sub par when compared to the Retina Display or any high end IPS display.
• The phone is too large to use comfortably with one hand.
• 3rd party apps on Android suck.

I still contend this phone is like a Windows 7 ultrabook being compared to a MacBook air.

I wanted to comment on my brief experience with the new flagship Android device (15 min tethered to the Verizon display). The Galaxy Nexus is the best Android device I have ever played with and most reviews agree. That being said, if this phone existed in a vacuum it wouldn’t be all that impressive.

What makes this phone so great is the leap it takes from the previous flagship Android devices in terms of software; however, the hardware in this phone is nothing to get excited about. It is still made out of crappy feeling plastic. I don’t get why more robust and high end materials aren’t being used in a $300 flagship phone. The phone is also way too big. I respect Samsung for getting a 4.65" screen in a device that is comparable in size to most phones with 4.3" screens, but it is still too big. The screen is still AMOLED, which to me is a horrible screen technology. I know it has advantages over a traditional LCD in terms of thickness due to a lack of a back light and power consumption, but the color saturation just kills me. For example the Super LCD screen on the HTC Rezound is much better in terms of color accuracy and overall clarity.

Ice Cream Sandwich is so much better than whatever dessert named operating system came before it. I actually really like the software only button approach. I still think the way they change to dots in some applications would confuse many new users but it proved to me that a physical button is not required. I also love the way multitasking is handled. I still think Apple and Microsoft’s approach to multitasking is better than Android’s but I like a dedicated button to bring the multitasking tray up. The OS finally has polish. The robotic TRON like style is not my favorite but that is just a style preference. The attention to detail that Duarte put into ICS is very apparent. The one issue Google really needs to iron out with Android as a whole is touch responsiveness. It is better, but still no where near Windows Phone 7 and iOS.

Overall I think the launch of the Galaxy Nexus or more importantly ICS is Android’s Windows 7 moment. I think every Android phone prior to the Galaxy was like a Windows XP laptop, while the Galaxy Nexus is more similar to a Windows 7 laptop. It’s still made out of crappy materials but the improvements in the OS make it much more tolerable. However as good as Android and Windows no are I still prefer OS X just like I still prefer iOS.

I had a thought today during my lunch break that I couldn't fit into a tweet. Two coworkers just bought their first iPhone, the iPhone 4S on sprint. Both of them over the last few years have asked many times when the iPhone would finally be on sprint so when it was announced they jumped on the opportunity to buy one. Both previously had Android phones because that was the best available on the carrier they wanted to use until now. What is interesting to me is not that they moved from an android device to an iPhone, but how much influence using the iPhone had on them.

From 2007 to early this year AT&T was their only choice and they didn't want to go through the trouble or expense of switching carriers. The addition of Verizon this February also had no impact on their decision. They routinely quipped how they would deal with an inferior device to keep their cheaper monthly bill.

After less than a week with the phone both longtime sprint customers returned their iPhone 4Ss to sprint and canceled their contract to move to AT&T. The slower data performance on the Sprint network never bothered them on their Android smart phones but, in only a week the same network impacted their usage of the iPhone so much that made a decision they refused to do for two or three years. That's the power of the iPhone.

Stephen Hackett via 512 Pixels

I want to make it easier for tech writers, so I’ve created a list — a recipe, if you will — to help make this easier.

• The current version of Android lacks some polish, but the next version of Android will be the one to have, we promise. It’s going to rival iOS. Granted, this phone probably won’t ever get to run it.

Brilliant

Darren Murph via Engadget

After a bit of additional digging, we noticed that it’s possible to access the Tab’s file system from a Mac or Windows PC by using the Android SDK, putting the tablet in USB debugging mode, and running ddms. It’s not the most convenient solution if you want to quickly and conveniently transfer some content to / from the device.

The iPad, it just works.

In this video I unbox and review the Black Alupen iPad stylus. This stylus will work on any capacitive touchscreen including the iPhone and most Android devices. This accessoryis 25 dollars and available in many exciting colors and you can purchace one from Amazon. In the two weeks I have had the stylus it has held up very well and is much better than the Pogo stylus that I have tried before.

In this video I give a quick first look at the new Droid X from Motorola on Verizon wireless.