Windows Phone to surpass Apple's iOS by 2015

Energized by the recent deal between Microsoft and Nokia, Windows Phone will grab the No. 2 spot ahead of Apple's iOS in the global smartphone market by 2015, according to IDC's latest Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.

Releasing some slight revisions from a report issued in March, IDC expects Windows Phone to capture 20.3 percent of all smartphone users in just four years, up from a 3.8 percent share this year.

The research firm believes that by switching to Windows Phone as the core OS on its devices, Nokia will provide the kick that Microsoft needs, especially in global regions where Nokia has enjoyed robust demand. Microsoft's mobile OS will continue to hang onto a small chunk of the market until 2012 when IDC expects Windows Phone-equipped Nokia devices to start shipping in large numbers.

Google's Android will keep its top spot in 2015, grabbing almost 44 percent of the global market, while Apple's iOS will hug third place with a 16.9 percent share. Both numbers are slightly lower than IDC's earlier forecasts in March. Though IOS's market share is expected to inch down from its current 18.2 percent, Apple will still see a dramatic increase in smartphone shipment growth through the end of 2015.

In second place this year, Symbian will quickly lose market share as Nokia phases it out in favor of Windows Phone. By 2015, IDC sees Symbian's market share as virtually nil.



With lower prices, better features, and less costly data plans, the global smartphone market should grow more than four times that of the overall mobile phone market this year, according to IDC.

The research firm sees the smartphone market jumping 55 percent this year as more consumers swap out their feature phones for more advanced devices. This year's smartphones shipments are expected to hit 472 million, up from 305 million last year, and then double to 982 million by the end of 2015.

"Mobile phone users around the world are turning in their 'talk-and-text' devices for smartphones as these devices allow users to perform daily tasks like shopping and banking from anywhere," IDC analyst Kevin Restivo said in a statement. "The growth trend is particularly pronounced in emerging markets where adoption is still in its early days. As a result, the growth in regions such as Asia/Pacific and Latin America, will be dramatic over the coming years."

iOS 5 beta jailbroken in less than 24 hours

The next major version of Apple's iOS has been exploited less than a day after its beta release to developers.

A member of the iPhone Dev Team--a group of hackers that targets Apple devices and is not to be confused with Apple's group that designs the iOS software--announced through a tweet last night that the developer beta release of iOS 5 was susceptible to limera1n, an exploit that targets a vulnerability in the iOS boot software.



As a result, iPhone Dev Team member "MuscleNerd" said that it was possible to install third-party application installer Cydia, which lets users download applications not offered through Apple's App Store. The device used was a fourth-generation iPod Touch running the beta of iOS 5, software Apple offered up to developers following yesterday's WWDC keynote address and iOS 5 unveiling.

For proof, MuscleNerd has posted two photos of the jailbreak, one of which includes the iPod's home screen, which prominently feature the Cydia logo. Another is a screenshot from the third-party SSH iOS application, iSSH, which shows that root level access to the iPod's file system has been obtained.

As ReadWriteWeb notes, the jailbreak technique that was used results in a tethered solution, meaning users are required to go through the process each time their phone reboots. The more advanced solution--and what has been offered for previous versions of iOS--is untethered, which sticks around until the next software update from Apple is manually applied.
That Apple's brand new iOS build would be jailbroken so soon should not be too surprising. The gold master version of iOS 4, which was the same version of the software to ship on the iPhone 4, as well as to be delivered to customers as an update, was jailbroken a day after its release to developers.

Apple has said it intends to release a final version of iOS 5 to customers this fall. In the meantime, it's offering registered iOS developers a crack at testing out the software and working on making sure apps are compatible with its new features and APIs. When readying iOS 4 for customers, it took Apple four separate beta builds for developers before reaching golden master status and a final release. During that time, numerous changes are made, including bug and security fixes, giving Apple time to fix vulnerabilities ahead of a public release