On CE - For Dealers, Distributors and OEMs of Consumer Electronics throughout EMEA

Will HP's TouchPad truly be "better than number one"? That's what HP European head Eric Cador says, following a press conference in Cannes.

Announced last February, the TouchPad uses Palm's WebOS, the last entry in the tablet wars dominated by Apple and Google.

Building up to the device's eventual launch this year, HP also announces its flagship UK apps partners-- Last.fm, Sky and the Guardian, all of whom will have Touchpad apps on launch (alongside "thousands" others).

HP hopes its experience in the PC sector will prove key to its tablet success-- success analysts are somewhat uncertain about. We'll see about that success once the TouchPad actually starts hitting the market.

Go HP: "TouchPad Will Be Better Than Number One" Tablet

Go HP TouchPad

Following last year's in-house pilot tests (held in 20 flagship stores) Walmart decides to expand its Walmart Wireless shops to 150 more superstores this year in the USA.

The Wireless Stores carry mobile phones and smartphones, alongside a number of service plans, inside a space around 185 square meters in size near checkout counters.

The retailer describes initial results as "very positive"-- partly thanks to their location inside the parent chain, next to the banking, eyeglass center and other services.

Walmart is also looking into selling appliances with The Appliance Market-- currently testing in 3 US locations, with more to roll out next month.

The stores carry 80 good-better-best SKUs under the company's Hotpoint, GE and GE Profile brands, with free appliance delivery (but extra charges for installation).

Go Walmart

The WW mobile device market totals 427.8m units for Q1 2011 with 19% Y-o-Y growth, according to Gartner-- a market where the smartphone segment continues to grow rapidly enough to soon outpace the rest.

Smartphones account for 23.6% of the mobile device market in Q1 2011, growing by 85% Y-o-Y-- and it will only continue growing further, thanks to competitive mid-tier models which Gartner predicts will drive the smartphones towards mass adoption.

Nokia retains its position as WW mobile device market's leading vendor-- even if its market share (of 25.1%) is at its lowest since 1997 after losing 5.5% market share Y-o-Y. Gartner predicts it will aggressively lower ASPs further in order to maintain Symbian device shipments before its first Windows Phone 7 models start hitting the market.

Samsung meanwhile has its strongest first quarter ever (reaching 16.1%% market share) and should continue going strong in Q2 2011, thanks to a number of device announcements, including new Galaxy smartphone and tablet models.

Following in third place is LG, reaching 5.6% market share.

Moving to the current smartphone OS wars, Android has 36% market share, with Symbian following with 27.4%. However, Gartner says the quarter's biggest news is that of Nokia and Microsoft's alliance, which ties directly with Symbian's retirement (which will lead to a competitors' rush to capture its market share).

Meanwhile RIM's transition to the QNX platform in 2012 should make its smartphones more attractive in the graphics, performance and touch departments, while unifying its Blackberry and Playbook experience.

Windows Phone's share and sales remain quite modest, reaching 1.6m units in Q1 2011-- but the platform should start gaining further momentum once Microsoft's partnership with Nokia starts seeing actual fruit (in the shape of new device models).

Gartner however advices vendors to exercise caution, as it forecasts dropping sales (alongside softness in user demand in emerging markets) through Q2 2011.

Go Gartner Says 428 Million Mobile Communication Devices Sold Worldwide in Q1 2011

Apple wants to make thinner devices-- and to do so it demands standard SIM cards get even smaller.

The news comes through Reuters' reporting comments from an Orange executive, with confirmation from ETSI (the European telecoms standards body).

No decisions on actually starting the standardisation work (a process potentially taking more than a year) is done yet, mind. The process could get a boost should the companies making the standards commitee reach a "broad consensus".

The Orange executive concludes that devices using Apple's tiny SIMs should start appearing next year.

Should Apple's proposal become a standard amongst operators-- and what Apple wants, Apple tends to get-- more vendors will follow in its wake.

Go Apple Plans Smaller SIM Card (Reuters)