Patience is no virtue among consumers coping with “faulty” smartphones or lousy customer care at their wireless carriers, found a Blancco Technology Group study. Blancco canvassed 1,400 smartphone-owning consumers aged 25-65 in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australia in early June and found that the combination of defective phones and shoddy customer service would cause 31 percent of respondents to switch to different mobile carriers and another 33 percent to change their device manufacturers, the research firm said Wednesday in a report. Though only 2 percent of consumers surveyed said they’re “bothered” by inferior camera or video quality, 38 percent cited poor battery life as their most pressing smartphone gripe, the firm said. Faulty smartphone functionality “is the norm, not the exception,” the firm said. It said 31 percent of respondents typically experience problems with their devices at least once a month and as often as several times a year.

The smartphone overtook the laptop in the U.K. as the most popular device for getting Internet access, regulator Ofcom said in a report. Two-thirds of British consumers own a smartphone, using it on average for nearly two hours a day to browse the Internet, access social media and bank and shop online, it said. Ofcom found that a third of Internet users canvassed see their smartphone as the most important device for going online, compared with 30 percent who are sticking with their laptop. The rise in smartphones for Internet use “marks a clear shift” since 2014, when 22 percent turned to their phones first, and 40 percent preferred laptops, it said. “Smartphones have become the hub of our daily lives,” and are now owned by two-thirds of U.K. adults, up from 39 percent three years ago, it said. Though 90 percent of 16- to 24-year-olds own a smartphone, ownership since 2012 also has doubled to 50 percent among those ages 55-64, it said. “The surge is being driven by the increasing take-up of 4G mobile broadband, providing faster online access.”

An app that allows fans to buy food, drinks and merchandise at sports events directly from their smartphones could be available in NASCAR, NBA and NFL venues next year, said app developer Tap.in2. The app was used by the Cleveland Cavaliers during 22 2015 NBA regular and post-season games to encourage fans to buy in-seat delivery and avoid missing the action on court, said Tap.in2. Deliveries were said to arrive in under six minutes, said the company. About 80 percent of sales were beverages, with an average spend per fan of $32. Fan adoption rate was 25 percent, and fans who used the app averaged usage of one and a half times per game, said Tap.in2. Concessionaire Aramark plans to offer more service and menu options via the app next season, said the app developer.

Developers of the NextRadio smartphone app that lets listeners receive FM radio on their handsets are teaming with College Broadcasters Inc. on a sweepstakes competition to devise 60-second ad spots for the next phase of NextRadio’s consumer awareness campaign launching in October, the partners said in a Wednesday announcement. The contest “is designed to offer college students an opportunity to conceive, create, and submit a commercial radio spot and compete within a real world context,” they said. Three winners will be chosen, they said. Besides gaining national exposure, the first prize winner will get an expense-paid trip to the National Student Electronic Media Convention Oct. 22-24 in Minneapolis, they said.

Kphone announced an unlocked Android smartphone that’s due to hit the U.S. market in October. The company cited the growing popularity of unlocked phones, which it said provide the latest smartphone technology along with the flexibility to switch among networks with no termination fees. The first Kphone to be sold in the U.S. is the 5-inch K5, with Android 5.0, Corning Gorilla Glass, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 quad-core processor, a 13-megapixel back camera, 5-megapixel front camera and dual SIM card slots. The phone supports AT&T and T-Mobile in the U.S., the company said. Pricing for the Kphone, made by Chinese smartphone maker K-Touch, will be "aggressive," according to a company spokeswoman, who said the U.S. phone retailer isn't ready to release pricing details.

Samsung is implementing a new Android security update process to fast-track security patches over the air when vulnerabilities are discovered, it said Wednesday. Security updates will release monthly, the company said. Samsung recently sent updates to Galaxy devices after reports of vulnerabilities in Google’s Stagefright media playback engine that could allow an attacker to send a media file over a Multimedia Messaging Service, it said. “With the recent security issues, we have been rethinking the approach to getting security updates to our devices in a more timely manner,” said Dong Jin Koh, Samsung executive vice president-mobile research and development. “Since software is constantly exploited in new ways, developing a fast response process to deliver security patches to our devices is critical to keep them protected,” he said. Samsung is communicating with carriers around the world to implement the new approach, and details about models and timelines will be released soon, it said.

New low-cost smartphones from Motorola will boast a feature called Turbopower, which is claimed to make them the world's fastest-charging smartphones. Smartphones with Turbopower can run for 10 hours on a 15-minute charge, Motorola said. Motorola demonstrated Turbopower at a London event where finding anyone who could explain how the technology works, without risk of damage to the lithium-ion batteries or the risk of fire, proved difficult. To use the Turbopower feature requires purchase of an extra charger with a standard micro USB plug, but stepped DC output. Step 1 sends the normal 5 volts to the phone, but at high current (2.85 amps). Step 2, called Turbo 1, sends 9 volts (also at 2.85 amps), and Step 3, called Turbo 2, sends 12 volts at 2.15 amps. When connected to a conventional phone, the charger defaults to safe 5-volt operation. When connected to a new Moto X Style or X Play phone, the charger handshakes with the phone through the USB data wires and sends 12 volts. After partial charging is complete, the chargers steps down to 9 volts. Moto X Play will be available at the end of August, while Moto X Style will follow later in the year. Details of availability and pricing for the accessory Turbopower chargers weren't available.

Sprint announced major changes to its leadership Monday, after the close of the U.S. financial markets. Günther Ottendorfer is joining the company as chief operating officer, from Telekom Austria Group. Sprint Chief Network Officer John Saw is being promoted to chief technology officer, reporting to Ottendorfer, Sprint said. Tarek Robbiati was named chief financial officer, replacing Joseph Euteneuer, who is leaving the company, Sprint said. Robbiati is former deputy CFO at Australian telecom Telstra.

Roughly 338 million smartphones shipped worldwide in Q2, with year-over-year sales growth of 16 percent, said Juniper Research. The gap between winners and losers widened, said Juniper. The launch of the P8 smartphone propelled Huawei to 50 percent growth over Q2 2015, while Xiaomi had roughly 33 percent growth during the period. Huawei is making an effort to expand beyond Asia, but Xiaomi, focusing on domestic sales, is “vulnerable to the slowing of the Chinese market,” it said. Samsung shipments continued to decline as the company reported a more profitable Q2 product mix, but the S6 and S6 Edge launch, expected to ship between 60 and 70 million by the end of 2015, was hurt by component delays, it said. Samsung will cut prices to boost sales ahead of a new high-end model expected to launch in Q3, Juniper said (see report, this issue). Apple’s 47.5 million unit sales (see 1507220052) were driven by 112 percent growth in China in Q2, while LG’s 14.1 million shipments declined by just under 3 percent from Q2 2014. Microsoft's 8.4 million shipments were a 12 percent improvement over Q2 2014, and BlackBerry’s shipments hovered around the 1 million mark, it said.

Android devices running versions 2.2 through 5.1.1_r4 contain vulnerabilities in the Stagefright media playback engine that may allow an attacker to access multimedia files or potentially take control of a vulnerable device, said an alert from the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team Tuesday. Users and administrators are encouraged to review the Vulnerability Note for more information, the alert said. Affected Android users should contact their wireless carrier or device manufacturer for a software update, it said.