Summary Box: Phone software rises in importance
SOFTWARE MATTERS: The software that runs smart phones is rising in importance because the hardware in many high-end phones is increasingly similar. The companies with the most popular phone software will determine the shape of the industry.WINNING, LOSING: This trend has been favoring Google Inc

 

Fresh data shows that sales of Apple's iPhone and Google's Android continue to soar while other smartphone makers like Research In Motion, Palm and Microsoft are struggling to keep pace.

 

According to the latest report from research firm comScore, Research In Motion's BlackBerry platform has the largest U.S. smartphone market share, but the company as a whole is an also-ran compared with larger handset OEMs. ComScore's MobiLENS survey from September to December provides an interesting snapshot of the U.S. mobile handset market.

 

Apple CEO Steve Jobs discounted the progress Google had made with its Android mobile platform, and said Apple will outstrip the company with its own aggressive updates to the iPhone, according to reports from Wired.com and Macrumors.com. Both reports are based on accounts of an internal Apple company meeting Jobs held after the unveiling of the company's iPad tablet last week. 

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