In the US, this past quarter was the first official quarter where LG was no longer, and the latest research from Counterpoint suggests that Motorola, OnePlus, and Samsung have gained from the exit of the former major player in smartphones.

Topline figures:

• The US smartphone market grew 9% quarter-on-quarter, and 1% YoY in Q3 2021.
• No surprises: Apple retained the number one spot in Q3 2021, with its market share growing to 42%, up some three points of market share.
• Samsung was up five points to 35% of the market.
• And after LG’s exit, where it had something like as much as 13% of the market a year ago, now Samsung and Apple hold a combined 77% share.
• This week, the NY Times compared Apple and Samsung to the Coke and Pepsi of smartphones in the US and that seems more true than ever.
• Anyway, where’s Google? Well, Google — and its Pixel line — is probably grouped in the “Others” category. The Pixel 4a and the Pixel 5 haven’t been able to get Google into a top-five slot.
• Maybe the Pixel 6 series can boost it, maybe it can’t; supply chain issues won’t help.
• In the minor stakes, Motorola gained a little, as did OnePlus, while TCL saw a one point decline.

Here are the figures:

Other insights:

• Senior Research Analyst Maurice Klaehne said:
• “Motorola became the third-largest OEM in Q3 after capturing share from LG. Top models for the OEM include the Moto G Play, Moto G Power, and the 5G-enabled Moto G Stylus. Motorola was less affected by supply issues due to Vietnam factory shutdowns as it manufactures most of its devices in China.”
• Other insights from Counterpoint, which I haven’t been tracking too closely, come via Senior Research Analyst Hanish Bhatia, who said:
• “…OEMs such as BLU, HMD, and Wiko continue to cater to low-end MVNO brands dominant in national retail channels, like TracFone, StraightTalk, Simple Mobile, and Total Wireless. Carriers too are filling in gaps by increasing the use of white-label devices. There are now four sub-$300 5G white-label devices in the market..”

📁 Pixel Fold camera details leak: Expect similar performance to the Pixel 5, not the 6 (Android Authority).

🛫 The flagship DJI Mavic 3 drone has been announced, and our drone man Jonathan Feist notes it has a Hasselblad dual-camera system shooting at 5.1K video, has a secondary camera with 28x zoom, and rocks 46 minutes of flight time, with a price tag to match: about $3,000 or so, while the Mavic 3 Cine adds more pro features for $5,000 (Android Authority).

💰 The iPhone with USB-C port is for sale on eBay and is attracting $100,000 bids (PCMag).

🔎 Google is testing an easier way to search for files in Drive (Engadget).

👉 Intel’s Alder Lake big.little CPU design has been put to the test: It’s a barn burner says Ars Technica, while the added support of DDR5 memory has seen Intel make a big step, part of its revised new plan to beat out the competition, reckons AnandTech.

🪓 How Instagram and Twitter buried the hatchet: backyard pizza (The Verge).

📺 Your TV setup needs some work: Seven quick tweaks that make a big impact (CNET).

🚗 Autonomous cars: Cruise has hit the San Francisco streets, while Waymo will test its autonomous vehicles in manual mode in Manhattan, New York, to take advantage of the rainy and snowy season for data (Waymo).

🚢 Wow: First Ever Given photos show the massive damage to the bow of the ship that clogged the Suez Canal (Insider).

🌒 NASA says not to miss a beautiful meeting of the moon and Venus on Nov. 7 (CNET).

🔭 Speaking of: The guide for the next decade of space research just dropped (Wired).

🤔 “ELI5: Why is there no white laser pointer?” (r/explainlikeimfive)

Amsterdam is plenty of fun to visit and getting around on the canals on a boat isn’t just for tourists, but a logistical solution to many problems.

Now, self-driving robo-boats out of MIT are heading out on the canals and they’re really very clever. 

• Scientists from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and the Senseable City Laboratory launched the five-person boats on Amsterdam’s canals.
• What’s being called Roboat are pretty tech: they run on batteries, and charge wirelessly when docked. The teams reckon they can run for 10 hours between charges.
• Each Roboat uses lidar and cameras for a 360-degree view and understanding of what else is on the water or nearby land, etc, and GPS guides them around the many, many canals and intersections and bridges and so on.
• Built on a universal platform, the boat has an interchangeable build: think of a Roboat with seating for people as a taxi, or another without seats for hauling trash.
• There will be a remote operator in the mix, and apparently, one operator can monitor 50 Roboats at once.

Aye aye!

Tristan Rayner, Senior Editor.