New data is available from Nielsen, which shows that Android is still snowballing in the US, continuing their growth and still retains their glorious crown as the most-used smartphone OS in Q3 2011. Android now accounts for 43-percent of U.S. smartphones, up from 39-percent in July. Apple's iOS remained at 28-percent, eating some of that Android dust.

Apple still owns the hardware front, though. iPhones are used by a full 28-percent of all smartphone customers, which catapults them to the top manufacturer for another quarter. RIM's BlackBerry OS is continuing its downward spiral, slipping from 20-percent marketshare to now 18-percent. Not a huge slip, but still something to know about.

Windows Phone adoption rate has slowed down and only accounts for 7-percent of smartphones, this is down from the 9-percent figure from last time. Microsoft and Nokia will obviously mix that up next year, as we see the companies merging their powers together to release some very special products. Q3 results are good, but Q4 results are the gem. New hardware (and OS) announcements are coming at a fast rate, which should see the landscape change quite a bit.

iOS 5, Android 4.0/Ice Cream Sandwich, plenty of new handsets, etc.