The latest figures from Gartner confirmed that Android accounted for 56.1 per cent of the market in the first quarter of the year, compared to just 36.4 per cent during the same period last year. Apple's iOS was identified as its closest rival, clocking up 22.9 per cent, an increase on the 16.9 per cent it reached last year.

Meanwhile, both Google and Apple saw a growth in shipments over the first quarter, rising to 81 million units and 33.1 million units respectively. This comes as the overall smartphone sector grew by 44.7 per cent year-on-year to 144.4 million units.

Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner, said that the commoditisation of the smartphone market is becoming increasingly challenging for manufacturers looking to make their handset stand out.

"This is particularly true for smartphones based on the Android OS, where a strong commoditisation trend is at work and most players are finding it hard to break the mould," the analyst added.

Nokia and Research in Motion, meanwhile, saw their shipments drop, with Nokia's Symbian OS suffering a particularly steep fall of 20 per cent of market share following the launch of its Windows Phones.

The South Korean company stated that the Optimus LTE2 will be released in the domestic market "soon" and offers as much memory as a notebook computer, as well as a battery that provides 40 per cent more running time on a single charge than its predecessor.

So far there is no timetable regarding the overseas sales plans for the handset, but it is thought that a revised model is likely to be released in North America first.

In addition to the battery improvements, the smartphone boasts a 4.7-inch liquid crystal display and a single application processor chip, which helps give its camera a faster shutter speed.

Commenting on the competition, Park Jong-Seok, president of the mobile communications division, said: "We will focus on quality and continue to release premium phones."

LG has recently been operating at a loss when it comes to its handsets, due to the popularity of other brands around the world. However, its latest update could provide a new opportunity to take on the big names on the international market.

A number of users have been referred to reviews praising the Nokia Windows phone when posing the question to Siri. It appears that Siri is using statistics and data from search engine Wolfram Alpha to deliver the answer, and seeing as there are a high number of user reviews praising the Nokia phone, the Lumia is coming out on top.

Nokia originally unveiled the Lumia 900 back in January of this year at the Consumer Electronics Show, where it was awarded the Best Smartphone award. This may also have been a factor in Siri's answer.

The reports are likely to be welcomed by Nokia, which has been struggling to regain its market share over recent months as Apple and Samsung continue to dominate the smartphone market.

While it still has some way to go, the Lumia range launched in collaboration with Microsoft, have been well-received. Although it remains to be seen if consumers will show sufficient interest in the handsets to turn around the Finnish company's fortunes.

This is according to research from comScore, which found that in the US, Facebook users spent around 441 minutes using the social network on their phones during the month. Just 391 minutes were spent accessing Facebook through a PC or laptop, however.

The data forms part of the Mobile Metrix 2.0 report, which is a mobile behavioural measurement service. The same report also identified Google sites as the websites that smartphone users engaged with most. Indeed, Google sites enjoyed nearly 94 million visitors over the month, representing 96.9 per cent of the mobile audience.

Mark Donovan, senior vice president at comScore, commented on the Mobile Metrix: "In addition to the granularity of reporting between mobile browser and apps across operating systems, Mobile Metrix 2.0 also enables a unified view of media properties' total mobile reach, providing both advertisers and publishers with the actionable insights necessary to optimise their mobile strategies."

In addition to Facebook and Google, the study found that Yahoo! and Amazon sites were also among those most visited by smartphone users.

Samsung sold almost 12 million more units than the Apple in the first three months of the year. The figures, compiled by Juniper Research, showed that Apple sold 35.1 million iPhones around the world during the first quarter, while Samsung managed to sell 46.9 million from its smartphone range.

The bestselling Samsung Galaxy S II really helped boost Samsung's performance and is thought to be the main contender on the market at the moment.

But while Samsung is clearly in the lead when it comes to numbers, Apple's iPhone sales are still generating more profit. Apple's iPhone revenue was $22.7 billion (£14 billion ) in the first three months of the year, while Samsung's clocked in at $17 billion.

Despite their rivalry, the two businesses are clearly in the lead when it comes to the rest of the competition. In fact, Samsung and Apple handsets accounted for nearly 60 per cent of the 139 million smartphones sold between January and March this year.

The latest phone to feature the lenses is the Nokia 808 PureView, which will start rolling out this month. It uses the optical technology in conjunction with a super-high resolution sensor in order to deliver a top quality smartphone camera.

Jo Harlow, executive vice-president of Nokia Smart Devices, commented on the partnership: “Carl Zeiss was a crucial partner in the creation of the first PureView experience.

“The benefits of our ongoing collaboration will be more PureView innovation and further advancements in smartphone imaging in the coming months and years."

Michael Kaschke, chief executive at Carl Zeiss AG, added that the joint operation has always aimed to “push the boundaries of mobile photography”.

He added: “Looking back at seven years of successful partnership, we are proud of the innovations and outstanding products created in this shared journey. Today we are celebrating the extension of our collaboration with a new technology that sets another real benchmark in this sector.”

Nokia has faced some difficulties recently, but the devices that have featured Carl Zeiss optics have nearly always been well-received.

The service effectively 'digitises' the user's credit or debit cards to make it easier to make purchases online or in a high street store. But as well as using the new text message technique, the app will allow users to make purchases with near-field communication contactless devices in shops.

To begin with the service will be free, but a charge of 15p per money message is expected to be introduced at a later date.

Up to £500 can be transferred through the service and over 100 retailers have already agreed to accept payments, making it a viable alternative to traditional systems. Among the shops to have signed up are Comet, Sainsbury's Direct and Debenhams.

James Le Brocq, managing director at O2 Money said: "We believe it will transform the way people manage their finances and spend money."

One of the main issues with using mobile phones for payments in this way is security. Personal details, financial data and passwords for the service are all held of O2's remote servers, rather than on the mobile device itself but it could take some time before public mentality comes to view the technology as trustworthy.

The phone is thought to provide its own platform exclusive to Facebook, rather than earlier HTC models, which just featured Facebook integration. DigiTimes uncovered the latest news and reported that Facebook is thought to be looking to expand its investments and income streams in light of becoming a public company.

Launching its own branded smartphone would certainly help to diversify the social network's income. Meanwhile, from HTC's point of view, a new popular handset could help to revive its slumping profits and sales that have resulted from a loss of market share to firms such as Apple and Samsung.

Facebook has been rumoured to be building its own smartphone for a number of years now as its user group has continued to grow. Whether or not this latest possibility turns out to be true is yet to be seen.

Google is also thought to be working on a new branded smartphone of its own in conjunction with Samsung as the big players gear up to fight it out for this corner of the market.

The firm sold around 15 million smartphones last year after launching its operations around ten years ago with a range of basic models sold in Africa. This year, it is already hoping to sell around 50 million devices and has plans to launch its first two phones-cum-tablets in a bid to branch out.

ZTE is the world's number four handset producer and fifth-ranked telecoms gear maker, according to Reuters, and it is valued at around $9.3 billion having expanded to operate in Europe and the emerging markets.

Sales of smartphones are rising across the board, so the Chinese firm stands a strong chance of stepping in to claim its corner of the global market. Data from Gartner shows that around 472 million smartphones were sold around the world last year, while Credit Suisse forecasts sales topping one billion by 2014.

ZTE's executive director He Shiyou, told reporters: "As handsets contribute more to overall revenue, it will affect our profit margins. In 2012, our aim is to increase handset margins."

The firm reported that it had lost €929 million in the first three months of 2012 as sales plunged by 29 per cent.

The loss is in contrast to the €344 million profit recorded a year before but there is still hope for the firm as its tie-up with Microsoft has proven popular. President and chief executive, Stephen Elop, explained that Nokia is planning on continue to work hard at cutting its costs to capitalise on the Lumia range.

In an interview with the New York Times, Mr Elop said: “Clearly we are disappointed with our performance in the first quarter. At the same time, the numbers mask the totality of what we have accomplished. Lumia is up and running in the US We are clearly in the heart of the transition.”

Investors were warned last week of Nokia's losses, which are expected to continue into the second quarter of the year. The continued loss is likely to be exacerbated by a restructuring charge at Nokia Siemens Networks as the company struggles to organise the different section of its business and identify those worth pursuing.