Opinion: How the Google-Motorola deal will spawn a new OS

This week I’m at a convention of analysts from the major firms who cover mobile phones devices. Most of the major names are here and, as you might imagine, much of the discussion is on the acquisition of Motorola Mobile by Google. While I don’t want to imply that all of us are in agreement — we seldom are — a theme has emerged in terms of consensus Android as an open OS is pretty much done. Google is now on the path to becoming much like Apple, with Android as an integrated solution. This could actually improve the quality of future Android phones, but it is also creating a substantial demand for something to take its place.

Android is dead, the Android Phone is born

The first part of this growing consensus is that by buying Motorola, Google made it nearly impossible to sustain relationships with the other licensees. This group of mostly mobile phone companies largely either didn’t adopt or abandoned Symbian after Nokia bought it, and avoids with a passion supporting any common platform that is tied to a competitor. It simply puts them at too great a disadvantage. Nokia actually went farther than Google is going to create separation between Symbian and its handset business, and it clearly wasn’t far enough.

New app Instagram allows mobile phones to create artistic photographs

London, Aug 21(ANI): Now, you can also create artistic photographs from your mobile phones which could then be shared with friends on a social network focused on photos - thanks to a new application called Instagram.


Launched in October 2010, Instagram is an iPhone app that makes it easy to add effects to photos and share them with friends. It added a social element to a trend that was already well developed: adding pre-determined effects and filters to mobile phone photographs.

ET Review: LG Optimus 3D P920 with eye-popping visuals

For some people, 3D is just a gimmick that is worth little more than the odd look. It definitely has no place on a mobile phones. LG, however, thinks differently. The new Optimus 3D is not really the first 3D phone - the Spice M-67 offered 3D without glasses almost a year ago -but it certainly is the most muscular handheld device we have seen offering 3D. It is bulky (11.9mm thick) and at a hefty 168 grams, is not the lightest phone in town. Although built mainly of plastic, it feels solid to hold.

The front is dominated by the large 4.3 inch display with four touch keys for menu, home, back and search. On the left side are HDMI and micro USB ports and on the right is the volume rocker and a key which many might assume is a camera key, but is actually the key that lets in the 3D magic. A 3.5 mm audio jack and the screen/power on-off button are on the top of the phone. On the back is the dual 5.0-megapixel camera module with a single LED flash.

Motorola DROID Bionic MAP leak shows $299.99 price tag kicking off September 8th

Seems like we can't go more than a day or two without another Motorola DROID Bionic latest mobile phone leak, huh? Today we've got the image you see above, showing that the Bionic has been given a minimum advertised price (MAP) of $299.99 by our friends at Verizon. That means that we'll likely see it slapped with that price tag when it arrives. Speaking of arriving, the Bionic's MAP is taking effect on September 8th, meaning that that's likely the day that the handset will hit stores and this whole saga can finally end. Oh, and if you're not the commitment type and are planning on picking up the Bionic for full retail next month, the folks at Droid-Life have heard that it'll be priced at $589.99 sans contract.

Xperia mini Pro

The Sony Xperia Mini Pro (Not to be mistaken for the X10 Mini Pro), is the keyboard equipped version of the Xperia mini that lanced last week. With so many Mini’s out there from Sony Ericsson it can be quite confusing especially considering the Mini Pro was code named “Mango” for the last few months. So just to be clear the Xperia Mini range is a small version of their popular Android powered Xperia smartphones. Rather then the usual format of adding numbers or letters to signify an upgrade Sony Ericsson have dropped the X10 from the newest model and is simply called Xperia Mini Pro. Hopefully that clears up any confusion over the name.

So now that we’re sure this is in fact a latest mobile phone, what does it have offer? Well for a small Android handset it’s got a pretty powerful processor. It’s main competitor the HTC wildfire S comes with a 600 MHz processor and is no slouch with a very smooth and responsive menu system.

Share Will LG experience a backlash for locking the G-Slate bootloader?

Oh, LG, I want to love you but I can't. Just when we think you may make it in the smartphone world, you go and do this. You make good latest mobile phones, not great phones; you raise the bar, but only so much; and now you're locking bootloaders? Let's do the math: that's two tiny steps forward and a mile jog in the opposite direction of other Android OEMs.

When it comes to smartphones – or mobile tablets – specifications are only half the story. A dual-core processor, 1GB RAM, awesome camera and high resolution display only account for a portion of a customers' love for their Android phone. Without development support, a lot of tinkering users may be left mostly unsatisfied down the road. The initial excitement can quickly run out after several bugs – likely due to an OEM's custom software, which can easily be solved with a custom ROM – surface.

HTC partners with Beats, awesome audio focused devices coming this fall

I am a latest mobile phones savvy and a big fan of HTC’s smartphones and the HD7 is my current favorite. However, high end audio quality and camera performance have been two areas of the hardware that has disappointed in the past. They seem to be working to get their cameras updated, as seen in the myTouch 4G Slide, and last night announced that partnered with Beats Electronics LLC to focus on brining high performance sound to HTC phones.

With the incredible Zune Pass offer and experience on Windows Phones, a partnership with Beats and its Beats by Dr. Dre audio experience could result in some of the best HTC phones ever. It looks like Nokia will get some special treatment from Microsoft and provide a fantastic navigation service to Windows Phone so it is cool that HTC will differentiate with an amazing audio experience.