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.

Buying a mobile phone

Have you ever wondered what life was like before the invention of the mobile phones? It’s hard to imagine now that mobiles dominate our everyday life.

Although the mobile phone is primarily used for voice communication, the advancement of technology means the modern day mobile is capable of a number of other feats. From SMS messages for sending text, and MMS messaging for sending multimedia (photos, sounds and videos), to surfing the Web, listening to Internet radio, downloading music and reading the news, the rise of smartphones has made mobile phones much more than just a communication device.

Nokia to Bring Windows Phone 7 Devices to China Mobile

Nokia plans on launching Windows Phone 7 handsets through China's largest mobile phone carrier as the handset maker tries to fend off competition from Android devices and Apple's iPhone.

The smartphones would operate on China Mobile's 3G network using the TD-SCDMA standard, said Nokia executive vice president Colin Giles during a speech in Beijing on Friday. China Mobile has more than 600 million users or about two-third of the country's total mobile phone subscriber base.

Amazon CEO Files Patent for Mobile Phone Airbags

We've all done it at one point or another, whether it was on the kitchen floor, in the backyard, in the toilet, or even in public. That's right -- we've all dropped our Latest mobile phones at some point in our lives.

I've had approximately 12 cell phones total throughout my mobile life, which mainly consisted of cheap feature phones in my earlier days. When I'd accidentally drop these phones, they stuck it out pretty well, only coming out of the free-fall with a few scratches.

How Facebook Messenger blew up my iPhone

I was one of many folks whose smartphone was bombarded after installing the new Facebook Messenger app, a stand alone version of the Facebook messaging platform also included in the main Facebook application. To the dismay of many smartphone users including myself, my contacts on my iPhone in some cases were showing up in triplicate. For us geeks, nothing is more maddening that duplicate entries of anything, whether it be notifications, emails or contacts.
I won’t go on and on about this as many people already are on their blogs but it does bring up a couple questions and again unearths some more of the immature development practices still prevalent at Facebook.

The new front in the mobile phone wars

The future for companies like Nokia and Motorola, once the great pioneers of the mobile phone industry, has been bleak for some time. The likes of Apple and RIM have eaten away at their share of the high-end smartphone market for several years now, while cheaper Asian manufacturers will soon do the same in the sub-$200 space. We have long argued there is no way back; the adapt or die moment has passed.

Google knows this, yet it is still shelling out $12.5bn on Motorola Mobility. In reality, this deal has very little to do with the US handset maker’s mobile phones, which are frankly pretty terrible. If Google had wanted a device manufacturer it would have plumped for something better like Taiwan’s HTC.

Nokia Jumps as Google-Motorola Deal May Move Handset Makers to Microsoft

Nokia Oyj (NOK1V), the world’s biggest maker of mobile phones by volume, climbed the most in 1 1/2 years in Helsinki trading after Google Inc. (GOOG) agreed to acquire Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. for about $12.5 billion.

Google, whose Android software powers handsets made by Motorola Mobility and manufacturers including Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. (066570), will win wireless patents it needs to compete against Apple Inc.’s iPhone. The linkup may shift some Android phone manufacturers away from Google to consider platforms such as Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)’s Windows Phone, which was adopted by Nokia this year, said Lee Simpson, an analyst at Jefferies International in London.

Some of us care that Nokia is taking Symbian away

Rachel posted yesterday on the news that Nokia is dropping Symbian and Series 40 phones from the North American market. While most people likely won’t care there are still a few of us who loved to use these Nokia smartphones and feature phones because they still have a lot to offer and had innovations not seen on smartphones today.

Zen Mobile appoints P Vignesh as Brand Manager

Zen Mobile has roped in P Vignesh as Brand Manager. He replaces Smarth Bansal, who used to look after the marketing division. Prior to this appointment, Vignesh was Brand Manager at Bates 141, where he used to look after the Zen Mobile account.

Vignesh has five and a half years experience in the industry and had started his career in advertising with a short stint with Dentsu Marcom – Middle East, where he was handling the Honda Motors account.

Maxx Mobile to launch 40 new handsets by March 2012

MUMBAI: With an aim to increase its share in the domestic mobile phones handset market, home-grown Maxx Mobile plans to launch up to 40 more models this fiscal, a top company official said.

"We plan to launch around 40 models by March, 2012. We will be launching four models in the next quarter in the smartphone series.

LG Prada K2 makes a quick appearance on video

Last month we were treated to our first peek at the LG Prada K2 in the form of a leaked render, which was nice at the time, but you know what's better than an image? Video. And that's precisely what the folks at Pocketnow got their hands on today. The clip is a tad blurry and rather short, but it does offer up another look at an unannounced smartphone, and that's good enough for us. You can check out the full video below.

Is the BlackBerry Bold 9900 priced out of the consumer range at $349.99?

We have been waiting to see RIM release the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and I was seriously considering the mobile phone device to go along with my PlayBook, but if the pricing shown in this leaked T-Mobile document is true then it looks like I am not going to be joining the BlackBerry community anytime soon. $349.99 before the $50 mail-in rebate (can’t these things just die?) with a 2-year contract is crazy pricing on a phone that runs a slightly modified version of an old OS and IMHO cannot compete with iOS, Android, and Windows Phone devices.

When a consumer can pick up the latest and greatest smartphones at their carrier store for $199 I don’t know why they would even consider the Bold 9900 at $100 more. I wonder if RIM is giving up on consumer market with the Bold 9900 so they can price some of their other upcoming BB OS 7 devices down in the $199 or less range. I know the initial cost of a smartphone is not the defining cost and has little effect on the contract cost that we pay here in the US, but it is a mental thing and does offer a comparison point with other smartphones. If it does launch at $199 with a contract and in the $400 off contract price, then I still may consider one.

HTC Salsa Launch – Social Networking Made Simple

On board physical buttons are limited to a power button, volume rocker a camera switch and the all important Facebook button which sets the phone apart from the rest. This button allows you to quickly post your status to Facebook in seconds! As soon as you take a photo with the inbuilt camera, the button starts to glow to remind you that you can upload that picture right away. Sending the picture to your profile is achieved immediately by taping the button.

Sony Ericsson Xperia neo: Review

Sony Ericsson has a lot riding on the Xperio neo, which arrived in Australia late last month. It’s the company’s most recent top-of-the-line handset, with a focus on an all-round great performance.

Design

Sony Ericsson has invested a lot of time in making the Xperia neo as sleek and modern-looking as possible. Colour-wise, and the neo comes with a (very) dark blue metallic tint, that in most light really comes across as being black. Interestingly, Sony has opted to make the standard Android back, home and menu buttons at the bottom of the front of the device physical — they’re not touch-sensitive like on most other Android phones coming out at the moment. Depending on your preference, you’ll either love them or hate them, but they match the style of the phone and the chrome look is suitable with the dark blue backing.