Google blows China off, China’s pissed, no one cares

In response to Google’s recent decision to stop censoring search results in China, the Chinese government has condemned their move in a recent statement.  Google and China have found themselves locked in a heated struggle for many years regarding the results of the world’s largest search provider.  China was quoted to have said;

Kyocera Zio smartphone; Industry lets out a resounding “Meh”

Kyocera recently released information regarding the Zio, a low-cost, midrange, Google Android powered smartphone slated for release sometime in the Spring of this year.  Despite the rather uninspired specifications, the Zio marks the return of Kyocera to the smartphone arena, which means more to come.  Hit the link for more information. 

GetJar Study: Mobile Apps To Grow $17 Billion by 2012

I had an opportunity to sit down with Bill Scott, V.P. Sales & Business Development of GetJar.com at last years Mobilize event in San Francisco to discuss mobile apps. Today,  GetJar, the premiere independent mobile app store with more than 60,000 mobile apps on hand for major mobile platforms: Android, Symbian and Windows Mobile, put out a study that predicts a gold rush in the number of mobile apps and the increase in size of the mobile app marketplace.

According to the study, performed by Chetan Sharma Consulting, mobile app downloads should jump from 7 billion in 2009 to almost 50 billion in 2012. The market is estimated to be worth approximately 17 billion dollars. GetJar CEO Ilja Laurs makes another statement, echoing the one from a Google executive. “It is easy to see how mobile apps will eclipse the traditional desktop Internet. It makes perfect sense that mobile devices will kill the desktop,” he said. Mr. Laurs backs up this claim with more data from the study, citing that 17% of GetJar users spend more time on internet-linked smartphones than they do on desktops.

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Dell Aero coming to AT&T

AT&T announced at CES that 5 Android devices would be on their network by the first half of 2010. They seem to be right on track. First we saw the Motorola Backflip and now the Dell Aero. AT&T is reluctant to release any details about the device except that it will be on their network soon. The Dell Aero is basically a Mini 3 which oddly looks a lot like a Palm Pre. The Mini 3 was pretty bare bone due to China’s strict rules and regulations so lets hope that Dell steps it up a little bit with this device here in the States. It’s okay Dell, we welcome advanced hardware technology! As soon as we find out what this device is going to be all about we will share the info, but for now just know that it is coming!

[Via Engadget Mobile]

[Via AT&T]
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Palm Pre and Pixi Plus coming to AT&T

We knew the day would come soon but is it soon enough? Palm recently announced the launch of their two WebOS devices on AT&T’s 3G network. AT&T kind of jumped the gun with this announcement back at CES which is why it may not seem like such a big deal today. The Pre and Pixi plus are both identical to that of the Verizon versions except they are GSM which means two things.  A new carrier (AT&T) and Voice + Data at the same time. This is a feature that will help make the Pre/Pixi multitasking that much more intuitive. Having multiple apps open while on a call and browsing the web is something to be recognized. Palm will be on 3 of the 4 main carriers by Summer, what we have to hope for now is that Palm can hang on for just a little while longer so they can release a new device with a lot better hardware. Maybe a bigger screen… please PALM!

Both the Pre and Pixi Plus will be running AT&T apps much like the Verizon and Sprint apps you get. AT&T Navigator, Yellow Pages from AT&T, AT&T Address book which will be integrated with Palm’s Synergy, and AT&T Whisper service which logs AT&T phones automatically into AT&T WiFi hot spots. It doesn’t look like these WebOS devices will come with the Hotspot mobile applications for tethering like the Verizon versions just due to the issues AT&T has had with their network service, but there has been no official word.

The Pre Plus on AT&T will be $149.99 after a mail-in rebate. The Pixi Plus will be $49.99 after a mail in rebate as well. No release date for either phones has been announced but Palm did say ‘soon’. We are expecting this to hit sometime in May or June. In time for a potential new WebOS device launch later in the year. If you are tired of your iPhone or already tired of your Motorola Backflip, get one of these and just pop your SIM in when the time comes.

[Via Precentral]

[Via Palm]
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Motorola i1 coming to Sprint, Push-To-Talk included

Sprint announced today that a useful Push-To-Talk device is on the way. The Motorola i1 is going to be the first Android phone with Push-To-Talk and it will be running Motorola’s MotoBlur. The perfect social networking phone? It just might be. As long as Sprint can let the phone just be what it is unlike AT&T did with the Backflip. Push-To-Talk is not a very big consumer product anymore, but it is still a huge part of the corporate world. Whether you are a construction worker, satellite installer, or some sort of driver, it is likely you need a Push-To-Talk device. If you are forced to get one, why not get an Android version? The durability Sprint expects this device to have is also a big win. Most touchscreen smartphones feel flimsy or just delicate in a way that just would not work in harsh conditions. This bad boy seems to be sturdy. It looks like it is sturdy at least, that’s for sure. Unsurprisingly Motorola is going to ship this device with Android 1.5. Hey we can’t complain too much, Android at work is Android at work no matter what version it comes with. Pricing and release date are still unknown, we will let you know as soon we know.

[Via Sprint, Motorola]

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