The total selling point of gPhone would be anti iPhone, with a slogan “Own the experience” whereas  iPhone had “We control the user experience.”  Its no doubt that Google is trying to break the control of Apple over the smartphone business.

Google will reportedly sell its phone directly to customers as well as through retailers. That suggests the search giant may not have a network partner on board, and would sell unsubsidized phones instead. Phones sold outside of the carrier system means the Google phone could cost as much as $500, and would have to run on a SIM-friendly GSM networks such as AT&T and T-Mobile.

While a carrier-free Google phone would be an unusual move in the age of exclusivity contracts, it’s not unheard of. Handset makers such as RIM and Palm sell unlocked versions of their smartphones through Amazon and other retailers.

The suggestion that the phone will not be tied to a specific carrier, backs up a previous assertion by Northeast Securities analyst Ashok Kumor who made similar claims last month after Google’s “design partners” filled him about the phone, according to the Street.com.

Source : InfoWorld

The battle between iPhone and gPhone is the battle of vision of how a smart phone should look like. The image above is the sketch up of gPhone by an artist. We can already see that gPhone is a similar myth as iTablets.

Image Source : gPhoneGoogle

Flurry, a mobile based analytics firm have released a report which shows an optimistic future of Droid with strong challenge to iPhone.

Flurry monitors usage of over 10,000 developers’ applications on iPhone and Android. In total, Flurry tracks applications on approximately two out of every three unique iPhone and Android handsets in the market, including over 15,000 million user sessions per day.

Source : flurry

The above chart shows that Droid has become the fastest selling Android mobile set. Though, the first week sale of Droid is less than that of iPhone 3Gs, it must be noted that iPhone3Gs was released simultaneously in eight countries. This makes Droid’s sale very strong. Droid have had very good advantage with its wide coverage network Verizon and their aggressive marketing against At&T’s network for which Verizon nearly came under legal action. It seems that with each sale of Droid, the competition is rising for iPhone. Further, with strong base of Google, the developers platform for Android is sure to rise which will further increase the competition over mobile apps. Till now, iPhone is still leading the way but there is always a fear that it might remain just as a niche market and not the leader.

This allows user to buy softwares at the Windows Marketplace for mobile site and get them automatically installed in their devices, when Windows Marketplace client runs next time. The new version has many enhancements to developers portal. Mobile application developers have become a key part of the mobile industry’s eco-system. Microsoft has taken good steps in implementing the feedback from Developers. Windows marketplace is currently available only for Windows Mobile 6.5.

The policy for developing applications for Windows phone are as follows:

Developers who sell applications through the Windows Marketplace for Mobile receive 70% of the revenue, with the other 30% going to Microsoft. Third-party developers are able to set the price for their applications in each market, and can also choose to distribute their products for free.

Software developers will have to pay an introductory annual registration fee of $99, which allows them to submit five applications a year to Microsoft for certification. Each additional submission within the year costs $99 more. The registration fee is waived for students through enrollment in the Microsoft DreamSpark program.

source : Brighthand

Right now, mobile market is dominated by iPhone OS and Android.  On the other hand, Windows Phone doesn’t seem to be making much effect on consumers. Further, Samsung has also released its own OS and this has added another element in the mobile market. But, Microsoft already has its development team working on Windows 7 for mobile, which will be hitting market next year. It will be interesting to see how the competition turns out.

]]> http://www.mobilecandy.net/2009/11/web-based-version-of-windows-marketplace-59/feed 0 http://www.mobilecandy.net/2009/11/google-promoting-droid-by-motorola-48 http://www.mobilecandy.net/2009/11/google-promoting-droid-by-motorola-48#comments Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:36:01 +0000 Manoj Jasra http://www.mobilecandy.net/?p=48 Motorola Droid has already created a lot of buzz as being the next iPhone killer, running the Android 2.0 version. This is the first phone running the Android 2.0, dubbed by many as the fastest Android device, just slightly thicker than an iPhone 3GS and the thinnest QWERTY-slider.

If the hype about Droid was not enough, Google is now promoting Droid  on it’s homepage, you can now find an ad for the Droid. Short and simple, it reads;

“New! The Droid is on sale now. Learn more.”

On clicking the “Learn More” Link it takes you to a page dedicated to the Droid,

If this promotion by Google is successful, then not only would Motorola receive a much needed boast, but Google Android will establish itself in the mobile market. At the same time it would indirectly give Apple the competition it has never received.

The Xperia X10 will be made available in the first half of 2010 and would be the first of the series of smartphones Sony plans to delver early next year. Loaded with rich graphics and intelligent capabilities, the mobile comes with an impressive 8.1 megapixels with video recording and 16x digital zoom.

According to the Press Release

Rikko Sakaguchi, EVP and Chief Creation Officer, Sony Ericsson said, “The XPERIA™ X10 is a fantastic example of our make.believe philosophy because we are pushing the boundaries of what is possible and demonstrating that anything consumers can imagine, we can make possible. With the X10, we are raising the bar we have set ourselves with entertainment-rich phones like Aino and Satio by making communication more fun and playful, multiplying and enriching opportunities to connect.”

Apart from all the other features, most of the connectivity options are also taken care of in the phone. Fromquad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, though 3G with HSDPA support to Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth and USB. There are standard microUSB and 3.5mm jacks in this phone unlike the Sony Ericsson proprietary Fastport.

Lets have a look at the game Speed Forge 3D running on Sony Ericsson Xperia X10:

Current developers can use the SDK Manager to add Android 2.0 support to their SDK as well as update their SDK Tools to revision 3. New developers can download the Android SDK from the download site. After the download, Android platforms must be added using the SDK Manager