Tether for BlackBerry is a superb product (down to $29.99 for the next 3 days by the way) and now you Android users can test the beta version of Tether for Android. You can sign up here and let’s hope it’s as good as the BlackBerry version.

Two posts in a row from Mobile Industry Review, but I couldn’t help but show this video of Ewan getting more than excited over the Sony Ericsson X10 Mini. It’s running Android, has a 5MP camera and is wonderfully small. I really, really want to try one of these…

The FCC has launched apps for the iPhone and Android platforms which can test your mobile connection speed. You may need to run them a few times to get some accuracy, but it is good that we can finally test our mobile speeds with ease. Let us know what you get- my first test is pictured in this article. To get the app search for ‘Fcc Mobile Broadband Test’ in the iTunes app store of Android Market.

“Washington, D.C. – Today, the Federal Communications Commission launched new digital tools — the Consumer Broadband Test and the Broadband Dead Zone Report — that allow consumers to test their broadband service and report areas where broadband is not available.

“Transparency empowers consumers, promotes innovation and investment, and encourages competition,” said Chairman Julius Genachowski. “The FCC’s new digital tools will arm users with real-time information about their broadband connection and the agency with useful data about service across the country. By informing consumers about their broadband service quality, these tools help eliminate confusion and make the market work more effectively.”

The Consumer Broadband Test measures broadband quality indicators such as speed and latency, and reports that information to consumers and the FCC. The mobile version — the FCC’s first mobile app — is available through the Apple and Android app stores. The fixed version is available at www.broadband.gov. Two popular broadband testing tools are used in this beta version — the Ookla, Inc. Speed Test and the Network Diagnostic Tool (NDT) running on the Measurement Lab (M-Lab) platform. In the future, the FCC anticipates making additional broadband testing applications available for consumer use. The Commission does not endorse any specific testing application.”

The XDAndroid project has managed to port the Android OS to the HTC Touch Pro2 and the results at last make the OS perfectly usable on a Windows Mobile phone. More at PocketNow.

Android users now have the opportunity to try out Opera Mini thanks to a new beta release. The Android browser is exceptionally good, but as a fast alternative it probably has a place.

Opera Software today launched the newest beta version of the world’s most popular browser for mobile phones, Opera Mini 5, on the Android platform. Opera Mini 5 beta for Android brings a fast and cost-efficient Web experience to any handset built on the Android platform.

Opera Mini, with more than 50 million users worldwide, enables Web browsing on almost any handset by compressing data by up to 90 percent before sending content to the phone, resulting in significantly improved page loading and speed. With a simple, easy-to-use interface, Opera Mini offers a desktop-like Web browsing experience on a mobile phone, with favorite features such as Speed Dial, tabbed browsing, password manager and bookmarks. With Opera Mini optimized for Android, more people will be able to get a PC-like browsing experience on their mobile handsets.

“Android users should not have to compromise when it comes to surfing the Web on their phones. Opera Mini will give Android users a fast and cost-efficient access to their favorite Web sites and services,” said Dag Olav Norem, Vice President of Products, Opera Software.

Download

Download Opera Mini directly to your Android phone. To download, simply visit m.opera.com/next with the Android browser or search for Opera Mini 5 in the Android Market. For more information, visit http://www.opera.com/mini/next/.

A limited beta of Swype for Android is now available. This is one app that works better than expected and if I were totting a touch screen Android device I would be on it in a flash-

•Initially we will have a limited number of participants – we’ll expand it soon
•In English and Spanish – more languages to come
•Limited Features – some key features of Swype require OEM integration
•HVGA and WVGA Resolutions – don’t worry we’ll detect this automatically
•Limited End User Support – mostly via our forum
•If your phone came pre-installed with Swype DO NOT download this beta (it won’t work).

Deliverance will soon be available on both the iPhone and Android platforms and looks incredible. I have always been a fan of top down racing games, but this one ups the bar a lot. Check out the video below.

“Deliverace is a classic top-down racing game that will be released on iPhone and Android soon. It features the prettiest graphics, coolest physics and dirtiest powerslides ever seen on a handheld device.”

Apple has stepped up the mobile lawsuits and popped one on HTC for supposedly infrnging 20 Apple patents. When will it ever end? Thanks to Trevor.

From NYT- “Apple said on Tuesday that it had filed lawsuits against HTC, the Taiwan-based phone maker, accusing it of infringing on 20 Apple patents tied to the iPhone.

The suits, filed with the office of the United States International Trade Commission and the United States District Court in Delaware, say HTC violated patents covering the phone’s user interface, internal architecture and hardware.

HTC makes the Nexus One, a phone designed and sold by Google that runs Google’s Android operating system. Google was not mentioned in the suit, but the lawsuits are likely to worsen the already strained relations between Apple and Google.
Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, said in a news release: “We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it.” Mr. Jobs added: “We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”

How’s times change…

The ‘iPad Killer’ will no doubt be the phrase of the year as each new tablet is announced, but the Android powered Adam is first. Check out the video below to see what you think and Android Tapp for more details. Thanks to Joel.

BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express is now available for free from the RIM website. If you have the right server, this could be perfect for your small business. “Connect two people via BlackBerry® smartphones and ideas get bigger. Progress happens faster. Answers get smarter. So imagine what happens when you give a business the freedom to connect all its employees.

BlackBerry® Enterprise Server Express enables businesses of any size to quickly and easily get started with the BlackBerry solution. It provides advanced BlackBerry smartphone features with no additional software or user license fees, and works with any Internet-enabled BlackBerry data plan or a BlackBerry enterprise data plan.”

Vodafone UK has priced the HTC Legend at a respectable £1.99 on a 24 month contract at £25/month which also gives you unlimited texts and 300 minutes. I am presuming that data is extra and the unusual pricing continues with the Legend costing only £12.99 on a 18 month £30/month contract. More at Pocket-lint.

It looks as though no current Windows Mobile phones will be upgradeable to Windows Phone 7. apcmag has the scoop and the following says it all really- ““Because we have very specific requirements for Windows Phone 7 Series the current phones we have right now will not be upgradable”, Kwan explained.”

pocket story – The Boy Giant has been released for the iPhone by Wotsamaflip and is as good as the excellent The Smelly Sprout from the same developer. Anything that keeps my 6 year old daughter transfixed must be good.

I have picked out anothercomment from James for the front page today concerning Android- “The real fact of the matter is that most users neither know nor care about the differences between their phones, or at least not to the extent that they know their OS version and carefully track its capabilities. What’s left to throw into a phone these days anyway? Just “more” really – more speed, more memory. 4G is undoubtedly the next bullet point waiting to be thrown into a phone’s sales pitch. I can’t think of anything else on the horizon, unless I’m missing something.

I think Android’s going to be the biggest OS of them all, but will actually be a more “quiet” OS, with most consumers having little idea about what’s going on under the hood of their phones and rarely taking full advantage of their phone’s capabilities. Sort of like Symbian. Look at the ads – they don’t say “with Android 2.1.” They say, “with Google.” They’re selling on brand, not specs. Technically speaking, the iPhone is “with Google” too.

But the only benefit of Android to the common handset manufacturer is the Google brand and the fact that it’s free. Nobody’s going to have an “iPhone killer.” If Motorola thinks it’ll ever truly repeat the success of the Razor, it’s in for a really big disappointment.“

The release of Google Earth for Android (2.1 only) prompted James to write this excellent comment on 247. Well worth dragging to the front page-

I still think this says plenty about the Android strategy from the standpoint of both the manufacturers and the carriers. As an iPhone 3GS user, I know where I stand with Apple. Right now, apart from storage, I stand at the pinnacle. That’s what I paid for when I finally upgraded to a new phone after four years. Later this year, when Apple releases what will probably be an evolutionary upgrade, I bet I’ll still be able to run the latest OS and apps – maybe just a bit more slowly. Two years from now, when Apple will put out an iPhone with 4G and Lord-knows-whatever other features, I’ll accept my fate and acknowledge that I’m not the flashiest out there, as I did with my last smartphone, a Treo 650 that was purring like a kitten less than a year ago. At least I’ll have spent 12 months as king of the world and I’ll save my nickels and dimes for the next gadget.

Compare that with the Android world: Around six months ago, the myTouch 3G was the belle of the ball, now it’s running an OS version which could be considered third-class in that ecosystem, with no clear path to an OS upgrade. Less than four months ago, someone who picked up a Motorola Droid got the chance to stand at the top of the Android foodchain. Two months later, the Nexus One upset the apple cart. Now, not only does Motorola not have top device for the purpose of showing off, their handset can’t even run the latest apps. The update will undoubtedly come, but still, I’d chafe as a consumer and be nervous if I were managing a company preparing to release a “pinnacle” Android device. I still don’t know why Motorola’s CEO participated in the Nexus One launch. Does the Nexus One do a single thing for Motorola other than steal sales from the Droid?

It’s not great for developers, either. If Google can’t release an application for its own platform for all the devices released in the last six months, what hope does a developer have of keeping track?

Everyone keeps saying that Android’s path is the way of dominance, but that only seems to apply to raw OS deployments. This is Windows v Mac all over again, except that at least a manufacturer of a Windows computer knows his OS will be updated along with everyone else’s and that Microsoft isn’t going to try to jump in on the desktop hardware business. Does Michael Dell sleep any better at night knowing that he’s selling computers with the dominant platform when his profit margins are razor-thin and there are hundreds of other manufacturers selling products that are indistinguishable from his on paper?

Apple and RIM will watch Android take marketshare and still laugh all the way to the bank because they aren’t looking at Android as a platform. They’re looking at a series of manufacturers – HTC, Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, et al., who have much more to worry about from each other and from their own OS provider. Each individual manufacturer is a bit player who couldn’t dream of moving as many units as Apple or RIM do, or enjoying the same profit margins.“

Google Earth is now available in the Android Market, but only for devices running v2.1 of the OS. A shame, but Nexus One owners will be happy. From AndroidGuys- “The official Google Earth application has arrived in the Android Market this morning. We haven’t seen any news from the Google Mobile blog yet, so we’re trying to dig through a few things. As of right now, we know it doesn’t show up for Android 1.5 or 1.6 but Nexus One owners have confirmed it to be available. A few of our twitter followers have indicated that it’s not showing up for them either. So it appears that it does require Android 2.1 which makes sense to us. We just saw our first glimpse of it when the Nexus One was unveiled.”

Piel Frama has released a lovely new iMagnum leather case for the Google Nexus One. It’s not cheap, but you pay for what you get most of the time.

•High quality cowskin leather.
•Snap closure system.
•Sync through travel cable.
•Rotable and completely removable Ultra Belt Clip (the knob is also removable).
•Soft leather lining.
•Polypropylene inner structure.
•ABS inserted protection.

Android is now expected to have 2 new web browsers available for it by the end of the year. First up is ACCESS who is bring NetFront to the platform. ACCESS also plans to develop NetFront™ Living Connect and NetFront™ Book Viewer EPUB Edition for Android and to make its NetFront products available to end users via web download.

Here’s a snippet from the press release- “ACCESS CO., LTD., a global provider of advanced software technologies to the mobile, beyond-PC and digital TV markets, today announced that its NetFront™ series technologies will now support the Android platform. The announcement comes as part of the company’s strategy to extend NetFront capabilities to any OS or CPU. NetFront technologies, including ACCESS’ acclaimed NetFront™ Browser as an embedded Internet browser, already support a variety of mobile platforms, including ACCESS Linux Platform™, Symbian OS, Garnet™ OS, BREW and Microsoft® Windows Mobile®.

Leveraging its successful track record of working closely with its partners to speed time-to-market and develop best-in-class solutions, ACCESS will provide development services for its NetFront technologies running on the Android platform. These services will help operators and device manufactures develop customized user interfaces and pre-install value-added applications…”

Next up is Firefox which is expected by the close of 2010. Jay Sullivan told the following to TechRadar- “It’s a modern OS, and it’s a great fit with us. It’s the type of platform that has a high affinity with the early adopter, and it’s seen a lot of uptake.” “Android has been built on a Java platform, whereas [Firefix Mobile] is based on C and C++ code. Until last year when [the Open Handset Alliance] released the NDK (native development kit) which allowed native code as part of the app, it was simply impossible.”