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.”

HTC has announced the HD mini which is in effect a smaller HD2 with slightly lower specs. The processor has been dropped from 1Ghz to 600Mhz, a 320×460 3.2″ screen and no flash on the 5 Megapixel auto-focus camera. I like the screws on the back though…

Also announed today was the HTC Desire which is similar to the Google Nexus One, but with Sense UI. Full Flash support is included and is expected to hit Europe very soon. Indeed, T-Mobile UK has penned in March 26th as its launch date.

Here is a promo video of the Desire to give you more an idea of what it is about-

Finally, the HTC Legend has arrived which is seen as the successor to the HTC Hero. The 3.2″ AMOLED screen is the highlight alongside Android 2.1 and the single aluminium block it is made from. Vodafone is claiming first dibs on this one with April being the expected release date in Europe.

Here’s some big new for Windows Mobile owners, and even bigger news for Android and Symbian people- “February 15th, 2010 – SPB Software, a leading mobile applications and games developer announces the release of SPB Mobile Shell 5.0, a major upgrade to the world’s bestselling mobile application, popular among both end-users and OEMs. Unlike all the previous versions of SPB Mobile Shell available exclusively for Windows Mobile smartphones with touchscreens, version 5.0 is to be released for Android, Windows Mobile and Symbian. Thanks to the new portable SPB UI Engine, SPB Mobile Shell is planned to be spread to more mobile platforms.

Major updates to the new version include a new 3D engine and an improved social networking integration. The former means support for new types of eye candy effects such as 3D Media Player, 3D Photo Viewer, 3D Weather, dynamic 3D widgets and more, while the latter involves message, contacts, photo and status sync with popular services, namely Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

One important innovation in SPB Mobile Shell 5.0 is the Natural Interaction Engine which includes support for G-sensor and multitouch, a dedicated Feedback Engine providing realistic visual and haptic responses, and a Physics Engine responsible for the real-world behavior of all objects.

SPB Mobile Shell has been publicly recognized as the best-selling mobile application across all smartphone platforms for three consecutive years: 2007, 2008 and 2009. At the same time SPB Mobile Shell enjoys popularity among mobile carriers and OEMs. It’s been shipped to over 15 device manufacturers, including Sony Ericsson, Toshiba, and O2. To make implementation process even smoother, we have added SPB UI Builder 2.0 – a tool-chain for easy customization of SPB Mobile Shell and other products that are built using the SPB UI Engine. It includes APIs for pluggable components, the skin builder and a set of plug-ins for integration with industry strength design products such as 3DMAX and Microsoft Expression Blend.

*** What’s new in SPB Mobile Shell 5.0: ***

- New 3D engine
- Natural Interaction Engine
- 3D widgets
- Tight integration with Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networks
- SPB UI Builder 2.0
- Multi-platform support: Android, Windows Mobile, Symbian.”

Android continues to gain mainstream support and here is the latest example- Rubberduck Media Lab, a subsidiary of Aspiro, Northern Europe’s leading provider of mobile entertainment services, today confirmed that its streaming mobile TV application would now be available for download on Google’s new Nexus One phone and other Android handsets.

Rubberduck provides a hosted mobile TV platform, used by major operators in Europe and worldwide markets, and holds digital rights agreements for mobile content with a host of major broadcasters such as the BBC, the Disney Channel, CNN, CNBC and Turner. The new Android application will enable customers to access an operator’s mobile TV services simply by opening the application to access the web-based content menu.

Announcing the development, Gunnar Sellæg, CEO of Aspiro said: “Rubberduck leads the way with mobile TV content across multiple platforms and devices. Our new Android application confirms that leadership and continues to offer operators the widest possible market reach for mobile TV services.”

The launch of the company’s mobile TV services on the Android platform follows hard on the heels of Aspiro’s launch, last month, of a streaming desktop and mobile music player across a wide range of handsets also including Android. Aspiro is the first company to offer operators a multi-platform white label service that can cover both streaming music and TV.

“At Aspiro we have the technology and the know-how to help operators introduce streaming music and video services under their own brand that are rich in both local and global content,” added Sellæg.

Rubberduck’s new Android app is compatible with version 1.6 and higher of the Android operating system. It offers a very user-friendly viewing experience which compares well with other platforms such as the iPhone. It supports Rubberduck’s fast channel switching capability making it easy to switch between TV channels in real-time.

Erling Paulsen, CEO of Rubberduck, added: “Our mobile TV application has been a great success on the iPhone and we are sure it will be popular on Google-based phones as well. What’s more, with Rubberduck, users of a wide range of handsets – including models from all the major handset brands – can watch live TV in real time.”

Aspiro will be demonstrating its streaming music and TV services on the Android and other platforms at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on booth number 2A67 in Hall 2 from February 15-17.

Garmin-Asus has announced the nüvifone A50 which is powered by Android. Hopefully this one will appear a lot quicker than previous efforts.

“Garmin-Asus, a co-branded alliance between Garmin® Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), and ASUSTeK® Computer Inc. (TAIEX: 2357), today announced the Garmin-Asus nüvifone A50, a touchscreen Android-powered smartphone with multiple location technologies and apps. The A50 benefits from the personalization and enhanced features offered by the Android platform, and also includes Garmin navigation with turn-by-turn, voice prompted directions for use in a car or while walking. Location features are designed into virtually every function including email, text messaging, and photos. The A50 will be on display at the Garmin-Asus booth (Hall 8, #8B127) at Mobile World Congress, February 15-18, 2010.

“The A50 integrates navigation and GPS functionality throughout the device, which gives customers the versatility and reliability they need as they navigate their day.”
“The A50 brings premium navigation features to the Android operating system, offering users a seamless location based experience along with access to the wealth of applications that the platform affords,” said Benson Lin, vice president and general manager of ASUS’ personal mobile devices business unit, handheld business group.

“Location is relevant to everything you do,” said Cliff Pemble, Garmin’s president and COO.

The elegant and thin A50 has a 3.5-inch HVGA capacitive touchscreen display that incorporates a finger-friendly user interface. The QWERTY touchscreen keyboard makes it easy to send and receive messages, and predictive text helps customers type faster. It also comes with hardware features like 4GB internal storage, an expandable microSD card slot, and accelerometer so every screen can be viewed in portrait or landscape mode.”

Also announced is the nüvifone M10 powered by Windows Mobile 6.5.3- “The Garmin-Asus M10 runs the latest version of Windows Mobile. Windows Mobile 6.5.3 features upgrades that enhance user experience and provides access to Windows Marketplace for Mobile, which offers a vast number of Windows phone applications for download.

“Windows phones move seamlessly from work to play, creating new experiences through a variety of hardware, applications and services,” said Andy Lees, senior vice president of Mobile Communication Business at Microsoft. “We are pleased to work closely with Garmin-Asus to bring to market Windows phones based on the latest version of Windows phone today and look forward to our work bringing more Windows phones to market in the future.”

The M10 has a sleek design with a 3.5-inch WVGA display and a finger-friendly user interface. The Billboard feature displays the most important information so users can review all at one glance. An intuitive 3D Task Manager also allows users to switch easily between running applications. Keeping the phone responsive and the navigation smooth are 512 RAM and 512 ROM, while 4GB of Flash memory provides ample storage for multimedia and data.

The M10 is equipped with a 1500 mAh battery for hours of uninterrupted use, as well as a full QWERTY soft keyboard for speedy text input. HSDPA wireless connectivity and Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g) ensure that messages are sent and received quickly. In addition, the M10 can be synched to Microsoft Exchange® so that contacts, calendars and emails are always available and secure.”

PDair has released a selection of new cases for the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, HP iPAQ Glisten and Google Nexus One-

First up is the X10 with six different versions; flip, book, sleeve, horizontal pouch, vertical pouch with belt clip and a vertical pouch with no belt clip.

For the iPAQ Glisten there are two metal cases- silver and black.

And finally black and silver metal cases for the Nexus One.