Category: Mobile

Flurry, a San Francisco-based mobile app analytics company that recently merged with Pinch Media of New York, has teamed up with comScore in a deal that will marry Flurry’s analytics with comScore’s mobile panel data. The combined results, in turn, will be sold to comScore’s clients.

The way I see it, it’s only a matter of time before someone like comScore or The Nielsen Co. buys out Flurry and its rivals. It’s becoming increasingly evident that the mobile web and mobile apps are part of new usage behavior that goes beyond today’s plain-vanilla web.

Google is set to sell its own Android phone, the Nexus One, and jkOnTheRun this week collected all the details about it here. The company is holding a press event about Android next week that could include confirmation about the phone. The device is being manufactured by HTC, and while it’s not clear why Google would want to sell its own Android phone, that’s apparently the plan. The Nexus One is fairly typical compared to other Android phones, with the exception of the Snapdragon processor, which makes it the fastest of its kind out there.

Meanwhile, the Camangi WebStation, a web tablet based on Android, has started shipping to customers, and it looks to be a nicely constructed slate. The 7-inch screen should provide a decent web surfing experience and make for a good e-book reader. Initial reports state the Android slate is a bit slow, but it otherwise seems to be a solid tablet. The $400 price tag may give some pause before hitting the order button, but the device is a good first effort for this relatively unknown company. Given how quickly Camangi came out with its slate, getting a product to market just might be easier with Android than with other platforms.

Plus, an analyst who covers the Android market claimed this week that Motorola will be introducing two new Android handsets next week at the Consumer Electronics Show. The phones will be for U.S. carriers AT&T and Verizon. No details about either phone have been revealed yet, but it’s a good bet the new designs will draw on Motorola’s first two Android phones, the Droid and the Cliq.

The Mophie Credit Card Reader

Jack Dorsey’s Square, Incase, Verifone and now Mophie — these companies’ credit card readers are turning the iPhone/iPod touch platform into an e-commerce engine.

Mophie, a Los Angeles-based company that makes accessories for the iPod/iPhone devices will release a credit card reader at CES in January 2010. The device is going to have a reader and a software that would allow small businesses to take credit cards. No more details are available just yet.

I, for one, would like to see Mophie or one of these other startups come up with a way for me to scan my own credit card to enter it into an app or web site. Even better, I’d love it if they married their hardware with the functionality of something like 1Password. In doing so, they could enable e-commerce via the iPhone apps. Think of it as iEconomy.

I know, I know — it’s easier said than done, considering it would need some deep, system-level mucking around, and Apple isn’t going to let that happen. But it should! By opening up, it would make the iPhone into an even more useful platform.  While I can understand Apple’s hesitation at opening up the iPhone, it can start with iPod touch, which is not tethered to a wireless phone company’s network.

By focusing on the consumers, these companies can also overcome two things: somewhat finite number of likely small business customers and get scale, which would allow them to get cheaper. And this would also help them overcome the slower adoption rates normally encountered when chasing the small business market. In fact, companies such as Visa, MasterCard and large banks should be trying hard to figure out how they can put these kind of readers in the hands of both merchants and consumers, thus shifting even more transactions into the electronic realm.

The Verifone Card Reader

OK, you can see I am just way too excited about this stuff. Why not? I am encouraged to see such experimentation. It ties in with my big belief: the marriage of computing and connectivity without the shackles of being tethered to a location is the the biggest disruptive force of our times, and it will redefine business models for decades.

For a long time, companies like Symbol Technologies, a division of Motorola, have been making point-of-sale and handheld computing devices for non-office environments such as retail locations and warehouses. It is becoming obvious by the day — they are amongst those being disrupted.

I am looking forward to more Mophies and Squares!

This article also appeared on BusinessWeek.com.

As we’ve noted before, Mozilla’s Raindrop messaging project holds a lot of promise. Like many early-stage, open-source Mozilla projects, the design of Raindrop isn’t being widely publicized, but there are now more interface clues as to why it could be important.

The underlying design philosophy behind Raindrop is that email is broken. We are flooded with messages from social networking applications, our regular email inboxes, and more. Spam proliferates. Clearly, there is a need for a better way to sift and sort our message flows. That’s what Raindrop — slated to be a free, open-source offering — aims to be.

Raindrop aggregates messages into sortable and siftable views that can be useful on both desktop and mobile devices. On the desktop, aerial inbox views like this one have been shown:

Throughout November and December, Mozilla design guru Andy Chung has been posting screenshots and experimental designs for Raindrop, found here.  To get a sense of how Raindrop might work on mobile devices, take a look at Chung’s mockups here:

In the first image above, you can see how Inbox messaging flows, social networking flows, and other views can be accessed through a dashboard-like interface. In the view below, you can see how views of messages from multiple types of social networking sites co-exist in one view:

Raindrop has remained mostly a concept in 2009, but I expect that it will be one of the more interesting projects to watch next year. The challenge with it, Google Wave and other messaging aggregators, is getting interfaces and features exactly right, and providing users with lots of views of message flows. Previous “universal inbox” projects have not beaten those challenges, but Raindrop will take a shot next year.

A few days ago, Antonio Rodriguez, a Boston-based entrepreneur and founder of Tabblo, emailed to let me know that he was leaving Hewlett-Packard to go do something new. Rodriguez sold Tabblo to HP in 2007 and had been working on some cool stuff at HP, but now he’s decided that it’s time for him to head back to the startup ecosystem. We met when he was trying to get traction for Tabblo, but we have stayed in touch since, musing over the future of devices and user experiences. (Antonio chronicles many of his thoughts over on his blog.)

When I asked him what he would do next, he said that, while he is “definitely headed back into the startup ecosystem,” he was shy on details as he doesn’t have “a very specific plan yet.” Of course, he wants to help entrepreneurs in the Boston area, but most importantly, he’s “really keen to get back to the intersection of what is good about the consumer Internet and the physical world of products and services that consumers actually pay for directly.”

“I am equally excited by a couple of the opportunities I’ve been exposed to through the course of the “Androidification” of some of the products I oversaw this last year as the consumer CTO for VJ’s business,” he wrote in an email. (VJ is Vyomesh Joshi, VP of HP’s Imaging & Printing Group.) “Given how you know I think devices like the [iPod] touch represent the next wave in personal computing, you can imagine there is fertile ground here.”

Rodriguez is onto something. While a lot has been made of Google’s Chrome OS and its disruptive potential, it is becoming clear the adaptability of the Android operating system is what makes it more disruptive than its shiner smartbook-oriented cousin Chrome. Android’s versatility is going to be on display at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), scheduled to be held in Las Vegas in January 2010.

Here is a list of some of the products that indicate that Android is quickly evolving from just a mobile OS to an OS for connected devices:

• Some analysts believe that Nokia might launch an ARM-based netbook running Android in 2010.
• Archos has launched a portable Internet tablet that uses Android.
• Spring Design is going to launch Alex, an Android-based dual-screen e-book reader at CES.
• MIPS Technologies will be showcasing first Android set-top box at CES.
• ArcherMind of Nanjing, China, has produced an Android-based car navigation system.
• Many Japanese consumer electronics companies are pushing Android into new devices using it primarily as an embedded OS.

The bigger indicator of momentum for Android is the excitement it has generated in the semiconductor industry. EETimes reports that, in addition to chip companies ARM and MIPS, semiconductor design firms such as Aricent and Mentor Graphics have established special Android-focused businesses. Freescale Semiconductor is working on an Android-based netbook design, as is Qualcomm.

“As we continue to push Android into a broad range of consumer electronic products, we are building a complete partner infrastructure to offer a total MIPS-based Android solution to designers of next-generation connected devices,” Art Swift, vice president of marketing for MIPS Technologies recently told EE Times Europe. Even Asian wholesale manufacturers have started to play around with Android, which means it is only a matter of time before it starts showing up in dozens of CE devices.

Here is where folks like Rodriguez can play a big part: take the expertise of wholesale hardware manufacturers, a standard Android OS, and add their own software expertise to build something unique and useful.

What makes Android interesting for all these people? Here is what I said last year:

It’s not just an operating system, but comes with middleware and key applications, making it a complete environment that can be modified for other users. It has a robust web browser (based on WebKit), the ability to handle 2-D and 3-D graphics, and is able to read all sorts of audio, video and image files. As a result it can be extended into any number of consumer electronic devices that needed a robust software system.

A year later, I would add three more features that make Android attractive: ability to connect to wireless networks; option to use touch interfaces; and, most importantly, ease with which applications can be written for this platform. Think of it as a platform for mass customization!

The new Samsung Galaxy has garnered positive reviews as a worthy competitor in the era of high-tech superphones. But it won’t be getting the latest version of Google’s Android operating system, according to a report today from The Register. So why would any informed shopper opt for the gadget over a device that can run the most recent OS?

Galaxy users should demand the latest version of Google’s OS, because they’ll be missing out on some pretty cool features: Android 2.0, which first came to market with the Motorola Droid from Verizon Wireless just two months after the Galaxy appeared, includes a host of upgrades such as camera and browser improvements and vastly improved messaging and contact features. Android 2.0 will likely hit Verizon’s Droid Eris from HTC early next year, and rumors have the latest version of the platform being readied for T-Mobile USA’s G1.

The Galaxy launched in September and is available through O2 in the UK as well as Canadian carrier Bell. O2 appeared to confirm that the device won’t receive an upgrade via an e-mail to a customer, saying Samsung is “currently not supporting a migration path…to Android 2.0.” (O2 later told El Reg that the e-mail should not have been sent.) Firmware updates are routinely delivered by carriers to mobile phones over the air, and users are often not even aware when the handset receives it. (Although as Stacey can tell you, that’s not always the case.)

What’s most irksome for Galaxy owners, of course, is that Android is an open-source operating system, which should eliminate any concerns over proprietary technology and incompatibility. Open source can be a double-edged sword, though, as James at jkOnTheRun noted months ago, giving birth to a fragmented market where upgrades are available only on specific handsets or through certain carriers.

The Galaxy’s lack of support for Android 2.0 evidently has less to do with technology than with simple economics, as Samsung has little incentive to support new software once the phone is sold. But the fact that the cutting-edge phone can’t support the latest version of the operating system is absurd. Galaxy owners should demand that Samsung address the problem immediately and enable support for Android 2.0. And if Samsung doesn’t comply, users should consider another manufacturer next time around.

Image courtesy Flickr user louivolant.

With an increasing number of companies launching mobile app stores, we decided it was time to compare them. We wanted to find out the average cost of a paid application on various stores.

We asked our friends at Mobclix, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup that offers mobile analytics and runs a mobile ad exchange, if they could help. They crunched some numbers and came back with some surprising findings. For example: BlackBerry paid apps are among the most expensive, followed by Microsoft, Android and the iPhone OS platform. Nokia Ovi paid apps were among the cheapest.

Data source: Mobclix

• Includes only the top 8,500 apps in the U.S. Android store.

** Includes only the top Ovi apps.

Nokia today stepped up its legal fight with Apple, filing a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission that alleges the Cupertino, Calif., company “infringes Nokia patents in virtually all of its mobile phones, portable music players and computers.” It’s just the latest eruption in the mobile space, which is quickly becoming a hotbed of legal activity.

In the case at hand, there are seven patents in question, relating to user interface software as well as camera, antenna and power-management, Nokia said. A long-running legal feud between the two companies has heated up in recent months. The Finnish manufacturer in October filed a suit claiming Apple had violated 10 Nokia patents regarding wireless technologies; Apple responded a few weeks ago with a countersuit regarding 13 of its own patents. The suits appear to be little more than bargaining tactics, as Stacey noted earlier this month, since both companies have technologies worth licensing.

Nokia has become very active in the courtroom lately as it continues to take a beating at the hands of Apple and other handset vendors. And it’s not alone; a host of other players are waging legal battles, too, including Motorola, Palm and Research In Motion. We’re sure to see more of these types of lawsuits as connectivity comes to more devices and the lines between mobile phones and a host of other consumer electronics continue to blur. Many of the lawsuits will likely come from vendors (like Nokia) who are watching their market share decrease as the space evolves.

Image courtesy Flickr user William Hook.

Next year is shaping up to be the year of the slate computer: Verizon Wireless expects slates to come to market in a big way in 2010; Apple appears to be mere weeks away from introducing its much-hyped tablet, rumored to be dubbed iSlate; and a handful of Android-based devices are already making their way to retail shelves. Google could move the needle with a rumored no-frills slate that would be available on the cheap — or even free — to users willing to sign up for 2-year data plans. And with its Chrome OS, the company is well-positioned to quickly become a leader in the space.

Like netbooks, slates have an obvious appeal, combining intuitive touchscreen interfaces with improved processing power and better screens than most phones can boast. Apple’s iPod touch has proven there’s a market for such gadgets. The question, though, is which operating systems are best positioned to gain traction as slate sales ramp up? Apple’s entry is likely to have either a full Mac OS X operating system or a modified version of the iPhone platform. Jolicloud, a startup that pocketed $4.2 million in venture capital earlier this year, is negotiating with manufacturers to package its impressive OS with their hardware. Moblin is garnering positive reviews for the latest release of its mobile operating system, which Kevin at jkOnTheRun believes is particularly well-suited for devices that are smaller than netbooks. Fusion Garage’s JooJoo is also receiving praise for its proprietary, Linux-based OS, although the gadget’s $500 price tag will surely limit its appeal.

The biggest winner in the space, though, is likely to be Google’s Chrome, as James at jkOnTheRun hinted last week. Google’s new OS is a natural fit for small mobile Internet devices, and the company has solidified the kind of carrier relationships necessary to sell subsidized devices through a wide variety of retail outlets. Apple, JooJoo and others may find an audience for high-end devices with price tags to match. But Google and its Chrome OS could absolutely own the slate space if the search giant can offer hardware for just a few bucks — but packaged with a lengthy data contract.

Image courtesy Flickr user nDevilTV.

Of all the connectivity technologies on the imminent horizon, USB 3.0 holds extraordinary promise. But although some devices based on it will debut at the upcoming CES show, we can’t herald the technology’s true arrival yet.

When many of us think of USB technology, we think of it as the familiar connectivity solution for our laptops, cameras, digital music players, and more. Indeed when USB 2.0 arrived years ago, it made many tasks, ranging from syncing data to transferring music and video, much easier. There are some signs that USB 3.0 is set to start doing such transformative things for our familiar devices, but unfortunately, it will only happen on a limited basis for the time being.

In my recent post on predictions for what will be shown at CES, I mentioned several USB 3.0 technologies taking shape. In response, I got more than one email from companies that will be showing them.

The devices on tap for CES follow a range of USB 3.0 debuts that came at the Intel Developer Forum conference earlier this year. There, Symwave and MCCI demonstrated what they billed as the world’s highest-performing USB 3.0 system, achieving speeds of over 270MB per second. LucidPort Technology showed its USB Attached SCSI (UAS) protocol running over USB 3.0. And Synopsys touted SuperSpeed USB 3.0 data transfers for a host, hub and controller in a single demonstration.

USB 3.0 is set to show up on some ASUS and Gigabyte motherboards, as TechRepublic notes. The bad news, though, is that Intel will not support USB 3.0 in its chipsets until 2011, and AMD may not either. Add to that the fact that Windows 7 doesn’t have native support and drivers for the technology, and large and important parts of the computing infrastructure are currently just unable to benefit from USB 3.0.

There will be interim solutions, though. Microsoft has pledged to ship plug-in solutions for USB 3.0 and Windows 7. And if USB 3.0 gets some momentum early next year, that may coax Intel and AMD to focus on it more quickly.

It’s too bad that the necessary parts of the computing ecosystem aren’t coming together in unison for USB 3.0 to truly arrive in the short term. The technology is far faster than version 2.0. It offers data transfer rates over 10 times speedier, and that’s been shown in many tests. The USB Implementer’s Forum has made the point many times that version 3.0 will allow transferring a 25GB HD movie in 70 seconds instead of almost 14 minutes. Think about that: 70 seconds.

Likewise, because USB is the connectivity choice du jour for all kinds of consumer electronics devices, version 3.0 will allow for consumer applications that were either clumsy or downright unreachable before. Photo libraries will transfer many times faster, and syncing video content between devices will become more convenient. Working with multiple audio and video streams simultaneously in applications will become more approachable.

USB 3.0 is also bi-directional, while USB 2.0 is not. That promises to allow for simultaneous downloading and uploading at fast speeds — a potentially tremendous convenience. Additionally, USB 3.0 is targeted to allow peripheral devices plugged into, say, a laptop to suffer fewer charge drains. Devices being charged while plugged into a USB port will charge faster — and who doesn’t wish for that? Let’s hope that the stars can find a way to align behind USB 3.0 next year. I’m not betting on it to make its true splash in January, though.

Image courtesy of Oskay on Flickr.

Cablevision, the Bethpage, N.Y.-based cable operator, has quietly soft-launched a new automated sign-in process that allows its customers to log into its Wi-Fi cloud that covers many busy Long Island and New York City venues such as Madison Square Gardens, Radio City Music Hall and Long Island MacArthur Airport. Such features are dramatically changing broadband usage behavior. Cablevision launched the Optimum Wi-Fi network in September 2008, and it’s going to cost a total of $300 million to build out.

The automatic sign-in feature allows customers to automatically sign onto the Optimum Wi-Fi cloud whenever the network is within range of a Wi-Fi device. The sign-in process eliminates the need to enter a user ID and passwords. Cablevision developed this feature in-house, and it’s currently available on laptops, Apple’s iPod touch, the iPhone and BlackBerry devices. The automated sign-in has boosted usage of the service: Average weekly sessions have gone up from around 200,000 in early November 2009 to more than 300,000 per week on average today.

Here are some interesting facts about Cablevision’s Optimum Wi-Fi network:

• It averages 300,000 sessions per week.
• Cablevision customers average more than 4 million minutes a day online over Optimum Wi-Fi.

The growing usage of Cablevision’s Wi-Fi cloud is yet more proof that Wi-Fi can become a critical part of the wireless broadband infrastructure. Reports show that increased sales of smartphones are boosting Wi-Fi hotspot use.

Handhelds accounted for 35 percent of all hotspot connections in 2009, up from 20 percent in 2008, according to In-Stat, a research firm. AT&T has been having a lot of trouble with its 3G network, and it makes perfect for it to do a deal with Cablevision, where iPhone users automatically switch to the Cablevision Wi-Fi network.

The growth of data revenues was a huge story for the mobile industry in 2009, and those gains are sure to ramp up over the next few years as connectivity continues to expand beyond phones to new devices like netbooks, e-readers and a host of other consumer electronics. That uptake will increasingly be a double-edged sword for carriers, though, which are already struggling with ways to support the increased traffic driven by Apple’s iPhone and other multimedia-friendly devices.

Which is why AT&T and its competitors are beginning to discuss ways to minimize congestion on the network as they increase revenues from data-hungry consumers. There are lots of ways to attempt that, of course, from the current “unlimited” caps that generate disdain among users — and have largely failed to address bandwidth issues — to the congestion pricing that cable companies are beginning to toy with. But as Stacey points out in the latest report from GigaOM Pro (sub. required), each option has some important pros and cons. Variable-pricing models can be confusing to consumers who (like me) don’t know how much bandwidth they typically use. And while embracing alternative technologies like Wi-Fi can ease traffic on the cell network, it can also cut into the mobile-data revenues that will increasingly become crucial as margins from voice whittle away.

The dramatic surge in mobile data usage will continue to ramp up quickly as Android gains traction and superphones become more commonplace. Among carriers, the rich are getting richer thanks to that uptake, but they’re also beginning to experience the kind of network hiccups that invite users to move to rivals that can handle the traffic. The challenge for operators, then, is to figure out how to deliver — and monetize — data-heavy services to the relatively few users who demand that kind of bandwidth without sacrificing the connectivity required from more mainstream consumers. The carriers that can most effectively solve those issues will have a significant edge as we move from 3G toward 4G.

Image courtesy Flickr user B Tal.

Palm Pre owners got a bonus gift this holiday season with today’s release of webOS 1.3.5, which promises improved battery life and more usable storage for app installation, among other things. The move makes good on Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein’s recent promise to upgrade the company’s mobile operating system, and it follows the release earlier this month of the Ares SDK, a web-based tool for developers looking to build on the platform. But the struggling manufacturer will need more than just an OS makeover and improved developer tools if it’s to compete in the era of the superphone.

The next few months will be critical for Palm, which has seen its handset sales slide following the Pre’s June debut. The company has promised to take its developer program fully public at next week’s CES show in Las Vegas in an effort to boost development for an app store sorely lacking in titles. And Verizon Wireless  is preparing its employees for the launch of webOS devices as Sprint’s exclusive grip on the Pre and Pixi comes to an end. But the clock is ticking for Palm, which is increasingly being pummeled by competitors such as Apple and Android devices. The company must find better ways of marketing its handsets as they come to market through the nation’s largest carrier, and it must continue to improve the webOS as it fills the shelves of its app store. Palm may be the Jack Bauer of the mobile industry, lurching from crisis to crisis, but what it really needs is a high-profile launch through Verizon in the next couple of months. And it needs to do it without the drama.

A month ago, I reported that Motorola and Verizon were on track to sell a million Droids in the fourth quarter of 2009. Not only are they closer to that milestone, but it seems Droid is also the most dominant Android phone on the market today.

Even though the overall Android app market grew 20 percent month-over-month in December 2009, Droid logged the biggest gains, indicating a higher number of Droids in the market than competing Android devices, new data from Flurry Media, a San Francisco-based mobile analytics company, shows:

• Droid application downloads increased by 93 percent over previous Fridays in December.
• Droid accounted for 48 percent of download volume across the leading Android handsets (Droid, myTouch 3G, G1 and HTC Hero).

In October, HTC Dream was the best-selling Android smartphone, a position it retained during November, but things have started to change. When Droid was released in November, some analysts expected Motorola to sell about 600,000 units during the fourth quarter, but those estimates were quickly revised thanks to a $100 million marketing push by both Motorola and Verizon. In December, it seems Droid has taken a very strong lead among its Android brethren.

After many promises to deliver the next version of the Firefox browser — version 3.6 — this year, it turns out Mozilla won’t be able to deliver. According to a blog post, it won’t arrive until the first quarter, and Firefox 4.0 may also be delayed.

Mozilla had been shooting to deliver Firefox 3.6, code-named Namaroka, by the end of this month, after delivering the initial beta Oct. 30. It’s slated to deliver significant performance improvements, updates to the Awesome Bar, and integration of the Mozilla Labs Personas project, which provides themes and personalization in the browser. But now, Mozilla has posted that Firefox version 3.6 won’t arrive until next quarter.

Meanwhile, Mozilla is already at work on the next major release of Firefox: version 4.0. It was originally slated to ship late next year, but now Mozilla officials have begun to say that it will arrive late next year or in early 2011. It’s slated to incorporate Jetpack, Mozilla’s project aimed at making it easy for anyone to build extensions, and it will compartmentalize processes and tasks on a tab-by-tab basis — similar to Google Chrome — for improved stability.  Mozilla is also inviting the public to help design Firefox 4.0, through its latest Design Challenge, and is only days away from delivering its Firefox Mobile browser, code-named Fennec.

Development delays with Mozilla’s browsers are becoming more common. While the company leverages a huge community of enthusiastic open-source participants, it is also facing increasing competition from well-funded players like Google.  Now that Google and Mozilla are leading browser innovation forward with their cross-platform open-source offerings, a lot depends on how their release schedules compare next year.

Apple, it seems, had a very nice Christmas — thanks to booming sales of its iPod touch. Apple’s App Store saw a a sharp spike in downloads during the month of December, according to results of a study conducted by Flurry Media, a San Francisco-based mobile analytics company. In 2008, when Apple’s App Store saw similar spikes during the holiday season, the company later reported strong sales of its two flagship products, the iPhone and iPod touch.

The iPod touch, in particular, seems to be enjoying strong sales this year. According to Amazon.com, the 8GB version of the iPhone was one of the best-selling devices during the 2009 holiday season and “Amazon customers bought enough 8GB iPod touches to play 442 years of continuous music.” Flurry’s data offers more anecdotal information about the hotness of the iPod touch.

• App downloads on the iPod touch soared past the iPhone for the first time.
• iPod touch 3G downloads increased by more than 900 percent on Christmas Day vs. the average of all previous Fridays in December.
• Total iPod touch downloads (all generations) jumped by over 1,000 percent on Christmas Day.
• iTunes gift card giving may have driven downloads to older-generation iPod touch devices.

The strong sales of the iPod touch reaffirm my longstanding belief that it’s a critical weapon in Apple’s battle against its smartphone rivals including Google. Here are some of our previous posts that you might enjoy:

• All Hail the iPod Touch
• Is the iPod Touch a Bigger Game Changer Than the iPhone?
• Is iPhone the New Gaming Platform?
• With iPod Touch (& iPhone) Apple Will Rule the Mobile Web

There’s no question that 2010 is going to be a big year for Google’s Android operating system, which means it’s also going to be competing with Apple’s iPhone for developer attention next year. Apple’s iPhone ecosystem so far has an advantage. Google has some teething problems it needs to resolve..

The competition between these two ecosystems is what prompted me to ask Menlo Park, Calif.-based startup oDesk for a historical comparison of the number of iPhone and Android jobs listed on its marketplace. oDesk is a marketplace that connects freelance developers (and others) with those with jobs for them. I thought it could be a rough indicator of developer interest in the two platforms. oDesk obliged. According to its data, there’s been a slight uptick in the number of Android jobs. iPhone seems to be holding its own. Another data point to note: There are 2,071 iPhone developers listed on oDesk vs. 624 Android developers.

Substantial buzz continues to surround Google’s Nexus One Android phone. This week specifications came out for it, and they do make it look like the most powerful Android handset yet, although predictions about it being hugely disruptive seem overblown. One big question being asked about this phone is whether Google Voice, Google Talk and other services could enable people to use it without cellular plans. Meanwhile, check out this video walkthrough of the phone.

Also this week, Mplayit launched its Facebook-centric take on how to get Android apps — akin to an app store. It’s designed to make Android apps more discoverable than they are on Android Market, and includes social sharing features.

Plus, the FCC recently approved two versions of Sony Ericsson’s Xperia X10 Android-based phone — one for AT&T and one for T-Mobile. Who will actually sell it though? Neither company has confirmed plans to sell the device, as InformationWeek notes this week. The first quarter of next year is when we’ll know for sure.

Meanwhile, lots of people welcomed the Android version of Buzzd, the social city and nightlife mobile app. It culls data from Twitter and shows graphical views of which locations in a given area are being talked about. And those hungry for new Android apps will also want to check out NPR’s new offering. It uses open-source code and an open API that will allow developers and NPR stations to iterate and improve the app in the future. Good idea.