When one thinks of mobile apps, it’s tough to think of anything other than the ones for the iPhone. There’s an app for that rings through our heads as TV commercials and websites reveal to us that the iPhone is the platform of choice when businesses want to develop mobile apps. Apple now has a little over 175,000 apps in its store and over 3 billion have been downloaded to date. Attempts to topple Apple have probably left the company thinking, “You and what army?”

An army of 24 mobile companies, that’s who. AT&T, Verizon, Spring, LG, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and so many more big names are banning together to form Voltron Wholesale Applications Community or WAC. While it’s not the most exciting name, the WAC is looking to bring more excitement to the mobile application space, but how well can it compete with Apple? It’s not like this hasn’t been tried before, and most of those efforts have failed, although to be fair, none were quite this large in scope.

Right now, Apple’s ecosystem works and it works well. Even though app store approval process has been a headache to most developers, it hasn’t stopped Apple’s success. Is that the recipe for an app store that works? Could the WAC be spoiling the broth with too many cooks?

[via CNN]

As any good Android-obsessed geek should know by now, Google’s made a tradition out of alphabetically naming their firmware builds after sweets. Android 1.5 was “Cupcake”, v1.6 was “Donut”, v2.0 is “Eclair”, while the next release will be lovingly dubbed “Froyo”. “But what comes after that?!” you say from the edge of your seat.

According to Android kernel developer Brian Swetland, the next major build after “Froyo” will be known as “Gingerbread”. If nothing else, the good thing about that name: no matter what it contains, it’ll be a sweeter treat than the crap I was forced to decorate and eat as a child.

(Like the image? While I wish I could claim that little Android dude is just killer rendering on my part, I just ’shopped in one of the soon-to-be-released Android toys.)

[Via AndroidAndMe]

Locus OS Interface from Barton Smith on Vimeo.

This isn’t official or anything, just a concept that happens to use some Microsoft assets, but what it Windows Mobile 7 looked like this? I think we all know it will not, but until the hammer actually falls at MWC, hope springs eternal. The “location-based desktops” idea is a good one for a MID or powerful smartphone that acts alternately as your email client, GPS device, and TV.


From : http://vimeo.com/9281370

Sharp eyed reader Mike noticed a little humor in the Nexus One manual screen shots. It looks like the the writers weren’t content with the name “Jane Doe” for a change.

Hubris
–noun
excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance.

(thanks to Mike for the tip)