Apple's App Store

The Federal Communications Commission unveiled three digital tools Thursday that will enable consumers, businesses, schools and other organizations to test the real-world performance of their fixed and mobile broadband connections and help identify gaps in the nation's broadband coverage. The tools include downloadable applications for mobile devices based on Google's Android platform and Apple's iPhone OS.

Apple tightly controls not only the approval of third-party applications for its App Store but also its developers. Apple's developer agreement says "Public statements regarding this agreement, its terms and conditions, or the relationship of the parties" require Apple's written approval.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation made the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement public. EFF obtained the agreement via a Freedom of Information Act request to NASA, which recently released an app for the iPhone.

Users of both the iPhone and Android platforms are avid application users, but iPhone owners buy more apps. That's one of several conclusions about mobile users in the January 2010 Mobile Metrics Report from AdMob.

The mobile advertising network found that Android and iPhone consumers download approximately the same number of apps, and spend about the same amount of time using them. But about 50 percent of iPhone users buy at least one app per month, while only 21 percent of Android users do.

'Sheer Quantity and Variety'

Palm said Thursday it expects revenues will fall well below the company's previously forecast range of $1.6 billion to $1.8 billion for the current business year. The smartphone maker attributed the anticipated decline to slower than expected consumer adoption of the company's products, which has led to lower order volumes from carriers as well as the deferral of future orders to later periods.

While the technology world continues to focus on Apple's yet-to-be-launched iPad, it seems iPhone sales may be slowing. Apple lost market share in the global smartphone market in the fourth quarter, ABI Research reports.

Apple's share fell from 18.1 percent in the third quarter to 16.6 percent in the fourth quarter, according to ABI's data. This comes despite the fact that Apple posted record iPhone sales for the quarter of 8.7 million units, up 100 percent from the year-ago quarter and up 18 percent from the third quarter.

Now that Apple's iPad has launched, what can you do with it? What kind of new and existing applications will we see on this new Apple product line? Apple has released an updated software development kit with an iPad simulator to encourage developers to create new applications or revised versions of existing ones.

Google said Tuesday that it's harnessing HTML5 to deliver Google Voice to Palm webOS and iPhone OS 3.0 and higher smartphones. As the next major revision to the web's core hypertext markup language, HTML5 introduces a number of new elements and attributes that let developers construct powerful new services with the look and feel of stand-alone mobile apps.

Google said Tuesday that it's harnessing HTML5 to deliver Google Voice to Palm webOS and iPhone OS 3.0 and higher smartphones. As the next major revision to the web's core hypertext markup language, HTML5 introduces a number of new elements and attributes that let developers construct powerful new services with the look and feel of stand-alone mobile apps.

Google has launched a new version of Google Voice for mobile handsets running Palm's webOS and iPhone OS 3.0 and higher. The new browser-based offering is immediately available to owners of compatible iPhones and Palm Pre handsets who also have Google Voice accounts.

It may not be in the same category as proof that aliens are visiting Earth, but it's probably the next best thing. On Sunday, a company named Flurry Analytics said it has proof that about five dozen devices matching "the characteristics of Apple's rumored tablet device" are being tested on the company's Cupertino, Calif., campus.