handset maker

When Motorola joined Google's Open Handset Alliance under former CEO Ed Zander, there was speculation that Motorola would develop a smartphone using Google's Android mobile operating system.

Today, with CEO Greg Brown at the helm, it's no longer speculation. Motorola is working on an Android-based smartphone that will have an iPhone-like touchscreen and a QWERTY keyboard, BusinessWeek reports. The report said the smartphone will be aimed at social networking, but will not be available until the second quarter of 2009.

Motorola is reportedly looking to beef up its Android development team, increasing its size from 50 to 350 people in hopes of getting in on the latest Google buzz. Motorola couldn't immediately be reached for comment, but reports of insider leaks say the handset maker is working with a recruiter to find developers for Google's open-source mobile operating system.

T-Mobile and handset maker HTC are taking the cover off the first Android-based cell phone Tuesday at a press conference in New York. The Open Handset Alliance, a group that includes Google, T-Mobile, HTC, Qualcomm, Motorola and others, is billing Android as the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices.

What will a Google Android-based HTC look like? And how will it shake up the market? Here's what we can discern from leaked photos: It's a touchscreen device with a full, slide-out keyboard. Pricing rumors peg the device at $199, in line with Apple's iPhone 3G.

According to a Web report, there may be some problems with integrating the Google-led open-source mobile platform Android into devices, delaying the release of an Android phone until early next year.

On a recent holiday morning, I waited nervously in a pack of cyclists at a shopping mall parking lot outside Frankfurt, Germany, suited up in helmet and Lycra and waiting for the starting gun. I didn't have a prayer of winning the bicycle race, an amateur "everyman" competition staged in conjunction with a pro event on the same day. But I did have something I'm pretty sure no one else in the peloton did: Nokia Sports Tracker.

The legal salvos between Nokia Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. stopped months ago, part of what officials at the wireless industry heavyweights described as a truce in a long-running battle that spanned three continents.

Peace came Wednesday as the two sides prepared for a courtroom showdown. Nokia, the world's largest handset maker, and Qualcomm, the world's largest maker of chips that run cell phones, agreed to settle a high-stakes licensing dispute and drop all legal complaints against each other in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

When Finnish handset maker Nokia came in with better than expected quarterly results on July 17, the telecom sector was encouraged. Sales and shipments of Nokia's handsets were up. Just as important, a big part of the Finnish company's growth in the quarter came from Nokia Siemens Networks, its joint venture in telecom equipment with Siemens. Sales for the network business surged 18 percent in the quarter, to more than $6.34 billion.

Not only did Apple sell 1 million iPhone 3Gs in three days, but the company is making a healthy margin on each one sold. That's the conclusion of researchers at market research firm iSuppli, who took apart the new device to learn who made what inside, and how much Apple spent on the parts.

Finnish handset maker Nokia has taken GPS a step further with the announcement Monday that it is acquiring Plazes, the developer of a social-networking Web site that lets friends locate each other.

Currently in beta, the Berlin-based Plazes site lets users update their locations and activities using either Plazes software or by sending text messages. Users can subscribe to activity streams from their friends or groups of friends, as well as to streams from specific locations.

Verizon Wireless and handset maker Palm are raining on Apple's iPhone 3G parade this week. The companies announced the Palm Centro smartphone will go on sale through Verizon on Friday -- for $99.

Dressed in a crisp cobalt blue, the Centro provides customers with a wireless tool to manage busy lives with voice, text messaging, e-mail and the Web.