handset maker

Verizon Wireless said Wednesday that it will launch another Android-based smartphone from Motorola next month. The Motorola Devour will be the first phone on Verizon's national network to feature MOTOBLUR -- an application and service suite that provides users with dynamically pushed Internet content via a unique user interface.

Mozilla has released a mobile version of its Firefox browser for users of Nokia's N900 smartphone, which runs the handset maker's high-end Maemo operating system. Built on the same engine as Firefox 3.6 for PCs, the new mobile browser is currently available for download in more than 30 languages, with support for more smartphone platforms and languages on the way, the developers said.

LG Electronics said Wednesday that it has set a goal of selling 140 million cell phones in 2010. The South Korea-based handset maker also revealed that it plans to become one of the top two mobile-device manufacturers in the world by 2012.

To help boost unit sales, LG will focus on the lucrative smartphone market. Hopes are especially high for Android-based phones, which are expected to make up more than half of LG's upcoming smartphone releases, the company said.

T-Mobile USA is prepping Samsung's new Behold II smartphone for an exclusive launch in advance of this year's holiday shopping season. The touchscreen-enabled 3G handset based on Google's Android platform will provide users with direct access to Google Search, Google Maps, Gmail, YouTube videos, and Google Talk as well as thousands of applications and games from the Android Market, T-Mobile said.

Samsung Electronics is joining the smartphone app-store party. The Seoul, Korea-based company will open its Samsung Application Store in Italy, the United Kingdom, and France on Sept. 14.

Since February, the company has been testing a beta version of the online store in Britain. Now Samsung's app store will be extended to more than 30 countries, including Spain and Germany, Reuters reported on Monday. Samsung plans to open the store with 300 apps, with more than 2,000 by the end of the year.

Some of the biggest names in mobile technology are girding for battle against BlackBerry maker Research In Motion and iPhone creator Apple.

Later this year, Google and partners that include handset maker Motorola plan devices and features aimed at business users of mobile phones. Meantime, Nokia and Microsoft are joining forces in their effort to take share in the lucrative market for company-friendly smartphones.

Despite advanced technology and years of dabbling in overseas markets, Japan's handset makers have little presence beyond the country's shores. They call the problem Galapagos syndrome.

At first glance, Japanese cell phones are a gadget lover's dream: ready for Internet and e-mail, they double as credit cards, boarding passes and even body-fat calculators.

But it is hard to find anyone in Chicago or London using a Japanese phone like a Panasonic, a Sharp or an NEC. Despite years of dabbling in overseas markets, Japan's handset makers have little presence beyond the country's shores.

Sony Ericsson is hoping to boost its sagging handset sales through the launch of two new camera-enabled mobile phones on AT&T's national network, beginning Sunday.

Priced at $179.99 after an AT&T rebate, Sony Ericsson's C905a Cyber-shot sports an 8.1-megapixel camera -- the highest resolution ever offered in a mobile phone from AT&T. And the W518a Walkman phone combines a 3.2-megapixel camera with interactive features targeting the Facebook social-networking site.

On June 3 mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson used the occasion of the annual JavaOne software developers' conference in San Francisco to announce that it, too, will launch an online software applications store. By August, Sony Ericsson customers will be able to personalize their phones with a range of downloadable programs such as utilities, tools, and games.

With the much-anticipated Palm Pre debuting on Sprint Nextel's network in about a week, there is plenty of speculation about the device, how it will impact the market, and what it means for wireless carrier competition.

Will the device sync with Apple's iTunes Store? Will it help Sprint Nextel retain customers? Will AT&T vie to pick up the smartphone after Sprint's exclusive expires at the end of the year? Is Palm too late to the game with its latest effort?

It's too soon to offer definite answers to those questions, but analysts are making thoughtful predictions.