Mobile Phones

Research In Motion may find that many of its customers are in motion, a survey of more than 1,000 smartphone users suggests. Asked about their next smartphone purchase, 39 percent of 159 RIM BlackBerry users told Crowd Science, an online research firm, that they "definitely or probably" want an Apple iPhone.

Another 34 percent said they would prefer a phone that uses Google's Android operating system. Combined with 38 percent who said they might consider Android, that makes a 72 percent opening for Android, narrowly beating the 68 percent opening for the iPhone.

U.S. regulators are reportedly digging deeper into Google's planned AdMob acquisition. The Federal Trade Commission is asking for sworn statements from the search giant's competitors and advertisers in what could signal plans to hold up the merger. The news comes as part of a wave of government scrutiny against the maturing company.

Having the latest and greatest Windows phones will no longer matter once Microsoft releases its Windows Phone 7 Series. Mobile-phone users running the latest Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system, made available in October, will have incremental upgrades but will need a new phone if they want to use the software giant's Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system.

Mobile-phone users with the latest Windows Mobile phones do not have the hardware needed to run the newest mobile operating system, according to Microsoft's Mobile Communication Business.

Mobile phones are increasingly becoming the main communication tool for private and business use, and 2010 promises to offer users a number of innovations.

Smart phones are better placed than the standard mobile phone to deal with these advances because of their large display screens and speedy Internet connections.

There are already phones on the market using 1 gigahertz chips, says Andy Rubin, who works on Google's Android platform.

The bickering between Apple and Adobe over why Apple's iPhone and its new iPad don't run Adobe's Flash software is giving me a headache.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs says Flash is buggy and accuses Adobe of being lazy. Kevin Lynch, Adobe's chief technology officer, denies that and accuses Apple of trying to control what iPhone and iPad users can do with their devices.

Jobs says Flash is on its way out. No way, says Lynch. Enough already. You guys are beginning to remind me of my kids. Can't you find some way to get along?

Matthew Weaver in The Guardian:

'Tings dey happen' Written and performed by Dan HoyleNigeria Tour - October 2009
 
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'Tings dey happen' Written and performed by Dan HoyleNigeria Tour - October 2009
 
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Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's largest contract chipmaker, said Thursday its fourth quarter profit more than doubled after a rebound in global demand for computers.

Net income for October-December surged 162 percent from a year earlier to 32.67 billion New Taiwan dollars ($1 billion) on revenue of NT$92 billion ($2.9 billion), TSMC said.

Fourth quarter sales jumped 43 percent from a year earlier, the company said, and it forecast a double-digit expansion in sales this year as the global economy recovers.

Google Inc. reeled in more Internet advertising during the holiday shopping season and approached $2 billion in quarterly profit for the first time, providing the strongest sign yet that the online search leader has shaken off the recession's doldrums.

The fourth-quarter earnings announced Thursday topped analyst estimates, but revenue only matched forecasts.