While that sounds good at first glance, dig a bit deeper and you'll see a problem emerge - four competing and completely non-interoperable operating systems equals four key platforms for software developers to choose from when building their apps.

Unless the developers have large teams and large pockets, they're going to be forced to choose one or two platforms at most, meaning if you choose a platform that becomes unpopular (Windows Mobile ), then you''ll be out of luck when it comes to buying the fancy app you saw on your friend's iPhone.

Or worse, you might move from an iPhone to an Android phone, only to find that you have to purchase all the apps you bought for your iPhone all over again, as they won't work on Android. The nightmare of the fragmented platform looms large, just as it has done for years in the PC market and console market.

What can be done, and who can solve this conundrum? Well, Ericsson, apparently!

Ericsson have proposed a new software initiative that aims to ensure all applications developed on one platform will work on all the others. Effectively, they're proposing the development of a unified framework based on Java. A version of the framework will be implemented for each platform, but as each version has a common set of APIs, application developers need only write to this uniform platform, rather than the fragmented platforms that are out there now.

This is ambitious to say the least, not just technically, but politically as well. The reason for the fragmentation is vendor lock-in - if you've bought 100 iPhone apps, you're unlikely to switch allegiance to Android, for example, as your apps won't work, and that's just the way Apple wants it!

It also somewhat misses the point of all these smartphones. They're all designed around the concept of the mobile Web, bringing the desktop Web experience to the smartphone. As such, all each platform needs is a decent Web browser, support for JavaScript, AJAX and Flash, and you're done - one common platform, with all applications being served up by a Web server, rather than being written to each device. You now, like what's happening on the desktop these days!

Just a thought!

[Source: EETimes]

"Sony Ericsson is excited to announce its membership of the Open Handset Alliance and confirm its intention to develop a handset based on the Android platform," said Rikko Sakaguchi, CVP and head of Creation and Development at Sony Ericsson.

"We believe Sony Ericsson can bring a wealth of experience in making consumer focused multimedia handsets with new user experience to the Alliance drawing on the successes of the Walkman and Cyber-shot sub-brands. Sony Ericsson is a strong supporter of open operating systems and we believe the Open Handset Alliance offers an exciting opportunity for a new and unique user experience only Sony Ericsson can deliver."

Membership of the Open Handset Alliance will complement the company’s existing Open OS strategy which is based on the Symbian and Windows Mobile platforms.

That's a lot of operating systems, though, which is sure to complicate the development process. At least one of those platforms will have to go, as it makes little commercial sense to support all three.

Samsung and Motorola are already developing Android phones, so with Sony Ericsson now on board as well, that leaves only Nokia and LG from the big five mobile phone manufacturers.

The first is something of a shock - it's the Nokia Home Music system, a dedicated wireless music streamer pitched directly at the Logitech Squeezebox.

Seems Nokia's going into the music business in a big way, and we can only assume they're trying to usurp the dominance of Apples iTunes store (and thus sever peoples reliance on the iPhone) with an enhanced version of their Comes With Music music download service.

Either that or Nokia also has 10% time just like Google, and one of their engineers came up with something bloody amazing!

The second announcement rumour comes from Scoble, who has either got his days wrong, or knows something we don't!

More details after the jump.

Writing early on Monday 1st Dec., he said "[A] Nokia executive met me and bragged that the Internet has no clue what they will announce this week. I asked what about the touch screen cell phone that I've seen rumors about? He said that no one had gotten it right yet. The announcements are on Wednesday morning (it's early Monday morning as I post this) so we'll have to wait to see what they announce" (my emphasis).

Later on, he asks "...what do you think Nokia is going to release on Wednesday? Will it take 'touch' and 'experience' leadership back from Research in Motion and Apple?"

That's a lot of Wednesdays! Today's Tuesday (well, it's not, its 12:38am when I'm writing this, so technically it's Wednesday, but you know what I mean!), and the N97 has already been announced. If Scoble's right, and there are more announcements to come on Wednesday morning, then Nokia must have something even bigger up their sleeves than the world's best Facebook phone and a new Home Music Streamer!

Or, Scoble just got confused with time zones and confused Wednesday with Tuesday!

[Source: Scoble, MediaMentalism]

Now if that doesn't get you all excited, nothing will!

Gartner, meanwhile,has forecasted that 110 million 5 megapixel+ camera phones will ship globally next year, ramping up to 330 million by 2011.

Part of this is obviously to do with the fact that a high quality camera phone is desirable in its right, but it's also due to the decreasing cost of developing such phones. In 2007, for example, 5 megapixel+ camera phones were extremely expensive high-end affairs, with the Nokia N95 leading the way. In 2008, 5 megapixels has reached the high mid-range market, with 8 megapixels becoming the norm for the top-end phones.

This trend is set to continue, as Nokia is expected to include a 5 megapixel camera on nearly all of its phones starting from next year. If it does do this, then Gartner's figure looks an absolute certainty.

Who'd have thought in an age of TV phones, Sat-Nav phones, video phones and other such wonders, the humble camera phone would still be such a huge sales driver?

[Source: Yonhap News

I should have a hands-on review of the LG Cookie in the New Year.

Alas, no, it's none of these things. It's another fake Chinese phone, and this one isn't even sure of what it is either. It's a camera phone alright, it's just that it doesn't quite know how good a camera phone it is.

On the side of the phone it proudly says "8.0 megapixels", while the sticker on the back claims it's just 5 megapixels. Worse, closer inspection reveals it's actually just a VGA camera - just 0.3 megapixels!

Well who said a fake phone couldn't have a fake spec as well?!

Still, you have to hand it to them, if you didn't know any better, you'd swear this was a Sony Ericsson CyberShot phone. Indeed, if it wasn't for me shoving the Chinese text into Babelfish, I'd be raving about this phone actually being a new CyberShot phone!

Fortunately I'm a little more dilligent than that, but I expect a few people will be blogging about this as the next CyberShot phone. Always best to get your news frrm somewhere you trust - like MobileMentalism, for instance :) Fakes are never good, whether they're mobile phones or mobile phone blogs;)

[Source: ePrice]

The fact that it's taken so long to develop the new Android phone shows just how committed Google has been with the new platform, and how forward thinking the company has been with the mobile market. The Android platform is based on a company of the same name that Google bought a couple of years ago, but Google's discussions with HTC began a couple of years before that.

I'm not sure what's more impressive - the fact that Google has committed five years of work to their new device, or the fact that both Google and HTC managed to keep under wraps for five years!

[Source: EngadgetMobile]

One of the big questions surrounding the launch of Google's first Android phone was just how well supported it would be by third party application developers. If today's news is anything to go by, very well indeed should be the answer, as Visa have announced that they're about to launch a brand new mobile payment service on the Android platform.

The new service will alert you to any payments that have been made on your Visa card, ensuring you know exactly what's being spent on your card and when, which should be a great help in combating fraud. You'll also be able to see the locations of ATMs that support your Visa card within your local area, and receive offers from merchants that are redeemable in stores close by.

Visa are also launching a more advanced app for Nokia phones that lets you make payment using your Nokia 6212 Classic or future high-end Nokia phones. The reason you won't be able to do this with Android phones is because the Nokia phones employ Near-Field Communication (NFC) technology, which is a wireless technology that enables the transmission of data similar to the Oyster card used on the London Underground.

Android doesn't yet support NFC, at least on the initial Android device, the T-Mobile G1. However, the fact that Visa have developed their NFC-less applications for Android rather than the iPhone or Windows Mobile is a real boost for the new platform, and shows that plenty of big name companies have a lot of faith in Google's new platform.

Details fo the new Visa Mobile Services

Visa mobile services developed for the Android platform include:

• Alerts: Consumers will receive near real-time notification of purchase activity based on customized cardholder preferences. The consumer will be able to personalize the types of alerts delivered to their mobile device according to pre-selected parameters, such as the size of the transaction, or whether the transaction is in foreign currency. Because these alerts are triggered by the transaction as it passes through the Visa network, consumers will receive notifications almost immediately, typically before they even leave the store. This adds a new layer of peace of mind when using Visa, and a new way to combat fraud.
• Offers: Consumers will receive targeted offers from merchants directly to their phone. These offers - ranging from discounts to loyalty offers - could be based on a consumer's previous purchase activity. For consumers and merchants alike, this service will ensure the most relevant offers are sent in a timely manner, helping increase merchant traffic, loyalty and customer satisfaction.
• Locator: The Locator service is expected to integrate with technology developed by Google, such as Google Maps and Google location-based services, to show consumers nearby locations of merchants sending them offers, or of an ATM that accepts Visa. The location would be called out on a map displayed on the mobile device screen.

[Source: Yahoo!, ZDNet]