Two years ago, Google revealed the open handset alliance, or the Google’s initiative to dominate the mobile market. The idea sounds crazy for many observers, but since there is a giant called Google behind it, everything is possible. An open source mobile operating system is not something new, many other initiatives are there even before OHA but nobody talk about then … Google knew how to make everybody talk about their Android and it was obvious for everybody that a Google phone is coming someday…

That day is today, and Google have just announced officially the availability of their Nexus One phone the new “Superphone” where “Web meets phone”. That’s already two slogans to market the new nexus one, it’s a Superphone, forget about smartphones. It’s also a new Web experience for mobile users and people who still new to Android.

The hardware is pretty attracting : Thinner and lighter than iPhone, automated brightness adjustment , amazing sensors, noise canceling headphones, 5 megapixel camera with flash and autofocus, … and get ready to see all of these features running under Google Android 2.1 !

There are some downs for Nexus One since Android still missing some features mainly the multi-touch support, the Nexus One screen is amazing but seems to be very gourmand in energy so stay near charger or avoid using full-brightness screen all the time.

Google Nexus One is already available at http://www.google.com/phone/

The unlocked edition is available at $529 in US, UK, Hong Kong and Singapore. T-mobile provides also an unlocked edition of Nexus One at $179 with a $80 monthly plan including  500 minutes/unlimited SMS/unlimited data. You can still get the T-mobile version without any plan by paying an additional $379 !This is the Google phone number One, and there will be certainly more Android phones coming in 2010.

The mobile market war is not only about Android and iPhone, many other mobile giants are already in the market including Nokia with their Symbian OS, MSFT with Windows CE, Palm with their amazing WebOS… We don’t forget also that Google have just acquired Admob, the largest mobile advertising network, for $750 million.

If 2009 was the year of Android, what do you think about 2010 ?!

Wave is pleased to announce the launch of “MyLink” this December. MyLink will enable users of Google Android handsets to access their Lotus Notes or MS Outlook emails, contacts, notes and calendar directly from their devices. Available on Android Market by December this year, it will also be offered through different telecom operators reselling Google Android handsets as well as online at http://www.waveglobal.net. This essentially transforms the Android devices into smart business friendly phones, bringing Google that one step closer into the corporate space.

Sophie Navro, Marketing Manager at Wave commented “As businesses grow and as time becomes more of a privilege than a right, we wanted to devise an option for every user to have what they need at the touch of a button” “We were determined to cater for every need, whether you are an MD of a company or a girl about town, MyLink offers something for everyone”.

MyLink is the first comprehensive solution to synchronize your Google Android phone with your Lotus or Outlook email and has released four new products. MyLink Access, MyLink Essential, MyLink Advanced and MyLink Enterprise are available to purchase online from 1st December 2009. Each type is adapted to suit the needs of every kind of user, ranging from business to social. MyLink Access is free and prices range to a maximum of £4.99 per licence for consumers and available on application for any business.

About Wave

Wave is a Lotus, Microsoft and Google Android technologies specialist in moving from one mail system to another. As a migration specialist, Wave proudly provides high quality, cost effective products and solutions to large outsourcers, customers and small businesses around the world. Wave has offices in the UK, France, USA, Tunisia, Dubai and opening soon in Hong Kong.

Visit the website, http://www.waveglobal.net to find out more or contact Wave at: contact@waveglobal.net

Amazon announced today the availability of their official shopping application for Android, which is actually available for download in Android Market.

The application provides everything you need to search and buy products from Amazon on the go. Amazon App for Android™ came with a new experimental feature to remember your searches of barcodes or products photo.

Many other apps on Android market already provides such search features, but Amazon provides in addition to the new Amazon Remembers capabilities support for 1-click purchase, Amazon Prime, Tracking packages or modifying orders, getting the Gold Box deal of the day, and access to your wish lists.

After Sign-in Amazon app, you can see recommendation on your home page – the same way as seen on Amazon home page. From menu options you can access Home page, Search, your shopping cart, Amazon Remembers list, and Your account.

It seems that session in Amazon Android app is handled in the same way as in Amazon website because after sign-in, I checked my account and it requested password for a second time. You will notice also that navigation interface is not much different from Amazon iPhone app.

Below some Screenshots

T-mobile G1 and Vodafone HTC Magic customers can now view, edit and create Microsoft Word and Excel files plus sync Exchange Server e-mail, contacts and attachments

Milford, CT, April 1, 2009 – DataViz®, Inc., a Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner and leading provider of Microsoft Office compatibility solutions is now shipping Documents To Go® Standard Edition version 1.0 for Android™. The highly anticipated office suite leverages DataViz’s experience developing mobile solutions and brings a feature rich, enterprise-grade productivity tool to devices based on the Android platform.

View, Edit & Create
For nearly a decade Documents To Go has been providing mobile professionals with the ability to view, edit and create native Microsoft Word and Excel® files instantly on their mobile device. Files can be transferred via Bluetooth, USB, memory cards as well as e-mail attachments which means that unlike online or “cloud based” solutions, they are always available for “anytime, anywhere” access. In addition, users can edit their Office documents with confidence thanks to DataViz’s acclaimed InTact Technology™ which ensures that all original file formatting is retained once a file has been edited on their Android handset and forwarded on.

Send & Receive Attachments
With Gmail and other mobile e-mail solutions being at the heart of Android-based devices, having full access to attachments is more important than ever. Now customers can download, view, edit and send Word & Excel files when on the go. In addition, a free beta version of DataViz’s award-winning RoadSync application is also now available in Android Market. RoadSync uses the Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync® protocol to provide secure, wireless and direct push synchronization with Exchange Server 2003 and 2007 and the beta supports push e-mail, attachments and contacts.

“By utilizing the development tools provided by Google and Open Handset Alliance, we were able to bring our solutions to Android Market much faster than we anticipated,” said Ilya Eliashevsky, Product Manager, DataViz, Inc. “Whether you are a corporate customer or a student, you can instantly extend the capability of your Android-powered handset to get more done with Documents To Go and RoadSync.”

Feature Rich
Although new to the Android platform, Documents To Go supports many advanced viewing and editing features. These include but are not limited to touch, keypad and scroll ball navigation, multiple zoom levels, bold, italics, underline, bulleted and numbered lists, embedded pictures, bookmarks, comments, track-changes, word count, password-protected files, spreadsheet functions, sort, freeze pains, insert and delete rows and columns, cut, copy, paste, undo, redo, save and save as.

Supports Office 97-2008
Documents To Go is the first mobile Office suite for Android that supports editing of native Microsoft Word and Excel files as well as the only solution to support all of the latest Microsoft Office file formats including 97, 2000, X, XP, 2003 and 2007 for Windows as well as 98, 2001, 2004, 2008 for Macintosh.

Pricing & Availability
Documents To Go is now available exclusively through Android Market for a limited-time introductory price of $19.99 (regularly $29.99.) The RoadSync beta is free through May 31, 2009 and also immediately available though Android Market. Supported devices include the T-mobile G1, HTC Dream, Vodafone HTC Magic and other devices running Android OS. For more information: http://www.dataviz.com/products/documentstogo/android/index.html

About DataViz
Founded in 1984, DataViz is an industry leader in developing and marketing Office compatibility and productivity solutions across a variety of platforms including Android™, BlackBerry, Java®, Linux, Palm OS®, Symbian OS™, Windows Mobile®, Windows® and Macintosh®. DataViz partners include Microsoft®, Motorola®, Palm®, RIM, Samsung, Sony Ericsson® and other industry leaders. For more information: www.dataviz.com

Last year we have featured an article titled “Android and the Mobile Advertising Market”, at that time we have asked Millennial Media and Admob (among others) about Android mobile platform and the mobile advertising market. Until today it was not clear for everyone how Google will monetize this huge project, while all the roads lead to -obviously- the mobile adveritising market; we are still waiting.

At that time also there was no Android based handset, only the emulator was available; but there was the iPhone, and Admob launched last year a very big initiative to reach and engage users on iPhone. Admob offered $1Million to iPhone developers to promote their iPhone apps and web-apps. Today after that G1 device was available, it was time to launch mobile advertising on the Android platform and that’s the announcement you will read below. Until Google consider eating its dogfood, other mobile advertising startups will find the time to take a good part from the advertising market share.

Currently some advertisers – not announced below – are already using Admob to deliver their ads and promote their Android applications in the Admob network. We saw link that open directly in the search result of the Adroid market, with the name of the application as search keyword.

Update 1/28/2009 : An Admob SDK demo is available in the Android Market showing Ads placement in the Lunar Lander sample application.

Below the press release :

AdMob Launches Ad Unit for Android Applications

Innovative Ad Network Delivers Monetization Solution for Android Developers

SAN MATEO, Calif. AdMob, the world’s largest mobile advertising marketplace, today announced that it has launched its first advertising unit for Android applications, enabling developers to monetize their applications on this new device platform. The first developers to leverage AdMob’s new Android ad unit in their applications include AccuWeather, Jirbo, and TapJoy.

AdMob’s new Android ad unit will also allow brand and performance advertisers to reach the rapidly growing base of consumers engaging with applications on their Android devices. Advertisers will be able to use these ad units to drive customer actions such as going to the Android Market to download an application.

“Android’s open platform enables developers to build rich mobile applications that provide a great experience for users,” said Ali Diab, Vice President of Product Management for AdMob. “We are already seeing strong interest in developing applications for Android-based devices, similar to what we saw with the iPhone last summer, and are very excited to take the lead in helping developers monetize their applications on this fast-growing device platform.”

AdMob already serves ads on mobile Web sites on the Android platform and received more than 27 million requests in December 2008. Building on the initial success of the G1 device, Google’s new mobile platform looks to become a major force in the mobile industry with several new devices expected to come to market in 2009.

“We’ve partnered with AdMob to monetize our mobile services for several years now and continue to get great results working with them on our mobile Web site and in our iPhone application,” said David Mitchell, Director, Wireless Services, AccuWeather. “We are excited to extend this successful relationship with AdMob and start monetizing our new Android application.”

More than 6,000 mobile sites and 450 iPhone applications are a part of AdMob’s publisher network worldwide, giving the company unparalleled reach.

About AdMob

AdMob is the world’s largest and highest quality mobile advertising marketplace, serving more than 4.6 billion mobile banner and text ads per month. Incorporated in April 2006, AdMob allows advertisers to reach their customers on the mobile Web and enables publishers to increase the value of their mobile sites. AdMob makes it easy for publishers to monetize their mobile traffic and for advertisers to target and reach customers on the mobile Web in more than 160 countries.

AdMob has been named a 2008 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum, one of Wired.com’s 2008 Companies to Watch, and VentureBeat’s Mobilebeat 2008 Best Overall Mobile Startup / Best Mobile Infrastructure Company. To learn more about AdMob, visit www.admob.com.