App inventor will not only make Application development for Android easier, but it will even change the way people use their mobile phones. We have previously mentioned that Google Android is targeting developers, and today we are discovering that it’s trying to make application development easier even for non-programmers.

No other mobile platform will be able to compete with Google on this side. The only negative point for Android remain the differences/incompatibilities between versions, especially that we started already talking about Android 3 – Gingerbread.

From App inventor website :

To use App Inventor, you do not need to be a developer. App Inventor requires NO programming knowledge. This is because instead of writing code, you visually design the way the app looks and use blocks to specify the app’s behavior.

An online development environment will definitely make a revolution for the Android platform, even if you will say that applications will be limited in features compared to advanced programming capabilities.

With App Inventor you can create location-aware applications, for example to help you remember where you parked your car, an app that shows the location of your friends or colleagues at a concert or conference, or your own custom tour app of your school, workplace, or a museum. Or simply apps that use the phone features of an Android phone such texting, camera, sensors, … etc. But if you are more familiar with webservices you will be able even to interact with your favorite websites such Amazon and Twitter… etc.

App Inventor  gallery already include apps such :

DROIDMuni : displays schedules for the San Francisco transit system. After the user selects from one of the transits lines and choosing a direction and particular stop, the application will display the lines next arrival times. Once the user has retrieved the desired arrival times, they are able to set up to four favorites which are saved and stored based on their unique e-mail address. Using the DroidMuni remind feature, the user can set a reminder to be notified when a bus is a specified number of minutes away.

ParkIt : allows users to locate their car on their Android phone. After clicking the “Park It” button, the app stores the users car’s location until the “Find It” Button is clicked. The “Find It” button displays the user’s current location, and the user’s car’s location using latitude and longitude. When the user clicks “Show On Map”, GoogleMaps is activated, and the route to the car is displayed.

Drum Kit : allows the user to hit seven different parts of a full, labeled drum kit and hear each drum’s respective sound. This app allows the user not only to learn more about the drums (i.e. the names and sounds of the drums), but also to have fun and create their own beat.

Super Hero Game : a fantastic Quiz game that tests the users true Super Hero Knowledge. Each screen shows a different character from a superhero world and asks a question pertaining to that picture. The user types in the answer and clicks submit. The program responds with a RIGHT or WRONG and the user is prompted to go on to the next question. The question will change as well as the picture. If the user wants to quit at any time they can GIVE UP and the program closes.

Where’s Speedo : allows a user and a users friends or family find each other. The app detects the user’s location and sends it to the users friends or family using the app. The app allows the user to view the location of another user on a map. It also allows the user to set how often the app sends his/her location.

I think we should expect more amazing apps from this magical inventor ! Behind the app inventor a research work conducted in MIT including the Open Blocks Java library used by the blocks editor, Open Blocks visual programming which is closely related to the Scratch programming language, and Kawa Language Framework and Kawa’s dialect of the Scheme programming language used to translates the visual blocks language for implementation on Android.

App inventor is still invitation only, and you can complete this form to get an invitation when available.

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 ?!

HTC Hero cost 2399 SAR (around $640 US) and include 1Gig internet subscription for free a value of 1200 SAR (around $320 US).

iPhone 3G is already available in Saudi Arabia by Mobily(second private telco in KSA), the 8G iphone is actually sold for 2400 SAR with a 250MB free.

STC, the largest telecommunication provider in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, covers an area of two million sq km, providing coverage to more than 100,000 km of highways and 98 per cent of inhabited areas across Saudi Arabia.

It has a larger customer base than any other provider in the Middle East – more than 19 million GSM, four million land line and one million DSL customers, the statement said. To date, STC has won telecom licenses in Kuwait and Bahrain and acquired shares in companies in Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, and South Africa and is continuing to develop its outreach to become a global service provider.

The software will be offered as a service and the web 2.0 style. “We know that we are offering something, which by volume, segmentation and mobility has not yet been offered. We also know that it will be a nice challenge, to offer this software globally, as mobile services, but we are prepared. After all, our extensive portfolio is proof that we can.” Says Ricardo Garay CEO Handcase.

The software will be offered as a subscription. Users will have the resources available as skins, encrypted security, option to create their own mobile social networks, and more. Carriers can offer unique customized versions. Users will have options to access wi-fi for free, or be signed by your carrier.

The options of signing will be: free for personal users with and without advertising, paid and free for professionals and pay for companies. One of the services yet to be free for businesses, will be Co2Global, the software for management of carbon credits, the first in the world, launched in 2008 by Handcase, which will have its version to service, offered soon. “We emphasize that, for those who already have or buy a version for PalmOS, version Android and Moblin will be free.” Garay explains.

“It must be said that do not forget the LiMo, and we will work for it too.” Ricardo concluded. The Handcase time, will detail in the exclusive website, the beta versions of each of the first software 60, when then officially communicate the launch.

About

Handcase Brazilian industry mobile software centered in the Palm platform. With a catalog of 346 products it consolidated the position of bigger industry of software for Palm of the world.

Beijing, China and Sunnyvale, Calif., July 10, 2009 – Borqs Inc., a leading open source mobile application software provider and integrator, today announced it has closed a US$17.4 million Series B round of venture financing. Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) led this round, which included participation from current investors, GSR Ventures – the Mayfield Fund China affiliate – as well as Keytone Ventures. As a part of the investment, Mohan Kumar of NVP will join Borqs’ board of directors.

Borqs develops mobile software products for wireless service providers. The company’s client-side software is based on Google’s Android mobile software. Borqs’ offerings give carriers the ability to create a consistent and branded user interface experience that can work across different types of smartphones. Borqs also provides carriers with the ability to create branded application store fronts that offer subscribers a wide range of mobile application choices by tapping into the Android Application Marketplace as well as existing Java-based mobile applications.

Borqs IP and software enable phone manufacturers or mobile operators to launch Android-based 3G phones or services in less than six months, reducing the cycle time savings by over a year when compared to the current process. And because Borqs is based on Android and an open source environment, smartphones can be produced at a lower price point to further increase consumer adoption and drive the overall smartphone market. The company currently works with leading mobile operators and tier-one device manufacturers worldwide.

“As the mobile sector continues to evolve and is now the number one source for information and entertainment, wireless carriers must provide their subscribers with the best choice in applications and handset offerings and to do so at a low cost point. By building on the foundation of Google’s Android platform, Borqs can deliver carriers with a solution that meets these needs while providing a unique and consistent brand experience for their subscribers,” said Mohan Kumar. “The experienced team at Borqs, combined with the company’s strong product offerings, proven track record, early customer wins and significant traction with the world’s largest carrier China Mobile and other operators, were key factors in our investment decision.”

“We are very pleased to have NVP lead this funding round for Borqs,” said Pat Chan, CEO and president of Borqs. “NVP brings to Borqs a compelling mix of deep industry knowledge in the mobile industry, relevant operational experience and a strong network of contacts that will help grow the company as we expand the Borqs footprint worldwide. We look forward to partnering with NVP to drive customer momentum, accelerate our growth and take the company to the next level.”

About Borqs

Established in 2007, Borqs International Holding Corp is a high-tech enterprise committed to providing end-to-end solutions to the whole value chain of mobile communications, including network operators and handset manufacturers. The core products of Borqs are mobile operating systems for smartphone platforms and mobile internet services platforms. Borqs is a commercialization partner of Android Open Handset Alliance.  For more information, visit www.borqs.com.

About Norwest Venture Partners

Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) is a global, multi-stage investment firm that manages more than $2.5 billion in capital out of its offices in Palo Alto, California, Mumbai and Bangalore, India and Herzelia, Israel.  NVP makes early to late stage venture and growth equity investments in U.S. and global companies across a wide range of sectors including: information technology, business services, financial services and consumer.  NVP has actively partnered with entrepreneurs to build great businesses for more than 48 years and has funded over 450 companies since inception.

Notable investments include Actel Corporation, Airespace (acquired by Cisco Systems), Cerent (acquired by Cisco Systems), Corio (acquired by IBM), Cray Research, Documentum, Extreme Networks , Forte Software (acquired by Sun Microsystems), OnMobile (NSE: OnMobile), Open-Silicon (acquired by Unicorn Investment Bank), PeopleSoft, Qumranet (acquired by Red Hat), Rackspace (NYSE:RAX), Siara Systems (acquired by Redback Networks), SideStep (acquired by Kayak), Spinnaker Networks (acquired by Network Appliance), Tivoli Systems (acquired by IBM), Transaction Systems Architects (Nasdaq: ACIW), Verio (acquired by NTT), Winphoria Networks (acquired by Motorola) and Yipes (acquired by Reliance/Flag Telecom). For more information, please visit www.nvp.com.

All brands, names, or trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners

Ascender can ensure that any custom work maintains the quality and consistency of the original designs, custom work include additional styles and weights, Character set extensions, Enhanced language support, and Advanced OpenType typographic features…

In addition to the latest localization capabilities offered in the Android platform,  Ascender can help making android speak all languages of the world, and will definitely open the door to many new markets worldwide like the Middle East.

Below the press release :

Enhanced versions of the Droid fonts with are now available for software & hardware developers, and for creative professionals from Ascender Corp. The http://www.DroidFonts.com website also features information about the Droid fonts which are part of Android, a complete, open mobile phone software stack.

Elk Grove Village, IL — February 12, 2009 — Ascender Corporation, a leading provider of advanced font products and innovative applications for mobile devices, today announced the DroidFonts.com website and the availability of enhanced versions of the Droid family of fonts. Ascender worked closely with Google and the Open Handset Alliance to develop the Droid system fonts for Android, a free, open source, and fully customizable mobile platform. The Ascender team has continued to develop custom proprietary versions and enhanced proprietary versions of the Droid fonts for OHA members. The Droid fonts are now also available in “Pro” versions with advanced typographic features for designers and creative professionals.

Steve Matteson, Ascender’s Type Director designed the original Droid fonts. They are optimized for rendering on various screen displays including user interfaces, application menus and web browsers. There are a variety of styles and weights in the Droid font family, and each font provides an extensive range of language support.

“The Droidfonts.com website reflects our commitment to build the Droid font family into a complete and vibrant font collection. We are very proud that the Droid fonts have received such a positive reception” said Ira Mirochnick, president of Ascender Corp. “We will continue to work as closely as possible with the Android team and with fellow OHA members to further the development of these important UI fonts. Based on the outstanding feedback we’ve received from creative professionals, we are also happy to now offer OpenType featured “Pro” versions of the Droid fonts.”

Ascender is working with Open Handset Alliance members and other partners to modify and customize many of the Droid fonts. Ascender is also working on new weights, new styles, and enhanced language support (more language & script coverage). The newer Droid fonts are offered by Ascender under a commercial license.

The www.DroidFonts.com website was created by Ascender to provide a comprehensive source of information about the Droid font collection. Included on the site are downloadable type specimens and an article by Steve Matteson on the making of the Droid fonts.

The Droid Pro fonts consist of:

• Droid Sans Pro Regular and Bold
• Droid Sans Pro Condensed Regular and Bold (coming soon)
• Droid Sans Pro Mono Regular and Bold (coming soon)
• Droid Serif Pro Family: Regular, Italic, Bold and Bold Italic
• Droid Sans Fallback (a font with CJK support – Coming Soon)

Today Ascender is announcing “Pro” versions of these fonts in both OpenType and TrueType font format. These versions include Old Style Figures, which require an OpenType-saavy application such as InDesign. The Droid Pro fonts are available for purchase and instant download from either the www.DroidFonts.com website, or the www.AscenderFonts.com website.

About Ascender
Ascender Corporation is a leading provider of advanced font products and innovative applications for mobile devices. Ascender’s founders are font industry experts and have been involved in developing many of the most important and influential fonts used in computers and mobile devices. Ascender provides multilingual, custom font development and mobile phone applications for a wide range of customers including creative professionals, enterprises and hardware & software developers. Ascender also provides fonts for download to graphic designers through the www.AscenderFonts.com website and to consumers through the www.FontMarketplace.com website.

“In keeping with the Open Handset Alliance requirements, Garmin-Asus will bring to market a product with Android OS.  However, we haven’t announced a phone with an Android OS yet, and as is our practice, we will not release any details about the product or its availability prior to the product’s launch.” A Garmin-Asus spokesperson told Open Handset Magazine.

Below the press release :

Garmin® and ASUS® to Create Garmin-Asus Line of Co–branded LBS-centric Mobile Phones

Cayman Islands and Taipei, Taiwan/February 4, 2009/Business Wire — Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) and ASUSTeK Computer Inc. (TAIEX: 2357) today announced a strategic alliance that will leverage the companies’ navigation and mobile telephony expertise to design, manufacture and distribute co-branded location-centric mobile phones. Garmin and ASUS have already begun joint development on a diverse mobile phone product line, which will be known as the Garmin-Asus nüvifone™ series. The companies expect to bring to market several Garmin-Asus nüvifone models in 2009, and a new Garmin-Asus nüvifone model will be announced at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, Spain, February 16-19, 2009.

“We believe that converged devices are an emerging opportunity,” said Dr. Min Kao, chairman and CEO of Garmin Ltd. “This alliance is advantageous to both companies because it allows us to combine our resources and establish a strong foundation from which we will innovate and introduce the world to the benefits of LBS-centric mobile phones. We’ve been working with ASUS for over one year on the initial nüvifone that was announced in 2008 on the basis of an ODM relationship. Learning from this experience, we concluded that by leveraging and combining our respective industry-leading areas of expertise at a higher level, we will be able not only to significantly expand our product line, but also to shorten our product development time. We believe that through this strategic alliance we are uniquely positioned to deliver the world’s best integrated and most compelling GPS-enabled mobile devices.”

“This alliance allows ASUS and Garmin to seamlessly combine the strengths of both companies to offer market leading mobile phone solutions that are of the best design and highest quality. ASUS and Garmin both believe strongly in the continuous investment of R&D resources to unfailingly provide leading-edge innovations to people and businesses,” said Jonney Shih, CEO of ASUSTeK Computer Inc. “Through this alliance, our companies will continue to develop innovations that simplify life. Our technologies should accommodate our customers, not the other way around. We believe all devices should perform and communicate seamlessly not just anytime and anyplace, but in real time, in real places, and we’re confident the nüvifone series will meet this objective.”

All Garmin-Asus nüvifone devices will continue the product vision of the original nüvifone and will be LBS-centric devices that seamlessly connect, communicate and navigate. The original Garmin nüvifone that was announced in 2008 will be re-branded as the Garmin-Asus nüvifone G60. The Garmin-Asus nüvifone G60 is expected to be delivered in the first half of 2009, and additional information about the Garmin-Asus nüvifone G60 will be released at the Mobile World Congress trade show.

LBS functionality is core to the Garmin-Asus nüvifone series, which will offer the same turn-by-turn, voice-prompted navigation features found on high-end Garmin portable navigation devices (PND). It has preloaded maps and millions of points of interest that allow drivers to quickly find a specific street address, establishment’s name or search for a destination by category. In addition, the nüvifone includes quick access to online points of interest through internet enabled local search. The nüvifone harnesses the power of the worldwide web and information about local merchants and attractions is continually updated. The nüvifone also features Ciao!™, a social networking application that bridges the gap between multiple location based social networks and integrates them seamlessly into one device.

The Garmin-Asus alliance was disclosed during a press conference in Taiwan on February 4, 2009. Analysts or journalists unable to attend the Garmin-Asus announcement in Taiwan are invited to participate in a webcast or via phone on February 4, 2009, at 11:00 am EST (10:00 am CST). Webcast details are available at www.GarminAsus.com/pressroom.

Garmin-Asus nüvifone models will be on display at the Garmin-Asus booth at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, Spain, February 16-19, 2009 (7C37, hall 7). Journalists should contact the Garmin or Asus media contacts to arrange a live demonstration or interviews. Additional information is available at www.GarminAsus.com.

About Garmin and ASUS

Garmin is the global leader in satellite navigation, and has sold more than 43 million devices. Currently celebrating its 20th anniversary, Garmin has pioneered navigation and communication devices that enrich people’s lives. Garmin’s market breadth in the GPS industry is second to none having developed innovative products and established market leadership position in each of the markets it serves, including automotive, aviation, marine, fitness, outdoor recreation and wireless applications. Garmin achieved the worldwide number one spot for mobile navigation devices in 2007 by more than doubling its shipments on 2006 and increasing its market share. According to research conducted by Canalys, a leading independent technology market analyst firm, in the third quarter of 2008 Garmin held 35 percent of the worldwide PND market with an approximately 50 percent share in the U.S. and a 20 percent share in Europe.

Garmin has been on the leading edge of mobile phone navigation having launched several products into the mobile market including Garmin Mobile off-board navigation and Garmin Mobile XT, an on-board navigation solution. First announced in 2005, Garmin Mobile off-board navigation was the first server-based navigation application to visually depict and constantly update the user’s position on a detailed moving map. These navigation applications include access to dynamic, location-relevant content like traffic reports, fuel prices, flight status and weather information. Garmin’s on-board and off-board navigation solutions have been adopted by numerous mobile phone manufacturers and network operators, and are currently available on over 500 different phone models.

ASUS is a technology leader in the IT industry and offers everything from PC components to complete solutions including notebooks, desktops, smart phones, PDAs, broadband communications products, LCD monitors and wireless applications. ASUS is recognized worldwide for the Eee PC™, an ultramobile PC noted for its combination of light weight and ease of use. In 2007, one in three desktop PCs sold was powered by an ASUS motherboard; and ASUS has been the fastest growing notebook brand for the past eight consecutive quarters, ranking fifth in the world in Q3 2008. The company’s 2008 revenues reached $8.2 billion (U.S. dollars). Through its unyielding commitment to innovation and quality, ASUS has won numerous international awards. ASUS has been ranked amongst BusinessWeek’s InfoTech 100 for 11 consecutive years, placing ninth in 2008. ASUS has also achieved the number one title in the annual league table of Taiwan Top 10 Global Brands IT Hardware category with a brand value of $1.324 billion (U.S. dollars).

ASUS is a rising contender in the design, manufacture and distribution of mobile phones, and has exclusive intellectual property rights in 3G core technologies. These 3G technologies are paving the way for 4G in the near future. With over 800 employees devoted to R&D and business development for smart phones, ASUS has successfully launched phones in 20 countries with major operators such as Vodafone, O2, Orange and TIM. ASUS’ telecom industry footprint has grown significantly since the company introduced its first PDA in 2001 and mobile phone in 2004. Today, ASUS is recognized as one of the top three Windows Mobile brands in Russia and Eastern Europe. With stylish facades and excellent user interfaces, ASUS phones have passed strict design criteria to win the Japanese G-Mark Design and German iF Awards — accolades that position ASUS as a leader in mobile phone design.

Garmin is a registered trademark, and Ciao! and nüvifone are trademarks, of Garmin Ltd. ASUS is a registered trademark and Eee PC is a trademark of ASUSTeK Computer Inc.

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.

Ed was one of the panelist in the latest CES 09 edition, and even if I knew that I won’t get any scoop, I wanted to thank Ed for taking the time to answer our questions.

Q1 – Almost four months since the HTC G1 was officially launched, Are your sales expectation the same (US and worldwide) ? Is there some numbers already available for 2008 ?

While we have not announced the official number of G1 units shipped to date, we are certainly pleased not only with the sales numbers, but with the positive reaction we have gotten from consumers that are currently using the G1 in their daily lives.

Q2 – We heard many positive and negative feedback about G1, what’s your next biggest challenge for the G2 ?  Design Improvements, performance, new features (I don’t think G1 missed any), battery life, storage … ?

We unfortunately cannot comment on any future products, but it is important to know that continuous improvement is a large part of the HTC culture, and we always find ways to build on even successful products like the G1.

Q3 – Until “G1″, HTC was manufacturing mostly windows-mobile based smartphones (PDA,Touch, …) How did you find the Android experience so far ?

Overall, we have found that developing products based on the Android platform to be a positive experience, and I can say that the reaction from our customers has been equally positive.

Q4 – How do you compare Open Handset Alliance (OHA) work, to other linux mobile alliances such LIMO, LIPS … ? Why you are part of OHA and not of others ?

As you note, we are not members of other mobile alliances, so we are not in a position to compare OHA against other groups. HTC strives to be a leader in the technologies in which it develops and markets products. To do this, HTC focuses its efforts on two platforms – Windows Mobile and Android. In this way, HTC is able to bring world class products to market with unique and differentiated value propositions.

Q5 – If windows still dominating the desktop market, do you think that linux and open source could conquer the mobile market ?

HTC believes that the dynamic wireless market is large enough to support many competing platforms, and that the innovation bred by this competition ultimately benefits the end consumer. At HTC, we are focused on Windows Mobile and Android, both of which offer unique benefits to consumers, and are well poised for success in the growing smartphone market.

Q6 – What will the next HTC smartphone be using : windows-mobile, Android, or other mobile platform ?

HTC is committed to bringing new Windows Mobile and Android products to market, and you can expect to see a combination of devices based on both of these platforms in 2009.

In the same context; Medialets, a New York based mobile advertising start-up, have a chart of Active users in iPhone Vs Android showing a fast growth of Android daily users against iPhone (390% for Android compared to 256% for iPhone). We have contacted Medialets earlier in December ’08, to request more information on the data used in that chart, but we didn’t got any answer until today.