Nielsen released some intriguing numbers about the state of the mobile market. According to their statistics, Android and the iPhone command the same % of desirability in the US. This coupled with the rapid growth of Android, an unbelievable 886% year-on-year for Q2 2010 explains Steve Jobs’ outburst at the Apple earnings call. Jobs left no stone unturned while slamming Google and RIM. Pingdom released numbers that suggest Nokia commands a huge user base in Asia and Africa, however I don’t believe users there will be willing to pay for applications as compared to iOS, Android, WP7 users in the US.

Apple (and its evangelists) have been trying real hard to pitch HTML5 as the open development platform while their marketplace apps as the “closed” model. Android lovers seem to spew hatred against this and still love the old Nokia/WinMo app model where anyone could code apps and anyone could install any app.

In Windows Phone 7, fellow blogger Rafael Rivera, Long Zheng and Charlie Walsh released an app that allowed sideloading of apps but this led to a huge debate about how this is not good for app developers. Interestingly, it was some developers who had a problem. This shows some amount division between developers when it comes to a closed marketplace like that of Apple and Microsoft as against the Android way.

Coming back to Apple and iPhone, it shifted innovation towards applications and touch interface while other aspects seem to be ignored. The iPhone 4 was plagued with bad press and bugs, in my opinion it looks like Apple decided to go mass-market since 3GS and 4 which coupled with the whole Gizmodo issue hit quality control of Apple. This gave Android a good opportunity to grow. The other reason for Andorid’s rapid growth as pointed out is, since it is open source and fairly advanced in terms of features, carriers and OEMs can leverage it to avoid being dependable on Microsoft or Apple or spend huge resources on developing independent platform.

Android’s fragmentation is a real problem which so far doesn’t seem to affect the sales but the technically inclined aren’t happy with it. What happens further with Windows Phone 7 in the mix and N8 getting fairly positive customer reviewers the market will keep on seeing consistent growth and developer interest. Sony cell phones haven’t been bad but not revolutionary either, Sony’s PSP phone should help them do what Ngage did for Nokia. Mobile gaming is gaining adoption and with Xbox LIVE, Game Center and a PSP branded phone, the options only increase.

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Where’s The Mobile Market Headed?

The Courier will definitely have Internet connection capabilities, the images indicate towards 3G and ability to insert a SIM card, making calls might also be possible for all we know. Some details about the Courier known by Engadget:

• A bit bigger than 5×7 when closed
• Built-in camera
• Based on Windows CE (that’s what is beneath Windows Phone 7 Series, Zune)
• Head phone jack
• Processor: Tegra 2
• Availability Q3/Q4

You can watch the prototype in action here.

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The Courier Is Social, Does Facebook And SMS

A new verion of WinMo 6.5.5 gets on my phone now!!! Hope the flash works!

UPDATE: Tom Warren from Neowin notified me that Windows Mobile 6.5.5 has existed for quite some time and there are ROMs for the HTC HD2 on XDA forums.

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[Update] Windows Mobile 6.5.5 Exists? Microsoft Not Giving Up On Windows Mobile

The patent states that when the phone is used as a Graphics Tablet device. The phone will be housed on a pad and when connected to the PC as a graphics tablet the screen on the phone will simulate a Graphics Tablet. Details:

• the screen might a show a grid
• display soft buttons that give Graphics Tablet like options
• configure the hard buttons of the phone to perform certain functions.

The catch however from what I read is that the app with disable the phone feature of the mobile device to avoid interruptions. Since the phone will be used as a graphics tablet, the device will be shown as one when connected to the computer and will not be listed as a mobile device, neat touch. The software will make use of Microsoft Global Input Method Editors (IMEs) to recognize characters that are not part of the device by default.

Whether it comes as a WinMo Windows Phone 7 Series feature is doubtful but if ever there is a Courier, it’ll definitely have an implementation of something similar. Images from the patent:

The support pad for the mobile device:

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Microsoft Planned To Make Windows Mobile Into Wacom Like Graphic Tablets?

• Accelerometer
• An OLED screen
• Ambient lights
• Internet access (wired and wireless)

The charging pad is an inductive charging source. A simple definition of Inductive Charging comes from Wikipedia:

Inductive charging uses the electromagnetic field to transfer energy between two objects. A charging station sends energy through inductive coupling to an electrical device, which stores the energy in the batteries. Because there is a small gap between the two coils, inductive charging is one kind of short-distance wireless energy transfer.

The patent talks about the process that would take place for charging a device. The pad will operate in 3 modes:

1. Idle Mode – Conserving power when nothing is placed.
2. Load Detection – when a device to be charged is placed.
3. Charging Mode – once a device has been detected, charging is initiated.

While this might not sound as cool, what follows is:

According to the patent, devices to be charged can be placed on any side of the pad. The device is said to have accelerometers to detect which side of the pad is facing up and charging will be done via that side. The charging pad is proposed to have an OLED screen to display information (with graphics) such as:

• Weather conditions
• Sports scores
• News headlines

All this information can be fetched through a wired or a wireless connection to a PC with an Internet connection. Here are some images from the patent application:

Now this would make for an awesome accessory for the ZuneHD and a Windows Phone 7 Series device.

Update: The guys at gottabemobile came across what look like prototype pictures of the pad uploaded on Flickr by user huiwen_ji who I presume worked on the project (and according to her LinkedIn profile was a visiting student at MSFT Asia, that would explain the MBP) . Images:

My thoughts:

a) looks smaller than I thought, if the device will cover the display I find no point in having that display to be honest.

b) this charging pad is way too cool to be just a mouse charger.

Update: #2 The guys at Engadget got tipped about a video of the “uPad”:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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[Update #2] Microsoft Asia Working On A Futuristic Mobile Charging Pad