A Korean news report claims that a new 4G iPhone will be coming out as soon as this spring.

KT, a company partnered with Apple to sell iPhones in South Korea, revealed its plans to begin selling the 4G iPhone as early as April. We can obviously expect the phone to include new radio hardware for connecting to 4G networks, and KT’s reports indicate the phone will feature a new dual-core CPU for a speed boost. The screen is to be switched from a standard LCD to an OLED model, which could mean a brighter picture and reduced power consumption. There could also be a front-mounted camera for video chat and a battery that’s finally removable by the end-user.

According to Goldman Sachs’ Robert Chen, it won’t lack new features. “Apple’s going to put a lot of innovation, not just on the hardware, but also on the software of the new iPhone,” he said.

There is also rumors that the back of the iPhone will be touch sensitive much like the touch panel used for the Magic Mouse or like the Motorola Backflip, an Android smartphone that can be controlled via a touchpad on the back of the screen.

Apple, of course, doesn’t comment on “rumors and speculation.” But according to Chen, the new iPhone will go into production in April and should be available to consumers in June or July — just enough time for the rumor train to go into full speed.

At a press gathering on Tuesday, Google unveiled the Nexus One, a Google-branded smartphone that will run on the search giant’s Android operating system. Some analysts say Google’s new device, which is being built by HTC of Taiwan based on Google’s specifications, will deal a stiff blow to Apple’s hegemony in the smartphone arena.

At first glance, it’s so sleek, stylish and sexy, we were almost wondering: Where’s the Apple logo?

Call it the Google challenge: After a few hours with the new Nexus One, a long time Apple fan will be willing to trade this iPhone. It’s very, very tempting.

Specifications of Google NEXUS ONE

Where could Google succeed, where other competitors have failed?

The Nexus One boasts speed improvements and enhanced camera capabilities, and the device will be sold unlocked.
The unlocked version of the Nexus One, which will be sold directly to consumers via a new web store hosted by Google, will cost $529. A locked version of the phone, which will be sold initially by T-Mobile, will cost $179 with a two-year contract that will cost roughly $80 a month.Apple’s iPhone 3GS now costs $199 with a two-year contract with AT&T.

Still, some new details emerged, so here’s a quick scan:
* In addition to T-Mobile the Nexus One will be supported by Verizon and Vodafone come spring.
* Some of those Android 2.1 goodies — expanded voice controls, including speech-to-text capability for tweets, texts and e-mail; a revamped photo gallery; more homescreen panels; interactive wallpapers; and a Google Earth app.
* In using the Nexus One to launch an online storefront intended eventually to allow consumers to choose from a raft of unlocked handsets and then pick a carrier and a calling plan, Google is revolutionizing the mobile phone marketplace. Or maybe not.

Courtesy of Brian J. Friedman

Yes there is a new entrant in the app space and even in the OS space. Joining Android, iPhone, Windows, Palm’s WebOS, Blackberry, Maemo and not to forget Symbian… Samsung wades into the battle of the OSs. To get a good share in the mobile market Samsung has launched it’s own Linux based mobile OS named “Bada” which means Ocean in Korean.

Professing to be a totally open platform or OS Samsung says that it enables a richer user experience in applications on Samsung ONLY mobile devices and helps developers to create UI rich applications very easily. Samsung says that the design principles of bada aim to deliver simple, intuitive, and innovative user experiences through innovative visual design. Samsung bada includes a next generation UI framework with feature sets and design elements that facilitate leading-edge user interfaces for every bada application.

The source code for the kernel that powers the Symbian OS now officially open sourced under the Eclipse Public License. This was something Nokia pledged to do when it acquired the remaining 52% stake in Symbian early June of 2008.

Early this year, Nokia announced it would be using a GNU/Linux based Maemo for their high end smart phones with Symbian pushed down to serve their mid-range offerings.

The Motorola Droid - Coming this October

Measuring 60.00 x 115.80 x 13.70 mm, it’s just slightly thicker than the iPhone 3GS but at least you could change the batteries on the Driod. Supported media formats include: MPEG-4, H263, H264, WMV; AMR-NB/WB, MP3, PCM / WAV, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA (something iPhone refuses to support).

The crypic Da-Vinci like countdown timer on the Driod homepage got the Internet working on the release date – Pharanoid.com broke the code to reveal October 28th as the release date.

I read an article this morning that brings home to me the fact that what is happening in the mobie space isn’t anymore just of interest to mobile related business people. I guess it signals a real coming of age.

BBC technology had an article “Battle of the smartphones begins” where they debate the pros and cons of BlackBerry, iPhone and the Pre. Was the Storm 2 or the Pre a possible iPhone killer. Of course for us mobile professionals, geeks or entrepreneurs in this space we read debates all the time like this. For us it is sort of our daily fare… but not so for the common mortal.

I felt that this was a sign that people are getting more and more attuned to the fact that mobile devices and their ecosystem of apps, mobile content and sites is of interest. This seems to me quantitative leap to what happened when Microsoft were battling it out back in the 80s and 90s where most people didn’t really participate in this battle, or even discuss it that much.

Now though people are interested in what is happening… I mean it still has some ways to go but it is becoming a topic of general news.

Nokia’s next tablet device is designed in the same vein as their N810, albeit significantly more polished. Though it doesn’t appear to have an official name as of yet, it’s referred to internally as “N900″, “Rover”, or “Maemo Flagship”. We’ll be referring to this device as the N900 for the rest of this post, though it’s quite possible that this name will change.

The N900 is very similar to the Nokia N97 aesthetically, having a 3.5″ touchscreen above a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and many of the same design features. However, the screen of the N900 is significantly higher resolution (800×480 as opposed to 360×640) and, unlike that of the N97, does not tilt up. Additionally, the N900 does not appear to feature the navi-keys found on the slide-out layer of the N97. And, of course, it runs Maemo rather than S60.

Palm Pre2

The Palm Pre continues to attract attention from analysts who speculate how many devices Palm has sold, as well as what the launch of webOS means for Palm’s future as an independent company.

Charter Equity Research analyst Edward Synder made a splash when he wrote in a recent research note that his contacts in the manufacturing and retail channel indicate that Palm has sold 300,000 Pre units since Sprint Nextel launched the smartphone June 6. The number is higher than many other estimates. Sprint may provide more detailed sales figures when it discusses its second quarter earnings this month.

Further, Synder said Palm will ship 1 million units to Sprint in its first quarter of production. He also said that he expects Verizon Wireless to launch a webOS device in early 2010, with AT&T Mobility following shortly thereafter.

Speculation about Palm as a possible takeover target also continues. Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu said in a recent note that there is “great value in Palm as a strategic acquisition.” He listed Cisco, Dell, HP, LG, Motorola, Nokia and Samsung as possible suitors for the smartphone maker.

And in one more tidbit of Pre news, the website T3 is reporting that early next week Palm will make an announcement about the Pre’s UK launch. Vodafone and O2 have been eyed as possible carriers for the Pre’s Euro debut.

The Android Developers made the Android 1.5 SDK available for download, providing developers with a wide range of brand new features that will offer them the necessary tools to create new applications for compliant Android-powered devices.

The new development kit is geared, obviously, for the new version of Android, a refresh that owners of all Android phones will eventually be able to enjoy. It brings with it several important tools to make development easier, including a Virtual Devices feature to let developers emulate multiple Android devices and other improvements to better gauge performance issues – a big concern for mobile environments where battery life and CPU power are limited with a number of new features, including home-screen widgets, speech recognition, live folders, and soft keyboards, as well as new programming tools.

This is also the first version of the SDK that will support add-ons, letting developers easily import external libraries. While very little of this is important to the end user, it’s great news for the Android platform as a whole, as easier development will likely mean more programs to choose from.
Android 1.5 OS will probably be released for all Android smartphones in May, one month before Samsung launches the i7500, its very first Android handset.

SDK Contents Development tools

The SDK includes a full set of tools for developing and debugging application code and designing an application UI. You can read about the tools in the Dev Guide and access them in the /tools/ directory.

The tools package in this SDK includes updates from those provided in the previous SDK. The tools also require a different project structure. To use the new tools, you need to migrate your applications to the new development environment. For more information about how to migrate, see Upgrading the SDK.

Here is the download link

The analysts said they expect Palm to have a stockpile of around 375,000 units at the device’s debut (the figure is the median number of units the six analysts surveyed predicted).

A smartphone pioneer with its Treo, Palm has fallen on tough times against rivals such as Research In Motion’s BlackBerry and Apple’s iPhone. When Pre launches with exclusive U.S. carrier Sprint in the first half of 2009, it will be the first phone to run Palm’s new operating system, called WebOS, under development for well over a year. No pricing for the hardware has been set. “We’re extremely enthusiastic about this device,” Sprint CEO Dan Hesse says.

Pre is a handsome, curved, 4.8-ounce device that’s more compact than the iPhone. Like the iPhone, it uses sensors and touch gestures to enlarge photos and Web pages. It also has a hidden, slide-down qwerty keyboard to complement the vibrant 3.1-inch touch-screen. There are other features that the iPhone doesn’t have, including support for Bluetooth wireless stereo devices and a removable battery.

You can also run several applications at once. For example, you’ll be able to listen to music in the Pandora Internet radio application while surfing the Web. You cannot do that on the iPhone.

Facebook was one of the partners to join Palm on stage at CES. Other partners include Google, Yahoo and Amazon. But Palm was not specific about the number of applications that will be available for the phone at launch.

Pandora chief technology officer Tom Conrad says it took days rather than months to develop the Pandora app for the new Palm. The operating system “is really solid,” he says.

Palm Chairman Jon Rubinstein, a former Apple executive instrumental in producing the iPod, says, “We’re just getting started.” A big early goal: “It had to be mostly usable with a single hand and minimize the number of button-presses.”

Palm CEO Ed Colligan scoffs at critics who think the Pre arrives too late to compete against BlackBerry, iPhone and other competitors. “I don’t even remotely feel like it’s too little too late. It’s a big, big space.”