But there’s still tech news on the Register: check out the Gadgetress’ Orange County technology blog, Colin Stewart’s Orange County tech innovation blog and the Register’s technology page.

The smartphone market will grow from 10 percent of the total handset market in 2007 to 31 percent of the market in 2013, according to ABI. The study suggests that growth will come from a push by cell carriers wanting to make more money from data plans.

The report also predicts that iPhone features will continue to spread across handsets, those include: touchscreens, touchpads and accelerometers for sensing phone movement.

In case you’re wondering about the definition of a smartphone, here are two attempts to answer that question:
ABI’s definition is explained by Prinicipal Analyst Philip Solis: “a smartphone is a cellular handset that uses an open, commercial operating system. The middleware and UI layers are associated with the OS. Linux feature phones using Java or BREW do not count, but Linux phones that can accommodate Linux applications do count.”

If you’re as confused as we are, here’s the Wikipedia definition: “a smartphone is a mobile phone offering advanced capabilities beyond a typical mobile phone, often with PC-like functionality. There is no industry standard definition of a smartphone. For some, a smartphone is a phone that runs complete operating system software providing a standardized interface and platform for application developers. For others, a smartphone is simply a phone with advanced features.”

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• T-Mobile up on increased data use, texting and phone calls
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While the new store has not launched yet, we had a quick look around (screenshot at left, click to enlarge) at the preview site that takes people on a tour of a 3D “media mall.” Perhaps the most interesting bit of this announcement is how the company is stressing that customers have “choices” with AT&T.

The press release stresses that Media Mall 2.0 “will feature more than 90,000 choices from more than 115 different content providers, including the new top-selling game, Guitar Hero 3. … The storefront will be expanded on an ongoing basis, giving more developers an opportunity to reach the 70.1 million customers…”

Also, AT&T recently talked about how open it is to third-party application developers.

That news came one day before Verizon Wireless unveiled more of its plans for creating an open development process that will “allow new wireless devices to work on its “Any Device, Any App” network.

Still, all these “open” pledges from cell carriers fall short of what Carlo Longino wants to see. He wrote yesterday on his MobHappy blog that his prediction about “open” being the buzzword for 2008 is coming true.

Related posts:

• Jason Devitt: 700 mHZ spectrum helps consumers
• FindMe tracks you, even without GPS
• iPhone beats Nokia, other smart phones in Web usage
• A round-up of who’s developing for the iPhone and Android
• Nokia listed as No. 1 smart phone maker
• Boost Mobile brings opt-out ads to mobile site

Devitt got his start in mobile by co-founding Vindigo, one of the first companies to publish content and applications for mobile phones in the U.S. Devitt has talked about wanting greater customer freedom in the cell phone industry in the past on his personal and work blogs, and when he testified before Congress in July of last year. He says the 700 mHz auction is a step in that direction. Devitt typed this response to share his views on the significance of the 700 mHz auction:

“No matter who wins this auction, consumers will be able to use any wireless device they like on the new network, and run any application on that device, with a few perfectly reasonable restrictions. Previously, consumers had to choose from a handful of phones sold by their carrier. Even if it was theoretically possible to buy a phone somewhere else, most retailers were reluctant to stock them. This is not just about geeks who can afford $1,000 phones or who want to build a wireless refrigerator. The biggest beneficiaries will be consumers who don’t want a fancy new device at all, they just want to bring their old phone to a new network that offers a better deal.”

Devitt says it will take the airwaves winner several years to build out a network using the new spectrum. But, he is still excited that the bidding price for the spectrum went above the $4.6 billion threshold in January — setting in stone that the winner must keep the spectrum open to all devices.

The only downside Devitt found in the spectrum is that consumers may find it more difficult in the future to choose between devices, service plans and applications as more options will be available in the future. Addressing that problem, Devitt said, is a mission of his company, SkyDeck.

(Photo of Jason Devitt from Skydeck’s Web site)

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• U.S. tops Western use of mobile programs
• GPS to grow on demand for local information, directions
• Mobile applications to grow in ‘08, but not as much as in ‘07
• Google Trends ranks Android lowest

Earlier this week we unveiled lists tracking both Android apps and iPhone apps under development, and CEO and Director Justin Beck let us know about this knightly game called “Parallel Kingdom” from his Madison, Wisconsin-based company with the same name as the game.

Parallel Kingdom (demo screenshot from company at right) is a medieval role-playing game that allows people to play in a virtual world that is overlaid on top of the real world. Beck has said that GPS or other positioning technology, locates a player and intertwines the virtual and real worlds — although it’s a little unclear exactly how the two worlds interact.

Players can attack, trade, mingle with nearby people or pick on friends, build kingdoms, go on raids, wage wars or establish economic empires.

The game is in a beta stage and is only for Android, but Beck says they will be developing a version to run natively on the iPhone. He also explained why his company is developing for both the iPhone and Android:

“The iPhone and Android are doing something quite unique; they are opening up development platform for phones that target broad demographics, not just businesses. This is huge, because now you have a variety of applications that are wanted and millions of people around the world who want them. Couple that with technology innovations, like giving phones an internet connection, good horsepower, and the ability to know it’s location, you have a killer platform. But the platform is just the first step, software innovation is the key. There now exists an opportunity to innovate in pretty much every domain of mobile applications, search, document management, blogging, photos, scheduling, education, games, you name it.”

That sentiment about the the iPhone platform was echoed and this mobile MMO was pointed to by WoW Insider and Massively “co-lead” Mike Schramm when he mentioned Parallel Kingdom in an article about what the iPhone SDK means to MMOs.

“Games like Parallel Kingdom depend on mobility, and that makes the iPhone (which will not only give an application its real-world location, but also stay connected to the internet via Edge) the perfect kind of platform for that development.”

Related posts:

• Will top iPhone web apps benefit from the SDK?
• Guitar Hero now available for shredding on AT&T and Verizon phones
• EA’s growth tied to cell phone games as new Tetris debuts
• MTV says World of Warcraft coming to cell phones
• Hasbro plans modern Monopoly and Yahtzee for mobile phones

One ad per page will appear on the BoostLIVE portal and Web home page. The first ads (example at left, larger ad example is shown at right), expected to appear starting today, are for Fox Searchlight Pictures’ April 11 release of “Street Kings.” Other slated ads are for Acura’s 2009 TSX. The ads don’t incur any additional charges and customers can opt out of receiving the ads by calling Boost customer service at 888-266-7848 (888-Boost-4u).

Boost’s Director of Emerging Products, Lowell Winer said that the main idea is to make mobile ads non-intrusive and to go after advertisers that fit in with Boost subscribers.

Winer said the ads will be interactive - meaning that a click on the ad will bring up more information about the product. In the future, he said Boost may include ads in text and multimedia messages and possibly in applications. Amobee’s site boasts that it can provide completely-ad-funded apps that customers can use or play for free.

“Mobile advertising is an excellent vehicle for reaching a growing segment of younger consumers who are drifting away from traditional mediums such as TV and print,” said Neil Lindsay, vice president of product development, Boost Mobile. And, according to data released March 4 by research firm Nielsen, 14 percent of people are “open to mobile advertising so long as it is relevant to their interests.”

That Nielsen study talked to cell users who used at least one non-voice mobile service during the fourth quarter of 2007. The study also found that:

• 58 million people recalled seeing a mobile ad during 4Q 2007 (up from 42 million during Q2 2007).
• 26 percent of those who saw an ad responded at least once via text message; 9 percent clicked to call a phone number on an ad.
• 13 percent of people said they are open to mobile ads if it improves the media content currently available.

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• Can Google-DoubleClick deal help solve mobile advertising challenges?
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The FindMe app lets people tag their favorite locations on a map and tell other people where they are on Windows Mobile and BlackBerry phones. The difference between this service and others out there is that FindMe locates the user by triangulating position between nearby cell towers, meaning a user does not need GPS on the device.

“Social networking sites such as Facebook are removing geographic barriers to keeping friends connected, and FindMe adds a great new dimension by sharing locations among friends when and how they want to be seen,” said Steve Bennett, Electric Pocket’s Chief Executive Officer.

Also Tuesday, iPhone Atlas found that a forthcoming iPhone operating system release, already in the hands of a few people, includes a new feature that logs a user’s location based on cell tower triangulation. Will at IntoMobile says the “location logging opens the door to some interesting features in the future. On the other hand, the fact that your iPhone could track your current position as well as your whereabouts throughout the day is a potential security and privacy issue.”

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The cell carrier will host three events called “Enterprise Developers Summit, Fast Pitch and Open Call” at the April 1-3 CTIA event in Las Vegas. The new site tells developers to “choose your strategy” and offers some tools and explanation of how to develop and market apps for AT&T customers, including a “Wireless Reference Architecture” guide available at developer.att.com/wra.

“The driving force of our business is our commitment to be open to innovation and to offer our customers more choices than any other wireless company,” said Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO of AT&T’s wireless unit. “That means choices in applications, choices in handsets, choices in operating systems, choices in how to shop and pay for service, plus much more.”

While doing a quick visit to other carrier sites, AT&T is the only with a developer-only apps page. But, here’s what I did find:

• Verizon Wireless’ site has no mobile app developer page. The closest thing is this Flash Lite page on Adobe’s site that explains how to develop apps for Verizon.
• Helio’s site has a cool-looking mobile apps page.
• MetroPCS also has a hip apps page.
• T-Mobile also has a cool apps page: T-Mobile.
• Sprint also has a page, but the highlight is text messaging.

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• AT&T sets up site, CTIA events to attract mobile developer
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“While the demographics of iPhone users are very similar to all smartphone owners, the iPhone is outpacing other smartphones in driving mobile content consumption by a significant margin,” said Mark Donovan, a senior analyst with M:Metrics.

M:Metrics found that 30.9 percent of iPhone owners watched mobile TV or video, versus a 4.6 market average, and more than double the rate for all smart phone users. Usage of social networking is also popular among iPhone users: 49.7 percent accessed a social networking site in January, nearly 12 times the market average. Twenty percent of iPhone owners accessed Facebook, one of the first Web sites to customize its content for the iPhone, versus 1.5 percent of the total mobile market.Two widgets, YouTube and Google Maps, are popular among iPhone users: 30.4 percent accessed YouTube and 36 percent used Google Maps. In comparison, only one percent of all mobile subscribers accessed YouTube and 2.6 percent checked out Google Maps.”

We reported before about how the iPhone is used to view the Web more than double that of all Windows Mobile phones.

Share in comments why you think the iPhone is used to access the Web so much, and if you think that new iPhone native applications in June will cut down on Web traffic because of a lower use of Web applications.

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• Nokia listed as No. 1 smart phone maker
• Parallel Kingdom MMORPG coming to iPhone and Android
• A round-up of who’s developing for the iPhone and Android
• Maiffret calls iPhone app distribution ‘ridiculous,’ ‘monopolistic’
• iPhone news not enough for O.C. companies to switch
• Will top iPhone web apps benefit from the SDK?

Here’s ABI’s top 10:

1. Nokia
2. Research in Motion
3. Samsung
4. Motorola Inc.
5. Sony Ericsson
6. High Tech Corp. (HTC)
7. Palm
8. LG
9. Sharp Corp.
10. Hewlett Packard

“Nokia’s commitment to driving smart OS into a wider range of devices, and the success of its N series devices, especially the N95, gives it a huge market presence. Looking to the future, this segment will become increasingly crowded as Linux-based new entrants try to erode Nokia’s position,” said ABI’s Vice President and Research Director, Stuart Carlaw.

ABI judged innovation by: customer wins, contract awards, global reach, market share, patents, R&D spending, time to market, and first movers. Implementation was evaluated by: smart phone shipments, brand equity, the number of smart phone models in the range, choice of OS, the company’s first-to-market status, its smart phone market share, its smart phone average selling prices (ASP), its distribution network, operator relationships, manufacturing facilities, ODM partnerships, overall handset ASP, and overall handset market share.

Now that you’ve heard from the analysts, share your pick for the No. 1 smart phone vendor.

Related posts:

• iPhone beats Nokia, other smart phones in Web usage
• A round-up of who’s developing for the iPhone and Android
• Maiffret calls iPhone app distribution ‘ridiculous,’ ‘monopolistic’
• iPhone used to browse Web twice as much as Windows Mobile

Here we have the beginnings of lists looking at who is developing apps for the two platforms. Here’s the Android list, and here’s the iPhone list. If we missed anyone, either leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

Of course, making the iPhone list are the companies who were featured during Steve Jobs’ announcement of the iPhone SDK (SEGA, EA, Salesforce.com, Epocrates and AOL). And, not really a surprise, those companies do not have any plans yet to develop for Android.

Our list also has companies whose plans for native iPhone apps have not yet been announced. Take Simi Valley-based Amplified Games. President and CEO Tom Hubina has an interesting story, saying that the company had “pretty much given up on the mobile game industry and were basically out the door when the iPhone came out.” He said the iPhone is why the firm stayed in the mobile business. Amplified’s first iPhone games are web apps (like Gumball Bingo shown at right) — the only sorts of applications allowed until June — available at fatfreegames.com . Hubina said the company will “definitely” be making iPhone games and they plan to have 2-5 ready when the iPhone Apps store goes live in June. Despite the strong interest in mobile gaming, Hubina said it’s too early to look at developing for Google’s Android platform.

“We’re keeping a close eye on it but my initial impression is that it’s going to be a real mess with device fragmentation and unpredictable business models for developers that will make it be extremely hard to develop for,” Hubina said.

One of the companies on our list, Norbsoft Ltd. from Poland, is developing for both the iPhone and Android. President Tomasz Witt says they plan to develop native applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch (beyond their current web-only iReading app) and also one unidentified application for Android that is J2ME-based. He said the company’s focus will be productivity applications such as mobile books for mobile phones (iReading), finance calculators and some RSS readers.

But, not making our list is MacLight (shown at left), one of the most popular web apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch that turns the screen into a virtual flashlight. Developer Mike Gunderson said that app was just for fun and while he thinks native apps will “take off” he does not plan on making the flashlight into a native iPhone app.

“The iPhone takes phone apps to a new level. The possibilities are endless when you factor in touch screen, accelerometer, edge, and wifi — displayed on a screen you can actually see. I have been waiting anxiously to see what developers may come up with. From what I saw on the keynote alone I was blown away,” Gunderson said.

While Gunderson is not developing for the iPhone or Android, he did point out some things he misses from his Palm that he’d like to see on the iPhone: a check book, Texas Hold-em poker, a more robust email program, a more robust calculator and a doodling tool.

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• Will top iPhone web apps benefit from the SDK?
• iPhone hasn’t upped Broadcom’s share, would 3G chip change that?
• Can Google-DoubleClick deal help solve mobile advertising challenges?
• iPhone beats Nokia, other smart phones in Web usage
• Google Trends ranks Android lowest
• Maiffret calls iPhone app distribution ‘ridiculous,’ ‘monopolistic’
• iPhone news not enough for O.C. companies to switch

Nate Elliott of Jupiter Research wrote a few weeks ago about how mobile advertising is gaining momentum, but still faces the following challenges:

1. Difficulty finding budget for mobile advertising
2. Difficulty finding inventory for mobile advertising
3. The high cost of mobile ad inventory
4. Difficulty deciding on mobile advertising tactics (e.g., inexperience with the platform)
5. Difficulty measuring mobile advertising

But, could the Google deal with DoubleClick overcome those obstacles? Let’s look at what the two have to offer.

Google has unveiled plans for Android, an operating system for mobile phones designed to work with various cell carriers, phone manufacturers and mobile developers.

DoubleClick unveiled in September DoubleClick Mobile, a system for publishing ads on cell phones. One aim of that program is to make mobile advertising simple for all current ad staff making the “managing of mobile campaigns as simple as managing any other type of campaign.”

Now, let’s see how the “GoogleClick” deal might affect the five challenges for mobile advertising:

1. This deal won’t impact budgets. But if some kind of discount is offered for advertising with DoubleClick online and on mobile, advertisers might be able to buy more ad space with the same budget.
2. The deal will have no direct impact on inventory for mobile advertising, but the inventory could increase if Android increases the overall use of the mobile Web.
3. The high cost of mobile ads could be brought down, if the new GoogleClick decides to do so — or if they add a the bundled option mentioned in that first point.
4. If GoogleClick’s mobile advertising is as simple as the company plans, deciding on how to advertise on mobile phones could be made easier for companies.
5. The new GoogleClick mobile ad platform — and the combined analytics teams from both companies — could make it very easy to track the effectiveness of mobile ads.

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• Greenlight partners with MIVA for mobile advertising
• AT&T and T-Mobile sites don’t promote new unlimited plans
• Analyst unsure what Microsoft can bring to Yahoo! mobile

In the deal, Greenlight’s mobile sites made for various companies will have access to MIVA’s pay-per-click ads. The advertisements will be displayed alongside content offered on Greenlight mobile sites and mobile sites using Greenlight’s Skweezer technology, which squeezes regular Web sites into mobile versions.

MIVA has been testing mobile ad delivery with Greenlight Wireless in the U.S. for the past six months, but the new agreement means those ads will now be fully rolled-out across the U.S. and U.K.

“Combining the skill sets of Greenlight Wireless and MIVA enable us to get around three of the fundamental issues facing mobile marketing today – diverse technology, advertiser depth, and content availability. The beauty of these agreements is that MIVA’s advertisers can now market to mobile Web sites without the need to plan or buy campaigns separately,” said Kevin Perkins, Chief Executive Officer, Greenlight Wireless.

Just last week, research firm M:Metrics announced that it would start studying mobile advertising in the United Kingdom. The company’s written announcement said that with 16 percent of U.K. mobile subscribers accessing news and information via mobile browsers in December, advertisers are turning their attention to advertising on phones.

A January Jupiter Research report agreed that mobile ads are growing, but noted that the market has many hurdles to overcome. That report predicted that mobile Web ad revenues will reach 1.3 billion Euros (about $2 billion) in Western Europe by 2012. Still, the report says that mobile ads face the challenges of a relatively small audience of mobile media users and a lack of critical mass of educated advertisers able to measure return on investment.

“Mobile advertising is destined to be a multi-billion euro industry,” said David Schatsky, president of Jupiter Research. “But the maturation of this industry could take a decade.”

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• AT&T and T-Mobile sites don’t promote new unlimited plans
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After the iPhone announcements that overloaded Apple’s servers with requests to download the SDK and made iPhone owners begin panting for the mobile applications due in June, we caught up with Marc Maiffret who co-founded eEye Digital Security in Aliso Viejo before leaving recently to become an independent mobile developer.

At first, his reaction to Apple’s news was positive:

“This is going to make the iPhone explode even more than it has. Not just because of the SDK release, but because of the ActiveSync and Exchange release. It is very obvious they made a plan to break down all barriers that keep business users from purchasing an iPhone.”

Maiffret liked the plan so much that, at first, he thought of abandoning his plan to write apps for Windows Mobile phones to instead write for the iPhone.

But, then he heard Apple’s plans to control the distribution of third-party apps: they all go through iTunes — and while developers set their own price, iTunes will automatically get a 30 percent cut of the revenue on each app.

Maiffret called that 30 percent “a developer tax,” “ridiculous” and a “distribution model that is Blackberry’s, except worse.” He said developers should be able to design whatever applications they like, and then sell those to iPhone consumers as they like. He likened the control over distribution to the same beef artists have with how their music is marketed and sold.

“A kid at UC Irvine can’t just make some great software and simply sell it to iPhone users. He has to do it exactly how Apple wants, and that means giving up 30 percent of everything he makes,” Maiffret said.

Still, Maiffret admitted that an iPhone app may sell well enough that a developer’s 70 percent share of revenue could yield more than the money made on a Windows Mobile app. But Maiffret still objects to the iPhone app rules.

“There is also the principle of being a software developer and the idea of a company like Apple (who tries to act so white knight) putting forth a monopolistic policy,” Maiffret said. “It’s good business for Apple, which is why they’re doing it, and nothing more than that.”

Related posts:

• Parallel Kingdom MMORPG coming to iPhone and Android
• A round-up of who’s developing for the iPhone and Android
• iPhone news not enough for O.C. companies to switch
• Will top iPhone web apps benefit from the SDK?

On that news, small business reporter Jan Norman helped by asking some Orange County companies if the they plan to now switch over to the Apple phone.

• NOT LOOKING TO USE iPHONES: First, she heard from Peter Shea, chairman of Entrepreneur Media in Irvine (Entrepreneur magazine and entrepreneur.com). His company buys Blackberries for all sales representatives and executives of the company. He said “what we have works.” Shea also said that a friend of his has an iPhone and Shea likes the phone. Still, he says the phone is a bit too fragile for his regular, rough use. He will not switch to Apple until the iPhone is less fragile and can work throughout Europe.

• NO NEED FOR iPHONES: Norman also heard from Ronald Stein, vice president of business development for Principal Technical Services, Inc. The temp company for highly-skilled engineers, employs a small central staff while working with hundreds of engineers. Stein said that his employees have cell phones without e-mail access. Rather than buying smart phones, his employees use wireless remote access from laptops for most functions, including reading and composing e-mails and accessing files remotely.

• ALREADY USE iPHONES: And, a third company, Decision Toolbox, already uses iPhones. The local recruiting company’s CEO Kim Shepherd said that iPhones are given out by the firm to members of the Leadership team who then give out the phones as prizes for staff. In response to today’s iPhone attempts to sway business users, Sheperd wrote: “The Microsoft deal would not really sway us one way or the other. We are iPhone fans and have been since it’s first day of release!”

(Image is Apple’s promotional image from today’s announcements.)

Related posts:

• A round-up of who’s developing for the iPhone and Android
• Maiffret calls iPhone app distribution ‘ridiculous,’ ‘monopolistic’
• Will top iPhone web apps benefit from the SDK?
• iPhone SDK announcements today from Apple

9:48 a.m. Folks on Twitter.com are waiting anxiously for the announcements to begin, like Steve Gubbins from Singapore. He tweeted: Settling down to “watch” the Apple iPhone SDK Townhall. Lets hope they release some damn cool Apps!

9:52 B. Lam at Gizmodo writes that employees from Adobe, AOL, Orange and Disney are in attendance at the Apple event.

9:58 Twitter serving as countdown to announcements. Example: iJohn from the United States tweets: 5 min to the SDK iphone event!

10:01 Engadget reports that Steve Jobs, Apple CEO, is out on stage. He says, “We’re really excited to share some great news with you about the iPhone software roadmap. We’ve got some cool stuff to announce, so let’s get on with it. I want to share a few statistics about how far we’ve come with the iPhone…”

10:04 ArsTechnica: Steve Jobs says first topic is iPhone Enterprise and hands it over to Phil Schiller. Schiller says the primary need for business users is push e-mail. He also lists: push contacts, global address list, Cisco IPsec VPN, Certificates and identities, WPA2/802.1x, Enforced security policies and device configuration.

10:09 Gizmodo: Schiller says of above list, “iPhone getting all. And iPhone will have ActiveSync and Exchange support.” Engadget: Schiller says that Apple licensed ActiveSync for the iPhone from Microsoft.

10:12 Gizmodo: iPhone will have native access to Microsoft Exchange and Activesync. The native mail, calendar and contact applications will be synced automatically.

10:19 Gizmodo: Now after the Exchange support demonstration is SDK news.

10:21 ArsTechnica: Scott Forestall comes up on stage to discuss the SDK. He begins by reviewing the web apps made for the iPhone. Engadget quotes Forestall: “Starting today… we’re opening the same native APIs and tools to build our iPhone apps.”

10:25 Gizmodo’s B.Lam writes: Apple is a platform company. See: OS X. It’s comprised of the core OS, the core services, a media layer, and cocoa. To build an iPhone OS, we took the bottom three layers and moved them straight across. Now Cocoa is interesting. It’s based on mouse and keyboard. And we combined Cocoa them with our multitouch knowledge for Cocoa touch, for the iPhone SDK.

10:30 Gizmodo: The iPhone SDK (software development kit) will give developers access to: camera, photo library, contacts, accelerometer, alerts, web view, localization and events.

10:42 Seb Payne from the United Kingdom reacts to the iPhone SDK on Twitter: “I may only be a first year Computer Scientist but the thought of iPhone SDK is 100% more exciting than the Java SDK I use in my course.”

10:45 Forrester analyst, Charlene Li, tweets: “Just heard from my IT staff - we’re not ready to support iPhone yet. Bummer - looks like I’ll need to get that BB Pearl I’ve been eyeing.”

10:48 Gizmodo: Game companies were asked to do programs within two weeks using the never seen before SDK. Here are their demos. EA first. (EA game being demoed is Spore.)

10:54 ArsTechnica: Salesforce.com’s Chuck Dietrich comes on stage to do the next demo of an iPhone app that sends Salesforce data to the iPhone wirelessly. Also lets sales representatives see a graphical view of their monthly sales goals.

10:55 Gizmodo: AOL representative spotted on stage. Gizmodo’s response, “GAha! AOL! AIM! ”

10:56 ArsTechnica: AOL’s Rizwan Sattar on stage saying that AOL’s Instant Messenger is now on the iPhone. Multiple conversations can happen at the same time - switching between is done by swiping the screen. Next up is a demo of Epocrates, a new application for the iPhone to identify drugs.

11:02 Gizmodo: Next demo is by SEGA. Game is Supermonkey ball - allowing users to roll a ball around a room by moving the iPhone (based on the phone’s accelerometer). B. Lam of Gizmodo says it is “pretty great looking” and has “great frame rates.”

11:06 ArsTechnica: Steve Jobs is back to discuss how to get these applications on your iPhone. Gizmodo blogs that Apple will create an Iphone App store just for selling applications.

11:08 ArsTechnica: Jobs says that the biggest dream of developers is “to get your app in front of every iPhone user. You can’t do that today, but we’re gonna solve that.” App store will have categories that include games, business, finance, health, lifestyle and music. The App Store will be available with the next software upgrade. Store will feature the top 50 downloaded apps and when apps have been updated, the store will tell and let customers download the updated app wirelessly.

11:10 Gizmodo: Developers will set their own price for applications. Posting an application on iTunes is $99 (but, no credit card is required and there are no marketing fees and no hosting fees). Developers are paid 70 percent of the revenue and will be paid monthly. All these changes will be in a iPhone software update 2.0. There is a Beta release going out today just for developers, but customers will only see it in June as a free software update.

11:15 Gizmodo: Job’s usual “one more thing” is KPCB’s Johhn Doerr, a venture capitalist.

11:18 Brett Kelly from Orange County had a one-word response on Twitter to how it will be months for applications to be available on iPhones: “June?”

11:20 Gizmodo: Doerr, the venture capitalist, announces a $100 million “iFund” for iPhone developers (Google announced a few months ago a $10 million fund for Android developers).

11:23 Engadget: Jobs says the announcements are over: “I look forward to working with you guys to do just that, it’s very exciting. If I could ask the press to just stay here for a few more minutes… thanks for coming!”

11:26 Michael, a self-described computer geek from the Grapevine, writes on Twitter his reaction to the iPhone news: “can not believe there is a 99 charge to become an Iphone developer and iphone 2.0 is in late June.”

The top five web apps on Apple’s site are:

1. iDoodle - a drawing application.
2. VariStrobe - app that turns the phone screen into a fake strobe light.
3. Gumball Bingo - like the name suggests, bingo for the iPhone.
4. iPhone Wallpapers - a site with wallpapers for the iPhone.
5. MacLight - site that turns the iPhone into a fake flashlight, strobe light or campfire (shown at right).

At first glance, the list above shows that the majority of current iPhone users are not looking for a task manager, scientific calculator or other business-oriented apps. Instead, the most popular applications help people: waste time, customize the phone or show off how a $399 device can substitute for a $5 flashlight.

At second glance, the applications above are not likely to benefit too much from third-party applications. True, all would then be made accessible where Internet access is not available (but then again, how often is that these days?). Aside from that, the iPhone Wallpapers might benefit if the SDK allows it to download and use the wallpapers.

And, at the third and final glance, we wonder if the list of top native apps will differ much from the list of web apps. It’s possible that consumers want to use the phone for more than wasting time or showing off,  but until native apps are up-and-running we won’t know.

Related posts:

• iPhone SDK coming March 6
• Forbes says Broadcom chip a good fit for 3G iPhone
• Contest will award 20-inch iMac to best iPhone photographer
• Lotus Notes being groomed for iPhone
• iPhone hasn’t upped Broadcom’s share, would 3G chip change that?
• iPhone used to browse Web twice as much as Windows Mobile

Irvine’s iLounge.com wrote Monday about the latest Web market share numbers from Net Applications, a company that compiles monthly reports of Web usage around the world, including which operating systems are being used to access the Web.

The chart below uses Net Application’s information and notes a few key dates for both operating systems. Windows CE is used to refer to all Windows mobile operating systems. Click here to enlarge the chart.

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Shredding in the mobile Guitar Hero game is now a possibility on both Verizon Wireless and AT&T Wireless phones.

In December, Activision announced the game for some Verizon phones. Monday the company announced that the game is also available on some AT&T phones.

Since Guitar Hero Mobile was released via Hands-On on Dec. 4, the game became the Verizon’s No. 3 best-selling game for 2007 and has been the top-selling game since. A spokeswoman with Hands-On said that this feat is surprising, because it means Guitar Hero Mobile is beating Tetris. “This is definitely unheard of as Tetris is the mainstay of mobile games,” Michelle Kim wrote in an e-mail about the announcement.

The game includes 15 tracks from the console game, including “Suck My Kiss” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and “Rock You Like a Hurricane” by The Scorpions. Mobile gamers choose between four guitars and three venues to hit number keys in sync with colored notes that appear on a scrolling fret board on the cell phone screen.

For AT&T customers: The game is available through AT&T’s Web site or via the mobile store for $3.49 each month. A phone is required to at least have access to AT&T’s Media Net Service. No other details are available on compatible phones, but clicking “subscribe” on the games page of the company’s Web site will let you check if your phone is compatible.

For Verizon customers: The game is available in Verizon’s mobile “Get It Now” virtual store for $4.49 each month, or $11.99 for unlimited use. More songs will also be made available each month for more money. Customers need a Get It Now-enabled handset and Verizon Wireless data plan to access the virtual store. Compatible phones are listed in the drop-down menu on the company’s game browsing page.

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An Anaheim company announced today a partnership with NXP Software B.V. of the Netherlands to provide the last hardware needed to produce its PocketFinder, a small device that parents can use to track their kids. NXP will be supplying semiconductor chips for the GPS-based gadget.

PocketFinder, from the Anaheim company Location Based Technologies, is in its final testing stages and provides parents with alternatives to tethering themselves to their children, or giving kids cell phones that can easily be turned off.

How does it work? Children wear a small waterproof device that transmits its location to satellites. Parents call a 714 phone number and type in a private code. The system tells the parent the location of the device. The company’s illustration suggests that the location is given as a street address. Also, the tracker can be alerted when the trackee travels above a specified speed or when the trackee leaves or enters a specified zone.

Who is it for? Besides parents, Location Based Technologies suggests the PocketFinder can be used for medical and elderly care providers, outdoor or extreme sports enthusiasts and pet owners. Accessories will be sold for the device, such as a pouch that holds the locater, and can be attached to things such as dog collars, purse straps or belts.

When will it be available? In the first quarter of 2008, selling for less than $150 with a few different monthly rate plans, the lowest costing less than $15 a month.

What cell phones work with it? Any phone can be used, but a phone isn’t even required. Users buy and sign-up to use the device through Location Based Technologies. They can locate someone by visiting a Web site or calling a phone number. People can also choose to have the alerts sent as e-mails, text messages or phone calls.