We will always remember you, Steve Jobs – one of the world’s greatest innovator.

The upgrade brings some features that iPad users have been waiting for – multitasking and application folder.  It also brings some new features to all devices like Air Print and Air Play.  Air Print allows users to print over the air and Air Play will stream media over the air.  And with this version, Apple has made the “Find my iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch” feature in MobileMe free for all users.  It will allow you to locate your lost device on the web and protect the data (by remote wiping it) if needed.

Go on, upgrade your iTunes and connect your device to the computer.  And enjoy!!

[via apple]

HTC had indeed filed a lawsuit complaining patent infringement by Apple.  And asking to ban sale of iPhone, iPod and iPad.

I guess if you need to survive in the games played by Apple, you have to play its game.

According to Bloomberg, Palm is working with Goldman Sachs and Qatalyst Partners to find a proper suitor.  As early as this week, Palm will receive bids from the bidders.  And it is said that HTC and Lenovo are among the bidders.

However, all parties involved in the news had declined to comment.  If the news is true, Palm will end itself as an independent company and whoever bought he company will enjoy a long list of patents that Palm has acquired during the long history in the smart device market.

Google has emailed Techcrunch and officially stated that they will back HTC against Apple for the patent infringement lawsuits.

“We are not a party to this lawsuit. However, we stand behind our Android operating system and the partners who have helped us to develop it,” as stated in the email from Google spokesperson.

General believe that Apple action is actually targeted at Google’s Android.  After Eric Schmidt left Apple’s board and Google’s decision to turn on multitouch for Android few months ago, Apple fires the first shot to HTC (or Google?)  That marks the end of the buddy relationship between Apple and Google.

May be Apple is afraid of Android will destroy their smartphone phone market like how PC destroy the Mac market years ago.  And may be that’s why Steve Jobs is doing this to prevent history to repeat itself.

But Apple, please stop suing people around for patent infringement and concentrate on bring better products to the consumers.  I like your products and creativities but not the things you do.

[via techcrunch]

“We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”

Apple has submitted over 700 pages of exhibits to the District Court.  The phones from HTC that are on the list: Nexus One, Touch Pro, Touch Diamond, Touch Pro2, Tilt II, Pure, Imagio, Dream / G1, myTouch 3G, Hero, HD2, and Droid Eris. That’s really a full range of HTC phones, running both Android and Windows Mobile, with and without Sense / TouchFLO.

HTC, at the moment, refuses to make further comment about it.

[via engadget]

Pocketgear has just acquired its competitor – Handango, and now it becomes the largest cross-platform mobile apps store on Internet, featuring 140,000 apps in the store.  That’s a figure comparable to Apple’s App Store.

We know that the number does mean everything.  Most importantly, whether the customers will find it useful to get the apps from another store rather than getting them from the sources like Android Market and Windows Market place.  With big store setup like Android Market, Windows Marketplace, Palm’s App Catalog already in the market and growing, I am not sure whether there is room for player like Pocketgear anymore.

The press from Pocket is after the break.

[via phandroid]

Official press releases from PocketGear.com.

PocketGear Acquires Handango, Creating the World’s Largest Cross Platform, Open App Store
PocketGear’s App Store supports 2,000+ mobile devices and every major OS platform, connecting consumers in 175+ countries with 140,000+ paid and free titles

Durham, NC — February 23, 2010 — PocketGear, Inc. today announced the acquisition of Handango, the leading provider of smartphone applications globally, creating the world’s largest cross platform, open app store and content marketplace with a catalog of more than 140,000 paid and free titles that are available for discovery and download by the more than 4 billion consumers worldwide using Android©, Symbian OS©, BlackBerry©, Windows Mobile©, Palm©, Linux, and Java© powered mobile devices. PocketGear and Handango are the two largest independent app stores and combined to date have generated over $400 million in mobile application revenues from customers living in more than 175 countries and using over 2,000 unique mobile devices.

With the acquisition, PocketGear’s mobile app marketplace has been expanded to connect more than 32,000 developers in the PocketGear Developer Program with over 40 PocketGear-powered storefront and distribution partners, including 4 of the world’s top 5 handset manufacturers, 4 of the top 5 mobile operators in the US, 3 of the top 10 mobile operators globally, and leading media and ecommerce companies including Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson, Research in Motion, Microsoft, T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon Wireless. The reach of PocketGear’s direct to consumer app stores has also expanded to include the largest independent app store, Handango.com, joining PocketGear’s app store network that includes PocketGear.com, Mobile2Day.de, SymbianGear.com, AndroidGear.com, RIMGear.com, Smartphone.net, and PalmGear.com. In addition, more than 1,000 app developers are now using PocketGear’s developer storefront solutions to market and sell their mobile apps directly to consumers from their own websites and other marketing channels.

Upon closing, Jud Bowman will remain as President and CEO of PocketGear and Alex Bloom, current chief executive of Handango, will become Chief Operating Officer of PocketGear.

“Our vision is to facilitate an open app store ecosystem that supports every mobile device, every application, and every carrier network globally,” said Jud Bowman, President and CEO of PocketGear. “By combining the two largest independent app store companies, we’re creating significantly more scale and value for all of the stakeholders in the open app store ecosystem.”

Bowman added, “Handset manufacturers, carriers, and media companies now have a single marketplace where they can quickly and easily connect with developers, source a catalog of apps developed specifically for their supported devices, and create a branded, revenue generating storefront and app discovery engine that works across all devices, platforms, geographies, and carrier networks.”

“This is an exciting time in the app store market and we’re thrilled to be joining forces with PocketGear,” said Alex Bloom, CEO of Handango. “As we increase our scale, not only can we further accelerate speed to market of new devices and applications in a rapidly changing marketplace, but we’re also better positioned to help our distribution and developer partners increase the overall revenues per download from both paid and free apps.”

PocketGear was represented in this transaction by Kip Johnson of Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC.

About PocketGear, Inc.

PocketGear is the world’s largest cross platform, open app store and content marketplace with a catalog of more than 140,000 paid and free titles available for discovery and download. To date, PocketGear has generated over $400 million in mobile application revenues for the more than 32,000 developers in the PocketGear Developer Program. PocketGear powers storefront and content solutions for over 40 partners, including 4 of the world’s top 5 handset manufacturers, 4 of the top 5 mobile operators in the US, 3 of the top 10 mobile operators globally, and leading media and ecommerce companies, including Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson, Research in Motion, Microsoft, T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon Wireless. In addition, PocketGear operates the largest network of independent app stores, including Handango.com, PocketGear.com, Mobile2Day.de, SymbianGear.com, AndroidGear.com, RIMGear.com, Smartphone.net, and PalmGear.com.

PocketGear is headquartered in Durham, NC with offices in Munich, Germany and Irving, TX. For more information, please visit http://corp.pocketgear.com.

About Handango

Handango is the leading provider of smartphone applications globally for the BlackBerry©, Palm©, Windows Mobile©, Symbian OS©, and Linux platforms. Leveraging its 140,000+ apps, network of 23,000+ content partners, and vast distribution network, Handango delivers top-selling mobile applications including games, business and entertainment apps and productivity tools to millions of consumers. Applications can be downloaded via www.handango.com, partner Web sites, SD cards and Handango’s proprietary on-device catalog, InHand, the industry’s leading content delivery platform that allows consumers to purchase mobile apps directly from their smartphone and download them over the air. Handango’s unparalleled content expertise has attracted numerous mobile industry partners, including Microsoft, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Alltel, AT&T, 3UK, LG, SoftBank, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Best Buy, The CarPhone Warehouse, CNET, and AOL.
Samsung Mobile Selects PocketGear to Power Samsung Widget Store

According to his own blog, he tries to use Linux based mobile phone and had tried a few before, and:

I have to admit, the Nexus One is a winner. I wasn’t enthusiastic about buying a phone on the internet sight unseen, but the day it was reported that it finally had the pinch-to-zoom thing enabled, I decided to take the plunge. I’ve wanted to have a GPS unit for my car anyway, and I thought that google navigation might finally make a phone useful.

Welcome onboard, Linus.

[via torvalds-family blog]

The iPad looks like a big iPhone, without the phone capability.  It has a 9.7-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen Multi-Touch display with IPS technology (resolution 1024×768) and it has an accelerometer and ambient light sensor.  It uses a 1Ghz Apple A4 CPU and it comes with 16Gb, 32 Gb or 64Gb of flash drive.

Price?  USD499 for a 16Gb and wifi only model.  The 3G data model will be unlocked.  Making it possible to be use on any carrier.

The iPad will run existing apps designed for iPhone.  This makes it to have instant access to more than 140,000 applications already available in the App Store.  And Apple has issued the SDK of iPad to developers to take advantage of the big screen.

Will it become another iPhone from Apple that will create another storm in the netbook / tablet market?  Only time will tell.

If you want to know more about the iPad, here is the official site.

In my opinion, it doesn’t look as nice as the previous design.  Howver, that’s just my view.  And with the new design, it might have some enhancements that are not found in the old model.

What do you think?  Going to get one yourself?

[via pocketnow]

The price of the phone is said to be around USD400 – USD600, depending on the options.  The device is like a MID with phone option.  With the small form factor and relatively slow processor, it is hard to say whether it will be powerful enough for day-to-day use.

Anyway, it is good to see some fresh new phone not based on any of the common platform in the market.  I wonder how this phone will be doing when it is released.

[via pocketnow]

In his newest column, 7 companies that won’t make it to 2020, Palm is listed as one of the companies for the following reasons:

• Apple iPhones have a lock on coolness.
• Apps bring in extra revenue. There are more than 100,000 apps for iPhones, and far less for webOS
• The business crowd favors BlackBerrys because of its email system,
• Google offers its Android operating system to handset makers for free
• Palm only maintains a 7% market share, therefore lacks the financial strength, research budget, and marketing influence that it needs to survive.
• Sprint was a poor launch Partner choice

Well, Palm is certainly having  cool products like Pre and Pixi.  And we shall see whether the prediction will turn out to be true.

[via precentral]