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News

• Week in smartphones: BlackBerry gets Bolder; Verizon invades iPhone territory

  Here's a roundup of a wild week in smartphone news. Apple, Nokia, Research in Motion, Verizon, AT&T and others all got in on the action.

• Acer debuts Liquid Android smartphone, new netbook

  Acer, the world's third largest PC vendor, on Wednesday announced two of its most highly anticipated products with Google's Android mobile operating system on board, the Liquid smartphone and an Aspire One netbook.

• Windows Mobile: setting the stage for the future

  Microsoft plans to replicate some processes from the PC industry to try to boost its performance in the mobile market and expects to see a growing number of applications in its new Marketplace, an executive said this week.

• Motorola describes close relationship with Google

  On the day that Microsoft is launching phones that will run on its latest version of Windows Mobile, Motorola is singing the praises of open-source software, specifically Google's Android.

• Flash Player inches closer to smartphones

  Adobe Systems' Flash Player is getting closer to appearing on smartphones, with Research in Motion adding its BlackBerry to the list of devices that will run the software. Apple's elusive iPhone remains out of reach, however.

• Apple iPhone Users: It's All Good -- Except AT&T

  Everyone is supposed to love their iPhones, lest they be branded an Apple hater. But Apple's comeuppance is at hand.

• Windows Mobile's demise greatly exaggerated, iSuppli says

  Windows Mobile is not dead and, in fact, its use on smartphones will nearly triple by 2013, according to analyst firm iSuppli Corp.

• Unisys service uses the cloud to manage mobile devices

  Unisys is introducing a new service on Wednesday that will allow its customers to better manage, secure and support mobile devices carried around by employees, company executives said on Tuesday.

• iPhone, Android boost mobile Web usage

  Newcomers to the mobile-phone market are driving more wireless Web access at the expense of the phone makers that have been around for a while, according to a new report from AdMob.

• iPhones take on potholes with city reporting tool

  CitySourced, a startup formed by well-connected political action site FreedomSpeaks.com, will let US citizens use a smartphone like Superman's phone booth and help save the day in their city.

• One year on, Android's not quite there yet

  After it has spent nearly a year on the market, analysts are reluctant to declare Android a success, but they say the platform could turn a corner in the next few months when many more phones are expected to go on sale.

• New Acer smartphones with Windows Mobile 6.5 due next month

  Acer plans to release three new smartphones in October to coincide with the debut of Microsoft's newest Windows Mobile operating system (OS), version 6.5, a company representative said Wednesday.

• Analyst sticks to BlackBerry Tour return rate report

  The analyst who reported that a high percentage of BlackBerry Tour buyers are returning them because of trackball issues is standing by his research despite strong denials by operators.

• No more Windows Mobile phones from Palm

  Palm said it will stop developing new phones running Windows Mobile software, instead focusing future development on its new WebOS operating system.

• Five things you need to know about smartphone security

  Smartphones share many of the same risks of laptops and are easier to lose. Ajit Arya, deputy CIO for Arlington County, Va., supports both BlackBerrys and iPhones and is working to tighten its policies for managing them. "We have taken some basic steps," he says. For example, one recommended best practice is to require passwords. So far, the county has told employees they can set passwords but has not tried to enforce it as a requirement, Arya says.