Photo: okalkavan / Flickr

In case you needed any more proof that NFC technology and mobile payments are fast becoming the next major battle for mobile OS platform holders, here you have it. Reports have emerged suggesting that Microsoft is adding near field communications technology to their Windows Phone 7 OS in a new update.

Fast tracking NFC

Bloomberg, citing sources who’ve asked to remain anonymous, reports that Microsoft is planning on adding mobile payment technology to a future release of Windows Phone 7. What’s more, the WP7 handsets that will support the technology may release in 2011 still.

It’s getting crowded here, fast

NFC technology in smartphones, as well as mobile payments solutions are getting extremely crowded extremely fast. Bloomberg writes : ‘The company joins a growing list of software providers aiming to benefit from rising demand for ways to purchase products and services on the go.’

How big an opportunity is this, you wonder? Well, research firm Gartner believes that up to $245 billion (£152.52bn) worth of transactions could be processed using mobile payments solutions by 2014.

The race is on

Google Android was the first of the major mobile OS platform to see an NFC technology enabled smartphone released, when the company brought the Samsung-manufactured Google Nexus S to the market. The search giant has reportedly been discussing developing a payments platform with credit card giant MasterCard.

Apple has long been rumoured to be working on NFC technology for the iPhone 5, but recent reports suggest this could be delayed until the iPhone 6.

If NFC technology is headed to Windows Phone 7, especially if it arrives soon, the proliferation of mobile payments could be dramatically accelerated. Why so? Well, because usually when several tech giants consider one area a focal point, it proves to be exactly that. Fingers crossed, though, that Microsoft doesn’t botch that Windows Phone 7 update up as well.

Photo: HTC Source

While the LG Optimus 3D led the 3D phones assault, it looks like a Taiwanese smartphone giant is looking to follow suit, with reports emerging that the HTC EVO 3D is coming to Europe. More specifically, the company’s French division issued a tweet that the keen-eyed folks at Engadget spotted, hinting that it was coming to France. And, what the French get, the rest of us European folks usually get, too!

What do you get?

The handset has a 4.3-inch, glasses-free 3D screen, with the ability to record 3D video in 1080p full HD, as well as 3D video at 720p. The HTC EVO 3D packs dual 5-megapixel cameras that allow you to take 3D videos and stills, and it has an HDMI out port to let you show your 3D snaps on a 3D TV.

In addition to the 3D output, the handset has built-in streaming functions, so you can wirelessly stream your music, photographs and video clips to wi-fi enabled music systems and televisions.

Release window?

The HTC EVO 3D has been given a summer release window in North America. Unfortunately there is still no confirmation regarding when the handset will land in Europe, and given the often-lengthy time lapses between cross-Atlantic releases, we can only hope it arrives in 2011 still.

Do we really need 3D phones?

With the rapid rise of 3D devices, it was all but inevitable that 3D phones would follow close behind. The question, however, is do we really need – or even want – smartphones in three dimensions? Sure, people are kicking up quite a fuss about the Nintendo 3DS, but that’s designed with three-dimensional functionality being central to the experience delivered. With smartphones on current mobile OS platforms, it is hard to believe this is the case.

Nevertheless, news that the HTC Evo 3D is coming to Europe is proof the Taiwanese company believes in the product. It’s left for you and your pocket to decide if it’s worth the price of entry.

Photo: carsten.knobloch / Flickr

UK carrier O2 has announced that it has delayed the release of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Player. The handset widely called the Playstation phone has software bugs in it that have meant that its planned release date of 1 April 2011 has been shifted back.

Performance is everything

Stuart Hibberd, who is the head of O2’s testing team, announced the news in a blog post. He wrote: ‘We’ve been testing the phone non-stop for weeks and have found some bugs in the software that, if they’re not fixed, means customers won’t have a great experience.’

Suggesting that the UK carrier always puts customers first, he added ‘We’ve been working with Sony Ericsson to get these bugs ironed out, but haven’t been able to get them fixed in time for us to be able to launch the phone on April 1st as we originally planned.’

The Playstation phone

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is the latest phone in the handset manufacturer’s growing Android lineup. Before it was announced, it was simply known as the Playstation phone, in that it is the first ‘Playstation-certified’ handset ever released, and gaming is a big focus of the experience. Not only does it come with six games pre-loaded when you purchase it, the handset’s design features a slide-out controller panel, as well as full touchscreen controls.

Strange strategy

Whether the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play handset will have much success is still up in the air. Not only does it try to fulfill to highly competitive functions – a top-end smartphone as well as a competitive handheld gaming system – it also has the burden of launching just after the Nintendo 3DS goes on sale around the world.

If you are an O2 customer waiting on the handset, your reward will be the ability to get the all-white Playstation phone, exclusive to the carrier in the UK. If however, you’re simply looking to get one of the many Google Android handsets, your options are growing at a fever pace.

Photo: Veronica Belmont / Flickr

Anyone who has ever had the pleasure of owning a Sonos wireless music system knows how fantastic they are. If you’ve had the pleasure of owning one in addition to owning an iPhone then you definitely know how much Apple’s smartphone experience adds to it all.

As such, Android users, who were due to get their own Android Sonos controller app, are left disappointed, as the application’s initial March release date has slipped.

Please bear with us, it’ll be rad!

Sonos’ Andrew Schulert, who is the VP of quality, broke the news of the delay to Sonos wireless music system Android-wielding fans world over saying the controller app will not be available at the end of the month. He said: ‘We know you’re anxiously awaiting the Sonos Controller for Android. Unfortunately, testing the app is taking a bit longer than we anticipated. The latest addition to our free controller line-up won’t arrive until April, but when it does, it is going to rock.’

We’ll take your word for it

Does the promise that it will rock make up for the hurt that Android users aren’t getting any Sonos love just yet? To be fair, we respect that the audio system team want the product refined enough before pushing it out to app stores, as opposed to cutting corners to meet the launch date. Lesser companies have been known to do so.

Having said that, insofar as it is just the iOS Sonos App wrapped in Android controls and design aesthetics, we expect it to rock proper.

What is Sonos?

If you’ve never heard of the Sonos wireless music system before, here’s a quick rundown. It’s basically a wireless audio system to which you can stream music to or from either a Sonos remote or a smartphone device. In addition to the wireless streaming, the speakers are each connected to the base speaker wirelessly, and are manually controllable, so you can have music playing all through your house from one system at will, without the fuss of messy cables. Clever? Very.

Photo: yorksranter / Flickr

Apple has edged ahead in its battle with rival smartphone maker Nokia. The ITC recently ruled that the Cupertino company’s handset does not violate certain patents Nokia holds.

Long time running

The long running Apple Nokia patent war, which first started back in October 2009, saw Nokia accusing Apple of infringing on 10 Nokia patents related to UMTS, GSM, and WLAN wireless standards. Ilkka Rahnasto, who was Nokia’s then VP of intellectual property, accused Apple of ‘attempting to get a free ride on the back of Nokia’s innovation.’

This fast spiraled with Nokia bringing the case to the International Trade Commission, looking to have sales of Apple’s iPhone blocked in the US, with Apple also accusing the Finnish handset manufacturer of infringing on some of its patents.

The ruling

The Apple Nokia patent war took a significant turn late last week, when the ITC ruled that Apple’s devices did not violate patents held by Nokia, and that the company could continue bringing its products into the US. The specific details of the ruling will only be released once both companies have had the opportunity to redact information deemed sensitive.

This isn’t Finished! The Finnish

Nokia was not too chuffed with the ruling. Laurie Armstrong, a spokesperson for Nokia, told Bloomberg: ‘While we don’t agree that there has been no violation, we’ll wait to see the details of the ruling before we decide on any next steps.’

Of course, Nokia may still appeal the ruling. Nevertheless, the Apple Nokia patent skirmish continues, with another judge expected to give a ruling in June regarding whether Nokia violated patents held by Apple.

Important times

Given the rapid changes in the fast moving smartphone market, this is a significant time for both companies. Apple’s smartphone business is absolutely soaring, with iPhone sales at record highs. Nokia, on the other hand, is going through a period of rapid change, in an attempt to regain the impetus it’s had over the mobile phone market.

Photo: mas90guru / Flickr

While Motorola Mobility has built its entire comeback off the back of Google Android, there are industry murmurings that the company is in the process of building its own web-based mobile OS platform as an alternative to its reliance on Google’s.

Own OS

Information Week got the scoop after hearing the word from one source, with Deutsche Bank’s Jonathan Goldberg backing their claims. Goldberg says: ‘I know they’re working on it.’ He continued, saying: ‘I think the company recognises that they need to differentiate and they need options, just in case. Nobody wants to rely on a single supplier.’

Heavy recruitment

What’s more, apparently Motorola Mobility has been in recruitment mode, nabbing execs from Apple, Adobe and several other prominent technology companies for the process. Other details so far reported also suggest that the company will build its platform according to web standards, putting it more in line with HP’s webOS than Google’s Android in terms of how it works.

We sort of knew this, though

Incidentally, these are not the first murmurings of Motorola Mobility building their own mobile OS platform. CEO Sanjay Jha alluded to the company building its own operating system at a conference last year.

At the time, he said: ‘I’ve always felt that owning your OS is important, provided you have an ecosystem, you have all the services and you have an ability and the scale to execute on keeping that OS at the leading edge. And I continue to believe that at some point, if we have all of those attributes, that owning our own OS will be a very important thing.’

Gamble you must

It’s difficult to say whether Motorola should gamble with building a mobile OS platform. Motorola Android handsets have been very good to them, and the process of rebuilding a smartphone ecosystem as proficient as Google’s takes time, capital outlay and a lot of hard work. Is the threat of giving Google too much power pressing enough that this is the right course of action? It seems so for Motorola.

Photo: My Standard Break From Life / Flickr

It’s no secret that certain liberties in China are restricted, and that censorship, especially online censorship, is rife. However the story that has emerged today, saying that mobile phone users in Beijing will have their movement tracked and pinpointed using their handsets is another level of scary. Police state, anybody?

17 million being followed by Big Brother

Through an article posted on one of China’s government websites earlier this week [via PC World], the nation announced plans to track the movement of 17 million mobile phone users in Beijing. These are, effectively, all of the Beijing residence whose current mobile carrier is China Mobile. Pinpointing a user’s location once their handsets are turned on, the system is also able to tell which direction said user is moving in.

This is just for traffic

The Chinese government claims that this is not cause for alarm, and that this mobile phone tracking system is being developed to try deal with Beijing’s insane traffic problems, some of which have resulted in – get this – nine-day long traffic jams.

Oh, but given Chinese Democracy is only the title of a once iconic rock band’s not-so-great comeback album, it’s unsurprising the nation has used whatever technological means it has to squash decent. Now, being able to track the direction people are heading in, using the very same mobile phones they may use to rally the forces, it would make it infinitely easier to kill a Tiananmen Square-type gathering before it happens. Without being a cynic, what is to stop the government from using this mobile phone tracking system as a tool against activists?

Your mobile phone has become dangerous

While mobile phone tracking is not currently in operation in the Western world through governments, many contemporary smartphones have applications that gather a lot of data on you, from your use habits to your browsing habits and even your location. The smartphone may not be the great technological liberator many are heralding it as.

Photo: @cdharrison / Flickr

Mobile payments company Square is beginning to gather some serious momentum. The company is reportedly processing $1 million dollars in transactions everyday, confirming that adoption is growing at a steady pace.

Impressive growth

Towards the end of last year, Square was processing a couple of million dollars each month, suggesting they’ve continued their steady – if not meteoric – growth. The $1 million (£615,000) milestone was tweeted by the company’s founder, Jack Dorsey. It’s almost poetic that’s the manner in which he revealed his startup’s milestone, in that he co-founded Twitter.

Transaction fee dropped

Last week, Square also announced that they were dropping their fee per transaction to just $0.15 (about 10p). The startup hopes this will goose the number of transactions and the number of subscribers using the service, which will in turn further increase the volume of transactions processed daily.

How does Square work?

What makes Square so unique – and of interest to us – is how it works. The service uses a dongle that plugs into the earphone jack on your iPhone, iPad or Android smartphone. Once plugged in with the Square app downloaded, you can process a transaction by swiping a buyer’s credit card right on your iOS device.

It’s effectively a replacement for a credit card machine that leverages the modern smartphone as its platform.

You’re not alone

Square isn’t alone in this space, though, with VeriFone making a play for the space with their PAYware system targeted at business. It also stands to reason that credit card companies like Mastercard, VISA and American Express won’t sit to the side while these new mobile payments solutions look to erode their business.

To some extent the same can be said for PayPal, who built their business on top of eBay, before expanding across the web and onto mobile platforms, too. We suspect mobile payments will become big business, and Square is already leading the charge with that.

Photo: morberg / Flickr

It seems Sony cannot bring itself to walk away from the Walkman – sorry – with promotional material indicating that the handset manufacturer is working on a new smartphone.

Talk about being literal

SE, if this was supposed to serve as a teaser, you’re doing it wrong. Android Community got hold of marketing material, with an accompanying tagline that reads: ‘A smarter Walkman phone is coming soon.’ Clearly the Sony Ericsson Walkman smartphone team failed the subtlety class. In a strange way, it’s decidedly refreshing.

Multimedia focus

Given that this new smartphone is Walkman-branded – and not Xperia, which seems to have become Sony Ericsson’s flagship line – it’s safe to assume there will be a heavy focus on multimedia. From a hardware standpoint, it would not be surprising to see the Sony Ericsson Walkman smartphone pack a decent built-in speaker, with a dedicated music button. A Bravia-powered screen would be unsurprising, too.

From a software standpoint, assuming the handset is built on Android OS, it’s likely Sony Ericsson will fit its own music playback solution in lieu of Google’s default one. If not that, some feature that enhances the music experience is required.

What would make this compelling?

The challenge for the new Sony Ericsson Walkman phone is to be compelling. In an age where every smartphone has decent to great audio playback features, making a dedicated mp3 phone isn’t as groundbreaking as it was, say, five years ago. Will this Walkman have instant-play buttons? Will it incorporate Sony’s own Shazam-like functionality and make it free for use?

I’m just struggling to see a case for the Sony Ericsson Walkman smartphone. Moreover, in the very crowded Google Android marketplace, is there really much space for SE to confuse customers, especially given the visibility and traction the Xperia brand now has?

Photo: babyben / Flickr

Streaming music service Spotify has been in the news relentlessly over the past week or so with news that it raised a massive round of venture capital, and that it had inked a deal with a certain major label. Now new reports say Spotify is on the verge of signing a deal with Universal Music Group and that the company may launch in the US without Warner Music’s catalogue.

US launch imminent

If Spotify manages to sign this deal with Universal Music Groups for US rights to the music on its catalogue, the only major hole in the service’s record label deals is Warner Music Group who has yet to agree to license their material. Now, many folks are speculating that Spotify, which is thought to be valued at $1 billion after a $100 million financing round, will launch without Warner.

The problem is Warner Music Group is the third largest music label group in the world by revenue, which would leave a gaping hole in Spotify’s strategy. And considering most music lovers couldn’t care which label their favourite artists are on, having a fifth of all tracks you search be unavailable may be very off putting for the potential US users of the streaming music service.

Smartphones the future

We’re keenly interested in streaming music services because they form a small part of a bigger trend in mobile computing we’re watching closely – smartphones. Music execs, smartphone manufacturers, software devs and users alike realise that both smartphones and streaming music are central to the immediate future of music consumption. Spotify is a forerunner in this very space.

For US-based readers, would you try Spotify if the company pushes on without getting Warner Music Group on board, or would you overlook it?