Verizon unveils iPhone rival

Verizon has released a new smartphone that could give the iPhone some competition. The Voyager features a touch screen interface similar to that of the iPhone as well as a fold-out QWERTY keyboard. Other features include a 2 megapixel camera, a microSD card slot, HTML Web browsing, and V CAST Mobile TV access to music and videos.

Tech companies working on standard mobile software

A number of technology companies are planning to collaborate on the development of a standardized platform that will ease the process of developing new mobile devices that have a similar level of sophistication as the iPhone. The project will use the Linux operating system as well as other open-source software. Participating companies include ARM, Texas Instruments, Samsung, and Marvell.

Google announces new cell phone strategy

Google recently unveiled a plan to develop a cell phone software package, which involves participation from an international group of over 30 device manufacturers and communications companies. The software, known as “Android,” will simplify the process of making programs that will run on different types of handsets. The software will include a complete “stack” of elements, including an operating system, middleware, interface, and applications. According to Google, the first devices with the new software will go on sale in the second half of 2008.

Intel introduces chips for improving Web video quality

Intel has announced plans to develop microprocessor chips that will quicken the availability of high-definition video on the Internet. These chips will aid in the makeover of the often fuzzy picture quality of videos from sites like YouTube. The family of 16 processors would initially be used in high-end desktops and servers that compress video files. The new chips take advantage of a new production process that Intel claims will boost computing performance and lower power consumption. The new chips are scheduled to be in desktop PCs starting in the first quarter of next year.

Handheld supercomputers not far off

According to one nanotechnology researcher, supercomputers the size of a handheld device could only be 10 to 15 years away when the rate of past and current progress is taken into account. Michael Zaiser, a professor and researcher at the University of Edinburgh School of Engineering and Electronics, is studying the behavior of tiny wires (1,000 times thinner than a human hair). His research indicates that these wires could go inside super processors which in turn could be shrunk down enough to fit into handheld devices.

Microsoft increases spending on Embedded OS

By the end of 2007, Microsoft spent $75 million on the development of its Windows Embedded operating system for portable devices, a 33% increase from 2006. Microsoft is looking to use Windows Embedded to meet increasing demand for the ability to link appliances such as TVs and portable devices such as cameras together to exchange media content. Microsoft recently launched Windows Embedded CE 6.0 in Japan. It has the ability to provide appliances with Web services like VoIP and Internet browsing.

Increasing amount of CIOs looking for more management services from mobile operators

A recent survey of chief information officers from 500 top enterprises by independent research firm Coleman Parkes shows that an increasing number of them want their mobile operating partners to provide them with ways to help control, secure, and manage mobile devices. Among the key findings of the survey was that two thirds of the CIOs would change their mobile operator if a mobile device management (MDM) program was offered by a different mobile operator.