According to this morning’s Wall Street Journal, Motorola’s co-CEO Sanjay Jha said that the company will take Android far beyond next year’s purported Motorola Android phone release and focus on the Google-developed operating system for the long haul.

Right now Motorola uses seven different platforms for all of it’s phones, but thanks to continued losses, they’ll shift to a focus on Windows Mobile for business-oriented smartphones, their proprietary P2K OS for low-end handsets, and Android for everything else.

While this hasn’t been officially verified yet, I think it would be a smart move on Motorola’s part if they ever want to be an industry leader again.  Of course, it’ll take more than a product shakeup to restore their dominance.  The company is also rumored to be shaking down their employee lineup a little more, after 7500 jobs have already been cut this year.

All of this will either be confirmed or denied tomorrow when Motorola announces their 3rd quarter earnings.

via crn (Photo Credit: niallkennedy)

Google has made local mobile search a whole lot easier with Search with My Location, eliminating the need to manually update your location before searching.  Using the Google Gears Geolocation API, Search with My Location uses Cell ID technology to find your approximate location so when you’re looking for a local business or restaurant you just have to type in what you’re looking for without worrying about the location component.  Google does it for you.

With all the hoopla regarding privacy in the LBS world lately, Google doesn’t associate any of your personal information with your location, nor will Search with My Location work until you opt-in to the service.

While the convenience (for more on convenience, check out the vid below) of this new search feature is impressive, right now it’s only available on a select few Windows Mobile devices on carriers in the United States and United Kingdom.  Sorry, but no iPhone app at the moment.  But hey, we’re sure the HTC Dream will fully support Search with My Location.

via google mobile blog

It’s fair to say that Microsoft isn’t exactly what you’d call innovative these days.  Windows Mobile is the most heavily developed mobile platform around, boasting 18, 000 applications; problem is that there is no central point for users to find and download applications.  Meanwhile Apple’s iPhone app store with its couple thousand apps and Google’s newly announced Android Market are soaking up all the headlines.

In a perfect example of the bandwagon effect, Microsoft looks to have jumped on the wagon moments before it was gone.  Judging by some recent job postings on the company’s part-a senior product manager and comercial integration product manager-for a Windows Mobile 7 appllication marketplace called Skymarket, it looks like Microsoft has realized the errors of its ways.

The job descriptions are after the jump if you’d like to judge for yourself, but it seems as if the new Skymarket application marketplace will debut in conjunction with the release of Windows Mobile 7 as early as this year’s Q4 or Q1 in 2009.

via mashable

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Just a few months before Google is expected to release their Android mobile operating system, the company has released the Google Gears Geolocation API.  The Geolocation API is used on both mobile and desktop browsers, enabling the information displayed to be contextual relevant to a user’s location.

Two UK mobile startups, lastminute and Rummble, have already released applications utilizing the API.  lastminute uses the API to update your location and find restaurants in your vicinity without requiring you to type in your location, while Rummble uses the API in the same way to find your location and show you recommended hotspots near you.

Interestingly, the Geolocation API only works with Windows Mobile devices, but we’re sure this’ll change when Android finally makes an appearance.  My guess is that Google chose Windows Mobile because of the sheer number of devices using the operating system, but I still find it strange that they’d release such a useful API to a competing operating platform just before Android’s launch.

The API can use GPS to find your location if your Windows Mobile device is equipped, or cell tower triangulation if need be.  If it’s being used on a laptop or PC, the API will use your IP address instead.

Apple’s iPhone App store concept was revolutionary…a month ago.  But T-Mobile will unleash their own app store this fall in a move that will take Apple’s iPhone app concept and apply it across the entire family of T-Mobile phones.  And app developers will have the opportunity to create apps on a variety of platforms as well.  T-Mobile is not only expected to debut an Android phone in the near future, but it also has phone’s using Windows Mobile, Java, and Sidekick.

With 31.5 million subscribers using its network, an even half decent execution of a T-Mobile app store could revolutionize the mobile application industry.  Remember Apple forecasts the sale of 10 million iPhone’s by the end of 2008, in reality giving them much less influence than T-Mobile could possibly have in pushing other wireless carrier’s to begin opening up their platforms’.

America’s fourth largest wireless provider hasn’t issued a formal statement yet, but we’re expecting something in the coming few weeks.  In the meantime, some developer’s are already in the know as to how the application submission system will work.  Applications will be submitted online, although how and where remains to be seen.  Much like Apple, T-Mobile will offer a revenue-share to developers depending on how much bandwidth the application uses.  This is a good thing for GPS app developers as navigational apps will earn much more money than something like a video app which will use more bandwidth.  T-Mobile’s system rewards plain ol’ popularity as well.  Users will determine which apps are available first; T-Mobile will have no say here.

We’ll be on the lookout for a statement, but in the meantime if you want to get a headstart head over to T-Mobile’s developer site and start tinkering.

The fine folks from The Boy Genius Report have got their hands on some leaked specs and a photo of the Motorola Alexander, the latest Window Mobile-powered offering from the struggling mobile handset manufacturer.  Rumor has it that the Motorola Alexander not only runs on Windows Mobile 6.1, but has a built-in GPS receiver (assisted, of course), an NVIDIA chip that can render graphics in 3D, a 5.8 megapixel camera, and a Q4 release date.

Google Maps Mobile v2.2 with transit directions was released back at the beginning of June for the Blackberry and other Java-based mobile phones.  Now, according to the Google Mobile blog, it’s also available for 3rd edition or later Symbian S60 and 2005-or-later Windows Mobile phones.  Available in more than 50 cities worldwide, Google Maps Mobile transit directions is accessed by clicking on the Directions icon and then the Public Transportation option.  That way you’ll be able to plan a trip to whatever your destination using only public transit routes.  This new version of Google Maps Mobile has some new and improved features for S60 and Windows Mobile phones as well.  Search is faster, businesses are rated and it even features user-generated content.  Looking for the download?  You can find it here.

We’ve talked about Loopt here before and were hardly surprised to see the location-based mobile social network eagerly debut a new iPhone app.  In fact, co-founder and chief exec Sam Altman said that the day the iPhone software development kit was released by Apple, he had one person devoted solely to putting together the application for a full six weeks.  The application is available for free from the iPhone App Store and allows users to use the iPhone’s touchscreen to navigate their way around an interactive map of their location in order to find their friends and see what they are doing.  It functions as an interactive tool that allows friends to find each other, meet up, and hang out and provides reviews of local events and services.

Whether related to the new iPhone app or not, Loopt has made some big inroads lately in syncing their mobile web presence with their ordinary web presence.  One handy feature Loopt integrates into their iPhone app is Yelp reviews.  If you’re not familiar with Yelp, it’s kind of a social network/review database that helps its members find the best and avoid the worst events and services around big-city USA.  Now not only will Loopt help bring friends together, but together in the best places to eat, drink and socialize with the addition of such a content partner.  If you take a look at the iPhone screenshot above, you’ll see map markers that when clicked on will take you directly to Yelp reviews of that particular location.  Disappointly though, for the time being you won’t be able to post Yelp reviews directly through the Loopt application although you can obviously still write Loopt reviews.  Why Loopt has chosen to do this isn’t totally known, but I’d venture to guess that the company wants to build their own platform, not contribute to a competitor’s.  Using an established database such as Yelp does assist in scaling Loopt’s application however.

Further solidifying their online presence is the integration of Loopt status updates into social networks such as Facebook and microblogging service Twitter.  iPhone users can also post updates on status aggregator Friendfeed.  By syncing the a user’s mobile web presence with their online presence, Loopt is poised for success in the future we’re sure.  However they have some hefty competition in the form of Pelago’s Whrrl and uLocate’s Buddy Beacon, both available as iPhone apps.  When it comes right down to the nitty-gritty, it’ll come down to strategic partnerships to decide which company ultimately ends up on top.  Generate a critical mass of user’s, be available on all major wireless networks, and form effective advertising partnership that generate dollars.  The first company to do this will swallow up the others, but we’re sure there will be more competitors on the scene in the near future.  With the GPS capabilities of the second-gen iPhone, the upcoming Android OS bringing in more competition, Windows Mobile and Symbian operating systems all making grounds in laying a foundation for application developers, the going will be tough even for established networks like Loopt.

An upcoming version of Garmin Mobile will have the added ability to search Google Local adding a virtually unlimited number of possible POIs to Garmin’s database of nearly 6 million. No matter where you are, you’ll be able to find pretty much any and every point of interest. The Google Local feature is not expected to be accessible until July.

Via GPS Review