Many pundits have written Microsoft off in the mobile platform wars, but based on what I heard during a Windows Phone 7 session at VentureBeat’s MobileBeat 2010 conference in San Francisco at the beginning of the week, I am here to tell you that Windows Phone looks promising.

First and most importantly, Microsoft has learned lessons from its Windows Mobile strategy. In allowing several device makers to develop devices for Windows Mobile, it made the… (more…)

While Android’s user base is expected to surpass the iPhone’s, many passionate gamers would tell you that the gaming experience on the iPhone is far better than on Android – primarily because of the buttonless form factor of iPhone, but also because of the superior iPhone graphics. But a panel on mobile gaming at VentureBeat’s MobileBeat 2010 conference today said that’s not the case.

The panel participants all vehemently supported Android over iPhone, although largely… (more…)

Keith Lee, CEO of location-based game service Booyah (pictured) said that manual check-ins to location-based services could be on their way out, to be replaced by automated check-ins. His comments came on a panel at VentureBeat’s MobileBeat conference today.

While checkins may provide an interesting way to announce a user’s location, location-based applications and services could be more useful if checkins are performed automatically and users are offered interesting services such as discount coupons based… (more…)

Android users will surpass iPhone users by the end of 2010, according to statistics collected by Google’s Admob ad network, said Admob Team Manager Brendon Kraham. This is despite the fact that the data usage and number of apps on iPhone (and iPod Touch) far exceed those on Android. How can it be then that Android would surpass iPhone?

Leaving aside the two platforms’ comparative strengths and weaknesses, Android would win primarily because of the… (more…)