Industry think tank IDC is predicting that the Android OS will continue with its momentum, eroding marketshare from Symbian and secure the #2 spot in the mobile OS arena within a couple of years. Key findings from a new IDC market outlook include the following:

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With all of the press in the gadget and Internet marketing world last week around the introduction of the Google Nexus One smart phone you would think that there would be a rush to buy them. Appears that is not the case, at least not initially. My theory is that while there was all kind of chatter amongst the industry, they would be the most likely to buy one but they are not going to commit to a new phone and platform if they are already an iPhone user. Oh, and the VAST majority of people simply don’t run out and buy everything that is launched.

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You don’t have to look very far, especially in the online space, to find a disgruntled AT&T wireless customer. If you would like to increase your likelihood of finding a seething AT&T wireless customer just ask around in New York and San Francisco for iPhone users. This, in and of itself, is not news. As a result though, AT&T faces reputation issues that are extending beyond the initial complaints about service. As the company struggles to maintain some positive buzz it is running headlong into the ‘perception is reality’ of today’s world.

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Let’s face it: nobody has the attention span to read more than 140 characters anymore. So WordPress’s latest effort—mobile microblogging cross posting to a regular blog—totally makes sense.

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In the online world, there are few places one feels as vulnerable than when conducting an online transaction. Inputting your information leads to the feeling of uncertainty, not knowing who is privy to the information you’re entering. Security measures have no doubt improved throughout the years, but still have room for improvement. MasterCard hopes to be part of the evolution, and doing so through mobile technology.

The company announced on Monday, a security measure which would use mobile phones as a means for making online transactions safer. The new measure would send users through either SMS or a mobile app, a one time password that would have to be entered to complete a transaction. (more…)

The wireless capabilities that people enjoy with Bluetooth, might have a successor come next year with Wi-Fi Direct. This technology has been announced by the Wi-Fi Alliance. Wi-Fi Direct would allow for easier connection, and provide a means for Wi-Fi enabled to devices to connect to one another without a joining a hotspot network. (more…)

Google is determined to make sure it doesn’t miss out on the “Year of the Mobile.” Like the rest of us, the search engine doesn’t know when that year will actually start, but if it has anything to do with it, 2009 might just be the top candidate.

As of today, publishers can now drop smart phone optimized AdSense ads inside their mobile content.

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Back in February, Google premiered Google Sync, which coordinated participating phones (all those with the SyncML standar) with Google Calendar, Contacts and Gmail.

However, in the first iteration of the product, the Gmail sync left a little to be desired. Rather than popping up with new messages, you had to manually check your email from your mobile. (The horror! The horror!) But that stone age interface has finally passed—Google has unveiled push Gmail for Google Sync now.

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The Orchard has entered into a marketing and licensing partnership with Chinese mobile infrastructure and services provider, ZTEMT.  Utilizing The Orchard’s top one hundred thousand songs, ZTEMT will program an English language genre section of China Telecom’s newly updated iMusic.  According to The Orchard, this deal makes them the first international digital music distributor to introduce such a large selection of western music to China’s 388 million net and mobile users.

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According to Bango, over 20% of people visiting web sites to purchase content using their mobile phones are now connecting via WiFi. This presents a major challenge to both content providers and operators as these mobile visitors are unrecognized by the networks, making it difficult to sell and market mobile services to them and significantly impacting mobile content revenues. (more…)