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  Nokia, RIM look for closer ties with operators
  Handset makers RIM and Nokia this week embarked on a charm offensive in a bid to win the hearts and minds of mobile operators, as the companies look to defend their positions against Apple and Google. RIM co-chief executive Jim Balsillie repeatedly emphasised the importance of providing new applications, services and devices in a "carrier-aligned way" during a keynote presentation at Mobile World Congress on Wednesday – a statement echoed by his counterpart at Nokia, and fellow Canadian, Stephen Elop. "Nokia has a shared philosophy with BlackBerry," said Elop. "Nokia has a high alignment with operators in its lineage," he said, commenting that he is confident that this alignment will continue once the company begins rolling out Windows smartphones. Nokia in particular has felt the impact on its market share from Apple and Google recently – the latest figures from research firm Gartner revealed Nokia's share of the handset market in 2010 declined to 28.9% from 36.4% in 2009. BlackBerry maker RIM saw its share of the handset market edge higher to 3% from 2.8%. Elop said that despite making good use of mobile networks, Apple and Google do not give enough back to operators.
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  LG Jumps In Front Of Rivals To Claim World’s First 3D Smartphone
  The wireless industry has been wondering for months which cellphone vendor would launch the first 3D smartphone. LG Electronics appears determined to grab that title for itself. In an email sent to reporters late Monday night, the Korean electronics giant announced that it would unveil a phone called the Optimus 3D at Mobile World Congress, a large wireless industry trade show held in Barcelona in mid-February. The phone, noted the press release, would be the world’s first “full 3D” smartphone, enabling users to both record and view video in 3D. This feature, says LG, will counteract the dearth of 3D content, which is often cited as the chief reason why consumers don’t purchase 3D-enabled devices. Unlike larger 3D gadgets, the Optimus 3D will not require special glasses for viewing 3D content. The phone will sport a dual-lens camera for 3D recording and multimedia connections including HDMI and DLNA that will let users stream 3D video to TV screens and computer monitors.
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  NPD: Android soars to 53% of U.S. smartphone sales in Q4
  Devices running Google's Android mobile operating system encompassed more than half of all U.S. smartphone sales in the fourth quarter of 2010 according to market research firm NPD Group. Android increased its U.S. market share lead to 53 percent as 2010 closed, up 9 percentage points over Q3--Apple's iOS slipped 4 percentage points to account for 19 percent of sales, tied with Research In Motion's BlackBerry (down 2 percentage points). NPD notes that Microsoft's legacy Windows Mobile OS dropped 3 points to 4 percent of the U.S. market, while its new Windows Phone 7 debuted at 2 percent, deadlocked with Palm's webOS. The firm adds that Windows Phone 7 claimed a smaller market share at launch than either Android or webOS during their respective debuts. Apple's iPhone 4 was the best-selling mobile phone in the U.S. during the fourth quarter, followed in descending order by Motorola's Droid X, HTC's Evo 4G, the iPhone 3GS and Motorola's Droid 2. For the first time ever, NPD's quarterly Top Five sales chart did not include a feature phone device.
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  Sony expanding Music Unlimited service to iPhone, Android
  Sony Corporation said it plans to extend its new Music Unlimited digital service to iPhone and Android devices, ending speculation the company might restrict the cloud-based solution to its own products. When you provide these services, you've got to provide customers the ability to access the content wherever they are," said Sony Network Entertainment Tim Schaaff during an appearance at the MIDEM music industry event in Cannes. "We don't see that supporting devices from other manufacturers is a problem to the business model... It's very natural for us to support Android and iOS over time." Schaaf did not specify when Music Unlimited will make the leap to smartphones, however. Sony introduced Music Unlimited in December, touting millions of songs from Sony Music Entertainment as well as Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and EMI Music. The streaming service--now available in the U.K., Ireland, France, Germany, Italy and Spain--enables consumers to access music via connected Sony devices including the PlayStation 3 and Bravia televisions.
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  iPhones and Droids could speed medical tests, cut costs
  Patients may soon be able to cut health care costs by running blood tests off their iPhones and Droids and having the results automatically forwarded to their doctors, according to new discoveries by researchers at the University of Rhode Island. The next generation of lab-on-a-chip technology would use the processing power of smartphones in conjunction with small peripheral blood-analysis devices to determine whether, for example, a blood sample indicates a patient has cardiovascular disease, researchers say. Would 40% really pay for mobile health services? Patients would pick up the gear at a drug store and run the test themselves without a doctor's visit, or the tests could be done in a medical office by medical staff, says Mohammad Faghri, the lead researcher and a professor of mechanical engineering at the school. That's where the technology is headed, but the current functional models are more like a lab-in-a-shoebox that consists of a cartridge slightly smaller than a credit card for handling blood samples and a sensor device for measuring the reaction between blood samples and reagents that reveals whether the blood contains antibodies indicative of a particular disease, Faghri says. The shoebox-sized sensor contains a spectrometer for measuring fluorescence from the reaction of antigens and antibodies, and that data is entered via USB cable to a computer, which analyzes it, Faghri says.
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