Google Android boss Andy Rubin and Microsoft's Windows Phone head Andy Lees have both publicly criticized Apple's new Siri voice assistant and questioned its usefulness.
Given Samsung's series of patent infringement lawsuits with Apple, the company's new flagship Galaxy Nexus handset has reportedly been designed specifically to avoid potentially infringing on iPhone-related patents.
Google and Samsung announced on Wednesday the Galaxy Nexus smartphone, the first device to feature the new Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich release.
Despite announcing a 33 percent sequential quarterly increase in revenues and promoting its Google+ competitor to Facebook, Google's detailed financial results for Q3 2011 made almost no mention of Android, indicating how little revenue the project actually generates.
AT&T announced on Tuesday the upcoming release of the Motorola Atrix 2 smartphone and four other new Android devices, bringing the wireless carrier's total Android lineup for the year to 19, seven more than originally planned.
A new market research report notes that mobile devices now amount to almost 7 percent of all US web traffic, with Apple's iOS representing a 58.5 percent slice of all mobile traffic and the iPad now accounting for more traffic than iPhones.
While delaying the launch of Android 4.0 in the wake of Steve Jobs' passing, Google has filed an amicus curiae brief in parallel with US carrier T-Mobile, both of whom ask that the International Trade Commission not ban HTC's Android products, regardless of their infringement of Apple's intellectual property.
Google and Samsung have canceled an event planned for next week where the companies were supposed to announce the first smartphone based on Android "Ice Cream Sandwich," a move reportedly made in response to the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
Apple's iPhone continues to gain market share in the U.S., now representing 27.3 percent of handsets, while competitors RIM, Microsoft and Nokia continue to slip.
The new iPhone 4S will help Apple continue to gain smartphone market share worldwide, but the updated hardware is not enough to slow the growth of Google's Android platform, one analyst believes.
On the heels of Verizon coming out in support of Samsung in Apple's patent lawsuit against the South Korean electronics maker, T-Mobile has submitted a brief opposing a proposed preliminary injunction against the company's smartphones and tablets.
Samsung and Google are partnering up for an event on Oct. 11 that will showcase "what's new from Android" and will likely launch the Nexus Prime, the first phone running Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich," just one week after Apple unveils its next-generation iPhone.
Samsung isn't waiting for Google to close its acquisition of Motorola, and neither have a wide variety of other Android licensees who were supposed to be protected by the deal.
A note by Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray, says Amazon's Kindle Fire is "not a true competitor, but more competitive than expected," while noting the Internet retailer "is likely losing about $50" on each unit it sells.
A note issued Brian White of Ticonderoga Securities says there is a market for Amazon's new Android based color Kindle Fire model, but that it is "not the market that Apple is addressing."
Microsoft on Wednesday announced it has entered a cross-licensing agreement with Samsung, in which Microsoft will receive royalties for smartphones and tablets sold by Samsung running the Google Android mobile operating system.
Apple has opposed Verizon's motion to file a brief in support of Samsung in a patent infringement dispute with the argument that the wireless operator waited too long to file its request.
The U.S. international Trade Commission announced on Tuesday plans to investigate handset maker HTC's most recent lawsuit, which includes five patents recently obtained from Google, against rival Apple.
Amazon has reached agreements with three large publishing houses to provide digital magazine content for the company's upcoming iPad competitor, according to a new report, while also adding Fox movies and TV shows to its Amazon Prime streaming video service.
Amazon is set to release two new Kindle black-and-white e-ink models in addition to an aggressively-priced 7-inch tablet with a color LCD screen on Wednesday, with the company considering expanding to larger 10.1-inch and 8.9-inch tablets next year to compete with Apple's iPad.
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Josh Ong
Sam Oliver
AppleInsider Staff
Daniel Eran Dilger
Katie Marsal
Mikey Campbell
