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Unless you have been living under a rock these past few days, you would know that Apple has filed a lawsuit against Taiwanese smart phone manufacturer HTC (formerly High Tech Computer Corporation) over 20 patents.

In response to the recent allegations against HTC, Google backs up its partner with the following statement:

“We are not a party to this lawsuit. However, we stand behind our Android operating system and the partners who have helped us to develop it.”

Google seems a bit on the protective side, which is not a surprise considering the fact that Apple is specifically targeting HTC’s mobile phones that carry the Google Android OS. For whatever reason, Google is not directly involved in the case but judging from their full support for HTC, it is easy to tell that they know Apple is starting a war. Looking at things on a business perspective, it would be a good, but underhanded, strategy for Apple to stop Android mobile phones in their tracks. Any delays, be it major or minor may just give them the edge they need to emerge on top.

The suit centers on HTC phones that are Android-based such as the Nexus One, the Hero and the Droid Eris. Google has held off offering multi-touch support for their Android phones for quite some time due to an informal agreement with Apple. Last month however, they have started offering it on the Nexus One. Is it a coincidence that multi-touch is one of the patents on dispute? HTC phones have actually had that feature for a while but it was only when Google enabled it that the lawsuit was filed.

While Apple is fighting dirty, there is still no word whether Google is going to provide anything other than moral support. From the looks of things though, it is highly probable that they will do whatever it takes to help HTC win against Apple. They may even end up suing Apple as well. As for HTC, the company does not seem too worried about short-term impact, seeing as the case will take anywhere from a few months to years to be resolved.

For more details, head over to Engadget.

Piracy has always been an impending doom looming above any new software. With the popularity of the iPhone, users are now looking at Apple and their efforts to keep the piracy issue to a minimum. With figures reaching up to 90% casually thrown in user conversations, the buzz makes the situation look worse than it actually is.

The reality is that piracy is not Apple’s biggest concern right now. It exists, but the effect in general is not that serious. It is only less than 10% serious for that matter since that is the estimated number of iPhones that are jailbroken.

Jailbreaking is the method of unlocking or modifying the OEM iPhone OS. The way iPhone piracy works is through the use of two apps on jailbroken phones: one that allows the cracking of purchased apps and one that allows the installation of cracked apps. The cracked apps can then be made available on the internet through download link sites. Fortunately for law-abiding users, Appulo.us, the most popular of these download sites was already shut down last month.

Apple is not dwelling on the loss of sales due to dedicated pirates though. This is due to the well-known fact that app pirates have never intended to be paid users anyway. Also, iPhones that are jailbroken with the sole purpose of using illegal apps are not as popular now as they used to be. The number of people willing to forego regular updates and those willing to risk rendering their precious devices totally useless is dwindling. The newest iPhone 3Gs with its amped up security also makes jailbreaking more difficult and In-app purchases are changing the way developers are marketing their apps.

Apple seems to be doing a good job keeping pirates at bay. If they can be consistent with the apps they veto out of the official store, they might just be able to keep their users happy enough to prefer them over independent app download sites.

Read more about iPhone app piracy in Gizmodo.

Looking for an iPhone app that will sell like hotcakes? Make one about a garden with plants and zombies. Seriously!

Introducing Plants vs. Zombies, the fastest ever selling app that broke the App Store records within just 9 days of its release. PopCap proudly declares that this quirky app “is the top-grossing iPhone launch ever” that sold more than 300,000 copies in the App Store.

For those of you living under a rock, Plants vs. Zombies is a tower defense game. The rules are simple: defend your house from the evil Doctor Zomboss and his horde of zombie minions by planting zombie-slaying plants. The real skill lies in mastering how to combine the available elements and use them to your advantage.

There are 26 types of zombies with varying abilities and you get to choose between plants such as corn on the cob, potato shooters and wallnuts. The trick lies on choosing which plants to deploy at a time since different plants have different strengths and weaknesses.

PopCap, the developers of this record breaking app also made other highly-addictive puzzle games such as Bejeweled and Peggle. Director George Fan intended for Plants vs. Zombies to be both “gritty” and “sickeningly cute”. He made sure to integrate aspects that are appealing to both the hardcore and casual gamers, making the concept simple for easy pick-up-and-play but still offering varying strategic elements for those who want to want to perfect their zombie killing techniques.

For series veterans, you may miss a few modes such as the endless mode and the Zen garden but with 50 levels from the original game and a quick play option, this iPhone app is still sure to satisfy your daily craving of Plants vs. Zombies mayhem. Minor interface changes such as icons being moved around detract nothing from the charm of the app version and its move to the iPhone definitely a resounding success.

Read more about this wonder app at Stuff TV.

What can you do with Google Goggles?

You can go out at a random place, point the camera around at the nearby bars and restaurants to figure out which place you might be able to get some decent food from. There will be prices, menus and even booking and reservation options depending on the establishment.

You can point the camera at a painting and have the app attempt to figure out the artist, title and even medium of the painting. With luck, you might even get to read on reviews and about the history of the artwork in question.

You can point the device at some commercial products to determine cost, if it’s available to purchase online and of course, what it is.

There are plenty of actual and potential capabilities of augmented reality applications like the Google Goggles. And while most features still need some serious tweaking and updating, the fact that visual scanning technology exists means that we have gone a long way as a civilization.

Google has been busy with translation technology recently, and reports that the Nexus One would be updated with high-end translation capabilities are pretty convincing. After all, the device features excellent speech recognition software, it would not be surprising if it is later adapted for translating basic phrases and words.

Google Goggles will be given OCR capabilities. Optical character recognition software has been seeing plenty of innovations since the invention of the scanner and it would not be surprising if this new application will work great for translating public signs or other useful notices or posters. This technology would never work for intensive tasks such as deciphering news articles or letters, but with smaller volumes of text, it should do great.

To get the rest of the details regarding the new Google Goggles update and what it can do, go to Mobile Choice UK.

The Toshiba brand has something of a long-standing reputation in the mobile phone industry for manufacturing some of the biggest devices on the market and their new model, the TG02, is not really much of an exception packing, as it does, a massive 4.1-inch touchscreen. Including the weight of the battery, the device weighs 129 grams and its dimensions come in at 70mm x 129mm x 9.9mm.

As might well be anticipated from such a large screen display the pictures it hosts are certainly very impressive, with a screen resolution of 800×480. The device also comes complete with an excellent capacitive touchscreen and it is here that the TG02 immediately marks itself out as a definite upgrade from its predecessor model, the TG01. Interestingly, the TG01 was launched in 2009 to fairly wide acclaim and hopes were high for the sleek and feature-packed device. Unfortunately for Toshiba sales of the TG01 were rather disappointing so it comes as no surprise to see that the new TG02 is both much lighter and easier on the eye than its predecessor.

The TG02 also packs some pretty decent specifications, although you would not really describe them as groundbreaking. There is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 1GHz processor which has been seen in previous devices and always seems to captivate users with its incredible speed and it seems that the TG02 will be little different in this respect. It packs 512MB of ROM as well as 256MB of RAM – fairly standard. It also features Quad-band GM frequencies, excellent for those roaming the world and demanding excellent connectivity at all points – as well as normal GPS support, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. The device also comes with a microSD card, allowing for some upgrading the storage capabilities of the device for those photos and music files.

The TG02 also has a sliding bar on the screen, placed between the home and return touch keys that make navigation fairly pain-free. In fact the navigation specs appear on initial usage to be rather similar to the navigation seen on the HTC TouchFLO 3D device, although further exploration will be required to fully investigate. Sadly for US customers there will be no 3G included, although the European release will support 3G and there is also a high-speed download capability of 7.2Mbps as well as 5.76 bps upload speed. It looks at the moment as though the operating system will be Windows 6.5.3, and this is one of Microsoft Mobile’s latest operating systems. (It’s not the very newest, however, as the newest was launched in Barcelona last Monday.)

The device’s integral camera is 3.2 megapixels and comes with a decent auto-focus capability as well as a 0.3 megapixel secondary device, meaning that photos aren’t really a major priority for the TG02. There is also assisted and quick GPS and geotagging, enabling the user to know exactly where they are anywhere in the world at any time as well as the ability to continually update their friends and family with news of their global exploits. The device also comes complete with an integral accelerator which affords easy switching between horizontal and vertical screen displays with no slow-down.

One big appeal of the TG02 is that it is also encased by a waterproof shell which is vaunted to protect the phone from smaller water droplets. This feature will be interesting to follow, as there have initially been one or two problems reported with the feature. It will be very interesting to see updates regarding this as the release date draws closer, although there is not currently a definite release date. At present, early April is the likely release date, and there is currently no news regarding prices.

The newly-unveiled Samsung Wave S8500 will be the first Samsung handset to be launched on the company’s new open mobile platform, Samsung Bada. There has been some excitement leading up to the launch with Samsung spokesmen stating that the Samsung Bada Platform ‘is truly representative of Samsung’s dedication and commitment to providing a smart-phone for each and every lifestyle’. The Wave S8500’s screen display features the new and currently all-the-rage AMOLED display technology and measures 3.3-inches, affording the user excellent clarity as well as extremely sharp colour high resolution display of 800×480 pixels WVGA.

Aside from the excellent sharpness the display is also far less prone to being affected by reflection, making it ideal for most conditions. It also comes equipped with Samsung’s DNIe screen technology. Samsung also employs the use of this screen technology in their range of LCD and LED televisions, and it certainly gives the user excellent free viewing angles as well as prefect still-image and motion display on the screen. The Wave also comes equipped with an integral 5.0 megapixel camera which also features an extremely useful LED flash, enabling the user to take very good quality shots in a range of different lighting conditions. With some phones in the class not featuring a flash at all this is a very useful and welcome addition and is sure to add to its overall appeal.

The Wave S8500 also packs the Social Hub, which has undergone a major development and design process in order to completely integrate all major e-mail, SNS and instant message services directly on the handset. Alongside this the TouchWiz 3.0 UI feature gives the user fantastically fast and responsive text messaging as well as excellent screen-control management.

The device’s TouchWiz 3.0 UI allows easy and fast messaging and on-screen control management. Entering text is joyfully pain-free and the system makes it highly intuitive and predictive, resulting in far fewer input errors and saving time.

Samsung have actually worked on the TouchWiz facility, actually enhancing it in this device in order that the user can gain full and complete access to the whole spectrum of social networking sites. You can also change the homepage layout, customising it to your own preferences. The phone can even be employed as a full multimedia player and can also instantly share photographs with friends and family, excellent when considering the great connectivity to social networking sites previously mentioned. You can also use these images to customise your homepage, adding a further personal touch to your phone.

The Wave also utilises the Quick Panel feature, giving users the ability to quickly sift and arrange applications onto one screen. This is very handy when tying things together in one place – especially for business purposes. The Wave uses a 1GHz internal processor and it delivers fast running speeds and excellent, unhindered graphics. The processor also contributes to the excellent responsiveness of the Wave’s touchscreen.

It is also an impressive device for music, too, and features multi-codec support for a variety of file formats including MP4 and WMV. There is also integral support for virtual 5.1 surround sound which, when employed, kicks sonic delivery into a different mobile dimension altogether. You can also record videos and there is Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. Another very interesting feature of the Wave is that, employing the Bada Platform, it is easy to download a wide range of applications from the Samsung Apps site. Samsung Apps is indeed a rich resource and when employed in such a stylish and feature-packed device it will be fascinating to see just what competition it provides for Apple and its currently better-known Apps platform. The Wave is currently slated for release in April 2010.

William Harrison of Nottingham University has accumulated a bill close to the amount of £8000 in his phone bill from Orange Mobile.

Harrison was placed in Paris for the duration of six months. In an effort to avoid the costly long distance telephone calls, the student opted to use Skype. However, the costs of his internet connection through Orange Mobile proved to be even more costly than expected.

It was reported that an Orange shop assistant had assured Harrison that the monthly 3G data allowance that comes with the SIM will be sufficient for handling his internet needs. Understanding the situation, Orange has decided to halve the total cost of the bill and allow Harrison two years to pay.

This little incident is reminiscent of a complaint last year of individuals who subscribed to unlimited 3G SIMs under the misguided notion that there would be no data transfer limits. Since mobile networks charge according to data access and not usage time, many believed that the unlimited usage access meant that the amount of data transferred was also unlimited. Needless to say, both individuals run up a pretty hefty charge on their accounts.

Orange has since implemented various means in order to control the bandwidth usage and to make subscribers aware of the fact that their data transfer rates are limited to only a few GB each month. Roaming charges are pretty costly with the cost of £3 for every 1MB of data.

Nowadays, the staff of Orange Mobile are trained to fully orient customers on the charge rates and the limitations of using their accounts when roaming. Of course, this still means that we should all be responsible for own data consumption rates as well.

Read more about this news story and more at Mobile Today UK.

Ever since Google launched their Android operating system, the mobile phone market has been moving on constantly in terms of technology, as well as relations with other companies. The android operating system gives mobile phones new powers, and gives mobile phone manufacturers the chance to use more technically advanced programs and features with the phone. The new phone from HTC, the HTC HD Mini is the small version of their award winning phone, the HD2.

Current trends have shown that many major mobile phone producers and tending to make “mini” version of their sell out phones for various reasons. This can include offering a cheaper and smaller version of their phone to those who do not want all the high tech features. Releasing a mini version of a phone is also a great way to boost sales, as although they run on the same operating system and programming technology, they are essentially new phones, becoming very appealing to the technology orientated members of the public.

The HD Mini gives you your picture through a 3.2 inch screen, a large downgrade from the 4.3inch screen of its original. Externally, the phone looks sleek and stylish, and has been improved with various features, including the good looking fasteners ( the things that hold the phone together!) have been made visible, so that you can get a better understanding of the phone, even if it is minimal. The phone is black, and gives off a special sort of shine, making the phone look very appealing to people from all walks of life. Once the back cover is removed, you are greeted with a rather ugly yellow inside, but luckily you won’t be seeing this part of the phone all that often.

Powered by a 600MHz processor, and using 385mb of ram, the phone is not the fastest on the market, but it will perform most tasks instantly, with only the larger more complicated programs taking a while longer to load up and run. If you are a fan of photographs, then this phone will suit your needs! With a 5.0megapixel camera embedded into the design of the phone, you will be able to snap up some shots whatever the occasion, be it a sports event, a family moment of even some fast cars. The camera is protected by a sleek black screen, which not only helps to keep the lens scratch free, but also keeps the camera looking in line with the rest of the phone.

If you are someone that likes to have internet whilst on the go, the HTC HD Mini has built in Wi-Fi technology enabled, to allow you to connect to a network where one is offered. Whether it be on a train to a business meeting, or relaxing outside in the sun at home, Wi-Fi can give you endless possibilities, providing you are safe and use suitable protection to stop unwanted hackers. If you fancy sharing your phones contents with others, the build in Bluetooth system can be used to send files, videos, songs and photos to friends and family for free! This can save you a bundle compared to having to send picture messages and all sorts. GPRS is also included in the phone, but its use is not so clear, as it takes forever to load up one internet page, and can drain your credit far too much to be of any use. Overall the HTC HD Mini looks to be a good phone, which is due for release in Europe and Asia around April 2010.

The name change is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the many things that Microsoft has shown over the weekend. But right now, this all holds very little bearing as nothing presented or shown onstage will matter until the new Windows Phone 7 operating system finally comes out during the holidays.

HTC has already announced that they will have a WP device ready by then. Aside from that, it is anyone’s guess what kind of hardware the new platform is going to be available in (though we at least know that it will always be using Qualcomm technology).

Some people have wondered if Microsoft jumped the gun on this one. After all, we would have all been happy with a quick announcement that version 7 is on its way without delays. People actually expected to see more the recently launched WinMo 6.5.3 Maldives OS instead of the grand presentation given to Windows Phone 7.

Well, considering what we saw, interest in the operating system will not die out for a very long time.

If Steve Ballmer and his crew simply presented a system that worked pretty much like the Android or the iPhone OS, then it would have been impressive, but forgettable. Instead, they presented an OS so new that it makes the Android and the iPhone OS feel backwards and obsolete. And nothing will remind us of that more than using the smart phones we have today. WP7 was literally a sneak peek into the future with its new Tiles and the large bleeding menus. Aside from the new name and the new stylized user interface, Zune and Xbox Live Games are also present in the system (no games yet, too bad).

Speaking of the new naming system, see how it affects other Windows Mobile systems at Engadget.

The unveiling of the Windows Mobile 7 operating system during last Sunday is unexpected, intriguing, exciting and if you think about it, utterly curious.

The Mobile World Congress is the place to catch a glimpse of the innovations and technologies that would shape the mobile phone industry in the months to come. Still, for software and hardware that are almost a full year away from marketing, it’s a bit of an early start.

Apple has been keen in keeping information and news about the upcoming Apple iPhone 4G till later (presumably April), so many are wondering why Microsoft has been eager to jump the gun into showing how much progress they have with WinMo 7 when they still expect the system to come out later this holiday season. Many are thinking that interest in the OS will die out before it launches.

Despite the many new innovations of Windows Mobile 7, the demonstration clearly shows that there are plenty of features missing and that MS is still pretty much deep in the production process to actually be showing off any early products. But this did not stop Steve Ballmer and company from showcasing what they have already achieved.

In a nutshell, it was an impressive presentation. WinMo 7 was everything we had hoped for in a Windows Mobile system and more. From what was shown, they can probably compete even with the Google Android and the iPhone OS. It would certainly be interesting how the final product will come out and what kind of mobile phone will be running it.

In any case, the iPhone 4G operating system has also yet to be revealed and from the looks of things, its Google’s Android OS that might get left behind.

Read more about the new Windows Mobile 7 operating system at the Guardian UK.