Android’s Ice Cream Sandwich update is tightly integrated with Google+ and Google accounts, which may play a role in helping the young social network grow.

Having a Google+ profile allows users to take advantage of new features like the People app in ICS.

The app takes users’ contacts and links them to their Google+ photos, providing a list of friends and family members and giving quick access to their status updates and posts on the social network.

Because ICS makes signing up for a Google+ profile easy, and being a member of the social network allows Android users to take advantage of new features, it’s likely the updated platform will lead to substantial growth for the site.

Google+ has grown faster than several of its competitors, even while interest in the site has faded of late.

ICS also prompts its users to sign up for a regular Google account in order to register their credit card to make purchases in the Android Market.

Past versions of Android did not ask users to make an account until they tried to buy something in the store, making it easy for them to back out of the mobile store and ignore it.

Now, new customers will likely be more inclined to sign up for an account during the set up, making all future purchases through the Android devices easier for Google to initiate.

The primary reason users give for Google+’s lack of appeal has been that their friends are not on the site, so they report having little reason to make frequent visits.

However, ICS will likely give millions of users a reason to sign up on the site, leading to more traffic and fueling further growth.

Google announced it has activated 200 million Android devices to date.

Not all of them will run ICS, but all future devices will likely run the OS and millions more are expected to receive the update, giving the company’s social network tremendous reach.

Gaining more user accounts with credit cards will increase Google’s revenues and help the company create an ecosystem of products, but ICS still provides the biggest boost to Google+.

The updates will be available to 3G and Wi-Fi-only tablets, the company said.

Lookout Mobile Security announced that it has extended its mobile protection services to all Android tablets and the iPad.

Mobile devices are now the dominant computing platform in the world,” Kevin Mahaffey, co-founder and CTO of Lookout, said in a statement.

As people opt to use smartphones and tablets instead of PCs, they want peace of mind and Lookout gives it to them.

Lookout’s free apps provide security, data backup, and find-my-phone features.

While the company’s premium serviceoffers comprehensive security and privacy protection for $2.99 per month or $29.99 per year, including analysis and reporting on privacy issues for valid apps.

All devices can be managed via mylookout.com, and Lookout will send any updates out over the air.

Lookout for iPhone was released earlier this month, and as PCMag security analyst Neil Rubenking noted.

The iPhone offering is a bit different from its Android, Blackberry, and Windows Mobile counterparts.

It doesn’t have an anti malware component, for example, since iPhone malware barely exists.

Lookout will also warn users if a phone is jailbroken, or if it lacks the latest version of the OS.

It also issues warnings about location tracking and unsecured networks.

In June, Lookout added Safe Browsing, which provides warnings on URLs that might be a known phishing site.

Users can still navigate to the site if they believe it’s trustworthy, however.

Android devices get a full antivirus scan, which is important in light of the various malware scams that have hit the platform of late.

Apple’s latest smartphone free software update launch  Friday 14 October.

The iPhone 4S, which will also run on the next generation OS.

The iPhone 4S has been packed with improvements such as an eight-megapixel camera with a backside illuminated CMOS sensor for better low light performance.

Eight hours of 3G talktime, six hours of browsing, nine hours of Wi-Fi, 10 hours of video, and 40 hours of music.

iPhone 3GS and above, iPad and iPod touch will be able download the new software and upgrade their OS to iOS 5 and benefit from the 200 or so new features added.

New features include a BlackBerry Messenger-rivaling free messaging app, iMessage, a location-aware Reminders app, Notification Centre, Newsstand and wireless synching.

This report may have been confirmed by an announcement that the LiMo Foundation and the Linux Foundation will building a new open source platform called Tizen.

Which is scheduled for a Q1 2012 release.

The OS will be targeting smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, netbooks and in-vehicle infotainment systems.

There has been no official confirmation that Intel and Samsung are, in fact, the major industry forces behind this new platform.

The German edition of the Financial Times recently reported that Intel and Samsung may be merging the failed MeeGo OS with LiMo and create a new Linux based operating system with strong HTML5 support to support their hardware platforms.

Intel’s MeeGo hopes died with Nokia’s decision to dump all efforts and focus on Windows Phone. Previously, Intel promoted Moblin Linux with its first generation Atom processors with Silverthorne core in 2008.

Moblin was based on Asianux, which included components of RedFlag Linux, Miracle Linux and HannSoft.

ntel has not had much luck with its operating system ideas, but Tizen could be of a different caliber as it appears to be backed by Samsung as well.

If that is the case, however, there may be new rumors what will happen to HP’s WebOS, as Samsung was rumored to be one of the bidders to acquire the software.

Similar to Apple’s Mac App Store in OS X, the Windows Store will be integrated into Windows 8. With just a few taps, you will be able to buy touch-friendly, Metro-style applications built for the new OS, including apps for productivity, photos, entertainment, social networking, and of course, games.

Wondering what buying apps in Windows 8 will be like using Microsoft’s new app store, dubbed the Windows Store? Microsoft shared some details Tuesday about its plans during the company’s keynote at the BUILD developer conference.

The company didn’t detail how the payment system would work or say whether the Windows Store would launch at the same time as Windows 8. But the company did provide a sneak peek at a few other details about how Microsoft hopes you will buy apps using Windows 8.

Keep in mind that all of Microsoft’s decisions are subject to change and that some of what you see below may be overhauled or subtly different when the Windows Store finally launches.

Just like the rest of the Windows 8 interface, the Windows Store will have the Metro style look and feel. Similar to other app stores, the Windows Store divides apps into categories such as Entertainment, Finance, Spotlight (featured apps), and Games. Each section includes featured apps for that category along with typical app store lists such as Top rated, Top paid, and Top free.

The lists and featured apps are each represented by a touch-friendly tile that takes you to the purchase page for each app. You can also tap the section title for each part of the Windows Store to see an entire listing of apps available for that category.

Drilling down into the Windows Store’s sections, you will see that every app for sale is represented by a tile showing the app’s name and price. You can sort apps by free, free and trial, and paid.

Developers will have the option to offer free trial periods for their apps. During Microsoft’s demo, trial-period options that developers could choose from were as short as 24 hours or as long as 30 days. It’s not clear if Microsoft will change the trial period time frames before the Windows Store goes live. Because this feature is based on what a developer wants to do, as opposed to a Windows Store policy, you may not see a trial period for every app.

The company didn’t go into great detail about this, but Microsoft will have a certification process for Windows Store apps just as it does for Windows Phone 7 mobile apps. This will help reduce malicious apps getting into the store and ensure Windows 8 apps meet a basic set of benchmarks for quality and usability.

The Windows Store is supposed to be an easy way for you to purchase touch-centric apps built with the new Windows 8 Metro-style interface in mind. But Microsoft said you will also see traditional desktop apps listed in the Windows Store.

Android market has got one more addition- the one-click payment mode, this one contributed by the Software maker Zong, as reported by New York Times.

Currently in its beta phase this mode of payment solution has been developed for Android-based smartphones and the trial version is already being tested by selected developers.

CEO of Zong, David Marcus, said that the company is looking out to work with several internet organisations to provide solutions for carrier billing with customer’s credit, debit or prepaid cards.

However Google which prior to this had not integrated such solutions in its Android OS, is slowly encouraging companies such as Zong and Boku to create applications that caters to the emerging mobile payment market.

Zong meanwhile stated that soon the Android Marketplace will dominate the mobile market and be flooded with smartphones based on Android.

Source: http://www.topnews.in/one-clickpayment-features-android-platform-zong-2264030

Android market has one more unbelievably excellent addition- the one-click payment mode, this one contributed by the Software maker Zong, as reported by New York Times.

Currently in its beta phase this mode ofpayment solution has been developed for Android-based smartphones and the trial version is already being tested by selected developers.

CEO of Zong, David Marcus, said that the company is looking out to work with several internet organisations to provide solutions for carrier billing with customer’s credit, debit or prepaid cards.

However Google which prior to this had not integrated such solutions in its Android OS, is slowly encouraging companies such as Zong and Boku to create applications that caters to the emerging mobile payment market.

Zong meanwhile stated that soon the Android Marketplace will dominate the mobile market and be flooded with smartphones based on Android.

Source: http://www.topnews.in/one-clickpayment-features-android-platform-zong-2264030

It looks like a smartphone, it has a smartphone’s form factor, operating system, and an extra-slim slideout QWERTY keyboard, yet Inbrics still insists on calling the M1 a Mobile Internet Device instead. When the company’s not busy sinking its own battleships, it appears to be doing actually beneficial stuff, such as cramming a new 1GHz Samsung CPU inside its device. The original 800MHz unit was the thing that worried us most during our otherwise praise-filled hands-on experience with the M1 at CES, so it’s a good sign to see it getting a bit of extra brawn ahead of launch. The software has also moved with the times, with Android 2.1 being the current OS on tap, which should look rather nice on that 3.7-inch OLED display. The M1 will have WiFi, but no cellular connectivity is planned just yet. It’s all dependent on having a Western vendor pick up the hardware and infuse it with its own requirements. Although at CES we were told to expect the M1 in March, the current timetable is for a July launch in Korea and US availability by the end of the year, provided Inbrics finds a partner for the device. Netbook News have also finally squeezed a price out of the company and have been told to expect it in the “low $200″ range. Sounds kinda promising, don’t you think?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/24/inbrics-m1-gets-android-2-1-and-cpu-bump-to-1ghz-insists-on-bei/