Android Guys and others have talked about the possibility of Spotify being included on the Nexus One.

Although I’m a last.fm man myself currently it would be interesting to see how close the integration runs with the device. Comments on the Android Guys page suggest that it isn’t part of the initial ROM so it seems maybe it will be available from the market place later.

Given that Spotify is currently a European phenomenon I would imagine there are a few more steps before this would be available to US carrier devices.

Noticing a pickup in hits on the site and with the launch of Google’s own phone I’ve decided to get things up and running again.

Watch this space…

There have been a few interesting articles recently (including this on in the Guardian) about how Android could affect the gaming market. I really hope that Android opens the gates for some talented game developers who don’t have access to bags of cash but who can market through the Android Marketplace. It would be nice to see a return to an environment where you don’t need several million pounds and a load of graphics experts to launch a successful game.

However, Handango have also been mentioned in reference to Android so it sounds highly likely that the Android Marketplace won’t be the only point from which people can access software. I’m personally not a huge fan of the ‘grim’ Handango’s way of dealing with developers or customers. So I hope Google treats people with more respect.

A more worrying trend in mobile gaming is in multiplayer games using GPS. From what I can understand of this phenomena, this could lead to it becoming a normal day to day experience to see geek types spontaneously jumping on each other and battering the cr&p out of each other with their mobile phones. Whilst i’m sure Darwin would approve, I’m not sure what the police will make of people on tube platforms taking sniper shots at each other with their G1’s.

I’m sure the tabloids would also have a field day with titles such as Slashwars [cached link here] where random punters are meant to attack each other by swiping their phones in the air (presumable simulating knives). I guess if they keep their cameras switched on then this could create a whole new genre of ‘happy-slapping’.

An interesting patent lodged by Google has been mentioned by New Scientist and Engadget amongst others. It would allow for a consumer to decide which network (cellular, wifi or other) they want to use in a particular location and time based on price and other factors.

This could make picking your voice and data tarriff more like choosing which drink you prefer with your lunch. I think this would make nice change from signing your life away (well… 18 months of it) to an operator.

Google do file plenty of patents so this isn’t necessarily going to get the carriers quaking in their boots just yet. However, it does look interesting and makes a lot of sense if the technology will allow for it.

As the title says . No idea if it will work outside the U.S. but you could still try your luck! See the link here.

Great article here about how Apple has approached applications that are competitive or ‘too silly’. If this proves to be the thin end of the wedge then this approach could prove too dictatorial for even the biggest iPhone fanboy. The fact that even Microsoft’s ‘Mr. Mobile’ – Jason Langridge is pointing to this as a step too far is a worrying sign. At least Microsoft treats its app developers ‘fairly’ by producing a similar product, including it for free and then using its weight to market the hell out of it – thus crushing the competition slowly..

This is an area where Google hopes that Android’s ‘openness’ will shine. The idea being that the Google marketplace will be a democracy rather than the App Store’s dictatorship. It could be argued that this will lead to a lower quality threshold but hopefully the voting system on the market place will help wade through some of the rubbish. I would forsee that users could also access applications via other sites and will not be restricted to just the Google market site.

Google Android’s security team have asked security experts to ‘ethically hack’ their platform and report back privately on what they find. I think this is a smart approach but how they’ll get much of what they find resolved in time for the upcoming HTC Dream release will be interesting.

I think that it will be interesting to compare security on the different platforms given the the ‘openness’ of Android relative to closed platforms such as the iPhone, Blackberry, Windows Mobile and Symbian. Although the iPhone is a closed platform it is generally not considered secure enough for most enterprises to embrace it yet. This is perhaps reinforced by the simplicity of the latest password hack for the iPhone.

Blackberry is generally considered secure (if you enforce the appropriate policies) with the occasional hiccup(!). Windows Mobile is becoming more security conscious with each release and at least has the concept of signing applications as does Symbian.

Sorry for the lack of posts. Normal service will resume next week.