A trio of posts this weekend point to a 2011 smartphone explosion, grudging admiration of Android, and a continuation of the trend of 2011: Android continuing extend its lead over the iPhone in terms of market share.

China Unicom, which only sells iPhone handsets bundled with mobile service contracts at present, will sell the 8GB version of the iPhone 3GS with no contract for CNY3,999, said the spokesman for China United Network Communications.

Toshiba will spend about US$1.19 billion to build a new fabrication plant to produce the panels for Apple.

The US Army wants to issue every soldier an iPhone or Android cellphone -it could be a soldier's choice. And to top it off, the Army wants to pay your monthly phone bill.

None of the companies involved in the bidding have publicly disclosed their participation. But those patents are likely what Apple is most interested in, since it's rumored that a "Verizon iPhone" will come with LTE support.

Nokia Siemens Networks revealed Tuesday that the company had conducted tests confirming that the iOS 4.2 update for iPhone supports its Network Controlled Fast Dormancy technology, which minimizes network congestion and improves battery life.

Apple has revealed some of the new features in iOS 4.2 for iPhone, including interface tweaks and added functionality

The head of RIM fired a shot at rival Apple, slamming the notion that smartphones need "apps." "You don't need an app for the Web," chief executive Jim Balsillie said during an on-stage interview at a Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco.

Confusing headline? it's about a new social network idea.

So how does 40,000 Window 7 phones measure up? Google said last month that it was selling 200,000 Android phones a day. And Apple has said that its iPhone sales rate was 270,000 a day.

"There are people who want something other than the iPhone, and Softbank is not short-changing those customers," said Softbank CEO. He stressed that all of the seven smartphone models the company is launching carry the latest 2.2 version of Android, which is "far superior" to the previous 2.1 version.

Analysts expect Qualcomm to benefit from new drivers in the market, including the launch of the revamped Windows Phone platform and the expected expansion of Apple's iPhone to new carriers in 2011.

One iPhone owner filed a lawsuit against Apple claiming the company deliberately released a software upgrade that would turn earlier models of the iPhone into "virtually useless iBricks."

Bank of America and Citigroup are considering to let employees use the iPhone as an alternative to BlackBerry for corporate e-mail, said three sources. The banks are testing software for the iPhone that's designed to make it secure enough for company messages.

IT department at Western Union had a strict policy of issuing and supporting only BlackBerry. Then new CEO Hikmet Ersek took command of the 6,000-employee company and demanded that he be allowed to use his iPhone for work.

T-Mobile is careful not to attack the iPhone itself, suggesting that T-Mobile might not want to directly antagonize Apple in the event that it gets an iPhone deal of its own.

TriQuint Semiconductor has announced record quarterly revenues for the quarter ended October 2, 2010. Net profits for the quarter soared to US$110.9 million from NT$22.5 million in the second quarter and NT$10.5 million in third-quarter 2009.

As T-Mobile loses its iPhone exclusivity in Germany to O2 and Vodafone, Apple has begun offering the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 unlocked without a contract to German customers, with the 16GB iPhone 4 model selling for 629 euros.

Apple has never quite explained the reason for the repeatedly delayed white iPhone, announcing only that the white version is "more challenging to manufacture than we originally expected."

Customers with BlackBerry Smartphone, iPhone or iPod touch and the Starbucks Card Mobile App Can Now Experience the Fastest Way to Pay at Starbucks.

A summary on the recent exchange between Apple and RIM chiefs.

"This month, for the first time ever, Android revenue exceeded iPhone-only revenue amidst strong raw iOS impression growth," according to Millenial's Oct 19 report.

A major shift is underway as IT departments are no longer dictating which mobile devices workers can and cannot use. Instead, employees are bringing their own smartphones and tablets into the office and finding ways to work them into their professional lives.

the big questions facing the nation's top wireless carrier ahead of its possible introduction of Apple Inc.'s phone next year: Can the company's network withstand millions of iPhone users?

One report, based on interviews with over 1,700 workers by 20 universities in Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, criticized Hon Hai for long working hours, a "militaristic" work culture and mass employment of low-wage vocational college students and interns on production lines to cut costs

According to the report, Apple is taking the issue very seriously and already has engineers testing a variety of third-party cases in "a quiet lockdown" to properly assess how widespread the problem has or could become.

A new mobile device activation report from Good Technology shows that Apple's iPhone and iPad and smartphones based on Google's Android operating system are being adopted by consumers to help with their enterprise work.

Intel is apparently working on a tool that will allow developers to transfer iPhone applications to mobile devices that use Intel processors.

Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu: "Our sources believe these likely represent new high-end and low-end iPhone models to complement its current iPhone 4...One possibility we are picking up is a ?嚙練ini' or ?嚙緯ano' iPhone with a smaller candybar form factor leveraging technology in its new mini touchscreen iPod nano."

The new iPhone would be similar in design to the iPhone 4 currently sold by AT&T but would be based on an alternative wireless technology called CDMA used by Verizon. The phone, for which Qualcomm is providing a key chip, is expected to be released in the first quarter of next year.