Google, Verizon Team Up on Smartphones

(NEWSER) - Microsoft and Verizon are in talks to launch a smartphone on the carrier’s network early next year, the Wall Street Journal reports. The phone would likely run on a souped-up version of Microsoft’s Windows Mobile operating system, and have access to Windows Marketplace, its version of Apple’s App Store. A third party will likely manufacture the device with Microsoft input, as with Google’s G1 Android phone. More»

All looks promising, but some think OS is still no match for iPhone

(NEWSER) - Verizon's Droid smartphone—built by Motorola and powered by Google's Android—goes on sale Nov. 6 for $200. Some early opinions on the iPhone challenger:

• The phone is "almost not worth writing about," notes Chris Dannen in Fast Company . It's "fine" but "doesn't advance" the Android platform. About all it has going for it is a cool commercial, "which is cool, if you like commercials, but less important if you like smartphones that do stuff well."

Verizon has reach, but is way behind on sexy smartphones

(NEWSER) - Verizon’s network may be the envy of its peers, but its smart phones definitely aren’t, writes Priya Ganapati. Caught off guard by the iPhone phenomenon, the carrier has taken a very cautious approach to new devices, subjecting them to a long testing process. As a result, while its competitors have carved out niches, Verizon is stuck in place. More»

RIM dominates in sales, but the iPhone has big advantages

(NEWSER) - The iPhone has become a cultural phenomenon, but RIM sells way more units than Apple does. Why, then, does the BlackBerry have such obvious flaws? Wired lists five improvements RIM needs to make:

1. Browser. The web looks much the same on an iPhone or Palm Pre as it does on a PC. But the BlackBerry presents a bare-bones mobile version of most websites—and is slow, to boot.
2. Touchscreen. The BlackBerry Storm's "clickable" screen was supposed to feel like a real keypad, but it just made typing slower.

(NEWSER) - For all the iPhone’s bells and whistles, it doesn’t mesh well with Gmail. While users of Palm Pre and Android smartphones get instant “push” notification of new email, iPhone users have to manually “pull” messages off Google’s server. A simple new app may finally bring push Gmail to the iPhone, TechCrunch reports—if Apple approves it for sale. More»