A report by the Yankee Group believes that smartphone users will have downloaded over 7 billion applications by 2013. The research group estimates that in the next 4 years smartphone users will quadruple, effectively bringing sales of apps to $4.2 billion a year.
Google has finally released GMail push notification for the iPhone. The upgrade to the GMail service will operate via Google Sync, which, ironically, uses Microsoft's Exchange to deliver push emails. While the system, which has been available for Google Calendar and Contacts for a while, is a major win for users, the upgrade will certainly take toll on iPhone batteries.
Intel is set to expand its chip business by offering customers a way to sell applications and software for various Intel based devices. The plan makes use of Intel's Atom chip, most commonly found in netbooks. While Intel does not plan to operate an app store, it will provide developers with a digital outlet to sell their works.
As expected, AT&T is not happy with FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's plan to apply net neutrality laws to wireless networks. While AT&T agrees with the FCC's plan to regulate wired networks, it said its decision to include wireless networks was ridiculous because the competition is so high that the companies can regulate themselves. AT&T's biggest concerns come over data usage and fear that the FCC may remove data usage caps, subsequently putting a greater strain on the company's bandwidth.
MySpace announced that it is set to develop a new video outlet with help from Hulu. The social network, which has lost a lot of ground compared to Facebook, is set to rebrand its Video channel in the coming months, along with a redesign. News Corp hopes the upgrade, as well as the addition of feature films and television shows, will increase MySpace's community.
Shelly Palmer is a consultant and the host of MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer a daily show featuring news you can use about technology, media & entertainment. He is Managing Director of Advanced Media Ventures Group LLC and the author of Television Disrupted: The Transition from Network to Networked TV. Shelly is also President of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. You can join the MediaBytes mailing list here. Shelly can be reached at shelly@palmer.net For information about Get Digital Classes, visit www.shellypalmer.com/seminars