WIND Mobile Changing Rate Plans and Add-ons, Motorola Offers Up to $200 for Old Phones & Twitter Prepping to Roll Ads in Android and iOS Apps

WIND Mobile Changing Rate Plans and Add-ons March 1st, Here Are the Details
The wind is shifting over at WIND Mobile. Rate plan changes are in the works and here’s the complete details for you. Axed are the names of their current “Clever”, “Smart”, “Brilliant” and “Genius” talk/text/data plans, and actually so will 2 of their plans. Effective March 1st you’ll only see what will be called the “WIND25 and the “WIND40 plan, both $25/month and $40/month respectively.
MobileSyrup

Motorola Offers Up to $200 for Old Phones in Android Buy-Back Program
Motorola Mobility is offering up to $200 to consumers who trade in their “business-ready” phones for a new Android model. The company, which is in the process of being bought by Google for $12.5 billion, is offering the trade-in deals to owners of 16 devices, including Droid Razr Maxx, Droid 4, Atrix and Atrix 2 and Titanium.
Mashable

Twitter Prepping to Roll Ads in Android and iOS Apps
Twitter today announced that it is bringing promoted tweets (which are, in effect, advertisements) to the mobile Android and iOS Twitter apps. Twitter explains, “In the coming weeks, we’ll begin introducing Promoted Tweets in the timeline on these mobile apps.
Phone Scoop

Google Ventures And Others Put $5M In Enterprise Mobile Security Company Duo
Enterprise mobile security company Duo Security has raised $5 million from Google Ventures, True Ventures, and Resonant Venture Partners. This brings the startup’s total funding to $6 million. Duo Security essentially provides a two-factor authentication service to companies who want to protect employee phones, with not just one but two secure log-ins.
TechCrunch

Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 and Galaxy Mini 2 Revealed, ZTE Toasts the Mimosa X & Most Young People Buy Smartphones

ZTE Toasts the Mimosa X, with Nvidia Tegra 2 and Icera Modem
ZTE and Nvidia today announced the Mimosa X, a new Android smartphone that includes both an Nvidia Tegra 2 processor and an Nvidia Icera modem chipset with support for 21Mbps HSPA+. Nvidia purchased Icera in mid-2011 and the Mimosa is the first device to contain an Nvidia modem, CPU, and GPU. The Mimosa X boasts dual-core processors and will ship with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
Phone Scoop

Samsung Galaxy Ace 2, Galaxy Mini 2 Officially Revealed
While we get ready for MWC to begin Samsung is apparently next to reveal a few new handsets, as it just posted the details for its new Galaxy Ace 2 and Galaxy mini 2. Like their earlier incarnations, the Ace 2 has the best specs of the two, with a dual-core 800MHz processor, HSDPA 14.4 connectivity, GPS/GLONASS, 1,500mAh battery and 4GB of internal storage hiding behind its 3.8-inch WVGA screen.
Engadget

Even on $15,000 a Year, Most Young People Buy Smartphones
When a twentysomething’s budget is tight, her smartphone is far from the first expense to go, suggests a new study from Nielsen. The survey of 20,000 U.S. mobile customers found that smartphone ownership skews toward the young and the wealthy — exactly as you’d expect.
Mashable

Analyst Charged With Insider Trading and Fraud After Leaking Apple Sales Data
A research analyst and a former executive who revealed insider information about Apple’s sales have both been charged, reports Reuters. Analyst John Kinnucan on Friday was charged with two counts of securities fraud, two counts of conspiracy and one count of insider trading from a civil case filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Between 2008 and 2010, Kinnucan allegedly paid insiders with cash, trips and other incentives for inside information regarding Apple.
BGR

5 Paradoxes Shaping the Future of Mobile Commerce, Swype Updated to Support Ice Cream Sandwich & Clearwire Plans on Launching TD-LTE Network

5 Paradoxes Shaping the Future of Mobile Commerce
“Mobile is ramping up faster than any other technology we have seen in the past,” says Mary Meeker of Kleiner Perkins. Mobile web adoption is happening eight times faster than traditional web adoption in the late ’90s.
Mashable

HTC Endeavour to Sport On-Screen Keys, 720p Super LCD Screen, No MicroSD Slot
More details are emerging about the upcoming HTC “hero” device, the 4.7-inch Endeavour, which we recently saw renamed to the One X. The device will not have any hardware capacitive buttons, which contradicts the initial renders, but the device has had a long development life so we’re not surprised there have been some design changes.
MobileSyrup

Swype Updated to Support Ice Cream Sandwich
The popular third-party software keyboard Swype has been updated to support Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Swype is an app that uses word prediction in combination with swiping motions to allow users to quickly write emails, text messages, tweets and anything else that requires text input.
BGR

Clearwire Says It Plans on Launching TD-LTE Network by June 2013
Clearwire’s been promising us that speedy LTE network for quite some time now. The good news is, we may have a clearer view of when to expect the waves to start flowing. During yesterday’s Q4 earnings call, CEO Erik Prusch said his company plans on rolling out its LTE tides by June of next year.
Engadget

Samsung Galaxy S II HD Coming to Canada, iPhone Resale Value 63% After One Year, Android 46% & Facebook Talks About Social Games and Mobile Apps

Vonage Brings Free Calling and Messaging to iPhone, Android
Vonage on Wednesday unveiled a new mobile app for the iPhone and Android smartphones that affords free calling and messaging along with cheap international calling rates. Vonage Mobile allows users to make free “high-definition” voice over IP calls among each other over Wi-Fi, 3G or 4G data connections, and low-cost calls can also be placed through the app to any landline or cell phone globally.
BGR

Samsung Galaxy S II HD Coming to Canada
It seems Samsung is intent to keep making their brand known in Canada – according to our sources I can confirm that the next major device after the Galaxy Note will be the Galaxy SII HD (this is also known as the AT&T SkyRocket HD). The GS II HD will come packed with a 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1280 x 720.
MobileSyrup

iPhone Resale Value 63% After One Year, Android 46%
All smartphones do not depreciate equally. 18 months after purchase, iPhones can be sold for 53% of their original price, while Androids can only be sold for 42% and BlackBerries for 41% on average according to a study by Y Combinator second-hand price guide startup Priceonomics.
TechCrunch

Facebook Talks About Social Games and Mobile Apps for 2012
Facebook revealed its roadmap for social games and mobile apps for the rest of the year at the Inside Social Apps 2012 conference on Wednesday in San Francisco — and it’s good news for app developers. The mobile space presents a huge opportunity to create cross-platform social games, said Carl Sjogreen, director of product management at Facebook.
Mashable

Rogers Giving New and Existing Customers a Free 6-Month BBM Music, Kyocera DuraPlus Announced & LG Reports Second Straight Loss in Q4

Here’s The Supposed Launch Date For iPhone 5
The iPhone 5 will launch at Apple’s WWDC event, according to a report by Daiwa Securities cited by DigiTimes. WWDC is Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference, held in June each year. It’s an event where Apple showcases the latest and greatest of its technology for developer use.
Business Insider

Kyocera DuraPlus: a Sprint Phone So Masculine It’ll Kick Your Face in for Misdialing
Sprint’s announced that it’ll carry the Kyocera DuraPlus — a rugged cellphone that recalls a lifetime of tedious internet memes. It’s certified to “Military Standard 810G,” for its resistance to dust, shock, vibration, temperature extremes, humidity and it’s able to withstand water depths of one meter for, erm, up to half an hour.
Egadget

LG Reports Second Straight Loss in Q4
LG Electronics on Wednesday posted its second consecutive quarterly loss despite record flat-panel TV shipments and solid performance from its mobile handset division. The South Korea-based electronics vendor recorded revenue of KRW 13.81 trillion, or approximately $12.05 billion USD, in the fourth quarter of 2011 along with an operating profit of KRW 23 billion, or about $20 million USD.
BGR

Rogers Giving New and Existing Customers a Free 6-Month BBM Music Trial
RIM launched their BBM Music app back in November offered BlackBerry users the ability to discover and share music with their BBM contacts. RIM first offered up a 60-day trial, then recently extended it to 120-days for “new BBM Music users only”. After the trial period the cost is $4.99/month.
MobileSyrup

TELUS is Not Introducing a Premium 4G LTE-only Rate Plan, Google Tells Android Devs to Kick the Menu Button & Could a BBM App Save the BlackBerry?

TELUS is Not Introducing a Premium 4G LTE-only Rate Plan
TELUS’ LTE network is coming soon, very soon. Employees have just begun training and from an internal doc we’ve received it states that “TELUS’ network evolution to 4G LTE is on track to launch in early 2012, but most likely it’ll be live within weeks. It’s already known that they’ll be releasing the LTE-capable Samsung Galaxy Note and the Tab 8.9 – plus you’ll also probably see some internet sticks.
MobileSyrup

Google Tells Android Devs to Kick the Menu Button to the Curb
If you’ve seen Ice Cream Sandwich and the Galaxy Nexus in action, then it should be clear that the menu button has no future in the Android ecosystem. In order to drive that point home, Google has posted over at the Android Developer blog urging app creators to “say goodbye to the menu button.”
Engadget

Apple’s Mobile Web Share Reportedly Slid in Q4 as Android Took No.1 Spot
Although Apple outsold all Android vendors in the fourth quarter, the Cupertino-based company’s share of mobile internet usage is reportedly beginning to slide. An analysis of last year’s Internet usage shows that in the United States, the proportion of Android mobile web visitors overtook Apple users by the end of the year, according to 51Degrees.mobi.
BGR

Could a BBM App Save the BlackBerry?
Salvation for RIM could lie in licensing its popular services to other handset makers and software companies. “We see a licensing deal and other potential software monetisation strategies as a path to unlocking value,” says Jefferies bank analyst Peter Misek, who suggests BBM be made available to Google and Apple phones as an app and that a similar deal be offered to enterprises for the secure email service.
Guardian

CIBC’s Site is Optimized for All Smartphones, Windows Phone Will Beat The iPhone By 2015 & Why Apple is Manufacturing Its iPhone in China, Not the U.S.

CIBC’s New Mobile Site is Optimized for All Smartphones
If you bank at CIBC and have a BlackBerry, iPhone or Android device you can download their app via the respected app stores. This gives you the usual features such as finding an ATM, looking up your account balances, transferring funds and contact a branch.
MobileSyrup

Leaked Sony Image: Is This the ST25i Kumquat?
It looks like one of the jilted partners in the Sony Ericsson split is doing all it can to ruin the nice surprises planned for next month’s MWC. An image has appeared at Xperia Blog that purports to be of the ST25i Kumquat, which, if you’ve been paying attention is the cheapest of the three phones due in April listed on the leaked roadmap from a few days ago.
Engadget

Another Analyst Firm Says That Windows Phone Will Beat The iPhone By 2015
Windows Phone will surpass iPhone in market share in 2015, according to research firm iSuppli.
iSuppli attributes the giant increase in market share over the next few years “largely” to the introduction of the Nokia Lumia 900.
Business Insider

Why Apple is Manufacturing Its iPhone in China, Not the U.S.
According to the Times, the decision to turn to China is in large part about scale, rather than costs. Had the iPhone been built in the U.S., the added cost for U.S. labor capital would amount to approximately $65 extra for each phone sold, but it would not be possible to innovate at the rate Apple is looking to drive change if the phone was made in the U.S.
GottaBeMobile

Maker Of Taxi-Ordering App myTaxi Raises €10 Million From Daimler, Lars Hinrichs

Intelligent Apps, the Hamburg, Germany-based startup behind popular taxi ordering smartphone application myTaxi, has raised 10 million euros in growth funding from car2go, a subsidiary of Daimler, Germany’s third largest carmaker. XING and Hackfwd founder Lars Hinrichs also participated in the financing round, as did previous backers T-Venture (Deutsche Telekom) and KfW Bankengruppe.

According to Bloomberg Businessweek, Daimler took a 15 percent stake in the mobile apps developer.

Intelligent Apps claims myTaxi has a market share of no less than 80 percent in Europe, and is still growing fast. The app has been downloaded 800,000 times to date, and 7,000 taxi drivers have registered for the service so far. Currently available in over 30 cities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Intelligent Apps says it aims to develop strategic partnerships with its investors, Deutsche Telekom and car2go.

For your background: Daimler is said to manufacture more than 60 percent of all taxis in Germany.

The startup says it will focus on expanding in countries like Spain, England and The Netherlands.

Last Summer, Sarah Lacy wrote a post about another European company in this space: Get Taxi.

CrunchBase Information

myTaxi

Information provided by CrunchBase

Galaxy Nexus Android Smartphone – How to Boost the VoIP Experience

Hundreds of android phones have been released over the past few years in the market, but none of them has been so much awaited for, as Galaxy Nexus Android Smartphone. The fundamental reason for this was Google’s AK Android 4.0 or Ice Cream Sandwich. It is virtually the first device that has come up with the latest and major Android updates, and it has officially been released to showcase Android 4.0 and its innovative features and applications.

As per the experts’ opinion, Ice Cream Sandwich is not only a classic but also much simplified and polished version of Android. With large and animated display, decent battery and a polished Android 4.0, this cell phone offers great experience. However, for people, who want to save money and enjoy Smartphone utilities together, this device is a great gift. In the following lines, there is a brief but highly useful set of suggestions to boost your experience with the latest Nexus handset.  

Boosting the Experience with Reference to VoIP

There are lots of things that you can do, in general, to make your experience more joyful. The best thing that you can do is, download and install the additional optional applications, which may help you manage your life, business etc. One such example of optional apps is VoIP, the traditional voice over internet protocol service applications. By just installing VoIP apps on your smart device, you can avail regular VoIP services on your phone. The device offers a comprehensive range of VoIP apps which could enable VoIP calls on your device.

As everyone is aware of the fact, VoIP is a process, where you make regular calls by using your internet connections. Due to the growing popularity of Smartphone devices, almost every big VoIP provider is offering services for the smartphones. For Samsung Nexus, you can get a bulk of VoIP apps from Android market. Some of the most popular apps are Bria and Acrobit; however, you can select the one, which is compatible with the services of your provider.

By comparison and research, it has been proved that VoIP calls are far cheaper than that of cellular and landline. Hence, by using it on your device, you remain in charge of your budget control because you make regular calls using VoIP, which saves your precious credit and gives you joyful experience in a cost effective manner.

Many of us are unable to enjoy the devices only because of our inability to learn its control and management process. Nexus’ 4.65-inch 720p display has a great number of applications, which may irk you in the beginning.  Moreover, the bad news is that in the United States, its GSM version is not available yet.If you are not a tech savvy person, you may need to read the tutorials, reviews and guides to learn the device specifications and their usage.

How to Save Money?

People always love the areas, where they can have added benefits in a cost effective manner. In the case of smartphones, free apps provide the same opportunity to you, where anybody can download and use them. VoIP app is a good example of that, which enables any user to use his singed up VoIP services on the device.

The medium of activation is very easy, as you just need VoIP apps on your device and a signed up VoIP account if you have any. Moreover, if you do not have it, you can sign up for that by going to the official website of Vonage, Axvoice or Skype, and then download the preferred apps for that particular provider. Selection of the package should be made carefully, this may take a bit of your time and effort, but ultimately this will save you hundreds of dollars every year.  

Editor’s note: The above article is a guest post by Derek Miller, a researcher and technology analyst at Axvoice. He keeps focus on the industry trends, VoIP industry, comparative analysis, and VoIP apps and writes on various dimensions of industry, its products and players.

iPhones Account for 78% of Mobile Video Viewing, Sony Ericsson Teases Next Xperia Device & Android Market Is Poised To Pass Apple’s App Store

With 400,000 Apps, The Android Market Is Poised To Pass Apple’s App Store
Apple’s App Store still has a greater selection with more than 500,000 apps, but Distimo says the Android Market is closing the gap. Google had 300,000 apps as of August 2011, so it only took four months to reach 400,000. It took Apple seven months to jump from 300,000 to 400,000 apps.
Business Insider

iPhone 4S Coming to China and 21 Other Countries Jan. 13
Apple fans in China and 21 other countries can snag the iPhone 4S on Jan. 13 for the first time. The latest iPhone will land in mainland China 10 days before the Chinese New Year, Jan. 23.
Mashable

Sony Ericsson Teases Next Xperia Device to Launch at CES
We’ve seen a few leaks of upcoming Sony Ericsson devices, namely the Xperia arc HD aka Nozomi and another device, the yet-unseen LT28at. Both appear to have 720p displays and high-end specs, but Sony Ericsson is teasing one of these phones on their Facebook wall today, expected to launch next week at CES.
MobileSyrup

iPhones Account for 78% of Mobile Video Viewing
A new Infographic from Wistia explores where we watch the most video and how likely we are to watch the full video based on the device we are using. When it comes to consuming videos on the go, the iPhone is at the top with 78% of mobile viewing. Having used both an iPhone 4S and several Android devices this makes loads of sense.
GottaBeMobile

Apple iOS Dominates Mobile Browsing Market, Rogers and Fido Launching the Samsung Galaxy Nexus on January 10th & Nokia Lumia 900 Specs Trickle Out

Apple iOS Dominates Mobile Browsing Market in December
According to statistics from NetApplications, Apple’s iOS platform made up over a majority (52%) of mobile web access last month, besting Android 16.2% mobile market share. In fact, Android placed third in December behind Java ME (21.27%). Rounding out the top five was Nokia’s Symbian platform (5.8%) and BlackBerry (3.5%).
Mashable

Rogers and Fido Launching the Samsung Galaxy Nexus on January 10th
Good news has come forth today as we’ve been given word that Galaxy Nexus will be making its way to both Rogers and Fido on Tuesday, January 10th. According to this internal doc it states that stores will be receiving them shortly and it’ll be widely available for sale in just 1-week.
MobileSyrup

LG Optimus 2 Graces LG Web Site
LG has revealed details of the LG Optimus 2 on its web site. This follow-up device runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread and features a 3.2-inch touch display with 320 x 480 pixels. The Optimus 2 is powered by an 800MHz processor and supports CDMA EVDO Rev. A networks in the 800/1900MHz bands. Other features include a 3.2-megapixel camera with autofocus and video capture; Bluetooth 3.0+EDR, GPS, and Wi-Fi; and support for microSD cards up to 32GB.
Phone Scoop

Nokia Ace (Lumia 900) Specs Trickle Out
Until now the 4G LTE-capable Nokia Ace (or Lumia 900, if you prefer) has been largely a mystery. Today, however, PocketNow claims to have confirmed the specs on this bad boy. If true, we’re looking at a 4.3-inch WVGA display (a tad larger than what we’ve seen so far out of the Lumia line), an 8-megapixel camera, a front-facing camera, and 512MB of RAM.
TechCrunch

Bell Re-launches the Early Hardware Upgrade Program, SkyDrive and Windows Phone Cozy Up & Samsung Claims 300 Million Phones Sold in 2011

Bell Re-launches the Early Hardware Upgrade Program
Bell gave customers in a contract the option to upgrade early by their “Early Hardware Upgrade” Program (HUP). The associated costs would be $15 multiplied by the number of months you have left on your contract.
MobileSyrup

Samsung Claims 300 Million Phones Sold in 2011
We may not be total whizzes when it comes to numbers, but 300 million sure seems like a big one and Samsung is no doubt pretty chuffed with it. Unsurprisingly, it attributes much of those sales to its flagship Galaxy S2 phone, which has been phenomenally popular in the smart phone world since its launch in April.
Cnet

Top 10 Tips for Using Your Feature Phone as a Smartphone
Maybe you don’t need a smartphone, or you don’t want the high monthly data bill. Don’t worry, because you can do nearly all the mobile tricks they can if you know how to use your feature phone.
Mashable

SkyDrive and Windows Phone Cozy up, Apps Can Now Directly Integrate With the Cloud
Microsoft, in an effort to continue integrating SkyDrive into Windows Phone, made a few changes to the cloud service’s API this week. The new adjustments now give third-party Windows Phone apps full access to SkyDrive, complete with the ability to upload and share pictures, videos and docs.
Engadget