Android Phones Get Bluetooth Credit Card Swiping and Receipt Printing for Payment Processing.

Advanced Merchant Solutions has released a complete payment solution for Android devices. This solution is geared towards mobile sales professionals who can use the Pocket Verifier Software and Pocket Spectrum hardware to swipe credit cards and print receipts.

FULLERTON, Calif., May 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Pocket Verifier Professional for Android is now available with the Pocket Spectrum Plus; a complete payment solution that swipes credit cards and prints receipts for the rapidly growing Android mobile platform.

Advanced Merchant Solutions, Inc. (AMSI) has launched a payment solution for the Android, available now in the Android Marketplace as a free application which enables on-the-go merchants to accept credit cards anywhere. This application can be used with the company's Pocket Spectrum Plus, a Bluetooth 2-track card reader and thermal receipt printer. Coupled together, the Pocket Verifier/Pocket Spectrum system enables any mobile business user to avoid the high cost of "card-not-present" transactions. AMSI further integrates this breakthrough system into a complete solution by packaging it with a combined merchant and gateway account; with no upfront costs, no term commitments, and no cancellation fees.

"This solution really differentiates itself from the rest of the market by incorporating a printer. The marketplace-to-date has had to settle for keyed-in email receipts which really slow down the throughput. In addition, attaching today's cradle solutions to read cards greatly increases the weight and bulk of the phone. That's what Bluetooth was invented for... to keep things isolated, light, and efficient," says Dennis Ideue, the company's CEO. "Being the developer of the application, the manufacturer of the printer, and the ISO issuing the merchant accounts allows us to give unprecedented value to our customer base," continues Ideue, "...everything is truly under one umbrella. We make it a simple one-stop mobile shop with one of the best competitive merchant rates in the industry."

Google Android Users Can Now Access Their City On-The-Go with Mobile by Citysearch.

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Dec. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Citysearch, a leading online local guide and an operating business of IAC , today announced its new Mobile by Citysearch application for the Google Android platform. Android device users can browse, search and share local information for over 15M local business listings, and post reviews to Citysearch directly from their devices. Mobile by Citysearch for Android joins the family of Citysearch applications for multiple mobile platforms, including iPhone, Palm WebOS, Blackberry devices and all mobile web browsers.
"Our mobile applications enable users to experience their city, their way - offering the best local content and features available, no matter where they are, or which mobile phone they use," said Kara Nortman, Senior Vice President, Publishing, Citysearch. "As one of this year's hottest holiday gifts, Android phones will now deliver an even better local experience to users, who can search, find and share local user reviews and editorial content in real-time."
Mobile by Citysearch for Android uses GPS to search the nearest restaurants, cafes, banks, movie theaters and other listings closest to a user's location, and provides directions via Google Maps. Mobile users can instantly connect and share a new listing with friends within the Citysearch App using email, SMS or Twitter.

  The Mobile by Citysearch for Android application will enable users to:

  --  Submit reviews on the go: Share feedback around local restaurants,

      bars, boutiques, salons and more

  --  Share: Share merchant details, reviews and tips via text, e-mail or

      Twitter

  --  Search and sort your city, your way:

      --  Auto-identify your location through enhanced GPS search and browse

          nearby destinations

      --  Search by keyword, category, distance, cost and Citysearch rating

  --  Access leading Citysearch content: user and editorial reviews,

      editor's picks and featured merchants

  --  Save time and money:

      --  Avoid awkward calculations with "Tip Calculator" and "Split the

          Bill" features

      --  Bookmark "favorites" or "wish-lists" of Citysearch merchants for

          easy re-discovery

      --  View recently-viewed merchants and recent searches

NaturalMotion Games Intros Jenga for Android

NaturalMotion Games, a digital publisher of socially connected games, has announced that its Jenga mobile app is launching on the Android operating system.

Designed in consultation with the original inventor of Jenga, Leslie Scott, and under official license from Pokonobe Associates, NaturalMotion Games reported that Jenga for Android lets users play the tower-building game wherever you are. Using an authentic real- time physics simulation and touch controls, Jenga for Android is an experience for everyone.
"We are excited to bring the official Jenga game to the Android operating system", said Torsten Reil, CEO of NaturalMotion. "Jenga is a cultural phenomenon, with more than 50 million towers sold, and we're delighted to be able to offer an authentic Jenga experience to Android users all over the world."

The Android version of Jenga is specifically optimized for a range of devices and Android versions, and takes advantage of available screen resolutions and processing power, the Company said. The game was developed by NaturalMotion Game's Oxford studio.

Jenga is available on the Android Market with immediate effect.

NaturalMotion Games is a digital publisher of accessible games for connected new platforms, combining technology and graphics with accessible, social gameplay.

RealVNC Launches VNC Viewer for Android

                  RealVNC announced it has launched its new VNC Viewer for Android, available to download now from the Android Market.
                   Following the success of VNC Viewer for iPhone and iPad on Apple's App Store, the company noted, this latest application allows users to connect to and take full control of a computer anywhere in the world from their Android mobile or tablet devices.
With VNC Viewer for Android, users can view and interact with their desktop, run applications and access files, exactly as they would if they were sitting in front of the computer itself. The app is ideal for personal and professional users alike, giving individuals the freedom to access their computer whilst travelling or as a tool for business users such as IT help-desk staff, enabling them to remotely support colleagues or access servers for troubleshooting wherever they are, reducing downtime and out of hours trips to the office.
                   The app offers a trackpad-style mouse for precision interactions and users can apply familiar touch, tap and drag gestures to control the computer, pinching to zoom into a specific area of the desktop or zooming out to see the entire screen. Text can be entered using the on-screen keyboard and a scrolling key bar for non-character keys such as cursor keys and Shift, Ctrl, Alt and Delete. VNC Viewer also features mouse button mode, incorporating virtual left, middle, right and scroll mouse buttons.
                   Android devices equipped with VNC Viewer can connect to any Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, or UNIX computer installed with and running a VNC compatible Server. The recommended Server is VNC Enterprise Edition that provides connections along with industry standard AES security.
                   "Following the success of VNC Viewer for iPhone and iPad, and staying true to our cross-platform roots, we have launched VNC Viewer for the Android platform," said Dr. Andy Harter, CEO at RealVNC. "Android users will now be able to access VNC remote control capabilities on their mobile or tablet device, in a way that is fast, simple and cost effective."
                   RealVNC will be demonstrating VNC Viewer for Android at the Mobile World Congress between February 14-17.

Google Android set to topple BlackBerry

GOOGLES ANDROID mobile phone operating system (OS) is set to pip Research in Motion (RIM) to second place in the global market by the end of this year, more than 18 months earlier than expected.

Mobile handset sales increased by 13.8 per cent in the second quarter, thanks to improving economic conditions, according to research published by the technology research analyst Gartner yesterday.

But the recovery in the market as a whole was dwarfed by a 50.5 per cent boom in sales of smartphones. And Android was the main beneficiary. Nokia and the Symbian OS remain overwhelmingly dominant, with respective market shares of 37 per cent and 41 per cent. But the Google OS was by far the fastest-growing in the second quarter, accounting for 17 per cent of the market - compared with just 1.8 per cent in the same quarter of last year, when the software had only recently launched.

Such stellar progress has already catapulted Android to third place in the world league, and just a single percentage point behind RIM's BlackBerry. Google and RIM have been on a collision course ever since the launch of Android, because RIM's major growth opportunity is to expand its business- focused product into the consumer market its rival is targeting. But the Google OS has taken off so rapidly, it is already second in the US league and is expected to oustrip RIM globally by the end of 2010, rather than by 2012, as previously forecast.

"For Android to overtake BlackBerry was always just a question of time," Carolina Milanesi, a research director at Gartner, said. "It is a surprise how quickly Android has become a force in the market."

Android's rapid rise is due to several factors, including the speed with which the software platform has been developed, the number of handset vendors that have backed the new system, and the support from major mobile operators.

The Google OS is not only a threat to RIM. Symbian's dominance is also being chipped away, dropping 10 percentage points from last year's 51 per cent market share. And the Nokia/Symbian combination needs to take a bigger piece of the high-margin, fast-growing smartphone segment of the market. "Nokia and Symbian are where they are because of volume not value, and in the long run that is something they can't afford," Ms Milanesi said.

But the big loser is Microsoft. When smartphones first hit the shops, the top three mobile operating systems were Symbian, RIM and Microsoft. But the giant has seen its market share progressively eaten away, falling to a woeful 5 per cent in the second quarter from 9.3 per cent last year.

The problem is the operating system itself. The software has suffered from the fact it was created by scaling down software designed for full-sized computer screens, and then re-engineered again for use on touch-screen devices.

Microsoft is trying to remedy the situation. The next version of its operating system set for release later this year, has been built from scratch specifically for small, touch-screen devices. But it may be too late.

"If Microsoft had done this a year ago, it would have been fine," Ms Milanesi said. "But now it is coming up with something that catches up with the competition but doesn't stand out."

INDIA SETS DATE FOR RIM SHUTDOWN

The Indian government has set a 31 August deadline to reach a deal over access to BlackBerry customers' secret data, after talks with the company and phone operators in the country yesterday proved "inconclusive".

The home ministry said it would block corporate email and instant messaging services over the devices if no solution is found by the end of this month.

The ultimatum comes after months of argument between the two sides, with the Indian government emboldened to increase its demands in the wake of a deal in the past few days between BlackBerry and the Saudi Arabian government. The Saudis had demanded access to codes used to encrypt the data travelling across BlackBerry's networks and through its servers.

Research in Motion, the Canadian company which owns BlackBerry, and which built its reputation on the security of email traffic between its devices, has not commented on the details of any of the disputes.

India says it needs BlackBerry's co-operation to monitor wireless networks because they can be used by terrorists.

Google amplifies voice commands for Android phones

Just because mobile phones are becoming more like small computers doesn't mean you should have to do a lot of typing on them.

That's the thinking behind the latest update to Google Inc.'s popular Android software for mobile phones.

The latest version of Android 2.2, released Thursday, includes 10 new voice commands that can be used to operate phones without using a keypad.

Although Google says about 200,000 Android-powered phones are being sold each day, not all of them are equipped with the 2.2 operating system, also known as Froyo. Google's Nexus One phone already runs on Froyo, but users will need to download free updates through its Android Market. Motorola Inc.'s Droid 2, which went on sale this week, already has the necessary updates. The features are expected to be added to HTC Corp.'s Evo and Incredible phones when they get Froyo in the coming months.

Google's new "Voice Actions" tool" enables people to dictate their text messages and e-mails. The voice recognition technology automatically translates the spoken words into text.

Phone calls can be made simply by speaking the name of a person or business. The feature can also find and play songs with spoken commands.

Although spoken words were turned into written words almost flawlessly in a Thursday demonstration for reporters, many applications relying on voice recognition technology misinterpret what's being said in less quiet settings. Google says its tests showed Voice Actions was highly accurate.

Android already has been processing spoken requests for Internet searches and directions. The feature has caught on quickly: Google says about 25 percent of its search traffic on Android phones is triggered by the spoken word.

The additional bells and whistles already have helped Android phones gain usage in recent months, though overall there are far more iPhones from Apple Inc. and BlackBerrys from Research in Motion Ltd. already on the market.

Besides adding more voice controls to Android, Google also is making it easier to transfer information from a computer screen to a phone. Google is making that happen by offering a free tool that users can add to Google's Chrome Web browser for personal computers. This tool makes it possible to send the link to a story or mapping directions from a personal computer to a designated phone within seconds.

Our Android Astronaut; A Nearly Forgotten Test Dummy Helped the U.S. Put Men in Space

"It was lying around in one of the warehouses. Nobody knew what it was," says Paul Ceruzzi, a curator at the National Air and Space Museum. "Someone said to me, 'Find out what it is or we're going to get rid of it.' "

The "it" in question looked like the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz. Ceruzzi would later learn that this tin man played an important role in the design of spacesuits for U.S. astronauts.

In 1961, when President John F. Kennedy committed the nation to sending men to the moon before the end of the decade, the space agency, NASA, had to figure out how that would be done. One important task was to make spacesuits that could hold up in the brutal environment of space.

"Spacesuits were very new at the time, and no one knew how to make them," Ceruzzi says. "Some early designs were heavy and hard to move in."

Testing different models meant doing experiments that might be painful, tiring and possibly dangerous for a person. The space agency needed a stand-in.

NASA turned to a team of engineers led by Jozef Slowik at the Illinois Institute of Technology. They built an android for the job. (An android is a machine that looks like a person.)

"NASA builds robots all the time," Ceruzzi says, "but this is the only robot that NASA ever built that looks like a human being. In reality, they look like whatever they have to look like to do a job. This one, it had to replace a human being inside a spacesuit."

Slowik's android copied many of the joint motions of the human body. With each spacesuit design, the engineers put the android through its paces: bending, kneeling, swinging its limbs, grasping heavy tools.

The android had sensors that measured force, "so it gave you feedback to let you know how hard it [was] to do certain things: how much strength [was] needed to turn your head, for example," Ceruzzi says.

Many fabrics and materials were tried. "In the vacuum of space, you need air pressure," he says. "If you didn't design it right, the spacesuit inflated."

That's what happened to Soviet cosmonaut Alexi Leonov in 1965. Leonov was the first person to walk in space outside a spacecraft. But when he tried to reenter the craft after 12 minutes spent floating outside, he couldn't fit through the entrance because his spacesuit had inflated. He had to release some of the air first.

NASA's test dummy was helpful, but not without its flaws.

The android was not a complex robot. It could not operate on its own. Instead, "it was remotely controlled by someone who twiddled a lot of knobs," Ceruzzi says.

In addition, it was bulky and needed lots of tubing. It used hydraulic fluid, the same substance that operates the brakes and other mechanical parts of a car. The android's fluid tended to leak; it was messy and even a little distressing to the engineers to see their creation "bleeding" after a particularly difficult test.

Slowik's widow, Clare, remembers her husband's intensity during the project. "I know that there were things they were concerned about," she says. "It had never been done before."

But she also remembers that "it was one of the best times of his working career. He was able to use his mechanical-engineering skills, but mostly, his imagination."

-- Brenna Maloney

Drippler Reaches More Than 150,000 Downloads On The Android Market.

Drippler, a free update service for gadget owners, recently hit 150,000 downloads on the Android Market. Drippler created an application that allows Android users to stay updated with their mobile phones for more than 30 different models. Drippler has a model specific "Updater" app that Android users can install on their droid and receive updates on apps, games, firmware updates, reviews, accessories and more.

Matan Talmi the CEO of Drippler stated, "With Android's massive growth, users are constantly searching for the latest apps to download, usage tips, accessories and ROM updates. We're here to save them the hassle of searching and make sure they are always up-to-date. We will soon support many more Android models, and eventually provide a Drippler Updater app for any model on the market."

Recently, the Updater was featured by Sprint on their list of recommended apps for Android Market. Some of the top Drippler apps downloaded on the Android Market are for the Samsung Galaxy S, HTC Evo 4G and Motorola Droid X. The app features the latest updates, news and rumors about the device. Users can browse by either the 'Latest' updates, or the most 'Popular' ones. The app also features a desktop widget, and Facebook and Twitter sharing. Following a major update to the app, a regular user of the app stated,"I've loved this app for months and the update is incredible. It's great."

Drippler does not just cater to Android users; users of smartphones, tablets, video game consoles, and other gadgets can also use Drippler to their advantage. Drippler provides consumers with personalized updates on their gadgets, keeping them up-to-date with the latest gadget updates, news & rumors. Creating an account is easy and free at drippler.com. Once selecting the relevant gadgets, Drippler takes care of the rest. 

SpeechTrans Launches Translation App on Android Devices

SpeechTrans, a company focused on app-based multi-language translation, announced the launch of its SpeechTrans Ultimate App for Android devices.

The Company said the app turns Talk from one language into Voice output to another by enabling text-to-text, text-to-speech, and two-way Speech to Speech communication translations in multiple languages. Two-way speech communications are enabled for English, UK English, Spanish, French, Japanese, Italian, German and Mandarin Chinese. Text-to-Speech is available for the preceding languages as well as Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Polish, Dutch, Swedish and Arabic.

SpeechTrans is an application that allows speech-to-speech Facebook's chat translation into the app, which gives users the ability to communicate with anyone on Facebook in their chosen language. Users can speak aloud into their Android device and SpeechTrans will translate the content into the recipient's native language via the Facebook chat interface in near real time.

According to a release, Android app users can store and play back translations, a valuable feature for communicating frequently asked questions or phrases and to enable usage without an internet connection. The SpeechTrans Ultimate app is now compatible with both Android and iPhone devices, allowing users of the different platforms to seamlessly engage in translated conversations. Unlimited transcriptions are offered for the Android app, which encourages users to freely experiment with the service without the worry of running out of transcriptions.

The Company noted that the Automatic Speech Recognition technology used in SpeechTrans Ultimate is powered by Nuance Communications, Inc. a company focused on technologies including speech recognition, scanning, and automotive applications.

"We are very proud to offer SpeechTrans Ultimate for Android users, as part of our continuing goal of eliminating language barriers from personal communication," said Yan Auerbach, Co-Founder of SpeechTrans. "SpeechTrans Ultimate for Android offers users maximum flexibility with unlimited translations, which encourages people to use it frequently without hesitation. Availability for Android devices with our unique Facebook chat integration helps us bring real-time accurate translation to an ever larger global audience."

SpeechTrans offers accurate multi-lingual person to person communication. SpeechTrans' apps can be used as a portable in-person translator and also mobile-to-mobile and mobile-to-text. 

New Welcome Home App from Mark/Space Makes the Switch to a New Android Phone Fast, Easy.

Mark/Space, Inc., the leading developer of phone and tablet synchronization solutions for PC and Mac, today announced the availability of the new Welcome Home to Android application for customers who are new to the Android platform. Welcome Home is a comprehensive one-time set-up tool, offering customers who are transitioning from a BlackBerry or iPhone, a fast, easy and complete way to set-up a new Android phone with their info and media.

"Switching to a new phone should be painless," said Brian Scott Toney, Mark/Space Director of Sales and Business Development. "Android has skyrocketed to be the number one OS, so we created a tool that gets customers who are new to Android loaded up in minutes instead of hours. We capture their workout playlist, vacation photos from their old phone, video they shot of their friends, even info and media from their computer."

The Welcome Home to Android application gathers media and personal information from an old phone and from a PC or Mac computer, then moves it to a new Android phone. It encompasses:

"Many people considering a switch to Android this holiday are worried about losing data," said Brian Scott Toney, Mark/Space Director of Sales and Business Development. "Welcome Home includes how-to videos that walk customers through setup to ensure they get all the info they want, whether it's on their old phone or their computer."

Mark/Space is offering the Welcome Home application to customers transitioning from a BlackBerry or iPhone. The desktop application runs on Windows PC or Mac computers, and the mobile app works on Android phones running Android OS 2.1 or higher. The Welcome Home app includes English, French, German, Italian and Spanish, and is available now for US$9.95 at http://www.markspace.com/welcome-home.

About Mark/Space Inc.

Founded in 1990, the Los Gatos, California-based company Mark/Space, Inc., http://www.markspace.com, develops and markets award-winning mobile, desktop and cloud-based synchronization software, including Fliq, GoGadget and The Missing Sync family of products that synchronize Windows and Mac computers with mobile devices, smartphones, readers and tablets from Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, HP, HTC, LG, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, Palm, RIM, Samsung, Sony, Sony Ericsson and others. 

New Welcome Home App from Mark/Space Makes the Switch to a New Android Phone Fast, Easy

Mark/Space, Inc., the leading developer of phone and tablet synchronization solutions for PC and Mac, today announced the availability of the new Welcome Home to Android application for customers who are new to the Android platform. Welcome Home is a comprehensive one-time set-up tool, offering customers who are transitioning from a BlackBerry or iPhone, a fast, easy and complete way to set-up a new Android phone with their info and media.

"Switching to a new phone should be painless," said Brian Scott Toney, Mark/Space Director of Sales and Business Development. "Android has skyrocketed to be the number one OS, so we created a tool that gets customers who are new to Android loaded up in minutes instead of hours. We capture their workout playlist, vacation photos from their old phone, video they shot of their friends, even info and media from their computer."

The Welcome Home to Android application gathers media and personal information from an old phone and from a PC or Mac computer, then moves it to a new Android phone. It encompasses:

"Many people considering a switch to Android this holiday are worried about losing data," said Brian Scott Toney, Mark/Space Director of Sales and Business Development. "Welcome Home includes how-to videos that walk customers through setup to ensure they get all the info they want, whether it's on their old phone or their computer."

Mark/Space is offering the Welcome Home application to customers transitioning from a BlackBerry or iPhone. The desktop application runs on Windows PC or Mac computers, and the mobile app works on Android phones running Android OS 2.1 or higher. The Welcome Home app includes English, French, German, Italian and Spanish, and is available now for US$9.95 at http://www.markspace.com/welcome-home.

About Mark/Space Inc.

Founded in 1990, the Los Gatos, California-based company Mark/Space, Inc., http://www.markspace.com, develops and markets award-winning mobile, desktop and cloud-based synchronization software, including Fliq, GoGadget and The Missing Sync family of products that synchronize Windows and Mac computers with mobile devices, smartphones, readers and tablets from Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, HP, HTC, LG, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, Palm, RIM, Samsung, Sony, Sony Ericsson and others.

Follow Mark/Space on Twitter (http://twitter.com/syncexperts), and the Mark/Space blog (http://blog.markspace.com).

GoGadget is a trademark of Mark/Space, Inc. Mac and iTunes are trademarks of Apple, Inc. Windows is a trademark of Microsoft, Inc. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners. 

MIT LAUNCHES APP FOR ANDROID MOBILE DEVICES

Echoes functionality of Institute's mobile site, existing app for iPhones

MIT this week launched a free application for Android devices, expanding its portable offerings to the growing family of devices that support Google's mobile operating system. The app echoes the functionality of MIT's mobile website and its iPhone app, giving users access to the latest news about MIT research and innovation, a calendar of campus events, a searchable people directory, class information and announcements, emergency updates, real-time shuttle tracking and alerts, and an interactive campus map.

"Android market share has been dramatically increasing both here at MIT and around the world," said Jason Pontin, MIT director of media. "To support our vision of creating a comprehensive mobile strategy, Android was an obvious next step for offering our community - and the broader public - access to next-generation tools for their portable devices."

Information Services and Technology managed the Android app development project in collaboration with the MIT News Office.

The free application can be downloaded from the Android Marketplace

Designed specifically for devices running Android, the app will allow users to:

Read the latest news articles about MIT research, innovation, teaching and more

Monitor campus shuttles in real-time using a GPS tracker, and receive "push" alerts as shuttles approach specific stops

Search the Institute map for services and buildings at MIT

Look up contact information for MIT students, faculty and staff via the campus directory and contact them via e-mail or phone in-app

Get access to Stellar, MIT's course management system. Mobile Stellar can be set to send push notifications when selected classes are updated

Receive real-time alerts during campus emergencies

Search or browse events, exhibits, and academic and Institute calendars

The app leverages the open-source MIT Mobile framework, which MIT engineers have developed over the last several years. Both the MIT Mobile Web and the MIT iPhone app continue to be available for non-Android mobile phones, tablets and smartphones at m.mit.edu. 

Marketers mum on Android patent lawsuit.(DIRECT REPORT: DULY NOTED)

Although Oracle's $6.1 billion lawsuit against Google for infringing on Java patents to develop the Android operating system has the potential to drive up costs for marketers who use the platform, most are keeping their concerns to themselves as the litigious saga continues.

"Agencies and clients are going to be reluctant to comment because there's really no upside to getting into the fray," said one source who asked not to be identified. "They don't want to risk relationships they currently have with Google or relationships they may want to build with Oracle, or vice-versa."

Many brands are tight-lipped about legal matters, especially when it involves a valued business partner. Google has grown into a technological behemoth with platforms for search, email, voice and social networking.

"We're watching it, of course, but we don't think it's appropriate to offer an opinion," said Tim McIntyre, VP of communications at Domino's Pizza. Clothing retailer Threadless, paint company Behr Process Corp., Netflix and The New York Times--all marketers who have Android OS apps or advertise on the platform--declined to comment.

If Oracle wins the lawsuit, it will be able to charge licensing fees to run Android on handsets, which may prompt both handset manufacturers and marketers to reconsider their investments in the platform. Anticipating a long-term court battle that would be a hardship for jurors, U.S. District Judge William Alsup postponed the trial until 2012.

There are 47 other Android-based patent lawsuits pending against Google, which Dave Hanley, cofounder and principal of the social media agency Banyan Branch thinks is only the beginning. He sees the prevalence of these suits as a teachable moment that could lead to greater innovation.

"In a world of open-source software and great speed of development, you'll find purposeful and accidental infringement of patents," Hanley said. "Embracing patent problems could lead to more creative workarounds. They may inspire people to create something that's truly a breakthrough, not duplicative of someone else's work."

Some believe the lawsuit may even be a boon for mobile marketing. "If the lawsuit puts an end to uncertainty surrounding the cost and liability of using Android, more manufacturers may jump on the platform and build devices, which means more ad inventory," said Victor Wong, CEO of PaperG, a Web and mobile display ad technology provider.

The same concerns that are keeping marketers mum about the Android patent suit could have also kept an underdog like Oracle from challenging Google, but the lawsuit is also an opportunity for Oracle to get a piece of the mobile pie. Android grew to have the largest global smartphone market share since its debut in September 2008, and Android's market currently boasts more free apps than the iPhone app store and is expected to surpass its rival in total number of apps by mid-2012.

Oracle did not return requests for comment for this story, Google declined to comment, and the Mobile Marketing Association declined to comment on the suit, because it involves one of its members. 

MEA Mobile Introduces iGloLEDset on Google Android.

MEA Mobile announced its interactive lighting product iGloLEDset is now available on the Google Android and Google Android Gingerbread 2.3 mobile platforms.

According to a release, iGloLEDset is a bright, full color lighting kit which is controllable with mobile devices. Users can wave their phones in the air and control a 16 to 50 foot strip of 120 to 360 lights.

"The launch of iGlo for Android and working with Google's platform is an exciting next step for our emerging company," says Bruce Seymour, managing director of MEA Mobile. "We love the idea of moving mobile technology into specialized markets."

MEA Mobile developed its iGloWiFi controller as a platform for leveraging mobile devices for hardware control. "Light switches are obsolete," says Seymour. "There will be an entire industry dedicated to their removal in the future." In the mean time MEA Mobile is focused on marketing the LED lights to the architectural and lighting design markets, restaurants, custom car specialists and for individuals who want to zazz up their Christmas trees with LED Christmas lights.

The company noted that the Google Android app features real-time control of the color LED lights as well has dozens of presets to choose from. The iGloWiFi controller can connect to users' WiFi hubs and can be secured using standard WiFi encryption. The app also works with Google's new Gingerbread version of Android. Multiple kits can be controlled using a single Google Android mobile device such as the Nexus S, Nexus One, T-Mobile G2, HTC Evo 4G, Motorola Droid X, Samsung Captivate and other phones running Google Android 1.5 through Gingerbread 2.3.

MEA Mobile develops software and hardware for Apple iOS and Google's Android platforms. 

Exent Continues to Bring Best of Android Gaming to GameTanium, Partners with Top Developers Glu, RealNetworks and PopCap.

As part of its ongoing commitment to expanding its GameTanium catalog and bring the best of Android gaming to users, Exent announced the addition of RealNetworks, PopCap Games and Glu Mobile Inc., among others, to its roster of publisher partners. As GameTanium Mobile continues to roll out on major service providers in the U.S., RealNetworks, PopCap and Glu's most popular titles - including PopCap's Plants vs. Zombies™, Peggle[R] and Chuzzle™ - will be featured on the first and only all-you-can-eat subscription service that provides unlimited game play of the hottest premium games on Android.

The popularity of mobile gaming continues to drive Android growth and publishers are turning out hit Android and social mobile games at record rates to meet the demands of the anytime, anywhere gamer. Andrew Stein, Director of Mobile Business Development at PopCap Games shares, "People play games all the time: at home, on the go, and in between. Our goal is to ensure PopCap games are available on the devices our customers want, and Exent's distribution network helps us further our progress."

Alongside RealNetworks, PopCap and Glu, Exent has also partnered with top mobile game publishers Fire Maple Games, HandyGames, Hexage and Connect2Media. Leveraging the GameTanium audience of global gamers and Exent's unique expertise in merchandising and monetizing games, each publishers' downloads and usage will continue to see significant growth, further boosting their title's brand and exposure. Fire Maple Owner, Joe Kauffman, shares his enthusiasm for the partnership and new revenue potential. "As an independent publisher, Exent's mobile subscription service represents a promising incremental revenue opportunity as we look to reach new end users and build brand loyalty for our mobile game titles."

GameTanium's all-you-can-eat subscription service is the only model of its kind that provides a healthy ecosystem for monetization of Android games, supplying publishers with new and consistent revenue streams. Exent's expertise in merchandising and monetizing content fills a void in the current Android marketplace and helps Android games reach their full revenue potential.

"As important as creating cutting edge original games is to Glu, we are also focused on finding new, effective ways to monetize our content. Exent's GameTanium Games on Demand platform is a perfect complement to our current carrier and direct-to-consumer models," said Adam Flanders, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Glu Mobile, Inc. "We are pleased to have our premium games reach new gamers on Exent's network."

Featuring more than 80 premium Android games, GameTanium Mobile brings together the coolest, most entertaining games in one place, for a low monthly fee. Exent has drawn upon its vast gaming experience to curate and catalog the best mobile games so that gamers never have to waste time downloading or deleting, broken or boring games. The service features GameTanium's smarter programming to help users quickly find the games they want to play through featured content, recommendations, ratings, and an enormous collection of video trailers. 

Google Puts $10m Bounty on Android Development

Google, as promised, put the Android SDK out in early access - along with a $10 million pot for the best apps written for its open Android mobile platform by third-party developers.

It said the platform would be open and it's going about proving it. It also needs the buzz - and a killer mobile app - for Android to hit a homerun.

The first $5 million will be paid out in $25,000 prizes for the continued development of the 50 most promising entries submitted between January 2 and March 3 2008 to the Android Developer Challenge I.

These 50 entries will then be winnowed down by the end of May to 20 finalists - 10 that get awards worth $275,000 each and another 10 that'll each get $100,000.

There'll also be another contest - Android Developer Challenge II - that starts after the first so-called Google phones become available in the second half of next year.

The judges will come from the members of the Android-backing Open Handset Alliance (IHA) that Google unveiled last week as well, it says, as technology and mobile experts from the industry in general.

Anybody can play this game - except for Google and IHA folk and developers who live in Cuba, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Sudan, and Myanmar (Burma) - because of US laws - or Italy or Quebec - because of cockamamie local restrictions.

Google says developers will retain intellectual property rights to their applications while granting Google a license to evaluate and test it for purposes of the contest as well as a license to display the application to promote the Android platform.

It suggest possible apps in:

* Social networking * Media consumption, management, editing, or sharing, e.g., photos * Productivity and collaboration such as email, IM, calendar, etc. * Gaming * News and information (weather, traffic, sports, stocks, etc.) * Rethinking of traditional user interfaces * Use of mash-up functionality * Use of location based services * Humanitarian benefits (monitoring and response for diseases, climate change, natural disasters, etc.) * Applications in service of global economic development for the 3 billion people living on less than $2.00 per day

The SDK with its documentation, sample projects, development tools, emulator and libraries is at http://code.google.com/android/download.html. 

Teleca and TAT Enhance Android User Experiences

Device vendors and consumer electronics companies can now offer richer, highly personalized user experiences using an open platform.

Teleca (STO:TELCB), a world-leading supplier of solutions and services to the mobile industry today announced that it is extending its successful partnership with TAT The Astonishing Tribe, to offer the TAT Cascades release for the Android open platform for mobile devices.

TAT Cascades is a UI framework for the production of advanced user experiences. TAT Cascades makes it possible to quickly and easily create and customize unique user interfaces with unmatched graphical capabilities, giving consumers a richer and more dynamic experience. This combined expertise of TAT Cascades for Android and Teleca's integration expertise offers device vendors, especially those in the consumer electronics markets, an excellent way to bring highly differentiated products to market.

Teleca has been an integration partner to TAT for several years, using its global reach and technical expertise to integrate TAT's products including TAT Cascades to multiple mobile platforms. Teleca was also the first integration partner for Android and has established a significant team of Android engineers worldwide. Teleca and TAT are already engaged with leading customers to implement the TAT Cascade UI framework on Android.

Expertise in India Further building on its relationship with TAT, Teleca has expanded its global support for TAT Cascades having established a team of experts in India to service customers based in Asia. The team is already supporting some of the leading device manufacturers in the region and has already delivered successful projects on multiple platforms.

"We are experiencing a fast-growing demand for enhanced UI customization as companies seek to leverage the Android platform for a wide variety of different device platforms," comments Andrew Till, Vice President Solutions Marketing at Teleca Ltd. "Embedding TAT Cascades on the Android platform provides a UI technology that enhances user experiences and includes mechanisms for easily and quickly creating and customizing applications. Together with our already proven expertise in Android integration projects, we bring our customers benefits from our combined creativity, driving down time and cost of creating stunning user experiences, and offering complete flexibility to truly differentiate products on an open platform." "Everyone knows that the differentiating factor in the mobile device market today is user experience. Using Teleca's excellent skills in applying TAT technology, our customers get advanced devices to market quicker, differentiating them from the rest of the market" says Charlotta Falvin, CEO at TAT. "Vendors of all kinds of consumer electronics devices benefit from our partnership, as do operators launching enhanced end to end service offerings who are seeking to bring the latest innovations to their consumers. Our technology and Teleca's services together provide an easy way to bring customers the best user experiences on open platforms."

About Teleca Teleca is a world-leading supplier of software services to the mobile communications industry. We offer world class operations and execution capability, both on-site and offshore. Using tailored solutions, systems design, integration and testing we help drive down development time and costs for leading industry players. Teleca has about 2,000 employees in 11 countries in Asia, Europe and North America. For more information, please visit: www.teleca.com

About TAT TAT The Astonishing Tribe AB has added the WOW-effect to mobile user interfaces for more than 300 million devices worldwide. Our products, TAT Cascades[TM] and TAT Motion Lab[TM], built on the renowned TAT Kastor[TM] platform, has transformed the way UI design and graphics can be implemented on a wide range of mobile devices. TAT products are recognized for their time-to-market savings, resource efficiency and platform independence, giving users a more dynamic, faster and richer multimedia experience, in a truly astonishing way. TAT is headquartered in Malmoe, Sweden, and with local offices in Korea and USA. Learn more at www.tat.se 

Report: HP may build Android netbooks.

Hewlett-Packard Co. may build netbook PCs running Google Inc.'s Linux-based Android operating system, the Wall Street Journal reported today.

The Journal cited unnamed sources in its report. Satjiv Chahil, a vice president in HP's PC division, declined to comment on whether the world's largest PC maker will sell either netbooks or smartphones running Android but confirmed that HP is "studying" the free operating system.

HP did not immediately reply to a Computerworld request for comment.

Asustek Computer Inc., meanwhile, has said that it may build an Android netbook. Meanwhile, computer maker Dell Inc. is considering whether to build an Android-based smartphone.

A crucial question the Journal article did not answer is whether HP is testing Android on netbooks based on Intel Corp.'s Atom processor or the ARM processor dominant in smartphones.

Atom is a low-wattage, low-priced CPU that is used on virtually all netbooks today, whether they run Windows XP or some version of Linux.

The Android operating system, officially, does not run on x86 CPUs such as the Atom, but some hackers and even some journalists have gotten the operating system to do so.

In contrast, Android already runs on ARM-based smartphones that began shipping last year.

The ARM processor, used in more than 10 billion mobile phones to date, uses less electricity and costs even less than the Atom processor.

Ian Drew, senior vice president of U.K.-based ARM Holdings, the developer of the ARM chip technology, told Computerworld last week that he "expects to see six to 10 ARM netbooks this year starting in Q3."

All will run the Linux operating system or a Linux derivative such as Android, and they will boast eight to 12 hours of battery life and cost about $200, Drew said.

According to the most recent research, HP ranks third in the netbook market, behind Acer Inc. and Asustek.

But it has been one of the more aggressive companies in deploying new, innovative models, such as its 2140 Mini, which is aimed at big businesses.

HP isn't likely to abandon Windows. It said in February that it has already received the beta version of Windows 7 Ultimate to run on its existing netbooks. It expects to ship netbooks running at least three different flavors of Windows 7.

Handmark Launches New, Feature-Rich Twitter Application for Android Smartphones.

KANSAS CITY, MO -- Handmark , a leading global developer and distributor of mobile applications and services, today released TweetCaster, the most advanced, feature-rich Twitter application available for Android smartphone customers.

TweetCaster makes "tweeting" from Android-based smartphones fast, easy, and fun, delivering a simple, yet comprehensive Twitter experience. In addition to all the standard features needed to enjoy a complete mobile Twitter experience, TweetCaster offers:

-- Multiple Twitter account support

-- Integrated retweets

-- Integrated Twitter lists

-- Push notifications for tweets, mentions and direct messages

-- Offline tweet caching

-- URL shortening (and previews)

-- Photo attachment

-- Threaded direct messages

-- Font/Theme customization

"Handmark continues to enhance the mobile experience for customers around the world with the best connected applications," said Evan Conway, EVP of Marketing at Handmark.

"TweetCaster delivers a fantastic experience for Twitter users looking to fully extend their experience to their Android smartphone."

TweetCaster is immediately available for all Android-based smartphones, including the popular Droid and Nexus One.

A free version of TweetCaster is available in exchange for a "tweet" about the application athttp://tinyurl.com/TCAndroid. TweetCaster Pro, a premium version of application without ads, is also available for $4.99 in Android Market. For customers who download the free version of TweetCaster and wish to upgrade to TweetCaster Pro, an Upgrade Key will also be available in Android Market. This will allow customers with the free application to easily switch over to the premium version without having to re-download the application.

To learn more about a wide-variety of other mobile games, applications, news services, ringtones, themes and more Handmark offers, visitwww.handmark.com.

About Handmark

Handmark is a world-leading creator and distributor of mobile applications and services. The company delivers an engaging, customized experience for your mobile phone with the industry's best applications covering news and information, games, lifestyle and travel, reference and productivity, personalization and more. As one of the leading distributors of mobile content and storefronts for 10 years, Handmark has established itself as the premier mobile content partner. 

Android sweeps Apple, BlackBerry in US smart phone market

Toronto, Nov. 2 -- There is more bad news for BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) as its smart phone sales have slipped to the third position in the US market.

According to the latest data by the NPD Group, the US-based smart phone market tracking company, the BlackBerry's share of the US market in the third quarter fell to 22 percent from 28 percent in the second quarter.

On the other hand, the sales of Apple's devices rose marginally to 23 percent from 22 percent in the second quarter, pushing the BlackBerry maker to the third spot in the US smart phone market.

The steep fall in sales of the BlackBerry maker, which until recently dominated the US market, came despite the high-profile launch of the BlackBerry Torch 9800 in August.

But it was not Apple, but the surge in the popularity of Google's Android operating system (OS) which did the most damage to RIM in the US market.

The sales of Google Android devices jumped as much as 11 percent from the second quarter to account for 44 percent of all smart phones purchased in the third quarter.

"Much of Android's quarterly share growth came at the expense of RIM, rather than Apple,'' Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis at the NPD Group, said.

"The HTC EVO 4G, Motorola Droid X, and other new high-end Android devices have been gaining momentum at carriers that traditionally have been strong RIM distributors, and the recent introduction of the BlackBerry Torch has done little to stem the tide,'' he said.

According to the data, Android's operating system has made such an impact on the market that the share of RIM OS has declined by 53 percent, and that of Apple iOS has fallen by 21 percent since 2009.

Because of this onslaught from Android OS, "Apple faces challenges in further expanding its domestic market share, while still retaining exclusivity,'' said Rubin.

Just two weeks ago, Apple CEO Steve JObs had taunted RIM, saying,"we have now passed RIM, and I don't see them catching up with us in the foreseeable feature.''

But it is Android OS that is becoming the major worry for him and BlackBerry bosses.

'Google phone' fever high on eve of Android event.(Technology)

Google is expected to step into the mobile arena Tuesday with its own Nexus One smartphone in a direct challenge to Apple's heavyweight iPhone handsets.Google has seized the spotlight in a week when the technology world's attention would typically turn to a premier Consumer Electronics Show that officially begins Thursday in Las Vegas."Everybody seems to think it is a Google-supplied phone," Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney said on the eve of what the Internet giant has dubbed an "Android press event" at its Mountain View, California, headquarters."It doesn't make any sense. It can't be a true Google phone. I think it is about Android software, but everyone today is guessing."A true Google phone would be one shipped by the Internet firm, according to the analyst, who believes it is more likely that new generation Android software and applications are being crafted into hardware sold by the manufacturer."You could call it a Google phone, but it is not going to be a Google phone," Dulaney said."If it really is a Google phone, they are going to make people mad. I don't think they are that stupid."Google selling its own phone would irk makers of handsets based on Android software.Internet buzz surrounding Nexus One included some reports by people claiming to have toyed with the touch-screen smartphones.One reviewer lauded the Nexus One as a worthy rival for the iPhone, while another contended that Google's mastery of software wasn't reflected in the hardware.The Internet search and advertising giant has already gained a foothold in the market with its Android mobile operating system, featured in a number of phones starting with T-Mobile's G1 in October 2008 and more recently with the Droid from Motorola.But the Nexus One, designed by Taiwanese handset maker HTC, represents a significant departure in that Google is expected to sell the Google-branded phone directly to consumers who will not be tied to any one telecom carrier.Apple's popular iPhone, for example, is available exclusively in the United States through AT&T, but buyers of the "Google phone" will reportedly have their choice of wireless carriers.Technology blog Gizmodo, citing leaked documents, said the Nexus One will cost $530 "unlocked" -- meaning it isn't tied to a specific carrier -- or $180 with a two-year service agreement with T-Mobile, a subsidiary of Germany's Deutsche Telekom AG.Google has been coy about any plans to jump headfirst into the fast-growing smartphone market, dropping hints but not confirming its intentions outright.Agence France-Presse and other media outlets have been invited to a press event on Tuesday at Google headquarters."With the launch of the first Android-powered device just over a year ago, we've seen how a powerful, open platform can spur mobile product innovation," the invitation said. "And this is just the beginning of what's possible."Among the hints dropped by Google was a blog post last month in which the company said employees were testing a mobile product internally in an exercise known in the industry as "dogfooding."Google's plunge into the smartphone market has drawn a mixed reaction."It looks like Google is moving to see if they can do the Apple thing," said analyst Rob Enderle, of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley, in a reference to the iPhone, which has enjoyed phenomenal success since it was introduced in 2007.Pointing to Google's pending $750-million acquisition of mobile advertising company AdMob, a number of analysts said Google hopes to replicate its Web advertising success in the mobile space.Ovum research fellow Jonathan Yarmis said Google will have to walk a fine line between marketing its own smartphone and being a supportive partner for the growing number of firms making their own handsets based on Android.Although Android's share of the US smartphone market is relatively small, it has doubled in the past year to 3.5 percent in October, according to comScore, and Gartner predicts Android-based smartphones will capture 14 percent of the global market by the year 2012. 

Omniture Inc's new application designed for mobile devices running Google Android.

Omniture Inc (NasdaqGM: OMTR), an online business optimisation software provider, declared on 24 November that a new mobile application for Omniture SiteCatalyst, that works on mobile devices running Google Android, is now available.A Omniture SiteCatalyst is an online business analytics application for tracking web, mobile and video and is the foundation of the Omniture online marketing suite of applications, now available on Android Market. The company has increased the options for customers since July, to access their SiteCatalyst reports, bookmarks and dashboards results of their online business. SiteCatalyst for Google Android extends these by giving marketers access to the same detailed information using mobile devices running Google Android.A A Omniture SiteCatalyst provides marketers with actionable, real-time intelligence about online strategies and marketing initiatives. SiteCatalyst helps marketers more quickly identify the most profitable paths through their Web site, determine where visitors are navigating away from their site, and identify critical success metrics for online marketing campaigns. A In July, Omniture began providing SiteCatalyst reports to online marketers via their Internet-enabled mobile phone. In October, Omniture announced that marketers could begin receiving their web analytics reports and accessing their SiteCatalyst bookmarks and dashboards with a native application built specifically for the iPhone. SiteCatalyst for Google Android extends the innovation curve by giving marketers access to the same detailed information using mobile devices running Google Android.A Customers may find and download the application to their mobile device by going to Android Market and scrolling through the "Productivity" category. SiteCatalyst for Google Android is a free application available to existing Omniture SiteCatalyst customers using their SiteCatalyst username and login. A No pricing details were announced. 

Mozy Announces Apps for iPhone and Android.

MozyHome Customers Now Have On-the-Go Access to the Files They Protect with Mozy

SEATTLE, March 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Mozy(TM), the industry-leading online backup service from EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC), announced today general availability of the Mozy mobile app for iPhone - as well as other iOS devices such as iPad and iPod touch - and the pending arrival of a similar app for Android mobile devices. Mozy's mobile apps run as native applications, allowing subscribers to access remotely the files they protect with MozyHome. With the app, customers can view documents and open them in other applications; preview photos as thumbnails and download those they want to see in full, higher resolution; and post photos to Facebook. For more information please visit http://mozy.com/mobile.

The Mozy app is available for download in the iTunes App Store for U.S. and Canadian users for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices running iOS version 4.0 and later. The Android app will be available in the Android Market, and works on devices running Android 2.0 or later.

"When we first mentioned a Mozy app for iPhone and Android to our MozyHome customers a month ago, the feedback was overwhelmingly positive," said Charlotte Yarkoni, COO of Mozy. "We're very excited to announce that it's now available in the iTunes App Store and our customers can access all of their backed up data from their iOS or Android mobile device."

"I love the ability to access my files on the go, and having the ability to e-mail them is even better," said Craig E. Yaris, a MozyHome customer in New York. "Also I like how I can review presentations and other documents -- that works well too. It's also great that Mozy is offering this as a no-cost value added item."

"I think this move [mobile apps for iOS and Android] is the first step for Mozy in building a broader personal cloud offering," writes Frank Gillett, VP and Principal Analyst at Forrester Research, Inc. [source: Post on Forrester's Blog, March 2, 2011].

Pricing and Availability:

The Mozy mobile app is a new, free feature for MozyHome customers and is available immediately for download at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mozy/id427293902?mt=8. There is no extra cost to current MozyHome customers.

The Mozy app for Android devices will available soon, also at no extra cost to current MozyHome customers.

A similar feature for MozyPro customers will be available at a later date.

Versions available outside the U.S. and in languages other than English will be available at a later date.

About Mozy

Mozy is the world's most trusted online backup service for consumers and businesses with more than one million customers, 70,000 business users and 70 petabytes of information stored at its multiple data centers around the globe. Mozy was acquired by EMC Corporation in 2007 and operates as part of Decho Corporation, an EMC company. More information can be found at www.mozy.com.

MozyHome and MozyPro are registered trademarks and Mozy is a trademark of Decho Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

NFC ANDROID Tablet combines HD display, flexible connectivity.(TazTag to Unveil the 1st NFC ANDROID Tablet at CeBIT 2011 - Hall 9 Stand B09)

In addition to 7 in., color, full HD screen with multitouch capacity, TazPad features HDMI output as well as WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC, and ZigBee connectivity. Additional functions include camera, GPS, and accelerometer. Based on secure hardware and software architecture, tablet accommodates biometric authentication option and works with Android. It can link back-end system with vendor and their customers or be used at aisle end displays or store windows.

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RENNES, France -- TazTag, the French expert in contactless technologies, confirms its intention to supply the market with a complete range of NFC products and will introduce its latest product, the TazPad, an NFC ANDROID tablet, at CeBIT 2011.

The only product of its kind on the market

TazTag will unveil its new product, the TazPad, the first NFC ANDROID tablet on the market at the CeBIT. The TazPad is equipped with a 7-inch color screen that has multitouch capacity as well as a full HD and HDMI output that connects via WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC and ZigBee (as do all TazTag products). Other available TazPad functions include a camera, a GPS device, and an accelerometer.

As part of its secure hardware and software architecture, this product, which is unique on the market, also features a biometric authentication option. The tablet works with Android, thus appealing to the largest mobile applications developer community.

A product highly anticipated by professionals

This tablet is perfect for professionals. It links the back end system with the vendor and their customers. For example, after biometric authentication on the TazPad, a vendor may provide specific information on products, read his client's loyalty card (card or NFC phone), book orders on site and even register a secure payment.

The TazPad, without the biometric option, can also be used at aisle end displays or store window to inform a customer about a product presented to the tablet, to compare products, or to retrieve a promotional coupon using their NFC phone.

Integrators and service providers can develop and customize new contactless applications according to their clients' needs and expectations thanks to the TazPad.

The technology has been available for some time though mobile devices were missing to use the technology to its full potential. TazTag intends to provide the ideal object to service providers and users, an NFC Android Tablet, available by Q2 2011.

Demonstration of the Tablet

TazTag will demonstrate its range of products, including the Android NFC Tablet, from March 1-5 at CeBIT 2011, at the UBIFrance Pavilion, Hall 9 Stand B09.

A demonstration session for the press will take place on Wednesday, March 2nd at 2:00 p.m. at the demonstration space of the UBIFrance Pavilion- Hall 9.

About TazTag

Recognized for its expertise in contactless technology, the French company TazTag offers a complete range of products enabling the deployment of new applications thanks to NFC such as the TazBox, a standalone NFC HotSpot, the TazModule, allowing to easily add contactless communication to existing equipment, or the TazCard, a mobile device dedicated for closed-loop systems.