Coke vs. Pepsi. Ali vs. Frazier. Godzilla vs. Mothra. Add another battle of serious rivals to the list: Samsung and Nokia are going at each other like two heavyweights in the 15th round these days in India, where they top the handheld marketplace.Continue reading...

Monkey around or play all day...it’s ”Your Call” with the Muve Music plan from Cricket Wireless, the subject of its new ad campaign.

As the turf battle for wireless customers heats up and the economy continues to melt down, Cricket's Muve Music offering pitches the "real life value-seeker," appealing to consumers’ choice and control when it comes to their wireless world. The pitch: "Only Muve Music can provide you with the power of Android to bring unlimited music AND nationwide talk, text and web starting at $55/month."

“These value-seekers want value that will enhance their life,” Jaime Vasquez, Cricket's VP of consumer marketing, told brandchannel. ”Today, consumers are increasingly valuing the balance of having quality technology products while not over-spending on their purchases."Continue reading...

Google has a problem, and it's not Apple — despite the just revealed tidbit that Steve Jobs threatened "thermonuclear war" on Android for what he saw as "grand theft."

Despite the iPhone's popularity — Apple sold 4 million units the first weekend the iPhone 4S was available — the Android platform now dominates the smartphone market Blackberry and Apple pioneered. According to a recent comScore report, the Android platform accounted for 43.7% of the smartphone market compared to 27.3% for Apple's iOS platform.

Growing market share is good, right? So what's Google's problem? The problem is the lack of a coherent brand image. Because iOS is only available on the iPhone, consumers know what they are going to get with an iPhone. If you walk into a Verizon store, a salesperson may have to explain to you the nuances between an iPhone 4 and 4S, but it's all pretty simple.

In fact, there are a total of six combinations available at Verizon. You basically decide whether or not you want the 4 or 4S and which size hard drive you would like. Include the choice between white and black and you get 12 possible choices. As a matter of fact, walk into an Apple store looking for a computer, and it's much the same. Simplicity in a complicated world. Such was Steve Jobs' genius.Continue reading...

"Samsung and Google introduced the Galaxy Nexus smartphone and offered a preview of the Android 4.0 operating system, also known as Ice Cream Sandwich, on Tuesday night (Pacific time) in Hong Kong," reports the Los Angeles Times. "The Galaxy Nexus — which will hit stores this November in Asia, Europe and the U.S. — will be the first device to run Ice Cream Sandwich, an operating system that will eventually make its way to tablets too."

The next generation of Nexus devices co-developed by Samsung and Google, Galaxy Nexus combines innovative hardware with the newest version of Android, 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, and the latest Google mobile services. As Bloomberg notes, the device's facial recognition feature is clearly designed to take aim at the iPhone.

As e-billing starts to take off, doxo is touting its digital file cabinet as a way to help consumers with smarter ways to organize household bills and documents, is leading the charge of transformation to a 100% paperless environment.

As for businesses, the vast majority — about 85% — still send bills and other business materials as paper by mail, which equates to a $30B opportunity to solve an intransigent billing problem banks and businesses still face.

“No other website or mobile app is working to directly connect businesses and consumers to turn off paper and transform user behavior,” says doxo, which this week launched a mobile app to help connect consumers and businesses digitally.Continue reading...

After doing well with the Evo smartphone last summer, Sprint is going back to the well to release new 3D 4G version of the phone as well as a tablet version.

The wireless brand will start shipping the new products from HTC on June 24th for $200 and $400 a pop. Both devices run Android 2.3.Continue reading...

Microsoft today unveiled Windows Phone 7.1 (aka Mango), which is all about "communication, applications, and the way we use mobile internet," writes TechCrunch.

Boasting more than 500 (!) new features when it becomes available in "early fall," the fruity-named mobile OS augments its current Facebook integration with LinkedIn and Twitter apps, and adds  local search and groups functionality that aims to make wireless communication smarter and easier.Continue reading...

Google's Music Beta service was the big news from the Android team at the Google I/O developers conference today.

The good news: it's live. The bad: It's accepting a limited number of requests to check it out — but only in the US.Continue reading...