Audible for WP7 possibly available in 3 months

WMPoweruser is reporting that it has obtained information that Audible, the popular audiobook application for Kindle, iPod, iPhone, Android, and a variety of mp3 players, is actively working on a Windows Phone 7 version.

The engineer WMPoweruser has contact with states that it should be available in about 3 months. Allegedly, Microsoft is the driving force behind the development because it views Audible as a “depth” app that needs to be available on the platform in order for it to be viewed as competitive.

Since there is no official announcement, we wouldn’t recommend holding your breath. Particularly because back in 2010, the company responded to a request about Audible for WP7 saying, “We are currently designing a new App for this phone and hope it will be available sooner than later.”

Galaxy Nexus hits Vodafone UK, 4G version coming to the US 12.12

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is now available at Vodafone UK stores for free starting from 41 quid on a two year deal. Meanwhile in the US the 4G LTE Galaxy Nexus for Verizon has been spotted on an alleged BestBuy inventory shot and rumored to appear in stores on December 11.

One of Android's hottest has been available in the US unlocked for the whopping $750 since last month. And it did launch in the UK to O2 and was listed by Phones4u too. Vodafone UK finally hopped on to the Galaxy Nexus bandwagon and offers the ICS droid in a variety of 5 plans, all of which two year.

Interestingly the Carphone Warehouse has the Galaxy Nexus listed for free on a 36 quid a month deal with Vodafone, Orange and O2 UK, which is 5 pounds cheaper than the Vodafone deal.
If you're a UK resident (and Vodafone subscriber) and are bent on getting the first ICS-certified droid with a 720p display of SuperAMOLED goodness, check out the link below.

Adobe Confirms December Release for Flash on Android Ice Cream Sandwich

Following its announcement that it would transition from Flash development to HTML5, Adobe has released another statement confirming the release timetable for Flash support on Android Ice Cream Sandwich.

As the operating system initially launched without Flash support, speculation arose that the operating system would mark the beginning of the transition to HTML5 and would not feature Flash support, before Adobe quietly confirmed Flash support for the new operating system. Continue reading for the full statement.

We’ve received some questions regarding support for Adobe Flash Player 11.1 and AIR 3.1 on the Galaxy Nexus. To be clear, the Galaxy Nexus does not initially support Adobe Flash Player 11.1 and AIR 3.1. As we previously communicated in a blog post, devices and software updates from our partners which introduce new technologies are being developed on varied schedules that are different from our own, which means that the Adobe runtimes may not always be optimized or supported on devices until a subsequent release. We will provide a minor update to the runtimes to support the Galaxy Nexus in December.

Motorola could be on the hook for $16.2 billion in patent dispute with Apple

Motorola and Apple were in court Friday for a case in which the former is suing the Cupertino based company. Motorola alleges that Apple's iCloud infringes on patents for existing technology used for synchronization. During the hearing, Apple estimated that if Motorola seeks an preliminary injunction against iCloud now, it would have to post bond of $2.7 billion a year to cover Apple's losses in case a ban gets overturned. Considering that Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents was told by a Motorola attorney that the case could last until 2018, Motorola could be on the hook for as much as $16.2 billion to Apple.

Nokia's market share tumbles at home, company loses more than half of its presence in a year

Nokia might still hold the number one spot for phone sales worldwide, but it has recently lost its smartphone king crown outranked by both Samsung and Apple in the last quarter. Now, the company has lost its standings in one more area - this time it’s the company’s biggest stronghold, its home market in Finland. Nokia’s market share there has tumbled from 76% last year to only 31% in the third quarter of 2011.

Figures recently released by IDC reveal that even the loyal Finns are now flocking to other platforms and manufacturers, cutting the company’s share by more than a half.

The biggest beneficiaries of Nokia’s downfall are Samsung, Huawei and Apple. Samsung for once grew from virtually non-present 3% share to just behind Nokia. Apple grew slowly but steadily to capture a 16% share in Q3 2011. Huawei emerged from literally zero presence in Finland in the third quarter of last year to the respectable 11% in Q3 2011. The rest of the companies that sold well in Finland were Sony Ericsson with 11%, and ZTE holding 6% of the market.

Finland's phone market in Q3 2011.

Now, this shouldn’t be seen as a big hit to Nokia sales - after all, Finland is a small nation with a population of just 5 million. It’s more about the perception of Nokia’s products which has always been great at home where the overwhelming majority of users were proud to carry a phone made by the Finnish manufacturer.

Apple: Carrier IQ isn't supported in iOS 5, still on iPhone 4

This whole Carrier IQ scandal has exploded in the last day, and every carrier and manufacturer is scrambling to cover themselves from the fallout, Apple has done so by confirming that Carrier IQ is no longer supported in iOS 5.

Apple confirmed that Carrier IQ is not supported in iOS 5 and will be removed completely in a future software update. The company also said that the iPhone 4 has been the only iPhone to have the software installed, but that the software is no longer collecting any data.  Apple did say that all data collected was only after an opt-in by users, as is company policy. 

Of course, there's no guarantee that users had any idea what exactly they were opting into with Carrier IQ, but it seems almost inevitable that there will be some sort of class action lawsuit that will spring from this mess. We've already seen carriers around the world trying to explain themselves, or deny using the software, and even US Senator Al Franken contacted Carrier IQ directly for comment. There is likely to be more ahead, so stay tuned.

Android app can detect Carrier IQ on your phone

Carrier IQ is the new hotness when it comes to creepy tactics to get a hold of user data, but there is a new app for Android phones which will let you know whether or not the software is running on your device.

The app is courtesy of  François Simond, a.k.a Supercurio, who put it together in just four hours. Unfortunately, the app will currently only detect whether or not Carrier IQ is on your device, but can't do anything about it. Of course, being the good samaritan that he is, Simond has put the code for the app on Github, so other developers will surely expand on his work. Simond also warns that anti-Carrier IQ fixes are not detected and can lead to false positives, but these issues should be ironed out going forward.

You may not be able to actively kill Carrier IQ, but this is a knowing-is-half-the-battle type of situation where you can at least be a bit more careful with your phone. Or, knowing that it's on your device, you can contact your carrier to complain about the software. 

If you want to give it a shot, the Voodoo Carrier IQ detector is available for free on the Android Market. And, if you're a developer looking to build on Simond's work, the code is at Github.

Android 4.0 builds released for Intel's x86 processors

The Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich source code tailored for Intel's x86 processors has been released, marking another twist in the ever-changing universe of the mobile landscape.

Android-x86 is an open source project endorsed by Google, and the latest perk is that you can download the Android 4.0.1 build for trying out on an AMD tablet. Builds have been tested on gear like the Asus Eee PCs, the Viewsonic Viewtab 10, and Lenovo ThinkPad X61 tablets.

Granted, Intel's silicon is far from ARM's frugality still, but it would be interesting what Chipzilla will come up with in terms of tablets, be it only because it will be rubbing it in the nose of Microsoft, which chose to out Windows 8 for ARM chipsets. Intel is also working on its Medfield chips for smartphones as well, so it might inject some competition against ARM, if successful.

LTE iPhone and iPad rumored to launch next year

Rumor has it that the next-gen iPad and iPhone will both get LTE radios when they launch in 2012. According to a report by Nikkei, Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo is to release the next iPad iteration in the summer and the iPhone 4S successor at a later time during the fall of next year. Furthermore, the story adds that both devices will be LTE-enabled, thus taking advantage of the carrier's 4G network.

The report claims that Apple CEO Tim Cook met with Kiyoyuki Tsujimura and Takashi Yamada, president and vice president of NTT DoCoMo respectively, in mid-November to discuss the conditions, under which the next iPad and iPhone models will be sold through the carrier. Reportedly, the executives came to an agreement and settled all the details around the deal, including the number of iPad and iPhone units the carrier is going to order.

Last time when we heard rumors about a 4G LTE iPhone, we were told that the reason why Apple was holding back from equipping its smartphone with an LTE radio is that the design alterations that doing so would require were not acceptable at the time. Besides, LTE radios were accused of being too power-hungry for the device's battery to handle. We have also heard stories about an LTE iPhone being tested by carriers, which also adds a small dose of credibility to today's rumor.

Of course, whether the next iPhone and iPad models will pack LTE support or not will be known for sure only after they are announced. And by the time they do, rumors like these should not come as much of a surprise.

Sharp outs a thin 12MP smartphone camera module with optical image stabilization

Sharp has done the unthinkable, and introduced a 12MP camera module lean enough at 0.22" (5.7mm) to get into anorexic smartphones, but featuring the coveted optical image stabilization (OIS). Now fit optical zoom in it and our digital cameras will gather dust in some closet.

We kid, but Sharp has indeed managed to insert a very desirable for smartphones features into this module. With today's slim and light handsets every slight adjustment can shake the video or blur your photo, and it's hard to hold breath for more than a couple of minutes anyway. There have been efforts for software shake reduction, but nothing beats the real deal, of course.

Sharp says OIS was possible thanks to its patented dense packaging tech, and the 1/3.2" sensor is also back-illuminated, capable of 1080p HD video recording.

The lean 12MP camera sensor with OIS will start shipping samples tomorrow, and volume shipments of up to 100 000 units are expected in January. We wonder which are the phones this puppy will end up in, but Sharp's own Androids seem like a prime candidate.