An interesting article in USA Today gives us some interesting stats about smart phones and stats. First off, 30% of all phones in the use in the US now are internet connected “smart phones” . 19% of users have downloaded some sort of travel related App. Most importantly, 47% of travelers have used their phone GPS to find a destination or location. That is a significant uptake in the use of GPS devices in phones. Also, many people (29%) are using their internet connected phone to shop for airfares and hotels, which suggests that it is very important for travel related sites to be mobile friendly. Certainly, this is a major shift in the public’s use of cell phones over the last couple of years, at least in the US.

Suggested product: Garmin nüvi 255W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator (Factory Refurbished)

The Apple App Store has apparently reached a significant milestone, with now more than 250,000 apps in store, according to this report in Fortune (and to be fair, they are quoting yet another site to get to that number). However, that number may include “versions” of an app made for a different location or city, or some other minor variation. There are about 50,000 publishers, so on average they have 5 apps each. Some companies have hundreds of apps, often variations on a theme. This number doesn’t include a signficant number of adult / sexy apps that were removed in the last little while as well.

I found this article from Reuters about the move to lower price smart phones, and found it to be very interesting, especially as it speaks about ZTE, a phone company from China that hasn’t been seen as much under it’s own name in the west. They are aiming for a $100 – $150 smart phone, and many people seem to think this is where the market will end up. The price of the chips is dropping, the price of the screens is dropping, and with cheap or even free operating systems to work from, these phones are now more than possible.

Nokia, which has also been not quite on the top of the smart phone market so far is also agressively looking at this market, and aims to get a smart phone to market before the end of the year at a price well under 100 Euros. That would certainly stand much of the market on it’s ear. It would also potentially put pressure on both Microsoft and Apple. Apple is often the premium price product in the marketplace, and would seem to have the most to lose against a retail market that appears to be above their unit costs.

Read the full story here.

According this story at Gizmodo, as well as writeups at ARS Technica, it looks like Microsoft is going to hit the market with Verizon on a new mobile phone called the Pink. I have to say that Microsoft isn’t exactly great on names, adding Pink to Zune in their list of 4 letter forgettable.

While some suggest that it is a windows 7 mobile phone, the interface apparently does not look like Win7. The phone in the example is a turtle style slider phone, with a nice looking keyboard, and the phone seems to be aiming at the social networking / texting market, which is pretty hot at this point.

In what some see as a stunning admission of being crowded out of many of the smart phone markets, and perhaps as a preemptive strike against the upcoming Google Nexus 1, Apple and NeXT have filed suit against Asian smart phone maker HTC, alleging all sorts of patent infringement and the like. Public opinion on this is mixed, but many of the industry pundits are pointing to this as frustration on Apple’s part as they risk losing their dominant position in the smart phone market.

“We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement. “We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”

However, it should be pointed out that the patents in question are entirely software related, and those sorts of patents aren’t always the strongest. Further, Apple appears to have unleashed the nuclear option as well, adding 10 more items to a list submitted to the ITC (International Trade Commission), attempting to shortcut the process and perhaps gain some sort of blockage against HTC phones coming into the US.

At the end of the day, Apple may or may not win this lawsuit and ITC action, but there is no doubt that many potential customers will now see them as bullies rather than innovators.

Even as overall sales for mobile phones remained flat for the third quarter, smartphone sales continue to show double digit growth—as they have ever since the market was redefined by Apple’s iPhone. Apple’s share of the market continues to climb and is edging close to rival RIM, while market leader Nokia continues its slow decline according to the latest data from market research firm Gartner.

Read the full story here!

Today is droid day, the day that the Motorola Droid hits the marketplace, available through Verizon Wireless. This phone marks Motorola’s plunge into using Google’s Android operating system on a phone, a trend that seems to be getting stronger all the time. In fact, the hubbub over the Droid phone is putting the hurt on Blackberry, who’s new smartphone offerings are getting lost on the editing room floor. There are a number of reviews of the Motorola Droid Phone, and generally they look very positive indeed!

An interesting move by Verizon to put their broadband 3G modems into prepaid plans. The downside? It’s a pricey concept. Check this:

Verizon Wireless today announced three new Mobile Broadband plans that will be added to the company’s Prepaid portfolio. Customers will be able to get speed when they need it on the Verizon Wireless 3G network with pay-as-you-go plans for daily, weekly or monthly access. The new Prepaid options are ideal for those who need access for occasional or seasonal use whether on vacation, enjoying a weekend getaway or for students away at school. Verizon Wireless gives customers the following service options:

* Daily – $15 for 75 MB
* Weekly – $30 for 250 MB
* Monthly – $50 for 500 MB

The prices are certainly way out there, but might be entirely useful for the occassional traveler or someone trapped in a place for a day or two. Otherwise, it seems to be even more expensive than even the most outrageous hotel internet rates.

This has got to be one of the weirdest lawsuits I have seen in a while. AT&T and Apple have been running Iphone ads for a while with the tag “There’s an App for that”. Well, Verizon recently started to roll out some new 3G phones, and decides to show how their network has superior 3G coverage over AT&T, with the cute but mocking tagline of “There’s a Map for that”. it is clear that Verizon has a significantly higher reach for 3G in the US right now, but AT&T is objecting, saying the commercials (using the image above) make it appear that AT&T has no cellular service at all outside of those areas.

I guess that big old “5X More 3G Coverage” taking about about 1/3 of the slide isn’t relevant. Sorry AT&T, but rather than spend the time suing, why not spend the time working on your network? Game set and match, and you are just giving Verizon even more exposure for their superior 3G coverage.