Dominating the Android world this week was the announcement by handset giant HTC that it will be releasing the most innovative phone to date using the OS by Google, the HTC Hero. This thin, curvy handset shares some of the features of the Android-powered HTC Magic, also known as the myTouch 3G, such as a 3.2-inch touchscreen. It will also sport an onscreen keyboard, like the iPhone.

But what sets the HTC Hero apart from all the other Android phones, be they already released or under development, is the user interface. Dubbed HTC Sense, it allows HTC to give its phones a uniform look regardless of the operating system being used. Sense is also designed to be configured by the user to fit their individual needs.

One of the features of Android that has been lauded by enthusiasts is its tight integration with Google services like Gmail. But by forgoing the standard Android interface, OS updates that are pushed to users over the air can’t be applied to the Hero; owners of the Hero will instead have to rely on HTC to provide them. This could set the stage for OS version fragmentation in the Android world that we have warned against.

Only 19 percent of iPhone/iPod Touch applications in the AdMob network had more than 10,000 users in May, and a mere 5 percent had more than 100,000 users, according to the mobile ad network’s latest Mobile Metrics report. With more than 50,000 apps available on the iPhone, the long tail is in full effect — but even so, the steepness of the curve is impressive. More than half of the apps in the AdMob network had fewer than 1,000 users in May.

The data in question does not apply to the App Store as a whole, only to apps serving ads from AdMob, but given the lack of any other hard data, this is what we must work with. It’s clear that many apps just aren’t taking off with consumers, either because they’re are bad, brand new, very old or niche applications, or because they just haven’t gotten enough promotion. Or, perhaps, with 50,000 apps in the store, the paradox of choice plays a role — there may simply be too much to choose from, so Apps can’t pull away from the pack. But this was true last year as well, when the store had just opened. Regardless, I suspect the success of a particular app relies on one of three things:

Continue »

So now we know the dark, sinister story: Steve Jobs took someone’s liver in Memphis.

Yes, it’s true! I read it in the Wall Street Journal. After sequestering himself in the haunted, Faulknerian chambers of some abandoned manor in the city of Elvis and the ancient Greeks, Jobs enlisted some accomplices to procure the liver so that the filthy-rich old man might live. According to one accomplice, his prognosis is [ominously tapping fingertips together] “excellent.”

I exaggerate, but only slightly. After reading all the stories that have dominated newsfeeds, Twitterstreams and tech news aggregators, I had to resist the thought that Jobs was some sort of “X-Files” monster who fed off livers to preserve his nefarious life. After all, he belittled Apple’s board. He lied to Wall Street. He cut in line ahead of poorer patients. And so on.

There’s a perverse irony to all this. Jobs waged a long, initially fruitless yet over the decades highly effective PR war painting Microsoft as an evil force in the technology industry. And now, just as he sits atop the shrinking pile of revered business executives, he’s being tarred with the same black brush. Continue »

The consumer love affair with Apple’s iPhone shows no signs of ending. Three days after launching the iPhone 3G S, the company sold more than a million units, Cupertino said today, on par with the number of iPhone 3Gs sold within the first three days of that device being launched. In comparison, it took some 74 days to sell a million of the original iPhones. Overall, Apple is expected to sell about 5 million phones in this quarter. Continue »

For iPhone users, wading through a sea of fitness and weight-loss applications can be confusing and time-consuming — and, much like adhering to the latest diet craze, it’s often hard to stick with using the application once you download it. Los Angeles-based startup Global Fitness Media on Monday is launching FitOrbit — the iPhone app rolls out later this week — a fitness training web service that lets you select a real-life personal trainer over the web who customizes a seven-day nutrition and exercise plan just for you. Continue »

The iPhone 3GS has been released and, as is geek tradition, torn apart to see what’s inside. RapidRepair went over to France to pick one up from Orange and then promptly disassembled it, only to discover that much of the machine is similar to the previous iPhone 3G. The design of this version is almost identical (thought it’s about 2 grams heavier), with upgrades to the processor, graphics card, RAM, battery (1219 mAh vs 1150 mAh in the 3G) and camera. But generally speaking, this is an evolutionary upgrade, not a revolutionary one. Continue »

I don’t know about you, but the last thing I want to do when I’m traveling is track down a post office so I can send family and friends postcards. I often buy postcards that I intend to mail, but I’m always trying to squeeze so many things into my trip that I never end up sending them. So I decided to try HazelMail, a new, free iPhone application that turns your iPhone photos into personalized postcards and even mails them for you, too. My verdict: It’s a fun and easy — but you might get home before your postcard reaches its destination.

Continue »