MWC: Mobile browser Skyfire announces a major change of direction with Android and WebKit

In the world of mobile browsers, one of the fastest options is Skyfire. It’s an independent mobile browser, meaning that unlike the mobile versions of Opera or Firefox, it has no stable on-line version backing it up. In an interview at Mobile World Congress, Skyfire CEO Jeffrey Glueck told GoMo about a major shift in direction that will be coming our way soon. Not only is it releasing a version for Android, but it will be integrating elements from the open source WebKit browser engine.

MWC: Golden Gekko wants EVERYBODY to be a mobile app developer

Golden Gekko is a mobile app developer, with a very tight focus on marketing and advertisers. GoMo News has had quite a lot of contact with the company in the past, and we were glad to catch up with them again today. I talked to Caroline van den Bergh, Head of Product and Michael Campilho, Business Development Director about a new mobile application service from Golden Gekko called Tino - a platform to let anyone create mobile applications, no matter what their level of experience is.

MWC: Flirtomatic keeps it clean for US networks, isn’t all that impressed with the iPhone

I’ve always been interested in Flirtomatic. It’s one of those mobile services that pops up again and again when people talk about success stories in the mobile industry. But my interest has always been from afar. But today I got to sit down with Gary Cohen, Head of Flirtomatic for North America, and we got talk about some of the specifics for the service - like what it needs to do to stay sweet with operators, and where intends to go from here. I’ve always wanted to know more about the nitty gritty of how Flirtomatic actually works, and Gary answered all of my questions.

@MWC Augmented Reality from metaio

metaio launches its Unifeye Mobile SDK at Mobile World Congress.

Maemo + Moblin = MeeGo. Intel and Nokia merge mobile operating systems.

Nokia and Intel have announced an interesting merge at Mobile World Congress. They will be launching a new service called MeeGo - which is a blend of Nokia’s Maemo operating system with the Moblin OS. What does that mean exactly? Read on…

@MWC: Wholesale Applications Community to push apps to customers launched by mobile operators

Twenty-four leading telecommunications operators have formed the Wholesale Applications Community, an alliance to build an open platform that delivers applications to all mobile phone users.

@MWC Vodafone turns up the heat for Android app Vodafone People and Vodafone 360

Vodafone starts Mobile Word Congress with an air of arrogance, boasting:

1. New app allows full access to the Vodafone People service, including wireless syncing of contacts and aggregation of social network feeds, chat and email accounts

2. Nearly 300,000 Vodafone 360 Samsung H1 and M1 phones sold since service launch

3. Downloadable 360 services now available for 100 devices

4. Hyves social networking site now integrated

Flash Networks new My-i Toolbar for personalised and targeting mobile Internet advertising

Flash Networks has created My-i. It is a phone top toolbar that offers ads and personalised content when browsing the Internet on mobile.

Location-based social network Gypsii goes multi-national with Telefonica

It’s one of the simple facts of working in the mobile industry - if you really want mass pick up of a service, it’s mostly the operators that need to do it. Location-based social network Gypsii has taken this to heart, and is getting in on the ground level with massive Latin American operator Telefonica for an international social networking deal.

Nimbuzz reports over 1 million downloads through Ovi - looking good for mobile VoIP and IM

Mobile communications hub Nimbuzz is reporting that it has seen over 1 million downloads through Nokias Ovi application store - which is a pretty significant portion of the 15 million total installations that Nimbuzz claims.

Sprint + GetJar = Awesome. Mobile operator teams with indie store for 60,000 applications

American mobile operator Sprint has just announced a major deal with mobile application store GetJar. GetJar is the largest independent application store in the world - and counting everybody else, only the Apple Store is bigger than it. Sprint will now be offering the entire selection of 60,000 apps from GetJar to its mobile customers. Why is this such a good idea? Read on…

Is Opera Mini mobile browser really coming to iPhone?

A lot of excitement has been generated by an announcement from Opera this morning. According to the software firm the mobile version of its internet browser, Opera Mini, will be demonstrated as an iPhone app during Mobile World Congress. This is a welcome announcement for Opera fans with iPhones, who have so far been denied access to their browser of choice. But what does Apple think about this?

Digital love: the mobile industry gears up for Valentines Day

Christmas and Valentines Day really pull a big reaction of messaging in the mobile industry. MMS providers go into hyper-publicity mode, reminding everyone that you can send a cute animation to your loved ones rather than a card. So, as we’re within a week of Valentines Day, I’ve been getting a lot of press contacts about the day. And out of the many press releases, I’ve found two that I find rather interesting. MMS analytics provider Amethon looks at MMS content, and mobile navigation company CoPilot launches a Love Search function.

Bitstream pushes to get BOLT mobile browser put on more phones before shipping

Bitstream is the software company that maintains the BOLT mobile browser - one of the two major independent mobile browsers available. Not content with just getting user downloads (1 million installs by the middle of last year, now up to nearly 4 million), Bitstream really wants to get BOLT pre-loaded on mobile devices by original equipment manufactureres (OEMs). To further that goal, today it announces the launch of a special OEM version of the browser.

Mobile phone software experts Myriad take a shot at making Android faster, better and last longer

Myriad is a very interesting company - it’s an amalgamation of a tonne of different companies that have had a hand in mobile technology over the years. In fact, there are so many different companies combined under the Myriad name that it has software running on over 2 billion handsets. To use a very Irish phrase: “it’s only bleedin’ massive!”. It is also one of the founding members of the Open Handset Alliance, and has had a huge hand in the development of the Android operating system. And today, it is announcing an upgrade to one of the central elements of Android - the software that its applications run on.

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