The big steps Adobe is going to take to make this work are:

- Removing restrictions on use of the SWF and FLV/F4V specifications
- Publishing the device porting layer APIs for Adobe Flash Player
- Publishing the Adobe Flash® Cast™ protocol and the AMF protocol for robust data services
- Removing licensing fees - making next major releases of Adobe Flash Player and Adobe AIR for devices free

Adobe's also throwing in the AIR platform as well, which is "the next-generation RIA runtime for the desktop, supporting HTML, Ajax, Adobe Flash technology and PDF." [Adobe]

An ugly giganfatastic beast made of multiple boards right out of a Terry Gilliam movie set. It was faster and had wireless connectivity, something that the ARM model didn't had enabled. And obviously, it was untouchable and development oriented.

As you can see, while the Android platform is solid enough for development and testing, it seems we are far away from seeing actual products getting into the market. ARM told us that everything is still pretty much up in the air at this point, and the actual physical cellphone specification is still coming from the Open Handset Alliance.

We will update this post with more Android prototypes hands-on and impressions.

The RTR6570 will support the following technologies:
• Upcoming 700MHz wireless networks
• CDMA network from Sprint or Verizon (1900MHz EV-DO)
• HSPA or UMTS data network from AT&T or T-Mobile (850MHz, 1700MHz and 2100MHz)

Now that you're all excited, the bad news is that chip samples won't be ready until the middle of next year, and phones themselves won't hit the market potentially until 2009. But these will certainly be worth the wait: the ability to roam on all three networks means that you will never have to worry about coverage again—though God only knows what the roaming charges will do to your phone bill. [Electronista]

• It would be launching a 3G phone in the near future that did not use the Qualcomm-based chipset.
• The current TouchFlo technology seen on such phones as Sprint's HTC Touch wasn't necessarily the greatest—anyone with any iPhone experience would find it unresponsive, says I—and HTC will be introducing a new touch UI technology in 2008.
• As far as the WiMax rollout goes, HTC would release a WiMax/TD-WCDMA mobile phone either by the end of 2008 or beginning of 2009. [ Digitimes via IntoMobile]

Essentially, Motorola has gone far beyond simply anticipating the network needs of AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless and (maybe) Sprint. I've posted a chart from the press materials that you can click to enlarge. But there's more to it than that. Here's my (educated) guess as to which carriers will pick up which RAZR 2 versions:

•RAZR 2 V8 (July 2007) - Totally T-Mobile - It a slender model with 512MB or 2GB of internal memory, its instantly compatible with Windows Media Player 10 or 11 for access to all-you-can-eat "sideload" music. T-Mo isn't in the business of selling music over the air, so it's the most codec friendly (MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+) and it's got highspeed USB 2.0. In addition it supports Motorola Linux-Java for super flexible software development. It may be the "slowest" in terms of network, but it very well may be the sweetest palmtop.

•RAZR 2 V9 (August 2007) - Up AT&T's Alley - With its WCDMA 850/1900 or 2100 and HSDPA 3.6, it's clearly developed to be a part of AT&T's aggressive 2007 lineup (not just higher bandwidth than the iPhone but also higher than Sony Ericsson's US HSDPA phone). Optional memory up to 2GB, but nothing to write home about in terms of built-in memory (you gotta watch out for the "upsell"). It will have video telephone and video streaming, including the "See What I See" technology for live in-call video streams. It will not support Motorola Linux-Java, however, favoring what Moto calls "Synergy" (meaning "carrier friendly") software. This will support Windows Media files, but will not come ready to sync with Windows Media Player 10 and 11. (There is a slim chance that AT&T will also sell a RAZR 2 V8, but I'm willing to bet that only happens if there's a serious V9 delay or a huge price step-up.)

• RAZR 2 V9m (July 2007) - Qualcomm Was Here - The good news is, there will be a CDMA version of the RAZR out early. Last time, it took a while for Verizon Wireless to get one, and even longer for Sprint to introduce it. That means highspeed EVDO plus sGPS location technology. The downside is that CDMA carriers will have their way with this handset, and fewer of the options Zander bragged about will be guaranteed. Video streaming is "network dependent" and the software is Motorola Synergy or "carrier proprietary." Music options? "Proprietary customer music players," says another Moto data sheet.

Dear Sprint and Verizon Wireless: when you do get this, please check out some of the software advantages Motorola is introducing. I swear your customers will thank you for it. – Wilson Rothman

Motorola RAZR 2 Launch Coverage [Gizmodo]

So what does this mean? Well, aside from making streaming video a more pleasurable experience (goodbye, choppy video), Rev B will also allow for new apps to mosey on into your phone, such as mobile TV. No word on when we'll see Rev B on Sprint or Verizon, although just the thought of the speed boost is enough to whet our appetite. – Louis Ramirez

Press Release [via Electronista]

Samsung is also set to unveil a mobile TV service at their press conference, something I'll be covering in about a half an hour, so stay tuned. –Adam Frucci

CES 2007 [Gizmodo]

We're eager to see how well MediaFlo handles multicasting, where Qualcomm says it's able to do a much better job than its rival technology DVB-H, with FLO said to deliver higher-quality audio and video, faster channel switching and better reception. Then all they'll need to do is find somebody who wants to watch television on a cellphone.

QualComm MediaFlo Brings United States to Forefront of Mobile Digital TV? [I4U News]

More big news from Samsung as the world's third largest cellphone maker announces its plans to supply UK Vodaphone with high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) mobile phones using Qualcomm's modem chips. These phones will let you use multimedia services, including video sharing and Web surfing, at higher speeds with lower pricing. They will also be the first to be commercially available. And of course, I feel that I must point out that we here in the US won't actually be seeing any of this as we wait (and wait, and wait) for our 3G services.

Samsung to market new phones with Vodafone, Qualcomm [Reuters]

The Penguin Goes Mobile

The mobile world has been talking about Linux-powered smartphones for quite some time. Although they have yet to catch on in great numbers outside Asia, Linux for mobile holds great potential as a low-cost competitor to other mobile operating systems like Symbian, Palm OS and Windows Mobile. But putting Linux on a mobile phone isn't as simple as downloading a release and installing it on your desktop, and there are several obstacles to its wider adoption — but those barriers are beginning to fall.

The attraction of Linux for the mobile space is, on one level, much the same as other smartphone OSes: it can provide a flexible, powerful environment in which advanced applications and services can be run, and it can be updated with new applications. On another level, it's attractive over the proprietary operating systems because of economics — with handset selling prices constantly dropping and manufacturer margins under continuing pressure, every dollar counts. Mobile Linux backers say it can deliver on both counts: keeping costs for manufacturers low for low-end, cheap devices since it's royalty-free, while also providing an optimal technological environment. The basic idea is that there will be a baseline version of Linux for mobile devices, and then manufacturers can layer on software to support more features and functionality in more-advanced devices.

Linux use in mobile phones has thus far largely been restricted to China, where a number of manufacturers support it. There have been a few Linux handsets released by Motorola that have made it to the West, though, and Panasonic and NEC have shipped 3G phones running Linux in Japan. Symbian remains the dominant smartphone OS, with nearly two-thirds of the market in the third quarter, according to Canalys, with Palm taking about 5% and Microsoft less than 3%. But all those Chinese phones are adding up: Linux took about 23% in the quarter, up from just 2.2% in the same period in 2004.

Smartphones still make up a small percentage of the overall number of mobile handsets sold — just roughly 13 million out of 205 million or so in the third quarter, or about 6% — but that figure is growing, and manufacturers are moving to push smartphones further down into the market, rather than just positioning them as high-end or business-focused devices. Again, that's where the flexibility of Linux comes in. It promises to allow manufacturers to standardize on a single software platform, instead of the mix of proprietary closed and smartphone OSes most now use.

That's where the biggest problem, lies, though: hammering the basic platform down into a standardized package, whether it's for a single manufacturer or industry-wide. Systems like Symbian and Windows Mobile are pretty consistent from one handset to the next, but that's not so with Linux devices. Manufacturers often have to implement their own extensions and applications that end up making different models that all run Linux incompatible with each other.

To solve that problem, though, there are a few standardization efforts. One recently-announced one is the Mobile Linux Initiative of the Open Source Development Labs, which aims to make enhancements to the Linux kernel to make it more suitable for mobile devices, particularly in terms of radio interface, security and power management — the sort of baseline issues that any operating system on a mobile phone must address. One major issue is making Linux "real-time," meaning it must be able to respond very quickly to certain interruptions, a necessity for some telephony and multimedia applications. Giving mobile Linux real-time capability means it could run in a handset with a single processor, rather than the dual-processor setup that's the norm in other smartphone OSes.

Standardization efforts like that of the OSDL are important not just to make things simpler and easier for handset manufacturers; they're crucial to generate support from the large pool of existing Linux developers to create mobile applications. J2ME was hyped with the promise of write once/run anywhere, but different implementations of it from manufacturer to manufacturer, even handset to handset, as well as technical limitations, kept that from being a reality. Other smartphone OSes and user interfaces, like Series 60 or Windows Mobile on phones offer developers a consistent environment as well as a wide range of devices capable of running their applications without having to port them for different phones. If the Linux market remains as fragmented as that of Java, the growth of third-party applications written for it will be stunted as well.

Support is growing for mobile Linux, with a number of manufacturers like Palm, Microsoft and Panasonic saying they're looking to shift some, if not most, of their product lines to it in the medium to long term. Should standardization efforts take hold and prove successful, a large number of people should soon be using Linux on their smartphones.

Carlo Longino is a writer and analyst who follows the mobile industry. He's co-editor of MobHappy, and also an analyst for Techdirt. He can be reached at carlo@mobhappy.com.

Read more Airtime. The column appears every Tuesday on Gizmodo.

offered preferential terms on royalties of technology patents to manufacturers who also bought its chipsets — and stifled competition.

affected 11 Qualcomm patents and one owned by its wholly owned subsidiary, SnapTrack Inc.

Qualcomm sues Nokia over handset patents [Reuters]

So I was at this pre-CTIA press reception yesterday, and I was wandering around the buffet tables filled with weird foods (like mashed potatoes with weird toppings like avocado. SO wrong), I stumbled upon Qualcomm's booth. They were pushing MediaFLO, their mobile media division, and were also showing off their Slingshot Concept phone. And despite myself, I was intrigued. The display on the phone was so crisp I forgot that the guy talking to me wasn't really hyping the phone. When he told me the phone wouldn't be commercially available, I was doubly bummed. As you probably already know, the Slingshot phone was made specificially to demo Qualcomm's mobile media setup, and is packed with a 2MP camera, enhanced stereo sound, and a QVGA display.

Despite that, I have to admit the quality of the programming was pretty good. He showed me some recorded CNN and ESPN shows, as well as a pretty comprehensive channel guide (he mentioned that the final version of the service will feature live streaming content rather tha pre-recorded stuff). He also mentioned coordinating content with service providers as well as cellphone manufacturers. Seeing as there were some basic cable channels on the list, it looks like the channel offerings may not be as lackluster as we once thought. He wouldn't let me know which companies they were dealing with, but he did hint that they would be rolling out the service some time next year. Here's a press photo of the Slingshot after the jump. - N. Lee

Related
Qualcomm Slingshot Concept Multimedia Phone
Qualcomm Mobile Multimedia

QualComm Slingshot Concept Multimedia Mobile Phone [i4u]