It has already been established that Apple and Google are the two biggest giants of the industry and that the Google Nexus One was indeed manufactured by HTC (who shares a very long history with both Microsoft and Google). Some are already considering this to be a form of legal bullying with Apple filing the case in the US where a smaller foreign country is at a bigger disadvantage. While Apple is obviously prepared to take the case head on, it has taken a while for HTC to make an official statement.

A couple of weeks back, it was confirmed that HTC would indeed be defending itself by showcasing their own patents. Google has also stated that they stand behind the Android partner regarding this matter. With most of the devices being Android smart phones, many already see the possible motives behind Apple’s lawsuit.

HTC CEO Peter Chou states “HTC disagrees with Apple’s actions and will fully defend itself. HTC strongly advocates intellectual property protection and will continue to respect other innovators and their technologies as we have always done, but we will continue to embrace competition through our own innovation as a healthy way for consumers to get the best mobile experience possible. From day one, HTC has focused on creating cutting-edge innovations that deliver unique value for people looking for a smartphone. In 1999 we started designing the XDA and T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition, our first touch-screen smartphones, and they both shipped in 2002 with more than 50 additional HTC smartphone models shipping since then.”

Get to know more about the lawsuit at Tech Radar.

After all, the past few weeks have been nothing but plenty of great news. But now, it seems like Microsoft is showing us a little of the problems that might be bothering the new OS and it looks like we will be in for a long hard fight convincing MS that certain features should really be put in.

Anyway, this week saw the release of the SDK for the OS and several new features that are bound to make the platform much more interesting to use (Silverlight, Notification and Location Services). At the same time, we also learned that the system will be lacking a few key factors.

First off, multi tasking is not longer present. While the OS can handle the music player over anything else, users will not be able to swap between active apps anymore. The hardware on a WP7 will certainly be more than enough to handle multi tasking –a problem quite similar with the Apple devices. The iPhone and the iPad both lack multi tasking as well.

Speaking of iPhone problems, Windows Phone 7 will also come without cut and paste capabilities. For such a simple function, it is pretty surprising that Microsoft has not enabled it; even worse, the system will be having the Pocket Office apps –unless these apps will have their own cut and paste technology. In any case, expect to see a lot of disappointed folks when they see this feature missing. Lastly, the WP7 will not support SD cards for extra storage space. Oddly enough, these traits are quite similar to the Apple iPhone OS –closed system and all.

Read more about the cut and paste issue with Windows Phone 7 at Mobile Choice UK.

Naturally, firmware updates and additional features also go a long way in bringing much needed functions to smart phones, but for more specific tasks, downloadable apps are what people will rely on.

This is why no matter how good or well designed the upcoming Windows Phone 7 mobile platform is, unless it gets good app support, other operating systems such as the Google Android or the iPhone OS would still be better. This is why Microsoft has recently unveiled their upcoming updates for the Windows Marketplace. This online app store was originally meant to be used by WinMo 6 devices, but when WP7 launches, it will have access to customized category of the Marketplace.

It has already been announced earlier that WP7 will not be able to run apps that are meant for the older Windows mobile platform, this means that 7 series will require a new set of apps made specifically just for the OS.

Just this week, Microsoft has launched developer tools for the OS. According to reports, the tools will enable programmers to access most of WP7’s hardware components. Thanks to the pre-established chassis type requirements, all devices using the OS are sure to have specific hardware features.

Part of the developer tools unveiled is the new XNA Game Studio which will enable plenty of impressive features including the ability to run games in full 3D. So far, no title has actually been announced that will make use of the new technology, but expect game developers to start working on this soon.

Get to know more about the new developer tools for Windows Phone 7 at Tech Radar.

For many years, the Windows Mobile operating system was trailing far behind other operating systems such as the Apple iPhone OS and the Google Android. Even among business class users, WinMo was still a far second to the Palm OS. Because the old mobile platform was reliant on using the stylus input, WinMo was used more on phones that used resistive touch screen displays.

This made the OS feel very backwards when compared to newer platforms that were compatible with capacitive touch screen user interfaces. The bottom line was that WinMo is outdated and outside of the enterprise clients, no one wanted to use it. With the new WinMo 6.5.3 Maldives update, the OS now supports capacitive displays, but the change may be a little too late sine WinMo already has a bad reputation.

WP7 brings a whole new approach to mobile platforms, Microsoft’s motto of “the phone is not a PC” is turning into reality with the new OS as it makes the most of the capacitive touch screen user interface and real time live updates. This new OS takes away everything that was originally wrong with the old operating system and brings all new features that are bringing the new platform up to par with the Android and iPhone OS.

New to WP7 is the inclusion of Bing, Zune and XBL Games. Microsoft is also adding in a new MSN player with Silverlight for media and for games, the XNA Games Studio demonstrates full 3D capabilities.

Get to know more about the new features and capabilities of the Microsoft Windows Phone 7 series mobile platform at Mobile Choice UK.

Of course, it comes as a given that unlimited internet access on 3G is a must have for those considering to get any of the two Android phones. The HTC Legend is currently the big ticket device despite its hardware being less than that of the desire. This mid-range phone is getting plenty of demand for its excellent balance of price and specs. It even comes in with a nicely styled aluminum casing.

The Legend is officially the sequel to the HTC Hero (another successful Android device from the Taiwanese manufacturer); it comes with a 3.2 inch AMOLED capacitive touch screen, a 5 mega pixel camera and a Qualcomm 600 MHz CPU.

The Desire on the other hand is HTC’s high end Android gadget that is made for gear heads who want their phones to be on top of the scales. It uses a 1GHz Snapdragon processor for high speed loading and running of apps and functions. The 3.7 inch AMOLED capacitive touch screen delivers both high quality images and accurate touch controls. Lastly, the 5 mega pixel camera not only comes with LED flash and autofocus, but it also allows for 720p video recording.

Vodafone UK is also offering other devices this coming April such as the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 Android smart phone and the Google Phone Nexus One. Late April will see the operator offering the Apple iPad touch screen tablet on plans and tariff.

Get to know more about the Desire and the Legend at Tech Radar.

This week alone saw two major add-ons for the platform. First off, it has been now been confirmed that Windows Phone 7 will have support for Adobe Flash. The actual update has not been implemented in the system in progress -and from what it looks like the initial build of WP7 will remain without Flash support.

The update is expected to come out shortly after the launch of the very first WP7 handset. This comes as great news to anyone who loves to browse online with their smart phones as the lack of Flash renders many web pages with missing functions and content. With Steve jobs at the helm of Apple, support for Adobe’s Flash is impossible to launch for the upcoming iPad.

The demonstration of the new XNA games studio featured 3D graphics running on the ASUS handset with WP7. While the initial screens have yet to show full-3D the fact that the technology is actually possible brings a lot of potential to the system –something game developers would surely enjoy.

New to WP7 is the addition of the MSN Player. Just a few weeks back, it has been announced that a new BBC player has been released for the iPhone. Microsoft will be matching this new update with their MSN video library that sports over a thousand hours of video content. It has been reported that MSN currently holds the largest market of users that stay for long periods –up to 25 minutes; making the player quite lucrative for many advertisers.

Get the full info on the MSN Player straight from the source at MSN Mobile UK.

The Sims 3 puts you in control of the lives of Sims –virtual people who like us, need to socialize, eat, drink, sleep and work. For the most part, these Sims are automated, they will eat when hungry and sleep when sleepy, but in order for their lives to run smoothly, you will have to order them to get jobs, and use the money they earn to buy furniture and necessities for the Sims to live. Getting this addictive little title on the Palm is certainly going to provide users with hours of fun and enjoyment.

Monopoly is a digital port of the world famous board game. While this may not sound much like fun, it gets pretty addictive and quite interesting when you are already midway through the game and the properties are starting to get bought. No details yet if there will be any special modes on the smart phone port of this title, but at least you will no longer have to spend an hour making sure that all the play money and tokens are in place.

Rounding up the list is Need for Speed: Undercover. This fast paced game title is currently the latest in the NFS series of games (a new one is expected to come out this year). Undercover will see you as an undercover cop infiltrating a criminal organization. Expect high speed races, frantic car chases and a cool story mode in this title.

Get to know more about these new games at GSM Arena.

Things are also busy at the HTC camp as the Desire and the Legend are both expected to come out by April.

The Taiwanese manufacturer is bringing the sequel to the HTC Hero, the Legend to Vodafone’s store. So far, there is no word yet if the Legend will be offered by other operator. The smart phone comes with an aluminum casing, a 3.2 inch AMOLED capacitive touch screen, 5 mega pixel camera and a Qualcomm 600 MHz processor.

More widely available will the HTC Desire; this phone, originally called the Bravo will be launching around the same time as the Legend. It has already been confirmed that T-Mobile will be offering plans for the new Snapdragon Android while Orange and Vodafone are reportedly also going to have the device (though price offers from Orange and Vodafone are currently not yet available). Carphone Warehouse has most of the details for the T-Mobile plans.

The Desire comes with a 1GHz Snapdragon processor that will have the device running fast and smooth. It has a big 3.7 inch AMOLED capacitive touch screen that delivers high quality visuals perfect for viewing the 720p videos you shoot with the phone’s 5 mega pixel snapper. The device is being considered as the perfect alternative to the Nexus One smart phone which can only be brought from Google’s online store.

Get to know more about the HTC Desire smart phone and its tariff prices at Stuff TV.

The phone has a very valuable feature: it is dual-powered. Meaning, not only will it come with a rechargeable 600 mAh Li-on battery, it can also run on a single AAA Alkaline battery. Now there is no need to wait around in charging stations just to call someone. This technology can potentially save time for those who need an instant hour of talk time. The mobile phone’s price is a steal as well at just around 27 EUR.

Aside from the fact that batteries are readily available, alkaline batteries can also be considered eco-friendly. When recycled and reused the proper way, these disposable batteries pose very little threat to Mother Earth as opposed to Li-on batteries. While the phone may not have been developed with just that cause in mind, the fellows at Olive Telecommunications sure are causing a stir and people all around the world are now starting talk about dual-powered smart phones.

Although Li-on power is unlikely to be replaced by this technology any time soon, a dual-powered mobile phone is a novel concept and is sure to be handy under a variety of situations.

Will this mean a line of dual-powered smart phones? Considering the fact that standard alkaline batteries have the capacity of 1000 mAh and some higher capacity disposable batteries reach up to a whopping 2000 mAh, two AAAs may just be enough to power a smart phone temporarily. We may very well see dual-powered Blackberrys in the future.

See screens of this handy phone in Engadget.

The real question here is; will Apple sign an exclusivity deal for the iPad?

They already did the same thing for the Apple iPhone. Despite being Apple’s major mobile device, they allowed O2 to have the handset as an exclusive for two whole years. Though the iPhone was a great success (it is number one after all), many believe that it could have made even more sales had it not been exclusive to a single operator.

The Apple iPad tablet however, is not on the same plane as the iPhone. The fact that the demand for the tablet is still pretty much non-existent at the moment brings about many considerations. Primarily, they need the iPad to be able to penetrate the market as broadly as possible. This means that an exclusivity deal has the potential to push away and alienate potential customers – definitely not a good thing for a device that has yet to prove its worth and actually create a demand.

Anyway, while we might not be seeing and exclusive deal for the tablet, this also means that the initial price offering and the plan options will be pretty competitive as each operator brings our their own contracts for the touch screen tablet. As expected, experts believe that Apple is also talking with retailers regarding the iPad as well.

Get to know more about the coming of the iPad in the UK at Mobile Today UK.