Development

Lodsys, the company that's gone after a number of Apple iOS developers for allegedly infringing on its patents, is now doing the same to at least one developer on Google's Android platform.

Cult of Mac has dug up a developing discussion thread on Google's Android developer forums, noting that at least one Android developer has been targeted by the group over the use of in-app purchase within their application.

"We recently implemented in-app purchases for our Android application and several weeks later we received a letter from Lodsys, claiming that we infringed on their patents," … Read more

If you miss your Android apps when using your PC, a start-up called BlueStacks says it has the answer.

Today, the company announced first-round funding of $7.6 million from Ignition Ventures, Radar Partners, Helion Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, and Andreessen Horowitz for its virtualization technology that provides a foundation for Google's mobile operating system atop Windows. It's got partnerships with Citrix for distribution to interested businesses and with assorted as-yet unnamed PC makers for consumers.

"The idea is very simple," said Chief Executive and co-founder Rosen Sharma, who previously was McAfee's chief technology officer. It … Read more

First came the halo effect of computer purchases: iPod or iPhone buyers deciding they'd like a Mac. Now I'm wondering whether there will be a similar trend among programmers.

I started pondering the idea after hearing from MacPhun, the developers of FX Photo Studio, a $1 iOS app that just made the jump to a Mac OS X app that costs $20 for the regular version and $40 for the pro version. If MacPhun is willing to take the leap, perhaps others are?

I see the move as an interesting possibility because of a few factors:

• The Mac … Read more

The latest news to hit the iPhone 5 rumor mill is that Apple's next smartphone may sport a curved glass screen, similar to the one found on the iPod Nano 4G.

This latest report comes from Taiwan's DigiTimes. Citing industry sources, DigiTimes reported today that Apple has bought 200 or 300 glass-cutting machines to be used by glass makers, who are apparently hesitant to invest in the expensive equipment on their own.

To no surprise, no time frame has been released yet as to when the iPhone 5 may ramp up production, as DigiTimes says that Apple is … Read more

Verizon Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo revealed several interesting things at the Reuters Global Technology Summit. First, Verizon will continue to compete with AT&T on the iPhone--Big Red will sell the next-generation iPhone (referred to by some as the iPhone 5 or iPhone 4S) alongside AT&T.

Shammo also said that the next Verizon iPhone will operate in as many countries as AT&T's global iPhone. Reading between the lines, we can guess that Verizon is preparing for a big announcement on this front when the next-generation iPhone hits global shelves.

Verizon's CFO was less transparent about the next iPhone's speeds, suggesting that Verizon's portfolio of LTE Android phones would make up for a next-gen iPhone. "I think it's a bigger issue for Apple than it is for us," Reuters quotes. "Depending on where Apple plays, that's where we'll sell."… Read more

iPads are catching on among business users, a study released today has found, but most of them don't have a clear strategy for the tablets.

Dimensional Research, in a survey of 448 businesses, found that 22 percent have deployed tablets, 22 percent plan to do so this year, and 24 percent plan to next year.

And although Apple isn't known for its corporate focus or market penetration, it's the leader when it comes to tablets: 83 percent said they would be using iPads. That compares to 17 percent for RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook, 14 percent for HP'… Read more

If you ever see a message or window in Safari or your e-mail client about your system's security being compromised, ignore it! Malware developers and scammers are increasingly focusing on OS X and working to trick Mac users with highly developed Trojan horse attempts, using both software and ominous-looking messages generated in Web browsers and e-mail clients. Recently some rather sophisticated Trojan horse scam software called MacDefender was discovered for OS X, and a similar attempt has surfaced with a Web-based malware-detection facade that tries to get you to download and install malware on your system.

In a growing thread … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--Google isn't the only big tech company with two operating systems. But it's the only one with two that take such a different approach.

Android and Chrome OS each got a day to themselves here at Google I/O a conference designed to fire up programmer interest in Google's technology.

With the new Android 3.1, an update to the tablet-centric Honeycomb version, Google yesterday added the ability for people to plug in keyboards, mice, game controllers, and many other USB and Bluetooth devices. In short, it's making the tablet more into a PC, architecturally … Read more

Google has followed up on yesterday's addition of movie rentals with more changes to its online Android Market. This time, the tweaks focus on making it easier to find and filter the more than 200,000 apps in the Android Market.

In addition to showing most popular free and paid apps, Google has added categories to surface top new free and premium apps, and the most downloaded over time. The charts are also now localized by country. To keep you ahead of the curve, the home page has a new section featuring trending apps.

Google also follows in Apple'… Read more