Blogging all about technology, cell phones and the rest of the digital communication age. From reviews to news and industry announcements.

With Microsoft launching its new mobile app online store it is also getting ready to let developers submit their software to the revenue sharing venture. Microsoft is set to charge a $99 registration fee and $99 per application submitted to the online store and it will give those programmers an additional 7 day grace period to offer updates or patchesof charge. After the 7 days developers will gave to reapply and pay again. This is bad news for developers but good news for consumers as this should lead to less buggy software and higher quality apps. For a limited time to promote the new marketplace Microsoft will include 5app submittions with its $99 registration.

First there was Apple and now Microsoft and Nokia. Samsung is getting there and now Blackberry is set to join in on the lucrative mobile app market. With sales to hit $100 million in the near future its no wonder all the mobile giants want their fair share. Blackberry’s online is set to go online April 1 at the CTIA Wireless trade show in Las Vegas. It is expected that CEO Mike Lazaridis will include the launch in his keynote address. It is believed that apps will start at $2.99 each but there are going to be a fewbies to whet your appetite. Stay tuned for April 1st and the keynote address.

The king of searches Google, has made surfing for photos on your mobile phone that mush more fun. They have upgraded the searching software for the iPhone and iPod Touch and it is an upgraded that has been received with great delight. Users of the Apple mobile devices will now be treated to a much simpler and easier to navigate design. Upto 20 photos will be displayed on your mobile and each thumbnail will be click able for a full size screen view. Users are also able to use search filter much like its web interface. Choose between faces, clip art, line drawings, and photo content for your search to display. You will also be able to set your safe search settings on the new Google image search.

It seems that there are photos of the new Windows Mobile 7 circulating around the Internet. Its not yet known if they are the real deal or just elaborate fakes. The thing with the programming of any new software is that the graphical user interface is usually done last. That means that all the pretty navigation and icon design is the last thing to come. It would seem odd that this a real version of Windows Mobile 7 since the actual release date is still a year away. It could be some conceptual art done to keep the team focused but its still nice to think about which directions Microsoft is heading down the road. Take a look and decide for yourself.

Over 20 million people have jumped on board with Norway’s Opera Mini web browser for the mobile phone. Russia and the CIS are the where most of the users are coming from and that part of the world is seeing 160% in growth since this time last year. Not only are more people witching to the Java based Opera mini browser but those users are using it more than ever. There has been a 290% increase in use of the browser to over 7.3 billion page views. Most of this growth is coming from Europe with the US still not yet catching on.

The latest statistics are showing that smart phones are taking over the personal electronics market. The newest phones do a good job of replacing MP3 players, GPS and now with these phones regularly having 5 mega pixel and up cameras they are replacing those too. Videos are getting better and better with some mobile phones even supporting Divx and Xvid. Its no surprise that smart phone sales are increasing by 50% next year. The rest of the industry is set to take a hit with media players dropping 6.2%, Digital cameras falling 8.6% and GPS only rising 15% compared to last years 73% growth.

Nokia is getting amped up to launch its application store. Plans laid out during the Forum Nokia Code Camp in Jakarta have Nokia set to launch their Ovi store in May. There are still some glitches to be worked out as they work out a payment plan with their carriers i world wide. It seems that Nokia wants to allow carriers to just add the cost of applications to the users cell phone bill while it has been shown that users want thedom to pay using their credit cards on the spot. These seem to be big issues but ultimately ones that can be resolved quickly and in time for their May opening.

Market research company In-Stat has released that mobile application sales will quadruple to more than $100 million in sales by the year 2013. Smart phone applications are already being offered by iPhone, Google and Palm and there are no signs of any of them stopping. There have been numerous announcements from other cell phone giants that are entering this market which coupled with increasing smart phone market share will certainly drive sales up and up. Apple and its iPhone are said to remain the market leaders as its popularity continues to rise.

If you surf over to Verizon’s online shop you will find that the Nokia 7205 Intrigue is now available for purchase. This phone has been long awaited and is now ready. The 7205 is sleek and stylish featuring Matrix like looks. The flip phone design has a big PMOLED display on the back as well as all your music controls. The phone will only cost you $180 USD with a 2 yr deal from Verizon and comes with a 2 megapixel camera and your choice of pink or sliver keypads.

Opera has issues a press release that it will not be announcing any new US Carrier partnerships for their mobile OS in April as has been rumoured by Forbes. Forbes had reported sometime ago that Opera might be partnering up with carriers for there Opera Mini software for wireless devices and that it was expecting a public announcement at the CTIA Wireless conference. This will not be the case at least for now.