Monday Mobile Roundup: Mobile Job Growth, Smartphone Tech, Tablet Declines & More

Mobile Jobs Grow -- Based on a report from Freelancer.com, it looks like mobile jobs are growing despite the rest of the economy. Android developers, in Q2, grew 20 percent to 1,702 employed, iPhone rose 9 percent, iPad just over 10 percent, and BlackBerry rose about 5 percent. [image via VentureBeat] How Apple & Microsoft Collaborated to Keep Mobile Patent Trove Out of Google's Hands: TechCrunch's MG Siegler argues that Android isn't a truly free OS given patent licensing fees handset makers have to pay Microsoft. And the Seattle tech giant, whose own Windows Phone 7 is lagging, may have co-conspired with its longtime rival Apple, to keep a multibillion dollar trove of patents out of Google's hands. Riptide Games & Projkt Nine Form Riptide Games Corp. -- More companies are getting into the mobile gaming space, as Denver-based Riptide Games and Canadian firm, Projkt Nine have announced a merger to form Riptide Games Corp. With the merger, the company will continue to develop for the iOS and is planning to expand into Android. The two companies have worked together for the last year on projects such as My Pet Zombie. Samsung Mobile CTO Steps Down -- According to TDG, the man behind the Samsung Galaxy Tab and Galaxy S, Omar Khan, is leaving Samsung Mobile as its CTO and moving to Citigroup to focus on its global digital banking efforts. He is set to be replaced by Nick Dicarlo and Gavin Kim. Philadelphia Newspapers Sell Android Tablets -- Adweek has highlighted an interesting attempt for newspapers to breach the digital market. Two Philadelphia newspapers published by Philadelphia Media Network -- the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News -- will sell Android tablets with subscriptions to the papers. Both will be discounted up to 50 percent. HistoryPin's Android App Shows What Happened Around You in The Past: Starting with the Android platform, the free app will let users browse old photos from historic collections based on their location. Smartphones Used to Detect Cataracts -- More interesting smartphone usage as researchers at MIT have created a medical addon for smartphones (an iPhone appears to have been used) to detect cataracts. According to Tuaw, the "CATRA system" is a device that attaches to the front of the phone and utilizes screen output to test for cataracts in the user's eyes. A video on the system can be found here. iPhone Market Declines in Several European Markets -- New metrics are being reported from research firm Kantar Worldpanel ComTech on the smartphone OS market share. According to the report, Apple has shown decline in several European countries (it has grown in the US, Australia, and Italy, however), but the most significant drop stemmed from the UK where iOS now holds 18.3 percent, in Q2, of the smartphone market. This is down from 30.6 percent.

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Monday Mobile Roundup: Mobile Job Growth, Smartphone Tech, Tablet Declines & More

Christopher Mack

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Christopher Mack