Nokia, the world's largest handset maker, has agreed to buy privately held mobile browser company Novarra to improve Web surfing on a wide range of its low-end and mid-range phones.

The Espoo, Finland-based company said it will use the new browser to beef up its Series 40 platform and offer a new Internet service later this year.

Consumers have long used their handsets to access the Internet, but mobile Web browsing only became mainstream when Apple introduced the iPhone in 2007. Since then, usage has increasingly spread from smartphones to more basic devices and is set to surge in 2010 and beyond.

"Connecting the next billion consumers to the Internet will happen primarily on mobile devices," said Niklas Savander, the head of Nokia's services business.

Top handset makers have been scrambling to match the iPhone's browsing capabilities by buying or building their own software.

Novarra's competitors, including its larger rival Opera Software, offer browser technology that packages downloaded data to weigh less on congested wireless networks, and have started to refocus their strategies to sell browsers to operators to gain access to global distribution.

Nokia did not disclose the terms of the deal for the Chicago-based company which employs more than 100 staff.

A legal battle from Apple hasn't dampened interest among handset makers for Google's Android operating system, as executives uniformly say that they will proceed with plans to develop new phones based on the Internet search giant's software.


In fact, the two most popular devices unveiled at the CTIA show last week -- Sprint's fourth-generation Evo, made by HTC, and Samsung's Galaxy S -- both run on the Google's mobile platform.

Earlier this month, Apple filed a series of patent-infringement suits against HTC, maker of Google's Nexus One, claiming infringement on 20 patents covering elements of its user interface, internal architecture and hardware.

HTC has denied the charges and is preparing its defense -- citing its own record of innovations -- as evidence against the accusations.

The Taiwan-based company said its relationship with Google remains strong and it expects support from the search giant. "Nothing has changed," said Peter Chou, HTC's chief executive. "We're confident in our position."

Apple's assault is seen by analysts as having a broader scope than just HTC, and an attack by proxy on the Internet giant, underscoring the competitive landscape facing phone makers, both in store shelves and in the courtroom.

Friction between Google and Apple has mounted as the two Silicon Valley juggernauts both expand in the smartphone market. Google sees mobile devices as a key battleground to keep its lead in Internet search, while Apple wants to maintain its growth in the sector, fueled by the popularity of its iPhone.

But manufacturers now risk getting caught in the middle.

Sony Ericsson, which makes Android phones, said it hasn't changed plans and will continue to develop more smartphones that embrace the Google software. "It hasn't given us any reason to change our strategy," said Steve Walker, Sony Ericsson's vice president of handset portfolio.

LG, another Google supporter, said it is following the Apple-HTC dispute closely, and that it was too early to change business plans as a result. "At this stage, it's not affecting our business," said Ehtisham Rabbani, LG's vice president of marketing.

Earlier this week, Google made good on its promise to stop censoring its search results in China, causing additional worries for handset makers who use the Internet search giant's software. But companies are working their way around the problem. For instance, Motorola said its Android devices in China would be switched from Google to Baidu.

Some analysts have suggested that Google's troubles could be an opportunity for rivals like Microsoft to win back market share. But the momentum doesn't appear to be swinging in the software maker's favor. "We're not putting too many chips on that one," said Robert Dotson, T-Mobile's chief executive.

Regardless, insiders don't expect Apple's lawsuit to have much of an effect on an industry where such legal disputes are part of the ordinary course of business.

High profits have drawn various players to take their own patents disputes to court -- such as Motorola against BlackBerry maker Research in Motion, Apple against Nokia, Nokia against Apple, Nokia against Qualcomm and most recently camera maker Kodak against Apple and RIM.

Earlier this month, Google released new versions of the Nexus One that runs on the 3G networks of AT&T and Sprint. A version for Verizon also planned for release later this year.

Microsoft plans to introduce its long-awaited "Project Pink" phones, a new line of handsets with social-networking capabilities aimed at young consumers, early next week and to be released for Verizon this summer.

The Redmond, Wash.-based company sent invitations to media to attend an event in San Francisco on April 12 bearing the slogan, "It's time to share," but declined to comment further.

People familiar with the matter said it would be to introduce new phones, based on a Microsoft project codenamed "Pink," that will be released for Verizon later this month.

The new devices don't seem to be the main part of the software giant's push to turn around its struggling handset strategy, which is centered on the redesign of its Windows Mobile software. But the move is the latest sign that it is getting more deeply involved in the hardware side of the business.

Microsoft designed the hardware, software and online services for the Pink phones, while Japanese electronics giant Sharp is manufacturing the products.

The partnership is similar to the one the company had with Danger, a start-up it bought in 2008, that designed the Sidekick and later worked on the Pink project.

Still, Microsoft stopped short of being directly involved, as rivals Apple and Google did with the iPhone and Nexus One, both selling their products on their own Web sites.

Instead, the company has decided to work more closely with carriers to bring the Pink phones to consumers.

In February, the embattled company released its Windows Mobile 7 software, which is the central part of its turnaround efforts to win back market share.

Microsoft has been losing market share in the U.S. smartphone market. From November to February, the beleaguered company dropped 4 percent to hold a 15.1 percent share of the market. Ahead of it, Apple has 25.4 percent, Research in Motion has 42.1 percent and Google has 9 percent, according to research firm comScore.

Apple plans to announce its new iPhone 4.0 mobile operating system later this week, as the tech giant gears up for its next push to gain market share in the competitive smartphone industry.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based company sent invitations to media to attend an event at its headquarters this Thursday saying, "Get a sneak peek into the future of iPhone OS."

Apple's unveiling of its new iPhone platform comes on the heels of the launch of its iPad tablet computer. The company has been developing two versions of the new iPhone -- one for Verizon as well as AT&T -- rumored to be called the iPhone HD.

Both devices will feature an A4-class chip, a 960 by 640 pixel touch screen display, a front-facing camera and run iPhone OS 4.0 software with third-party multitasking and be available in the summer.

So, what features are “new”?

Well, first up is, surprise surprise, multitasking. After years of telling people they didn’t need multitasking, Apple have now said multitasking makes the phone better. Granted, to be fair and unbiased (yeah right, when has that ever happened?), they’ve said that they’ve reinvented how multitasking works, in a way that won’t drain the battery of the phone. Here’s the thing though: it’s still not actually true multitasking. It’s multitasking, as interpreted by Apple, because it seems as if it will only let certain things run in the background. Like audio, location services, and VoIP. And since Steve Jobs is so vehemently against even the concept of a task manager (seriously, he said as much in the Q&A), and that he said users won’t need to bother about closing apps, it increasingly seems like Apple don’t trust people to be able to do anything beyond ‘press button to receive a food pellet’.

Next new feature: Folders. Yes, Apple made a big deal about being able to put apps on the homescreen in folders. It’d be childish to mention that Android has been doing that since day one, so I’ll mention that Android has been doing that since day one.

Next up, email, but since all they’ve done is given the OS a unified inbox and made it easier to manage threaded conversations, we’ll not dwell on it. So, next up, business tools. Yes, Apple have added a new suite of tools aimed specifically at attracting business users, including wireless app distribution (so a company can send out new apps to its employees), better data encryption and protection, and multiple Exchange email accounts.

Next, iBooks. E-book reader. Same as on the iPad. Bit dull.

Next, and this one’s a good one (for mocking purposes): Apple copy Microsoft with their Games Center! Yup, it’s basically Xbox Live, but for the iPhone. Seriously, it’s got online multiplayer and Achievements. Hmm, they must be feeling threatened by Windows Phone 7. Oh and I had to laugh at the figures they put up, saying there were 50,700 games and entertainment titles available for the iPhone, and only 4,321 available for the Nintendo DS. I had to giggle at the fact Apple neglected to mention two facts: 1/ How many of those 50k titles are fart apps? 2/ Up to September 2009, roughly 34 million iPhones had been sold. Up to December 2009, 125 million Nintendo DS consoles had been sold…

Anyway, moving on to the bit I love: iAd. This is, basically, a way for people to serve ads directly through apps. Yes, Apple have decided to enhance users’ experiences by pushing ads at them, and no doubt, some Apple fans will swallow that up, and agree that absolutely the best thing for them is for Apple, their kind and just masters, to throw ads at them. On their own phone.

Honestly, it’s depressing, it really is, how people will believe these things to be benefits. Sure, multitasking is a benefit, but it comes with Apple controlling the strings, and Apple will always only have Apple’s best interests at heart. God forbid anyone would want to do something with their phone, other than what Apple tell them to do, right?

Anyway, I’ll end on two bits of the presentation I found particularly amusing, both from the Q&A. The first was Steve Jobs, when asked about running unsigned apps on the iPhone, said that Android has an adult store, before saying, essentially, “WON’T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN??” Puritanism rules!

Oh, and the second was Steve Jobs saying “We shipped on Saturday, and rested on Sunday.”

If that isn’t proof positive that Jobs has a god complex, I don’t know what is…

India is holding an online auction of 3G spectrum on Friday, to be followed two days after the auction is complete by the auction of spectrum for broadband wireless access (BWA).

This is the first time India is auctioning spectrum for mobile services. For second-generation mobile services, the government allotted licenses and spectrum on a "first-come-first-served" basis at a fixed price.

That procedure is currently under investigation by the country's Central Bureau of Investigation, as it is alleged that the Department of Telecommunications (DOT) offered the licenses at very low prices, and arbitrarily stopped issuing new licenses.

Both the 3G and BWA auctions, originally scheduled for January last year, were postponed three times for a variety of reasons, including a delay by India's defense ministry in releasing spectrum for civil use.

The government hopes to raise about US$8 billion from the 3G and BWA auctions. The spectrum will be released to winning bidders by September.

The auction for 3G spectrum will have nine bidders, but has drawn interest only from existing mobile operators in the country, according to data on applicants released by DOT.

Current players have already invested in the market, and on infrastructure, and will sell 3G services to their large customer base, said Kamlesh Bhatia , a principal research analyst at Gartner. New entrants may prefer to acquire operators later, rather than invest now in licenses, infrastructure and acquiring customers, he added.

Among the bidders for the 3G auction are Vodafone Essar, the Indian joint venture of Vodafone, and Bharti Airtel, the country's largest mobile services provider.

Six operators -- Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Vodafone Essar, Tata Teleservices, Idea Cellular and Aircel -- are bidding for spectrum in all 22 service areas in the country. Three other bidders will bid only on select areas.

For 3G services, the government has decided to auction three blocks of 5MHz of paired spectrum in the 2.1GHz band in 17 of the country's 22 service areas, with four blocks up for bidding in the remaining five service areas.