Windows phone Nokia spell a challenge for Apple

iPhones and Android phones seem to be everywhere I look in Silicon Valley. The future is obvious, isn't it? IPhone, Android and no one else. They will form an exclusive duo in smartphones, just as Windows and Mac have in personal computers.

Make way, however, for Windows Phone. Yes, Windows Phone. Despite Microsoft's multiple, abject failures with mobile phones since 2002, many software developers and industry watchers expect Microsoft to become the second-largest smartphone player worldwide.

The evidence isn't visible today, nor will it appear anytime soon. Even at year's end, Android will have a 39.5 per cent share of smartphones worldwide, according to projections from IDC, the research firm. Symbian - used by Nokia, though it is not a major presence in the United States - would be second, at 20.9 per cent, while Apple's iOS, the software that powers the iPhone, would be third, at 15.7. Windows Phone 7 and its predecessor, Windows Mobile, would be far behind, at 5.5 per cent.

These rankings are likely to change thanks to one player, Nokia, which has seen its market share shrink in the United States. It has formed an alliance with Microsoft and will switch from Symbian to Windows Phone software on its smartphones.

As a result, according to IDC predictions for 2015, Windows Phone 7 will occupy second place, at 20.9 per cent of the market, ahead of iOS, which is projected to stay near 15 per cent. BlackBerry, then as now, would be No. 4.

Google purges tainted apps from Android phones

Google has remotely purged Android smartphones of applications tainted with malicious code that could take control of the handsets and steal information.

Mobile phone security firm LookOut said the purpose of the "DroidDream" code was to "download additional applications and install them silently as system applications on the device. "DroidDream could be considered a powerful zombie agent that can install any applications silently and execute code with root privileges at will," it said.

Google was patching the vulnerability that cyber crooks could exploit and adding measures to prevent applications containing the "malware" from getting into the Android Market of programs for mobile devices.

Google yanked the contaminated applications from the Android Market and then took the unusual step of hitting a "kill switch" that remotely removed from smartphones any of the more than 50 applications containing the dangerous code.

10 alternative applications for Android phones

As bound in open source awesomeness as Android is, using some of the default applications can be a less-than-exciting experience. The stock applications offer basic features and although they work well enough, there's always something better out there. For instance, the default Webkit-based internet browser with Android is free and fast, but it doesn't have a whole lot of interesting things to fiddle around with or anywhere close to a genre-defining feature set.
In case you're worried about experimenting, everything is reversible. If you don't like the alternative browser, email client or media player, you can always choose to uninstall and get back to the default application. So, if you wish to get more out of your Android device, a bit of an OS refresh maybe, here's a bunch of 10 alternative applications that get our recommendation.

Best Alternative Keyboard Application: SwiftKey ($3.99) 
A slightly larger and a much more useable version of the Android keyboard, SwiftKey is a decent offering that introduces a whole lot of features, including a revolutionary text prediction option. It doesn't just predict the word you're typing currently, but also uses a pre-set algorithm to guess the next word. Over time, it ‘learns’ how you write and becomes more accurate. You can try it out for a month before you buy it.

Best Alternative Email Application: K-9 Email (Free)
The default Android email client is very basic. It serves the purpose, but some complain that it feels and looks rather bland. K-9 Mail on the other hand does the job in a better way, and it allows you to customise pretty much everything according to you taste. You can edit colours and fonts, combine multiple inboxes/accounts, use various gesture options and even set individual view options for every folder.

Best Alternative MP3 Player: MortPlayer (Free)
MortPlayer is specifically made for people with enormous MP3 collections, gathered over time and put together by folders. It doesn't work by the way of tags or playlists; it just boots and loads up the content of a particular folder and plays whatever is in it. No fancy stuff. It is considered a great tool and application simply because it bridges a tiny gap.

Best Alternative IM Application: Nimbuzz(Free)
Standalone messengers are good for what they do, but what do you do when you have friends who prefer separate IM clients? You can get Nimbuzz, a cross-platform all-in-one messenger app which is regarded as the most complete and feature available in the Market. It supports the likes of Google Talk, Facebook, MySpace, Skype and many more such services. Better yet, it’s free!

Best Alternative Video Player: RockPlayer Universal ($9.99)
(Free ad supported version also available)
RockPlayer is a high-performance alternative to the stock Android Video Player, specifically optimised for mobile devices. It supports a variety of video formats such as avi, rmvb, flv, mkv, mp4, mov, wmv, asf & ts. It also features a resume feature, subtitle support and accurate audio encoding.

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