Google, Mobile Operating System | featured news

Alibaba seeks to weaken Google's dominance of the Chinese smartphone market with subsidies and other support for its rival Amos operating system. The firm has set up a one billion yuan ($162m; £105m) programme to support app developers and is offering monthly payments to handset makers for every phone using its platform they sell.

Microsoft, Oracle, Kayak and other technology and search companies in the FairSearch.org coalition have filed a complaint with the European Union over Google’s Android mobile operating system, saying that the platform gives the tech giant an unfair advantage in mobile search.

Along with a small mountain of new Nexus devices, Google announced also Android 4.2 on Monday. It's still called Jelly Bean, just like the prior version, but it's made just a little bit sweeter by the addition of new features such as Photo Sphere, Gesture Typing, multi-user support and more.

Google objected to Taiwanese PC maker Acer's development of a smartphone that is powered by a rival mobile operating system, the launch of which was delayed this week.

The latest numbers are in: Android is on top, followed by iOS in a distant second. This word comes from Gartner, a top research firm for these sorts of things. Overall, within the last quarter, Android outsold iOS devices nearly three to one while capturing 64% of the worldwide market share. Samsung was the top dog accounting for 90M handset sales.

How sweet it is! Google has given developers a taste of " target="_hplink">Android 4.1 (codenamed "Jelly Bean"), the latest update to the company's OS for mobile devices.

For two years, Apple has told the world that phones running on Google Android operating system are iPhone rip-offs. Now Apple is about to learn whether a U.S. trade agency thinks its claims have merit.

Read 'Android conquers marketshare, Apple conquers profits: Who's winning?' on Digital Trends. As Android entrenches itself as the leading smartphone platform in terms of sales, most of the smartphone money seems to be going to Apple. What matters more: money or marketshare?

Repairs to Android phones cost wireless operators billions, revealing a potential downside to the rapid expansion of Google's mobile operating system. A study by wireless services firm Wireless Dat Service, or WDS, found hardware failures are more common on Android devices than on Apple's iPhone or Research in Motion's BlackBerry.

Google Android is opening up a substantial lead over Apple and other platforms in the U.S. smartphone market, new data from ComScore suggests. In July, Android devices accounted for 41.8% of the U.S. smartphone user base, up from 36.4% three months earlier. Apple inched up to 27%, from 26%. Meanwhile, Samsung increased its lead in ...