Provided current growth rates for new app uploads are maintained, research2guidance expects Android Market to reach 425,000 apps next August, effectively overtaking App Store in size.

According to the firm, Android Market added 28,000 new apps in April 2011, whereas Apple lagged behind with only 11,000 new apps.

Gartner predicts a steady rise of the Android operating system until 2012. From then on they say the market share will stabilize at around 50%. Also they expect that Apple's iPhone OS will see a small decline. Windows Mobile will be the big winner and will have the second biggest market share in 2015.

Interesting prediction. However, who would have predicted in 2008 that Android would have 50% market share?

Word Lens can instantly translate printed words from one language to another using the video camera on your iPhone. No network delay, no roaming fees, and no reception problems.

Word Lens is a dictionary -- evolved. It looks up words for you, and shows them in context. You can use Word Lens on your vacations to translate restaurant menus, street signs, and other things that have clearly printed words.

Word Lens has its limits. Sometimes the translation will have mistakes, and may be hard to understand, but it usually gets the point across. If a translation fails, there is a way to manually look up words by typing them in. Word Lens does not read very stylized fonts, handwriting, or cursive

Mashable reports that Google is working hard on developing its own tablet pc. To do so, it is apparently teaming up with HTC again.

So far Google hasn't announced such plans publicly. Since Apple presented its iPad the tablet market has heated up. Other companies (e.g. Nokia) are developing own devices.

I believe tablets are somewhat overrated. They sure are nice gadgets and I can think of several very interesting use cases for them. However, will they really be game changers like the iPhone or the iPod? What do you think?

When companies start to imitate one another, it's usually either an extreme case of flattery—or war. In the case of Google and Apple, it's both. They are merely 10 miles apart from each other in Silicon Valley and for almost a decade the two have been on good terms. Apparently, those times are now over.

With the Nexus One, Goole enters the Hardware game - threatening Apples iPhone. Apple recently acquired Quattro Wireless - an upstart advertising company that excels at targeting ads to mobile-phone users based on their behavior. With this acquisition Apple not only aims to create completely new mobile ads, apparently, they want to make search on mobile phones obsolete. An attack directed at the heart of Google.

In the next months the Apple-Google battle might get even much rougher. What happens if Apple decides to dump Google as the default search engine on its devices? This would be an obvious move as it would cut Google off from mobile data that could be used to improve its advertising and Android technology. Nevertheless, Apple needs search on the iPhone. This could even go so far that Steve Jobs could cut a deal with - gasp! - Microsoft to make Bing Apple's engine of choice, or even launch its own search engine.

Very interesting. Let's see how this develops.

PS: In case you missed it: Check out a prediction of mobile trends until 2020 - a look into the future of mobile.