AI & Cloud

HTC is to launch its Gratia smartphone in Europe from next month

Verizon Wireless, the largest US operator, is to offer Android devices with the hugely popular Kindle e-reader service pre-loaded as a free app. First to offer Amazon’s app will be the Samsung Fascinate and Motorola’s Droid 2 and Droid X. More devices will follow.

CNET reports that Amazon has updated its iOS mobile app to include a barcode scanner feature, so that customers can scan the code on a product using the integrated camera, and then use this to search against the online retailer’s database.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Google is “pushing to become a significant player in India’s huge wireless industry,” working with a number of the country’s local handset manufacturers to launch low-cost Android-powered devices in the coming months.

Microsoft held launch events globally to unveil the first devices to use its Windows Phone 7 (WP7) platform, debuting nine devices from HTC, Samsung, LG and Dell. Handsets will be available from more than 60 operators in 30 countries worldwide, although the full portfolio will not be available in all markets, and some operators will also have exclusivity on certain devices.

Speculation is heightening that Amazon is poised to launch an Android-based apps store, with US media reporting that the Internet retail giant is already in talks with potential developers.

Intel has said that the first smartphones powered by the MeeGo device platform it is jointly supporting with Nokia “won’t debut until next year,” Forbes reports.