While technology enthusiasts look forward to a number of high-end smartphone announcements vendors are preparing for Mobile World Congress next month, 2012 will see entry-level smartphones become more popular than ever. Market research firm Deloitte estimates that the number of sub-$100 smartphones in use globally will surpass 500 million this year, and by the end of 2012 there will be 200 million NFC-equipped devices in the hands of consumers. The firm also sees apps continuing to play a huge role in the mob...

Arguments have been made that web apps will gain momentum as mobile browsers become more capable, but not everyone sees mobile apps losing momentum any time soon. A new report from Berg Insights suggests that mobile app downloads will continue growing at a compound annual rate of 56.6% between last year and 2015, when nearly 1 trillion apps will be downloaded globally. ”Even though the download numbers will increase during the forecast period, most apps are free to download and app monetisation will be...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration may soon approve or reject mobile health applications. The government agency said on Wednesday that it is proposing to oversee the applications in an effort to ensure the apps perform as advertised and aren’t actually hurting users. “There are advantages to using medical apps, but consumers and health care professionals should have a balanced awareness of the benefits and risks,” FDA policy advisor Bakul Patel said. The administration hopes to approve and reject...

We now spend more time using mobile apps than on the Internet, according to a new research report from Flurry. The firm, which pulls its data from more than 85,000 applications, noted that in June 2011 the average person spent 81 minutes using mobile applications each day and just 74 minutes surfing the web. That’s up from December, when the firm found that users spent more time surfing the web (70 minutes) than using mobile apps (66 minutes). More surprisingly, it’s a 91% jump from last year when...

If there’s one thing the world needs right now, there’s no doubt in our minds it’s another on-device application store. Lucky for us, LG seems to agree. The electronics giant has launched its mobile app store in Asia and is setting its sights on going global (Europe and South America, no US yet) by the end of 2009. The creatively named “LG Application Store” will see 1,400 applications right out the gate –  quite impressive for an app store at launch — with about 100...