As must-have mobile apps go, Pandora ranks high on the books -- with the proliferation of 3G and WiFi, it comes dangerously close to obsoleting the need to carry around your own 8, 16, or 32GB worth of tracks -- and another big-ticket platform has now joined the compatibility short list. This time around it's Android that's getting hooked up, offering a home screen widget and background playback (we'd expect no less on Android) over whatever type of network connection you've got handy. Using Wham! as a station seed is still indefensible, but we'd say the argument for scooping up a G1, myTouch 3G, or Sprint Hero (when it's available, anyhow) just got a bit stronger.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Evidence suggests that the Android Market has a long way to go to be a profitable enterprise for would-be developers, but the good news is that Google seems to understand -- and they're doing something about it. Those in-the-wild shots of a totally rethought interface have turned out to be legit, being made official today by Android's official dev site; the beautified UI itself isn't really anything to write home about, but what makes it all worthwhile is the addition of screenshots and improvements to descriptions that should do a much better job of letting users know what they're getting for their hard-earned cash. Otherwise, there are a few new app categories and Italian support, all of which should bow with the release of Android 1.6 Donut. Sholes, Morrison, you fellas can't come soon enough. Follow the break for official video of the new Market in action.

[Via Phandroid]

Android's had a generally black-dominated UI theme since its initial launch -- we'd even go so far to say that it's become one of the platform's trademarks -- but is it all about to go away? A tipster to CNET has sent in a couple shots of what appears to be a totally revamped Market that has apparently made appearances both on Donut and on the allegedly Eclair-equipped Motorola Sholes, possibly portending a more wide-reaching interface shift to brighter, more colorful controls and elements. Outside of the facelift there's no word on any actual new functionality here, so... you know, hang onto your G1 for dear life if you're digging the dark Market.

[Thanks, z.kalach]

For every rags-to-riches story in Apple's App Store, every amazing tale of Joe Coder in his basement turning a dead-simple idea into a few thousand dollars a day, there are... well, zero in the Android Market. At least, that's the impression we're getting by digging into revenue stats published this week by mobile game house Larva Labs, lamenting the stark disparity in the economics between the two mobile distribution platforms. Despite having two apps prominently featured on the Market's home screen and racking up sales rankings of 5 and 12 overall, Larva Labs' $4.99 RetroDefense and Battle for Mars games are grossing between about $30 and $110 a day for the company -- with a scant $62 average. As they wryly note, it's "very difficult to buy the summer home at this rate." Sure, granted, there's plenty of garbage in the hopelessly overcrowded App Store -- stuff that'll never earn a dime -- but what's a little shocking here is that both of these apps are Android Market superstars and they're still not able to cover the rent.

The problem is twofold: first, the target audience is smaller. Android simply hasn't achieved the global market penetration that the iPhone has -- at least, not yet. Globally, Android sales to consumers have totaled in the seven figures -- 5 million might be a reasonable guess -- whereas Apple's pushed another order of magnitude worth of devices, something on the order of 25 million iPhones, and if you tack on the iPod touch (which you should for the purpose of running these numbers) you're totaling over 30 million. Second, Larva Labs mentions a number of systematic problems with the Market -- teething problems that Google's yet to address -- including a lack of screenshots in app descriptions, a dearth of payment methods, the seemingly preferential treatment free apps receive, and a litany of miscellaneous bugs and issues (Android owners will fondly recall the inability to find updated apps a couple months back, for instance).

And now the million-dollar question, if you'll forgive our pun: will the Market get to the point where it's a logical business proposition for devs? In all likelihood, yes -- but it's going to take plenty of additional commitment from manufacturers, carriers, and Google itself to make the place a friendly joint for buyers and sellers alike. In the meantime, thanks to the wonders of modern capitalism, Android's app variety is fated to place a distant second, third, or fourth.

[Via Daring Fireball]

According to folks over at Android Community, Google has begun to pull tethering applications from the G1's Market. One of the contributors to the "WiFi Tether for Root Users" app claims that the company is citing distribution agreements with carriers as the cause of the takedowns. In their words:

Google enters into distribution agreements with device manufacturers and Authorized Carriers to place the Market software client application for the Market on Devices. These distribution agreements may require the involuntary removal of Products in violation of the Device manufacturer's or Authorized Carrier's terms of service" Google Developer Distribution Agreement

Of course, this should come as quite a surprise, given statements T-Mobile's Cole Brodman made to us during the G1 launch last year, and Google's seemingly rampant interest in being the de facto open source mobile OS. It's not clear at this point if this is an isolated incident (possibly related to the root nature of the app), or just the beginning of a more widespread move. Google (and T-Mobile to some extent) -- we await your response.

[Thanks, Chris]

Echoing sentiments 'round the globe is Samsung, who evidently understands that Q4 and beyond will be much tougher for handset makers than in quarters past. According to spokesman James Chung, "the actual global market growth on a unit basis could come short of [Samsung's] initial forecast for 9% growth (in 2008)," and "as for next year, it is possible that the market could post a single-digit or even negative growth." Of course, it's not like any other cellphone maker has it too much easier, but for folks wondering if Sammy had some kind of magical elixir for generating positive numbers, we hate to say it doesn't.

[Via RCRWireless]

Sprint's year just keeps getting worse. After losing over 900,000 customers last quarter while posting a $344 million loss, the company insistent on advertising with faux soap operas and in black and white (and yellow) is hanging its head once more. During Q3, the carrier saw 1.3 million net subscribers head for the exits, and it also reported a loss of $326 million. According to CEO Dan Hesse, Sprint "has yet to turn the corner," warning that the process of turning things around would be gradual. Moving forward, the company expects gross additions to "stabilize," while the turnover rate is apt to remain at around 2.15%. In related news, the provider's stock price has sunk around 60% in the past six months, and while that's surely bad news to shareholders, not many other mega-corps out there are doing tremendously better.

[Via The New York Times]

Prior to the G1's stealth launch, Google's on-device Android Market was a busy place, teeming with some 50-plus apps seemingly ready to win the hearts and minds of early adopters anxious to outfit their G1s with... oh, you know, simple pleasures like a video player or the ability to change the UI's font size. We guess that wasn't part of Mountain View's strategy, though, with all but 13 applications having been removed today -- presumably a knee-jerk response to the knowledge that phones were starting to make their way into paying customers' hands. Truth be told, this was probably the plan all along; the Market had gotten a little dirty from both developer and Google testing, and we're figuring they were just looking to tidy things up a bit to make it presentable on launch day before it got nasty dirty with a flood of developers outside the confines of Google's own Android Developer Challenge. Either that, or there's some deep, dark conspiracy lurking involving the unceremonious removal of any content that upsets Schmidt, Brin, or Page.

Update: We're hearing this is all due to an update to the Market -- older apps that haven't been updated to meet the Market's specs aren't available at the moment. Thanks, everyone!

Sony Ericsson warned the world just over a fortnight ago that things wouldn't be too rosy when it came time to announce Q2 results, and rosy things are not. Even though the handset maker was hoping and praying to break even at the end of the quarter, net profits ended up falling through the floor to the tune of 97%. As predicted, weak sales of mid-to-high-end mobiles were blamed for the bulk of the bad news, and it did affirm that conditions would remain rough for the rest of the year. Granted, the looming launch of the Xperia X1 should help matters a bit, but without a new stable of low-end cellies to send to emerging markets, it'll be a long road back to the top. Unfortunately, SE's sagging position in the market has left it slashing 2,000 jobs across the globe, though it didn't say exactly where the cuts would be made. It's okay SE, there's only one place to go when you're laying on the bottom... or something like that.

[Image courtesy of Flickr]

Read - Sony Ericsson's Q2 earnings
Read - Sony Ericsson plans job cuts

It looks like the competition in the luxury phone market is heating up, as folks still trying to choose between Gresso, Vertu, GoldVish, the D&G RAZR, or the ridiculously pricey Black Diamond could see one more alternative in addition to the recently-unveiled LG Prada. According to Sybarites, Tag Heuer -- the folks responsible for Jeff Gordon and Tiger Woods' sumptuous wristwatches -- is teaming up with ModeLabs to introduce "a completely new phone" for deep-pocketed talkers. While details (including a sneak peek) are scant, the phone is "expected to be made of stainless steel and have many similarities to Tag watches," but it seems we'll just have to wait this one out before making any other far-reaching predictions.

[Thanks, James]

Who knew going back to segmented displays on handsets was such a good idea? No, seriously -- check out the picture, it looks pretty nifty in the flesh. Mobile Burn was equally impressed in their up-close-and-personal look at Moto's MOTOFONE F3, their newest low-cost handset for emerging markets, saying that the screen actually reminded them a lot of an Etch-a-Sketch. With a large text readout and voice prompting, they were equally impressed with the phone's foolproof simplicity, suggesting this might be a great device for the very young and old in, uh, emerged markets as well. We'll reserve final judgment for when we can get our hands on an F3 ourselves, but we'd like to cautiously offer Moto congratulations for getting us unusually worked up over an extremely simple phone.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]