Rumors surfaced this week concerning Microsoft’s upcoming mobile operating system, Windows Phone 8.  The rumors come from a leaked video featuring Joe Belfiore, a Microsoft senior vice president and manager of the Windows Phone project, and include a few obvious features as well as a particularly intriguing new initiative for Microsoft’s mobile phone division.

Most of the updates focus on scalability and versatility. For example, WP8 (codenamed “Apollo”) will support multicore processors, multiple screen resolutions, removable storage via MicroSD cards, and support for NFC radios. These changes seem to serve mostly as a catch-up measure to iOS and Android devices, which have historically beat Windows Phone in side-by-side hardware comparisons.

Data consumption seems to be another major component of Apollo. A feature called DataSmart will provide a breakdown of data usage, and will attempt to reduce consumption by giving Wi-Fi connections precedence and routing Internet Explorer web page requests through a proxy server for compression, which Belfiore claims could reduce data usage by 30%.

The most interesting detail from the leaked video is that Microsoft plans to unify Windows Phone 8 and the desktop version of Windows 8, going as far as to share a kernel, networking stacks, and security features such as BitLocker encryption. The goal of this unification is to allow developers to reuse large portions of their code between mobile and desktop versions of their software. Microsoft also intends to create a new, dedicated desktop application for syncing a WP8 device, dropping support for the Zune application and addressing a major complaint from users of the platform.

This move to unify the desktop and mobile versions of Windows could prove to be lucrative for Microsoft—if developers are able to easily port their apps to run on PCs, tablets and smartphones, they may flock to the Windows ecosystem to get the most exposure for their products. Since the Windows Phone ecosystem current trails Android and iOS in app selection by a factor of ten, this unification could boost WP device sales significantly.

Although Microsoft has traditionally lagged behind Apple and Google in the mobile phone sector, Windows Phone 8 may give the platform a much-needed advantage over its competition. We believe WP8 will be released sometime in mid-2012.

Although Samsung has chosen to hold off on unveiling the Galaxy S III at the Mobile World Congress event this month, it looks like there may be some exciting news from the mobile phone giant after all. Here’s what we think might be happening:

Galaxy Nexus: The popular Galaxy Nexus might be receiving a slight upgrade. Rumors include a CPU bump to 1.5GHz (from 1.2GHz in the current model) and an increase in camera resolution to 8MP.

Galaxy S II Plus: The Galaxy S II may also get some attention in the form of a faster and slightly improved version known as the Galaxy S II Plus. It’s rumored to have a dual-core 1.5GHz processor and a 4.5” Super AMOLED Plus display, in contrast to the Galaxy S II’s dual-core 1GHz CPU and 4.3” screen.

Tablets: Reports have surfaced that two as-of-yet unannounced Samsung tablets have recently received Wi-Fi certification. One of these may also include a quad-core CPU, which would certainly be a step up for a mobile device.

These updates sound intriguing, although they are of course rumors and are wholly unsubstantiated by Samsung. The next few months could prove to be interesting for the company, especially with the recent news of Apple losing their bid to ban the Galaxy Tab 10.1N and Galaxy Nexus in Germany. We’ll definitely be watching Samsung’s presentation at the Mobile World Congress event later this month closely.

Security software company Symantec reports that 13 Android apps, including several listed in the official Android Market, contain what could be considered to be malware.

The malware in question is called “Android.Counterclank”, and Symantec claims it to be capable of harvesting user information and making unauthorized changes to a user’s Android device, such as adding bookmarks to the web browser. Users of the apps in question reported having a new search icon randomly added to their device’s home screen that displayed a page very similar to the Google search page when opened.

There is some disagreement as to whether or not Android.Counterclank should be classified as malware. Free, ad-supported apps are far from unusual in the Android Market, and ad networks are notorious for toeing the line between permissible advertising and invasion of user privacy. Lookout Security, which focuses on Android security issues, believes Symantec’s accusation to be overblown and stated that Counterclank’s behavior is mirrored by as many as 10 competing ad networks.

Here is a list of apps containing the Counterclank software:

• Counter Elite Force
• Counter Strike Ground Force
• CounterStrike Hit Enemy
• Heart Live Wallpaper
• Hit Counter Terrorist
• Stripper Touch girl
• Balloon Game
• Deal & Be Millionaire
• Wild Man
• Pretty women lingerie puzzle
• Sexy Girls Photo Game
• Sexy Girls Puzzle
• Sexy Women Puzzle

Although Android.Counterclank may turn out to not be especially damaging, it serves as a reminder to be aware of what you choose to download on your smartphone or tablet. And be honest with yourself: is “Sexy Women Puzzle” really worth having if it comes with free malware?

Reports have surfaced indicated that Foxconn, Apple’s manufacturing partner largely responsible for building its iPhones and iPads, have begun manufacturing a next generation iPad.

Those same reports corroborate earlier rumors suggesting that the device will include a high definition retina display and a faster processor. The processor will reportedly be a quad core. The Apple A5 incorporates the Cortex A9 processor by ARM. To facilitate a quad-core architecture, the Apple A6 will need to leverage a modified Cortex A9, or perhaps an A15. Little more than speculation exists over what the actual clock speed of the cores will be.

The report also adds that the new tablet will offer 4G LTE connectivity. Currently Apple sell two different classes of iPads: those including only WiFi as a means of internet access, and those which offer WiFi and 3G connectivity. It is presumed that this scheme will continue to hold with WiFi + 4G LTE replacing the WiFi + 3G model.

iPad 3 is also said to bring higher performance graphics processing. The iPad 2, released last March, boasted graphics capabilities 9x more powerful than the original iPad of 2010.

Finally, the new model is expected to be slightly thicker than its predecessor. This is due to the higher pixel density of the retina display and the need for an additional backlight, and more powerful battery to sustain it.

Amazon’s highly competitive, $199 tablet / e-reader Kindle Fire has only been available for a few months and already users are speculating about its successor. 

The Kindle Fire is the first of Amazon’s Kindle product line to feature a full-featured implementation of Google’s Android OS as well as a full color touchscreen. It sells for an astonishingly competitive price of $199 USD. And for that not-so-hefty chunk of change, you get a decent set of hardware.  The current model clocks in at 1GHz via the very power efficient TI OMAP 4 processor, and the 512 MB of RAM put it right on par with some of the higher end tablets. All this leads the curious consumer to wonder, “How much more can we expect from the ‘budget’ tablet computer?”

A similar entry into this market is, of course, the Nook Tablet by Barnes & Noble, the successor to its decently successful Nook Color. The Nook Tablet uses the same processor as the Kindle Fire, has a comparable screen and form factor, comes equipped with twice the internal storage (16 GB), and can be expanded even further (the Kindle Fire has no expansion capabilities) and costs only $49 USD more.

Prior to the introduction of these two devices, the best tablet experience users could be offered in this price range were often poorly made Chinese knockoffs; Things like the ePad which featured grossly underpowered and obscure processors, very little RAM, and unresponsive, resistive touch panels. So, given this evolution of the budget tablet market, what can we expect to see in the Kindle Fire 2?

The future.

One of the biggest problems users of the Kindle Fire have reported has been the speakers. Despite being among the few tablets to have stereo speakers, at times the sound coming from the Fire is almost inaudible. With the thicker than average girth of the device, users can certainly expect to see some improvements in this area.

Just recently, Amazon released a software update to address some issues users were experiencing with the user interface. Reportedly, those with “fat fingers” found navigating the heavily modified interface Amazon placed on top of the standard Android interface somewhat difficult. Users can expect that future software revisions will further improve the user experience and continue to correct bugs.

The Kindle Fire is one of the few tablets to be comfortable seated in the increasingly popular 7″ tablet market. The “big players” like the iPad, Xoom, and Transformer all play on the 10″+ field. It is conceivable, given how much Amazon has begun pushing its digital media delivery services, that a larger Kindle tablet may show up to either replace, or to complement the existing 7″ model.

Finally, the most painfully obvious inclusion we will undoubtedly see in future revisions is increased storage options. Currently, the Fire houses just 8GB of internal flash storage (only 6GB available to the user) which, when compared to the other similarly priced options, is inexcusably small. Additionally, Amazon, certainly in order to keep costs down, did not include any way to expand that storage further by way of a microSD card slot. In order to remain competitive at all, Amazon certainly must either include a substantially increased amount of on-board storage, or provide a external media expansion slot.

With your powers combined!

The naming for Amazon’s Kindle Fire going forward has also lead to some creative debating. Apple have their many cats (Lion, Leopard, Tiger, Panther, etc.), Google have their desserts (Cupcake, Donut Froyo, Gingerbread, etc.), Microsoft has their… indecisive naming scheme. And now, apparently, Amazon has adopted an elemental naming scheme. Will the next version of the Kindle Fire be the Kindle Fire 2? Or will it be the Kindle Water? Earth? Wind? Water? Heart (for some reason)? And is this all a build up to a iPad-killing Kindle Planet?

Despite the Droid 3 by Motorola being released just last July, the Droid 4 has already made an appearance at CES to take its place.

The most immediate improvement over its predecessor is the inclusion of 4G LTE network support on Verizon USA. Droid 4 still sports a 4 inch QVGA display which presumably still maintains the less popular pentile sub-pixel arrangement found on the Droid 3 and most AMOLED displays. Increased from the Droid 3′s 1GHz dual-core processor, the new handset will feature a 1.2 GHz dual-core TI OMAP processor. Additionally, the Droid 4 will double the available RAM of the Droid 3 from 512MB to 1GB. There is an 8MP camera on the rear of the phone capable of recording video in 1080 and 16 GB of built-in storage, similar to that of its predecessor.

The slide out QWERTY keyboard is, of course, the Droid’s claim to fame and has been improved upon in every revision since its introduction in 2009. The Droid 4 has a slightly improved design in the backlighting functionality. The keys are edge-lit rather than simply back lit. So, instead of the letter on the key being illuminated only, the entire key’s boarder is illuminated to aid in low-light typing. Another notable feature not found in previous Droid models is the ability to dock to a webtop laptop like the Motorola Atrix.

The Droid 4 will ship running Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread and say that an upgrade to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is inevitable. Motorola have not supplied a solid release date, but say the new handset should be available in the coming weeks.