There are some wild predictions floating around about the predicted growth of Android-based mobile phone handset sales. Analysts in the industry are saying that there will be more than ten million of these handsets sold before the year is over. That’s a 900% increase! Is it possible?

It’s probably true that there will be a large increase in Android-based handset sales between this year and last year. That is because there are more companies offering these phones and the increased availability combined with the slow start of sales when the product launched could lead to a large percentage difference in sales.

But will there really be ten million handsets sold? We’re already almost halfway through the year so some major sales would have to take place in the last half of 2009 to make that happen. I’d be surprised if sales go that high but it’ll be interesting to see how close they get. There are definitely some interesting new handsets on the horizon.

Tags: android, google, mobile, phones, predictions, Technology

I’ve been eyeing the development of the Google Android-platform based phones since a few years ago when it was just rumored that there was some sort of Gphone in the works. As time has gone on, we have learned that Google didn’t create its own phone but instead created a platform which can be used to develop a phone. And now those new phones are beginning to be released to the market and I’m intrigued.

The first phone that came out was the G1, a T-mobile phone with smartphone features and a unique design that incorporates both a touchscreen keyboard and a full QWERTY keyboard. Right on the heels of that phone, the same handset maker (HTC) is about to come out with the HTC Magic. Although this phone is also an Android-based phone, the differences in the handset between this and the G1 make it possible to see how one phone platform can be implemented differently because of design.

The HTC Magic is probably only coming out in Europe although rumors indicate a version of it may reach the U.S. at some point later this year. I’m not itching for it to come here or for me to get my hands on it. However, I’m interested in continuing to watch the phones that are developed on this platform. I think there is a lot of potential for something really creative and cool to come out of this situation … I just don’t quite feel like I’m seeing it yet.

Tags: android, g1, g2, google, google phone, htc magic, phones, Technology

As money has been getting tighter and tighter for everyone I know, I suddenly find myself fielding a lot of questions about the work that I do. Many people think that perhaps they can easily get into freelance writing and make some money at it so they want to know what I do to earn money. I’m happy to answer these questions not only because I like to be helpful but also because it reminds me of how tough what I do actually is.

One of the things that I’ve remembered from these discussions is that most people don’t know how involved Google is with advertising methods online and how it is possible to make money yourself as a result of that. Google has everything from AdSense for Blog Content to Coupon Templates for Businesses. I mention these things in passing to people asking me questions about my work and their ears perk up because they’ve never heard of these things before.

This reminds me that it’s taken me a long time to learn what I know about the web writing and blogging business. When I first started out, I didn’t know about these things either. And the fact that I’ve picked up all of these skills over the years sometimes gets overlooked because mostly I just do what I do and that stuff all adds up in the background. But it’s a real business and a tough one and those of us who are doing it should stop to pat ourselves on the back sometimes.

Tags: adwords, business, coupon template, freelance, google, google adwords, kathryn vercillo, web 2.0, web writing

One of the things that is making headlines this week in the tech world is the launch of Google Voice which is a series of voice services that serve as an upgrade to a phone service that Google acquired a couple of years back. The original service, GrandCentral, served the purpose of uniting all of your phone calls and voice mail messages under one number. The new advanced features of Google Voice take that one step further.

Basically, the idea behind GrandCentral was that you could use one phone number for the rest of your life and it would reach you at different cell phones and landlines around your world. This streamlines your calling. Google Voice has added some interesting new features that further streamline your voice calls and messages to make life easier for you in terms of communication.

The main cool addition is that Google Voice will turn your voice messages into text message transcripts. This means you can read them instead of listening to them. It also means that you can archive them and then have the ability to search through them again later. This seems great on a personal level and also might be good in terms of legal or business issues that come up … if you can always go back and search for the thing that someone told you on a message then you always have proof of what was really said. Cool stuff!

Learn how to sign up for Google Voice.

Tags: communications, google, google voice, grandcentral, internet, phones