After years of warnings from science fiction writers, it seems androids may finally be taking over the world.

For now, their influence is limited to mobile phones, in the guise of Google’s hugely popular operating system.

Mr Schmidt said that 300,000 Android-based phones are being activated each day, and more than 170 Android compatible devices are on the market.

• Centre of attention
• Fragmented market
• Sweet dreams
• Joint forces
• Elephant in the room

What will Microsoft allow Nokia to do that will differentiate the first Windows Nokia phone?”

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For all the rumors surrounding digital newsstands from Apple and Google, Yahoo beat both of them to the punch with the unveiling of its new Livestand digital newsstand for tablets and smartphones today.

Livestand is slated for launch on the iPad and Android-based tablets in the first half of this year and will initially feature personalized digital content from Yahoo websites including Flickr, Yahoo! Finance and omg!

With the amazing success of the iPad, it is little wonder there are so many tablets hitting the streets. Android is the logical choice for most manufacturers, but the platform isn’t ready for the tablet form factor just yet.

Given that iOS is owned by Apple and they don’t license their platforms, manufacturers that want a piece of the tablet pie have to look elsewhere for the software to run the hardware. Choices are limited. You can roll your own, using Linux or something similar as the underpinnings, but this is a long process. That is why there are few homegrown Linux based phones. You can buy a company like HP did and get a platform – WebOS in this case – that can be tweaked to run on a tablet. Acquisition targets are few though and it is costly.

Sophos is working on a management console that will allow enterprises to apply security policies to mobile devices, the company announced Feb. 7.

Enterprises can use the Sophos Mobile Control console to handle password management or to restrict certain functions, such as cameras, and to control which applications can access the corporate network, Sophos said. The platform would secure all mobile devices, including Apple’s iOS devices such as the iPad and iPhone, Android phones and tablets, Windows Mobile products and Symbian devices, according to the Sophos.