Mobile apps seem to be among the biggest reveals at this year’s SXSW Conference.   Earlier we told you about MOG releasing the mobile version of their music service for your iPhone and Android and about the mini social network app LoKast.  Rhapsody is following trend by announcing their new iPhone app that, like MOG, allows you to store music directly on your phone.  

NearVerse has revealed a new iPhone app at SXSW that creates a tiny social network for you and anyone in a 300-foot zone around you.  The app is called LoKast and it allows you to chat, share content, and meet anyone using the app that is standing within 300 feet of you.  Once you leave the area, your social network disappears and a new one is created.  NearVerse is calling LoKast “the first disposable social network.”

MOG, the web-based music service that offers unlimited music to users for just $5 a month, has revealed their mobile version for the iPhone and Android at SXSW this week.  The mobile app will offer the same 7 million songs that the web-based version offers, and will also allow the user to save songs, albums, and playlists onto their phones.  

Novothink, Inc. has introduced the first Apple-certified solar charger for your iPhone and iTouch.  They call it the Surge, and it works for the iPhone 3G and 3Gs, and iPod Touch.  The charger is actually a hybrid solar charger case that comes in numerous bright color options (which are coming soon) and outputs 5.5 V at 100 mAh in full sun. 

One of the biggest gripes users of any of the iPortables have is the fact that they aren’t made to multitask. The iPhone can now only do minimal multitasking, which includes the ability to run a connected phone call in the background while you open a second app. This could be changing in the near future based on what’s rumored for the Apple OS 4.0. The change won’t come easy as Apple has a few road blocks, the biggest of which include:

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It might be tough to get to Geneva in time to attend the 80th International Motor Show this year, but rather than waiting for it to be over to find out about all of the press releases, cool auto introductions, and pictures, why not view it all real-time on your phone?  The green geared show is offering a mobile and iPhone app that allows you to see up to the minute news, photos, videos, and product premieres. 

There is one slight glimmer of hope left for HTC in their upcoming legal battle.  Google has publicly announced their support for HTC.  At first this may seem a bit strange, but it really shouldn’t be that surprising.  Not only have Google and Apple been feuding and taking potshots at each other for quite a while, but given the precedents at stake the Apple HTC suit is more of an attack on other smartphone providers as a whole than it is about HTC in particular.  What then happens if HTC successfully defends itself (perhaps with the help of Google)?

What sort of precedent would an Apple victory set for the world of smartphone technology? Given the fact that Apple apparently is now revealing that they have patents to technology used by every smartphone on the market, things could be looking bleak for everyone who isn’t them. Heck, if you want to use a proper touch screen or even icons, you technically have to ask Apple’s permission. If they are successful in this lawsuit, the precedent will be set that every remotely user friendly smartphone on earth would be made illegal to produce or sell, except by Apple of course. Even the pundits in the video below agree.

It’s official, smartphones are to 2010 what PCs were to the mid 90’s.  Apple is formally suing HTC for patent infringement.  They are claiming that the touch-screen interface of the HTC’s phone line is too similar to the apple iPhone.  Technically they are right; HTC phones and their Windows Phone OS interact with users very similarly…but this is because it’s a smartphone.  There are only so many things that can be done with a touch-screen and a cell-phone sized computer interface, but somehow apple has managed to enumerate and patent most of them.

The Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference was held this week in San Francisco.  Big name companies such as Microsoft, Dell and eBay all spoke at the conference; but the most anticipated speaker was Tim Cook, COO of Apple.  The company is rarely part of a conference, and when they do participate, audiences are usually amazed with big news and product releases.  At this particular investor event, Tim Cook discussed product strategy, acquisition strategies, and distribution deals. 

Well, it seems as though the numerous backlashes against Apple’s behavior last weekend finally paid off… We hope.  It seems as though they have gotten over their initial reactionary response to basic Photoshop functions like Wobble iBoob and realized that there is a happy medium between rampant obscenity and carte blanche censorship. Yes, they’ve actually decided to organize the AppStore a little better. If certain rumors are true, they will soon be including an explicit section in the store.

This is going to be a bit of an out-of-the-blue, but Apple may have just crossed the line. Over 5000 apps have been removed from the app store this past weekend, for "suggestive content." Yes, it is true that apple has been blocking 18+ content for a long time, but their regulations have just become even more draconian.

This month WordPress.com has debuted two new mobile blogging apps.  Bloggers can now blog from anywhere on their Android and BlackBerry phones.  Also, the iPhone app has now been updated to version 2.2.  This makes WordPress the only blogging service with three smartphone app option support. 

Windows Phone 7 actually sounds pretty good. The UI has a number of features that seem to fill in allot of gaps that previous UI's have left, which is great. There is one question you have to ask before projecting success for the OS: What does it offer in the big scheme of things that another OS hasn't already done?

So Google wants to play the Apps game at the pro level now? What does this mean for the apps market exactly?  In a word: competition.  Android has been the jealous little brother to the iPhone's OSX.  It had its advantages, but it never had the  sheer mass of high quality apps to threaten to overtake its big bro.  Sure anyone can make and sell Android apps, but at the end of the day OSX had at least one professional level app for everything. Android had to make do with second tier open source.