With one purchasing decision, Google has initiated forecasts for big changes in the world of the typical handset maker. Google has announced a new software platform. Google has accompanied that announcement with revelations about a new cooperation with top wireless companies.

Technology companies such as HTC and Motorola, in combination with chipmakers such as Qualcomm are working with Google on the roll out of new offerings for cell phone users. That roll out should provide handset makers with a green light for the development of innovative new applications.

The announced cooperation between Google and some of the big names in wireless technology frees handset makers from the restrictions imposed by any single type of device. Google’s latest business move gives each handset maker the freedom to introduce all manner of adaptations. Now, none of those adaptations needs to require software that is tied one specific hand held device.

In order to fully appreciate how the world has changed for the average handset maker, one might want to think of a world in which each handset had been designed for predicting one type of precipitation—either snow, hail, sleet or rain. That was the sort of world that handset makers lived in prior to this latest Google announcement.

In that “old world” hand set makers had to pay attention to the restrictions that went with the single type of precipitation that each of that maker’s gadgets had been designed to predict. In the “new world” that Google has ushered in, today’s handset makers have the ability to work on a device that can “predict any type of precipitation.” In other words, those hand set makers can introduce innovations that work with a new network of software, and thus work with any type of hand held device.

Google has given handset makers a bright and sunny forecast.

The strength of Android technology was recently affirmed this weekend with incredible sales following the launch of the Verizon DROID, largely driven by excitement over the phone's reputation for high quality performance and unique features. In addition to the DROID, other cell phones using the Android platform, such as the DROID Eris and the Sprint moment have recently become available. There are literally thousands of apps for the DROID, with a select few standing out from the rest.

The apps generating the most buzz include: Flixster, Meridian, Flyscreen, Nesoid, Twidroid, Qik/Ustream, TED, Barcode Reader, 3Banana, and Power Manager. All of these are free except for Nesoid, which costs $1.99, and Power manager, coming in at $.99. Flixster provides information on movies, reviews and show times. Meridian is considered the best media player for the Android system and plays MP3, MP4, OGG and 3GPP files. Flyscreen is a lock screen replacement offering widgets on a customizable canvas. Nesoid is a highly-reviews NES emulator, which also comes in a Lite version. Twidroid is a Twitter client, as could be guessed from its creative name. Qik/Ustream are two of the many video streaming service available with Android. TED, which features a diverse array of lectures from the Technology, Entertainment, Design conference, is one of the highest reviewed apps. Barcode Reader and Power Manager are self-explanatory, while 3Banana syncs notes and images from the mobile to your computer.

While Meridian, Nesoid, and TED have so far been the highest reviewed features, room for improvement in some of the apps has also been noted. Meridian is considered the best media player for Android, although the general performance of media players with Android cell phones has been criticized significantly. Users will enjoy the TED app as a fun educational tool, with access to lectures from speakers such as Bill Clinton with the touch of a button. These ten apps may be some of the best Android has to offer, but there are many more quality apps out there waiting to be explored as well.

There are new smartphones on the market recently released by Acer that cater to both the casual user who enjoys features and tech savvy users who are looking for the bells and whistles. Divided up into two categories, Acer has has come out with the beTouch and neoTouch series.

The above picture is the Acer beTouch E200, it has a touchscreen and is based on the Qualcomm processor. The bundled camera is 3 megapixel and the operating system is based on Windows Mobile 6.5. The beTouch E200 is Buletooth 2.1 ready and supports quadband GSM and dualband HSDPA. A nice feature to this touchscreen phone is the slide-down numeric keyboard that allows for easy dialing that is sometimes an issue with touchscreen based phones.

The Acer beTouch E200 is already available in the UK with a price tag of £225 or $358 usd. No word on availability but as with other Acer products, their entry into North America is sure to be a competitive one with feature rich smartphones at an affordable price.

The Blackberry Cellular phones were first introduced in the market in the year 1999. These high-tech smartphones are developed by Canadian company named Research in Motion (RIM). Initially the company focused only on emailing technology but now the company is into manufacturing of high-tech smartphones. Usually the blackberry phones support excellent features, such as e-mailing, text messaging, internet faxing, web browsing, address book, calendar, to-do lists and other wireless information services. Here, is a list of few popular models from Blackberry.

BlackBerry Bold 9000: Technology meets style with this excellent smartphone from Blackberry. This premium smartphone comes with an impressive design and high-end functionality. This powerful smartphone delivers fast performance as it provides high speed internet access using tri-band HSDPA networks and also offers the capability of Wi-Fi and integrated GPS. Other features loaded in BlackBerry Bold 9000 include 2 MP camera, video recording facility, 128 MB flash memory, media player and 1 GB storage memory.

BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220: Experience the new world of functionality and style with this amazing smartphone from Blackberry. BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 is the first smartphone from Blackberry to come in the clamshell design. The stylish handset offers features, such as excellent email solutions, Wi-Fi support, mobile streaming, video recording, media player (with support for MP3, WMA, AAC, MPEG4, WMVformats), BlackBerry Maps, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP and attachment viewer.

BlackBerry Pearl 8100: This extraordinary and unique smartphone is one of the world’s smallest smartphones introduced till date by Blackberry. This sleek, smart and intelligent smartphone is small enough to be taken away anywhere. This is a complete phone that offers capabilities of multimedia, emailing, browsing, messaging, and even more. Other features in this phone include a great quad-band network support on 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS and EDGE networks which provides for faster access to data.

BlackBerry Curve 8320: The BlackBerry Curve 8320 comes with an elegant design and has a great finishing body with impressive edges and curves. This smartphone is equipped with a fully- featured QWERTY keyboard, large 320x240 display, 2 mega pixel camera (that offers features, such as  5x digital zoom, built-in flash, self-portrait mirror and full screen viewfinder), Roxio Media Manager, trackball navigation system, email, MMS,  BlackBerry Messenger and microSD expansion slot.

Now couldn't be a better time then any to get yourself a Blackberry smart phone.  With the ability to keep you always connected what could be better?  Get a complete line up a Blackberry phones and accessories over at puremobile

This year has seen some major leaps forward in the mobile handheld industry.

In a recent article by PCMag this is exactly what they discussed

...[j]ust two years ago, the mobile phone market was pretty ho-hum. You had your candy bar phones and your flip phones. There were BlackBerry devices and Windows Mobile phones. Those phones had calendars and contact lists, and a few other apps that were too annoying to use. Few people ever added any new applications to their phones. Surfing the Web was for emergency use only, since it was slow and ugly.

Fast forward to this year. You've got the must-have iPhone. For open source fans, there's the Android phone. The idea of shopping for, buying and downloading new apps isn't remotely unusual. Browsing online means seeing Web sites that look just like they do on a computer.

It's the ultimate dream of the mobile phone industry, but it wasn't created by the mobile phone industry -- the dream was actualized by outsiders. The result is that today, the traditional phone makers are playing catch-up and some are in such a struggle to do so that their future existence is uncertain.

What it means is that since the Apple iPhone was released in July of 2007 the cell phone industry hasn't been the same.  We've gone from regular old phones like the Motorola Razr that really had one function to phones like the upcoming Nokia N97, which does just about everything your heart could desire.

More and more people are expecting more from their phones.

...Avi Greengart, analyst at Current Analysis, sees a fundamental shift in the mobile industry that has only just begun. "We've gone from an era of hardware design where all you needed was something pretty to an era of software design where people expect to do more with their phones," said Greengart.

People still care about the look of the phone.  The "pretty" factor still exists, but not as much as before.  People want a good looking phone that does what they want.  People are no longer happy with being able to have their phone sound an alarm in the morning to wake them up.  They want to be able to go on Facebook, send email, play games, and sync to their computers.

What does the future hold for cell phones we can only wait and see.  If it continues to progress as it is now there is no telling what we can expect.