Android makes business headway

Computerworld.

Android fans have watched in the past year as the iPhone slowly shifted to become the new corporate mobile standard.

But now the OS' 40 apps show the Android platform can play a serious role in business too. Beyond word processing and spreadsheets lies a whole world of applications that can turn an Android smartphone into a powerful business machine.

The past year has been a remarkable one for smartphones, with the meteoric rise of Google's Android OS, the restart of Microsoft's mobile strategy - Windows Phone 7 - and the continuing success of Apple's iPhone, writes IDG News.

Meanwhile, The Guardian says app developers are concerned that Google is being too lax in its regulation of the Android Market, where apps are made available for download to the millions of Android phones now in use - and allowing copyright infringements, as well as the risk of malware-laden apps, to flourish.

There are also concerns that it's simply too hard to get discovered on the market.