A look at some of the big stories in mobile today:
» Amazon is taking one more step to enrich its content offerings; it’s reportedly in talks to launch a “Netflix”-style digital book library. (WSJ)
» Google‘s CEO Larry Page and Oracle‘s CEO Larry Ellison are getting hauled into court for patent settlement talks. (Bloomberg)
» Meanwhile, an updated “battlemap” between HTC and Apple in their patent dispute. (Foss Patents)
Last: an interesting argument for how the mobile patent wars should be embraced as a sign of how rich the smartphone ecosystem is. (Monday Note)
» Alibaba, the Chinese Internet giant, is looking to grow its influence outside of the Chinese-speaking world: it’s reportedly launching an English-language version of its mobile OS. (Reuters)
» Adobe‘s newest version of Flash has new iOS support (any surprises here?) (Adobe)
» Mobile Interactive Group, which runs premium SMS and other mobile services, has bought micropayments business Zaypay. (via MIG)
» Metawatch, a connected watch company, has been acquired by a group of investors led by former Nokia (NYSE: NOK) executive Juha Pinomaa. Time (NYSE: TWX) for a new generation of wireless devices? (Metawatch)
» Spotify is extending its music streaming offering to in-car services. First up is a deal with Ford. (TechCrunch)
» One opinion on how the future of social media is mobile. (The Wall)
To be honest, I think this smartphone is a sensible next move for Alibaba. I doubt they’ve made an entire operating system just to offer their wholesale services on the go, there must be other reasons but I bet a lot of people are going to find it useful. People do expect a lot from their phones these days, things that could previously only be done with a computer or laptop.
And they’re becoming a lot more common, smartphones. Seems that everyone plus their dog has one. A bit like cameras really, most people used to have a compact, now you see everyone with a DSLR.