Apple, Google, BlackBerry, Nokia and Palm are all fighting for the number one spot. With more and more demand for content rich apps on Smartphones, the very competitive market is the driving force for these companies. So how is the Smartphone war going?

The Smartphone War

Apple has held the number one spot for the past 3 years. But the mighty Apple iPhone is losing ground. Apple’ stock prices have flattened. The iPad isn’t the fix all that was predicted by Apple. Verizon won’t be carrying the iPhone this year, which would have boosted the iPhone sales. Is Apple in trouble?

The new Android trend is catching on quickly. With new devices, new apps and new service providers, the Droid is gaining momentum. Google’s willingness to upgrade the Android when new features come out is part of the draw. HTC has several Droids with more being released. Motorola has a Droid with Verizon and Google even has an HTC Droid of its own, an unlocked Smartphone available through Google’s website.

BlackBerry, once the leader for email syncing, is losing ground. Perhaps with Google Mail being available on the Droid, the BlackBerry needs to upgrade. With all the features being offered on other Smartphones, BlackBerry needs to get on the bandwagon and offer more.

Nokia, the Finnish manufacturer, is seriously in trouble in the Smartphone market. Nokia had no new device to show off at the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona. With the trend moving towards feature rich Smartphones, Nokia better “smarten up.”

Palm is struggling to keep up. They released the new Pixi hoping to compete in the market, but sales have been weak and the lack of cash flow is crippling Palm. Palm has moved to a partnership with AT&T, which will hopefully bring in more phone sales. The analysts predict Palm is going to continue to be pulverized.

Where are you headed with your next phone? With the unlimited talk, text and web browsing options being reduced in price from the service providers, the new Smartphones are much more attractive to me. How about you?

Motorola is shipping Motoblur pre-loaded on the Cliq, Backflip and several other coming Smartphones. It is noticeably missing from the Droid phones however. Hmmm… wonder why? Is there a problem we aren’t aware you yet?

Motoblur enhances social networking and more

Motorola has said that Motoblur will evolve over time, and is not necessarily just social networking. Motoblur also backs up your data to a Motorola-hosted cloud (virtualized data centers), allows you to track a lost phone using GPS and even allows you to remotely wipe the device should it be stolen.

Remember there is no such thing as privacy in this Big Brother World. Some are concerned that while you’re aggregating data from elsewhere, Motorola is aggregating data from you. This is not new for people used to social networking. FaceBook is notorious for this.

Motorola has targeted the business user with the Motoblur. The phones come preloaded with free QuickOffice, an application usually sold separately that allows for viewing and editing Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents on the go. The downside to Motoblur is that until there is a new release, it won’t be compatible with upgrades for Google apps until Motorola develops the fix.

Do you want one? Are you willing to take a chance it will be compatible down the road? Are you worried about data gathering software?