Now LinkedIn Will Be Featured in a Lot More Apps

LinkedIn has opened up its platform to developers. It can be accessed at developer.linkedin.com.

"Over fifty million users entrust their professional identities and relationships with LinkedIn, helping build LinkedIn into the largest global professional network today," says LinkedIn' Adam Nash. "However, professionals around the world use a wide variety of applications and Web sites to get their work done, and they have spoken loud and clear that they want the ability to leverage their professional networks wherever they work."

Now developers can integrate LinkedIn into their business applications. LinkedIn's developer site has APIs and widgets.

"Over the past months, LinkedIn has supported integrations with some of the most prominent and critical software applications in the enterprise," says Nash. "Partnerships with companies like IBM, Blackberry (Research in Motion), and most recently Microsoft, have given us time to invest in both functionality and scalability of the platform."

Developers interested in using LinkedIn in their apps need only fill out a form at the site. The LinkedIn platform leverages the open OAuth standard, so integrations should be that much more simple.

On a related note, Twitter client TweetDeck is already utilzing the LinkedIn platform. They just announced that you can view or take action on your LinkedIn network updates from within the TweetDeck application.

It should be interesting to see the kinds of apps that start taking advantage of LinkedIn's APIs. This could turn out to be a very significant event for increasing business networking, and even matching prospective job candidates with jobs.

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Smartphone Sales Up 12% In Q3

Global mobile phone sales reached 308.9 million units in the third quarter of 2009, a slight increase of 0.1 percent from the third quarter of 2008, according to a new report from Gartner.

Smartphone sales showed solid growth with more than 41 million units sold for a 12.8 percent increase from the same period last year.

"The third quarter of 2009 saw the announcement of many new mobile devices, including several Android smartphones ready for the holiday season in the fourth quarter, but hardware commoditisation and the growth in open platforms will make it harder for them to stand out," said Carolina Milanesi, research director at Gartner.

"Many devices will reach the market in time for Christmas, and mobile carriers will run incentives for consumers during the holidays. We expect sales of mobile devices in the fourth quarter of 2009 to show year-over-year growth," said Ms Milanesi.

"As many vendors and industry watchers call for a decrease in sales into the channel, our sell through data is showing that 2009 performance will be flat rather than down over 2008."

Nokia led the mobile market in Q3 with 36.7 percent of the share, followed by Samsung at 19.6 percent and LG with 10.3 percent market share.

Nokia also ranked at the top in smartphone sales with 39.3 percent of the market, followed by Blackberry maker Research in Motion with 20.8 percent and Apple with 17.1 percent.

"Smartphones continued to represent the fastest-growing segment of the mobile-devices market and we remain confident about the potential for smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2009 and in 2010," said Ms Milanesi.
 

 

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Microsoft And Nokia Strike Mobile Deal

Microsoft and Nokia announced an alliance on Wednesday to make Microsoft Office software available on Nokia's Symbian devices.

The software and cell phone companies said Nokia will start offering Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile on its smartphones next year, followed by other Office applications and related software and services in the future.

"With more than 200 million smartphone customers globally, Nokia is the world's largest smartphone manufacturer and a natural partner for us," said Stephen Elop, Microsoft Business Division President.

"Today's announcement will enable us to expand Microsoft Office Mobile to Nokia smartphone owners worldwide and allow them to collaborate on Office documents from anywhere, as part of our strategy to provide the best productivity experience across the PC, phone and browser."

The move by Nokia will help it better compete against Research in Motion while making Microsoft's Office software available to a much larger global audience.

The two companies said the new partnership will not impact Microsoft's Windows Mobile and Nokia's Symbian operating system for smartphone. Nokia does not have plans to make a Widows Mobile device.

"The scope of the alliance between Microsoft and Nokia, and potential value for the enterprise and individual is significant," said Stephen Drake, VP of Mobility & Telecom at IDC.

"By bringing Microsoft's productivity solutions to Nokia's large customer base, the two companies should be better able to serve the needs of the growing mobile worker population, which IDC estimates to reach 1 billion worldwide in 2011."

 

Microsoft And Nokia Strike Mobile Deal

Microsoft and Nokia announced an alliance on Wednesday to make Microsoft Office software available on Nokia's Symbian devices.

The software and cell phone companies said Nokia will start offering Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile on its smartphones next year, followed by other Office applications and related software and services in the future.

"With more than 200 million smartphone customers globally, Nokia is the world's largest smartphone manufacturer and a natural partner for us," said Stephen Elop, Microsoft Business Division President.

"Today's announcement will enable us to expand Microsoft Office Mobile to Nokia smartphone owners worldwide and allow them to collaborate on Office documents from anywhere, as part of our strategy to provide the best productivity experience across the PC, phone and browser."

The move by Nokia will help it better compete against Research in Motion while making Microsoft's Office software available to a much larger global audience.

The two companies said the new partnership will not impact Microsoft's Windows Mobile and Nokia's Symbian operating system for smartphone. Nokia does not have plans to make a Widows Mobile device.

"The scope of the alliance between Microsoft and Nokia, and potential value for the enterprise and individual is significant," said Stephen Drake, VP of Mobility & Telecom at IDC.

"By bringing Microsoft's productivity solutions to Nokia's large customer base, the two companies should be better able to serve the needs of the growing mobile worker population, which IDC estimates to reach 1 billion worldwide in 2011."

 

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