This post is part of a series leading up to an upcoming Connected Planet feature story on open mobile. Road to Open: Read part 1 HERE and part 2 HERE.

Developers don’t actually care about mobile operating systems; they just want to reach people, said Jai Jaisimha, CEO of Open Mobile Solutions. Likewise, consumers buy devices based on their functionality, not the OS. With these two truths in mind, Jaisimha left his post as a vice president for AOL Mobile in the summer to start OMS, an open-source initiative aimed at making it easier for developers to build apps that can run on as many devices as possible. more

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) lifted the veils of secrecy around application development today, and Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) announced innovations on its BlackBerry App World. Specifically, Apple updated its Developer Center Web site with the ability for developers to track their software as it progresses through the App Store’s oft-criticized approval process, and RIM gave its BlackBerry user interfaces a face lift, as well as promised carrier billing in App World by 2010. more

This post is part of a series leading up to an upcoming Connected Planet feature story on Open Mobile. Road to Open: Read part 1 HERE.

Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android platform has been trumpeted as the beacon of openness and — for the most part — it has lived up to the hype. Although criticized for limiting access to its software development kit, Android is proving to be relatively easy and inexpensive to develop fpr. As a newer platform, it may take awhile for developers to flock to it as they did to Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone, but there is no doubt they are coming, said Peter Farago, vice president of marketing for Flurry Analytics. more

Nokia (NYSE:NOK) may still claim the largest global market share, but Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has overtaken it as the world’s most profitable handset vendor in the third quarter of 2009, according to Strategy Analytics. The one-handset wonder pushed Nokia into the no. 2 slot, as Nokia’s margins were hit hard by both the economic downturn and a stagnant presence in the U.S.

The firm estimates that Apple’s iPhone operating profit came in at $1.6 billion in Q3, while Nokia recorded only $1.1 billion in operating profit. “With strong volumes, high wholesale prices and tight cost controls, the PC vendor has successfully broken into the mobile phone market in just two years,” said analyst Alex Spektor in the research note.

It is not all bad news for Nokia. Even with falling profits, it managed to capture 37.9% market share and ship 16.4 million handsets in the third quarter. Strategy Analytics said that focusing on the U.S., Apple’s high-profit home turf, will be the key to recovering in 2010, but that won’t be an easy fight. Nokia’s profit margin for its handset division has been shrinking during the entire 2009 global economic downturn, and the handset-maker is also facing increased pressure from Google Android devices and other new high-end smartphones planned for the rest of the year and into 2010.

Road to Open: For Connected Planet’s December cover story, wireless editor Kevin Fitchard and I took an in-depth look at what open means — in theory and practice — in the wireless world. In our reporting, we spoke with a number of developers and industry experts with first-hand perspective on working in an open world. In the weeks leading up to the issue, we’ll share their thoughts and insights. As always, we welcome your comments below. more

With all the major U.S. carriers having reported their third-quarter earnings, the scales are clearly tipping in favor of the big two, Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ, NYSE:VOD) and AT&T (NYSE:T). They are pulling away from the pack in an ever widening split between the wireless haves and the wireless have-nots, according to Bernstein Research analyst Craig Moffett. more

If it can’t win customers’ loyalty through great devices and service, Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VOD, NYSE:VZ) may do so through exorbitant early termination fees. The carrier reportedly is doubling its ETFs — penalties consumers must pay if they back out of their contracts early — from $175 to $350. more

Receiving nearly $16 million in smart grid stimulus funding was certainly a boon to the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative, as it was to the other 99 recipients, but the funding had a different meaning for this New Hampshire-based utility. It is owed $400,000 from Fairpoint Communications, the area’s main telco, which is busy wading through bankruptcy. more

Everybody’s doing it and as Sprint (NYSE:S) demonstrated in its earnings yesterday, it really can’t afford to be left behind. The carrier announced today at its Open Developer Conference that it will introduce a new, more open application store in future feature-phones, and it will replace its existing built-in offerings on future BlackBerry and Windows Mobile 6.5 devices. more

Business is starting to pick up for beleaguered handset-maker Motorola (NYSE:MOT) and next year should bring improved financial performance, co-CEO and CEO of mobile devices Sanjay Jha told investors on a conference call today. Jha is anticipating a sequential increase in four-quarter sales, driven by the announced launch of its first two Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android-based smartphones, the Cliq on T-Mobile (NYSE:DT) and the Droid on Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ, NYSE:VOD). more