The number of mobile users, who pay a monthly subscription fee to access music on their devices, will reach 178 million by 2015, according to a research.

According to the research report, conducted by Juniper, the number of mobile users who pay a monthly subscription for access to music on their mobile device either by downloading content or by live streaming, will reach 178 million by 2015, more than triple the number of users doing so in 2010.

“While streaming is the buzz word in developed markets, we should not forget that it is in markets where a combination of a large population, rising mobile subscriber penetration, and developing economies that represent a golden opportunity for mobile music services. Subscription models offer affordable access to large catalogues of music, and a regular income for mobile operators such as China Mobile and Bharti airtel,” says Daniel Ashdown, the writer of Mobile Music Opportunities report for Juniper.

Value added services, such as the music subscription, are likely to increase in India as well especially with the advent of 3G mobile technology in India.

A lot of content providers like Nokia Ovi music and Hungama mobile are currently offering specialised content for mobile phones and are also acting as the key resources behind the increase in awareness and demand for mobile content in India.

Various service providers such as Spice digital have also tied up with music content providers such as Phonographic Performance Limited to provide exclusive content to the people.

Despite its rhetoric to do away with Symbian, Nokia is all set to introduce a range of new devices on the platform.

According to Symbiantweet.com, which accessed information accidentally revealed by Nokia, a new Symbian S60 ^3 device might come in the form of Nokia X7-00 smartphone, the successor of the Nokia X6-00 launched in India sometime back .

The Finnish handset maker is also, as per the leaked information, is coming up with handsets under a new series (T). You can click here for more information on the same.

X7 is the successor of Nokia’s X6 handset.

According to another website (gsmarena.com), the X7 will be a full capacitive touchscreen based smartphone but with a bigger four inch AMOLED Display having Resolution not less than 360 x 640 pixels. It is also expected to feature the scratch resistant gorilla glass.

For computing punch it will have a smaller 635 MHz Processor with a dedicated Graphics Processing Unite (GPU) along with a 450MB RAM and 256MB ROM.

Falling in the mid ranged Symbian smartphone, the X7 is expected to be priced below the Rs 25,000 price bracket in India.

With Samsung launching the Galaxy S LCD and announcing the launch of the Nexus S, Nokia is expected to launch this four inch screener sooner than expected, maybe by the end of the second quarter or beginning of the third quarter in 2011.

But as compared to the two other four inch screen smartphones unveiled by Samsung, the X7 will have a definite EDGE with an eight Megapixel camera with an LED flash.

The Android operating system is all set to be the leading mobile operating system this year itself, whereas the Nokia Microsoft deal may help Windows Phone to become the world number two mobile operating system by 2015, according to the International Data Corporation.

“Android is poised to take over as the leading smartphone operating system in 2011 after racing into the number 2 position in 2010,” said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC’s Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team.

“For the vendors who made Android the cornerstone of their smartphone strategies, 2010 was the coming-out party. This year will see a coronation party as these same vendors broaden and deepen their portfolios to reach more customers, particularly first-time smartphone users,” Llamas added.

Android is likely to stay at the top spot whereas the Symbian market share will reduce to 0.2 per cent in 2015. The number two position will be captured by Windows Phone and its market share will be at 20.9 per cent, IDC has predicted.

Many technology bloggers have not taken kindly to the report, as they just cannot fathom how Windows Phone 7 may go on to become number two.

The IDC data suggests it has simply added the numbers of Symbian and Windows Phone platforms, assuming that Symbian users will migrate to the Windows platform.

After launching a PC version some time back, Firefox 4 for mobiles has been released on Android devices.

Along with standard tabbed browsing and Firefox add ons, the new Firefox 4 features a whole new overhauled Java engine that increases browsing speed, which the company claims is three times faster than what the default Android Browser is capable of.

Some unique additions to the mobile browser include Firefox Sync, which allows the mobile browser on the Android device to share bookmarks and history, and even see open tabs with the synced computer.

Social media has also become important and comes as an integral part of the browser. Just by pressing a button for long users will be able to post content on various social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter and so on.

Swype based typing and pinch to zoom have also been added to make browsing easier and faster. And to economise on the valuable smartphone screen space Firefox 4 mini can hide controls when they are not in use.

Firefox 4 is now available for download from Android Market. Users who wish to install it can visit the marketplace from their smartphone or they can follow the link to download it directly.

With pro-democracy campaigns engulfing many parts of the world, triggering rampant crackdowns by security forces in the respective countries, a news application is being developed that will let people wipe out the address book on their phones and send emergency alerts to others.

The ‘panic button’ App is being developed by the government of USA.

According to reports, the special application can be activated if the smartphone is confiscated by security authorities.

“If the Secret Police starts firing tear gas grenades and breaking down your door, you can run the panic app, and your cellphone will send out a message to your networking letting them know that you’re in a bit of a pickle. It will then wipe out all your personal data to keep your friends safe, and lock itself out with a screen displaying a picture of Uncle Sam giving the finger,” a report read.

Cell phones have played a crucial role in the successful revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt.

The USA wants to equip activists with new tools to fight their repressive governments and is targeting countries from the Middle East to China, according to the Daily Mail.

Only a few cellphones can send an emergency SOS message to others now and this feature is limited as well. SOS signals from such phones can only be sent to a few chosen persons.

The rebranding effort by Nokia has begun with a new font. Earlier, the company was using the font Nokia Sans which has now been replaced with Nokia Pure, said the company in a blog post.

“The letters flow into each other somewhat, creating the impression of forward movement. The idea of flow and movement appears frequently in the new branding,” Nokia said in the blog.

The new font will be displayed through advertisements and Nokia devices this year itself.

The new typeface was designed by Bruno Maag, a typographic designer based in London. The Nokia Pure font has specially been designed for cellphones and other digital display devices.

Nokia perhaps is trying to create a trendy outlook of itself with the changing world. The old Nokia font was very simple, and the only problem with it was that it quickly became outdated.

The ideas for the font were drawn by the Nokia team along with Bruno Maag, and what came out is a simple but different typeface.

The style of the font has been kept such that even when the Nokia name is written in Arabic, the users should be able to recognise the company from the font style itself.