It’s no secret that Android usage is on the rise, but Guardian points to research from GfK Retail and Technology indicating that in the UK, Android’s share of the mobile market has grown from 3% in the first quarter to 13.2% in the second.

On top of that, contract market sales grew by less than 1%, while sales of Android phones increased by 350%, the firm says.

Apple announced today that the iPhone 4 will be available in 17 more countries this Friday (July 30). Countries include: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

The device will be available through Apple’s retail and online stores and through authorized resellers. It’s currently available in France, Germany, Japan, the UK and the US.

You may have heard that a few people have been dissatisfied with their recent iPhone 4 purchases. Apple has gone out of its way to make it up to them (whether or not they’ve done enough is debatable), but that hasn’t stopped people from complaining.

As you are probably aware, Apple announced last week that iPhone 4 buyers would be entitled to a free case (or bumper) to correct the highly-publicized receptions issues with the device. Those who already purchased a case/bumper would be entitled to a refund.

InformationWeek is reporting that Baidu may be looking at developing a mobile operating system, citing Chinese media reports. The project would be led by former Google employees. Meanwhile, TechCrunch says Android is poised to dominate in China.

Apple announced today that the iPad will be available in nine new countries this Friday. These include: Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore.

All models of the iPad will be available through Apple retail stores and through authorized resellers. Currently, the iPad is available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US.

Amazon has introduced a new version of the Kindle DX with a lower price of $379 (down from $489) and 50% better display contrast.

AdMob released its Mobile Metrics report for May, which focuses on changes in the mobile market over the course of two years. Unsurprisingly, a lot has changed. While AdMob’s network traffic itself has grown a lot in that time, the company says there continues to be strong regional differences with devices used to access the mobile web.