Learn more about downloading the Grammy Live app here …

Here is how the Grammy Live site describes its new live stream:

Tune in to Music’s Biggest Night like you never have before with an exciting “multi-screen experience” — as you watch the 54th GRAMMY Awards on CBS, keep the GRAMMY Live stream on your mobile device, tablet or computer! Don’t miss a set change with our behind-the-scenes load-in cam! And learn what happens AFTER an artist wins a GRAMMY with our official portrait photographer cam featuring renowned photographer Danny Clinch, live one-on-one interview room and full access to the official TV/radio room.

Following the Grammy Award telecast on CBS you can join the after parties via the app according to the Grammy Live website:

Bask in the aftermath of Music’s Biggest Night as GRAMMY Live gives you a first-class ticket to the hottest after-party in town, the GRAMMY Celebration.

The Grammy mobile app, includes the latest photos, videos, news, trivia and quite a bit more.

Additionally, the Grammy telecast will include tributes to Whitney Houston who died yesterday.

That’s what the app description says. I guess having idiot friends is a prerequisite.

The description continues:

This app is a full-screen working replica of the iPhone 4 home screen. It even replaces your phone’s status bar, so there’s no hint of Android underneath.
NEW: Swipe down for notifications! Now you can access notifications without having to leave the app.
NEW: Actual network operator shown in status bar – you’re no longer stuck with AT&T!
Most of the icons on the screen will open up the relevant Android app when clicked. If there’s no suitable app, or the app isn’t installed on your device, it’s replaced with a sponsored message. The advertising revenue helps support the future development of this app, so please bear this in mind

It’s apparently been available for a while, but this is the first we’ve heard it (hat tip: Redmond Pie). It looks like a few more obscure Android sites have noticed it before. Over 13,000 people have downloaded. I wonder how many people it’s fooled given that it does not physically change the design of your Android device.

Something tells me this app won’t be around very long as it gains more exposure. At least in the description, it says, “iPhone is a trademark of Apple Computer Inc. This app is not affiliated with or endorsed by Apple.”

A couple weeks ago, we saw a “Siri competitor” make its way to Android.

The map’s description says:

This map made with data current as of January 2012. This map shows the areas identified as potentially eligible for Mobility Fund Phase 1 support. These areas are US Census blocks that lack 3G or better mobile coverage at the centroid of the block according to January 2012 American Roamer data and contain road miles in any of nine road categories. Counties that contain any of these blocks are shaded light gray, and as you zoom in and mouse over these counties you will see more information on the potentially eligible blocks, including population, road miles (S1100, S1200, and S1400 categories only), and the name and number of the CMA in which the blocks are located. Further zooming in allows you to see the US Census tracts that contain these blocks.

Hat tip to Discovery News.

More on Mobility Fund Phase I

Osama Bedier, Vice President of Google Wallet and Payments, wrote a blog post late Friday night, saying:

First, Google Wallet is protected by a PIN — as well as the phone’s lock screen, if a user sets that option. But sometimes users choose to disable important security mechanisms in order to gain system-level “root” access to their phone; we strongly discourage doing so if you plan to use Google Wallet because the product is not supported on rooted phones. That’s why in most cases, rooting your phone will cause your Google Wallet data to be automatically wiped from the device.

And just like with any other credit card, you can get support when you need it. We provide toll-free assistance in case you lose your phone or someone manages to make an unauthorized transaction.

Google’s update seems to come in response to an incident where TheSmartphoneChamp.com exposed a major vulnerability:

Anthony Ha quotes CEO Jeff Weiner as saying the company is ready to “start to introduce advertising in our mobile solutions”.

“Ready,” to me, indicates sooner rather than later, but we’ll see.

LinkedIn has already seen impressive revenue growth, and mobile ads would add another healthy layer, no doubt. At $167.7 million, the company saw a 105% increase in revenue for the fourth quarter compared to 2010. For the entire year 2011, revenue increased 115% to $522.2 million (from $243.1 million). LinkedIn hasn’t even been public for a year yet.

LinkedIn became much more usable on mobile devices last year, when the company launched a major update to its apps:

Even by the time that was released, the company claimed it had already seen a 400% year-over-year increase in mobile pageviews.

It’s probably about time LinkedIn started making more money from the mobile experience.

Growing mobile use, and the lack of monetization of mobile users were highlighted in the Risk Factors section of Facebook’s IPO filing. Essentially, it could harm Facebook’s business if too many of its users spend too much time accessing Facebook from mobile devices without being properly monetized.

That’s why you’ll likely start seeing sponsored stories in your mobile news feed, and will probably eventually see more mobile ads. That is likely also why this deal with Bango has been made.

The press release is short and sweet so here it is in its entirety:

Bango has signed an agreement to provide payment services to Facebook.

Bango’s board believes it is too early in the relationship to accurately forecast the level of business which it may generate.

It’s hard to say just what all uses for Bango Facebook will find, given Facebook’s increasing integration with the web at large, but app payment is an obvious use.

According to StatCounter.com, mobile internet usage has sky-rocketed up to 8 1/2 percent this year; way up from only 4.3 percent last year comparatively. The graph below shows what it looks like compared to desktop use.

CEO of StatCounter.com, Aodhan Cullen had this to say:

“While global internet usage through mobiles is still under 10%, the pace of growth is remarkable.”

Cullen went on to say:

“Following repeated requests, we’ve decided to make our new mobile vendor stats publicly available. As the mobile space is constantly evolving, we keep our detection under constant review.”

The website has been gathering and compiling data for some time now to present this information. Nokia is a front runner due to its popularity in India, they say. Globally speaking, Apple is in second place, but they remain on top in US and UK markets.

It’s a start though. This represents more than just allowing Chrome users to use the browser on their mobile devices. It could very well mean the beginning of a more integrated Google experience, somewhat parallel to what Google is doing by integrating Google+ into everything and consolidating its privacy policies.

Chrome is a browser, but it’s also an operating system in the form of Chrome OS. Android, of course, is also an operating system, and questions have been circulating around how Google would proceed in the future with two separate operating systems pretty much since Chrome OS was revealed.

Co-founder Sergey Brin has actually said that Android and Chrome OS would likely converge over time. I’d consider getting the Chrome browser on Android a first step in that direction.

Last year, we already saw some early stages of Chrome OS-based tablets.

There’s even a rumor that LG may be working on a Chrome OS tablet.

A merger of operating systems would likely also mean a merger of app markets – Android Market meets Chrome App Store.

But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. So far, all we’ve really got is a beta version of the Chrome browser for Ice Cream Sandwich. There’s a developer site for it here.

“Chrome for Android brings support for many of the latest HTML5 features to the Android platform,” says Chrome engineering manager Arnaud Weber. “With hardware-accelerated canvas, overflow scroll support, strong HTML5 video support, and new capabilities such as Indexed DB, WebWorkers and Web Sockets, Chrome for Android is a solid platform for developing web content on mobile devices.”

“In addition to support for the latest web technologies, we hope to make interactive web content super easy to develop,” adds Weber. “Chrome for Android introduces remote debugging through Chrome Developer Tools to make it simple for developers to debug web sites running live on their mobile devices.”

In the following video, Google engineer Boris Smus demonstrates remote debugging in it:

Features of Chrome For Android include fast browsing and searching with the beloved Omnibox functionality and instant page loading. There’s also tabbed browsing, with unlimited tabs, link previews, tab/bookmark syncing, and the ability to send pages from your computer to your phone or tablet with a click via the Chrome to Mobile extension. It also includes auto-sign in for Google services.

Here are some more details from Googlers:

It even comes with incognito mode, which lets you browse without leaving traces of your history, cache or local storage.

The browser can be downloaded from here.

AT&T says there are some neat added features to the new updated app as well, such as the ability to use your tablet as a remote control and accessing photos from your favorite shows. Use your tablet at home and link with your TV and you can receive extra content from all your shows. Use it on-the-go and never forget to DVR your favorite programs again with the full featured DVR app and the fully intuitive remote control feature, reports AT&T.

David Christopher, Chief Marketing Officer for AT&T mobility and he said this about the new technology:

“Today, we are taking our best in class TV experience and taking it to a whole new level by joining two very powerful platforms: your TV and iPad.”

He continued, saying:

“With our new app, AT&T U-verse customers have access to incredible functionality to make the TV experience much richer, from superior search and control functionality, to fresh content that tells you more about what you’re watching, to the ability to share what you’re watching with your friends through social networks. And, when they leave the home, our customers can take the U-verse experience with them.”

Mobile access is becoming an increasingly important element to just about all web/software services. It’s going to continue to be an important for services to stay competitive. That goes for CRM products. Just a couple weeks ago, for example, at MacWorld iWorld, Elements CRM announced an iPad version.

Microsoft says Dynamics CRM will be available for “virtually any device with a new cloud-based, cross-platform, native mobile client service for Windows Phone 7, iPad, iPhone, Android and BlackBerry mobile devices.” That’s access to complete functionality of the product, mind you.

“In today’s hyperconnected world, customers need to be able to access their business-critical data on the device of their choice from wherever they are,” said Dennis Michalis, GM of the product. “These advancements, combined with the strength of the Microsoft platform, make Microsoft Dynamics CRM an obvious choice for any business.”

The update will also include enhanced social functionality and new enterprise-class features, as well as multiple web browser options (IE, Chrome, Firefox, Safari), the company says.

Pricing will start at $30 per user, per month. That includes support of up to three devices per user.

A preview is available here.