The Android mobile phone platform is no longer the sole province of T-Mobile. Sprint has announced its own Android smartphone, the HTC Hero. HTC is a large and growing smartphone maker, with many good offerings.

Adding the Hero to the line is a good sign for Android, Google’s open-source software for phones. Android is an iPhone-like operating system, with an online app store much like Apple’s. Since it’s open source, anyone can develop on the platform, and it doesn’t have to go through a rigorous (some say random) approval process like Apple’s (which has gotten Apple in  lot of hot water lately).

The Hero will sell for $179.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate (I hate those things), and go on sale Oct. 11. Since it will be on the Sprint network, it should have much better coverage than the spotty T-Mobile network.

If you’re thinking about getting your first smartphone, and don’t have to buy for a little while, give this one a spin; you may find you like it. It has the advantages of the Android with the coverage area of Sprint. It looks like a solid offering.

Gizmodo has an interesting article about Apple’s AppStore and how, and why, certain applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch (right) are rejected — or not.

Apple is claiming that it hasn’t actually rejected the Google Voice application. It’s still “studying” it, the company claims. Does anyone else actually believe this? There’s no reason for Apple to “study” a proposed application for months — either it meets the criteria or not. Certainly, Google Voice meets all relevant criteria. It’s obvious that Apple just doesn’t want competition for potential voice applications from partner AT&T on this.

Shame on you, Apple and AT&T. Do the right thing and approve Google Voice. Let the market determine the success or failure of an application — and make the iPhone, the greatest gadget of all time, even more useful for consumers. Stop denying your user base access to this technology. Now.

As if the iPhone didn’t have enough problems, now there are reports that some in Europe are actually exploding. Yes, exploding.

Reuters, among other outlets, is reporting that iPhones are shattering. One story, from a website covering French news, states that a French youth heard a hissing sound from an iPhone before it exploded. The youth reportedly got a small shard of glass in his eye.

Some websites have graphic photos of iPhones with shattered faces.

Apple has stated that it’s aware of the reports and is investigating. It believes, according to various news outlets, that these are isolated incidents and not part of a widespread issue. The reports also do not show this happening to customers in the U.S. at this time.

Check back for updates to this story.

One of the very best things about the second-generation iPhone — known as the 3G — was the GPS functionality. Of course, it wasn’t as full-featured as a dedicated unit you could get from Garmin or TomTom, but it still beat the heck out of Mapquest.

Well, now the TomTom has come to the iPhone. A $99 application, it’s far from the cheapest program you can buy for your phone, but it may be one of the most useful.

The  TomTom for iPhone takes care of most of the built-in GPS’ weaknesses. The two most glaring are turn-by-turn navigation and voice directions. It also adds TomTom-only features like TomTom IQ Routes, which the company says finds the quickest, most efficient route to a destination.

Initial reviews of the app are positive for the most part. Some of the drawbacks listed by users include no spoken street names, and it lacks traffic updates. On the whole, though, most users seem quite happy with this app. Expect TomTom to update this software frequently (and for a hundred bucks, they should!), adding some of those missing features.

I recently wrote about growing disenchantment with Apple and its products. Well, that unhappiness continues to grow, and the angst is moving beyond the iPhone to the iPod, other Apple products, and Apple’s way of doing business.

Take this recent blog entry from a former rabid fan, for instance. Jason Calacanis has just about had it with Steve Jobs and Co., and isn’t shy about listing his complaints. He says that Apple is displaying anti-competitive, monopolistic practices (does that sound like any technology company you’ve heard of — maybe one that was sued by the U.S. Department of Justice?), stifling innovation in MP3 players, banning other browsers and Google Voice from the iPhone, and other transgressions.

And he asks, with considerable justification, what would happen to Microsoft if it did similar things? Why does Apple get a pass? Because it’s a cool company? That’s not going to work much longer. Apple needs to change its business practices, and soon. If not, it could be facing legal troubles similar to its hated rival, Microsoft.

I’m a big Google fan (that doesn’t mean I’m a Google fan that’s BIG, however). I have a gmail account (Google e-mail) which is easier to use and more efficient than my Hotmail account (Hotmail is owned by Microsoft). I also use the Google iPhone app quite often, especially the voice lookup, which allows me to tell the phone what I’m looking for, and have it brought up in a Google search.

It also continues to be the best search engine on the Internet (although I’m intrigued by Microsoft’s Bing, and will continue to use it). Now, Google is entering a new realm of unified communications by adding Google Voice, a phone service that may revolutionize the way you use phones.

Still in beta (i.e. pre-release), Google Voice supplies you with a single phone number. That phone number is tied into all your other phone numbers: your home phone, cell phone, work phone — whatever numbers you want it to support. That means that your phone numbers follow you around. If you move and change numbers, or change your cell number, those with your Google Voice number don’t need to know; they continue to call your Google number.

You can also do all kinds of cool stuff, like choose which calls you get on which phone, from which people. Calls from your mom can go to all your phones, for example. Calls from your boss can go to your work or cellphone only. You can even choose to have certain callers go directly to Google voicemail. How awesome is that?

You can read your voicemail through your phones, online, or even have it automatically transcribed and get it e-mailed to you.

I’ve signed up for the program; I’ll update you regularly on my progress. I have to say I’m very excited by this new use of technology, and can’t wait to try it out.

Things are starting to get tense in iPhone land. As regular readers know, I think the iPhone is the greatest gadget of all time; that doesn’t mean I think it’s perfect, however.

Some of its flaws are starting to surface, and some bloggers are starting to take its shortcomings to task. Some are complaining about poor call quality and dropped calls. Personally, I haven’t experienced many of these problems; my calls rarely drop, and I don’t have any problem hearing or being heard.

There are also some features that are available on many other cellphones, most of them cheaper than the iPhone, that it still doesn’t support. They include multimedia messaging and using the phone as a modem, to connect a laptop to the internet (known as “tethering”).

A growing concern is about Apple’s App Store, one of the best things about the iPhone. Apple is starting to reject applications for various reasons, and those reasons aren’t always clear. It used to be that the rules for accepting or declining an app were very clear to developers; now, it appears that Apple may be trying to stifle competition by keeping out apps that compete with its own products.

The dissatisfaction with the iPhone began only recently; it would be a good idea for Apple to look into these issues and try to resolve them before this unhappiness starts causing mass defections to the many other good smartphones out there.

We pretty much all love our iPhones, right? And now that I’ve had mine for about a year now (no, I didn’t sing Happy Birthday to my phone, in case you’re wondering), I thought it might be a good time to go over my favorite apps. If you’re like me, you have a lot of apps, but there are some you keep returning to again and again. Here’s my list.

Google for iPhone is at the top of my list. I use the voice search functionality often, and it’s a serious time (and typing) saver. I also have a gmail account (free Google e-mail). In addition, there is a calendar, Google Docs, an RSS reader, and more. My iPhone’s Swiss Army Knife.

AP Mobile is up next. I check the news often, and the AP is my primary source. This app has improved over time, allowing a lot of customization, local news, a technology category (you can imagine I spend some time there) and more.

Clock. This built-in app is one I bet many people overlook, but I’ve come to rely on the alarm clock functionality. I use it a lot since I’ve discovered it — one of the things I like best is that you can set different alarm sounds, the same way you can set ring tones. Instead of the hated buzzing of most alarm clocks, I have it set to graceful bells. It’s a nicer way to wake up.

Recorder. This is a voice-recording app that’s come in handy numerous times. In my day job as a magazine editor, I’ve used it time and again to record phone interviews. The digital clarity is quite good compared to my old, trusty (and revered) Radio Shack microcassette recorder, and since I have a 16GB iPhone, hard drive space to record conversations has never been an issue.

Fieldrunners. I have a number of games on my iPhone, but this is by far the one that has wasted the most of my time. It’s absolutely addicting. Fieldrunners is a tower defense game; you need to stop the baddies from getting through to your base by blocking their way through a series of towers. The towers can be filled with machine guns, missiles, electricity-generating machines, and more. I’m actually not much of a video/computer game guy, but this one keeps me coming back.

Well, there’s five iPhone faves. What are some of yours? Comment below.

Bad news for Palm Pre owners: the latest update for iTunes kills the ability to sync the Pre with your PC or Mac computer.

With version 8.2.1 of iTunes, Apple’s software for iPods, iPhones and iPod Touches, the program will no longer sync your phone with your computer. Previous versions of iTunes still work, however, so it might be worth your while to hold off on upgrading iTunes — perhaps indefinitely.

Apple didn’t come right out and say that it was killing support for the Pre, a competing smartphone, but  it did say that 8.2.1 “addresses an issue with verification of Apple devices.” That’s Apple’s way apparently of making sure you can’t use it with the Pre.

Note that there are third-party programs that will enable syncing with iTunes and the Pre, including the latest version of iTunes. But you may have to pay for those.

The Pre, since its debut in June, has been popular and well-reviewed. In a way, it makes good business sense for Apple to not enable functionality with a direct competitor; on the other hand, Apple risks backlash from an angry user community that may look elsewhere for options to iTunes and Mac computers and other Apple devices in the future.

Apple is not a very open company in terms of compatibility with non-Apple products; this action will only reinforce that reputation. But Apple doesn’t seem to care; and so far, it’s done just fine with that attitude.

You may be aware that the new iPhone 3G S has had problems with overheating, as reported on PriceGrabber among other Websites. But other battery-related problems are starting to surface as well.

According to reports on Apple’s Website and other outlets, battery life, which is supposed to be improved on the 3G S, may be drastically worse. 3G S owners are complaining about batteries that run out in less than a day, or are down to 10% or less battery life. Some of their solutions include resetting their phones to their original, pristine state, and draining the battery fully and recharging it fully before using it.

Even if those solutions work, they shouldn’t be necessary. It looks like Apple may have goofed big-time on this. The problem is made even worse by the fact that, unlike most smartphones and cellphones, the battery is sealed and the phone has to be returned to Apple for a replacement.

A few things I do on my 3G (the non-S model, thank goodness) to preserve battery life: I turn off ‘Push’ notification of e-mail. When I first got my iPhone and used it, I couldn’t figure out why the battery drained so quickly. Turning off this functionality was the biggest factor in improving my battery life. Also, I don’t turn on location services unless I need to use the GPS, and I turn off wi-fi unless I intend to use it. Those three simple things have helped the most.

In the meantime, carefully consider a possible purchase of an iPhone 3G S until more is known about the battery overheating and draining issues.

The good news? The iPhone 3G is more affordable than ever.