• Huge growth in Android device shipments, especially handsets, in developing markets.
• More affordable price points as compared to iOS devices, including Amazon's Android-based Kindle Fire.
• Merging of aligned Google properties; Android Market into Google Play (similar to Apple's tightly integrated App Store and iTunes).
• High profile launches of Samsung Galaxy devices, Huawei, and Sony Ericsson smartphones, all Android powered.

These developments are beginning to outweigh the steadily increasing fragmentation of the Android ecosystem and monetization challenges.

iOS's lead among enterprise focused developers, nor Androids return to higher interest levels, should not deter enterprises and developers from builiding for both operating systems.  As they develop apps for their customers and employees and plan future rollouts, a multi-operating system strategy will be required. It seems that both iOS and Android will retain significant market share (with Windows 8 poised to make inroads as well); companies should plan to develop native and mobile web apps for customers and employees on several platforms.

Download the Appcelerator Q2 2012 Mobile Developer Survey for more details about developer opinions and the future of mobile.

Sorry Dunder Mifflin, the age of paper is coming to an end in yet another industry.  Thanks to the people at GlobeSherpa and their mobile app TransitSherpa (created on Appcelerator Titanium), soon the process of purchasing tickets and traveling will be paperless for the users of the TriMet in Oregon. TriMet has the aim of partnering with GlobeSherpa to automate the ticket buying and browsing process, allowing transit users to organize their journey entirely from their mobile device. Though TransitSherpa has yet to be released, it has already earned GlobeSherpa well-deserved attention.

This morning Google stepped up to the plate to join Apple and Microsoft with its own set of big announcements, adding to what is fast becoming the hottest month for mobile news to date. At
the Google I/O keynote in Moscone Center, San Francisco, the tech giant unveiled their Nexus 7 tablet complete with Jelly Bean Android OS 4.1 and a home computer device called Nexus Q-- an Apple TV-esque product that brings Google’s mobile technology to your home entertainment systems.  But all that came before Google co-founder Sergey Brin dropped a bomb with the gimmick-filled demo of Google Glass. Complete with skydivers, bikers, and stuntmen repelling buildings, the Glass extravaganza will likely be buzzed about for weeks to come.  Attendees of the conference can all pre-order the prototype of Glass, which will ship early next year. Coming back from the future though, Jelly Bean and the Nexus 7 will be available to users just next month.  Here are some of the key features:

Microsoft made big headlines last week, unexpectedly stealing the spotlight away from Apple and its WWDC buzz from the week before.  And attention is not all they borrowed from the Cupertino company. At a very Jobsian, top-secret event in LA last Monday, Microsoft gave us a preview of the Surface, its own answer to the iPad and first serious attempt at hardware production.