Touchscreens aren't just for smartphones anymore. Gartner Thursday released research predicting the worldwide market for touchscreen devices will nearly double this year to 362.7 million units, accounting for more than 27% of all phone sales. And that proportion will increase to 58% globally, and 80% in mature markets like North America and Western Europe.

When AT&T announced at CES in January that it would launch five Android-powered phones in the first half of 2010, it looked like the carrier might finally be coming around to the more open mobile environment embodied by the Google platform. AT&T, along with Verizon Wireless, had been one of the initial holdouts from Google's Open Handset Alliance and is the last major carrier to support Android. But now that the wraps have come off the Motorola Backflip -- the first Android phone from AT&T due out Mar. 7 -- it seems like the company is simply forcing the old …

The analogies drawn between blockbuster movie openings and new smartphone launches in the last year have surely pleased manufacturers and wireless operators. The comparison itself suggests high-end phones have pushed far enough into the mainstream for their rollouts to be considered media and pop cultural events in and of themselves.

In the wake of the Chilean earthquake, mobile donation groups like mGive and the Mobile Giving Foundation have swung into action, setting up new keywords and short codes for people to text $5 or $10 contributions toward disaster relief.