China Unicom has launched their own mobile OS today, dubbed "Wophone," the first OS developed in China.

Motorola, Samsung, Huawei, HTC and TCL have already committed to releasing phones with Wophone.

The new OS is based on Linux and Unicom says "Wophones" will sell sell for 1,000 yuan ($150) to 2,000 yuan ($300), aimed at consumers who cannot afford high end devices, like the iPhone.

Says one analyst of the move (via GT):

Medium- and low-end smartphones will be a new driving force for the industry, since this group of people now also shows a growing interest in smartphones as their incomes increase.

The Wophone OS can support all 3G Chinese mobile standards, WCDMA, CDMA2000 and TD-SCDMA, and also has support for LTE 4G.

China Unicom has 155 million 3G users and is the exclusive iPhone distributor in the world's most populous nation.

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Former Senator Christopher Dodd has been appointed the new CEO of the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America), years after the group began searching.

The studios behind the trade group had long fought over fighting a candidate but all seem very excited by the new appointment.

One studio boss even said, of Dodd: "He has great experience in government, is a leader and has real charisma."

Dodd became a senator for Connecticut in 1981 and remained in office until January of this year.

Despite his year in politics, Dodd is likely best remembered for his failed presidential bid in 2008 and his call that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were "fundamentally strong" and "in good shape" just months before the government was forced to nationalize the companies in a deal that will likely cost taxpayers over $150 billion.

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Although the rumor of a smaller iPhone being built has been floating for over a month, the latest "confirmation" comes directly from Apple COO Tim Cook.

Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi has posted an investment note this week, after having a meeting with Cook, CFO Peter Oppenheimer and VP of Internet Services Eddy Cue, in which he claims that Cook "appeared to reaffirm the notion that Apple is likely to develop lower priced offerings".

Furthermore, Apple is planning "clever" ways to get into the prepaid market, and that Apple is trying to not let "any" market get away from them.

A smaller version of the iPhone, likely touting a small 2.6-inch screen, would be cheaper than current iPhone models and would be aimed at the market which is currently on-the-fence about smartphones and aimed at nations where Symbian and low-end Android devices rule.

Finally, Cook said Apple is very confident about the tablet market despite "intense competition."

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Pwn2Own begins next week on March 9th, and will have security researchers "battling" to exploit Chrome, Safari 5, Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox 3.6.

If anyone successfully hacks Chrome on the first day of the three-day event, Google will pay out $20,000. If anyone hacks it during the event after the first day, Google will pay $10,000 and Pwn2Own sponsor HP will pay the other $10,000.

In anticipation of the event, Google has patched 19 vulnerabilities and paid out $14,000 to nine researchers who submitted the flaws.

16 of the bugs were rated "high" and the rest were "medium." "High" is one step below Google's most sever ranking of "critical."

Anything ranked "critical" means the hacker has infiltrated Chrome's anti-exploit sandbox, says CW, and Google has had to patch two "critical" flaws already this year.

Mozilla has scheduled a patch update for Firefox 3.6 today, as well.

Download the latest Chrome 9 here: Google Chrome 9 at AfterDawn

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On-demand streaming music service Rhapsody has begun giving away two-month free trials to new users via a promotion with MTV.

The move has been seen as a way to prepare for Spotify's "imminent" launch in the U.S.

Spotify has signed licensing deals with EMI and Sony Music, and has allegedly come very close to signing a deal with the largest label in the world, Universal Music Group.

Because of a promotion deal signed between former owner Viacom and Rhapsody, MTV has committed $33 million to free advertising for the service and will promote it during "The Jersey Shore" and on Comedy Central.

Since spinning off from Viacom and RealNetworks, Rhapsody has regained 100,000 subscribers bringing it to an all-time peak of about 750,000 users.

Rhapsody is facing an increasingly more competitive market thanks to Pandora, Rdio, MOG, and soon Spotify.

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Nvidia has announced today the availability of Tegra Zone in the Android Market, an app that will give users a chance to easily find apps that have been optimized for devices running the dual-core Tegra 2 chip.

The app shows all the games and apps alongside professional reviews, HD screenshots, HD trailers, some gameplay videos and even behind-the-scenes featurettes.

After selecting an app through Tegra Zone, you are then brought to download or purchase it via the Android Market.

The company says the first Tegra 2-enhanced games are Samurai II: Vengeance by MADFINGER Games, Dungeon Defenders: First Wave Deluxe HD by Trendy Entertainment, Galaxy on Fire 2 THD, by Fishlabs, Backbreaker THD, by Natural Motion, Fruit Ninja THD, by Halfbrick Studios, Vendetta Online, by Guild Software, Monster Madness, by SouthPeak Games and Hardwood Solitaire IV, by Silver Creek Entertainment.

Says Nvidia:

introduced over the past several months in a variety of super phones and tablets, the Tegra 2 super chip is finding a growing market, particularly among those interested in console-quality gaming on their mobile device. It is built with the world's first mobile dual-core CPU – which unleashes the best Web experience, with up two times faster browsing and support for full Adobe® Flash® Player hardware GPU acceleration, plus unprecedented multitasking capabilities. It also includes an NVIDIA GeForce® GPU – which provides stunningly rich visual experiences and console console-quality gaming.

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According to new data from web analytics company StatCounter, Bing has overtaken Yahoo! for global search engine reach, taking 4.37 percent share to Yahoo's 3.93 percent.

Overall, the global leader remains, clearly, Google, at 89.94 percent reach.

In the U.S., Google has the lead at 79.63 percent, while Yahoo remains in second at 9.74 percent. Bing has quickly taken large share, however, moving to 9.03 percent.

It is important to note that in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Mexico and Brazil, Bing powers the Yahoo! search engine, so many firms have moved to just combining the figures for both engines.

Says StatCounter CEO Aodhan Cullen (via PR):

It is significant that Bing overtook Yahoo! globally for the first time on a monthly basis but it remains a tough battle to claw back Google's market share. Although Google dipped below the 90 percent mark in February worldwide for the first time since August 2009 it shows little sign of losing its global dominance any time soon.

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Gogo Inflight Wireless has released iOS and Blackberry apps today, while promising an Android app is 'coming soon.'

The apps should make it easier for flyers to connect to in-flight Wi-Fi from their mobile devices, which was notably difficult from standard browsers.

Reads the brief description:

The free Gogo® Inflight Internet app gives you one-step sign in on all Gogo equipped flights. Next time you're in the air, the Gogo Inflight Internet app will detect if you're on the Gogo network. After signing up, get online in flight with a push of a button.

Blackberry 5.0 or higher is required for the BB app and there are no restrictions on the iOS version (it appears).

Currently, Gogo Inflight Internet is available on all AirTran Airways and Virgin America flights, and select Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and US Airways flights.

Check the apps here or via the iTunes Store/Blackberry App World.

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