Striving to provide developers with useful information as more and more mobile phone users are expected to download free applications for devices such as the Apple iPhone (News - Alert) and Google Android-based HTC Dream or T-Mobile G1, a San Francisco-based company today said it’s offering a free platform to measure app performance.

 

Officials at Flurry reportedly are saying that the mobile phone is evolving and that the platform – called “Flurry Analytics” – will provide detailed information on how consumers are using the new applications so that developers can tailor their efforts wisely.

 

“Developers have to know what’s working, pinpoint what’s not and respond rapidly – that will be key in fueling the growth of mobile applications,” said Simon Khalaf, president and chief executive officer of Flurry. “That’s why we’ve developed Flurry Analytics as a free service to arm developers with the in-depth information they need to build better, smarter applications.”

 

Two major IT innovations are driving the developers’ market. First, the iPhone, whose App Store saw 60 million downloads in the first month of the device’s release in July. And also the Android-based phone from HTC (News - Alert) – a Taiwanese electronics manufacturer that earned a well-written profile from a pair of New York Times writers last week.

 

Reports emerged last month that the widely anticipated Android handset would be launched Oct. 13.

 

According to a post today on huliq.com, a Hickory, North Carolina-based news service that’s owned by Hareyan Publishing LLC, T-Mobile (News - Alert) USA will take pre-orders from its online store on Oct. 17.

 

“Now, HTC Dream G1 has got some leaked images which have been floating around the Internet before the launch date,” the post says. “In the picture, the HTC Dream G1 handset seems to have a pretty unique design, which its bottom has a slight tilt and a trackball is found there too. But this adds extra length which tends to make it easily to poke out while it’s in the pocket.”

 

A T-Mobile spokesperson who preferred to remain nameless said that such comments are rumors that prompt no comment from the company.

 

The spokesperson said the only details released about the new phone have to do with the timing of its launch..

 

“T-Mobile is on track to bring an Android based phone to market in Q4,” the spokesperson said.

 

Rumors emerged in August that Google’s Android mobile phone platform – delayed and cloaked in secrecy, to the reported annoyance of the development world – would become available as early as October and, according to The New York Times, that T-Mobile would become the first carrier to offer a phone that’s powered by the software.

 

Not everyone is bowled over by what they’ve heard about the device.

 

Jason Perlow, who blogs for ZDNet.com, which is operated by CBS-owned CNET Netowrks, said in one recent entry that what he’s learned of the device makes it sound as though it couldn’t be considered an upgrade from his Blackberry 8820.

 

Among what Perlow says he’s long envisioned in a digital convergence device are: built-in WiFi (News - Alert) peer-to-peer mesh networking, 40 gigabytes of hard disk space, 1024x768 pixel video camera and a user interface that ran on Mac, PC and Linux desktops.

 

Officials at Flurry say their product is unique in that it analyzes applications for the iPhone and Android phone, as well as devices that run on Java ME, which fuels more than 1,200 different types of handsets worldwide – a market that creates an enormous opportunity for developers.

 

 “Our cross-platform approach connects app developers with consumers, not devices, giving developers the greatest opportunity to successfully expand their footprint in the mobile market,” Khalaf said.