Looking for a blog? It’s unlikely there will be one here for a while.

The project keeping me the busiest is my site, TheAppPlanet. Apps are transforming our computing experience on mobile devices and tablets. Mobile apps are creating a lucrative industry, and this topic deserves in-depth, serious coverage that many sites just aren’t doing.

I soon hope to tweak my home page to function as a portfolio for showcasing my writing platform. For daily content about apps for iOS and Android check out TheAppPlanet or find it on Twitter or Facebook.

Here is my answer: Surviving the App Store. The eBook is a how-to manual that will help anyone to master the App Store. It covers basics such how the App Store is organized, finding apps and organizing them on your device.

More veteran iPhone/iPad users will still benefit from the “Apps Starter Pack” I created, which lists the best free apps available.

Thanks to all those who have been following my reviews at AppCraver, iPadNewsDaily, and the other sites I have contributed to. Surviving the App Store is currently available for Kindle (download it here) and Nook (download it here). An iBooks edition is on its way.

There are already some excellent apps, like The New York Times, Springpad and TweetDeck. The bigger story is that we are entering an era dominated by apps. It isn’t just our mobile devices: web browsers, computers (think the forthcoming Mac App Store) and televisions have an app storefront.

Monitoring essential and pitiful apps is the next great challenge for those (like me) who monitor consumer technology. How will this impact the once Wild West of the Internet? If people use apps more and scour the Internet less, how do do-it-yourself web site builders get discovered?

It is an exciting future, but not without questions.

If you are curious as to which apps made the cut, here they are:

• Pulse News Reader (my favorite news app)
• Twitter
• Evernote
• Kindle
• iBooks
• Netflix

This was launch day for Windows Phone 7. Fanfare was nowhere to be found. But inside the AT&T store was a device that boldly rethinks what a modern smartphone operating system should be like.

It just may be too late. If we lived in a different world Microsoft would take another six months and work out the bugs from what really feels like a beta OS. But they don’t have that luxury. In fact, Windows Phone 7 comes about two years behind the rest of the smartphone makers who scurried to start adding iPhone-esque features to their devices.

What I believe separates Windows Phone from the Droid line and others is that it is not another imitation of the iPhone. Yes there is a browser and apps, but the interface is reinvented. The live tiles are easy to glance at, flick and peruse.

Yet the time spent creating everything from scratch inevitably meant there would be flaws and missing features. So many, in fact, that most reviewers have praised Windows Phone for its bold look, but are holding off on recommending it until copy and paste, multitasking, HTML5 video viewing and other features come along.

I walked away from spending some time with a Windows Phone feeling that it was very cool and innovative, but not enough to buy one. And that is probably the rub – it’s cool, but it doesn’t give you that feeling of, “I have to have this.”

The holiday season will tell if Windows Phone becomes a major player or an obscure also-ran like HP’s Palm webOS. The market and consumers would benefit from Windows Phone’s success as it offers needed competition and some intriguing ideas. Like so many other products, it may suffer from the “it’s good, but not great” mindset.

A few quick thoughts on the questions tomorrow’s launch raises:

• Is it too late? We are now on the fourth iteration of the iPhone and there are numerous excellent Android devices. And even with its market slipping there are still plenty of BlackBerry loyalists. At least half of mobile phone users still have not made the smartphone leap, so can they be lured to Windows Phone?
• What happens if the iPhone really does land on Verizon in 2011? Does the Windows Phone’s limitation to AT&T and T-Mobile severely hamper its ability to be competitive?
• Will the apps be good enough? According to Microsoft over 2,000 are in Windows Marketplace at launch. Today’s consumer has been trained to want good apps. Will they be that good at the launch of a new operating system?
• Can Microsoft get anyone to switch? Android and iPhone owners have high levels of device satisfaction. Can Microsoft get some converts?

The fun begins early Monday morning.

One site is tumblr, which just got some huge publicity in a recent New York Times article. What I enjoy about tumblr is how effortless it is to share text, links, photos or other media. It feels far more content-driven than Facebook with less visual noise than Twitter. The iPhone app is outstanding and makes posting very easy. I’m not quite sure what to do with it yet, but if you are bored you can check out my tumblr page.

Scribd is a platform geared toward writers who wish to share their content. A few components still feel buggy, but overall I like the concept. Since it is geared toward longer content the updating occurs through uploading documents. While this is a bit cumbersome for sharing blog posts, it really lends itself to stories and articles. Google Docs integration is there so one can easily port those over. My latest Scribd posts can be found here.

If there are other social networks you are excited about, feel free to share in the comments.

In a previous post I discussed the obsessive fanboyism of iPhone and Android users.

Despite how annoying the fanboys are, they are good for business. These users are fiercely loyal to their brand, and when it comes time to buy another device most are likely to stick with their preferred operating system.

A recent Nielsen survey confirms this. It found 71 percent of current Android users plan to get another Google-powered device come upgrade time, while 89 percent of iPhone owners plan the same. However, only 42 percent of BlackBerry owners want another model.

That is a huge problem for Research in Motion. The BlackBerry needs some defining features that set it apart from the competition. The iPhone has the best music player and zillions of apps. Android has excellent Google integration and plenty of options.

The BlackBerry has…a great keyboard. The OS in its current form is dated and still best suited to the corporate users who once made it a status symbol. An overhaul is underway with OS 6 with a needed focus on a vastly improved browser and its messaging strengths.

RIM knows there is an issue; several San Francisco BART stations are plastered with BlackBerry ads. At Union Square I discovered a large promotional tent featuring BlackBerry phones and an emcee leading volunteers in wacky games to win a Bold. Much of the promotional material included the BlackBerry’s best feature: BlackBerry Messenger. It is an always-on instant messaging service that could make text messaging obsolete if enough of your friends are fellow BlackBerry users.

The problem is they probably aren’t. RIM needs a bold new approach that focuses on its new browser and instant messaging options. Another me-too app-centric phone just won’t win any converts.

The battle is far from lost. Smartphones are currently less than one-fourth of the mobile market, but Nielsen predicts they will grow rapidly to half by the end of 2011. BlackBerry isn’t gone; but they have work to do.

Update: Looks like this is already underway as RIM announced the BlackBerry Torch today.

The irony here? I took this picture with my iPhone.

Look anywhere on the Internet for an article or blog post that mentions Android phones or the iPhone. Then, scroll down to the comments and duck as venom will begin to spew through your computer screen.

The vitriol, name-calling and idiocy that once were the hallmark of Mac vs. PC debates has been overtaken by fanboys of Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android devices.

It is one thing to enjoy your favorite mobile platform. It is quite another to ridicule and throw insults at users of the competition. It seems that many people (mostly men) get a ridiculous, Alpha Male attachment to their phone and must defend its honor when any perceived criticism arises.

The reality is each device has its distinct advantages and weaknesses. The iPhone benefits from Apple’s maniacal focus on design and control to create a smooth and minimalistic user interface. Its control of the App Store prevents some buggy and unnecessary apps from making it onto the device. Of course in exchange you surrender some freedom: your choice is only one device on one network (and for now just one color).

Android offers more flexibility and choices of devices and carriers. There is a good Android phone now on all four of the major carriers. Some have keyboards, some don’t, and two even have enormous screens. Heavy users of Google products like Gmail get tight integration with those services and are not locked into iTunes. Yet more and more Android phones are getting loaded up with bloatware and have ugly skins like Motorola’s BLUR or HTC Sense running on top of them. This forces users to wait for the latest version of Android while the carriers and device makers figure out when it won’t break their software.

It’s a phone, not a religion. Just because I have an iPhone does not mean those who choose Android have done so unwisely. Interest in technology and mobile devices should be about discovering innovation and expanded knowledge. Instead many readers of the popular blogs have chosen sides and engage in all-out war.

So read and enjoy technology and gadget articles. Just skip the comments.