Smartphone applications are one of the biggest trends going, one that will only get bigger in 2009. Not exactly unexpected, especially for anyone who’s followed Salesforce.com’s (NYSE: CRM) AppExchange model. But despite how Google’s Android (NASDAQ: GOOG) foreshadowed the market, it’s taken the brilliance of Steve Jobs to get the ball rolling.

On the one hand, the dynamics are similar to ring tones

The Wall Street Journal had an article out Monday that has created a real firestorm of controversy. It’s about how some of the large Internet players (such as GOOG, MSFT, and AMZN) are backpedaling on their previous Net Neutrality stances.

Moreover, they’re variously negotiating with telecablecos to gain “favored nation” or preferred treatment status on their networks.

The blogosphere has been abuzz since last week about Comcast’s (CMCSA) new policy limiting the amount subscribers can download. Starting October 1st, Comcast will limit users to 250 GB of total downloads per month. Violators will first get a warning if they exceed the cap. A second “offense” within 6 months will risk loss of service for a year.

Intel (INTC) and Yahoo (YHOO) recently announced a venture to develop a platform–dubbed “The Widget Channel”–that in effect turns your TV into an Internet thin client. Seth Gilbert over at Metue.com has a great summary.

Developers can write software widgets that can be uploaded to your TV and run in the background. You could check email, share photos with friends, bid on eBay (EBAY) - anything a widget on your Mac or PC can do. All while watching your favorite TV show or sports event.

Here’s an object lesson in how stocks with thin trading volume can get hammered.

On Monday, Rimage Corporation (RIMG) reduced 2nd quarter guidance, citing the economic slowdown. Revenue expectations dropped from $24-26M to a new target of $20-22M. Earnings projections plummeted, to 9 to 12 cents per share, from previous guidance of 22-27 cents. Analysts estimates were–predictably–within the previous guidance ranges.

Blockbuster (BBI) has outdone itself now. It just announced a trial of in-store kiosks that will allow consumers to download movies directly into a portable media player [PMP] to take with them. For now, only the Archos player will be supported.

Let me get this straight.

Goldman Sachs analyst James Mitchell is out with a report that estimates sales of the Kindle electronic book reader from Amazon (AMZN) were between 25,000 and 50,000 in the first quarter. This is hot on the heels of another estimate of 30,000 from Citi analyst Mark Mahaney.

Who benefits the most from the recently announced Sprint (S) / Clearwire (CLWR) deal? It may not be who you think.

This massive ($3.2B) infusion of money seems like a lot, but it’s just the beginning for this boondoggle. WiMAX is a nice technology that works in some circumstances, with the right business model. But then so will WiFi, and it’s much cheaper. Besides, the mobile providers have a huge head start. Why buy new cards and sign a new contract when I already have what I need from my cell phone (or hotspot) provider?

Did everyone see yesterday’s announcement from DivX (DIVX)? TVs that are DivX Certified, from HP and LG. Yawn. DivX has had an HP TV certified for some time, and the rest of this was distressingly devoid of details. (Nice to see the SKU count up, though.)

CinemaNow and Thomson’s (TMS) Technicolor just announced a partnership to provide an end-to-end platform for online content delivery to consumers. CinemaNow will contribute its studio-licensed content and a storefront, while Technicolor will provide encoding, encryption, rights management, and content delivery services. (I hadn’t known until now that Technicolor runs its own CDN, but it does.)

The platform will extend all the way from content origination to consumer devices. The press release mentions CinemaNow partners such as Samsung, Archos, Dish Network, and HP as providing compatible hardware for the platform.

Well that was quick.

The Wall Street Journal reports this morning that back in February, Blockbuster (BBI) offered to buy Circuit City (CC) for $6-$8 per share, a hefty premium to current prices.

The Hollywood Reporter had a story last week that Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI) will soon announce a movie rental set-top box. Everyone who has written about this has noted that it will compete against – among others – Apple TV (NASDAQ: AAPL).

That’s true, if you can call “eating dust” a competition.

Yesterday morning Macrovision (MVSN) reported it has completed the divestiture of its software business, including the FLEXnet and InstallShield product lines, raising $200M. With the previously announced sale of its games unit to RealNetworks (RNWK), Macrovision is well on its way to completely transforming its business. What remains is to consummate the merger with Gemstar/TV Guide (GMST).

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday (paid subscription required) on talks between Comcast (CMCSA) and BitTorrent, Inc. to make nice over Comcast's admitted blocking--excuse me, "delaying"--of bittorrent generated traffic.

At first glance it seems a rather ham-handed attempt to mollify Comcast critics. The WSJ and others are reporting it as a fairly straight up development, if something of a backpedal by Comcast. But these miss the point, I think, sidetracked by conspiratorial discussions of "net neutrality" and how the big bad telecablecos are angling to limit our choices, take over the world, and generally do evil.