Pocket Picks round-up: 4th February - LG goes 3D, Apple goes NFC, ZTE goes 4th in the world, and the Android Market finally goes online

Hello, and welcome to this week's round-up of stories from Pocket Gamer’s sister-site Pocket Picks!

We’ve got a wide-selection of stories for you, veering between stat-tracking with the news that ZTE continues to gain ground on the ‘big three’, and new handsets in the form of one of the aforementioned three officially (sort of) revealing its flagship 3D handset.

There’s also a couple of Android app reviews for those interested in police and music (not The Police).

So without further ado, lets plow into the news.

It’s taken two years, but Google finally lifted the lid on its web-based Android Market service this week, much to the relief of anyone who’s had to use Androlib for an extended period of time (I’m aware that’s likely to just be me).

The new service started off a little roughly as millions of Android users descended on the server at once, but once the initial rush receded it’s proven to be quite a decent-looking competitor to its rivals.

Now all Google need to do is work on the one available on the handset.

Rumours are dangerous things. Most of the time they’re dangerous due to disappointment - no, the iPad 2 won’t come with a holo-deck esque display system - but sometimes they’re so spot on that they force the company to reveal information that it was hoping to save up for a later date.

An example of the latter can be construed from LG’s recent actions concerning its new 3D handset, the Optimus 3D. Not that the Korean company said so explicitly, you understand, just by releasing a press briefing that essentially only confirmed the phone's existence, before saying that it’ll be fully described at the Mobile World Congress, smacks of a company being outed earlier than it wanted.

Still, the dual-core, 3D camera-equipped Android phone looks like it could be quite an interesting device when it’s properly announced. Going by earlier rumours, of course.

Chinese handset maker ZTE can afford a few hearty back slaps at the moment, as the company managed to record a staggering increase on mobile shipments last year - up 94 per cent from 2009.

This means that the company now finds itself in fourth position in the mobile industry, edging out Apple in the process (who also had an extremely good year thanks to the iPhone 4). RIM and Motorola, on the other hand, will have some soul-searching to do, as both dropped out of the top five in 2010.

There’s still a mighty gap from ZTE to third-placed LG, but increased competition in the industry is always a welcome sign for consumers.

I think the NFC-on-iPhone rumours have pretty much hit critical mass now, with very few inside the industry doubting its appearance on the upcoming iPhone 5.

In case you’re one of the three people who doubt the rumour mill, however, then let me regale you with a story of Visa using a dongle attached to iPhone 3GSs to test out the wireless payment system in selected locations across Europe.

If the iPhone 5 does come equipped with the system, we hope it doesn’t look quite as ugly as the device pictured.

App reviews are back in fashion this week, with two top-selling Android apps up for evaluation.

The first is Chordbot, an impressive backing-track/accompaniment app that packs in some decent sounds to go with its slick interface.

A few crashes let the side down, but it’s still worth a look if you’re in need of musical inspiration.

On the other side is Scanner Radio Pro, an app that allows you to listen in on emergency service’s streams without fear of wire-tapping claims being brought against you.

If you're not interested in American police then you might want to give this one a miss, but as an app it’s hard to fault its execution.