The LiMo Foundation, which seeks to bolster the use of Linux in
mobile devices, has announced that 11 companies have joined as members, bringing the total to over 50.
Read the full story here.
A company called I D YOU, LLC based out of Allen, Texas has come up with a service for smartphones that will provide the Caller ID for numbers
NOT already in your contact list. Called Privus
Mobile service (www.privusmobile.com), it claims to be "the world's first and only real Caller ID for your
mobile phone."
For those callers not already found in your contacts list, or for the numbers you just don't recognize, Privus
Mobile can give you real-time access to the caller's name and number so that you can accept or deny incoming calls. The downloadable application also gives you the option to save the caller's name and phone number to your contacts automatically. And for missed calls, Privus
Mobile lets you decide whether the caller deserves a callback or deletion.
Available at www.privusmobile.com, it appears to work with Windows
Mobile based Treos but not the popular Centro. A
full list of compatible devices can be found on the site. At $24.95 for three months and $89.95 for 12-months, this service isn't cheap. But if you are a heavy user of a WM Treo, it might be just what you need. The company is offering a free three-day trial so you can see for yourself if it delivers on its promise.
It’s clear that the Apple iPhone and iPhone 3G have been the most sought after handsets in the US smartphone market for some time now. Following on the
previous ChangeWave survey that indicated that the iPhone 3G would have a “
tsunami like impact” on the smartphone market, ChangeWave has released a new survey that shows RIM and its BlackBerry aren’t taking the issue lightly.
While the iPhone 3G had the distinction of being the most desired smartphone among potential smartphone consumers, RIM has a dominating lead in both the consumer and enterprise segments with their BlackBerry lineups - 42% of the smartphone market is no small accomplishment. RIM is pitting their BlackBerry Bold and touchscreen-based BlackBerry Thunder against the iPhone 3G, and it seems to be (somewhat) working.
The latest ChangeWave survey data shows that a total of 4% of respondents report they’re “Very Likely” to buy the new
RIM BlackBerry Bold when it becomes available. Another 13% are “Somewhat Likely.”
The BlackBerry Thunder saw 2% of respondents indicating that they’re “Very Likely” to buy a
RIM BlackBerry Thunder when available. A total of 13% are “Somewhat Likely.”
As for RIM’s first BlackBerry clamshell, the
RIM BlackBerry KickStart, a total of 2% say they’re “Very Likely,” and 11% are “Somewhat Likely” to purchase a RIM BlackBerry KickStart when it goes on sale.
While seemingly having
little uptake in the smartphone market, Access have now set their sights on the nascent
Mobile Intent Device (MID) market. The company has just announced that the
Access Linux Platform will ad support for the emerging MID format. Larger than a
classic PDA and even more portable than a "netbook", MID devices are a relatively new niche in the
mobile computing market.They typically come in a tablet like form factor with larger screens optimized for browsing the web. Nokia has made some strides with its
Internet Tablet series, and other tech heavyweights such as
Microsoft,
Intel and
Ubuntu are also working on MID projects.
Nokia's unannounced N85 has passed through the FCC, revealing what could possibly be the first tri-band 3G smartphone to support both AT&T and T-
Mobile's 3G networks, though it seems unlikely. But thanks to a confidentiality request, we don't know for sure. Updated.
Read the full story here.
RIM apparently didn’t think the
BlackBerry KickStart moniker was going to vibe too well with the general public, and has decided to rebrand their
first foray in to clamshell designs. The first BlackBerry flip-phone, the BlackBerry KickStart, as it has been known, will hence forth be referred to as the RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8220. The name change comes on the heels of reports that the handset would be called the
BlackBerry KickStart 8220 - not too far off base from the actual handset model name.
The BlackBerry Pearl 8220, in accordance with Waterloo’s naming conventions, will sport a WiFi radio, while the BlackBerry Pearl 8210 will pack integrated GPS hardware beneath the clamshell form-factor.
We’re also hearing that the BlackBerry Pearl 8220 will be offered on T-
Mobile’s network while the BlackBerry Pearl 8210 should give AT&T customers with a hankerin’ for a GPS-enabled BlackBerry flip something to chew on. More as we hear it.
While we wait for T-
Mobile and AT&T to go live with the BlackBerry Pearl 8220 and BlackBerry Pearl 8210, respectively, take a gander at the video below. It should help pass the time a bit faster (but just a little bit).
Krussell, one of the premier names in consumer electronics cases, has just released a report detailing the “Top 10″ best selling
mobile phones in July 2008. The figures are based on the number of cases purchased for each specific device, and should be taken as a loose interpretation of general handset sales in July 2008. Being one of the largest and well-known case-makers in the
mobile space, Krussell’s sales figures could be argued to be somewhat indicative of overall cellphone sales.
“The launch of the 3G Iphone from Apple on July 11th had great impact on the sales in July as well as in June, says Ulf Sandberg Managing Director at Krusell. Main focus for this month should probably be put on the two newcomers from Sony Ericsson, that are expected to climb a step or two in next month’s list.”
The list:
- Apple iPhone (1)
- Nokia 3109 (5)
- Nokia E51 (3)
- Nokia 6300 (4)
- Sony Ericsson C902 (5)
- Sony Ericsson C702 (6)
- Nokia N95 8 GB (7)
- Sony Ericsson K810i (8)
- Sony Ericsson K530i (9)
- LG KU990 (6)
(#) = Last month’s position.
The data represents sales in over 50 countries, spanning 6 continents, around the world. As expected, Sony Ericsson and Nokia’s flagship shooters made the cut, as did the iPhone. Interestingly, the Nokia 3109 took second place.
While almost every other aspect of the global economy indicates that we’re in for some seriously rough times, the smartphone market has been looking surprisingly spry. Even as
mobile phone sales in general have been
seeing a decline over the past months, smartphones sales have been
growing steadily - despite a gloomy economic outlook for much of the world.
Whatever a slumping economy means to the average person, the reliable smartphone market is exactly what HTC needs to keep making money. The smartphone manufacturer has posted financial earnings of NT$11.44 billion (US$372.64 million) for July. The figure represents a 3.4% decline from the previous month, but improves on last year’s revenue by 26.4%.
“For the first seven months of this year, revenues topped NT$78.76 billion, up 32.4% from the same period of last year, the data showed. “
Furthermore, the growing smartphone segment has HTC expected to see revenues hitting NT$38 billion in Q3 2008 - representing a modest 10% growth, sequentially.
HTC is doing well, and we expected no less than impressive financial reports from the Taiwanese smartphone giant. And, with the US launch of the HTC Touch Diamond, HTC Touch Pro, and, most importantly, the Android-powered HTC Dream looming over the horizon, HTC’s financial futures should be secure through the middle of next year.
A few months ago I was planning a vacation to Austria and Italy. I knew a few words and phrases in German and Italian, but that was about it. So I looked around for some portable language dictionaries. I thought
Google Translate was great, but the web page didn't work that well on the iPhone. So I teamed up with David Singleton, a fellow engineer in our London office, to build an iPhone interface for Google Translate.
Google Translate for iPhone is optimized for speed, supports all of the existing Google Translate language pairs, and uses a client-side data-store on your iPhone to hang on to your past translations so you always have them at hand, even if you can't use the local data network. We wrote this using the
AJAX Language API, so every time the Google Translate team updates the languages they support, the languages will automatically be added here.
I tried an early version of this interface out on my trip and it was great -- although my pronunciation wasn't. So every now and then, I would just hold up my phone to let people read what I couldn't. If you're wondering about data costs, I found that I could get between 200 and 400 translations in 1MB of data download. Although we don't charge for this service, your carrier may charge for the data usage so be sure to know what your roaming rates are. For my plan, I found that I could translate 400 phrases for less than $10 when roaming internationally.
To try Google Translate for iPhone, point your iPhone or iPod Touch web browser to
www.google.com and choose the "more" tab. Or you can go directly to
translate.google.com in your browser. If you are traveling this summer (perhaps on your way to Beijing?) we hope you find this useful.
Unlike the Bell X-1, the first aircraft to break the sound barrier, the
Spice X-1 isn't going to break any speed records limping along with a quaint little GPRS chipset. After the initial bout of browsing withdrawal, though, the average user might be able to settle in, enjoy the phone's rather comprehensive gaming facilities, and forget about data connectivity altogether (that's not us, necessarily, but we imagine those people must exist
somewhere). The phone ships with a dedicated gaming controller that can be snapped on and used when trying to blast your foes away on the standard numeric pad just isn't cutting it, and the touted surround sound and stereo Bluetooth should help give it some street cred, too. It can be had for 8,899 rupees (about $212), which isn't bad considering the feature set; just don't expect the bundled Opera
Mobile to take you very far.
As you may have already know,
JoikuSpot enables S60 Smartphone to share it's 3G internet connection wirelessly over WLAN with any compatible WLAN device such as laptop orany other wi-fi enable device.
Multiple devices can connect to JoikuSpot in parallel and seamlessly share the same 3G internet connection.
Now in collaboration with FON, the world's largest WiFi community, Joikusoft will release an exclusive version of Joikusoft's
mobile hotspot solution, named FonSpot that will allow you to
share your mobile phone's internet connection with the FON community....
Read more:
New Wi-Fi Mobile Hotspot Solution - full story
Being that I have a few more cell phones laying around than I actually need, I hearts me some
GrandCentral. Thing is, dialing out so that your GrandCentral number shows on caller IDs is a bit of a pain. The
mobile site (http://grandcentral.com/
mobile) certainly helps, but it’s still a half-dozen extra steps we’d rather not take.
Realizing this, GGT Enterprises has gone and simplified things for anyone with an iPhone in their GrandCentral armory, with the release of their new app,
GrandDialer.
It’s pretty simple: You dial a number, and hit the call button. GrandDialer establishes a connection with GrandCentral, calls you back, and then calls the recipient. The benefit? The recipient’s caller id shows your GrandCentral number, making return calls a whole lot simpler while solidifying your GC number as the primary way to reach you.
Check it out,
it’s free (iTunes link)!
[Via
TUAW]
Well, judging by the dozens of tips we just got, it's time to once again get your
Pwnage on with version 2.0.2 (which was released to counter the, um, "fixes" in iPhone firmware 2.0.1). As usual, hit up the read link.
This is truly amazing, almost crazy; Toshiba Corporation today announced the launch of 32GB embedded
NAND flash memory modules that offer the largest density yet announced plus full compliance
with the SD standard! I guess it means that we can expect 32 GB MiocroSD cards to hit market soon? 32GB MicroSD card represents a
100 percent boost in card capacity from the
currently largest worldwide available microSDHC cards!
The embedded devices are designed for application in
mobile digital consumer products, including
mobile phones and video cameras. Samples will be available in September 2008, and mass production will start in the fourth quar... .. .
Read more:
The Largest (32GB) NAND Flash Memory - full story
How can I stop being envious? He did again and I can't seem to help myself, just kidding of course, or maybe I am not :] Well, Eldar from well known Russian
mobile site definitely knows how to get hands on the hottest phones long before anyone else.
Anyway, he did it again, and I really enjoyed in reading his INNOV8 review which is focused on the imaging capabilities in direct comparison with the classic midrange (Canon IXUS 70) point and shoot camera.
INNOV8 is undoubtedly great product, probably the best S60 phone at the moment with an impressive list of features packed in to relatively small, compact and high quality Samsu... .. .
Read more:
Samsung INNOV8 8 MPX Camera Test - full story
Whilst the lady in the picture seems quite happy with her Mobile TV, it would appear that people in both Germany and Japan will be less so….
Mobile 3.0 (the company that won the DVB-H auction in Germany) hasn’t been able to generate any traction in the market (and is probably headed for insolvency), since the
mobile operators there have decided not to sanction any DVB-H devices (ed: big mistake
Mobile 3.0, you didn’t get the operators on board?!). In Japan, Toshiba has announced that it is shutting down
Mobile Broadcasting Corp. at the end of March 2009, due to not having anywhere near enough subscribers.
Intererstingly, two different countries and situations, but same result as regards devices - there have been a proliferation of devices capable of receiving DTT (Digital Terrestrial Television) - and of course for that, the networks/channels/programming are all built out already!
I can’t help but think that in territories where DVB-T or other DTT standards are prevalent, we are going to perhaps see more devices coming out supporting this, and those supporting
mobile-only digi-tv standards backtracking at a rapid pace…..thoughts y’all?
As
expected, T-
Mobile has now launched the Nokia XpressMusic 5610 slider to compliment the
5310 candybar launched back in May. Though the software and the phone's
raison d'être (music, that is) both mirror the slimmer 5310, the new slider turns up the heat a bit with a more capable 3.2-megapixel autofocus camera with dual-LED flash and something Nokia calls the "music slider," a sliding bar directly below the display that gives the user lightning-quick access to the music player and radio. Other features include a microSD slot (with 1GB bundled in the box), stereo Bluetooth, 2.2-inch QVGA display, and a standard issue quadband EDGE radio sans 3G -- though we'd hardly call that a feature. It's available starting today in white with silver trim or black with red trim for $99 on a two-year contract.
We've been toying around with a 5610 for the past few days, and as a Nokia dumbphone, it definitely gets the job done. It feels rock solid -- slider mechanism included -- which is a good sign for anyone used to loose, creaky Nokias of old. Be warned: though the phone is advertised as featuring a 3.5mm headphone jack, it's only available when you plug in a bundled external dongle. That'd be alright for a normal handset, but since the 5610 gets slapped with the XpressMusic branding, we can't say we really approve. On the upside, the loudspeaker is seriously one of the loudest -- perhaps
the loudest -- we've ever heard on any phone, ever. So loud, in fact, that it hurts your ears at max volume if you're within a foot or two of the thing.
Voice quality is a tad on the tinny side, but plenty loud and clear. The top row of keys can be a little hard to access with your fat fingers butted up against the bottom of the upper portion of the slide, but otherwise, the keypad's decent and very usable. The navigation keys are equally easy to use, though we would've liked to have seen the "music slider" concept taken further -- it should flip between any open applet, not just between your current screen and the music apps. Bottom line? For 99 bucks, we like it, but for 49 bucks, we'd love it. Whatdya say, T-Mob?
Gallery: Nokia XpressMusic 5610 comes to T-Mobile
IKEA is known in the US and Europe for their cheap, assembly-required furniture with a tendency to wear out after a year or so of use. Anybody that has logged time in a college dorm room will likely be all too familiar with the particleboard planks that make up a majority of IKEA’s living space hardware. What they aren’t known for, however, is their wireless service.
That’s right. Brits with a taste for all things IKEA will be happy to hear that the Swedish furniture maker is trying its hand at being a wireless carrier. IKEA has leased network time from T-
Mobile, adding “MVNO” to its product offerings.
The IDEA behind the IKEA MVNO is that the same people that flock to their affordable wares will be more likely to buy cheap wireless service while they’re picking out their Sultan bed. Just £10 (~$20) worth of airtime kicks off IKEA’s MVNO pre-paid service.
Let’s hope the IKEA MVNO doesn’t break down after a year of use…
[Via:
PocketLint]
The uncertain future facing the ALP aka the 
