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PDC 2009: What have we learned this week?
There was the freebie that no one will forget, the heebie-jeebies courtesy of Scott Guthrie, and a teensy bit clearer picture of how this cloud thingie should work.
Live report: Will Google Chrome OS change Linux?
The mysteries of just what Chrome OS is, and how much of an operating system it truly is, may be resolved today.
PDC 2009: Microsoft cares about Web browser performance
The effort to give users of the world's dominant Web browser the impression of quality, is a personal one for the man who leads that battle.
Nokia re-affirms its commitment to Symbian, sort of
Maemo won't necessarily be replacing Symbian in the Nokia N-Series, but that's definitely a place where it will be found.
E-book readers will be in short supply this holiday season
E-readers are hot this year, and a lot of compelling new products have been released, but are there enough electrophoretic displays to go around?
Sony looks to finally open a single storefront for downloads
Sony has had many different download portals for movies, music, e-books, and games, and now it's looking to make a single shop for all of it.
Tuning out the tablet: Time to give the endless speculation a rest
Wide Angle Zoom: Wishing and hoping and thinking and praying....won't put an iTablet on the market.
Five improvements for IT managers in 2010
If businesses are to improve their efficiency for next year, they need to stop and reassess the basic tenets of their job.
AOL's spinoff from Time Warner to shed 2,500 jobs
As AOL moves toward become an independent company again, it will cut nearly a third of its workforce.
Gartner: SMS-based money transfer will be bigger than mobile browsing, search
Gartner issues its predictions for the 10 things our phones will be doing in 2012.
Don't forget to upgrade to Firefox 3.6 beta 3 today
Mozilla has released the latest beta its Firefox 3.6 browser software, just over one week after beta 2.
Nokia's N900 arrives in U.S., bodes the death of Symbian on N-series phones
By Tim Conneally on November 18, 2009, 11:56 AM
8 Comments
Nokia's intriguing N900 "pocket computer" has officially launched in the United States. The device, a smartphone that evolved out of Nokia's Mobile Internet Device (MID) family, signifies a new era for the Finnish mobile tech leader.
Vice President of Nokia retail sales, Alessandro Lamanna summed it up in a prepared statement today: "Consumers from every segment of the population are looking for more out of their mobile device - more power, more ability, more connectivity." So in order to deliver these results, Nokia paired the 600MHz TI OMAP 3430 chipset with the Linux-based Maemo platform, and locked it up inside a 3G phone with a 3.5" touchscreen and QWERTY keyboard.
Continue reading Nokia's N900 arrives in U.S., bodes the death of Symbian on N-series phones...
Apple's house rules won't be the death of app development
By Chris Maxcer, MacNewsWorld on November 17, 2009, 3:11 AM
18 Comments
So Facebook developer Joe Hewitt tweets that he's ditching the super-popular Facebook iPhone app, and TechCrunch, clearly sensing there's more to the story here, reaches out to learn why.
"My decision to stop iPhone development has had everything to do with Apple's policies," Hewitt told TechCrunch. "I respect their right to manage their platform however they want; however, I am philosophically opposed to the existence of their review process. I am very concerned that they are setting a horrible precedent for other software platforms, and soon gatekeepers will start infesting the lives of every software developer."
Continue reading Apple's house rules won't be the death of app development...
Windows Marketplace for Mobile launches on WinMo 6.0 and 6.1
By Tim Conneally on November 16, 2009, 2:16 PM
11 Comments
Windows Marketplace for Mobile launched exclusively with Windows Mobile 6.5 in October, and unified the vast Windows Mobile application ecosystem under a single umbrella.
Prior to launch, Microsoft announced that users running Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1 would eventually have access to the new app marketplace, but did not provide a specific date.
Continue reading Windows Marketplace for Mobile launches on WinMo 6.0 and 6.1...
Samsung releases another Android: where will it fit in with Bada approaching?
By Tim Conneally on November 16, 2009, 10:41 AM
4 Comments
Samsung today officially announced the long-rumored Galaxy Spica (i5700,) the company's fourth Android smartphone and sequel to its Galaxy handset from early 2009.
Like the original Samsung Galaxy, this 3.2" touchscreen smartphone is not likely to hit the American market, and will be released in select markets in Europe and Asia. This 3.6Mbps HSDPA 3G device is equipped with the basic Google-friendly Android 1.5 distro, a 3 Megapixel camera, and an 800MHz application processor. It's actually considerably less feature-rich than the Behold 2 which came to T-Mobile in October.
Continue reading Samsung releases another Android: where will it fit in with Bada approaching?...
Dell's first smartphone aids the Android onslaught
By Tim Conneally on November 13, 2009, 11:46 AM
14 Comments
Now that it's finally been launched in at least some parts of the world today, Dell is working to keep its new Mini 3 smartphone device closely associated with Dell's computers, calling it "The world's most compact Dell" directly on its packaging.
"Our entry into the smartphone category is a logical extension of Dell's consumer product evolution over the past two years," Ron Garriques, President of Dell Global Consumer Group said in a prepared statement today. "We are developing smaller and smarter mobile products that enable our customers to take their Internet experience out of the home and do the things they want to do whenever and wherever they want."
Continue reading Dell's first smartphone aids the Android onslaught...
FLO TV launches pocketable, smartphone-like TVs
By Tim Conneally on November 13, 2009, 10:10 AM
2 Comments
Chipmaker Qualcomm's mobile broadcast television subsidiary FLO TV has officially launched its PTV 350 personal television at retail today.
This is the smartphone-sized device that Qualcomm and hardware maker HTC unveiled in October. Like many of HTC's smartphones, the FLO TV PTV 350 includes a 3.5" capacitive touchscreen, built-in stereo speakers, and a battery which can support 5 hours of continuous mobile broadcast viewing.
Continue reading FLO TV launches pocketable, smartphone-like TVs...
The iTunes App Store at 100,000: Can we stop counting, already?
By Carmi Levy on November 12, 2009, 2:46 PM
13 Comments
Ever since Apple launched its App Store barely 16 months ago, we've paid a lot of attention -- indeed, too much -- to the number of applications it contains. As the App Store crossed the 100,000 title barrier last week, it occurred to me that the bigger this number gets, the less it actually means.
I get that Apple has won the sheer-number sweepstakes. I appreciate that no other mobile storefront can even come close. I also understand how broad software availability (in terms of sheer numbers as well as ease of acquisition) has helped fuel the growth of the iPhone/iPod touch universe. I just think we attach way too much importance to this single figure, and it distorts our ability to understand ultimate value to end users and developers alike.
Continue reading The iTunes App Store at 100,000: Can we stop counting, already?...
Windows Marketplace for Mobile now available in browser, iTunes' App Store still not
By Tim Conneally on November 12, 2009, 10:48 AM
14 Comments
Sure, Apple created the most popular and well-stocked mobile app store in the market, but does Apple provide a Web-based interface to it? No. Through Apple's official channels, you can only browse the store's contents in iTunes or on your iPhone/iPod Touch.
There is an unofficial site hosted on Google App Engine which provides roughly the same experience Apple provides in iTunes, but it lacks search functionality, and if you try to download something, it launches the iTunes installer.
Facebook for iPhone developer goes from Apple supporter to 'I quit!' in 3 months
By Tim Conneally on November 11, 2009, 8:30 PM
38 Comments
If you're an iPhone user with a Facebook account, chances are good that you have Facebook for iPhone. In fact, it has roughly 17.3 million users, or about 28% of the 60 million users accessing Facebook on a mobile device.
One of the developers who worked on that app is Joe Hewitt, who today tweeted: "Time for me to try something new. I've handed the Facebook iPhone app off to another engineer, and I'm onto a new project."
Continue reading Facebook for iPhone developer goes from Apple supporter to 'I quit!' in 3 months...
The Samsung Intrepid: A nice phone, if you can accept Windows Mobile
By John P. Mello, Jr., TechNewsWorld on November 11, 2009, 10:27 AM
2 Comments
Business users whose lives revolve around their mobile phones won't be disappointed with Samsung's Intrepid smartphone. The handset, which uses Sprint's 3G network (EV-DO Rev.A) domestically and also connects to 3G networks abroad, is packed with features aimed at the pinstripe crowd.
Intrepid (USD$149.99, excluding taxes, with two-year service agreements, $50 instant savings and $100 mail-in rebate) runs under the latest version of Microsoft's cellphone operating system, Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional.
Continue reading The Samsung Intrepid: A nice phone, if you can accept Windows Mobile...
Nokia's 'limited number' of recalled chargers exceeds 14 million
By Tim Conneally on November 9, 2009, 2:22 PM
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Leading mobile phone maker Nokia today announced a recall of three types of Nokia-branded phone charger which were found to be a shock hazard.
The chargers were manufactured by Chinese mobile phone component firm BYD International Electronic Company this year. Nokia today said that the plastic covers of these chargers could come loose and open up to expose the internal components which could shock the user if handled improperly. Nokia said it was not aware of any injuries or incidents related to these chargers.
Continue reading Nokia's 'limited number' of recalled chargers exceeds 14 million...
The iPhone's China syndrome: Sales of 5,000 and climbing
By Richard Adhikari, MacNewsWorld on November 6, 2009, 10:30 AM
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The iPhone went on sale last week in China, and it landed more or less with a thud. Cupertino's carrier partner in that country, China Unicom, announced on Tuesday that only 5,000 customers had purchased the phone thus far. At this rate, the handset may have trouble meeting sales expectations. China Unicom had pledged to sell 1 million iPhones per year.
Price could be one deterrent -- the iPhone starts at around the equivalent of USD$730. Add in monthly subscriber fees, and you're soon looking at a rather pricey phone in a country where the average income of urban workers in 2008 was less than $4,300.
Continue reading The iPhone's China syndrome: Sales of 5,000 and climbing...
Verizon Wireless launches new Android, Chocolate, and ruggedized phones
By Jacqueline Emigh on November 5, 2009, 7:07 PM
11 Comments
In New York City today, Verizon Wireless rolled out new additions to its expanding Android and LG Chocolate phone families, while also delivering sneak previews of a new, consumer-friendly ruggedized phone called the Casio G'zOne Brigade (shown above).
Like its previously announced top-of-the-line Android phone, known simply as the Droid, the less expensive Droid Eris will be available for the first time in Verizon stores tomorrow -- which is also when pricing will be revealed.
Continue reading Verizon Wireless launches new Android, Chocolate, and ruggedized phones...
How RIM can avoid a premature endgame for BlackBerry
By Carmi Levy on November 5, 2009, 12:23 PM
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Once not so long ago, if you wanted bulletproof e-mail on a mobile device, you bought a BlackBerry. Research In Motion, the company that practically defined wireless messaging a decade ago, has done quite nicely for itself since then, garnering over 56% of the market for smartphones in the US and about 20% of the overall wireless handset market that includes smartphones as well as conventional feature phones. Its end-to-end encryption and still-unique service paradigm that routes messaging traffic through secure Network Operations Centers further endeared the platform to enterprise buyers, even as the company was successfully pushing the franchise into the consumer space.
Unfortunately for RIM, nothing stays the same in the increasingly competitive wireless market. The BlackBerry is no longer a market of one, and many of the features that defined the platform -- including push e-mail and enterprise-class security -- are no longer unique. Worse, the critical feature set for a modern smartphone has expanded to include rich Web access, broad application availability, and an integrated, Web services-aware operating system. It's no secret that the BlackBerry platform lags in all of these areas with its fine-for-the-1990s browser, relatively paltry app ecosystem, and an OS that despite regular incremental updates still betrays its decade-old roots.
Continue reading How RIM can avoid a premature endgame for BlackBerry...
The new face of Android: No face
By Tim Conneally on November 3, 2009, 12:03 PM
15 Comments
Early this morning, Sony Ericsson took the wraps off of its first Android-based handset, the 1 GHz Snapdragon-powered Xperia X10. With a huge 4" touchscreen, an 8.1 megapixel camera and the elegant custom user interface named "Rachael," Sony Ericsson moves the Android platform a step further by giving it almost no mention in announcements and commercials.
Sony Ericsson mentions the Android Market, and notes in the spec sheet that the operating system is Android Donut 1.6, but otherwise it does not ride the point, and strives to make the device stand out as a distinct product.
With beefed up 3G, more networks to get 'Droid'
By Tim Conneally on November 2, 2009, 3:46 PM
6 Comments
Here in the US, excitement has been high over Verizon's first Android handset, the Motorola Droid; so high, in fact, that it has actually begun to make an appreciable dent in iPhone favoritism.
This is partially due to the fact that a large number of iPhone users were Verizon customers before they got the iPhone, and still consider Verizon's wireless network to be superior to AT&T's. Verizon's "There's a map for that" advertising campaign has also added to the company's reputation for having a more robust network than AT&T.
Continue reading With beefed up 3G, more networks to get 'Droid'...
Sprint and Clearwire's 2009 WiMAX rollout almost complete
By Tim Conneally on November 2, 2009, 12:17 PM
4 Comments
Clearwire and Sprint have been working hard to complete the planned WiMAX network deployment for 2009, and with the addition of a handful of new major markets this week, the project has nearly fulfilled its promises for the year.
Today, Sprint announced it has launched WiMAX services in the North Carolina cities Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, High Point and Cary; in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas; and in Chicago, Illinois.
Continue reading Sprint and Clearwire's 2009 WiMAX rollout almost complete...
Nokia's N-Gage can't survive against iPhone, will be shut down
By Tim Conneally on October 30, 2009, 2:36 PM
10 Comments
According to Reuters today, Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia will reportedly be shutting down its N-Gage gaming service. The shutdown will come six years after the mobile phone and gaming system hybrid concept debuted and was quickly retired; and nearly four years after it was re-invented as a part of Nokia's smartphone ecosystem, and later integrated with the Ovi platform.
Nokia intends to stop publishing new N-Gage titles and eventually wind down the service by the end of next year. Games will still be a major part of the Ovi platform, available in the Ovi Store under store.ovi.com/games, but the dedicated N-Gage brand is finally being scuttled.
Continue reading Nokia's N-Gage can't survive against iPhone, will be shut down...
Sprint quietly locks down Xohm WiMAX network while it awaits Clear takeover
By Tim Conneally on October 29, 2009, 10:12 PM
7 Comments
Without any notice to current customers with or those early adopters with dormant accounts, Sprint has locked down the Baltimore Xohm WiMAX network and is not letting inactive hardware be turned back on to allow free upgrades to Clear hardware.
Sprint's Xohm network was one of the first two WiMAX deployments in the United States. We watched with excitement as the towers were raised in Baltimore and the ceremonial ribbon was cut on the new high speed wireless network.
Continue reading Sprint quietly locks down Xohm WiMAX network while it awaits Clear takeover...
Non-exclusive iPhones: Has Verizon waited too long?
By Carmi Levy on October 29, 2009, 5:08 PM
21 Comments
I've never been a fan of exclusive deals between handset manufacturers and wireless carriers. I understand why they appeal to the Apples and the AT&Ts of the world in the first place, but it ticks me off that sweet deals like this always seem to leave consumers out in the cold. They limit choice and competition, which tends to keep prices artificially high for longer than they should, and they make it easier for carriers to maintain the kind of old, customer-unfriendly practices that have long stained the industry.
When a given gotta-have-it device is available only through one carrier, consumers are forced to make a Hobson's Choice in that they can choose by device, or by carrier, but not both. And if they dislike the exclusive carrier for any reason, they either hold their noses and sign, or learn to live with another carrier's second-rate hardware.
Continue reading Non-exclusive iPhones: Has Verizon waited too long?...
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