Tag: mobile
Microsoft to announce MobileMe competitor
Next month at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Microsoft will be announcing three new web services, which will rival Apple’s MobileMe ‘cloud’ services. First in the list is “SkyMarket”, which we’ve posted about before.
Then there’s “SkyBox”, which will allow syncing of data into the cloud. There’ll be automatic backup and restore services, remote access and management of phone data and easy communication and sharing with others. There’ll be syncing of contacts, email/SMS, calendar items and pictures into the cloud. Most interestingly, Microsoft could be planning to offer this to non-Windows-Mobile phones.
Lastly, there’s “SkyLine”, which will be the enterprise version of SkyBox, targeted at small businesses. They’ll be able to setup their phones with Microsoft’s Exchange hosting with their own domain names. I should note that all these are codenames, so it’s highly likely that they’ll be called Windows Live Somethingorother when they finally get announced.
(via Neowin)
Related posts: Microsoft to launch “Skymarket” for Windows Mobile 7 | Ballmer: Zune to show up on Windows Mobile, Android/Apple bashing
The $30 "Yes We Can" Kenyan celebratory Barack Obama Mi-Obama mobile phone
Kenyan mobile supplier Mi-Fone is the latest company to have a go at cashing in on Brand Obama, launching this curious Barack Obama themed mobile phone in the region.
The Mi-Obama phone will help Mi-Fone “forge new frontiers in African urban youth market,” apparently, although unlike the man whose slogan the phone carries, the low-spec handset is unlikely to change the world for the better and have people sobbing with joy.
It’s a generic dual-band GSM piece, and you know there’s nothing to get excited…
CES 2009: Palm's new Web OS in detail
Previously known as “Nova”, Palm has just rechristened and launched its new OS “Web OS”. It’s an amazingly dreary name for a concept that could reshape how we use our mobile mobiles. The bottom line is that Palm is bending head-over-heels to make their platform easy for developers – so easy that they reckon anyone who knows HTML, CSS and XML will be able to write an app.
The UI is very iPhone-like. You flick the display to scroll around, and there’s various gestures that you can use, too. Everything’s managed with a ‘cards’ metaphor, where you see a deck that can be rotated with a finger and shuffled. The biggest feature, though, is something called “Synergy”.
CES 2009: Palm shows off rumoured touchscreen device – the Palm Pre
The rumours were true. Palm’s got a brand new device to go with its spangly new Nova operating system. All we knew previously was that it had a portrait touchscreen and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, but now there’s a bit more info to go with it.
That touchscreen measures 3.1″ diagonally, at 480×320 resolution. The slide-out keyboard doesn’t come straight out – it sorta curves. There’s oodles of connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and EVDO. There’s a removable battery, microUSB connector, support for USB mass storage and – YAY! – a 3.5mm headphone jack.
It’s running the new Nova OS, but more about that in another post. It’ll be available in the “first half” of 2009. In the meantime, for more CES coverage, click here.
(via Gizmodo’s liveblog)
Sony Ericsson announces 'affordable' C510 Cyber-shot, and W508 Walkman mobiles
I always get slightly confused by the way Sony doesn’t group its gadgets by what they are, just by broad product ranges. As a result, there are cameras and phones with the Cyber-shot badge, and MP3 players and mobiles with the Walkman badge. From the product name alone, it’s often impossible to tell what the device is.
Well, to clear up the confusion, both the products here are phones. The first is an ‘affordable’ 3.2 megapixel cameraphone, called the C510. Although there’s a comparative lack of megapixels on the sensor compared to other cameraphones, it’s got plenty of features to make up for it.
CES 2009: LG showing off prototype LG-GD910 watch-phone hybrid device
When I was a wee nipper, I used to talk into my watch and imagine that my friends could hear me. They invariably couldn’t, which is probably just as well, but perhaps someone heard me, and now they work for LG. The LG-GD910 is basically a phone that you wear on your wrist.
As you can imagine, there’s not much in the way of features – “you can wear it on your wrist” being top of the pile. Additionally, though, it’s waterproof, weighs 85 grams, and has voice calling, text to speech, and stereo Bluetooth, which officially makes it better than the iPhone, in one category at least. It’ll have three real buttons, a touchscreen, and weigh 85g. Due for release “this year”.
LG (via IntoMobile)
For more CES coverage, click here.
CES 2009: World's first projector phone
I’ll be honest here – I’ve never sat there with my phone and wished I could project its contents onto a handy flat surface, but I recognise that there’s a few situations it might come in handy – a camping trip, or impromptu business meeting, perhaps.
Well, even if there’s not much demand, Logitech Wireless has a solution regardless. It’s the “Logic Bolt”. It’s got an inbult projector, which can throw a 64″ image onto any white, flat, surface that you desire. It’s also got GPS, a 3-megapixel camera and a touchscreen. Not exactly pretty though, is it?
(via ShinyShiny)
More CES gubbins here.
New Palm smartphone info leaks – touchscreen and QWERTY keyboard
CrunchGear has managed to get some info on Palm’s new smartphone, which they claim will be launched on Thursday. There’s no name or anything yet, but there’s some basic info. It’ll be portrait-oriented, touchscreen, and it’ll have a slide-down QWERTY keyboard.
It’ll run Palm’s new Nova OS, which is being called “amazing”. As well as your regular Palm contacts and calendar stuff, you’ll also get some media playback functionality, but there’s no word on formats or anything else yet. As soon as we hear more, we’ll share it.
Palm (via CrunchGear)
Related posts: Palm: struggling smartphone company to lay off workers | Really rather pretty Palm Treo Pro accidentally unveiled
Textecution – an extremely clever mobile app that stops you texting while you're driving
So, go on then, guess how a mobile phone app can tell if you’re driving or not? Speed of texting? Pauses while texting? More errors than usual? Drastic directional adjustments detected by the iPhone’s accelerometer as you hastily steer away from the bus stop, off the pavement and back onto the road?
Nope – Texecution uses GPS to locate the position of your phone, and therefore you, deactivating the phone’s SMS features when you seem to be moving at more than 10mph.
There is, of course, an override function for when you’re a passenger, on buses and trains, or running really fast…
Googlers getting G1 for Christmas
Normally companies pay out cash as a Christmas bonus, but not Google this year. The search giant will be handing out T-Mobile G1 phones to all its employees as thanks for their hard work this year. The phones will come without a SIM card, but unlocked. They’ll also be specially customized, with a “‘droid” on the back.
The company, in their Christmas email, jokes that it’s a great chance for them to ‘dogfood’ the product – i.e. get employees of the company to test it. Perhaps this mass stock clearout (20,000 people work for Google!) lends weight to yesterday’s rumours that the G2 will be coming along sooner than we think.
(via Valleywag)
Related posts: G2 (and G3!) rumours surface, debate over release date | Google shows off 2008’s top searches
