Tag: phone
Hyundai's MB-910 touchscreen watch-phone
Oh dear, I hear the rumblings of the forming of a bandwagon. The £1,000 LG G910 wasn’t enough for you all? Hyundai doesn’t think so, because it’s making its own variant – the similarly-named MB-910.
As well as being a watch, it’s a tri-band phone, with 3 hours of talk-time battery life, bluetooth (for a headset), SMS, MMS and video playback. No video calling, I’m afraid. Best feature of all? POLYPHONIC RINGTONES! Hurrah – I missed those.
Available within the next few months (“Q2”), Hyundai’s watchphone will cost £200. A bit more reasonable than LG’s effort, at least.
(via Reg Hardware)
Ballmer: We could be working faster on Windows Mobile
At a conference in Microsoft’s hometown, Redmond, CEO Steve Ballmer admitted yesterday that the company could be working faster on Windows Mobile.
Responding to a question from an audience member who complained that his employees were bringing in iPhones and Android Phones that were tricky to support, and wanted Microsoft to up its game significantly so that he didn’t have to deal with that situation as much, Ballmer responded: “There’s opportunities for us to accelerate our execution in this area, and we’ve done a lot of work to really make sure we have a team that’s going to be able to accelerate.” Here’s the full Q&A:
Amazon launches e-book buying and reading app for iPhones
Today, Amazon plans to release an application for the iPhone that’ll allow users to buy and download eBooks, outside of its homegrown Kindle ecosystem. The application will be able to be downloaded free of charge, and will also keep track of your page across both a Kindle and an iPhone, so no more wondering where you left off.
There’s competition in the market, from the likes of Indigo Books and Shortcovers, and Google recently launched a free mobile product too. When asked about whether the app might cannibalise Kindle sales, Amazon VP Ian Freed says he’s “not at all concerned”, saying that it’s actually likely to help, presumably because the Kindle offers a better eBook expeirnece.
Unfortunately for the moment, the application isn’t available outside the US, presumably for licensing reasons. We’ll keep a close eye and let you know when you can get it on these shores.
(via Wall St Journal)
Nokia wants to ditch DRM from Comes With Music
Nokia’s “Comes With Music” service, which offers unlimited music for a small amount bundled into the price of the of your phone, is unfortunately hobbled with DRM.
The ways things are set up means that any tracks you download are locked to one handset and one PC and if you want to do anything else, then…. well, you can’t do anything else.
However, Nokia doesn’t want it that way. Nokia understands that music should, in its very nature, be sharable with people you love. That’s why it wants to get rid of the DRM. Nokia’s director of global digital music retail, Adam Mirabella says:
“We have dialogues going with all of our partners and Digital Rights Management-free is also on the roadmap for the future integration of Comes With Music.”
Don’t hold your breath – I doubt we’ll see this for at least a year – but it’d certainly be nice, and would certainly make me retract most of my criticism of the service.
(via Music Ally)
O2 and Orange refuse to stock Nokia N97
A row has erupted between Nokia and network operators Orange and O2 over Nokia’s plans to pre-load the Skype VoIP service onto the N97.
The N97, Nokia’s flagship touchscreen phone due in June, is eagerly anticipated around here, but networks fear that including Skype on the device could cause them to lose voice revenue, with customers opting for cheap unlimited data plans over plenty of free voice minutes.
It’s prompted “high-level discussions” between the companies, which is code for “someone up top is very angry”. O2’s official comment says “We are currently working with Nokia to understand their Skype service and the business model around it.”
It’s interesting that the major operators have such a problem with the service, especially given the runaway success that Three has seen with its Skypephone and followup Skypephone S2, and the awards that the Facebook-and-Skype-integrated INQ has recieved. I’m sure Three will happily take O2 and Orange’s customers for the N97.
(via Pocket Gamer and Mobile Today)
Top 5: Tips to make your mobile phone battery last longer
I always run out of phone battery at the most inopportune moments. Like just as my mum calls me, so she then thinks I’m avoiding her calls, or just as a lost friend is trying to track me down on a busy street.
Well, I’ve had enough, goddamnit. From now on, I’m going to make sure that my battery’s always in tip-top condition. Here’s how I’m going to do it:
One: Switch off features you don’t use
Seriously, how often do you use Bluetooth? Even if you use a headset on the go, you’re probably sat at a computer for a good proportion of your day, when having Bluetooth on is a waste of time. If you just turn it on when you need it, you can save a massive whack of battery life.
While we’re at it, there’s also 3G (do you need your email checked every minute? even overnight?), GPS, Wi-Fi and screen brightness. Turning them all down or off when you’re not using them could double your battery life in one fell swoop.
Two: Don’t let it run out totally before recharging
With Ni-MH batteries, it’s good to let them drain properly before charging them again, thanks to ‘battery memory’, but most cellphone batteries these days use Li-Ion batteries instead. These don’t suffer from the same problem, and can in fact be damaged by letting them go flat.
For best results, charge your phone when it gets to about 30% remaining. Think of the extra capacity as backup. Then, when you’re stuck in a situation where you can’t charge easily, like a festival, you’ll have maximum possible battery life.
Three: Don’t carry it around in your pocket
Turns out that carrying your phone around in your pocket is actually pretty bad for battery life, because you’ve got hot legs. By you, I mean “humans”, not specifically you, though your legs are rather hot. *cough*. Ahem.
Lifehacker suggests that it’s much better to keep batteries as cool as possible – meaning in your bag or jacket, or even on a belt clip. If you want to go overboard, keep your phone in the fridge at night, or just, y’know, turn it off.
Four: Turn it off when there’s no signal
While we’re talking about turning the phone off, turn it off when you go on the tube or metro, or if you’re going somewhere that you know has low signal issues. The lower the network availability, the harder the phone chip has to work to get a usable signal, so the more battery it uses.
For the same reason, if you know you have to call someone, do it somewhere with good signal, oh, and keep it short. No yapping about whether or not your friend saw Neighbors last night. Save that for the pub. It sounds harsh, but think of the hours of battery life you’ll get in return.
Five: Cycle your spares, and don’t store them with a full charge
Lastly, if you’re serious about batteries then you’ll almost certainly be carrying around a spare for emergencies. Don’t just use one and keep the other as a spare, or when it comes time to plug in the spare, it’ll be dead. Instead, rotate which battery you use every couple of months or so.
Don’t keep the spare fully charged up. A full charge puts too much strain on the terminals, and can damage it if it’s kept full for a long time. If you carry the spare around with you all the time, then keep it charged about 70-80%, but if not then keep it at 30% or so and in the fridge (not freezer). Then just charge it up when you think you’ll need it – if you’re going to a festival, for example.
Conclusions
So there you go. My tips for making your batteries able to make it through two months before needing a recharge. Have you got any tips, or things you’ve found useful in the quest for battery life? Share them in the comments.
LG watch-phone to cost £1,000!?
Gosh, that’s rather a lot. Mobile Today reckons that the LG watch phone that we covered here will be exclusive to Orange and cost a massive £1,000. Wow. The mere thought inspired Nate Lanxon from CNET to create the wonderous venn diagram over the the right there.
The G910 watch-phone was announced at MWC last week, and LG showed it off at CES too. Considering its appalling specs, requirement that you constantly wear a headset, and – now – massive price tag, it’s clear that Orange see this as a novelty for rich people, not a real device.
(via Mobile Today and CNET)
Orange customer wins no phone signal lawsuit
An Orange customer named Tom Prescott is now £500 richer than a week ago, thanks to a court ruling in his favour.
He took out an 18-month contract with Orange, but found that he couldn’t get signal in either his home or his office. He then tried to cancel, but Orange told him it was his problem, not theirs. As you can imagine, he wasn’t too happy.
The court’s now ruled in his favour – saying that if you sell an 18-month contract to someone who doesn’t live or work in a place where you can provide coverage, then it damn well is your problem.
It could end up being a massive headache for the big phone networks as they suddenly become inundated with lawsuits. It also means that manufacturers of mini phone masts that exist in your home – called Femtocells – are suddenly rubbing their hands with glee.
(via News Wireless)
Samsung promises "more than three" Android phones this year
Over here, we’re well in favour of handset makers experimenting with different operating systems. That’s why I was filled with glee this morning after reading that Samsung’s planning not one but “more than three” Android phones this year, as well as one running LiMo – a mobile OS based on Linux.
We’ve been praying for more Android phones ever since the G1 turned out to be not *quite* the iPhone-beater that everyone was hoping for. Hopefully Samsung will take note of Dan’s shopping list for the perfect smartphone, and build one accordingly.
(via Reuters)
MWC 2009: Solio Communicator – a solar-powered hands-free kit
Tucked away amongst the smaller stands at MWC 2009, slightly crowded out by the Samsungs and Nokias of this world, is a little company called “Better Energy Systems”. They have a subsidiary called Solio, who make solar-powered kit for mobile phones.
You might have heard of them – a quick browse of Solio’s site suggests that Saol – a Masai Junior Elder from IIkinye Village in Kenya – is a power user, as is Ian Davis, from the Polar Challenge expedition. Best of all is the picture of President Barack Obama looking decidedly overwhlemed when being presented with his Solio Classic.
But this post is about the Solio Communicator, which by all accounts is a rather novel product. It’s a hands-free kit, but charges with solar power, so you just stick it to your car window and never think about the battery ever again.
If you live in some Arctic climes where you don’t get sun very much for half the year, then it’s also chargable off the cigarette lighter port, a USB port or a wall adaptor. It’s compatible with all Bluetooth-enabled phones, and will retail for €80 (£70ish). Available mid 2009.
