The Wikimedia Foundation released their very own Wikipedia app for the Apple iPhone yesterday. The non-profit organisation that operates Wikipedia has attempted to transfer that websites functionality to a handy app in the form of Wikipedia Mobile. Although there already exists third-party wiki apps this is the first to come from the owners of Wikipedia itself.
The Wikimedia Foundation openly admits that many of the existing apps do an excellent job, and that some of them even provide more functionality than their own attempt. However, their intention with their app was not to cram it full of features but to focus more on simplicity and speed. That is true for the initial version at least, as Wikimedia has said they are open to new ideas and welcome suggestions from users. If they like your suggestion they may very well implement it on the next version.
In any event the Wikimedia Foundation are certain that their app will make searching for information on the internet a great deal easier than conventional web searches. Users of the Wikimedia Mobile app will be able to refer articles on Wikimedia that now number well over 3 million for English language entries.
Wikipedia has seen a massive rise in popularity over the past several years and this is largely due to their libertarian philosophy. Anyone can add or amend an entry on Wikipedia and this is largely why the online encyclopaedia has grown so extensive, which article entries on just about anything you can imagine. It is also its largest weakness as the openness paves the way for factual errors, user opinions, inaccuracies and practical jokes. Despite this Wikimedia employ a large body of moderators to filter out such bad content when it comes to attention.
With over 1.5 billion downloads from the Apple App Store since its launch, Wikimedia is confident that their new app will prove to be highly successful and transfer the popularity they have enjoyed with information seekers online to the world of mobile phones.
Archive for August, 2009
Wikimedia launches Wikipedia for iPhone
Thursday, August 20th, 2009The World’s First Watchphone – the Samsung S9110
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009
It was only a matter of time. With the fast paced technological miniaturization sweeping the mobile phone industry, Dick Tracy fans can now be vindicated for believing there would one day be a watch phone. Enter the Korean Samsung S9110 coming soon in a mobile shop near you, if those press releases are to be believed. Set for debut in, it’s considered the first watchphone ever. Others say it’s the thinnest. That means the LG should come out first, but Samsung just beat LG to the market.
It’s not entirely surprising that the world’s first watch phone would be coming from a Samsung, mobile phone maker known to have launched a few years back the thinnest mobile phone on the planet at that time. What’s amazing is that two Korean companies are slugging it out. There’s also the LG GD910 slated to arrive in August. Even more amazing, if not outright confusing, is that the two watchphones have almost identical model designation. It does make you wonder if they’re just out to divide the world between them.
All that features the size of wristwatch
As a first of its kind, you can say that its 1.76-inch 256k colour touchscreen is impressive. It’s made of scratch-resistant glass on a 91g steel body that’s home to the following features:
- There’s Bluetooth 2.1 and an MP3 player that supports all the popular audio codecs out there. No video? DO tell us how it can be done from a wristwatch.
- MS Outlook email support comes in, though it might be a pain to read an email on such a small screen.
- It‘s got a remarkable speakerphone on such a small footprint, plus you get voice recognition with it.
- It’s a Dual-band GSM with a 40MB internal memory and a 630mA battery. Until they further miniaturize the microSD card, it won’t be getting any expansion slot soon.
It’s not going to win any award for ease of use. Try squeezing all those keypad buttons on a wristwatch-sized phone. Its 12mm thick body is a lot heftier than the normal wristwatch. But that’s forgivable.
The S9110 is slated to have its European debut in France at a nice price of €450. Expensive for a mobile phone, but cheap for the better wristwatches out there.
New footage of HTC TouchFlo 3D 2.6
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009
The upcoming release of Windows Mobile 6.5 has been the source of much debate among the mobile phone community as it looks set to revolutionise the WinMo OS that is a constant target of critics. One of the more notable changes taking place is the new support for capacitive touchscreen technology which will undoubtedly open up a new world of possibilities for phone companies favouring the Microsoft OS. But with a new OS comes the need for a new UI, as many phone manufacturers cover the OS’ they use with their own interfaces.
One such company is HTC who have been developing a new revamped version of their much favoured TouchFlo interface. TouchFlo has been very popular among many WinMo users but there had been calls for HTC to bring their Sense UI to WinMo. HTC have stated that they will not be doing this but instead incorporating much of the philosophy behind Sense into the new TouchFlo, and it appears, much of the design appeal of Google’s very own Android.
The most noticeable Android inspired aspects of the new TouchFlo include the style of the icons and also the homsescreen. HTC have also added landscape modes for both the photo album and the media player’s album art browser. There has also been a move to integrate much more fully aspects of the old TouchFlo that felt like they were just slapped on afterthoughts, principally the Calendar and Weather tabs.
From the released videos the new TouchFlo 3D 2.6 still looks quite sluggish, particularly between menus and loading apps but it should be noted it is still in its development stages. There are no plans by HTC to use the interface before the release of Windows Mobile 6.5 and this is not expected until sometime later in the year. This should give HTC plenty of time to iron out any problems with what looks like a very promising interface that may even be capable of rejuvenating WinMo’s appeal among phone users. The new TouchFlo is expected to make its first appearance on the HTC Leo to be released sometime in early 2010.
Another Solid Mobile Performer from Nokia- the 3720 Classic
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
The Nokia 3720 Classic is one handsome rugged mobile phone that has all the features you’ve come to expect in its class and price range. It’s a Tri-Band EGSM phone in the candy bar form factor that the Finnish phone maker plans to offer in various fashionable colours. It even has Nokia Maps pre-installed on a 1GB microSD card that’s part of the sales package. Running on the Symbian S40 OS, it’s a sleek handset that’s also among the lightest out there at 94g.
Feature Highlights:
- Enjoy vibrant photo displays on its 2.2-inch QVGA supporting 16 million colours.
- You get a capable 2-megapixel camera with LED flash and 4X digital zoom. Not really a standout these days but its LED flash also acts as a flash light.
- Its media player supports popular audio ad video codecs out there and comes with built-in stereo FM radio.
- It has a generous 20MB internal memory free for users. This can expand up to 8GB when using its microSD memory card slot.
- There’s also a web browser that supports Java.
- Bluetooth 2.1 support is there.
- Enjoy up to seven hours of talk time and a standby time of up to 18 days.
An All-weather Rugged Phone
Nokia positions this as a ruggedly handsome mobile phone complying with IP-54 standards. It’d solidly built to resist much of the elements and repeated falls. Even its battery cover gets locked with a screw. Nothing like it has come from Nokia lately, though its early models did withstand reasonable abuse and misuse.
Just one caveat though. Should you encounter something like “SIM card registration failed,” which can happen when you lest expect it, you’d need to unscrew the battery cover to access the SIMM card. So, always have that Swiss knife handy.
EISA dishes out awards
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
EISA, the European Imaging and Sound Awards have just met to dish out the awards for the best phones of 2009/2010. The awards were judged by a panel of experts from over 50 of the best known tech magazines across Europe.
The award for Best Camera Phone was given to Samsung and this had been expected. However, people were expecting the award to be given for their Pixon 12, which boasts a whopping 12 megapixel camera crammed full of features like smile detection, xenon flash and geo-tagging. Instead the award went to the i8910 Omnia HD due to its ability to record HD video, 8 megapixels at 24fps making it the only phone to do so.
The title of Best Business Phone was awarded to the Nokia E75 due to its ability to handle just about every business need thrown at it. It had also been praised for its durable battery life and solid build quality.
For Best Music Phone Sony Ericsson managed to snap up an award with their W995. Sony have a long history in working with music entertainment and this rubs off on their phones. The W995 is not perhaps the most feature crammed Sony Ericsson device, but it had been praised by EISA due to its brining a wide range of innovative features to music lovers at an affordable price.
The title of Best European Smartphone was awarded to the iPhone 3GS and this came as no great shock. While many rival companies have tried their hardest to come up with the long overdue ‘iPhone Killer’, it seems that none have quite managed it so far.
Surging Ahead of the Crowd – the Nokia 6790 Slide
Monday, August 17th, 2009
Nokia’s new Symbian powered QWERTY slider phone, the 6790 Slide, also dubbed “Surge” ad “mako” sports a charming and trendy elegance that improves on its previous 6760 slider look-alike from a 2.0 mega pixel camera to 3.2 mega pixels. Not exactly leading-edge for a camera phone, then again, QWERTY sliders target a more upscale market chiefly made up of corporate geeks who prefer not to be seen with those bland Blackberries.
A Versatile Phone for the Social Media Loving Executives
The Nokia 6790 Slide is Quad-Band GSM/GPRS/EDGE smartphone supporting 3G with high speed HSDPA for truly fast surfing and downloads over the internet. It comes with an XTML browser with Java and Flash support and pre-installed with the Nokia JuiceCaster application for swift updating of your social networking sites like Friendster, MySpace, Twitter and Facebook.
A Fun Multimedia Experience
Its multimedia prowess begins with a 2.4″ QVGA screen supporting 16 million colors for a really vibrant display of your photos and videos. That’s at par with nearly all mobile phones in its class. You get a secondary QVGA camera as well to support video calls. Its main camera get just 2 mega pixel resolution – nothing to brag about with today’s sophisticated camera phones.
Nokia throws in its audio player that supports all the popular audio codecs such as WMA, MP3 and AAC while its video player supports H.263, H.264 and WMV codecs. The Slide also provides Cellular Video allowing you to access and enjoy some TV content as well as Video Exchange
There’s Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP support for using wireless earphones. At the same time it comes with music industry standard 2.5mm stereo audio jacks for your high fidelity head phones.
Finally, Nokia 6790 Slide gets ample 128 MB of internal memory you can expand up to 8GB via its hot-swappable microSD card slot for all the multimedia files you will need on the road. It even has FM radio.
Google Android proving highly popular
Monday, August 17th, 2009
Google were quick to make their mark on the world of mobile phone OS’ and their release, Android, is already proving to be highly popular. Despite only being released on a couple of devices to date the cutting-edge OS is thought to be one of the main factors in the success of those handsets. Initially released on the T-Mobile G1 that saw impressive sales, HTC have now announced that their own Android phone, only the second Android phone to be released in the UK, has just topped the one million sales mark. The HTC Magic reached the magic number in just a matter of months making it one of HTC’s most successful phones to date.
The sales figures come as good news to HTC as they, like most phone companies, have seen a reduction in their total mobile phone sales. This has been blamed mainly on the global economic downturn that has seen most people tightening their purse strings. It is quite shocking then to learn that mid to high-end smartphones have actually seen an increase in sales over the same period, up 27% from this time last year, and HTC believe that for phones like the Magic this is due to the highly popular Android OS that many people are willing to fork out money to experience.
The success of Android has not gone unnoticed by HTC’s rivals. Motorola, LG and Sony Ericsson all have plans to release their own Android-powered phones very soon before the mad hysteria comes to an end. T-Mobile likewise plans to build on the success of their earlier Android phone, the G1, with the release of the G2. HTC themselves are eagerly waiting to see if the Magic’s follow up phone, the much talked about Hero, will prove to be even more popular than the former handset.
The Photo Friendly LG Louvre GC990
Sunday, August 16th, 2009
LG Louvre GC990 Takes HD Quality Video
The LG Louvre GC990 has a 12 mega pixel camera capable of capturing video in 720p HD quality. That’s 1280 by 720 pixels of resolution running at 30 frames per second. It is, by all means a professional camera stuck into a mobile phone. As a professional camera, the GC990 is good enough to go head to head with other HD phones on the market.
Both the Sony Ericsson Satio and the Samsung Omnia HD are capable of capturing HD quality photos and videos. LG goes on par with the standards set by these devices by making use of technology such as Schneider-Kreuznach optics, Intellizoom, auto/touch focus, xenon flash, geo tagging and zero shutter lag. Add in capability to handle film sensitivity of ISO 3200 and you have a digital photographer’s wet dream. And all of that is aside from the mobile phone features of the GC990.
LG Brings New Life to Mobile Technology with the Louvre
LG has given the Lourve both an excellent camera and equally impressive phone features. Connectivity is easy thanks to WiFi with DLNA, GPS, and 3G technology. Control is made through a 3.2 inch touch screen display capable of displaying 16 million colors. The built in user interface uses an S-class touch display that also rotates automatically thanks to an accelerator sensor.
By all means, the LG Lourve GC990 serves as a major step in the field of camera phones. It combines the best in camera technology with the latest in mobile phone functionalities. The GC990 is also an excellent media playback device thanks to its compatibility with various file formats. With the trend of merging pocket PCs, media players and other handheld electronic devices into a smart phone, LG is definitely heading in the right direction.
LG Reincarnates the BlackBerry with the GW300
Saturday, August 15th, 2009
The Striking Similarities of the GW300 and the BlackBerry
The BlackBerry Curve 8300 was a really good device. It served as a benchmark for the performance and capabilities of pocket PCs and smart phones when it was released. Naturally, a lot of mobile devices begun following the style and trend of the BlackBerry; the LG GW300, is one such device. Normally, that would be a good thing, if not for the fact that the BlackBerry Curve 8300 was released over two years ago. LG’s GW300 is behind the times in terms of capability and technology.
Over the past two years since the Curve 8300 was released, great innovations in the use of WiFi, GPS and other technologies have made them accessible and usable with mobile devices. Had LG decided to incorporate these new features into the GW300, then creating a BlackBerry spawn would have been a perfectly right thing to do. Instead, by not improving on the original’s specs and capabilities, LG is delivering a phone that looks good on the surface but is very out dated for its time.
The Deceptively Good Looking GW300
What LG gave the GW300 is the gift of visual appeal. The full spread QWERTY keyboard and a generous 2.4” QVGA display is more than an eye catch, it draws a crowd. And for good reason, people these days will assume that with an appearance like that, you would be able to run Windows Mobile, save a good crisp image and go online at the nearest WiFi hotspot to upload it to your friends.
Well, technically, you still can. But you would be limited to a 2 mega pixel camera (these days, the low end phones have at least 3.2 mega pixels), and that the only way you can connect with your friends is through a pre-installed Facebook application that connects via GPRS. This mobile phone has no WiFi, no 3G, no HSDPA nor any other commonly used connectivity options that are found in other smart phones.
Samsung Omnia Pro B7610: Functional And Exciting
Saturday, August 15th, 2009
Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 was officially launched in Korea in the CommunicAsia 2009 with other mobile phones like the Samsung Pixon 12 and the Omnia II. It was much admired by people, who showed a lot of interest in this most recent model of mobile phone. Omnia Pro B7610 will come with 2 user interfaces, a Media and Pro, which is expected to operate on Windows Mobile. There is a dedicated button which allows you to swap them. It also comes with an 800MHz CPU which is based on ARM1176 and makes sure that you access all data quickly. Push e-mail is a very useful feature in Omnia Pro B7610 as it allows several e-mail accounts. The mobile phone is also integrated with the functional Microsoft Office Suite which will let you edit as well as read documents which are compatible with MS Office.
Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 was earlier named as Louvre, and is a PocketPC with WinMo which has a three and a half inches WVGA AMOLED touch screen ,a sliding QWERTY keyboard, Wi-Fi, 5 megapixels camera with auto focus and LED flash, FM radio, HSPA, GPS, and a slot for microSD slot, which will allow an upgrade up to 32GB. The Samsung B7610 Omnia Pro comes with 135MB RAM and allows 2GB flash storage. It is expected to be released by the third quarter of 2008 and not much is known about the price of this handset from Samsung.
The full QWERTY keyboard is a very useful and handy feature when you are busy and have to compose emails and threaded text messages in Professional Windows Mobile 6.1. With a number of next generation Smartphone’s from LG , Nokia and other companies, Samsung has come up with these exceptionally user friendly Smartphone, which are packed with numerous very convenient applications. It is considered by Samsung, that this latest line of dandy Smartphone’s with touch screen will help them stay on top despite recession.
Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 Links: