In a surprise move by Google and Vodafone UK, the Nexus One Android smart phone will now be offered directly by the UK based mobile network operator. Those who want to get the device early should sign up and pre order the device as soon as possible to reach the first batch of phone deliveries that will be pushing through on May 5.
If you have not been keeping tabs on the Nexus One, this offer directly from Vodafone is unique since the device was originally meant to be exclusively available in the Google Online Store. The phone launched back in January 5 and has met with a very low sales performance due to the fact that not many people were interested in getting the phone through the Google store.
The move to stock the device directly by Vodafone and ship it straight from within the UK may hopefully change the plight of the Nexus One.
In many ways, it is odd that the Nexus One smart phone actually failed. Putting the bad marketing decisions aside, the phone itself is an impressive piece of work, being one of the first true high end Android devices to be launched.
The device runs on a 1GHz Snapdragon processor which will have your apps and features loading fast and running smoothly. The 3.7 inch AMOLED touch screen display provides excellent images and responsive touch controls. Lastly, the 5 mega pixel camera takes images and videos for uploading and sharing.
Google has also put in some interesting new technology in the device as well. The Android phone comes equipped with an enhanced voice recognition system that enables the phone to convert speech to text and even accept voice input queries. The dual microphone setup allows the device to easily filter audio.
Archive for April, 2010
Google Nexus One to be Offered Directly by Vodafone UK
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010Gizmodo: In the Hotspot Due to iPhone Shenanigans
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010
The question now is: what really happened between Apple and Gizmodo?
We all know by now the basic gist of the story: Apple engineer (or random Apple employee who just happens to have access to top secret content) accidentally leaves the latest iPhone prototype in some bar in the middle of the United States. Some person finds it and is able to assess the device as a next generation gadget (despite the iPhone supposedly not being bootable) then offers it to different websites for an exclusive scoop.
Tech blog Gizmodo takes the deal and pays a hefty sum of 5,000 USD in order to get the device for the scoop. They immediately post images of the phone and take the lead in what could be the biggest exclusive scoop of the year. The following week is exciting with the news and Apple finally steps in, asks for their phone back and ends up confirming the authenticity of the device.
The big scoop of last week was not how the way things unfolded, but how many people were skeptical about how the whole thing unfolded. With so many loopholes in the story, many doubted this to be anything more than a cooperative stunt by both Apple and Gizmodo.
Anyway, it seems like the fine folks at San Mateo County in California have a different take on the matter, and that is the fact that Gizmodo paid such an expensive price for a device they should have been able to identify as a stolen is considered to be a punishable offence.
While tech blog Gizmodo is hardly a fence for stolen goods, it is also unsurprising that many condemn the decision by the company to buy the phone in the first place. Apple has yet to make a comment on the whole thing
Want to get a Free Gate Pass to the App Store? Win a Pulitzer Prize
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010
With the number of rejections that developers have been facing from Apple, the Cupertino-based iPhone manufacturer finally admits it “made a mistake” when it removed Mark Fiore’s cartoon app last December.
Since Apple has been on a roll removing and rejecting apps which targets political or public figures, the cartoon application was originally taken out of the store. In an interview, this is what Mr. Fiore said about the rule implementation:
“That’s a tough one to get around if you’re a political cartoonist.”
Indeed it is. However, upon seeing that the app maker won a Pulitzer Prize, Apple asked Mark to resubmit the rejected app. Mark said that it was Steve Jobs who was responsible for the decision to bring back his cartoon app:
“Looks like some guy named Steve Jobs was able to nudge my app past the gatekeepers.”
While this is good sign for other cartoonists, Apple is still bound to be strict in implementing their censorship rules. If you are a cartoonist who has comics with political satire, keep in mind that Mark’s case is not the prevailing rule. It seems that it takes a Pulitzer Prize for Apple to make an exception to their on the spot implemented policies. They are certainly not going to allow any adult apps. Steve Jobs says you have the Google Android Market for that. This is further emphasized in a reply Jobs made recently to an Apple user’s email:
“Fiore’s app will be in the store shortly. That was a mistake. However, we do believe we have a moral responsibility to keep porn off the iPhone. Folks who want porn can buy an Android phone.”
Well at least no one has to miss any of Mark Fiore’s comics because his app was already re-posted on the Apple App Store and is available for download once again.
More about Mark Fiore’s app can be read at Geek.
20 Year Study on Mobile Phones and Health Begins
Monday, April 26th, 2010
For the past few years, mobile phone technology has been blamed as the cause for sicknesses such as cancer, infertility, dementia and many more. Of course, considering the low yield frequencies that mobile phones use, it is actually hard to determine if exposure to such things are truly the cause of sicknesses.
As such, there has been a need for a wide scale study of the technology and how it affects people. The Mobile Telecommunications Health Research (MTHR) is a programme initiated by the government which will be studying the long term effects of mobile phones on people for a span of 20 years.
This is one of the most ambitious studies ever done and it follows a very wide range of subjects as well. People ranging from ages of 18 to 69 will be part of the study to provide an adequate degree of variety. It is also expected that the many subjects would have varying patterns of phone usage –another important factor in the health study as well.
MTHR not only covers physical health problems, it also stands to be determine the causes and effects of texting and mobile addiction symptoms. With more and more people becoming more reliant on mobile phone technology, it would not be surprising is several of the subjects are those who cannot live without their smart phones.
Still, regardless of what the studies will show, it is unavoidable that people will be using mobile phones. However, this research can prove to be a vital factor for determining how phones should be made in order to give more positive effects to its users.
At the very least, it would finally end many issues and rumors regarding mobile phones (and hopefully, get people to stop sending spam about it as well).
Read more the MTHR and what it covers at the Guardian UK.
Adobe and Apple: War of Words
Monday, April 26th, 2010
Skipping past the long story and delving straight to the bottom line, Adobe is taking a pretty bad hit with the move of Apple to prevent developers from using the Flash compiler on Adobe’s Flash Professional CS5 software. The clause on the new license agreement for the iPhone 4.0 OS SDK goes to length to indicate to users that using third party software is not allowed, here is the clause as follows:
“3.3.1 — Applications may only use Documented APIs in the manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any private APIs. Applications must be originally written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine, and only code written in C, C++, and Objective-C may compile and directly link against the Documented APIs (e.g., Applications that link to Documented APIs through an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool are prohibited)”.
While it does not directly name Adobe, most developers already see where this is heading.
In the meanwhile, personnel on both sides have been pretty vocal about their opinions on the matter. Adobe’s Senior Product Manager wrote a rather extensive blog about the situation and how the sudden change is affecting not only Adobe, but developers as well.
Apple on the other hand continues to attack not only the Adobe system, but also Google. It no longer comes as a surprise that Google has announced that the Android OS will be supporting the latest version of Flash –providing developers with a new alternative platform that they can go to as opposed to being stuck with Apple.
According to Apple: “HTML5, CSS, JavaScript and H264, all supported by the iPhone and iPad, which are open and standard, while Adobe’s Flash is closed and proprietary.”
It looks like we will not be seeing the end of this dispute anytime soon.
Read more about the whole squabble between Adobe and Apple at the Telegraph UK.
Samsung OLED Technology on Dell’s new Phone
Monday, April 26th, 2010
Though we certainly doubt that Samsung will be using the new super AMOLED touch screen technology on the new Dell smart phone, we cannot help but still have that small glimmer of hope that the Lightning will be coming with a 4.1 inch super AMOLED touch screen.
Anyway, the official announcement is that Dell’s new Windows Phone 7 device will have a 4.1 inch OLED touch screen from Samsung, and that is as far as they are going with the announcement. From a more rational point of view, Dell would have been eager to actually detail the super AMOLED technology if that was what they were using.
Aside from the big screen display, this WP7 device will also be running on a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor (the Microsoft tie up with Qualcomm pretty much has the new OS locked into this CPU), a 5 mega pixel camera and a slide out QWERTY keyboard –in portrait mode.
Well, it is still hard to judge for now how this device would feel like if you had to slide it open in portrait mode, but the initial images certainly look uncomfortable to hold –certainly not something you would want for long periods.
This device is the second smart phone using the new Microsoft platform that has been shown in images. The first WP7 device to be seen in photos is the LG Panther. Despite the images being slightly on the small scale, we could not help but be impressed with how sleek the device looked and how we would want to get our hands on the landscape QWERTY slider.
The new OS is still currently under development and is expected to come out by the end of the year –alongside the release of devices using the platform.
Read more about the new Dell WP7 handset at the GSM Arena.
Making Technology Easy: the Apple iPad
Monday, April 26th, 2010
There is a certain charm in the Apple iPad that is hard to miss, the fact that the device is so easy to use. Now that is actually an understatement. After all, any device with good ergonomic design can be described as easy or comfortable to use, but there is actually something more to the iPad.
For most of us in the tech community who are already familiar with such things like digital playlists, web browsing, apps and more, doing anything tech related is actually pretty easy. But for people who know little about modern technology, accessing the internet can be a very scary and daunting thing. This is not helped by the fact that a keyboard and a mouse are not the most intuitive devices to be used for accessing websites.
The iPad however, presents the internet in a whole new way, using a giant touch screen.
This may not seem like a big deal, but for users who no close to nothing about using the web, a touch screen is the most natural way to access a user interface. Many users have reporting handing over their iPad devices to older folks at home and realize how easy it is to operate.
Aside from being easy to use, there are plenty of other reasons why the iPad is such a successful device. The second most important is obviously features. From browsing the internet to reading eBooks the iPad user experience is both comfortable and fun. The device was made specifically for accessing digital media content.
The addition of apps also turns the touch screen tablet into something truly versatile, allowing users to add in more functions and capabilities as needed.
Read more about the Apple iPad touch screen tablet’s various features and how easy it is to use at Mobile Today UK.
Sony Ericsson’s XPERIA X10 has no Multitouch
Monday, April 26th, 2010
When you have a large touch screen, an Android operating system and a high speed 1GHz Snapdragon processor running under the hood, it is pretty much expected that such as smart phone would have as simple a function as multi touch functionality. Or so we thought.
Sony Ericsson’s XPERIA X10 smart is a high end device in terms of hardware. While the OS itself is a little old (the Android 1.6 Donut is just so last year), it has already been confirmed that an update to the OS would be indeed by arriving –but only in September, which means that the wait will be a pretty long one.
Anyway, it is not really that big of a deal that the phone does not have multi touch. It already comes with impressive hardware features. However, there is also the fact that you could always just opt to buy the HTC Desire, HTC Legend, the Samsung Galaxy S or the Nexus One –which means that SE’s move to place the XPERIA X10 at such a disadvantageous position would certainly be something that could spell doom for the mobile phone.
The X10 comes with a nice big 4 inch touch screen display, an 8 mega pixel camera and as mentioned, the 1GHz QSG8250 Snapdragon CPU. New to the device is the Timescape user interface for contacts which allow users to consolidate message archives and other relevant pieces of information in an easy to use and understand interface.
If the X10 may be off your budget, you might want to hold out for a little while longer and wait for the release of the X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro smart phones. The devices are not as powerful as the original X10, but come in a smaller and more budget friendly package.
Get to know more about X10 and multi touch at Softpedia.
Google Set to Become Major Player in GPS Industry
Monday, April 26th, 2010
Satellite navigation has gone a long way from being some novel technology to something many of us heavily rely on. Most GPS devices come pre-loaded with maps of the UK and Ireland, and downloading additional map info is easy as connecting to a free WiFi hotspot. With many folks already having bought an existing sat nav device for their dashboard (or have cars already with built in function), it is pretty hard for competitors to actually be able to penetrate the established GPS device market.
Until now that is.
Google is the one major industry player that actually has what it takes to not only match up against existing sat nav companies, but also be able to surpass current industry standards. Even if the only category was to be accuracy of maps, Google still beats many GPS providers with their already existing database of information: Google Maps.
In fact, the map library of Google is so detailed and expansive that it is almost not a surprise that the major developer has decided to venture into the GPS industry. One can even say that it is more surprising that they have only decided to take this step now. Factor in the highly detailed Google Earth and Street View information and you have a massive database that easily surpasses the services provided by other GPS devices.
So you might be asking, what about points of interest? And more importantly, what about live traffic updates?
The cool thing about Google is that they have access to everything. You might have forgotten the fact that their maps are quite detailed in terms of locations and their search engine is tied up to the service allowing you to seek out the closest tap.
Before you grab your Android phone to try out the service, you might want to check out the other features and details at the GSM Arena.
The Facebook Phones: Microsoft’s Kin Handsets
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010
It comes as to no surprise that social networking is one of the key reasons why people prefer smart phones to regular handsets. Access to Facebook is a bigger marketing strategy than anyone could have ever thought of, and now, Microsoft is taking aim on that giant niche crowd.
The Microsoft Kin handsets use a mobile platform based on the upcoming Windows Phone 7 operating system, but only in regards to the social networking function. The result is a Windows CE platform that allows users to instantly access Facebook, browse the web and use normal phone functions.
If may seem a little too specialized, but there are actually plenty of people out there who want social networking on their mobile but are unwilling to shell out so much money for high end smart phones. The balance given by the Kin handsets will certainly make a great choice for many phone users –especially the younger generation.
Still, the Kin handsets are not without their limitations. Being a stripped down mobile platform, the Kin’s system does not function like a regular smart phone OS and thus, will not have access to additional functionality such as apps. This also means that if other social networking sites appear, the device would not be able to support it as it only connects to Facebook (though it is unlikely that any site could possibly be a valid rival to Facebook in the near future).
So far, there are two kin handsets, the Kin 1 Turtle and the Kin 2 Pure. Both devices comes with touch screens and slide out QWERTY keyboards. The Kin 1 comes with a 5 mega pixel camera while the Kin 2 has an 8 mega pixel snapper.
For a closer look and the full specs on the new Microsoft Kin smart phones, go to Softpedia.