• android,  google,  t-mobile,  verizon,  vodafone

    Google’s Nexus One Goes Live

    January 6, 2010 /

    Google’s Nexus One smartphone has gone live and the details of the new phone have been posted on the Google website. Some of the key features include:

    • 3.7-inch 800×400 pixel WVGA touchscreen
    • 5MP digital camera with auto-focus and LED flash
    • UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA/GSM/EDGE cellular radio
    • 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
    • 1400mAh removable battery
    • Android 2.1 Eclair mobile operating system
    • 512MB of RAM and Flash memory
    • 4GB microSD card included, support for upto 32GB microSD cards
    • Assisted GPS receiver and digital compass

    Pricing and Availability

    The new Google Nexus One is available now as an unlocked phone directly from Google for $529.00. You can also purchase the phone from T-Mobile for as low as $179.00 when you subscribe to a qualifying voice and data plan. Google is also reporting that the Nexus One will be coming to Verizon Wireless and Vodafone during the spring of 2010. No specific dates or pricing has been announced for Verizon or Vodafone at this time.

    For more pricing and availability, visit the Google online store.

    Read More
  • pixi,  pre,  sprint,  web os

    Palm webOS 1.3.5.1 Update Released

    January 5, 2010 /

    Following just 7 days behind the webOS 1.3.5 update, Palm has released the Palm webOS 1.3.5.1 update. This update, according to Palm, is attended to address a very specific bug in the Calendar application when data is synchronized with a Microsoft Exchange Server.

    The release notes for the latest webOS update states:
    “This release fixes an issue in which the Calendar app displayed no events for any account after a user synchronized Calendar with an Exchange account. With this update, Calendar events now appear correctly after an Exchange sync.”

    According to a KB article published by Palm on Jan. 3, the nature of the problem is “that the turn of the year [to] 2010 has surfaced an issue that affects customers who use Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) to synchronize their calendars. Data remains intact on the device; however, this issue prevents the data from being displayed correctly in the Calendar application. It impacts all versions of webOS.”

    The Palm webOS 1.3.5.1 update is available for immediate download by using the Updates application on Sprint branded Palm Pre and Palm Pixi smartphones and will take about 10-15 minutes to install. Aside from resolving the issue with the Calendar application, there are no new changes between 1.3.5.1 and Palm webOS 1.3.5 which was released on December 28, 2009.

    You can read the Palm webOS 1.3.5.1 release notes on the Palm webOS updates page. You can read the full Palm KB article on the Palm support website.

    Read More
  • android,  google,  motorola,  verizon

    Motorola Enhances Keyboard on New Droid Phone

    January 4, 2010 /

    One of the things that I was complaining about in my recent Motorola Droid review was the way that the keyboard was setup on the Droid. Yes, the Droid has a full Qwerty keyboard, which is still better than an on-screen keyboard in my opinion, but the keyboard was essentially flat and it was hard to feel where one key was from the next.

    In a photo that surfaced on Boy Genius Report over the weekend, it looks like Motorola is aiming to please by changing out and enhancing the keyboard in their next Google Android device, called the Motorola Droid Devour, which is headed to Verizon Wireless at some point this year.

    [Via BoyGeniusReport.com…]

    Read More
  • motionapps,  web os

    Classic Updated to Version 2.1.2 (UPDATED)

    January 3, 2010 /

    I just noticed that MotionApps Classic is showing an update to version 2.1.2 in the Palm App Catalog. I checked the MotionApps blog, however, there was no mention of the update. My guess is that the 2.1.2 update is a bug and/or performance update for Palm webOS 1.3.5. However, without any comments or release notes posted to the MotionApps website or blog, it is hard to know what exactly the latest update brings.
    I have installed Classic 2.1.2 on my Pre with Palm webOS 1.3.5 and I am able to run DataViz Documents To Go 11 Premium and Passwords Plus without issue. Astraware Bejeweled 2 and Solitaire, the two games that I have loaded in Classic, are also working as expected.
    To learn more about Classic, and how you can use your Palm OS applications on Palm webOS smartphones like the Palm Pre and the Palm Pixi, check out the MotionApps website.

    UPDATE
    The good folks over at Motion Apps have dropped me a line to clear up what is addressed in the 2.1.2 update to Classic.

    “This was a regular release bringing stability improvements mostly, the one we’ve been waiting for quite a while, mostly because the issues Classic had after [Palm webOS] 1.3.1.”

    So there you have it. Classic 2.1.2 is a maintenance update. If you haven’t already done so, you can download the latest update to Classic by using the Updates application on your Palm webOS smartphone.

    Read More
  • apple,  ces,  google,  htc,  motorola,  verizon

    CES 2010

    January 2, 2010 /

    The 2010 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is set to kick off on January 7 in Las Vegas. Since the focus of the show is consumers, CES starts on a Thursday and ends on a Sunday.

    According to the CES website, there are over 600 technology companies from the West Coast in attendance and event organizers are expecting 110,000 attendees for the trade room floor and workshop sessions. Tickets to the event are $200.

    For more information about this year’s CES event, please visit the CES website.

    Rumors Aplenty

    As usual for this time of year, there is a flurry of rumors about upcoming devices from a number of technology vendors. This year’s rumors include: HTC’s new touchscreen tablet device, Motorola’s expected announcement of two new smartphones, Google’s Nexus One smartphone press event on Jan. 5, with the device available from Google and T-Mobile.

    Palm will also be at CES this year, however, it is expected that the focus will be on software development, and not on new device launches. However, there are those pesky Verizon Wireless Pre Plus and Pixi Plus rumors to deal with.

    Apple won’t be at this year’s CES or MacWorld Expo events. Instead, it is widely rumored that Apple will hold their own press event on or around January 26th. Speculation is running wild in the face of mounting evidence that they will finally announce the table computer that has rumored to be under development for many years now.

    [Via Boy Genius Report, Barron’s Tech Trader Daily, Gizmodo, PreCentral]

    Read More
  • blackberry,  rim

    Get Some “Love” From Research In Motion

    December 30, 2009 /

    Research In Motion, the Canadian company behind the BlackBerry family of smartphones, has been running an ad campaign this holiday season featuring the 1967 Beatles song, “All You Need is Love.”

    RIM is giving away free, no strings attached, copies of the song “All You Need is Love” as an .mp3 file. Just head over to the BlackBerry website and hit the download link. It’s that easy! No forums to fill out. No accounts to create. No personal information to fork over. And while you’re there, if you somehow managed to not see the current BlackBerry TV commercials, you can watch them on the BlackBerry site too.

    Get some “Love” from the good folks at BlackBerry.com.

    Read More
  • apple,  att,  iphone,  itunes

    iPhone Adventures

    December 29, 2009 /

    On Monday I picked up a used first generation 8GB Apple iPhone. (Thank you Shirley!) The phone is in good working condition. What I didn’t know, is that that you must activate the iPhone before you can use it; even if you plan on using it, essentially, as an iPod touch.

    So what did I learn with my adventures activating my iPhone? First of all, there is no problem with you walking into an AT&T store an signing up for a new service plan with the original G2 GMS iPhone. Secondly, you can use a pre-paid AT&T GoPhone SIM card in your iPhone. To use a pre-paid card, you will need to purchase and activate the pre-paid SIM card in a phone and then move it into the iPhone once it is setup and then activate the iPhone in iTunes as an existing customer. The CellFanatic blog has a good run down of how to do this.

    But what if you are like me and don’t want to have to deal with another monthly cell phone bill and just use the iPhone as a glorified iPod touch (with a camera), then you may want to go with the slightly shady jail breaking route. My SIM card was disabled because I hadn’t used it in 6 months or more and I wasn’t planning on throwing $15-30 away on a new one just to activate the iPhone. I used the Blackra1n jail breaking utility to by pass the activation process and make the phone available in iTunes. I did end up putting my “dead” AT&T SIM card into the iPhone to keep it from constantly reminding me that there was no card inserted.

    The good news is that everything, minus the Phone and Messages applications, are working normally. If I change my mind, and want to activate the voice and SMS text messaging features, all I need to do is to put in a new, activated 3G AT&T SIM card and I’m ready to rock ‘n roll.

    Read More
  • pixi,  pre,  web os

    Palm Unleashes webOS 1.3.5 Update

    December 29, 2009 /

    Late in the day yesterday, Palm released the Palm webOS 1.3.5 update for Sprint branded Palm Pre and Pixi smartphones.

    Late in the evening reports where coming in that it was slow going downloading the 13MB update. I for one found myself waiting quite a while for the update to be downloaded and processed on my Pre. Once the update was downloaded, my Pre took the usual 15 minutes to install the update.

    This update is important for a number of reasons. The Palm App Catalog app received no less than 9 updates, one of which includes the ability to download apps in the background rather than forcing you to wait until the current app is downloaded. The Calendar app also received a performance update that allows you to swipe between days much faster than in previous releases of Palm webOS. This one is important to me since I use my Pre to help schedule my meetings and daily work. You can also now launch the Sprint Navigation application directly from a Contact record. (I haven’t figured out how this feature works yet. When I tap on an address in Contacts, Google Maps is launched, just as it always has. I’ll post an update later on reporting on whether or not I got this feature workings and what, if anything I had to do to make it work.)

    Probably the biggest updates for Palm enthusiests in this release is the ability to use the Pre’s and Pixi’s USB storage space for applications, freeing many folks from the dreaded “too many applications installed” error that was popping up. Kudos to Palm for coming up with an elegant solution for addressing this problem. The Palm webOS 1.3.5 update also lays the ground work for some exciting possibilities for some new applications; games in particular. According to the folks over at WebOS Internals, Palm has delivered two package files that will make it possible for developers to access and use the Pre’s and Pixi’s Graphics Processing Unit, or GPU. This update should make it possible for high-quality games, the likes of which have been available on the iPhone for some time now, to be released for the Palm webOS platform. I’m really looking forward to seeing some of the Handmark/Astraware games to show up on webOS. I miss playing Bejeweled 2.

    This update does not repair the iTunes Media Sync feature. At this time it is unclear as to whether or not Palm will attempt to reactivate this feature or if they can come to some kind of an agreement with Apple to allow the iTunes sync feature to work. If you want to sync iTunes content with your Palm webOS device, it is recommended that you use DoubleTwist.

    Some of the highlights from the Palm webOS 1.3.5 update include:

    • App Catalog significantly improves the application download experience.
    • Users can now take advantage of the full storage capacity of the phone for downloading applications.
    • In Day view, switching between days happens more quickly.
    • A user can perform a full erase by pressing and holding Sym + the orange/Option key + power for 10 seconds.
    • A user can now edit forwarded text for all email account types.
    • When the user sets up more than one Yahoo! email account, the account names displayed in Account List view include the associated email address so that the user can distinguish them.
    • A user can launch Sprint Navigation from an address in an open contact entry in Contacts.
    • This update improves battery life in areas of poor wireless network coverage.

    The complete list of software enhancements and bug fixes can be found on the Palm webOS software updates website. You can download the Palm webOS 1.3.5 update by launching the Updates application on your Sprint branded Palm Pre or Pixi.

    Read More
  • blackberry,  blackberry os,  rim,  verizon

    BlackBerry Storm 2 Hands On Review

    December 28, 2009 /

    I have just wrapped up my test drive of the Verizon Wireless BlackBerry Storm 2 9550 smartphone. I’ve been testing out a selection of some of the more popular CDMA phones to help find the phone that will replace the corporate fleet of Palm Treo 755p’s that are in service at the company I work for.

    The Hardware

    The BlackBerry Storm 2, is Research In Motion’s second smartphone without a physical keyboard. The first was the original Storm. The BlackBerry Storm 2 measures up as being 4.43 x 2.45 x .55-inches and weighs in at 5.5 ounces. In practical terms, it is about the same size as an Apple iPhone. The Storm 2 has all of the standard hardware buttons that you would expect to find on any other BlackBerry smartphone. Unlike the buttons on the Tour, Bold, or Curve, the buttons on the face of the Storm 2 are concealed beneath a smooth sheet of plastic. The green, BlackBerry, escape, and red buttons are part of the bottom of the touch screen and the power and silence buttons are part of the top molding. Another nice touch is that there is a small, clear strip of plastic that protects the Storm 2’s 3.2MP digital camera lens and flash. The Storm 2’s battery door takes up the entire back of the device and snaps into place. Unlike the battery door on the Motorola Droid I recently reviewed, I don’t see the Storm 2’s door accidently being popped off during normal use.

    One thing that I don’t like about the Storm 2 is that the bottom extends beyond the top of the device. This gives the Storm 2 a cool, rounded edge look, but I found it hard to reach up with my left index finger to turn the screen on when I was holding the device in my left hand. The uneven edges where less of a problem when I was holding the Storm 2 in landscape mode.

    The Touch Screen

    The big difference between the BlackBerry Storm 2 and the BlackBerry Tour is that the Storm 2 is a touch screen device. There is no physical keyboard on the Storm 2 and this may turn off some people who have used BlackBerry phones in the past and prefer the hardware keyboard. Part of the reason why I wanted to test the Tour and the Storm 2 was to compare the user experience between the two devices and to see if I could use a Storm 2 for the long haul.

    The unique difference with the Storm 2 and other slate smartphones that don’t have hardware keyboards is that the Storm 2’s screen is “clickable.” Take for example the HTC Magic or the Apple iPhone 3G. Both of these devices have touch screens that dominate the face of the phone. When you tap an object on the screen, the screen remains stationary with virtually no tactile feedback. With the BlackBerry Storm 2, when you press down on the screen to tap an object, the entire screen presses down and clicks similar to the tactile feedback you get when you are clicking an icon or hyperlink on your computer with a mouse. You can hear and feel the click. It is a nice gimmick, but does it really help when you are trying to use an on screen keyboard?

    After having played with the Storm 2, the Tour, and the Motorola Droid recently, I have found that the spacing of the keys on the keyboard are more important to me than whether or not the keyboard is virtual or not. I have found that keyboards on the Palm Treo Pro and Pre are very easy to use. Similarly, the keyboard on the BlackBerry Tour was a little too close – however, the shape of the keys did help improve my accuracy. For the Storm 2, Research in Motion decided to pack in four flavors of the virtual keyboard. They are: Qwerty portrait, Qwerty landscape, two-key portrait, and three-key portrait. I found the two and three-key portrait keyboards completely unacceptable. While I completely refuse trying to peck out a SMS or email message by pressing the same key two or three times to type a letter, the younger crowd who might buy the Storm 2 as their first smartphone may find these keyboard modes familiar, more comfortable even, if they are moving up from a flip phone. With the other two Qwerty keyboard modes available for use, I see professionals selecting the formats that more closely resemble the keyboards on their desks that the ones that resemble those found on flip phones.

    After using the Storm 2’s Qwerty keyboards, I can say that I prefer the landscape keyboard the most. It offers the largest key cap clickable area of all the keyboards and the clickable screen did a good job tricking me into thinking that I was pressing a key on a physical keyboard. That isn’t to say that I didn’t make any typing mistakes, but I think that the Storm 2 offers the best on screen keyboard of all the smartphones I’ve tested so far. My one basic gripe about the landscape Qwerty keyboard is that when it is displayed, it takes up a significant portion of the screen; which can severely limit the space on the screen to see what you are doing.

    The Software

    The BlackBerry Storm 2 runs BlackBerry OS v5.0.0.320 (Platform 4.2.0.124), yet I didn’t find any noticeable difference from the BlackBerry Tour running BlackBerry OS v4.7.1.61 (Platform 4.1.0.81). One welcomed difference is that the Storm 2’s application launcher screen shows you the name of the application just below the icon. To see the name of an application on the Tour, you had to use the scroll ball to highlight the icon for the name to appear at the bottom of the launcher screen. For the most part, I didn’t see any major differences in the software bundled between the two BlackBerry’s I tested for this evaluation.

    Conclusion

    I have always stated that the decision to purchase a smartphone is very much a personal one. What works for me may not work for you. The BlackBerry Storm 2 is a capable BlackBerry smartphone that has many of the features made popular by Apple’s iPhone and you won’t have to jump ship from Verizon to AT&T to get a cool looking touch screen phone. As a BlackBerry, the lack of a physical keyboard may be a deal breaker for some corporate types, while others may welcome the increased screen realestate that comes from not having the keyboard. From a software standpoint, I found little difference between the Storm 2 and other recent model BlackBerry smartphones.

    The BlackBerry Storm 2 is available now from Verizon Wireless for $279.99 when you purchase a qualifying two year service agreement. If you order the Storm 2 from the Verizon online store, Verizon will knock an additional $100 off the price tag. For more information about the BlackBerry Storm 2 9550 smartphones, please visit the BlackBerry website.

    Read More