Archive for 2009
December 2, 2009
Check Music Collections For Missing Cover Art With CovArt Ops
Many modern media players like Winamp, Windows Media Player or iTunes display cover art and other information about the music that is currently playing in their interfaces. The same is true for cell phones and hardware mp3 players that usually also come with that option. There are however a few problems related to cover art compatibility. [...]
December 1, 2009
Android Developer Challenge 2 Winners
Google’s Android platform which was once backed only by HTC has come a long way since then. Many cell phone manufacturers are releasing Android based cell phones at the moment including Samsung, Motorola and Acer with its Acer Liquid A1. Google created an Android Developer Challenge last year to give an incentive to software developers [...]
In Depth: 10 Windows Mobile apps worth paying for
Windows Marketplace for Mobile has generated the expected rash of cheap apps from the useful (TubeRun shows live departure boards for the London Underground, Calendar To Map opens a map of the next appointment in your calendar) to the pointless (do you need your phone to test your stress?) to the questionable (there are two fart apps already). With so many great free apps for Windows Mobile, are there really apps worth spending your money on? Actually, yes.1. Co-Pilot, 27You can get it for iPhone and Android but Co-Pilot for Windows Mobile is the original and best. Detailed maps (in multiple styles, including night mode so the screen doesn’t glare at you) with full route planning and turn-by-turn directions in your choice of voices with street names.It also provides all the other features of a dedicated navigation device such as lane assist and real sign display. The walking directions know about footpaths as well as roads while you can save favourite places and navigate to addresses from the Windows Mobile address book. Plus, as well as searching for thousands of points of interest (near you, along your route or in a specific place) you can Bing for local businesses and attractions, get petrol prices for nearby garages, look up the weather or turn on traffic alerts, get warnings about speed limits and speed cameras and send your location to friends as you travel. If you’ve got a geotagged photo, Co-Pilot can navigate you to it. The only drawback for this excellent app (which is fantastic value at 27) is that the on-screen keyboard in this version is alphabetic rather than QWERTY (and Co-Pilot says its working on that).2. Voice Command, 31Some Windows Mobile phones include this full voice control software; if not, buy a copy to launch programs, play music, change the ringer volume, open your calendar or a specific contact and yes, make calls, including redialling and returning the last call. You can ask Voice Command to tell you your next appointment or what you’re doing tomorrow (or just the time); it can read out new text messages and the subject and sender of incoming email. And it does it all without any training and with remarkable accuracy. You have to assign a button to it, so it won’t try to recognise random conversations and it works with Bluetooth headphones so you don’t even need to get your phone out. 3. Callligrapher, 18 ($30)Apart from the HD2, every touch Windows Mobile phone works with a stylus; make it useful by adding real handwriting recognition with Calligrapher. You can write anywhere on the screen, rather than just in a tiny box, and you can teach it which letter shapes you use most to improve recognition. You can’t teach it new letter shapes, though, and it takes some time teaching it shapes and making your handwriting tidier to get good recognition, but you can get there with patience.4. PhatPad, 24 ($40)PhatPad on its own is an excellent note application that lets you sketch, handwrite, create voice notes, add reminders to notes and sync it all to and from the almost-identical PhatPad application on your PC, so you can have one to-do list and take it with you. But if you use it with Calligrapher (above), you can write notes in ink like jotting things down on paper in a hurry and turn them into text when you have time, giving you the best of both worlds.5. WMWifiRouter, 18 (22)You can use your Windows Mobile phone as a modem with your notebook by turning on connection sharing, but if you want to share that connection with multiple PCs, or with something that’s not a PC, WMWifiRouter does that and more. It can share out your mobile data connection over Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or USB; that gives you much wider range than Bluetooth and it means you can connect any device so you could upload photos directly to Flickr from a digital camera with an Eye-Fi card via your phone. Obviously it takes a lot out of the battery (so plug your phone in) and if you share the connection with multiple devices they only get a share of the bandwidth, but it’s both easy to use and has plenty of advanced configuration options. 6. Kinoma Play, 18 ($30)When you’re listening to music or watching video on your phone, you’re more likely to be interrupted; Kinoma Play remembers where you were, in everything you’ve watched or listened to. That’s especially handy because Kinoma gives you the same friendly interface for content on your phone and content online; you can browse camera phone pictures and your DSLR shots on Flickr with the same interface, and restart podcasts and YouTube videos where you left off. Kinoma has a lot of extra features, from streaming Internet radio, playing Last.fm, reading RSS and playing media from Box.net or your desktop computer via Orb to reading Facebook, sending tweets and checking flight times (it even has its own App Store). At heart, it’s a good media player and a great way to explore media on your phone and online.7. Evernote Premium, 3 ($5) a monthThe free version of Evernote is excellent; pay $5 a month and you get 500MB of storage. You’ll need it because you can upload audio, video, PDFs and Office documents so instead of copying files to your phone you can put them online and access them from anywhere, including your phone. You can search PDFs and you can share notes with a friend, so you can both work on the same note. If you use Evernote extensively, the Premium option is excellent value.8. RDM+, 24 ($40)You can get some great apps for Windows Mobile, but how about using the ones on your PC or Mac from your phone? The official Remote Desktop client is one of the optional programs you don’t always get on Windows Mobile devices, it only works with Windows and it assumes you know how to set it up and get connected. RDM+ works with Macs as well as PCs and it makes connecting very simple, even through a NAT firewall, by typing in the number it assigns your computer. You do have to run the RDM+ client on your computer and navigating Windows on your phone screen can be slow and finicky, but you can run your apps, zoom in so you can read them, browse files in a simple file manager or send shortcuts like Start and Paste directly instead of tapping buttons and menus. 9. SPB Mobile Shell, 18 ($30)Microsoft keeps changing its mind about the Today screen and most phone manufacturers have their own interface on top; if you prefer Android’s three desktops side by side, check out the extremely popular Mobile Shell which replaces the Today screen with a short-cut packed layout (swipe left for a desktop and search bar, swipe right for the calendar) plus a custom contact picker, a Start menu with recently-used icons at the top and a 3D carousel interface for switching between all the different screens. It’s a little complicated but if you want to put everything in Windows Mobile at your fingertips, Mobile Shell will do it. 10. Shazam Encore, 4.69Like Evernote, the free version of Shazam works fine but the pay-for version gives you more; instead of five songs a month you can tag and identify as many songs as you like and get suggestions for similar songs you’ll like. It’s virtually the same app you get on iPhone and BlackBerry so Windows Mobile users aren’t left behind. Want to find new music? Shazam makes it easier.
November 21, 2009
Is Nokia really dropping Symbian as the OS of choice for N-series?
The Maemo marketing team shared with fellow tech journalists that Nokia plans for their N-series smartphones heavily relay on the Maemo OS. After finishing up the handsets that are currently in the works, Nokia will…
Sony Xperia X10 gets official release date
Sony Ericsson has unveiled the release date for its first-ever Android device the Sony Xperia X10.Expected to hit stores 10 February 2010 as predicted by TechRadar earlier this month the Xperia X10 is certainly well-equipped for Google’s OS.Sporting a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, it will be the speediest Android-infused handset on the market and one which is also packed with some mouth-watering features.Feature focusThese include an LED Flash which will hopefully follow in the HTC HD2′s footsteps and be as bright as the sun automatic face-tagging, an 8MP camera and a 4-inch WVGA screen.Oh, and it will be packing Android 2.0, so expect Google Navigation and the like.Couple this with a 3.5mm headphone jack and a new overlay which will give user a new way to search on the phone, and it sounds like Sony has come up with a real contender in the burgeoning Android market-place.
Top Ten Mobile Phone News Stories of the Week
It may nearly be the season to be jolly, but that time also means a slowdown in new phone releases. Still, we may not have many new phones out, but there are still enough news tidbits to keep us occupied! Here are ten which caught our eye this week: 1. Get Ready for Windows Mobile [...]
November 13, 2009
Regional mobile broadband to be created by EU following huge interest in the service
Due to the huge popularity and growing demand for high-speed internet access The GSM Directive recently approved access to new spectrum for advanced data, which can be used for accessing the internet on mobile phones at broadband speeds, and will soon be released following a major breakthrough by the European Union. A number of European regulators [...]We love mobile phonesRegional mobile broadband to be created by EU following huge interest in the service
Solar Cell phone Chargers: A Green Way to Charge your Mobile Phone
Very few people know about alternative ways of charging their mobile phones and other electronic gadgets. However, it is possible to charge these gadgets without having to rely on electricity. For instance, unknown to many, solar cell phone chargers are available in the market. But how do solar cell phone chargers work, exactly, and how [...]We love mobile phonesSolar Cell phone Chargers: A “Green” Way to Charge your Mobile Phone
November 9, 2009
Resorts Casino In Atlantic City May Learn Fate This Week
Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City is one of the oldest casinos in the city, but it may soon become just another defunct casino. The casino could learn as early as this week what their fate will be in the future.
Atlantic City Casino Gambling Revenue Drop Small In September
Atlantic City casinos finally received some good news this week, although a five percent decrease in gambling revenue for September can hardly be considered a victory.
william hill poker
william hill poker is a new online casino poker that is currently in the launch phase. What makes this a particularly newsworthy item is the lengths than the developers at ShootJack Casino (www.shootjack.com) are going to in order to make ShootJack genuinely unique. Were not just talking about a unique look or feel, but a wholly novel approach that really does warrant some discussion.
November 3, 2009
Top Ten Mobile Phone News Stories of the Week
This week’s biggest news story is undoubtedly the announcement of the Motorola Droid, an unfortunately US-only phone at present, but join us here for a roundup of other mobile related news from around the world. 1. Sony Ericsson X3? X10? Xperia? Something Else? The official naming guessing game of the Sony Ericsson Rachael continues with new speculation [...]
INQ Mini 3G Handset Cost Cut By 3G Operator 3 UK
INQ Mini 3G to under 50 on Pay As You Go.
Users Want Lower Rates Shock!
In news that will no doubt shock you, people want to pay less for phone calls. They’ve even submitted a petition, but before you brush this off as another “slightly less effective than half a damp sponge” signature list, this one’s armed with over two hundred MPs, sixty businesses, executives of the mobile provider 3 [...]
October 31, 2009
Hands-on Nokia N900 review the best Nokia smartphone yet
As promised, here’s my hands-on Nokia N900 review. Is it as good as the specs suggest it should be? Is Nokia’s new Internet Tablet that thinks it’s a phone actually better than the N97, the smartphone that’s not all that smart? Yes to both is the exciting answer – but there is a twist in the [...]
Coin operated mobile phone for the credit crunch
Dial-a-Phone has the scoop today on a coin operated mobile phone designed to cut spending in the credit crunch. The phone is codenamed the 100-F from a Latvian manufacturer, new to the mobile phone market, called Lirpa. It seems bizarre, but the phone design has been inspired by the global credit crunch (which must have reached [...]We love mobile phonesCoin operated mobile phone for the credit crunch
October 27, 2009
Were Ready for the iPhone 3GS!
UK network O2’s sole exclusivity to sell the iPhone is about to end, two years after they sold their first one, with Apple reaching agreements with Orange, Vodafone and potentially T-Mobile and 3 too. First out of the gate to offer an alternative network solution is Orange, with a tentative release date of the 11th [...]
BlackBerry Bold 9700 Unveiled: Refinement Over Revolution
After shaping up their touchphone game with the BlackBerry Storm2 last week, Canadian manufacturer Research In Motion have turned their hand to rejuvenating their ‘hero’ handset with the BlackBerry Bold 9700. Taking many cues from the street-savvy ‘Curve’ range of BlackBerry phones, the Bold 9700 has eschewed the iconic trackball, instead going digital with an optical [...]
October 25, 2009
Nokia 7705 Twist
A radically different design from most other handsets, the Nokia 7705 Twist is a messaging phone designed exclusively for the Verizon network in the US.
October 18, 2009
Game co. Gazillion lays off staff at John Romeros Slipgate Ironworks studio
Gazillion, a high-flying online game publisher that has raised a ton of money, has laid off an unspecified number of game developers at its Slipgate Ironworks online games studio, VentureBeat has learned. The layoffs did not affect Gazillion’s other studios: the Amazing Society, NetDevil, and Gargantuan Games. Gazillion, based in SanMateo, Calif., confirmed the layoffs but declined to say how many jobs were affected. San Francisco-based Slipgate is working on a massively multiplayer online game, but it hasn’t said what it’s about. The studio is one of four major game studios that Gazillion has either created or acquired in the past couple of years. The unannounced brain behind Slipgate is John Romero, the designer of the seminal shooting game, Doom, which id Software launched in 1993. Romero is an executive vice president at Slipgate. Rob Hutter, former chief of Revolution Ventures, founded the company in 2005 to focus on making high-quality MMOs, or world simulations with thousands or even millions of players. The gold standard in the business is Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft. Up until March, Gazillion operated in stealth mode as NR2B Research. While Hutters background is in investment, he did make a game for the Commodore 64 when he was 12 years old. He also recruited talent from a bunch of entertainment companies: Blizzard Entertainment, Pixar Animation Studios, Microsoft, Apple, and others. Back in March, the company said it had 300 employees. Its big announced projects are MMOs around the Lego and Marvel properties. Gazillion managed to get the licenses because it has spared no expense and hired a huge team across its four studios. Among its investors are Oak Investments, Allen & Company, Founders Fund, Hearst Corp. Investment Group, Revolution Ventures and UV Partners. The company has not disclosed how much money its raised to date. The management team includes Paul Baldwin, marketing chief, and former top marketing man at Eidos Interative, the maker of the Tomb Raider games. In a statement, a spokesman for Gazillion confirmed the layoffs and said, ” As part of our focus on reaching the widest possible audiences with breakthrough MMO entertainment, we decided to change the format of our project at Slipgate Ironworks to better achieve this aim. The game well launch will build on the efforts to date with a smaller core team and the other Slipgate staff are already in discussions around the many open positions across our slate of projects. 2010 will be an exciting year for Gazillion as we bring several groundbreaking MMOs to markets worldwide. Were tremendously appreciative for the dedication and creativity of our employees who make this all possible.”