Author Archive: Gareth

Dealers loosing out on Storm2

Some might say a blessing in disguise, other’s will be in tears. However, Blackberry’s Storm 2 seems to be causing a bit of a … fracas over at Vodafone Mobile News reports. Dealers are going to be loosing out on a few bob for every Storm 2 sold so they are simply refusing to sell it. The original Storm was not without it’s complaints when it came to hardware and now the Storm 2 seems to be suffering from a new foe, Commission structure:

Vodafone dealers claim that poor channel offerings are forcing them to refuse sales of the BlackBerry Storm2

Vodafone dealers have been "forced" to turn down sales of the BlackBerry Storm 2, due to poor channel offerings. Dealers claimed they would lose money on the sale of a Storm 2 as the handset cost outweighs Vodafone’s commission package. The handset is exclusive to Vodafone and is the successor to the Storm.

O2 announce O2 More

O2 have announced a new service called O2 More. O2 More is all about giving their customers discounts, special offers and freebies for things they like in exchange for your personal information. O2 Media’s Managing Director Shaun Gregory tells us all about it in the video below:-

Via O2

Architecture guide for iPhone released

We are talking here about real architecture and not about “software architecture” and “software architects”! This real architecture is a combination of art and engineering and sometimes it is difficult to say which construction is a masterpiece and which is just a boring, garish, building. This app can help!

3 suspends mobile broadband sales in poorly connected areas

On our last podcast, my old co-host Chris Oldroyd joined us. Due to the severe weather England was suffering Chris was reduced to using his 3 mifi service. When I say reduced, the service was quite impressive however the notable decline in quality was evident. 3 had served Chris well. However, no soon have we good feeling for 3 that they take it away as with the following article from Mobile Today.

All channels to advise customers against buying MBB in areas with poor connectivity

3 has suspended mobile broadband sales in certain geographical areas until connectivity improves.

The move is part of a broader strategy by the operator to better manage the  explosive growth of its mobile broadband (MBB) offering which has seen 3 increase its market share of MBB to 40%.

3 met with its direct, indirect and retail channels this week to explain how the suspension will work. Under the new procedure sales staff will begin any sales pitch for MBB by checking connectivity levels first. If customers are found to be in areas with poor connectivity, sales channels must advise customers against buying mobile broadband until connectivity is improved.

UK only: new NHS iPhone app released to help British drunkards

Drinking “culture” in UK is such that on Friday and Saturday evenings you can see drunken young girls lying on streets in unconscious state. In other words: Brits are one of the heaviest alcoholics in EU. Fortunately British national health organization has released its own (official!) app for that:

Motorola Milestone unboxing

Speaking for the Motorola Milestone, JKKmobile has an unboxing for you. I find jkk to be one of the best unboxings, frank, honest and thorough. Very much worth watching. Check it out after the break:

Droid Nears Its Million-Device Target

An article caught my eye on Gigaom today and it pleased me. It seems the Motorola Droid is selling well, it’s a bit of a hit. Soon to bed hitting pockets here as the Milestone the new Android device runs the much touted 2.0 version of Android. A big step up, a good looking device and great potential. Read on for the whole article,

Motorola and Verizon’s $100 million marketing push seems to be paying off: The much-ballyhooed Droid smartphone made by Motorola and powered by Google’s Android 2.0 OS is inching toward its goal of a million devices sold during the fourth quarter of 2009. The two companies have thus far sold between 700,000 and 800,000 Droids, according to data collected by RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Sue.

Nokia refutes reports it may sell its handset business

Nokia insists its handset division is a core part of its business

Reports that Nokia may sell its handset business as part of a drive to develop its internet service offerings were denied by Nokia today.

The reports came on the back of an interview with Nokia marketing head Anssi Vanjoki. Internet sites reported that, in an excerpt from the interview with German magazine Wirtschaftswoche, Vanjoki said a sale of Nokia’s handset business cannot be ruled out as part of Nokia’s move to transform itself into an internet services provider.

He added Nokia should, ‘never say never’ to the possibility. However in a statement today Nokia said: ‘There has been news quoting Anssi Vanjoki that Nokia is considering to outsource its mobile phone production. This statement does not at all correspond with what Mr. Vanjokisaid nor what has been published in the original interview. Our logistics and manufacturing are an important competitive advantage, and a core part of Nokia’s business .’

In the same interview Vanjoki said Nokia needed to speed up Nokia’s transformation into an internet services provider in the face of competition.

[Source Mobile Today]

Tweetie 2.1 for iPhone released – with support for lists, geotagging, gap detection

Loren Brichter, who has developed Tweetie is one of those developers who have hit the jackpot and got rich thanks to iPhone. Most of such developers are “one-trick-pony” and cannot reproduce hits after the first time. It looks like Loren is trying hard to keep his Tweetie Twitter client on top by releasing new Twitter features very quickly after they were introduced by Twitter.

Of course support for Twitter lists is our favorite new feature of Tweetie 2.1:

… but gap detection comes close as second most favorite: