Author Archive: Gareth

Microsoft set to unveil new Windows Mobile services

According to Neowin, Microsoft is planning to unveil three new mobile services at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona next month. The software giant is allegedly aiming to move your mobile data into the cloud and rival Apple’s MobileMe service. The three services will be called Skybox, Skyline and the already well rumoured Skymarket. Microsoft is also expected to unveil Windows Mobile 6.5 at the MWC. Little details are available on the 6.5 upgrade Neowin tell us that those leaked 6.5 screenshots we saw previously are genuine concept shots for the honeycomb web start menu. More after the break.

Verizon’s Wireless Extender femtocell coming next week

Like many people I would really like to drop my landline phone, but I have terrible reception in my home. If I could get a reliable signal in my living room I would  cut the cord in a hot second. Starting January 25th Verizon has a solution for people like me. Verizon’s wireless extender is set to drop January 25th. A femtocell is a tiny cell relay station that connects to your home’s internet connection, and will give you great reception over 5000 square feet ( 465 square meters).  Sprint already has a similar device called Airave, that costs an additional $15 a month, but that is about half the cost of a phone line from the cable company. So far only CDMA femtocells are available, and the devices are only 1xRTT data (CDMA’s EDGE equivalent).
No pricing information is available for Verizon’s service, but if it is inline with Sprint’s service, it should be well worth it for people who need a little help with reception in their home.

Source: Engadget

Can Nokia make it in America?

Nokia is the world’s largest mobile phone maker, the world’s largest smartphone maker, and according to one accounting, the world’s largest computer maker, but there is one locale that Nokia can’t seem to gain a foothold. World wide Nokia has nearly 40% market share, but in the good ole’ USA they barely crack 7%. What makes the American market so hostile to Nokia? I think it is a combination of factors that keep Nokia from gaining a prominent position in America. With America using a combination of GSM and CDMA technologies, only half the US market is available to Nokia since they don’t really make many CDMA devices. Nokia also fought a fierce battle with Qualcomm for most of this decade which prevented Nokia from making devices with US 3G built in. Those two factors kept the hottest Nokia S60 devices out of American hands until recently.

Nokia N97 coming to the UK in March?

UK online retailer Play.com has the Nokia N97 up for pre-order with an availability  date of March 31. Nokia’s new flagship phone includes a high quality camera, touchscreen input (though it is disappointingly a resistive touchscreen), and a sliding qwerty keyboard. This release is for the European variant, a North American version is promised to come a few weeks after the Euro version is released. Nokia, like all mobile manufacturers, are notorious for letting release dates slip. So take this with a grain of salt.

Source: Symbian-Guru

Palm Pre to be Vodafone UK exclusive?

Vodafone could be Palm’s official carrier partner for the Palm Pre in the UK, according to the latest rumors.  While unconfirmed by either the carrier or Palm themselves, a member of Vodafone’s customer service team has revealed that they are “in early negotiation” regarding the Pre, although “nothing is solid”.  The device in question could be the first GSM 3G HSPA Pre available, given that Sprint’s version of the smartphone uses CDMA EV-DO Rev.A.

Hotfix for the HTC Touch HD

Well we don’t know if this is good or bad, yet another hotfix for the HTC Touch HD after last weeks double fix. A positive look and we say well done HTC for getting these out fast and frequently, on a negative, why has this device got so many problems. Anyway this hotfix addresses a problem when you use the Camera function to take a picture in a dim environment with super fine quality, sometimes the image will display extraneous (noise) pixels in the viewfinder mode. It’s not a mechanical (LCD) fault but only an intermittent display problem in view finder mode. It does not have any impact on the picture quality or other display functions. If you encounter this problem, please download this hot fix to enhance the virtual viewfinder mode. More details and download link after the break.

HTC Touch Diamond ROM update

HTC have released a firmware update today for the HTC Diamond. It’s for the GSM version only, not any of the CDMA versions available in the US. It fixes quite a few issues with the camera, video playback, audio playback and a few other things, full list after the break with update instructions.

Ustream on your iPhone 3G

Ustream has developed an application for the iphone 3G that allows you to watch Ustream anywhere. Regardless of where you are at and what you are doing, you can choose to be in the moment with others in a shared live experience around a live event. If you are out-on-the-town and know that a guest speaker at a major conference is “going live” and want to watch live and be-in-the-crowd, then you can with this application. Video demo after the break and details of how to get it.

Kogan Agora delayed indefinitely

Remember that great looking Android phone with the front facing QWERTY keyboard we told you about a while ago and caught a glimpse of on video at CES. Well it has now been delayed indefinitely citing concerns over compatibility with future Android apps. This is such a shame as we know that this would have been a popular device with the specs and form factor running Android. Ah well never mind, I am sure some new Android devices will be just round the corner.

via Engadget