News

BlackBerry DEVCON 2010

Today sees the start of BlackBerry DEVCON 2010 taking place is San Francisco. The BlackBerry Developer Conference is the developer community event that everyone talks about. It’s a premier showcase for what can be done with BlackBerry apps, attended by thousands of the world’s most enthusiastic developers, BlackBerry experts, and Research In Motion (RIM) partners.

A little too technical for me but if you are a BlackBerry developer the Conference is the place to learn about creating the most compelling applications for the avid consumer audience. The conference gives developers a look into what the future holds for the BlackBerry development platform, and what the new BlackBerry 6 and all of it features and APIs mean for the mobile community and for you as a consumer application developer.

What I want to know is will we get any new device news. It is rumored that the forthcoming BlackBerry tablet may be showcased at the event. I will be keeping an eye on the conference news so if RIM give us anything good I will be sure to share with you.

Posted by: James

HTC Desire HD ROM ported to numerous other HTC devices

The Desire HD was only announced not long ago (it’s not even been released yet!) but over at xda, they have not only got their hands on the rom, but have managed to port it already to a multitude of other devices, including the HD2, original Desire, Evo 4G, and the Droid Incredible. Yes, we may not have the Evo 4G or the Incredible, but for frustrated WinMo users and their love-hate relationship with HD2, this could be a godsend!

As with all rom flashing, they’re not without risk, and expectedly there are features (like the camera) that aren’t working yet. Given a bit of time though and maybe the release of the Desire HD, we should see the new Sense and the full hardware feature set implemented – for now, consider it just a taster of what’s to come.

For the already excellent HTC Desire, there is more good news – the ridiculously fast boot up time as seen at the launch event in London is now possible on the Desire. Click through for the video.

Gmail for Android gets unbound, updated

In a surprise move Google has let its Gmail app leave the warmth of the Android family and go it alone in the big wide app world.  While this does seem unusual at first, previously Gmail was only updated as part of a full Android update.  The now solo app can be updated at any time so Google can add features or plug any security holes without having to wait for the whole OS to make the jump.  Indeed, one of the first actions Google has taken is to update the app to bring it in line with its desktop big brother.  Not only does it have the new Priority Inbox but also Priority Buttons keeps the action buttons pinned to the top (it’s quite annoying having Reply at the bottom of a long mail).  It’s not all hunky dory though as the Priority Buttons is playing up with HTC’s similar button layout but of course, now Gmail is solo, this can be fixed.

Gmail is now available in the Android Market for 2.2 Froyo devices only.

Posted by: Ian

Samsung wave hits 1 million in Europe

Samsung’s Bada based Wave phone seems to be pulling in the numbers in the EU. The S8500 has sold over 1 million units in the last four months since the initial release. It is any wonder, packing a 3.3-inch Super AMOLED display, 1GHz CPU, 5MP camera with 720p HD video recording, Wi-Fi 802.11n, Bluetooth 3.0, microSD card slot, GPS, Samsung Apps support and more.

Samsung are rumoured to drop the Super AMOLED display for a TFT when they release a successor and a few devices carrying the brand name.

Posted by Gareth

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BlackBerry Torch 9800 delayed!

After being told the BlackBerry Torch would be shipping this week I have just been notified that is now not due until the middle of October.

We are not sure why at this stage and Clove who were meant to be sending me one this week also do not no why. This is rather disappointing news but unfortunately in this business it does happen sometimes. 

If we get any further news we will let you know.

In the meantime I am now going to cry!

Posted by: James

Don’t drink the greenpois0n – fake iPhone jailbreak warning

Sometimes it seems we can be all too trustworthy of phone hackers for a new feature or two on our expensive handsets – and for the most part they are well meaning.  However it seems not all hacks are as they seem, and some for Apple’s flagship leave behind some nasty surprises.  Going by the names of Greenpois0n and SHAtter they are nasty little things designed to offload a ton of malware onto the host PC, infecting it with such delights as viruses, trojans and keyloggers.  Of course, at present there is no jailbreak for 4.0.2 & 4.1 and the older Jailbreak.me type sites don’t work with the newer firmware, so obviously avoid one which purports to offer that facility. 

Posted by: Ian

Galaxy Tab suffering scaling issues

Whilst Samsung had originally maintained that there would be no problem it appears that some apps from the Android marketplace are causing a little bit of trouble for Samsungs Android Tablet. It would seems that some Android Marketplace applications are limited to an 800 x 400 resolution. however, the Galaxy Tab’s TFT LCD touchscreen is natively 1024 x 600. Thus meaning that the offending apps won’t scale to fit the Samsung device’s screen.

Quite something to overlook My Samsung. Recently Google announced that Android was not quite right to Tablets and the upcoming Android incarnation, Gingerbread, would rectify this.

Posted by: Gareth

Windows Phone 7 to debut on all five UK networks

Microsoft have confirmed that all five UK networks will be stocking the new range of Windows Phone 7 handsets. Microsoft haven’t officially confirmed the release date for Windows Phone 7, but the smart money seems to be on October 11th.

Alex Reeve from Microsoft said: “Following our announcement at the recent Mobile World Congress that Orange will be our lead partner, it is wonderful now to have all of the UK’s network operators supporting the launch of Windows Phone 7. This means we can provide network choice and also a range of phones across networks for customers to choose from, all with the power of Windows Phone 7.”

Posted by: Gareth

South Yorkshire Police get a BlackBerry solution (Video)

I know this isn’t really mobile news but I think it is pretty interesting not only as I’m a BlackBerry fan but it’s nice to see corporate organizations are still turning to BlackBerry when we hear so much about how many are switching away from BlackBerry to iOS and Android.

As you will see in the video below South Yorkshire Police have conducted a trial and currently have issued 1000 BlackBerry devices to their staff with a view to roll out a further 2000.

The whole point of this is to make officers more efficient and the study has proven this. Of course the force has a couple of special applications that you and I wont get our hands on. This will give officers access to certain databases which historically they would have needed to be in the police station to use.

See the video after the break:

Orange launch the Android San Francisco

Orange have this week launched there own branded super cool Android 2.1 device which on PAYG will retail for a mere £99.

As you will see below the device had pretty good specs for the money and if you read on you will also see the video that Conor from Orange recorded giving a brief demo. I have just spoken with Conor who conformed that the San Francisco should be in some retail stores now and will appear online at the end of the week.