Palringo has been a popular Instant Messaging client on S60 for years and is also available for Windows Mobile and iPhone. As of this week Palringo is available for Android. Palringo is more than the average run of the mill IM application. In addition to support for the typical IM services (AOL Instant Messenger, Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, Gadu-Gadu, ICQ, Jabber and Windows Live), Palringo also supports Apple’s iChat and Facebook chat. With support for so many instant messaging services Palringo is one of the most versatile IM clients available–rivalling many desktop clients.
The new LG Arena will be exclusively available on T-Mobile in titan black, the mobile network announced today. The LG Arena comes with built-in Dolby Mobile sound for music fans who want a quality sound experience and is also designed to have a large screen to make it perfect for surfing the internet via T-Mobile web˜n’walk. The phone boasts the latest Dolby®Mobile 2.0 technology which means that you can enjoy video and music files in surround sound.
The phone is exclusively available from T-Mobile in a high-gloss, titan black and has a sleek touch screen with a clever little on-screen virtual scroll-wheel for easy access to music. The LG Arena also boasts a host of other features that make it ideal for music lovers, including a large screen which is perfect for watching music video downloads and access to Mobile Jukebox, T-Mobile’s mobile music download service, which offers instant access to full length music tracks and videos. The large screen also makes it ideal for customers who want to use the phone to watch their favourite YouTube clips and access social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Opera are set to announce an upcoming release: Opera Mobile 9.7 Beta for Windows Mobile touchscreen devices. The new version will include the Presto 2.2 rendering engine which will be used in future desktop versions along with an improved widget manager and hardware acceleration with OpenGL ES support, ensuring smoother scrolling, panning and a more fluid user interface. The full feature set is after the break along with a video demo on a Sony Ericsson Xperia.
London, U.K., March 26, 2009 – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today unveiled for the first time its data describing iPhone users in the United Kingdom, finding that 93 per cent of iPhone owners accessed mobile media in January. According to comScore, mobile e-mail is used by 75 per cent of British iPhone owners, making it the most popular type of mobile content consumed on the device.
“Consumers are clearly embracing the iPhone’s touch screen keyboard,” observed Alistair Hill, analyst, comScore. “The penetration of e-mail usage on the iPhone is more than double that of the smartphone category as a whole. Over the past several quarters, the UK smartphone market has been dominated by the N95, which lacks a QWERTY keyboard. As a result, we see smartphone users favour using their device for music and photo messaging, two activities for which these Nokia devices are particularly well-suited, more than e-mail.”
The Nokia 8800 sits pretty much at the top end of the Nokia handset range. This titanium and carbon fibre version comes in at just under £1000 which is stunningly expensive for a ‘standard’ mobile phone when you consider that you could buy a decent laptop for less than that.
The Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte
So why so expensive? Well the 8800 handsets are incredibly well made constructed from quality materials including carbon fibre, titanium, stainless steel and polished glass. Despite being constructed from these high-tech materials the 8800 weighs in at over 150 grams so it’s no lightweight. That said, the construction is so solid that the weight is actually reassuring.
You’ll also find a matching docking/charging station and a bluetooth headset included in the box. It’s a shame that Nokia didn’t think to incorporate the headset charger in to the dock though.
I don’t want to spoil Nick’s review which we’ll have for you within the next few weeks so I’ll leave you with the unboxing video so you can see what else is included.
Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte Specification:
- GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900
- UMTS 2100
- Dimensions: 109 x 45.6 x 14.6 mm, 65 cc
- Weight: 150 g
- 240 x 320 pixels, 2.0 inches OLED Display
- MP3 support
- Speakerphone
- 4GB internal memory
- GPRS: Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 – 48 kbps
- EDGE: Class 10, 236.8 kbps
- 3G: 384 kbps
- Bluetooth 2.0
- microUSB OTG
- Camera: 3.15 MP, 2048×1536 pixels, autofocus
- Browser: WAP 2.0/xHTML
- Java: MIDP 2.1
- Battery: Li-Ion 1000 mAh (BL-4U)
Posted by: Matt
[ Post Tags: Nokia, 8800 Carbon Arte, Music Phone, tracyandmatt.co.uk ]
Nokia has made a new marketing video for its upcoming super phone the N97. The first half doesn’t even show the phone, it just has a bunch of international looking people spouting generic web 2.0 platitudes, but the second half is where the real action is. The video features lots of nice shots of the phones UI, including some new transitions, and it hints at some possible content partners for this media focused device. As an American I was particularly interested to see the “Live TV” tab featuring NBC, CBS, and ABC, meaning that Nokia may be planning a big marketing push in the US later this summer. Video after the break.
According to some information supplied to our friends over at wmpoweruser, Windows Mobile 6.5 will not in fact be getting the Zune service that we were all secretly hoping for. But the better news is that Zune is very much coming to Windows Mobile 7, and a pretty full implementation of it too.
Unfortunately for the over the air download part of the service Microsoft intends to have the operators very much involved, meaning when music tracks are downloaded via 3G we may end up paying twice as much as if the track was downloaded over WIFI. The Operators will also be involved in billing, with the ability of tracks to be charged directly to your phone bill rather than your credit card.
So there you go, Windows Mobile 6.5 is a stepping stone to the big changes and nothing more, for Win Mo to get back in the game, 7 is the lucky number.
via wmpoweruser
EA Mobile on Tuesday discussed their 2009 plans for the iPhone and iPod touch platform. The company plans to offer games based on well-known properties in the EA library for PC and consoles.
Many of the titles have been previously announced, such as Tiger Woods PGA Tour, an adaptation of the long-running golf game which has previously seen incarnations on the Mac, both from EA in its partnership with TransGaming and from Aspyr Media. Other games include Wolfenstein RPG, FIFA Soccer, Madden NFL (American football), NBA Live, Spore Creatures, Mystery Mania, American Idol, Command & Conquer, SSX (a snowboarding game), Need for Speed and The Sims 3. EA Mobile also plans to release iPhone/iPod touch games based on popular board games, including Connect 4, Battleship, Risk, Monopoly “classic,” Trivial Pursuit and Clue.
EA Mobile indicates that Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf and Trivial Pursuit will be coming in Spring and late April, respectively. Other release dates were not available.
To be honest I have not taken a lot of notice of the whole G1 / Android situation, as a loyal and long time Windows Mobile user, I have not really seen the need to change, granted WM is not by any means perfect, it does the job. So now is the time to see what I have been missing out on, will the G1 / Android convince me that there is more to life than Windows?
Made by HTC the Google Android G1 is their first departure from Windows Mobile that I know of, it has been developed and designed to be open source and, in a lot of ways, better than Windows Mobile, in such things as the ability to customise and a more computer like experience.
The T-Mobile G1 Android phone
The review unit is the T-mobile version of the phone which it appears is theirs exclusively; I did try other SIM’s in the phone with no real success, it looks like they have this locked down pretty well, for now..
What’s in the box?
- The G1 of course
- Stereo headset with in-line mic, the connector is ext-miniUSB.
- Getting started Guide and CD
- Some stickers?!
- Screen protector
- Protective pouch
- USB to miniUSB sync / charge cable
- AC charger
Take a look at Matt’s T-Mobile G1 unboxing video for more details.
T-Mobile G1 specification:
- 55.7×117.7×17.1mm
- 158 grams
- Google Android 1.0
- 32bit Qualcomm MSM7201A 528MHz CPU
- 192MB RAM, 256MB ROM
- 3.2" 320×480 color transflective TFT LCD
- Proprietary audio jack
- GSM850, GSM900, GSM1800, GSM1900
- UMTS1700, UMTS2100
- microSDHC memory card slot
- mini-USB port
- Bluetooth 2.0
- WLAN – 802.11b/g
- GPS, A-GPS, QuickGPS
- Slide-out QWERTY keyboard
- Accelerometer
- 3.1MP camera with autofocus
- 1150mAh removable battery
GENERAL
The top of the phone as nothing to show except the back cover release clip.
T-Mobile G1 top view
On the left hand side has the up/down volume rocker, and also the covered microSD card housing which you have to have the keyboard open to access.
T-Mobile G1 left side
The right hand side has the dedicated camera button
T-Mobile G1 right side
On the bottom there is the covered miniUSB port for charging/syncing/headset etc. Also the mic.
T-Mobile G1 bottom view
The business end of the phone shows a 3.2" 320×480 screen, under which is a trackball which also functions as an enter button, positioned in the middle, around this from left to right is the phone answer button, a ‘home’ button, a back button and finally the phone end / power button.
T-Mobile G1 front view
The G1 has a strange arcing slide open motion which reveals the 5 row keyboard covered in the review. The slide mechanism can be seen on Matt’s unboxing video.
T-Mobile G1 keyboard open view
Highlights
- Superb screen
- Very customisable
- Trackball
- Call quality
- GPS
Lowlights
- Awkward keyboard
- Camera
REVIEW
My first impression of the G1 out of the box is that it is butt ugly. I don’t like the white and given a choice I would plump for the black version, having said that my wife loved the look and colour. It comes in at 55.7×117.7×17.1mm so you definitely know where it is in your pocket, though not overly large for a phone with a full keyboard.
At this point I would normally take a look the software; this review differs in this respect as the first impression of the Android operating system was that it appears boring and basic, there is a novel 3 screen ‘Today’ screen, the middle screen showing the typical clock, contacts, phone, messaging icons as standard. Swipe the screen right and there is a blank screen to add your own program shortcuts, swipe left and there is a Google search bar preinstalled and room for further icons/programs. It all seems a little bland and uninteresting but then…
There is a tab at the bottom of the middle screen which when swiped up displays the menu of settings and programs available, not that unusual until you find the ‘Market’ icon which revolutionises the G1 and enables you to customise your device with a plethora of software available from the market, some free, some trials and some you have to pay a modest amount for. This is really where the OS come into its own, I spent many a happy hour in the market, trying out a host of applications from the open source, there are literally hundreds available and far too many to describe in detail, such things as ‘WeatherBug’, ‘Twitter notifier’, ‘Power manager’, ‘Compass’, ’Easytext’ etc. etc. etc. where some of my personal favourites among many. The device is ideal for a gadget freak like me as you can customise to your heart’s content, you can have minimalist, cluttered, techy whatever you fancy.
To top this, the status bar at the top of the device is also very useful, showing icons for such things as incoming email, text, RSS feeds, twitter updates, weather info etc. swipe this bar down and all your notifications are now readable and useable, another clever piece of development.
As for the device itself as a few things to mention good and bad, firstly there is no stylus, this is deliberate as the G1 has been developed to be finger touch friendly and mostly it does achieve this and there was the odd occasion I found a pen was more appropriate to use than my fingers. The superb screen is very bright and vibrant and it has to be said is one of the best ones I have seen in a long time. It is very responsive and proves to be a great screen to live with.
The keyboard, is OK, there is a real niggle with the fact that when open, you have to straddle the buttons housing on the right had side of the keyboard, awkward to say the least. If you have read any of my previous reviews the 2 things I am not a fan of are trackballs and keyboards which are both found here, therefore there is no way i can get on with using this phone on a day to day basis.
The great surprise is that I enjoyed using both; the trackball is VERY responsive and easy to use, flying round the screen and proving very accurate, I found that I used this all the time, which is more than unusual for me.
The keyboard once you get passed the straddling piece, is quite well laid out, positive and again easy to use, the fact that for most things such as email and texting you have to have the keyboard open means that it is a case of having to get used to it. I feel that the omission of an on screen keyboard is a mistake, as to just quickly send a text you have to open and use the keyboard, there is no facility to use the device in portrait, no doubt with the open source and ongoing development a screen based keypad won’t be long in coming.
I did find it difficult you use the keyboard in its default mode as the white keys along with the white backlight made it impossible to see the letters, apparently this is not an issue on the black model, and I have seem a modified keyboard with black keys on the white model which seems to work well. There is an option to switch off the backlight, which work for me.
The next surprise for me was the GPS fix, I have never been able to get these things working very well in my area, the GPS on the G1 fixed everywhere I tried in a matter of a couple of seconds, locking on to multiple satellites with ease, therefore making using software like Google maps a breeze.
The camera is a 3.1 megapixel variety, not the best, in fact not really that good at all. Definitely one of the lowlights for me.
Call quality and signal fix, where available were good, I have to say that this is the first time I have used T-mobile in this area and was disappointed to occasionally find that I had no signal at all, something I have never had on my O2 contract.
The back cover was a bit scary for me as once unclipped you have to get quite physical with it to release it fully, in time this might prove to be a problem.
Also, for me, the lack of some settings menus was a further aggravation, as far as I could tell there is no way to set things like screen brightness etc. it may have been that I missed it in my relatively short time with the device, but I remember a few times wanting to change some of the settings and not being able to find a way to do it, as you can on Windows mobile.
Conclusion
I have really enjoyed my time with the T-mobile G1, it has been a refreshing change and a pleasurable one, to the point when Matt asked for it back I stalled as long as I could.
I don’t like the phone design itself, as I have said, I really like the uniqueness of the OS, given time, with even more development of the programs and the addition of this system on a better looking and more useable phone this will be a great move away from windows. Couple together the best bits of WM and android and the future is looking good. Well done all involved.
Review by: Steve
[ Post Tags: t-mobile G1,HTC Dream,press release,smartphone news,tracyandmatt.co.uk ]
T-Mobile today announces that it is trialling Bluetooth as part of a campaign to encourage more people into its stores. Piloting the scheme at six stores across the country, passers by will be prompted to enable Bluetooth on their mobile phones to receive T-Mobile offers and deals.
The activity, known as ˜Proximity Marketing’, will be run in conjunction with Hypertag, a provider of proximity solutions. Hypertag has installed Bluetooth tags in the six T-Mobile stores, which send out invites to pick up a free gift and promotional offers to customers’ Bluetooth-enabled phones as they pass the store. Graphics in the shop windows also prompt customers to turn on their Bluetooth to receive the offers, which cost nothing to receive.
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