Verizon intros music-filled slotRadio+ microSD card for BlackBerry
Verizon has just announced a new accessory for music lovers who own BlackBerry smartphones – it’s a new microSD card from SanDisk, called slotRadio+. The slotRadio+ microSD card includes 1,000 songs, as well as an additional 4GB of flash memory, where users can store their own music, videos and photos. There will be two versions of the slotRadio+ card for BlackBerry: Billboard Hits (with the latest rock, dance, hip hop, Latin and country hits) and Billboard Decades (featuring songs from the ’80s and the ’90s, plus classic rock and oldies). There’s also a slotRadio+ application which features playlists and direct access to Verizon’s V CAST Music service.
We were able to catch up with Dual, a company that is bringing GPS functionality to the iPod touch . Get a look at the Dual iPod touch GPS add-on, which also acts as an external battery for the iPod touch as well, and check out how it works with the Dual GPS app, as well as every other iPod touch app that requires GPS
Yesterday, many rumors were put to rest with the release of the Apple iPad . People were excited, joyful, angry, disappointed, or just plain indifferent. Whatever you stance, you had some kind of reaction to Apple’s announcement of the iPad. Is it a giant iPhone
Fujitsu may sue Apple over the iPad name; a Windows-based iPad dates from 2002
Fujitsu, one of Japan’s largest computer hardware and IT services providers, could sue Apple over the iPad name. Back in 2002, the Japanese company launched a Windows CE.NET 5.0 “handheld computing device for wireless networking in a retail environment” in the US, and decided to name it iPad. In 2003, Fujitsu applied for trademarking the iPad name (see the application here ), but its request was suspended by the US Patent and Trademark Office, because there was yet another company that filed for the same trademark before (in 2000).
Motorola and Google working on direct-to-consumer phone
During its earnings call today, Motorola said that it was working with Google on a device that will be sold directly to consumers, and not through a carrier. The company did not give any details on when it would be released. We suspect it will be sold online by Google in a similar fashion as the Android-powered Google Nexus One, made by HTC. Read the full story here
I kept thinking about how to approach this post. Anyone who reads the blog for more than a few days knows of my love for Apple. So perhaps expectations were too high to possibly make today’s Apple iPad announcement worth the wait. That said, I do have some reservations about the iPad, and here they are: Multi-tasking – iPad wants to bridge the gap between your phone and your laptop. For some users, they would love the iPad to replace the laptop all together.
BlackBerry News From The Wire for the Week of 1/25/2009
When we changed formats over a year ago and stopped doing daily news in favor of this weekly feature, I fancied it like a network news program. We’d run down all the things relevant to our local niche. One of my favorite parts about network news — well, my only favorite part, since I don’t watch the actual programs — is the teaser they play in the hours before. “Is your breakfast cereal making your children dumber? Story at 11.” This week we can see such a teaser: “Will the BlackBerry be banned in America
Motorola confirms it’s working on a Google phone – Nexus Two?
Not long after we’ve heard that the Motorola Shadow might become the Google Nexus Two , Motorola’s CEO Sanjay Jha has now confirmed they’re working on a Google phone – which should be part of those 20 to 30 Android handsets that the company will reportedly launch this year. According to The Street , the Motorola Google phone “will be sold directly to consumers”, just like the Nexus One, so there are considerable chances for it to be the Nexus Two. Sanjay Jha doesn’t give us further details, so we don’t know when the Moto Google phone will be announced, or if it’s the Motorola Shadow (seen below) or a different device. Motorola has also announced its Q4 2009 results, posting a net earning of $142 million. The company shipped 12 million mobile phones in the quarter – 2 million of them were Android smartphones (the Droid / Milestone and the Cliq / Dext).
WAPI-capable iPhone in the making for China Unicom
China Unicom officially launched Apple’s iPhone in October 2009 , but without Wi-Fi, as some government regulations don’t allow this feature to be included into the handset. A solution would be for the iPhone to have WAPI (China’s own Wi-Fi technology), and it looks like WAPI-capable iPhones are currently being developed by Foxconn – which manufactures many products for Apple (probably the new iPad , too). According to PCPOP , the WAPI iPhone is codenamed N90, and there’s another new codename – N88 – for Apple’s fourth generation iPhone that should be released around the world later this year. Reportedly, China Unicom sold about 200,000 iPhones until now.
A new touchscreen phone will soon be launched by Vodafone under its own brand – the Vodafone 547. Manufactured by ZTE (which is one of Vodafone’s main ODM partners), the Vodafone 547 is a GSM/EDGE handset with a simple design. The phone features an accelerometer and Mobile TV (there’s a shortcut for that on the homescreen), and it’s presented as being “ideal for enjoying multimedia entertainment”
Samsung T669, T359 and T139 coming to T-Mobile USA
T-Mobile USA is getting ready to launch at least three new Samsung phones this year: Samsung T669, Samsung T359 and Samsung T139. According to the Bluetooth SIG , Samsung T669 is a GSM phone (no 3G?) with a QWERTY keypad, QVGA display, Bluetooth 2.1, T-Mobile’s MyFaves, Instant Messaging and other basic features. The Samsung T359 is also a basic phone with MyFaves, Bluetooth and Instant Messaging, but without a QWERTY keyboard
Social Media Global Trends -Impact of Time Spent on Social Media Campaigns
Nielsen recently published some interesting statistics on the growth of different social media sites across the globe.You can see the main chart above. They show the unstoppable rise and rise of Facebook, to over 100m monthly visitors, though Twitter’s rate of growth is now higher than Facebook’s. Twitter saw growth of 579% year-on-year, from 2.7 million unique visitors in December 2008 to 18.1 million in December 2009.MySpace’s decline also continues unabated. Interestingly, the time per person dedicated to visiting social media sites shows the US, UK and Australia leading the way (Canada is not included in the data, but presumably would be amongst the leading group too)
Nokia reports Q4 2009 results: 126.9 million phones sold, 39% market share
Nokia has just announced it financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2009. The Finnish company reports net sales of €12 billion for Q4 2009, and net sales of €40.9 billion for full 2009. The operating profit for Q4 was €1.14 billion, while the operating profit for full 2009 was of €1.19 billion (the Q4 2009 and full 2009 values are almost the same because Nokia actually lost money in the previous quarters). Nokia sold 126.9 million phones in the fourth quarter of 2009 (17% more than in the third quarter of the year ) and raised its market share to 39% (from 37.3% in the previous quarter).
DACport has a niche USB sound system that promises to bring increased music fidelity to your computer as well as more volume. Digital recordings that are compressed to popular formats like MP3 and OGG do suffer some of the side effects of being shrunk down; those with an ear for audio miss the fine details removed from their originals. The DACport from CEntrance packs a 24-bit DAC that can improve and restore quality back to your down-sampled compressed digital recordings. Their AdaptiWave technology requires no drivers or software all the work is done inside the hot-dog sized adapter
Introducing the Motorola BackFlip with MotoBlur, First Android Flip Phone
Following the success of the DROID, Motorola is releasing its latest Android phone – the BACKFLIP with MOTOBLUR. The Motorola BackFlip is said to combine the social and personalization features of the MotoBlur and the multitasking features of a smartphone. To be released in the U.S., Latin America, Europe and …
Sony Ericsson Unleashed the Vivaz, Full Touch Screen Smartphone
Sony Ericssson has just unveiled a new smartphone with full touch screen features – the Sony Ericsson Vivaz. This phone is officially the second unit to be released under Sony Ericsson’s new family of communication entertainment phones, with the Xperia series as the first model. To be released anytime this …
Apparently Apple has now updated the iPhone SDK to enable the use of VoIP over a 3G network, which is a nice turnaround for those who want to use VoIP on their iPhone by using the iCall application for iPhone. According to an article over on prnewswire , iCall for iPhone is the only VoIP app which works on the iPhone over cellular 3G networks and is only one of a very few which Apple has allowed on the iPhone platform. So it now seems that there’s been a bit of a turnaround where VoIP is concerned with the iPhone as previously VoIP was only enabled to work over WiFi for some reason or another which had caused several heated debates in the past. So maybe Apple has finally opened their ears and listened to their iPhone owners and made iCall for iPhone available, which can be gained as usual from the iPhone iTunes App Store for free as of right now.
Sony Japan to open Apple-Store reminiscent stores, Sony Store Nagoya to be the spearhead
The first such store is scheduled to be opened in Nagoya city in Japan on March 13th. The first floor will have VAIO, Walkman, Cyber-shot, Handycam, PSP and Sony Ericsson products that the consumers can look at, touch and play with whereas the second floor is said to have Blu-ray, BRAVIA, and other home theater/living room devices. Just like in Apple Stores, there will also be product consultants and personal lessons etc.
LunaTagGen – Generate Micosoft Tag on your Windows Mobile Phone
TagGEN_menu Using LunaTagGen for Mobile and Microsoft Tag reader, you can instantly generate a Microsoft Tag on your phone and allow someone to scan that Tag which produces the same information on their device. A great way to copy contacts from one device to another without having to email or figure out a cryptic SMS message. Features : Easy to install One click Microsoft Tag generation Windows Mobile 6 (or above) compatible Free to generate Microsoft Tags Download this Application Related Posts : Office Mobile 2010 Beta Download available via the Marketplace ZUNE – to Phone or not to Phone ( Microsoft Job listing ) whats new in Microsoft Mobile Office 2010 ? Official news from Microsoft about MWC 2010 Windows Mobile 7 getting Dual Core Processors
Check out this great Bre Pettis interview on the Shapeways blog, where he expounds on such things as RepRaps, Thingiverse and ramen. From MAKE magazine: MAKE Volume 21 is the Desktop Manufacturing issue, with how-to articles on making three-dimensional parts using inexpensive computer-controlled manufacturing equipment. Both additive (RepRap, CandyFab) and subtractive (Lumenlab Micro CNC) systems are covered. Also in this issue: instructions for making a cigar box guitar, building your own CNC for under $800, running a mini electric bike with a cordless drill, making a magic photo cube, and tons more. If you’re a subscriber , you may have your issue in hand already, and can access the Digital Edition.
BlackBerry Facebook Fan Page: The BlackBerry Tour 9650 is coming!
Twitter has been one of the more common venues where tips, news and announcements have been made for upcoming devices, but this time around, its Facebook’s turn for this latest heads-up. RIM posted on their BlackBerry Fan page that the BlackBerry Tour 9650 is on its way. The post isn’t available anymore, but fortunately, CrackBerry got a screencap of it while it was still up, and based on the number of likes it had, it’s safe to say that a lot of people are really looking forward to it. The BlackBerry Tour2 was actually as far back as September 2009, but was simply referred to as the Essex . If the previous report is accurate, it should look almost like an identical twin of the Tour 9630 albeit sporting an optical trackpad and featuring WiFi connectivity as well.