511 Topics
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 | Oh, the poor beleaguered BlackBerry Storm. It just can't catch a break. Mobile phone company Orange delayed its launch in the UK last year because of undisclosed "[URL="http://mobiletechaddicts.com/2008/10/09/orange-internal-statement-on-blackberry-bold-quality-issues/"]software issues[/URL]." The Bold's much anticipated arrival in the U.S. [URL="http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2008/11/the_blackberry_5.html;jsessionid=QK2ZU3QQNUR2QQSNDLRSKHSCJUNN2JVN"]got bumped back[/URL] nearly six months. Now sales of one of Research In … |
| | It's that time of year when the Mobile World Congress hits Barcelona, and McAfee has taken advantage of the fact to announce findings from new research that shows mobile device manufacturers are now spending more time and money than ever on recovering from security incidents as well as experiencing more … |
| | BlackBerry smartphones get love from Google and iPhone gets love from, well, everybody. Most companies that develop mobile apps worry about these two user bases before any other, leaving other mobile phone users out in the cold. According to an announcement out of the [URL="http://reviews.cnet.com/gsma-world-congress/"]GSMA Mobile World Congress[/URL] in Barcelona, … |
 | Sometimes you see a story and it surprises you. Sometimes it seems like the obvious thing, for many people. And sometimes it concerns something you'd been talking about for months, and why on earth didn't they think of this before? The news about which I'm particularly pleased falls into the … |
 | Look, I am a British father of four. Two of my kids have been through the teenage years, so I know all too well just what a love affair the UK has with text messaging. As does my bank manager. So it really should not come as any surprise to … |
| | Are you an Android or an iPhone? Maybe you are undecided, which could be he best position to be in as it seems that the smartphone market is set to be spoilt for choice in 2009. It would appear that Apple is set to release no less than three new …  |
| | Since Palm introduced its [URL="http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/daily-news/090109-CES-2009-Palm-Introduces-Smartphone-with-GPS/"]new smart phone[/URL] at CES last month, the buzz has been deafening and for that alone, Palm deserves a lot of credit. Let's face it, they were up until that moment, a company on life support, but with one smoothly-presented product announcement they were on the … |
| | As my colleague [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3927.html"]Davey Winder pointed out earlier today[/URL], Google has launched yet another cool tool, [URL="http://www.google.com/latitude/intro.html"]Latitude[/URL]. For the most part, its usefulness doesn't extend much beyond social gadflies, but I can think of at least one practical implication for the workplace. Google Latitude is an opt-in location tracking service … |
| | How many passwords do you have to remember? The common answer is either too many and I sometimes forget them, or alternatively just the one as I use it for everything. Both options are bad in terms of security. Which is where password management systems come in, and these can … |
| | With Inauguration Day finally upon us, mobile phone operators across the US are preparing for what could be a bigger test of capacity than the traditional biggest strain on the mobile network, New Year's Eve. Hopefully the months of hard work, involving adding capacity and prepping networks to cope with … |
| | What do you do when you poo? It is the kind of question you might expect your ten year old son to ask his ten year old mates in the school playground. However, it seems that Microsoft has been asking pretty much the same thing in order to generate some … |
| | It occurs to me that I've been talking a lot on this blog about data going missing here in the UK. I've given our Government and various people a hard time - if they cared what I said it'd hurt. I've said these things are managerial rather than technical. And … |
| | Not a good Friday on Wall Street, but then what else is new? The Dow is down 100 points, and the Nasdaq off 31 points, to 1,585 after a lousy jobs number (but not as lousy as many thought) and a seller’s run on Apple, Cisco Systems, and on semiconductor … |
| | An interesting report from the BBC this morning suggests that smartphone sales will decline worldwide except in developing nations over the coming 12 months. Well, duh. It's been known for a while at least in the UK that there are now actually more handsets than there are people. And as … |
| | This is the time of year for wish lists, so why not make a list of products I would like to see Apple make in 2009. I'm not under any illusions that Apple will actually listen to me, but this is a fun exercise and some of these would be … |
| | It's an odd thing, being a journalist. Your job is to report what other people have said and only occasionally should your own view creep in, if at all. It's the same in America; the serious newspapers were exemplary in being fair to both sides in the recent election, at … |
| | I've been a nag about how many media outlets have been wrong about the reasons for the current economic breakdown we're experiencing. So many pundits who don't understand Wall Street want to make it political, and subsequently blame President Bush for "deregulating" Wall Street (not the reason, and besides, President … |
| | It almost seems out of place – like a spritz of a lilly inching up through the crusted snow after a long winter – to report some good economic news these days. But there it is, in the form of an investment forecast by the investment bank UBS that says … |
| | Mobile phones have become many things, and I am just waiting for the first to appear which does away with that 'make and receive voice calls' requirement. Mind you, there is some argument that the iTouch does that, considering that it is an iPhone without the phone bit. But I …  |
| | If you've been thinking of ditching your old BlackBerry and getting a new Bold or Storm, but hate the idea of an upgrade or early termination fee, I have some great news for you. The best part of the new devices has been all its new browser has to offer. … |
| | I've had my iPhone for about a month now and for the most part I'm very pleased with it, but if I could have a meeting with Apple engineers, there are a few things I would tell them to change: [B]1 Protect the Glass Out of the Box[/B] Perhaps my … |
| | Stocks are mixed today, which isn't really bad news considering the overseas selloff we saw on Sunday night and early Monday morning. Helping U.S. markets was decent news from the housing sector, where home sales were up 2.7% for September, with some of the country's hardest-hit regions like the southwest, … |
| | [I]“Informed decision-making comes from a long tradition of guessing and then blaming others for inadequate results.” ~Scott Adams. [/I] There is a battle going on out there in cell phone land involving the 3 hottest-of-hot cell phones. I write of course about[URL="http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/specials/iPhone.jsp"] the iPhone from AT&T[/URL], the [URL="http://www.t-mobileg1.com/"]G1 from T-Mobile[/URL] … |
| | The actual Patent title reads "Personal area network systems and devices and methods for use thereof" but PANTS is much snappier don't you think? That's Personal Area Network Technology Systems in full. Apple is looking to patent always-on from anywhere access to the Internet. I thought that was already tied … |
| | Research In Motion yesterday released new versions of its [url=http://blackberry.com/developers/]BlackBerry development tools[/url], including the BlackBerry Java Development Environment (JDE) Plug-In for Eclipse Beta 2 that's better integrated with the open-source IDE, can perform pre-processing for builds and receives updates through the Eclipse Update Manager. There are also new versions of … |
| | [I]In time the Rockies may crumble Gibraltar may tumble They're only made of clay But our love is here to stay ~Ira Gershwin. [/I] These are heady days for Apple and its CEO Steve Jobs. In spite of a world economy that appears to be sliding out of control, and … |
| | According to the [URL="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4969312.ece"]Sunday Times[/URL] today, anyone in the UK who wants to buy a mobile phone will need to produce a valid passport as a form of ID soon. The story is wrapped around the planned introduction of a national database to help combat crime and terrorism. The proposed … |
| | I'd like to start today's blog with a big hello to the British Government. I say a big hello although they won't be watching everything I type just yet, that's going to be a little later. They're trying to pass laws over here that mean they'll be allowed to monitor … |
| | The New York Times ran an in-depth article recently detailing the [URL="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/technology/business-computing/13thin.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss"]impact of thin client technology in the workplace[/URL]. The story takes a look at the reasons why the idea has had trouble getting off the ground during the last 15 years, and why it's suddenly gaining traction now. Author … |
| | Business intelligence (BI) software vendor [URL="http://www.actuate.com/home/index.asp"]Actuate[/URL] announced plans recently to make BI data available to its customers right on their mobile phones. While most companies are scrambling to jump on the iPhone bandwagon, Actuate hasn't forgotten that plenty of businesspeople still use BlackBerrys and, yes, even Palm devices. Actuate has … |
| | A coordinated effort by global central banks, led by the U.S. and the Federal Reserve Board’s 0.5% emergency rate cut today has more or less calmed the financial markets this morning (down about 100 points in mid-morning trading). I say “more or less’ because who really knows? But the economists … |
| | The impact from the ongoing credit crisis is finally starting to translate into layoffs for the tech sector. The folks I'm talking to say that AT&T, Apple, Yahoo, Sun, eBay, Microsoft, Nortel, HP, EDS, and even Google are going to be passing around pink slips with alarming aggressiveness in weeks … |
| | After being told for years that using mobile phones on airplanes will cause them to crash and burn, it seems that one airline is experiencing a change of heart. The Irish budget airline, Ryanair, is expected to introduce the first cell phone friendly flights within a matter of months. Of … |
| | Everyone is all ga-ga this week over the [URL="http://www.t-mobileg1.com/"]G1[/URL], the new HTC phone from T-Mobile, which is the first phone powered by Google's Android phone OS. On one level, the geek in me certainly shares the excitement. It's open source. It's Google's first entree into the phone market. I'm not … |
| | T-Mobile has today announced the international launch of the first Android powered cellphone in the world. It is available 'soon' say T-Mobile, for customers in both the USA and Europe. The [URL="http://www.T-MobileG1.com"]T-Mobile G1[/URL], as it is called, will feature full touch-screen functionality a combined with a QWERTY keyboard and the …  |
| | You really get the impression this should be a bad idea. Microsoft has announced a [URL="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10048061-56.html?tag=newsLeadStoriesArea.0"]delay to Windows Mobile 7.0[/URL]. This, you'll remember, was going to allow people to release phones to rival Apple's iPhone and, we assume, Android. The announcement comes in the wake of the Android release. Could … |
| | Here we go again. The hypemeisters are in full swing, the prediction market is growing again - glory be, Android is coming to a phone near you tomorrow, or at least it's going to do so if you live in America. The launch is in New York, America will get … |
| | After months of speculation, [URL="http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/16/android-phone-the-g1-to-ship-mid-october/"]TechCrunch[/URL] reports that the first Android powered phone, the HTC Dream is set to be released in the US by T-Mobile on October 20th. T-Mobile did not return my calls to confirm or deny this rumor, but one thing is certain, the iPhone is no longer … |
| | That little spike in semiconductor stocks we saw in Q1 may be coming to a screeching halt, if the new numbers we're seeing are any good. Actually, the drop in semiconductor revenues from Q1 2008 to Q2 is fairly amazing, and I don't mean that in a good way. Here's … |
| | Although many people get lathered up about the iPhone 3G, BlackBerry enthusiasts know that’s not the only next-generation smartphone in town. Research In Motion is set to introduce the next hot new smartphone in its product line, the BlackBerry Bold. With its enhanced higher-resolution display, 3G capabilities, and GPS, [URL="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24950650/"]some … |
| | According to the San Fransisco Chronicle Verizon and google are making a deal to make Google the default browser for all Verizon mobile phones. Eflux Media says that Verizon will get part of the adwords revenue. Almost everyone loves Google but having Google as your only browser choice for your … |
| | Device maker Palm this week placed its bet on a pair of pros. First is the [URL=http://www.palm.com/us/products/smartphones/treopro/index.html?creativeID=SP_BB_treopro]Palm Treo Pro[/URL], its next-generation smartphone to rival Apple’s iPhone and RIM’s Blackberry. The other is Jon Rubinstein, the company’s executive chair hired earlier this year and now charged with the company's salvation. Rubinstein … |
| | New laws have just come into force in the UK which apply to motorists who cause death as a result of careless driving. The Road Safety Act 2006 has been changed to incorporate distractions such as changing the radio station, applying make-up or eating a sandwich while behind the wheel. … |
| | Will the new iPhone chomp into Blackberry’s market share? Some thoughts on the subject are bubbling up on Wall Street, with the sentiment leaning toward Research in Motion, the company that manufacturers the Blackberry, being in good shape for the short term. After all, the iPhone is great if you’re … |
| | By all rights, iPhone consumers should be storming the gates of Apple headquarters this morning in true [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastille_Day"]Bastille Day[/URL] fashion after Friday's mishandling of the iPhone 3G launch, but as far as I know all remains calm in Cupertino, and consumers remain strangely silent over the whole affair. In a … |
| | I have an iPhone on my desk. Don't get excited, though - you'll have read a number of accounts of difficulties getting hold of them in the UK, and they're right. I have one on my desk because mobile phone company 02's media relations department kindly sent it over so … |
| | The other day, my buddy got a shiny new 32GB iPod Touch. This morning he was kind enough to let me play with it and I’m glad he did because I learned that using that touch keyboard takes some practice. The bad news: you can get frustrated in a hurry … |
| | Interesting story starting to appear across the pond on the UK news wires, with sites such as [URL="http://www.electricpig.co.uk/2008/07/07/o2-sells-out-of-iphone-3g-in-hours/"]Electric Pig[/URL] reporting that things are either looking good or bad for the Apple iPhone 3G depending on which way you look at the news. That news being the sole network supplying the … |
 | Welcome back to another Crystal Ball Sunday. Those of you who celebrate freedom on July 4 hopefully have had a safe and enjoyable holiday. Freedom comes in packages of all shapes and sizes and this week's Crystal Ball Sunday is about freedom in small packages: Embedded Devices. Embedded device refers … |
| | Taiwanese device maker [URL=http://openmoko.com/]OpenMoko[/URL] chose Independence Day in the United States to announce the launch of Neo FreeRunner, its latest Linux-based open smartphone platform. Delivered with minimal functionality, owners are encouraged to develop and/or install their own applications and functionality. The unit is well equipped, sporting a 400Mhz processor, 640x480 … |
The End.