SmartPhones

Two world giants of technology in two completely different arenas have teamed up to make newer and better smartphones. The companies are Intel and Nokia, and last Tuesday they announced their formation of a long-term partnership to put Intel microprocessors into Nokia smartphones.

Intel is acquiring an HSPA/3G IP license from Nokia and planning on putting a Linux-based OS into the devices, which will include not only smartphones but netbooks and nettops, and in-vehicle information and entertainment systems. This would be the big start in the mobile market that Intel has needed in order to remain relevant.

Though most smartphones these days use ARM microprocessors because Intel's apparently require so much more power, Intel's earlier forays into the mobile market included certain Blackberry and Palm devices. Nokia's real reason for the partnership, no doubt, is because of the bigger presence Intel will give it in the United States.

written by SmartPhoneWizard \\ tags: Intel, Nokia

Ordinarily in this feature we compare an up-and-coming smartphone with the king (or queen) of all smartphones - the iPhone 3G. And often, one of the most tenacious battlers for Apple's throne is RIM with its ever-improving, always innovative Blackberry series (heck, now the President even uses one). What's also become glaringly apparent in the past year is that the Apps market--3rd party applications--is where smartphone makers are seeing their biggest business converging around. With that in mind, then, we take a slight (but relevant) diversion from comparing smartphones to the inimitable iPhone and instead compare Apple's iPhone App Store to RIM's Blackberry App World.

The iPhone App Store (also sometimes called the iTunes App Store) came first, and has enjoyed plenty of time tweaking its system to best suit the marketplace. So with that kind of head start, it should be a hell of a lot better than RIM's copycat incarnation.

Apps for the Blackberry have existed for a long time, but this is the first time that Blackberry users have a one-stop shop from which to load up (or down, as the case may be) on useful, convenient, and fun new functionalities and capabilities. Like the iPhone App Store, Blackberry App World sorts apps by type for easy browsing and includes a handy search feature too. And like with the iPhone, many of the apps are totally free.

While the iPhone comes with iTunes App Store access built in, Blackberry users must download the free store software to their Blackberries before being able to go online and browse the apps available. The biggest drawback to Blackberry App World is that, unlike the iTunes App Store that runs its own checkout platform, RIM reroutes buyers through PayPal.

One online reviewer summed the difference up nicely when he said that it's all about culture. He even went on to say that Apple is more about the company and RIM about the customer. Whether that's necessarily true or not, there is truth in that Apple and its products, from the iPhone to the App Store, have to be hip and cool, focusing more on style than substance in order to serve its niche market; while RIM, to serve its market, had to focus on creating a more toned-down, business-oriented service for the more toned-down business-oriented culture it serves.

written by admin \\ tags: blackberry app world, blackberry apps, iphone app store, iphone apps

The Nokia N97 is out in the U.S. now, and it was all set to be the likeliest contender for the title of iPhone Killer of 2009...and they priced the devices at $700 and put themselves completely out of the running.

At least that's what many smartphone customers and industry analysts believe. Pricing the N97 at $700 is putting it in a completely different marketing category than the $99 iPhone, which makes it very difficult for the Nokia device to compete.

Even the Palm Pre, which also bodes well as an iPhone alternative, only rings in at $299--and it has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard to boot. Oh wait, so does the Nokia N97. Well still, flagship smartphone or no flagship smartphone, what is Nokia's logic in the N97's $700 price tag?

One advantage of the Nokia N97 over the iPhone, for some users at least, is that it's not tied to any particular wireless carrier, so people can use their favorite--AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile--as they wish.

written by SmartPhoneWizard \\ tags: iphone, Nokia, Nokia N97, Palm, Palm Pre

HTC is finally getting rid of Windows Mobile in place of the new and improved Google Android mobile platform, Android 1.5 Cupcake, with its HTC Lancaster, billed as "The Consumer Social Messaging Device".

The Lancaster is not HTC's first Android smartphone, but it is its first to be carried by AT&T. To boot, the HTC Lancaster is AT&T's first Android device. It's got most of the usual features you would expect from a modern smartphone, plus a slide-out keyboard and HTC's own unique social messaging interface.

Other big releases coming out from HTC any day now include the HTC Warhawk (aka the Touch Diamond2) and the HTC Fortress (aka the Touch Pro2). And other big upcoming releases from AT&T include the Palm Eos (the WebOS-enabled successor to the Palm Centro), the touchscreen Samsung Infinity, and two from Motorola: the feature-filled Sawgrass with built-in blogging interface, and the Heron, as it turns out another premiere Android smartphone from AT&T.

written by SmartPhoneWizard \\ tags: Android, Android 1.5 Cupcake, AT&T, blogging, Cupcake, Google, HTC, HTC Fortress, HTC Lancaster, HTC Touch Diamond2, HTC Touch Pro2, HTC Warhawk, Motorola, Motorola Heron, Motorola Sawgrass, Palm, Palm Centro, Palm Eos, social messaging, WebOS, Windows Mobile

Acer has released a few more details about its next two smartphones. Until now known solely as makers of computers, this February at the Mobile World Congress Acer unveiled its first line of smartphones which it calls its Tempo line.

The DX900 supports both 2G and 3G connections. Acer calls the it the first dual-standby and dual-SIM smartphone the world has ever seen. It's an HSDPA Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone with a 2.8" display screen. Looking at the list of countries in which the device has been released it seems the only place that doesn't have it is the U.S.

Coming soon to Asian and European stores will be the Acer X960. It's also a Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone, but it has a keyboard where the DX900 does not. The X960 also sports a better digital camera (though only slightly better), with 3.2 megapixels to the DX900's 3.0.

Also in the works is an Acer smartphone that runs on the Google Android OS.

Don't hold your breath for any Acer smartphones - Tempo, Google, or otherwise - to come your way if you live in the United States though. Apparently Acer smartphones won't be coming to America until 2010.

written by SmartPhoneWizard \\ tags: Acer, DX900, Google Android, Mobile World Congress, Tempo, Windows Mobile, Windows Mobile 6.1, X960

Medical science has gone mobile! A team of U.S. engineers have figured out a way, using a USB-based probe, to turn a Windows Mobile smartphone into an ultrasound imaging system. Thanks to a grant from Microsoft in the range of $100 grand, a medical scanner can be built right into the smartphone, allowing it to read the soundwaves coming through the probe hooked up to it through it's USB port.

One exciting possible use of this technology is in the military, to provide faster and more accurate medical aid to soldiers and civilians alike facing a medical emergency. In combat, for example, a soldier can use the device to find out whether a fellow soldier's injuries can wait to be treated properly at a hospital or if they need to be addressed right there immediately.

This is also an exciting development for use in developing countries where they can't afford standard medical imaging technology.

written by SmartPhoneWizard \\ tags: medical, military, smartphone news

At Barcelona's recent Mobile World Congress, Verizon has just announced the upcoming release of the second generation of its version of the HTC Touch Diamond, to be better known as the HTC Touch Diamond 2.

The HTC Touch Diamond 2 now has a 3.2" widescreen VGA display screen with 480×800 pixel resolution and a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus. The new device will also be sporting the latest version of the HTC TouchFLO 3D interface, customized for ultimate compatibility with the Windows Mobile 6.1 OS (not to mention large and clumsy fingers and thumbs).

The HTC Touch Diamond2 will be released sometime in the second quarter of this year (that's sometime between now and the end of June). The new Verizon version of the HTC Touch Diamond will cost around $299, about $50 more than the Sprint version cost when it was originally released last September 2008, and about $100 more than the Sprint HTC Touch Diamond2 costs today.

written by SmartPhoneWizard \\ tags: Barcelona, HTC, HTC Touch Diamond, HTC Touch Dimaond 2, Mobile World Congress, Sprint, TouchFLO, verizon, VGA, Windows Mobile 6.1

It feels like we haven't heard anything out of Sony Ericsson for a while, which is why we were so excited to learn about the upcoming W715. Essentially a spruced up version of the W705--best known, most likely, for its built-in Walkman--the Sony Ericsson W715 (currently offered in the UK through Vodafone) includes one significant improvement: A-GPS.

No, that's not "a GPS"; it's "A-GPS" as in "Assisted Global Positioning System". It's a satellite location finding feature added to your average, everyday GPS that enhances its capabilities in several ways--not least of which is providing consistent, reliable GPS service even in areas with poor signal quality (such as beneath tall skyscrapers and trees or indoors).

Another frequent problem with standard GPS's that A-GPS addresses is the inability to download almanac and ephemeris info in such conditions until and unless a steady connection can be held for at least 40 seconds (sometimes difficult when, for example, you're on the road and moving).

For effectively using the A-GPS system built-into the W715, Vodafone has included its Find & Go sat-nav software.

written by SmartPhoneWizard \\ tags: A-GPS, Find & Go, GPS, sat-nav, Sony Ericsson, U.K., Vodafone, W705, W715

Thanks to Amazon.com (of course), consumers can now get their own HTC T-Mobile G1 smartphone, the premier Google phone running on its Android OS, for under $100. Ordinarily selling for $180, Amazon.com is offering the same device for almost half that price--$98.

The catch? It isn't even really a big catch, to be honest. To get the deal, you just have to sign up for a new contract with T-Mobile. So the only people "negatively" affected would be existing T-Mobile customers who won't be eligible for the deal.

Even the monarch of price-slashers--WalMart--can't beat this deal, offering the same device for $150.

And in related news, a software update wil be available soon for the G1 that enables it with the one feature most commonly complained about it lacking--an onscreen keyboard. It seems only natural a touchscreen smartphone would have such a feature, and thankfully, the Android developers didn't take too long to catch on (especially after a 3rd party app maker already beat them to the punch with free app aKeyUI).

Surely this great deal on the G1 must have something to do with the next generation, the G2 (aka the HTC Magic) already coming to market.

written by SmartPhoneWizard \\ tags: Amazon, G1, G2, HTC, HTC Magic, onscreen keyboard, T-Mobile, touchscreen, WalMart

Last week was the 2009 GSMA Mobile World Congress, and here's the lowdown on its high points:

HTC Magic: The second Google Android powered smartphone from HTC and the first from Vodafone, the Magic is smaller than the inaugural Google Phone, the HTC T-Mobile G1 and will first be distributed into hands overseas (U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Spain). Downsides? It doesn't have a physical keyboard, nor does the touchscreen keyboard operate in landscape mode.

Also unveiled from HTC, the HTC Touch Diamond2, HTC Touch Pro2, and the T-Mobile G2.

Acer M900: The business set will like this latest Windows Mobile smartphone, with its large 3.8" touchscreen, vast messaging capabilities, and--get this!--fingerprint scanner for cutting-edge security.

LG Arena: It was only a matter of time before we saw a 3D interface, and here it is, looking like the onscreen Rubiks Cube of menus.

Nokia E55: With its own take-off of the BlackBerry Sure-Type keypad.

A common thread for a lot of the devices unveiled this year is the built-in 5-megapixel camera--though the ones in the new Nokia N86 and Samsung Omnia HD sport 8 megapixels, and the Sony Ericsson Idou, with its enhanced touchscreen, has 12.1 and a sliding lens cover. So there!

written by SmartPhoneWizard \\ tags: Acer, Acer M900, Android, Blackberry, Google Android, Google Phone, GSMA, HTC, HTC Magic, LG, LG Arena, Mobile World Congress, Nokia, Nokia E55, Nokia N86, Samsung, Samsung Omnia HD, Sony Ericsson, Sony Ericsson Idou, Sure Type, T-Mobile, T-Mobile G1, T-Mobile G2, Touch Diamond2, Touch Pro2, Vodafone