I think that’s a phone, no wait, it’s a stapler, no wait, it’s a ham sandwich. That right there is actually the next Palm webOS handset, according to A Boy Genius tipster who really needs a better camera phone.
Honestly, there is no way to confirm whether this is the phone that Michael Arrington’s source was talking about, but at least the form factor seems about right for a Pre-Mini and follows the company’s low-cost Centro styling. But then again, that pic could be the Lock Ness Monster herself, and we wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
Apparently there were a few lucky people out there who go their Sidekicks a bit earlier then others, and one of them was kind enough to take some shots of an unboxing and share it on the intarwebs for all to see.
This time it’s the full monty, not just a cruel box-tease like T-Mobile tried to run on us a few days ago. The incredibly lucky individual who took the pictures was kind enough to post some wider angle shots as well as a few close ups for your viewing pleasure.
Two of the biggest country markets of the world, Japan and China, are on their way to develop a next-generation mobile phone network for the Chinese market that paves the way for Japanese phone makers. The Chinese cell phone structure is still mainly based on 2G (Japan turned 100% 3G just a few weeks ago).
Japan’s Prime Minister Taro Aso is expected to meet the Chinese Premier and President tomorrow. The plan is that both countries jointly develop 3G and 3.9G services, mainly aimed at optimizing video file transfers. Another (rather unofficial) reason is to fence out carriers and hardware makers from America and Europe, making sure the huge Chinese market stays under control of Nippon and China.
There are 100 million cell phone users in Japan, but that number is dwarfed by the estimated 600-700 million people owning a mobile phone in China.
I came across some very interesting news today. I was mostly minding my own business, hammering away at our various sources in the hardware industry and trying to dig up some sort of information on exactly when the Palm Pre (pictured right) might be launching, and how many of them will be available. Rumors are flying about both of those issues over the last couple of days.
And then, wham! A whole new rabbit hole to jump down. One of our better sources indicated to us that Palm is “very far along” on a second Pre-like device and currently has plans to put it on the market in the late part of 2009, possibly as early as the Fall.
This is too soon for a second generation device (Apple releases new generation iPhones yearly). and Palm won’t be expecting people to upgrade their Palm Pre to this new device just a few months after buying a Pre. It’s addressing a different part of the market.
The details are still slim - it’s a smaller device (and hopefully that means slimmer), but it will run Palm’s new WebOS operating system that everyone is raving about. We’re trying to determine if the device has a physical keyboard - no word on that yet.
There have been lots of rumors about Apple releasing an iPhone Nano (or alternatively iPhone Mini) in the past, none of which have turned out to be true (and many of which were very funny). It may be that Palm, seeing all that user excitement over a small form iPhone, decided to jump ahead and create a mini Pre of their own. So until we hear otherwise, we’re calling this new phone the Mini-Pre.
If you’re a social site maven who happens to be dying to dabble with the Pre, Palm wants to talk to you.
Palm has just announced a “Real Reviewer” program, in which they’ll be giving a select chunk of socialites a “current-model” Palm phone (read: probably the Pre), along with six months of service.
This is by no means the first time a phone company has proffered up a device in exchange for reviews; companies loan bloggers, journalists, and reviewers of other titles their latest gear on a daily basis. But that’s a bit different - reviewing stuff is part of our job description. That said, this isn’t the first time a company has opened up testing to the non professional, either. Nokia, for example, started up the “Nokia Pilot” testing program last year. However, I think this may be the first testing program specifically targeted at the Twitter/Facebook/Indie blog group - and if they pick their participants correctly, this could be a genius move. Major blogs and magazines carry a certain level of inherent authority, but any influence they have is rarely due to a personal connection with the reader. People tend to trust the opinions of people they know, even if they only e-know them. Get the kid who has (and communicates with) 5,000 followers to rave about the Pre, and Palm will have piqued the interest of a lot of folks they’d have otherwise missed.
If you get picked, you won’t be getting something for nothing - but what they’re expecting isn’t exactly grueling labor. In exchange for the half-year of free Pre, they want you to share any and every thought you have about the device on your favorite social network, blog, or whichever other soapbox you prefer.
If you’re interested, applying isn’t too tough. Answer 9 or 10 questions about yourself, ranging from “What phone do you currently have?” to “How would you describe yourself in 1 word?” (Ooh, ooh! Go with “delicious”! If nothing else, it’ll creep them out enough that they’ll pick you out of fear.), and then wait until Palm picks their favorites come May 8th. What have you got to lose? Sign up here.
It’s pretty much obligatory at this point: someone announces a new piece of hardware, gets a lot of attention, and iSuppli tears it apart and prices the components.
Whether they’ve managed to get ahold of a Pre and actually tear it apart or they just dug up a list of components, we’re not sure - but iSuppli has pinned the final bill of materials for the Palm Pre at $137.38. Thats 46% of the $300 iSuppli expects Palm to charge Sprint for each handset, and 68% of 200 bucks they expect Sprint to charge the customer after subsidies. Not too bad - but of course, it doesn’t include R&D costs, marketing costs, nor all of the talent Palm had to hire to dig them out of their grave.
Want something that looks like Motorola’s aborted Sidekick Slide? That runs Android? That has buttons like the RAZR? Well, you’re in luck because Moto is planning to launch the Android-powered Calgary on Verizon.
The QWERTY-slider looks like it has some promise. The styling is cool, the OS is proven, and things can only go up for Motorola. Given their track record, however, expect this thing to catch fire in your pocket or something.
Not too shabby, Slacker. Less than 4 months after Slacker for BlackBerry was launched at CES 2009, Slacker, Inc. has announced that it has surpassed 1 million downloads.
Now, 1 million might not seem like all that much in the shadow of the iTunes App Store and its 1 billion served - but remember, this is the BlackBerry we’re talking about. A huge chunk of BlackBerry owners neverdownload applications, with another significant chunk only ever downloading between 1-5. Taking that into considering, 1 million downloads in 4 months is a pretty big deal.
That said, we’d still be interested in hearing the number of downloads the iPhone port has seen so far. It’s been available for about a week less than its BlackBerry brethren, but spent a ton of time in the App Store’s Top 25 Free Apps list. We’d be willing to bet it passed the million mark quite some time ago.
While that certainly doesn’t look like any Android UI we’ve seen, BoyGeniusReport is hearin’ whispers that the handset you see up above is one of Motorola’s first outings in Android territory.
Codenamed, nicknamed, or just plain name-named (they’re not sure which) “Ironman”, Motorola is supposedly aiming at a Q3 release. Specific specs are absent, but this handset will purportedly be a relatively high-end beast: Wi-Fi, 3G, a “screamin’ CPU”, and a high-res camera are all mentioned.
While the hardware looks and sounds legit enough, we’re not too sure about the Android bit. Even if that image on screen is just a placeholder (or Motorola took Android and uglied it up a bit), where are the home/back/menu keys? Touch-sensitive keys just not lit up for the render? Perhaps, but that seems strange. Oh well - if this is leaking a full quarter before the rumored release, we’re sure to hear more.
While some phones stay true to a single flick (take Sony Ericsson handsets and any Bond movie ever, for example), some leap around Hollywood like a heiress on a booze binge. One example of the not so loyal? The Nokia 5800. After making its ultra-early debut in The Dark Knight, it’s jumping over to the Star Trek camp.
On May 1st (7 days before the film’s release), UK retailer Phones4u will be slinging the 5800 Star Trek edition in red, blue, and black/silver. It’s free of charge, if you’re willing to lock on to a Vodafone, O2, T-Mobile, or Orange contract. So what makes it Star Trek? Unfortunately, no phaser is included. It does have Star Trek screensavers, wallpapers, and ringtones preloaded - and that’s almost as cool, right? … Right? Anyone?
As more and more people are getting their hands on the Pre, it looks like a few more developers have been given access to the SDK emulator. Well, either that or someone who has had access for a while got a little antsy and finally caved to leaking a ton of emulator screenshots.
If these are legit, it looks like the webOS emulator runs on Sun’s VirtualBox virtualization application. Anybody feel like sending the webOS virtual image our way?
While the screenshots don’t show anything we’d imagine Palm was trying to keep top secret, they do venture into a few spots that weren’t on display during past demonstrations. We’re liking everything we’re seeing so far. Not only does it look pretty dang good, but it all seems pretty finger-friendly as well.
There’s surely a gem or two lurking around in these shots, so let us know if you spot anything. Our favorite bit: it appears that there’s a dropdown from the battery icon area that shows the date, battery percentage, and allows you to toggle Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Airplane mode on the fly.
It’s now just about May and there’s still been no official word from Palm when it comes to an official launch date or pricing for the Pre. All we know is what we’ve known for a long time — it’ll launch the first half of 2009; a window that is quickly closing. But a few pieces of new evidence today point to an actual specific date. And it’s a very intriguing one — June 7: The day before a likely Apple keynote address at its WWDC conference.
That is of course interesting because Apple could very well use that keynote to unveil the next version of the iPhone, just as it did last year for the iPhone 3G. A public launch of the Pre the day before could suck some of the wind out of Apple’s sails. But it’s also pretty risky, as it means Palm only has one day to convince everyone that its product is better then the latest version of the iPhone which is likely to have some substantial improvements. And no one knows for sure what all those improvements are — it could very well blow the Pre right out of the water, one day into its young life.
The June 7 date for the Pre comes from some supposed internal Sprint documents that name that date as one of two possible launch windows. Earlier rumors had the device appearing in May, but as I said, it’s a bit odd that we’re just about into May and have yet to hear a date or a price. A few people in the know that I’ve spoken to will only say that they’re sure it’s coming “very soon,” but don’t seem to know the exact date either. There are also rumors about the device getting ready to ship, and talk about a casting call for a Palm viral video set to air in June.
Apple and Palm have had an interesting relationship of late, to say the least. Obviously, there are the several former Apple employees who now work for Palm, including some former key Apple execs. Then, there was that whole thinly veiled threat Apple made to defend its IP, if pushed. Something which Palm responded to. And more recently, a partner at Elevation, which owns around 40% of Palm, said more or less that the Pre would kick the iPhone’s ass. If Palm really does release the Pre on June 7, expect tensions to rise even further.
Man, they’re just cranking these things out. Just two weeks after iPhone OS 3.0 Beta 3 (which was, in turn, two weeks after iPhone OS 3.0 Beta 2), we’ve got another Beta.
Beta 4 of iPhone OS 3.0 is now available for developers, as long as they’ve downloaded the brand spankin’ new iPhone 8.2 pre-release. It just went live, so we’re not quite sure what’s new here. If you spot anything, let us know - we’ll do the same.
Also, it’s starting to look like we can expect Betas every 2 weeks until release. Next one ought to be on Tuesday, May 12.
Update: Details are still incredibly sparse, but here’s what we’ve heard so far:
MMS now working on more carriers without modified carrier bundles (Only one report - still working on confirming this.)
General performance updates, far less crash prone than the past builds.
The “Store” settings pane now functions, allowing you basic control over your iTunes account
Over a period of three years, fantasy author Peter Brett wrote 100,000 words on his HP iPaq during his long subway commute. And here I get all excited when I manage to post a new word I learned to my blog, while sitting at a bar. Given the length of most epic fantasy novels (or cycles) I would have thought it an impossible task to thumb out more than, say, 5-10% on something like a smartphone. But this guy seems to actually thrive doing it.
He talks about his experience, and why he went with an HP iPaq of all things, in this interview. He’s pretty bullish about the Kindle, much more so than I am, but it’s true that it is a breakout device; authors and publishers need to start working with e-books early or risk ending up like the recording industry. My question is, if he knew he was going to be doing so much typing, why not get something with a really sweet keypad like a Sidekick or Blackberry?
Gameloft, the folks behind Oregon Trail for the iPhone and countless other mobile and console games, have just released their earnings report for the first calendar quarter of 2009. Though sales saw a dip from quarter-to-quarter, they’re up significantly from the same quarter last year.
In the first three months of this year, Gameloft pulled in a total of €30.8 million ($40.2 million USD), as opposed to €33.8 million ($44.2 million USD) in the fourth quarter of last year. This works out to a quarter-to-quarter variation of roughly -9%. Compared to Q1 of 2008’s €25.3 million ($33 million USD), however, sales are up nearly 22%.
Though Gameloft dabbles in the console gaming space, their primary focus is on mobile. It’s also their main revenue generator, accounting for 94% of their sales thus far in 2009.
By location, North America and Europe are Gameloft’s big markets, accounting for 37% and 35% of sales respectively. And the other 28%? Gameloft just lumps that into “the rest of the world”.
I’d imagine that Gameloft’s Q2 earnings (which should be disclosed on July 28th, 2009) will only show more improvement. The iPhone port of Oregon Trail (which is one of the few mobile games I’ve ever seen people genuinely excited about) was released close enough to the tail end of Q1 that a bulk of the sales will continue into Q2. Additionally, they’ve got a Terminator: Salvation game launching on mobile handsets (including the iPhone) in May, just in time to ride the hype of the film’s release.
First, it was reported that Apple was talking to Verizon about getting the iPhone on its network in 2010. Then it was reported that Apple was actually working on new mobile devices for Verizon. With so much Apple blood in the Verizon water, it was only a matter of time before the Microsoft shark surfaced.
A new report in The Wall Street Journal suggests that Microsoft is also talking with Verizon about getting a device on its service. To be clear, this apparently is not just a standard new Windows Mobile device, as there are already plenty of those on the Verizon network. What this apparently is, is some sort of new device, designed in part by Microsoft, but developed by a third party. This device is said to include access to Microsoft’s upcoming Windows Marketplace for Mobile — its app store.
Once again, the codename “Pink” is being thrown out there. It’s been the subject of much debate over the past several months as to what Pink actually is. Some thought it was a Microsoft-built phone. Others thought it was simply the name of the Zune software tied into the Microsoft’s mobile experience. The WSJ report seems to indicate now that it’s a sort of cross between the two.
One thing seems clear: Microsoft is very interested in what both Apple and Google have done in the mobile space. Windows Mobile 6.5, which has been all but dubbed a “hold-over” until Windows Mobile 7 is ready, isn’t due until later this year. Windows Mobile 7 doesn’t seem likely to be on phones before late 2010, at the earliest. If Microsoft is thinking about branching off a bit with a new type of device/experience, that’s probably a smart play to stay in the rapidly evolving mobile game.
But can it score an exclusive deal with Verizon? That seems unlikely if Apple really is open to bringing its devices to the carrier as well. And how does Android play into the carrier’s plans?
Fresh on the heels of all the Verizon+Apple hoopla is talks of a Verizon+Microsoft partnership working to create a true iPhone competitor.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the two companies are discussing the launch of a “touch-screen multimedia cellphone on the carrier’s network early next year.” Perhaps the best part of this rumor is the projects code-name - “Pink” - which “is aiming to produce a phone that extends the tech giant’s Windows Mobile cellphone operating system, adding new software capabilities.” An iPhone killer named “Pink.” Seriously, you just can’t make up stuff this good.
Not surprisingly, although Big Red and Big Redmond are working together on the design, its expected that a third-party will end up making the device, a la Google and its Android phones.
Love the iPhone or hate the iPhone, at least you know what you’re getting out of the box is a device that will work with all the apps in the App Store. That’s been the case so far with Google’s Android platform as well — but only because there has been only one device, the G1. With more devices starting to roll out, and a new firmware (1.5, “cupcake”) to support them, things are continuing to get a bit murky.
Last week, we wrote about how the 1.5 Android software update would break some apps that previously worked with Android. Google gave some tips as to how to fix them, but it’s still a bit troubling. Today, comes another post on the Android Developer blog with two dreaded words: Backward compatibility.
As an open platform, Google isn’t requiring backward compatibility for all Android apps. But as more devices and applications come out, that could be an issue. As Google writes, “do you want to allow your application to run on all devices, or just those running newer software?” Plenty of iPhone apps answer that very question with the latter. And while you might think that may be limiting, it ensures a certain level of simplicity in the App Store — and perhaps more importantly, in developing for the iPhone.
The iPhone platform already has a massive lead in terms of applications built for it over Android. Anything, such a backwards compatibility code, that adds complexity to developing for Android is certainly not going to help. And it ties back to the fundamental difference between the iPhone and Android. iPhone, as a closed system with devices only made by Apple, can easily control the development ecosystem and important things like user experience. Android, with its more open system, will have a much harder time doing both. But because Android will be on so many more phones (and various other machines) it would seem that it will grow into the larger platform at some point.
Yes, it’s essentially the same thing that happened with Microsoft versus Apple in the PC wars of the 80s and 90s. But, as we’ve learned from that, “bigger” doesn’t necessarily mean “better.”
Nearly a month after we dabbled with these two iPhone Google Voice solutions, VoiceCentral and GV Mobile have finally made it through Apple’s torture chambers and onto the e-shelves of the App Store.
While we haven’t spent enough time with either post-release to recommend one over the other, we can say that VoiceCentral has gone and fixed every qualm we had with it in its early days. The UI has been polished, SMS support has been added, a History screen is now available, and you can choose which screen to show on start up. Both apps go for $2.99, and are now pretty much neck-and-neck as far as features (with a few perks exclusive to each app). At this point, which one would suit you better seems like a matter of personal preference.
Bam! It’s official, folks: the second Android phone to go to a major carrier is now hittin’ the hands of consumers.
Vodafone launched the HTC Magic a few days ahead of schedule in a few countries yesterday, and it looks like the first units are starting to arrive. Sascha of Mini-PC-Pro managed to scrounge one up, and has given it the customary strip-down.
Everything within those little walls of red is fairly standard: the normal papers (warranty info, device ID numbers), a headset, a little slip-cover case (which feels “cheap”, says Sascha), headset, powerbrick, and, of course, the Magic. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like they included a HTC-Port-to-3.5mm headset adaptor - so if you want to use your own earbuds, you best hit up eBay before you order the device.
As more mobile phones become full-fledged Web-browsing devices, a small but fast-growing segment of all visitors to any given Websites will be mobile. But with so many different mobile phones and browsers, it is difficult to figure out where most of that mobile traffic is coming from. A new mobile Website tracking service called PercentMobile lets you track mobile visitors by device, cell phone operator, country, and more. All you do is insert one line of pixel-based code into the header of your Website and it does the rest. All mobile browsers can read the pixel code, unlike the Javascript required by Google Analytics, for instance.
PercentMobile is in private beta, but we have 500 invites for TechCrunch readers. Use the code freecoffee at signup.
PercentMobile is free, but the high-level data in the reports become public. (They can be made privaet by request). The service is built on top of TigTags, an enterprise mobile analytics platform that starts at $1,000 a month. PercentMobile is basically a lead generator for that service.
To get a sense of some of the data you would see, check out this report for FourSquare, the mobile social network that MG is in love with. Not surprisingly, 76.5 percent of all of its traffic is mobile. Although it comes as an iPhone app, you can also access it via a mobile browser. The most popular device accessing it that way is not the iPhone (since most people use the app), but rather the Blackberry (9.9%), followed by HTC’s G1 Android phone (9.6%), followed by two more Blackberry models (8.9% and 7.4%), and then the iPhone (7.3%), and then another Blackberry (7.1%). Guess which platform FourSquare is going to develop an app for next? Yup, the Blackberry.
Every Website should know how much of its traffic comes from mobile, and from what devices and geographies.
We haven’t actually seen the details of it since a first look was given exclusively to the New York Times, but there’s a new Compete report coming out supposedly later today that claims only 27% of iPhone owners use their device primarily for work-related needs compared to 59% of owners with other types of smartphones (HTC, Blackberry, Nokia, etc.).
The NY Times reporter didn’t detail where these stats are coming from and how Compete reached their conclusions exactly apart from saying ’smartphone users were surveyed’, but I consider the article’s headline (”Apple iPhone Owners Don’t Use It For Work”) to be quite misleading either way you spin it. (Update: the headline has since changed to something more accurate). If you have a Web-capable phone, you are going to use it for both work and play. Or does every person with a job who owns an iPhone also keep a Blackberry handy to whip out for work-related tasks (besides Erick)?
Having an iPhone myself, I can imagine that a lot of people are indeed using their Apple phones for personal reasons like entertainment (games, videos, etc.) a lot more than they do with other smartphones, but that is because the user experience on the latter devices generally sucks compared to the iPhone anyway. There’s a whole lot of well-known reasons for that besides the technical or design shortcomings: either third-party developers don’t find competing platforms compelling enough to create applications for them, or they do but the quality bar is set too low, and even then there’s no decent, central marketplace to download or buy apps from. But let’s not digress from the main talking point.
The Compete survey reportedly found that 73% of iPhone owners used their mobile devices primarily for personal reasons, but what isn’t detailed is how much time in total they are using their phones - which I imagine is a whole lot more than on other smartphones - and how much more efficient it makes them when they actually do use it for work.
For reference, a recent AdMobs Mobile Metrics report pointed out that nearly 50% of all smartphone web traffic in the U.S. comes from iPhone devices. I’d also like to point to a recent study by JD Power and Associates which ranked iPhone highest in customer satisfaction, not for everyday consumers (those the device was initially targeted at, I might add), but for “business wireless smartphone users.”
I’d also argue that the time I spend using my iPhone for professional reasons may be much less than I used to spend battling the Windows Mobile OS on my previous smartphone (an HTC), but that it increased my productivity when I’m on the go five-fold easily, and isn’t that what really matters?
This tidbit from the article bothered me as well:
The firm found that getting local forecasts, turn-by-turn directions and nearby restaurant recommendations were the most popular location-aware iPhone applications.
Undoubtedly true, but which mobile worker hasn’t at one point used his smartphone for directions or restaurant recommendations directly related to his or her job? How can Compete possibly claim these services are being used for personal use only?
Let’s call it like it is: while not perfect, the iPhone is a joy to use from an individual standpoint, whether it’s for business or personal reasons, and all the other device manufacterers are (or should be) playing catch-up when it comes to physical design, UI and general ease-of-use of navigation.
I use my phone a whole lot more than I used to in the past, and even I would answer a survey question asking for my behavior that I use it primarily for personal reasons, but does that in any way imply that I don’t use it for work?
The answer is a big fat no, quite the contrary, thank you.
Zoho, the creators of a web-based software suite made up of document, project and invoicing management tools, has launched the availability of its comprehensive webtop productivity products on mobile devices.
Zoho previously had basic mobile support for its applications on iPhone and some limited capability on Windows Mobile but now fully integrates Zoho Applications with several mobile devices. Zoho Mail, Calendar, Writer, Sheet, Show & Creator are now available for the iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, WindowsMobile and Symbian devices.
As we’ve written in the past, Zoho is an innovative document management tool, and includes easy access thanks to support for Google and Yahoo IDs and the group sharing across different apps feature. While Zoho has added useful features to its software suite, Zoho is going to have to fight an uphill battle to keep consumers from going towards web-based applications offered by companies with a vast reach (Google, Microsoft, Adobe, etc.).
We tend to give away a whole lot of stuff on the TechCrunch network. Phones, DVDs, laptops, TVs - you name it, we’ve probably given it away at some point. That said, I think this is the first time we’ve given away sports tickets.
FuzzyCube Software, the folks behind the iPhone game iQuarterback, just dropped us a pair of tickets to the Dallas Cowboys vs New York Giants game coming up in September. This game is going to be one to remember; not only is it a face-off between rivals, but its also the first game the Cowboys will be playing in their brand new stadium. Even with a few months to go before the big day, these tickets are already going for 200 bucks a pop. Want them? Here are the details:
Two tickets to the Dallas Cowboys vs New York Giants game at the brand new Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas on September 20th.
How to win:
Answer the three trivia questions that follow, and send them to greg+football@crunchgear.com. It must be this email address, or it wont be counted. The questions:
In what year will the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium host the Super Bowl?
Who is the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, and where did he go to college?
How many times have the New York Giants won the Super Bowl?
We’ll select a winner at random from those who submit the correct answers to the email address above by Thursday, April 30th at 11:59 PM Pacific. The winner will be announced on Friday, May 1st. Good luck!
Sure, it was official this morning. But now it’s real. It looks like someone had a Samsung i7500 tucked away in their pocket, patiently waiting until just after this mornings announcement to share it with the world.
Outside of the fact that it’s by no means fingerprint-proof, there’s not much to be gleaned from these shots (obtained by Mobile-Review) that wasn’t announced this morning. From a purely superficial standpoint, we’re diggin’ what we’re seeing so far - but what’s up with the funky continent pattern on the back?
That’s right, folks. Earlier today, Vodafone Spain officially launched the highly anticipated HTC Magic (con Google, for you Español speaking readers).
While it may not be got for free (read: 139€ for the phone on the cheapest plan w/ mandatory 18 month contract) like its UK sibling (expected to launch in early May), the real point is that it is here, now (in Spain at least).
I’d have filled the rest of this post with witty Spanish jokes, but that would require me to know more Spanish than “siesta” and “fiesta.” Salud!
Samsung finally went ahead and did what we’ve expected them to do today with the announcement of their first Android powered handset, the I7500. Better late than ever, I say. The I7500 is no slouch in the feature department with a 3.2-inch AMOLED touch-screen, GPS, Wi-Fi, and 8GB of internal memory. It’s also an HSDPA capable device with a 5-megapixel AF camera with Power LED (no clue what that is but I assume it’s flash), Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0, MicroSD (up to 32GB support) and a 3.5mm earphone jack. It’s also pretty thin at 0.47 inches.
The media player should be pretty good with MPEG4, H.263/4 and WMV video playback support. The following audio codecs are also supported in case you were wondering: MP3, AAC, AAC+, e-AAC+, WMA, RA. Battery life should also be okay with a 1500mAh removable battery.
No word on price, but the I7500 will launch in Europe this June.
I can’t say that I’m surprised Samsung will launch the I7500 in Europe first, but touting themselves as the first of the three top global handset manufacturers to announce an Android handset is nothing to boast about in my opinion. What is it with this company and having to be the first at something no matter what it is?
At the risk of repeating myself for the millionth time, in many peoples’ minds, the Achilles’ heal of the iPhone is the network it’s on in the US: AT&T. Since the day it was announced as being exclusive to that provider, people have been wondering one thing: How long until it’s on Verizon? Rumors have surfaced time and again about the possibility, but today brings perhaps the most concrete news yet that the two sides are talking.
The two sides are discussing the possibility of getting Verizon version of the iPhone ready for 2010, sources tell USA Today. There are likely two reasons it would take until next year. The first, is that Apple’s exclusive contract with AT&T runs through next year. The second is that a Verizon version would presumably have to be CDMA-ready, which means the innards of the iPhone would have to be slightly tweaked, as the current iPhone is GSM-only (which AT&T, and most other cell networks run on).
Perhaps now we know why it’s been reported recently that AT&T was pushing hard to get Apple to extend its exclusive deal another year, into 2011. Verizon is AT&T’s main rival in the US, and is actually larger. But Verizon lacks the one device that people are switching networks just to get. In announcing its most recent earnings, AT&T said that as many as 40% of all customers who sign up for iPhone contracts are new to AT&T — that is huge.
But here’s something to think about: A new iPhone is almost for sure going to launch sometime this summer. It will be AT&T only — and, you will presumably have to sign up for a new 2-year contract to get it (and certainly you will have to do that to get it for the subsidized price). If people know a Verizon iPhone is possible in 2010, will a lot of potential buyers hold off? I think so.
Hell, given the recent issues I’ve had with AT&T’s network, I’d consider not getting the new iPhone if Verizon was really a possibility for next year. But it’s still a big “if” at this point. Who knows, Apple would just be talking with Verizon (the company that originally spurned the iPhone) just to increase the pressure on AT&T to give them a sweeter deal. You know, negotiations 101.
But if Apple truly does envision the iPhone as a product that it wants to dominate the market with, it will need to get onto other networks eventually. It seems inevitable, but is 2010 the year?
Last week, we held an absolutely massive iPhone App Giveaway spree. Over a span of about 12 hours, we gave away hundreds and hundreds of promo codes across 50+ different iPhone applications. It was a blast, but all good things must come to an end - but it’s not over just yet.
Throughout the competition, we hung on to one promo code for each app. We’ve taken all of these promo codes and put them together, forming one ridiculously huge omega-prize. One lucky person is going to take home a copy of every application we gave away that day - plus more. That’s dozens upon dozens of applications, worth hundreds of dollars in all.
Rules/How to win:
You have talents. You (hopefully) like MobileCrunch. We want to combine those two things. Whatever your talent may be, find a way to incorporate MobileCrunch into it. Awesome at baking cakes? Bake a MobileCrunch cake. Artist? Draw us a MobileCrunch picture. Skilled song writer? Record a MobileCrunch song. Heck, even if your only talent is making an absurdly crazy face, take a picture of the face with “MobileCrunch” written on a piece of paper somewhere in frame. Whatever your talent may be, we want to see it.
Send your entry to greg+iContest@crunchgear.com . It must be that exact address (including the +), or we won’t see it. You can send pictures, video, audio - anything that can be attached to an email, really.
We (the CrunchGear/MobileCrunch staff) will weed out the trolls and any videos that we don’t think are up to par, and go from there. We’ll then vote on our favorite entry. If we have any trouble at all picking a winner, we’ll open the vote up to everyone.
Entries must be received by 11:59 p.m PST on Tuesday, April 28th, 2009. Winner will be determined, contacted and announced in the days that follow.
Digg this. Not a rule for entry - but if this hits the Digg front page, we’ll throw at least 10 more apps into the prize package.
Heres what you’ll win: (Click any icon to go to that app’s iTunes page)
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I think that’s a phone, no wait, it’s a stapler, no wait, it’s a ham sandwich. That right there is actually the next Palm webOS handset, according to A Boy Genius tipster who really needs a better camera phone.
Apparently there were a few lucky people out there who go their Sidekicks a bit earlier then others, and one of them was kind enough to take some shots of an unboxing and share it on the intarwebs for all to see. 
I came across some very interesting news today. I was mostly minding my own business, hammering away at our various sources in the hardware industry and trying to dig up some sort of information on exactly 
It’s now just about May and there’s still been no official word from Palm when it comes to an official launch date or pricing for the Pre. All we know is what we’ve known for a long time — it’ll launch the first half of 2009; a window that is quickly closing. But a few pieces of new evidence 
Over a period of three years, fantasy author Peter Brett wrote 100,000 words on his HP iPaq during his long subway commute. And here I get all excited when I manage to post a new word I learned to my blog, while sitting at a bar. Given the length of most epic fantasy novels (or 
Gameloft, the folks behind 
First, it was reported that Apple was 
Fresh on the heels of all the 
Love the iPhone or hate the iPhone, at least you know what you’re getting out of the box is a device that will work with all the apps in the App Store. That’s been the case so far with Google’s Android platform as well — but only because there has been only one device, the G1. With more devices starting to roll out, and a new firmware (1.5, “cupcake”) to support them, things are continuing to get a bit murky.
We haven’t actually seen the details of it since a first look was given exclusively to the 
At the risk of repeating myself for the millionth time, in many peoples’ minds, the Achilles’ heal of the iPhone is the network it’s on in the US: AT&T. Since the day it was announced as being exclusive to that provider, people have been wondering one thing: How long until it’s on Verizon? Rumors have surfaced time and again about the possibility, but today brings perhaps the most concrete news yet that the two sides are talking.
