Archive for May, 2008
The shots of 4.5’s BlackBerry Desktop Manager have already been sighted, but 4.6 due to launch with the BlackBerry Bold hasn’t been seen until now. The big feature is the iTunes media syncing promised to come with the BlackBerry 9000, but aside from that, everything looks more or less like the unreleased 4.5 DM.
Gigabyte have launched their MS800 (on the left) and MW700 in the UK today under the GSmart name. The handsets do look fairly similar, and indeed both are powered by the Marvell PXA270 520Mhz CPU with GPS, WiFi, 2 megapixel rear camera, FM radio and Bluetooth. However, the MW700 has GPRS / EDGE connectivity whilst the MS800 offers up faster 3.5G HSDPA.
The GSmart phones also come with the new "Smart Touch" technology - a new UI to bring finger-friendly navigation that is customizable. We saw a little of that earlier and we’ll be reviewing both these phones very soon indeed.
Read on for the full press release and how to get one.
Link - gigabytecm.com/uk/
GSmart MW700 GSmart MS800
T-Mobile by now has been usually lax about selling unlocked phones, so many people were buying T-Mobile-branded HTC-manufactured Windows Mobile phones and using them with other operators. This time HTC is once again on the forefront when it comes to HTC phones and surely their offering may be appealing not just to T-Mobile customers… 
Yesterday there was a press conference in Munich, Germany where T-Mobile introduced new HTC phones: T-Mobile MDA compact IV (pictured above, a version of HTC Touch Diamond), T-Mobile MDA Vario IV (with QWERTY keyboard) and the new 16GB Ameo (a version of HTC Advantage). Today T-Mobile has published a story about this announcement, unfortunately only in German (yet) so here are highlights translated to English:
- release date for T-Mobile MDA compact IV is July 2008 - all over Europe (where T-Mobile has divisions)
- T-Mobile underlines the following features in MDA compact IV: 3D-touch-screen, 4GB internal memory and 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus
- T-Mobile MDA Vario IV - the one with keyboard - is coming late sommer, i.e. at first MDA Compact IV will be released
- T-Mobile confirms that MDA Compact IV has HSUPA for fast uploads!
- T-Mobile Ameo 16GB is coming to market in June 2008 From http://msmobiles.com
Qualcomm today announced its new BREW Mobile Platform, with built-in support for Adobe Flash. The new platform will replace the current BREW client in mass-market handsets and allow developers to take advantage of a new set of features and abilities, such as touchscreen user interfaces.
The new BREW Mobile Platform will be backwards compatible with the current platform, which will allow consumers to enjoy older applications while still exploring new ones with more advanced features. The Flash integration will allow rich web content to be carried across to the handset. Developers can also use the existing set of Flash tools to create applications and services for the new BREW Mobile Platform.
According to a French source Toshiba G710 smartPhone with GPS and 2.5G can be snapped up with the optional navigation software CoPilot Live 7 from ALK. The maps will come on a 512MB microSD card and a version for maps of all of Europe is also expected. This Quad-band GSM device features Integrated SiRF Star III GPS receiver, 2.4″ TFT LCD screen with 320×240 pixel resolution, OMAP TI processor at 266 MHz, 2MP digital camera with 8x digital zoom, 64 MB of RAM and 128 MB of ROM, Bluetooth 1.2 compatible A2DP (stereo), microSD card slot, and MiniUSB 1.1. also, it comes with Windows Mobile 6.0 Standard.
The 1,050-mAh lithium-ion battery provides 200 hours of stand-by and 3 hour of talktime. Without subscription and the navigation software, Toshiba G710 will cost 250 € ($395) and with regional maps and the sat nav software installed it will go for 300 € ($473).
Raising the bar even higher for superior Web browsing capabilities, Opera today announced the availability of Opera Mobile 9.5 on the new HTC Touch Diamond. The customized HTC-specific version enables easy one-handed viewing and effortless navigation. As a result, your favorite Web sites look exactly the way they were intended to be seen without compromise.
The HTC-specific version of Opera Mobile 9.5 introduces a new intuitive user interface (UI) and includes numerous innovative features that elevate the Internet experience on a phone. Page viewing and panning allows users to scan and navigate pages quickly while Opera Zoom enables users to dive into the page and get closer to the content they want. Turning the device sideways automatically rotates the Web page view from a portrait to landscape view.
Opera Mobile 9.5 makes multi-tasking easier than ever before with improved tabbed browsing. In addition, productivity tools like the ability to save pages for offline browsing, Web address auto complete and password manager allow for a more enjoyable experience. In addition, Opera Mobile 9.5 gets users closer to family and friends as it allows users to easily share images from online photo albums or any other Website through MMS or e-mail.
Other features in Opera Mobile 9.5 include:
- Tabbed browsing
- Improved text wrap
- Landscape mode
- Call phone number directly from Web page
- History and bookmarks .
- Copy text
"Opera Mobile 9.5 on the HTC Touch Diamond will bring to customers the most powerful Web browser yet on a mobile phone," said Jon von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software. "Opera is on the road to give mobile Web browsing a complete facelift and an elevated user experience. This is just the beginning."
"2008 will come to be known as the year the mobile Internet became usable and the HTC Touch Diamond will be one of the main devices driving this change," said Peter Chou, president and CEO, HTC Corp. "We have worked very closely with Opera Mobile to deliver a feature set and browsing experience that is optimized for mobile, but viewed like it would on a PC."
To learn more, visit www.opera.com.
From msmobiles.com
Now here’s an interesting service. Telus just announced Outlook Voice Access for their hosted Exchange server, which lets users dictate, listen and forward e-mails through their BlackBerry, as well as a bunch of other web-based Outlooky options, like access agendas, documents and contacts. Hosted Exchange is a fine option for SMBs, and this new Outlook Voice Access is some fine icing on the cake. You’re looking at $14/month for the professional plan, plus another $10/month for BlackBerry syncing, but there are a few other BlackBerry voice services through Telus that might be worth looking into. For more details, head on over here.
Tungle just announced BlackBerry integration aimed to ease meeting schedules, and already plays nice with Outlook, Lotus, iCal, Google Calendar and other platforms. Requests are simply sent via e-mail, and confirmations made through your BlackBerry’s browser. This sounds like a decent solution for us poor souls without an Exchange server, or if you’ve got a bunch of different platforms running that need to work together. You can head on over here to give it a shot, just keep in mind that it’s still in beta.
Opera Software today released the Opera Widgets SDK beta, enabling Web developers to deploy Web applications on any device. The Opera Widgets SDK is based on open, W3C-set standards to employ common web technologies such as HTML, CSS and media queries, JavaScript and Ajax, in creating advanced Web applications. The SDK features an emulator, libraries, documentation and Opera Dragonfly for debugging.
The Opera Widgets SDK beta is available at:http://www.opera.com/widgets/sdk.
"Opera continues to lead the way to real convergence with the Opera Widgets SDK," says Christen Krogh, Chief Development Officer, Opera Software. "Promoting One Web takes on additional meaning with the support of an SDK to develop full-scale Web applications for any range of devices at one time."
HTC has just announced a new model, the HTC P3400i. The P3400i has a simple and intuitive interface, packed into a very affordable package.
Looking to be fashionably sleek and stylish, without too many bells and whistles, the HTC P3400i has been specially designed for the entry level market, and adds to the success of the HTC Touch family.
The HTC P3400i is powered by Windows Mobile 6 Professional, and comes bundled with applications for listening to music, watching videos, emails, office productivity, and even Windows Live Messenger, all available to the user while on the go. It also includes HTC Home, an HTC innovation that gives users an instant access to the most useful applications.
The HTC P3400i will be available at the end of May at all authorized resellers with a suggested retail price of $488(inclusive of 7% GST). Other features include:
* DirectPush Mail
* Internet Explorer Mobile
* Quad-Band
* 2 megapixel camera
* Speakerphone
* PIM applications
* 2.8” screen.