Mobile Burn
Jabra unveils SP700 Bluetooth speakerphone for car and desk- Jabra has unveiled its SP700 Bluetooth speaker, ready to use in your car or at your desk. A built-in FM transmitter lets you use a car stereo system for call audio.
Read the full story here.
- Additional hiccups surround Palm Treo Pro launch
- It appears that Palm has made a number of additional mistakes in the botched launch of the still unofficial Treo Pro. Today official press photos were sent out and a video was released.
Read the full story here.
- Press Release: Palringo Brings First Push-to-Talk Application to the iPhone
- Vocal Instant Messaging Now Available for the iPhone
Read the full story here.
- RIM BlackBerry 8220 KickStart and 8210 SeaWolf leaked by Expansys
- Online retailer Expansys appears to have leaked what appear to be official photos and details of the new RIM BlackBerry 8220 and 8210 smartphones. The first clamshell BlackBerries, they offer a 2 megapixel camera and a SureType 20-key keyboard.
Read the full story here.
- Apple MobileMe woes continue, iPhone gets new firmware
- Apple has given its MobileMe email subscribers an additional 60 days of free service on top of the 30 it offered earlier.
Read the full story here.
- Visa hooks up with banks for SMS alerts
- Visa has announced a partnership with 8 major banks to offer SMS alerts for activity on Visa cardholders' account.
Read the full story here.
- Press Release: Nokia Adds Lonely Planet Guides To Maps
- Lonely Planet Content now Available on Nokia Maps
Read the full story here.
- 3 UK launches Skypephone S2
- 3 UK has launched its new Skypephone S2 today, an upgrade to its previous Skypephone. With HSDPA data speeds, the Skypephone S2 allows you to easily keep up with your Skype contacts, and can also work as an HSDPA modem for your computer.
Read the full story here.
- Press Release: Samsung Phones Feature Chinese Text Input from Zi Corporation
- eZiText and Decuma Chinese integrated onto Samsung handsets for Chinese Market
Read the full story here.
- Nokia unveils 8800 Carbon Arte luxury phone
- Today Nokia introduced the 8800 Carbon Arte, adding a bit of carbon fiber and titanium to the company's luxury 8800 product line. With 4GB of internal memory and a 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera, the 8800 Carbon Arte has some multimedia muscle as well.
Read the full story here.
Mobile Magazine
- North American HTC Ad Lets Your Fingers Do The Walking
- HTC is set to unleash a massive marketing campaign to try and increase its brand presence in North America, starting with this ad.
- Delta To Deliver Most Comfortable Coach Seats Ever?
- The seats in coach are typically pretty small and they're not the most comfortable things in the world, but Delta plans on installing some weird (but better) seats to alleviate this issue.
- LG Viewty Gets A Double Dose of Color
- The only way things could get more confusing would be if Orange launched a purple Apple.
- Sneak Peek at T-Mobile MDA Compact IV by HTC
- You may have seen some spy pictures of an unknown HTC smartphone over the weekend. It turns out that this is the MDA Compact IV and it's heading over to the good people at T-Mobile.
- Telecom Italia Getting 3G iPhone Soon Without Revenue Sharing
- It seems that Italians roll a completely different way than Americans, because the most recent word has the 3G iPhone launching with Telecom Italia without any long-term exclusivity and without a revenue sharing agreement.
- MSI Wind Subnotebook Tackles Eee PC Market
- In like manner, every compact laptop will inevitably draw comparisons to the Asus Eee PC. Such is the case with the MSI Wind, a subnotebook that's a little larger than the current 7-inch Eee.
- Beijing Motor Show Sees Arrival of Audi Q5 Compact Crossover
- Approaching a similar market as the Acura RDX and BMW X3 is the newly revealed Audi Q5. The compact crossover made its official debut at the Beijing Motor Show.
- Grab Your Amazon Kindle While Supplies Last
- Thankfully, Amazon has restocked and they're ready to ship out the revolutionary handheld device again.
- Alltel Gets BlackBerry Curve on May 1
- The BlackBerry Curve, in all its different incarnations, has been available to GSM providers for some time. Now it's heading to the CDMA-ness of Alltel.
- Support for Windows XP Through 2012 From Dell
- Whatever the case, if you happen to be rocking an XP-powered computer from Dell, you will only continue to get support for that OS through to 2012.
Pocket lint
- NEWS: Two 2MP webcams from Elecom
- Introducing the UCAM-K30H and UCAM-DLJ200HElecom has released two new web cameras, the UCAM-K30H and UCAM-DLJ200H (nice easy to remember name eh).
...
Read Two 2MP webcams from Elecom on Pocket-lint now
- NEWS: VIDEO: Casio EX-Z300
- Quick video hands on with the new featuresCasio has launched a range of new compact cameras on Wednesday that promise to make sure you look beautiful every time your caught on camera.
...
Read VIDEO: Casio EX-Z300 on Pocket-lint now
- NEWS: Beta launches of SportsFanLive social networking site
- For sports nuts to swap talesA sports fanatic, who also happens to be a former programming exec, is taking on his old bosses and the likes of ESPN, by launching a social networking website just for sports fan.
...
Read Beta launches of SportsFanLive social networking site on Pocket-lint now
- NEWS: Zeekey app for Zeemote available for Nokia phones
- Works with N-gage platformNokia is going to be the first phone manufacturer to offer the Zeemote Zeekey application for its phones.
...
Read Zeekey app for Zeemote available for Nokia phones on Pocket-lint now
- NEWS: Google goes green(er) with eco investment
- $10m on alternative energy technologiesGoogle.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, is pumping $10.25m into research into renewable energy sources.
...
Read Google goes green(er) with eco investment on Pocket-lint now
- NEWS: BenQ launches monitor duo
- G2400WT and the G2200WT widescreen modelsBenQ has launched a pair of widescreen LDC monitors today - the G2400WT and the G2200WT.
...
Read BenQ launches monitor duo on Pocket-lint now
- NEWS: foxL pocket speaker promises "Big" sound
- Small but loud, supposedlyA new pocketable portable speaker has launched in the US that promises to be "The first pocket-sized music system good enough for audio purists".
...
Read foxL pocket speaker promises "Big" sound on Pocket-lint now
- NEWS: Fujitsu FMV-Biblo and Deskpower laptop and desktop PCs
- Journos in the Orient get a sneak peekFujitsu has added new machines to its FMV-Biblo laptop and FMV-Deskpower Desktop PC ranges.
...
Read Fujitsu FMV-Biblo and Deskpower laptop and desktop PCs on Pocket-lint now
- NEWS: The Sims 3 gets dated
- New features promised to suck your life awayEA has announced that its latest version of The Sims, Sims 3, will be hitting computers in February next year in time to buy for the girlfriend/partner/wife that misses her dolls house.
...
Read The Sims 3 gets dated on Pocket-lint now
- NEWS: VIDEO OF THE DAY - Robot solves Rubik's Cube
- Rubik's Cube ain't so hard. If you're a robot anyway...When I first saw this clip, part of my childhood died. I always thought that those smug gits who could actually finish a Rubik's Cube (without levering the squares out with a screwdriver) were freaks of nature.
...
Read VIDEO OF THE DAY Robot solves Rubik's Cube on Pocket-lint now
Mobile Gazette
- Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte
- Insanely brilliant, or insanely expensive? The Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte combines high-tech materials with a substantial price tag that should guarantee exclusivity.
- LG KF310
- The minimalist looking LG KF310 is one of the cheapest 3G phones on the market, but it still manages to come with everything you'd expect.
- Motorola ZN200, W396 and W398
- The Motorola ZN200, W396 and W398 are three low-cost multimedia phones from Motorola. Is there any point in Motorola releasing them at all?
- LG KM380
- It looks like a dedicated multimedia player, but the LG KM380 is actually a fairly inexpensive camera flip phone, available now in several European markets.
- Nokia 3610 Fold
- The familiar-looking Nokia 3610 Fold probably won't wow you when it comes to design or features. But it does seem to be a practical clamshell that would suit most potential users.
- Sony Ericsson T700
- Inspired by the classic T610, the Sony Ericsson T700 is an impressively lightweight 3.5G phone that squeezes a lot of features into its compact form.
- Motorola ROKR EM25, EM28 and EM30
- A set of three ROKR music phones, the Motorola EM25, EM28 and EM30 are stripped down to the bare minimum. Can Motorola persuade anyone to buy them?
- LG KT520
- The LG KT520 is a 3.2 megapixel HSDPA slider which is being aimed at prepay customers, quite impressively for a phone of this specification.
- 3 Skypephone S2 Preview
- A significant improvement over the original Skypephone, the 3 Skypephone S2 promises to make Voice-over-IP simple while not compromising too much on other phone features.
- Samsung Innov8 (Samsung GT-i8510)
- The Samsung Innov8 / i8510 is an impressive 3.5G Symbian smartphone with an 8 megapixel camera, GPS, WiFi and very capable multimedia capabilities.
Xataka Móvil
- HTC Touch Diamond con panel multitáctil
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¿Qué sorpresas más nos tiene reservadas el HTC Touch Diamond? La primera de ellas era el acelerómetro que, aunque no estaba disponible para aplicaciones externas, algunos desarrolladores han conseguido acceder a él y utilizarlo, como vimos con Sensory Overload.
Ahora es otra de las partes del Diamond la que nos ofrece nuevas funcionalidades. Se trata del panel situado justo debajo de la pantalla, donde se incluye la rueda de control y algunos botones físicos. Pues este panel es táctil y de tipo capacitivo, lo que significa que permite detectar más de una pulsación al mismo tiempo, es decir, es multitáctil.
Aunque de momento ninguna aplicación externa soporta esta funcionalidad, uno de los programas de testeo del Diamond muestra su funcionamiento, tal como podemos ver en el vídeo que ilustra esta entrada.
El poder aprovechar esta función del Diamond es solo cuestión de que los desarrolladores consigan acceder a esos datos, lo que seguro que no llevará demasiado tiempo, y que nos puede traer aplicaciones, como mínimo, curiosas. La primera que me viene a la mente es un visualizador de fotografías similar al del Surface, que nos permita rotar y ampliar estas con un par de dedos sobre esta superficie.
Vía | Modaco.
Vídeo | WMPowerUser.
- Lo que realmente entra en el consumo mínimo de un contrato
- A pesar de que debería de tratarse de un aspecto muy sencillo de entender, las operadoras tradicionales hacen que el consumo mínimo de sus contratos a veces sea inalcanzable por lo poco transparentes que suelen ser sus condiciones.
El consumo mínimo es una condición que algunas operadoras imponen a sus clientes para asegurarse un ingreso fijo todos los meses y que en caso de no ser superado por nuestros usos mensuales, será cobrado igualmente. Es decir, si por ejemplo debemos tener un consumo mínimo de 9€ pero un mes solo hemos gastado 6€, al final pagaremos el mínimo 9€ (en el caso de que un mes consumamos por ejemplo 15€, solo pagaremos esa cantidad ya que hemos superado el mínimo exigido).
No confundir el concepto de consumo mínimo con el de cuota mensual ya que la cuota se paga siempre adicionalmente a lo que hayamos consumido mientras que con el consumo mínimo se paga solamente lo que hemos consumido (aunque como mínimo será lo estipulado por la tarifa de voz elegida).
Lo lógico sería pensar que cualquier uso del móvil entra en el consumo mínimo pero las operadoras tratan de inflarlo excluyendo algunos usos, lo que hace cada vez sea más difícil alcanzarlo. Por eso, vamos a intentar aclarar lo que realmente entra en estos consumos aunque no es nada fácil puesto que las operadoras lo esconden muy bien:
Movistar solo computa para el consumo mínimo las llamadas nacionales (excepto las destinadas a los módulos de ahorro), videollamadas, sms y mms. Por tanto no entran las llamadas internacionales (desde España a otros países), llamadas en roaming, llamadas a red inteligente (a números novecientos), conexiones de datos ni los sms premium.
En Vodafone entran las llamadas nacionales e internacionales de cualquier tipo, videollamadas y sms así que quedan excluidos los sms premium, mms, conexiones de datos y el consumo en roaming.
Orange es de las más “legales” en este sentido ya que computa todo el consumo realizado: sms, mms y llamadas de cualquier tipo, videollamadas y conexiones de datos.
Además de lo anterior, las tres operadoras coinciden en no incluir en sus consumos mínimos las cuotas como las asociadas a promociones, servicios de ahorro u otros servicios (internet, televisión, blackberry…). En cambio, las líneas de solo datos (utilizadas para la conexión a internet con un módem usb o similar) no exigen ningún consumo mínimo ya que están obligadas a pagar una cuota mensual.
En el lado opuesto se encuentra la simplicidad de los operadores low cost, Yoigo y los OMV que computan cualquier tipo de consumo para alcanzar su consumo mínimo (si es que lo requieren).
¿Quién se anima a denunciar esta tomadura de pelo o al menos la poca claridad de lo que incluyen realmente?
- Un fallo de fabricación en el iPhone 3G podría obligar a Apple a una reparación masiva
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Ny Teknik, una revista de temática tecnológica sueca ha destapado esta
noticia, según su página web han tenido acceso a pruebas realizadas por expertos de la Universidad de Gävle, en la que se demuestra que la calidad de conexión del nuevo iPhone está muy por debajo de los niveles 3G estándares.
El iPhone 3G salió a la venta el pasado mes de julio prometiendo a los usuarios mayores velocidades de conexión que el modelo anterior, pero desde el lanzamiento, Apple ha estado recibiendo numerosas protestas sobre la conexión 3G de los aparatos.
Las quejas se centran en fallos de conexión que el dispositivo sufre durante las llamadas telefónicas, y al parecer tiene lugar cuando el dispositivo intenta cambiar de una red 3G a otra. La revista de tecnología sueca afirma que estos problemas provienen de un defecto de hardware en la producción del móvil, y lo más grave es que es posible que la solución esté en la sustitución de los terminales.
Según los estudios de la Universidad interpretados por Ny Teknik, es muy probable que los problemas de conexión 3G provengan de ajustes defectuosos entre la antena y el amplificador, capturando señales muy débiles de la misma.
No son los únicos detrás de este asunto, desde EEUU, la operadora AT&T y Apple están trabajando en un software para solucionar los problemas de conexión.
Estas compañías han hecho un comunicado en el importante periódico USA Today, intentando quitar importancia al asunto y hacer ver que con software pueden encontrar la solución al problema, además de informar que al parecer el problema podría ser causado por el chip 3G proporcionado por Infineon Technologies, el mayor proveedor de componentes utilizados en el aparato.
La solución al problema es necesaria, porque si la propia Apple y AT&T están en ello es que hablamos de una realidad, y a pesar de que la compañía de telecomunicaciones sea estadounidense, el problema no sólo se produce en su país, ya que el iPhone 3G actualmente se comercializa en más de treinta países con redes 3G.
Yo me posiciono del lado de Apple y no creo que sea un problema tan grave, en las últimas semanas había leído problemas con el GPS y la localización, pero nunca sobre el 3G, por lo menos problemas graves más allá de los que podríamos considerar normales.
Vía | NyTecnik.
- Nokia mejora la calculadora de los S60
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Enhanced Calculator for S60 es uno de los nuevos proyectos del laboratorio de betas de Nokia, un intento de mejorar la calculadora de los S60, clásico ejemplo de elemento que tras años sigue sin cambios, como el primer día.
Así que Nokia ha decidido poner a uno de sus programadores a portar el código de la calculadora de los S40, que a pesar de ser el sistema empleado en los Nokia de gama medio-baja supera en algunos aspectos como en este caso a los S60.
La aplicación, al igual que la de S40, está escrita en Java y de momento no sustituye a la original que traen por defecto los S60, sino que se instala como una aplicación más, a la espera de ver como responde. Además del modo estándar incluye calculadora científica y de cálculo de hipotécas.
Ha sido testeada con varios terminales S60 3rd Edition, 3rd Edition FP1 y 3rd Edition FP2, la única limitación es la resolución de la pantalla, sólo funciona bajo resoluciones QVGA, es decir, 240 × 320 o 320 × 240 píxeles. En el resto de dispositivos aunque pueda instalarse, al iniciarla da un mensaje de error y se apaga.
Por tanto, con estas premisas debería de funcionar en móviles como los siguientes: E50, E51, E61, E61i, E62, E65, E66, E71, N71, N73, N75, N76, N77, N78, N81, N81 8GB, N82, N92, N93, N93i, N95, N95 8GB, N96, 5320 XpressMusic, 5700 XpressMusic, 6110 Navigator, 6120 classic, 6121 classic, 6124 classic, 6210 Navigator, 6220 classic, 6290, 6650.
Vía | Nokia Beta Labs
Descarga | Enhanced Calculator for S60
- Nokia Chat para S60 3.0 y fring para 9.3
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Dos aplicaciones de comunicación han visto estos días ampliadas el rango de móviles soportados. De un lado Nokia Chat, uno de los últimos programas oficiales de Nokia, está ahora disponible para los móviles con la versión S60 3rd Edition de Symbian.
El cliente de mensajería y localización de Nokia puede así instalarse en teléfonos algo más antiguos como el Nokia N73 y más terminales de esa época. Eso sí, la propia Nokia recomienda actualizar antes con el Nokia Software Updater para que no se produzcan algunos problemas detectados en el N73, N93, N80 y E61.
En el Nokia Beta Labs está la lista de dispositivos compatibles y archivos de descarga.
La otra aplicación que ve ampliado el número de móviles soportados es fring, todo un clásico, que ya soporta cientos de terminales. En este caso son los últimos móviles de Nokia, los que equipan la última revisión de Symbian 9.3, los que ya tienen a su disposición este fenomenal cliente de VoIP y mensajería.
Y los chicos de fring ya avisan, uno de los proximos en unirse al club será el Sony Ericsson G900.
Vía | fring
- Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte
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La familia 8800 de Nokia tiene desde hoy un nuevo componente, el Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte, un móvil para una ocasión de esas en las que no quedaríamos bien sacando del bolsillo un terminal de la serie 1000.
Sin apenas variar un diseño que ya cuenta con unos cuantos años, el 8800 Carbon Arte viene esta vez vestido de fibra de carbono, titanio, cristal pulido y acero inoxidable. Estos materiales aseguran la dureza y resistencia de un terminal destinado a resistir toda una vida, pero manteniendo a la vez la ligereza de peso, proporcionando unas texturas y formas que lo convierten en una auténtica joya.
Además de los materiales el proceso de fabricación es también una obra de precisión, con un diseño minimalista y superficies sin fisuras, sólo el puerto microUSB queda a la vista, también es importante destacar el tratamiento antihuellas que reduce las manchas en el cristal y acero para que no pierda su toque de distinción en ningún momento. Como en otros modelos de la serie también se han creado especialmente tonos y fondos de pantalla para personalizarlo.
Otro aspecto clásico de este tipo de móviles son esos detalles curiosos de funcionamiento, en este caso tocando la parte trasera de acero un par de veces nos mostrará el reloj en pantalla y colocando boca abajo el móvil, se silencian las llamadas entrantes.
En el apartado telefónico, casi lo que menos importa en un móvil de este precio, hay que decir que tampoco se ha dejado de lado, pues el Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte cuenta con 3G, cámara de 3.2 megapíxeles con autofocus, audio de alta calidad, pantalla OLED y 4 GB de memoria.
Se pondrá a la venta en los últimos meses del año a un precio libre y sin impuestos de 1.100 euros, y con gama de accesorios a juego como auricular Bluetooth con control de volumen táctil, cuna y funda de cuero.
Galería de fotos(Haz click en una imagen para ampliarla)
Más información | Nokia
En Xataka | Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte, de nuevo exclusividad
- Las guías Lonely Planet en Nokia Maps
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Nokia y Lonely Planet han firmado un acuerdo por el que las conocidas guías de viaje de esta última estarán disponibles desde el programa de Navegación Nokia Maps. Los usuarios pueden adquirir las guías desde el mismo teléfono móvil, contando en este momento con unos cien destinos diferentes entre los que elegir.
Las guías de viaje Lonely Planet cubren la mayoría de los destinos turísticos y son bastante útiles para aprovechar al máximo un viaje, con mucha información actualizada sobre lugares interesantes para visitar, comer o comprar. Desde la sección de “extras” de la última versión de Nokia Maps, la 2.0, se pueden descargar y comprar estas guías por algo menos de 8 euros.
A falta de haberlas probado, en principio me parecen un complemento genial para los fríos datos y mapas del GPS. Es un añadido que puede ayudarnos a disfrutar del generalmente escaso tiempo que solemos tener cuando estamos de viaje, utilizando solamente algo tan transportable como es el móvil.
Vía | Symbian Freak
Enlace | Nokia Maps
- Comparativa: el iPhone del anuncio y uno real
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Muchos de los fanáticos del iPhone cuentan que lo que más les gusta del aparato es la forma de moverse por los menús o realizar cualquier acción, simplemente tocando la pantalla o arrastrando elementos con los dedos, y el anuncio que vemos en nuestras televisiones explota este hecho, mostrándonos un recorrido por todas sus funciones a tiempo real… ¿o no?
Unos usuarios estadounidenses habían notado que su iPhone no era tan veloz como se mostraba en el anuncio, y decidieron grabar un vídeo en el que hacían exactamente las mismas acciones que en el spot. El resultado es el que nos podemos imaginar: al igual que en cualquier otro producto, las imágenes publicitarias son una idealización de la realidad. El autor de la comparativa reconoce que le encanta la funcionalidad del teléfono, pero se queja de que el anuncio y la realidad vivan en mundos diferentes.
Vía | AteneuPopular
- Pastilla RFID para tomar la temperatura
- Hasta ahora las pastillas más tecnológicas que yo conocía eran las de Neo, la roja o la azul, pero investigadores de la Universidad holandesa de Radboud han conseguido superarlas ampliamente. En concreto han realizado un experimento en el que varios corredores voluntarios tenían su temperatura corporal monitorizada mediante la ingestión de una pastilla con radiofrecuencias RFID.
La marcha de Nijmegen, que comenzó siendo un ejercicio militar, tiene lugar a mediados del mes de Julio y sus participantes recorren entre 30 y 50 kilómetros cada día. Actualmente participan en este evento unas 40.000 personas, pero tras dos fallecidos en el 2006 y casi 70 personas atendidas por agotamientos o excesos de calor, se empezó a pensar en alguna forma de controlar la salud de los corredores. La respuesta ha sido la creación de un sistema que combina un sensor de calor en forma de píldora y un móvil con GPS y bluetooth.
Los voluntarios ingieren estas tecno-pastillas que envían cada diez segundos la temperatura interna del cuerpo hasta el teléfono móvil mediante bluetooth. Esta información y las coordenadas GPS del corredor son mandadas de forma automática por el móvil hasta el centro de control, donde un programa toma en cuenta la altura, peso y edad del deportista para alertar a los equipos médicos en caso de que sea necesario. De esta manera se han podido detectar variaciones en la temperatura de incluso medio grado, alertar, por ejemplo, a un corredor con riesgo de deshidratación mediante una llamada o SMS, o enviar una ambulancia al lugar necesario antes de que fuese solicitada.
Creo que son este tipo de avances los que convierten los móviles en “teléfonos inteligentes”, cuando se aprovechan las características en las que superan a los ordenadores. Quizá en unos años estas píldoras RFID podrán servir para otros muchos usos: tele-diagnóstico, medicación monitorizada, etc., podrían ser realidad muy pronto.
Vía | RFID Update
Mas información | HQ Inc
- Slydial: llamando directamente al buzón de voz
- Un día normal, horas de trabajo, llamas a alguien que suele estar muy ocupado y salta su buzón de voz. O peor aún, te contestan para decirte que llames luego, que lo pillas en una reunión. Slydial es la solución en estos casos, ya que te permite llamar directamente al buzón de voz de alguien.
El servicio es gratuito y por ahora solamente funciona en los USA. Llamando al número de Slydial desde un móvil o un fijo se nos pedirá el teléfono con el que queremos contactar, y, tras escuchar un breve anuncio, accederemos a su buzón de voz donde podremos dejarle el mensaje. Slydial es gratuito pero si queremos evitar los anuncios tendremos que pagar un servicio de suscripción o 15 centavos por llamada.
Tengo curiosidad por saber si en un país tan “anti-buzón” como España funcionaria bien un servicio de este tipo. El buzón de voz es de los pocos sitios que hasta ahora estaban a salvo de la maravillosa publicidad.
Vía | Ringtonia
Enlace | Slydial
Celularis
- Movistar exige la retirada de una campaña de Simyo
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En los últimos meses hemos hablado en un par de ocasiones de los cambios que Movistar España había aplicado al cálculo del consumo mínimo de sus clientes. Aprovechando la ocasión, Simyo lanzó una campaña para convencer a los clientes de Movistar de darse de baja pese a tener un contrato de permanencia, ya que el cambio unilateral en las condiciones de la prestación de servicios hacía que romper la permanencia no les supusiera sanción alguna.
Como era de esperar, esto no ha sentado nada bien en Movistar y, según ha anunciado Simyo, el operador móvil de Telefónica se ha puesto en contacto con ellos para exigirles que cesen “de modo inmediato” con esa campaña de publicidad. El operador de origen holandés ha accedido, pero insisten en que han sido “respetuosos con la Ley” en todo momento.
Más información | Banda Ancha
- HSBC niega que quiera iPhone
- Refutando los dichos de su CIO, y ya directamente el vocero de la empresa desde la sede del banco en Londres, el HSBC negó rotundamente que vayan a reemplazar las Blackberry por los iPhone porque éstas son el “estándar de mail móvil” en el mercado corporativo y que sus 200.000 BlackBerrys seguirán dando servicio.
En definitiva, por más que el iPhone sea lindo, las razones que ya dimos en Celularis son suficientes como para saber que no compiten en la misma liga.
- Carga tu móvil con energía solar …mientras tienes una reunión!
- Hace poco hablábamos de la campera que cargaba las baterías de los móviles a través de la energía solar… ahora quiero presentarles una corbata que tiene la misma funcionalidad:
La tecnología capaz de hacer esto la han desarrollado unos investigadores de la Universidad Estatal de Carolina del Norte, que en su departamento de tecnología textil han logrado una conjunción perfecta entre las celdas solares y los diferentes tipos de tejidos, logrando así una hermosa corbata con cargador de móvil por energía solar.
[Vía Talk2MyShirt]
- Obama usará SMS en su campaña presidencial
- Según The New York Times, y como parte de una campaña de prensa descomunal, Barack Obama anunciará a sus seguidores quién será su candidato a vicepresidente a través de un SMS.
En un mail le pide a sus seguidores que envíen sus nombres y números de teléfonos celulares para poder recibir un mensaje de texto SMS en el momento en que tome la decisión de quién será el candidato a vice, lo que ocurrirá seguramente luego del incio de la próxima Convención Nacional Demócrata del próximo lunes.
La campaña también incluye material para descargar en los móviles, mandando la palabra Barack a cierto número corto se recibirán wallpapers y otros detalles en favor de candidato. Según lo que detalla el NYT, la estrategia está orientada como un contraste con la del candidato republicano, el senador John McCain, quien no utiliza la mensajería de texto y rara vez utiliza internet.
- Los SmartPhone con QWERTY siguen ganando mercado
- Según un informe que ha realizado la investigadora de mercados NPD Group, sobre los 28 millones de unidades vendidas durante el segundo trimestre del 2008, en todo USA, se ha llevado el premio al mayor crecimiento en el mercado el ya “típicamente corporativo” SmartPhone con teclado QWERTY.
El formato con teclado QWERTY ha obtenido el 28% del total de los teléfonos vendidos, en comparación con sólo un 12% de hace un año atrás, por lo que no dudamos que en el futuro se seguirá incrementado esa participación, pues vemos que Motorola sigue esforzándose con su Motorola Q9H, o Nokia con el Nokia E61i que vemos arriba.
Los equipos más populares durante este plazo, según ZDNET, fueron los siguientes:
RIM Blackberry Curve
RIM Blackberry Pearl
Palm Centro
Apple iPhone
Samsung BlackJack
(es importante recordar que los tiempos de la medición de este informe son anteriores al lanzamiento del iPhone 3G)
- Mobiado Lucido, otra edicion Limitada
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Hoy parece ser día de Ediciones Limitadas, al mismo tiempo que se conoce el Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte, aparece este Mobiado Lucido una edición limitada de apenas 200 unidades construídas de aluminio anodizado, teclado de acero inoxidable y cristal de zafiro anti rayones para el display… aunque esto, como siempre, es lo más llamativo.
A nivel especificaciones es un GSM tribanda y UMTS 2100 con un display QVGA y parlantitos stereo con efectos 3D.. un detalle, es un Symbian S40 con lo que se le recortan muchas posibilidades… esperen un precio de varios miles de dólares ;)
- Nokia, RIM y HTC lideran los Smartphones en Europa
- Va a ser interesante analizar el mercado en, exactamente un año para poder evaluar el impacto de los nuevos jugadores como el iPhone 3G y los Smartphones con Android; pero por ahora, en Europa los líderes en ventas de Smartphones son:
Nokia con el 71.2 %, luego RIM y sus BlackBerry con el 7.2 % y el tercero es HTC llegando al 7%
Y aunque HTC pueda beneficiarse al fabricar hardware para Android, como con el HTC Dream, veo bastante dificil que estas cifras sean una realidad en el 2009… y no, no sueñen con ver a Nokia bajando a un segundo puesto ;)
Fuente: Canalys Research.
- Motorola Q9H con varias actualizaciones
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El Motorola Q9h acaba de recibir dos muy buenas noticias en menos de 2 días; por un lado es oficial el upgrade a Windows Mobile 6.1 con todas las ventajas que tiene esta actualización entre las que destaco mayor velocidad para abrir aplicaciones…y, por otro lado, se lanzó la nueva versión de Blackberry Connect para el Q9H del que pueden leer aca
En definitiva.. si tenes un Q9 vas a tener con que divertirte un rato ;)
Link directo al nuevo ROM del Q9h LINK REMOVIDO hasta que lo verifique
- Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte, la nueva versión del lujo
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Si hay un teléfono de lujo que vive reinventándose con ediciones limitadas es el Nokia 8800 que esta vez lanza su versión Carbon Arte que tiene carcasa de titanio y fibra de carbono y que, por primera vez, empieza a meter algo de tecnología dentro.
El equipo es un GSM tribanda europeo con UMTS de 2100Mhz, conectividad Bluetooth con soporte para perfiles A2DP Stereo y memoria interna de 4GB; además le incluyen una cámara de 3.2mpx con autofocus y soft de edición de fotos (aunque la lógica es editar en una PC :P) y le incluyen dos funciones de soft que fueron lanzadas por fans.. por un lado, con apoyar el teléfono con la pantalla para abajo entra automáticamente en funcion Silencio y, por otro, al darle un golpecito a la pantalla aparece un reloj para ver la hora rápidamente :)
¿el precio? U$s1600 en Europa sin impuestos
- Las guías Lonely Planet en Nokia Maps
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Excelente idea de Nokia para sumarle valor a Nokia Maps, ahora podrás descargar las guías de cada ciudad o país de Lonely Planet directamente desde tu Nokia.
El costo del servicio va a ser de alrededor de EUR 7.99 por cada ciudad o región que descargues y lo encontrás dentro de tu aplicacion en Menú -> Extras -> Guides; y lo mejor es que podés usar Nokia Maps Loader para bajarlos, editar y volver a subir a tu teléfono.
Nokia Blog
- Preview: Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte
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Nokia loves churning out new 8800 series models by the truckload. Last time, it was the 8800 Sapphire Arte. That one sported a genuine sapphire gem and retailed for about $1600 bucks. And now, in an attempt to match the success of the Sapphire, we turn to the Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte.
First, the price: 1100 Euro, $1623 USD. And I thought that Nokia would try to break the bank on this one with a price over the 2G mark. Either way, the Carbon Arte is made up of carbon fiber, stainless steel, titanium, and polished glass for that futuristic spaceship look.
Like the previous Sapphire Arte, the Carbon arte comes with what Nokia calls “tap-for-time” - touching the steel surface below the display twice brings up the clock on the screen. Cool? Sure. Useful? Hell no. And then there’s the “turn-to-mute” feature, which allows the user to flip the phone over to silence incoming calls.
A 3.2 megapixel camera, OLED display, 3G rounds out the list of technical specs on this handset. Nokia reports that internal memory is now 4 whole gigabytes of storage, and it doesn’t seem like expandable memory will be on the horizon anytime soon.
Your $1600 will be well spent, however - if you include the “free stuff” that comes shipped with the phone. This of course means exclusive wallpapers and soundtracks, a touch-sensitive Bluetooth headset, a desk stand, and a leather carrying case. Nokia sure knows how to take care of its phone owners.
Not that it’s a surprise to anyone, but the Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte is expected to ship in the third quarter of 2008. Which….should be about now.
- Nokia’s Weirdest Clip Site Is Back
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Openatownrisk.com, Nokia’s odd teaser site, is back and stranger than ever. If you’re bored, you can give the new 4-part puzzle a try, but most likely you’ll just want to see the outcome: the so-called “weirdest clip ever made.” Gizmodo has the video clip here.
Well, it’s certainly weird all right. The video makes absolutely zero sense, and I can’t for the life of me figure out just what Nokia is trying to promote here. Maybe Nokia should just resort to their standard flash countdown pages.
- Preview: Nokia 3610 Fold Phone
- It’s been pretty quiet on the Nokia front, unless you count the unofficial N85 rumors. The latest news is the release of the Nokia 3610 Fold, a pretty simple low-end flip for the budget set. It’s like a cross between the Nokia 3555 and 6555 phones.
For starters, the 3610 Fold is a quad-band handset with a “sexy-back” fold design - meaning there’s a seamless transition from the front part of the flip to the back when the phone is fully open. The main display is a sort of roomy 2″ screen that supports up to 262k colors. There’s also an external squarish display that according to Nokia’s press release can show an analog clock, among other things.
The camera’s 1.3 megapixels, and has no flash. It does, however, have 6x digital zoom. Yippie.
Expect the Nokia 3610 Flip sometime in..wait for it…the third quarter of 2008. It’ll retail for 125 Euros ($186 USD) and it would not surprise me in the least to see this phone on Tmobile.
Nokia Press Release
- Nokia N96 Gets FCC Update
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Nope, it’s not out yet, but the Nokia N96 MegaPhone has undergone a very pretty teardown at the FCC. Check the link for more of the gory details.
The N96 is still slated for a Q3 2008 release.
The FCC
- What the Hell Happened? (Wordpress Migration)
- After three days of no posts (come on guys, I’m lazy, but not THAT lazy), I present to you the newly redesigned Nokia Phone Blog. Unfortunately, it’s so new that the paint hasn’t quite dried yet, so expect glitches, bugs, and other anomalies crawling around the place.
If you came in from an outside link, you’ll notice that (most) older pages are still around. Turns out Movable Type and Wordpress don’t exactly integrate too well together, so for the time being I’m running two different blog platforms at once. With some luck my redirects will be up and running sooner rather than later.
This isn’t the final look of the Nokia Phone Blog, but it’s pretty darn close. More updates to come later on this week!
- Nokia N85 Hits the FCC
- Not much is known about the elusive N85, other than the fact that it looks like a scaled-down N81. Or is that scaled down N96?
Nokia N85: 900/1900/2100 3G
Either way, Engadget was able to shed a little more light on the subject thanks to some new FCC documents. There’ll be two versions of the N85, one without 3G and the other with 900, 1900, and 2100 mhz bands. Except the 1900 band is one part of AT&T’s 3G network, so who knows where it’ll fit in.
The FCC page doesn’t reveal anything else of value, other than the SAR values: around 1.01-1.03 W/kg when used near the head and 0.65-0.79 W/kg when worn on the body.
- Review: Nokia 5310 XpressMusic Phone
- So I put the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic through its paces for the past couple of weeks to really get a feel for this razor-thin, low-end T-mobile exclusive phone. Inside, everything you wanted to know and probably a lot more than you care to hear.
Down and dirty with the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic.
(I’m going to try something new with review pictures this time around: they’re uploaded onto Ovi, so you can view the slideshow or click on the slideshow to see the rest of the full resolution shots. Let’s see how this works out)
As usual, I must express my sincere thanks to the folks at WOMWorld for providing the trial device. And without further ado:
Up until this year, Nokia’s XpressMusic series was pretty lackluster. The original XpressMusic phones were low/mid-range handsets meant to be score with the younger crowd, but failed miserably because, let’s be honest - no one wants to be seen rockin’ out to something akin to a Fisher Price toy.
Nokia’s designers took the original look and threw it in the garbage, and eventually ended up with the 5310: a budget-priced handset that happens to be one of the slimmest phones around. Oh yeah, and it’s a pretty decent music player, too.
The Outside
The first thing you’ll notice about the 5310 XpressMusic is that it’s small. Really small. It’s official measurements are 4.09 by 1.76 by 0.39 inches (103.8 x 44.7 x 9.9 mm), and to give you some kind of perspective, here’s the dimensions of a couple popular Nokia phones:
Nokia N95: 3.9 x 2.09 x 0.83 inches (99 x 53 x 21 mm)
Nokia N81: 4.05 x 1.97 x 0.70 inches (102 x 50 x 17.9 mm)
Nokia 6010: 4.64 x 1.95 x 0.87 inches (119 x 50 x 23 mm)
If you’ve ever encountered an N81, the 5310 is about half as thick. And probably a quarter of the weight. It’s so light that you won’t even notice that you’re carrying it around.
The front houses the display, keypad buttons, and the dedicated music keys. Nothing too out of hte ordinary here - buttons are about average size (very similar to the N95), and are slightly raised. There’s a firm tactile response when pressing keys, and for the most part they should be fine - although there might be issues with absurdly large fingered people and the 5-way directional key.
I like the unobtrusive look of the dedicated music keys. They’re only very slightly raised and they blend in nicely with the red.
Other features of note on the outside: top-mounted 3.5mm audio jack, power button, and USB port (complete with flimsy port cover), left side charger port, right side volume controls, and rear 2 megapixel camera.
Build quality is what I’d call average. There’s no creaking going on and it isn’t hollow, but the feel is still rather…plasticky. Given its price point ($25-50 with contract), I can’t say I’m too surprised by this.
Not a whole lot to mention about the display. It’s a 2 inch 240×320 pixel TFT. It’s quite bad in direct sunlight. For all other purposes, it does its job.
Camera
The Nokia 5310 houses a no-frills 2 megapixel camera with basic functions. It’s not impressive. Colors are noticeably faded/washed out. See pictures below for more. And video, if you can believe it, is far, far worse. Youch!
I warned you!
Audio
Voice sound quality was typical Nokia, and that means very good in both directions. The loudspeaker, unfortunately, could be better - the maximum speaker volume is way too low, and using it in any kind of outside environment is pretty rough. Part of the reason for this is poor placement of the speaker - it’s situated on the back of the phone, so typically holding the phone in your hand will muffle the sound somewhat.
Even though it’s meant to be a music phone, the 5310 doesn’t come equipped with stereo speakers. That isn’t to say the onboard speaker isn’t good, because it’s actually rather decent. The addition of the 3.5mm audio jack is a nice touch, although the included headset is cumbersome and there’s just way too many wires to deal with.
The retail package also includes a 1 gigabyte microSD card, compliments of Nokia (and falling memory prices).
There’s also a lot of Panic! at the Disco-related paraphernalia preloaded on the phone. Okay, by a lot I mean one song (Nine in the Afternoon) and a couple videos. I cannot stress how bad the videos look on the phone. They are horrendous.
Battery Life
The 860 mAh lithium-ion is definitely one of the 5310’s stronger points. It’s rated for up to 5.5 hours of talk time, and I was able to get a good couple days usage out of it that included a mixture of phone calls, taking pictures, listening to music, and generally messing around with the phone.
User Interface
Finally, a word about the user interface. I like it. A lot. It’s faster and more responsive than previous UI’s, looks 100x better (now looks very similar to S60 counterparts) and the active standby is great. And going through menus while listening to music is actually a pleasant experience. Hurrah, S40 UI’s are no longer an embarassment!
Summary
The Good: small and thin, lightweight, cheap price, battery life, nice interface, overall good value for the money
The Bad: small and thin, horrible camera + video, no stereo anything
See All High Res Photos of the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic
- Reset Generation Goes Live
- Nokia N-Gage’s flagship puzzle game Reset Generation is now freely available for download or online play (requires Java Runtime Environment). Or, you can choose to drop a cool 10 euros on the mobile version.
“Your groin is nice and soft, for kicking!”
As for the game itself, it’s, well…interesting. (see quote above) And extremely confusing at first. Think of it as a turn-based mixture of Tetris and Bomberman with a bunch of familiar, oldschool characters and some quirky rules.
All versions of the game come with an 18-level single player story mode and a 4-player online battle mode. The story mode also functions as the in-game tutorial and is more or less necessary to get you introduced to some finer points of the game.
Reset Generation Official Site
- Nokia Will Now Store Your Files, For a Price
- Nokia’s latest moneymaking addition to the Ovi service is Files on Ovi, a subscription-based service that charges a flat fee for hosting your pictures, videos, music, and pretty much everything else.
Here’s how it works: pay a monthly/yearly fee, and you’ll be given a certain amount of online storage space which you may fill to your heart’s content. You can optionally use your (Nokia) mobile phone to upload, download, and send files to other people.
No official word on pricing, but the 60-day,10 gigabyte storage trial period is currently in effect - meaning you can take the system out for a test drive.
Files on Ovi
Store your files on Ovi…for a price.
- Motorola Pulls Off Earnings Upset
- After a series of losses in the past year or so, Motorola has been pretty much down for the count as of late. But surprises do happen, and this week’s surprise announcement was as follows:
Motorola: Made $4 million in Q2 and lovin’ it.
Motorola actually made money. Okay, so $4 million dollars isn’t a whole lot of profit. But considering Wall Street analysts were expecting losses of over $30 mil, I’d say that’s quite the surprise. Unfortunately, the company’s still not out of the hole, and its cell phone business wasn’t exactly churning out hits in Q2 (actually, the division managed to lose $346 million).
Some of the highlights:
28.1 million cell phones shipped - well, more than last year (27 million shipped)
Market share fell to 9.4%, putting it in third-place (LG is in fourth, wtih 9.1% share)
Loss of $346 million for the quarter in handset division
50 new phone models to release by the end of the year - more smartphones with full keyboards coming
Handset business will be spun off by Q3 2009
iPhone Tips
- Touchtip's got a brand new bag, and a new look to boot
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Way back in early 2007 the iPhone was announced. We were ecstatic. Finally, a mobile phone that wasn’t mediocre. Oh, we’ve had ‘em all: freebee LGs, tiny Nokias, slick Razrs, clumsy Qs and non-qwerty Blackberries (we still don’t get that one). The good, the bad and the ugly. And if anybody was going to do “excellent,” it was going to be be Apple. Still, we weren’t prepared for what was about to happen to us and the rest of the world when we started to actually use it.
Instantly we knew that this was going to be the hottest device on the planet. Then came the iPod touch: iPhone technology without the ability to dial and pay the AT&T tax. Sweet! We were in love, despite being made to feel a bit foolish.
This was around the time our two-man team feverishly wrote, coded, designed and edited Touchtip into existence. In not much time, we had a website with some useful tips and a glossy look to reflect Apple’s new line of icrack icandy. Soon after our first post, thousands of readers stopped by every day looking for tips, hacks and help for their new addiction.
Now, 250+ articles (posts) and almost a thousand comments later, the time has come to revamp the site and make room for the future. Aside form the visual design, the majority of changes are decidedly subtle. Reading articles and comments should feel easier. Navigating and searching should be more intuitive, especially finding the forums. There is also a new iPhone optimized layout that will make the site easy to read and more useful on the go.
The most important change has been under the hood and the room to grow in this new era of the iPhone 3G, 2.0 software and the App Store. In the future, we’ll be adding some more content and features that we hope will make Touchtip much more valuable to our readers. We’re also working on making the forums a better place to get help and discuss any topic our readers wish. We’ll write more updates as they come. For now, please continue to enjoy Touchtip as the best source of non-recycled information for the iPhone and iPod touch.
We’d love your feedback - praise and critiques welcome, especially any problems you encounter reading, posting, etc. Comment below or contact us privately through our feedback form.
Related articlesTouchtip’s got a brand new bag, and a new look to bootiPod touch - the phone-less iPhoneiPhone hack - Add native IM to your iPhone with Apollo IMFeeling fat from the holidays? Lighten up with Gyminee on the iPhoneCopyright © 2007-2008 Touchtip
Tags: iPhone, iPod touch, News, Search, Tips
- Point, scan, learn, with ScanLife - tags for the real-world
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Months ago, we caught wind of a rumor that ScanLife was going to create an iPhone app to enable bar code scanning using the iPhone camera. Sure, bar codes are nothing new, but we’re not talking about grocery bar codes here. ScanLife bar codes are more like digital hieroglyphics that are tagged on real-world items and can be decoded with your iPhone running the ScanLife app. You point your camera at the bar code, then ScanLife processes the code into an action that automatically opens mobile Safari with more information about the item.
At first glance, this technology appears to be yet another new marketing channel for advertisers to exploit (and no doubt they’ll try), but the real-world applications of this technology go well beyond advertising. Imagine a museum, or a car show, with each item on display also sporting a ScanLife barcode. Point point your iPhone camera, scan, then view deeper information about that particular item. Or, think of a self-guided travel tour where you can scan codes at different points of interest to learn more about that location. The information can be text, audio, video, or any other interactive media that is supported by the iPhone. The potential of this technology is only limited by the imagination.
Ten years ago we were intrigued by a presentation at Xerox Parc in Palo Alto, California (creators of the computer mouse) which showcased technology that “tagged” real-world items with tiny identifiers about the size of a grain of rice. These tags could be read by PDAs which would then display more information about the tagged item. We thought this was amazing technology that held promise for learning applications and we eagerly awaited it to come to the mass market. It never did, at least not here.
Not surprisingly, Tokyo has provided this type of tagging to its residents and visitors with location-based information for the past several years. For instance, you could emerge from a subway to see a sign containing a bar code. This code could be processed by a cell phone camera to access more information about the area like history, shopping, restaurants, and more. Proliferation of advanced cell phone technology in Japan allowed this type of tagging to flourish in Tokyo while remaining out of reach for the lagging mobile market in the U.S. The iPhone, however, could tilt this technology toward mass adoption in the U.S. given the sheer number of iPhone users here in the states.
ScanLife takes advantage of the iPhone platform to provide an easy way for people to create real-world tags that can be connected to web-based data sources. Creating tags with the ScanLife web site is simple and free. Put one on your business card. Print T-shirts with your bar code. Temporary tattoos. Permanent tattoos. Put it anywhere you can imagine.
We love this technology and hope ScanLife can get enough market penetration to make it ubiquitous in our daily lives. We’re going to Maui next week and would love to use ScanLife’s EZcodes on our iPhones to learn more about the Road to Hana and the Seven Sacred Pools. However, this depends on our iPhones being able to connect to the network from the north side of Maui, and right now, we don’t have much confidence in that. And maybe that’s a good thing. After all, there are some places that shouldn’t be tagged, like Maui. But for every other place, ScanLife is an excellent way to provide iPhone users with a fun, easy way to access more information about something in the real-world.
ScanLife - Tagging the real world for iPhone users
www.ScanLife.com
Free ScanLife app for iPhone (App Store)
CommentsAugust 17, 2008 - It should be noted that:
Scanbuy's indirect resolution process, which they use for their proprietary EZcode, is infringing on NeoMedia Technologies' core patents.
Scanbuy uses the indirect encoding method for their barcode resolution process.
Indirect encoding (patented by NeoMedia) is the process of linking the target information to an index (364528 for example) and putting that unique identifier into a 1D UPC/EAN or 2D barcode. The code reader on the mobile phone reads the barcode and sends the code data over the Internet to a central resolution server that will tell the mobile phone what action is associated with the index, i.e. access a URL, download media, initiate a phone call, ect.
NeoMedia Technologies has a suite of twelve issued patents covering the core concepts behind linking the physical world to the electronic world dating back to 1995. These patents cover various linkage methods including: Barcodes, RFID, Mag Stripe, Voice, and Other machine readable and keyed entry identifiers.
http://neom.com/13.html
NeoMedia brought suit against Scanbuy. Litigation has been ongoing. by streetstylzAugust 19, 2008 - @streetstylz - thanks for the info. We'll be sure to watch for what happens and update this space. by JRAugust 19, 2008 - This would be the best app if it worked well by RandyRelated articlesPoint, scan, learn, with ScanLife - tags for the real-worldNever forget the milk (or anything else) ever againSend us your feedback!iPod touch tips for business usersiPhone tip - All hail the mighty YubNub!Copyright © 2007-2008 Touchtip
Tags: App Store, Apps, Camera, iPhone, Utilities
- Turn your iPhone into a wireless storage device
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The iPhone is great for storing your music and video files, but it doesn’t it allow you to store other types of files so that you can use it for data portability or back up. Curiously, this is one of those obvious features that you wonder why Apple does not include in the iPhone right out of the box. We would love to carry our presentations and documents with us on our iPhones, and transfer them wirelessly from computer to computer. Today, our wishes came true with the release of DataCase, a native app for iPhone or iPod touch, now available in the App Store for $6.99. Business users, students, and anyone in need of more storage will love DataCase and find it well worth the seven bucks.
DataCase essentially turns your iPhone or iPod touch into an external memory device that you can access wirelessy from any other device on your wi-fi network. DataCase creates a drop box on your device which will be instantly familiar to Mac users. The drop box is a place where any network device can copy files to your device. You can also set up DataCase to be a shared drive to easily move files between your device and another computer.
Security is the first thing that comes to mind with an app like this. How can we be sure our files won’t be silently pilfered from our pockets? Like all native iPhone apps (at least for now), DataCase does not run as a background process. This means it has to be running in order for any data transfer to occur.
Secondly, the drop box is limited to one-way, write-only data transfer. Computers or devices on the network can only copy files into your drop box; they cannot read or browse files that are already resident in your drop box. By default, the drop box requires an access check for each remote connection.
This type of access control is also configurable for the other volumes on your device. You can set each volume to require access or not, and you can make them writable, browsable, both, or neither. You can also set volumes to be hidden. DataCase’s granular, on-request access control coupled with non-background running processes provide more than adequate security to give you peace of mind while you walk around with your data.
DataCase works with any wireless enabled computer (Mac, PC, Linux) and doesn’t require any additional software to be installed. On the Mac is uses Bonjour and the Finder so all you have to do is start DataCase and your device will automatically show up on your desktop. Copying files to DataCase is simply drag-and-drop.
DataCase offers many other features like a text search feature to search on file names. Folders and files are all fully UTF-8 compliant to support English, French, German, Chinese, and Korean. You can also rotate the view to landscape to see long file names.
You can throw your USB drives out and just carry your iPhone or iPod touch, because for seven bucks you really can’t beat this app for sheer utility when it comes to data portability and back up.
DataCase - Available now in the App Store
CommentsAugust 12, 2008 - How does this compare to FileMagnet? Is the only difference that you have to download a seperate app on the mac? by LeeAugust 13, 2008 - @Lee - FileMagnet does accomplish the same thing, but there are a couple of key differences. For one, FileMagnet only works with Macs running OS 10.5.x, so Windows users are out of luck. It also requires you to install software on every Mac you wish to share files with. This makes the portability aspect much less convenient. Also, as of this writing, DataCase supports many more file types than FileMagnet. by Dean LucasAugust 14, 2008 - The specs at Apple say that DataCase works with any wireless enabled computer (Mac, PC, Linux), so I downloaded it. Apparently it does not work with Vista PCs. The instructions are for an XP pc. I have tried to find it on my computer, but it is not there, other than in iTunes, where it seems to be only an icon. by Edna BarneyAugust 14, 2008 - @Enda - From windows you will need to go to windows explorer (not to be confused with Internet Explorer, if in doubt double click on "My Computer" and it should take you to windows explorer), in the path field at the top of the window were it has the path to the displayed folder you should put the URL on the DataCase UI that starts with "ftp://" and press enter. This should let you browse your files and upload/download as expected. by Dean LucasAugust 14, 2008 - this sounds great and all, but how do I then get the files to another computer? Nothing that I have read here or on the App store says anything about transferring the files from the iPhone to a computer, just from a computer to the iPhone. by anthonyAugust 14, 2008 - Well - I am glad to know that DataCase is "supposed" to work with Vista - however, not for me. Yes I did the "My Computer" thing and I also opened Windows Explorer with the Icon on the Vista pop up window. Either way, I typed in the ftp:// url on my Ipod's DataCase, pressed enter, and get an error message. It says "An error occurred opening that page on the ftp server. Make sure you have permission to access that folder." I was never using Internet Explorer, yet the ftp:// URL ends up under the icon for Internet Explorer. by Edna BarneyAugust 17, 2008 - I've fiddled a little with it on my Vista Ultimate. There is a definite problem in using it with the Windows Explorer under Vista. the only way I was able to get this great little app to work in Vista was to use an FTP client. Since I use Firefox 3 anyway I use the FireFtp extension avaiable at: http://fireftp.mozdev.org/
IPv6 should be set to used under settings. by MorrisRelated articlesTurn your iPhone into a wireless storage deviceTurn your iPhone or iPod touch into an external storage deviceExtend your iPhone file storage with Box.netiPhone hack enables wireless without AT&TiPhone tips - Optimize your iPhone or iPod touch for maximum battery lifeCopyright © 2007-2008 Touchtip
Tags: App Store, Apps, iPhone, iPod touch, Memory, Utilities
- iPhone 3G is out to lunch, and dinner for that matter
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The new iPhone’s GPS service has brought forth a variety of location-based apps in available in the App Store. One of the most natural fits for this type of service is the ability to locate nearby places of interest, such as restaurants. Today, we’ll tell you about two very useful apps for finding good eats, and both are available now in the App Store as free downloads. We’ll also tell you about another free app, this one’s web-based, that condiments compliments the native apps. Each is unique in its own way, offering a strength not found in the others. We find that having all three available on our iPhone 3G is better than any one of them, until of course, someone can create the killer app that combines the best of all three into a single iPhone app.
First, we’ll tell you about the one that is probably the least useful of the three, but the most fun to use. UrbanSpoon offers an interface that resembles a slot machine. You flick each roller to select a preference for food type and price. Then you give your iPhone a gentle shake causing the rollers spin while the GPS figures out your current location. Then, just like the magic 8 ball, UrbanSpoon dishes out a nearby restaurant that meets your criteria. Don’t like the results? Shake again to get another dining choice, and so on.
UrbanSpoon’s clever use of the iPhone’s accelerometer combined with location awareness makes this app our top pick for creativeness. However, the one thing UrbanSpoon doesn’t tell you is how good the food is at each restaurant. They do allow users to rate restaurants but they have not achieved a critical mass of users to make this rating system trustworthy. This is where our next app really shines, using only one word to harvest the wisdom of the crowd. Yelp.
Need we say more? Probably not, because Yelp is practically a household name as a go-to source of ratings and reviews for all kinds of products and services, including restaurants and bars. It’s not surprising that Yelp’s review system is so reliable given that they’ve had a several-year head start as a web site, with a large user base contributing reviews and ratings.
Yelp’s iPhone app lets you drill down to find restaurants that have been reviewed and rated by the massive Yelp community. We’re actually surprised at how many people will take the time to write such detailed and thoughful restaurant reviews, but hey, everyone’s a critic. Yelp’s iPhone app is also location aware making it a breeze to find places to eat or drink near your current proximity. Each restaurant listing has a cumulative rating right at the top, followed by the phone number that you can tap-to-call from the iPhone. It would be really great if you could see if the restaurant had any tables currently available, but that’s where our third app comes in.
Believe it or not, there is a free service that lets you see if a particular restaurant has any available tables. It also allows you book your own reservations, and even gives you discounts at participating eateries. We’ve been using the desktop web version of OpenTable for years, and we are elated to have this finally available on our iPhones.
OpenTable lists available seating at over 8,500 restaurants across the U.S. and reserves over 3 million seats per month. The newly released mobile interface works perfectly for iPhone and iPod touch users looking to book a table while on the go. Because OpenTable is a web app, it can’t offer features like location awareness or motion detection like the previously mentioned apps. However, for sheer utility of finding and booking tables, OpenTable can’t be beat.
And here’s a tip for all you diners out there thinking that it may be easier to simply call a restaurant to book a table instead of trying to do it yourself using OpenTable. Many restaurants that use OpenTable’s reservation system will actually block out a certain number of seats that can only be booked from the OpenTable web site. Additionally, you can use OpenTable to reserve your seats during restaurant off hours when you can’t get through to a human at the front desk. So anytime you think you may be out-of-luck getting a seat at your favorite restaurant, don’t forget to check OpenTable before giving up.
As you can see, the apps from UrbanSpoon, Yelp, and Open Table complement each other extremely well, even though you have to use them separately. With location awareness, both UrbanSpoon and Yelp offer easy ways to find nearby restaurants, you just have to ask yourself whether you want to find them by shaking, or tapping. Yelp’s crowd sourced rating system can’t be beat for filter out the good restaurants from the bad. And Open Table offers a great utility for reserving those tables. Each has it’s own strength, and deserves a place on your home screen.
Have fun locating nearby restaurants
UrbanSpoon (App Store)
Find only the good restaurants
Yelp (App Store)
Make reservations without waiting on the phone
Open Table (Web site)
CommentsJuly 22, 2008 - Are you trying to serve this i Phone for my dinner tonight? by ipod batteryJuly 26, 2008 - Added. Nice work on this one. Btw, my blog is dofollow, stop by and grab a link. Bompa by BlackhatseoRelated articlesiPhone 3G is out to lunch, and dinner for that matterDiscover more web sites, drink more beer with SiteHoppin’Copyright © 2007-2008 Touchtip
Tags: App Store, Food, Fun, iPhone, iPod touch, Tips