Crenk » phones

Microsoft Silverlight to be on Nokia’s Symbian Next Week?

Steven Finch — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:47:48 +0000

This is a partnership between Nokia and Microsoft which could see Silverlight on Symbian mobile phones as early as next week.

Microsoft posted the developer tools and the beta version of the code on March 11th but then quickly pulled them down again. Mary Jo Foley thinks it may launch at Mix next week.

Mobile may be the killer app to get Silverlight in more users hands. With Silverlight being heavily integrated with the up coming Windows Phone 7, soon with Symbian and even talk of a port to Android, Microsoft will significantly expand its reach with the platform.

The MIX conference next week will certainly be interesting as Microsoft pushes to reclaim the mobile space.

[via ZDNet]

Google to Launch Nexus One in India

Steven Finch — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:11:24 +0000

Google’s Nexus One smartphone is already being sold in different locations around the world, but so far not in India. It has now been reported that Google is planning a launch of a ’scaled down’ version of the Nexus One for the Indian market.

Currently details havent been release, but im sure the price would hopefully reflect the market and also the specs. There is a very big mobile phone market in India which is dominated by Nokia and Blackberry.

The original Nexus One features 5 megapixel camera with auto focus and LED flash, 3.7 inch AMOLED touch screen, 512MB Flash along with a 4GB microSD slot, video recording at 20 frames per second and numerous Google services such as Gmail, Google Search etc.

For all that’s in the air for now, a report suggests that the new Nexus One for India will have a 3.7 inch AMOLED touch screen and Snapdragon processor but with a downgraded memory and Camera. Now, let’s wait and watch if Google really makes a hit on this one.

Verizon and the NFL Will Stream All NFL Games Next Season onto Mobile Phones

Steven Finch — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:05:17 +0000

The National Football League and Verizon Wireless has partnered with a mobile distribution deal that will bring live NFL games onto phones at the start of next season.

The paid service will work on BlackBerrys and Android phones. Verizon hasn’t set prices for service, but an announcement is expected in weeks.

More from the WSJ: The deal marks a significant shift in strategy for the NFL, which has never before allowed mobile access to its games on Sunday afternoons. Doing so was long considered by broadcasters to be a threat to the NFL’s golden goose—its Sunday afternoon broadcasts that generate some $1.4 billion in license fees from News Corp.’s Fox and CBS Corp’s. CBS, whose executives have said they will keep a close eye on the impact of mobile distribution on their ratings.

Verizon’s four-year deal, which they took over from Sprint, is reportedly worth about $720 million.

Opera Releases Native Opera Mini 5 App For Windows Mobile Phones

Steven Finch — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:00:27 +0000

This morning Opera announced that it has released a native version of Opera Mini 5 beta for handsets running Windows Mobile 5 and 6.

Interestingly, the new WinMo version of Opera Mini does not require Java. That basically means any Windows Mobile phone can accommodate the app.

Despite not requiring Java, Opera Mini 5 beta for Windows Mobile includes the same feature set as the Java-based version. That means features like tabbed browsing, speed dial, bookmarks and the password manager are built right in (also see video below).

To download, simply point your current mobile browser to m.opera.com/next.

Nokia Rolls Out Nokia Custom Dictionary Application for Free Download To Most Nokia Mobile Phones

Steven Finch — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:46:45 +0000

Nokia has added a new predictive text dictionary to Nokia S60 phones. Nokia has just rolled out the Nokia Custom Dictionary beta app.

This new application pretty much does what it says on the tin and adds the predictive text option to your phone. The app allows you to scan text files to import words or import words from xml file. It also lets you transfer your Custom Dictionary from one Nokia phone to another.

The app supports various Nokia S60 3rd and 5th edition smartphones including Nokia E71, Nokia E63, Nokia 5800 Xpress Music and Nokia X6. It will also work with other Nokia E-Series phones but you may encounter some minor and yet neglible issues. While for older Nokia N-Series phones such as N96, N95, N79, N78 and N82, the app may have limited functionality.

Whichever Nokia smartphone you have, you need to download the by logging in to your Nokia Beta Labs account and download the app from here.

After downloading and installing the app on your Nokia handset, you can start “teaching” your smartphone commonly used words or even create specific word lists that you can share to other Nokia smartphone users and together you can all start buiding a custom dictionary of terms for your Nokia smartphones.

You may download the app here.

Mobile Web Usage Doubles in 2009

Dean Sherwin — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 09:04:51 +0000

The mobile web has been around for quite some time. It’s earliest form was accessed using primitive mobiles using GPRS. Early Blackberries at the turn of the millennium played their part in increasing its popularity and relevance. Still however, the computer remained the best way to access the web. However, since the iPhone revolutionised the way we think about mobile web, its usage has more than doubled in one year.

2009 saw an increase of more than 110% in mobile web usage. This is undoubtedly due to the rush of smart phones onto the market such as the iPhone, Android devices and new Blackberries. Apple dominates each continental market except for Africa where cheaper GPRS phones still rule. In fact, Apple had a 65% share of the market at the end of 2009 with their iPhone and iPod Touch.

Android is the number two player in the US and has been growing in dominance since late 2008 when they launched on HTC phones. Towards the end of 2009, Android also seen a spike when their Motorola devices went on sale. They currently have around 12% of the North American market.

2010 may see the mobile web take off as Google prepare to launch their own smart phone and the scramble for consumers to get more up to date phones begins as the world climbs out of recession.

NextWorth: Trade In Your Old or Unused Mobile Phones or Cells

Steven Finch — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 01:09:46 +0000

NextWorth who is a leading player in consumer electronics trade-in and incentivized recycling programs, is announcing a new trade-in service for all mobiles. It has been reported that the average person purchases a new phone every 12 months with more than one hundred million working phones becoming unused every year. NextWorth is helping consumers keep the environment clean, reduce electronic waste, and make money at the same time.

NextWorth accepts mobile phones from every carrier and manufacturer, and after the trade-in value is determined the consumer can opt to have a check sent via mail or paid via Paypal. If the phone itself doesn’t hold any value at the time of trade-in then NextWorth will still provide free shipping to customers and disposes of the device through responsible recycling practices.

Blackberry Turning Soft?

Dean — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:18:55 +0000

There once was a time when if you wanted to surf the web, check you e-mails and text a buddy on the move you bought a Blackberry. They took care of everything for you and became so popular the brand name was a synonym for ‘Smartphone’. However, the competition has been heating up in the Smartphone market ever since the iPhone was introduced last year. Samsung are meeting it head on with their i900 and the Nokia N97 will give it a run for its money. With all these new releases, each one promising more than the other you’d expect Blackberry, the old giant of the Smartphone world to come out with a good model. You’d be wrong.

Instead, they throw the Tour 9630 out there. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good phone. Good shapes like the Blackberry Curve, nice and wide, QWERTY keyboard and a 480×360 screen. It also has 3G, GPS mapping, good browsing speed and a 3.2 megapixel camera. However, I ask you – does any of this surprise you. When the iPhone came out everyone gasped when GPS mapping was so well incorporated, when the touch screen was so easy to operate and when the internet was just that – the internet. But the upcoming Blackberry Tour 9630 just doesn’t offer anything new.

In fact, it has taken away a few features including one very important one – WiFi. This will deter the typical consumer who doesn’t particularly want to pay 3G charges and use their home WiFi instead. For this reason, the 9630 is only really a good phone for the business person, not for the average consumer. I think that Blackberry has cut out a large chunk of the market by leaving out WiFi. Are Blackberry floundering under the pressure of a new Smartphone market or are they ramping things up for a big release? Let’s hope for the latter because it would be a shame to see a once strong giant disappear so quickly with barely a whimper from phones like the 9630

Sony Ericsson Launches Satio, Aino and Yari

Steven Finch — Sun, 31 May 2009 15:27:01 +0000

Sony Ericsson has announced two new models Aino and Yari and also officially named the Idou which was launched in February as Satio.

1. Satio- More details

2. Aino- More details and Photos

3. Yari- More details and Photos

Satio and Aino are two models which will be top end phone bundled with features.

Source: Life Rocks 2.0!

SaySoMobile: Make Money Receiving Text Ads On Your Mobile Phone

Steven Finch — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:43:01 +0000

Are you sick and tired of receiving crappy spam messages in your inbox every single day? Well why only receive spam in your inbox when now you can also receive it on your mobile phone! This all comes from a new startup called SaySoMobile.

SaySoMobile is a new startup in which users can sign up and receive advertisements straight onto their mobile phone and in return the user makes a little money. Its that simple!

The idea is simple. Advertisers want access to people which gets their message across as much as possible for as little as possible. This new startup allows advertisers to target certain people in certain countries with advertisements direct onto their mobile phones via messages. Advertisers know that with this method the high majority of ads will be opened before they can be deleted, thus having a higher possibility of providing them a return on their investment.

Im very interested to hear from people using this service to make a little extra money, mainly to see if the money they are making is worth the intrusiveness of the advertisements.

Admob: Making Online Mobile Advertising As Simple As 1-2-3

Steven Finch — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 22:41:35 +0000

There are so many advertising networks popping up these days its hard to know which ones are actually going to be useful to your needs. However, when it comes to mobile advertising networks, there is only one that really stands out from the crowd, Admob.

AdMob connects people who want to buy ads with people who want to monetize their mobile traffic through the AdMob Marketplace. Admob makes advertising and publishing easy with solutions and tools to meet your unique needs.

Mobile is very dominant in countries like Japan, and advertising to these clients is still not developed fully. Admob offers everything a normal online advertising network would offer, but they simply make moving into the mobile revenues generation space easy.

Google Acquires Mobile Platform Operator Zingku

Steven Finch — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 10:27:05 +0000

The latest news is the Google has agreed to acquire mobile startup Zingku. There is very little know about the company, but according to Zingku themselves this is what they do:

“Our service is designed from the mobile phone, outward, allowing you to create and exchange things of interest ranging from invitations to â€œmobile flyersâ€ with friends in a trusted manner. On the mobile phone, Zingku uses standard text messaging and picture messaging features that come with every phone. On the web, our service uses your standard web browser and instant messenger. There is nothing to install.â€

This is a bit of a strange one, Techcrunch cant even find out much about the company. Come on Arrington im sure you must have some contacts somewhere that can get you some inside information!