Smartphone Thoughts - Daily News, Views, Rants and Raves

Be sure to register in our forums! Share your opinions, help others, and enter our contests.

Zune Thoughts

Loading feed...

Digital Home Thoughts

Loading feed...

Pocket PC Thoughts

Loading feed...

All posts tagged "mobiles"

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Google Calendar Rolls Out for Mobiles

Posted by Pete Paxton in "NEWS" @ 05:00 AM

http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/05/25/google-calendar-rolls-out-for-mobiles/
"Google's rumored and real romp through mobile space continues with the announcement of its Google Calendar application's support for mobiles. The calendar seems to work perfectly, displaying a day by day view of your world and your plans for it, though, sadly, we couldn't find any way to remove events one they were added. Events can be added by typing a description of your appointment in the "Quick Add" box at the bottom of the screen. For example, typing "Pause for dinner today 16:00" (or 4 pm) adds that event to your calendar. This is a pretty handy tool if you rely heavily on your Google calendar or aren't into all that Windows Mobile Calendar syncin' business."

User submitted image

I don't use Google Calendar for my appointments, but for those of you who do, Google Calendar for mobile devices is here. Like everything else with Google it's in beta. Why is that by the way? How long can Gmail be in beta? Anyway, if Google Calendar for mobile devices is what you've been waiting for, you can read about it at Engadget Mobile or you can go to calendar.google.com on your mobile device and keep your almost missed appointments. :D

Tags: google, mobiles, calendar, rolls

Friday, May 4, 2007

GigaOM: Hey Microsoft, Forget MIX, Focus on Mobiles

Posted by Kris Kumar in "THOUGHT" @ 08:10 AM

http://gigaom.com/2007/05/02/mobiles-not-mix-microsoft/
"It is hardly a surprise that the more en vogue and exotic MIX �07 is overshadowing a strategically more important event hosted by Microsoft - the 2007 Mobile and Embedded Devices Conference also being held in Las Vegas. Given that mobiles are supposedly the platform for the next billion - aka a market Microsoft has to play in - it is a surprise that Microsoft and its vast press corps failed to send us a single alert about this conference, and instead chose to spend all their attention (and some serious dollars) on MIX 07. Such apathy is contrary to the progress Microsoft has made with Windows Mobile, which is one of the two future platforms of growth for the company. (Xbox is the other.) ... While it is unlikely that I would switch to Windows Mobile anytime soon, I have seen how some friends of mine like the platform. In fast growing mobile societies like India and China, Windows Mobile devices are popular despite their high price tag. Many use Windows Mobile (and other phones) for what we view as computing tasks in the US. It is their computer. Microsoft has to work hard with device makers to bring the prices down to $100-a-pop range, and see its market share zoom. Microsoft�s relevance (and more importantly future profits) in these new mobile societies are going to come from mobiles, not PCs."

Om Malik has written a thought provoking article, which I am sure our readers will agree with. While Windows Mobile based smartphones have come a long way, it is still not a household name. My Dash is always mistaken for a BlackBerry! My Dash can play videos, it is a phone and it can surf the Net. It can do much more than that, and it is available in stores now. Yet, I don't hear about thousands of people saving their hard-earned money for one. In a market that is crowded with phones, it is tough to make an impact. And Microsoft has made a lot of progress in this tough market. Microsoft has painstakingly (we have also shared it) improved the software over the years, and has worked with its partners to improve the form-factor. While it is good to see Microsoft involved in improving the technology aspect, it is sad to see it sit quiet and not publicize their next bread-winner. Intel became a household name after its famous "Intel Inside" campaign, prior to the campaign the consumers never cared about the processor brand in their PCs. Similarly Windows Mobile is being used by phone manufacturers to deliver awesome handsets, yet no one has heard about it. How come Microsoft is not running its own advertisements? Why is it relying on the carriers and manufacturers to put out the advertisements? Which by the way end up promoting everything except Windows Mobile. So Microsoft, get mobile and focus on mobiles!

Tags: microsoft, , mobiles, focus, forget, gigaom, mix

Thursday, October 5, 2006

Virgin Mobile's Lobster 700 Reviewed at MoDaCo

Posted by Mike Temporale in "ARTICLE" @ 07:30 AM

http://www.modaco.com/index.php?showtopic=247039
"Virgin Mobile are definitely late to the 'Windows Mobile Party'... but it looks like they plan to make up for lost time with the launch of their new 'Lobster 700' device, which focuses on providing a Mobile TV and Radio experience. The platform that underpins the Mobile TV offering is a 'DAB-IP' platform provided by BT and named 'Movio'. The system uses the DAB Digital Radio system to deliver both DAB Radio and Live TV, with added features such as a 7 day TV guide and interactive 'red button' functionality, which will be familiar to those readers using Digital TV already."

User submitted image

Paul has just posted his review of the new Lobster Smartphone from Virgin Mobile that supports DAB TV. If I understand things correctly, this device supports broadcast television, so you don't need an expensive data plan to watch TV on your device. It's not streamed over the internet to you. It looks like a nice device, overall. However, I would be more inclined to use a SlingBox and watch my own TV and any shows that I might have recorded on my Media Center than watch a limited number of live broadcast channels. Of course, that's just me. :)

Tags: modaco, reviewed, mobiles, virgin, lobster

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Detecting Internet Explorer Mobile's User-Agent

Posted by Mike Temporale in "DEVELOPER" @ 09:30 AM

http://blogs.msdn.com/iemobile/archive/2006/08/03/Detecting_IE_Mobile.aspx
"We recently made a change in the next version of IE Mobile for Windows Mobile, regarding the IE Mobile User-Agent string. It was a little (ok - a lot!) out of date, and it really didn't suit our needs. It was a relic of a long ago fragmented product that just didn't reflect the current state of the browser. What we discovered as we updated the string was that many sites that thought they were properly detecting IE Mobile really weren't doing it the right way. Our own MSN sites had a few problems, which they're updating, so that they'll be ready to go when the new crop of devices hits the market. We've even talked to some very friendly fellows at a big, popular rival search engine company and made sure their seach page will render right when these devices ship. In the interests of helping fix the broken sites out there now, and getting people ready for the future, we're releasing our new User-Agent string right here, along with a pointer to some other information."

Here's some news for anyone that is offering mobile content over the internet. Future releases of Windows Mobile will have some changes to the User Agent string in Internet Explorer Mobile. For a full breakdown of the changes, check out the IEMobile Team Blog.

Tags: explorer, internet, mobiles, detecting, user-agent

Friday, May 5, 2006

Mobiles 'As Addictive as Smoking'

Posted by Jerry Raia in "ARTICLE" @ 02:30 PM

http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=674072006
"MOBILE-phone users who spend most of their waking hours glued to a handset may have to call a therapist after a university study found they were as addictive as smoking and junk food. The heaviest mobile users even display the typical signs of "cold turkey" drug withdrawal - anxiety, restlessness and even panic - when parted from their phones. The psychological cost of excessive mobile phone use was highlighted in a study published yesterday by Queensland University in Australia."

I didn't need a study to tell me this. I go through withdrawal when I not only don't have my phone, but any other gadgets I'm used to having with me.

  • Read
  • Discuss [4 replies]
  • Permalink
  • Source: textually.org

Tags: mobiles, smoking, addictive

Friday, May 13, 2005

Designs on Less Complex Mobiles

Posted by Jerry Raia in "OFF-TOPIC" @ 04:00 PM

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4498693.stm

"Mobiles are getting increasingly powerful in terms of processing power, and graphics technology. They are also turning into storage devices in their own right. But the mobile phone industry is in danger of confusing people in its quest to pack everything into handsets, thinks Scott Jenson, a leading mobile industry design consultant."

This fellow thinks things are GETTING too complicated?? I think they arrived at and passed "complicated" a while ago. I would guess most of us here don't mind complicated too much (I would think some here thrive on it). I'm sure we could agree that things are not arranged to well on most of our phones. Just looking at a few items on my NON Smartphone we have under settings: Tools, Personalize, In-Call Setup and Initial Setup just to name a few of them. Under each of those are a dozen more options. I love it when people who contribute to the mess then say we have gone too far. So what do you think?

Tags: designs, mobiles, less, complex

Tuesday, July 20, 2004

AT&T Wireless Begins Selling Fast Data for Mobiles

Posted by Mike Temporale in "NEWS" @ 10:15 AM

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=technologyNews&storyID=5720039§ion=news

User submitted image

"AT&T Wireless Services Inc AWE.N on Tuesday said it introduced a high-speed Internet service for mobile phones in San Francisco, Seattle, Phoenix and Detroit. AT&T Wireless, which agreed to be bought by Cingular Wireless, said it plans to extend the service to San Diego and Dallas by the end of the year. The No. 3 U.S. mobile provider said customers can use the new service on phones from Motorola Inc. and Nokia and on laptop computers using a high-speed modem card developed by Lucent Technologies Inc. and Novatel Wireless Inc."

Tags: wireless, at&t, data, selling, mobiles, begins, fast

Thursday, February 19, 2004

More Moto Mobiles

Posted by Robert Levy in "NEWS" @ 01:02 AM

http://www.coolsmartphone.com

CoolSmartphone has uncovered 3 new images of upcomming Motorola phones. The first two images are supposedly of the MPx220 and match up with the image we mentioned earlier this week - the big difference here is that this shows it in 2 colors: black and silver.

The 3rd picture is the most interesting though. This one is supposedly of the MPx300 and appears to be a Pocket PC Phone Edition device rather than Smartphone. Check out this story at Pocket PC Thoughts for some interesting analysis of this.

Tags: more, mobiles, moto

Friday, September 19, 2003

Microsoft Testing Voice Command Software For Mobiles

Posted by David McNamee in "SOFTWARE" @ 11:36 AM

http://www.betanews.com/article.php3?sid=1063875430

BetaNews is reporting that Microsoft has sent invitations to testers to help out on "Voice Command," a product to control PDAs and phones using, you guessed it, your voice.

BetaNews quotes the invite: "Voice Command works with your PDA or phone so you can use your voice to control your device and receive information in a way that is easier, more convenient, and safer while you are on the go such as in the car or walking down the street carrying packages or even while sitting on a park bench."

This is great! :D The safety implications alone are worth supporting this as much as possible. See the BetaNews article for instructions on how to apply to participate in the beta program. Serious testers only, please.

Tags: software, microsoft, testing, voice, command, mobiles
Top Smartphone Software

News Tip or Feedback?

Contact us

Thoughts Media Sites

Pocket PC Thoughts

Smartphone Thoughts

Digital Media Thoughts

Zune Thoughts

Apple Thoughts

Reviews & Articles
Top Stories
Recent Posts
  • LegendDJ: WM 6.1, Automatically Lock keypad after "X" mins?
  • Hedge: MagicSync PRO (SmartPhone) and Pocket Launcher - save 30%
  • Pete Paxton: SyncMate For Mac OS X Contest!
  • Rocco Augusto: My Phone Beta Contest is Over!
  • kcirrab: Samsung Blackjack SGH-i607 button Mod?
  • Hedge: GPSMelody and InfoShare List Manager for Smartphone - save 30%
  • Jason Dunn: $25,000 Grand Prize to be Won from Pantech
  • Rocco Augusto: Win a Registration Key to Microsoft's My Phone Beta!
Reviews & Articles

Loading feed...

News

Loading feed...

Reviews & Articles

Loading feed...

News

Loading feed...

Reviews & Articles

Loading feed...

News

Loading feed...

Reviews & Articles

Loading feed...

News

Loading feed...

Sponsored links