Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Android, Barcode, Google, Google Product Search, Google Product Search for Android, Scan, Search Engines, Searching
Google announced
that Google Product Search for Android now has barcode scanning support. If you’re looking to price compare a product that’s right in front of you, why type out its name and dig through irrelevant results when you can just scan the barcode? (http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2009/05/14/google-product-search-for-android-adds-barcode-scanning-just-as-we-predicted 5/14)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Android, App Store, Apple, Blackberry, iPhone, Microsoft, Smartphone, Verizon Wireless
Microsoft is denying reports that it is working on a smartphone for Verizon Wireless to rival the Apple iPhone. “Microsoft is not going into the phone hardware business,” says a spokesman for the software giant. “We’re deepening our relationship with our hardware partners.” (Iwantmedia 4/30, http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal_tech/smartphones/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=217200733 4/29)
Good news, BlackBerry users! Never again will you need to kludge around in your browser just to dig up a number or determine who’s behind the number that just called. Following the success of their iPhone and Android applications, WhitePages
will soon be announcing the upcoming availability of a native BlackBerry application. (http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2009/04/30/whitepages-bringing-their-mobile-app-to-blackberry-devices/ 4/30)
Yesterday, Techcrunch talked a bit about how some companies are clearly trying to capitalize on the Swine Flu craze that is sweeping the nation. Naturally, someone just had to make an iPhone app. And the winner is IntuApps, which has Swine Flu Tracker, waiting for approval from Apple before it’s released into the App Store. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/30/want-to-avoid-swine-flu-theres-an-app-for-that-too/ 4/30)
We’ve reported in the past on how Apple has not only been late on payments to iPhone app developers, but has also neglected to pay some developers for their app sales at the store entirely. We thought that perhaps our post might call Apple’s attention to the problem. Apparently, developers complaints have gone unheard at Apple and now they are so upset that some of them are threatening to sue Apple for breach of contract. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/30/iphone-app-developers-threaten-to-sue-apple-over-late-payments/ 4/30)
Acer hopes to bring a smartphone to market this year, one of several devices the computer maker is building using Google’s Android open-source operating system, CEO Gianfranco Lanci said Wednesday. Lanci added that it was “too early to say” if Acer would install Android in a netbook, although he did term the software “very, very good for communication and Web access and so on.” PCWorld/IDG News Service (4/29)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Android, AT&T, Google, iPhone, Smartphone, United States, Verizon, World of Warcraft
At the risk of repeating myself for the millionth time, in many peoples’ minds, the Achilles’ heel of the iPhone is the network it’s on in the US: AT&T. Since the day it was announced as being exclusive to that provider, people have been wondering one thing: How long until it’s on Verizon? Rumors have surfaced time and again about the possibility, but today brings perhaps the most concrete news yet that the two sides are talking. The two sides are discussing the possibility of getting Verizon version of the iPhone ready for 2010, sources tell USA Today
. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/26/apple-may-hear-verizon-now 4/26)
Samsung is close to bringing its first Android-based smartphone to market, according to reports, which say the Samsung i7500 that O2 is expected to launch in Germany in June will be less than 12 millimeters thick, not include a hardware keypad and run on the Android 1.5 (Cupcake) operating system. Relatedly, Google will release its first Android-powered netbook in the next three months at a cost of $250, according to several reports. Softpedia (Romania) (4/27) , CNET (4/26) , Computerworld (4/25)
A mammoth application comes to an iPhone near you: World of Warcraft. (http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/04/25/world-of-warcraft-on-the-iphone-heralds-end-of-civilization-as-we-know-it 4/25)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: AdMob, Android, App Store, Apple, iPhone, Palm OS, Smartphone, Windows Mobile
Android is making steady gains in mobile ad market share, accounting for 6 percent of all mobile ad requests measured by AdMob in its latest March metrics
. That puts it neck and neck with the Palm OS, compared to a 5 percent /7 percent share split in favor of Palm just one month before.. Windows Mobile Devices also saw a share decline from 13 percent to 11 percent, while Blackberry’s RIM OS gained a point to 22 percent, and the iPhone stayed the same at 50 percent. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/23/android-catches-up-to-palm-in-mobile-ad-market-share-iphone-still-blows-it-away/ 4/23)
Well, it finally happened. Apple just delivered its 1 Billionth application download from the App Store, which currently features over 25,000 apps (35,000 by one estimate) built by thousands of developers. The significance of the milestone (besides just the 1 billion mark) is that it’s taken only nine months from when the App Store launched on iTunes to hit 1 billion paid and unpaid downloads. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/23/apples-app-store-1-billion-served 4/23)
Apps on the iPhone are huge. We know that. As if we needed more proof, Apple moved its billionth app earlier this afternoon. But some recent data from Compete suggests that smartphone owners who don’t have an iPhone, apparently don’t love apps. Or at least, don’t download them. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/23/zero-remains-a-popular-app-download-number-among-non-iphone-owners/ 4/23)
Cablevision announced the successful launch of a mobile version of Optimum.net, its consumer web portal providing some 2.5 million Optimum Online customers with access to email, traffic, weather, news and TV listings. Optimum has created the site with Usablenet. (Cynopsis 4/23)
T-Mobile USA today joined other wireless carriers that have introduced embedded SIM modules that enable other devices — such as Amazon.com’s Kindle e-reader — to link to operators’ cellular networks. T-Mobile also said that under a deal with Echelon, the carrier would provide embedded SIMs to support the company’s plans to bring smart-grid technology to utilities in North America. The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones Newswires (4/23) , Reuters (4/23)
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Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Android, Apple, Google, iPhone, Motorola, Television, Verizon Communications, Verizon FiOS
Apple investors should expect an uneventful quarter when the consumer-electronics company posts earnings this week, say analysts, who are eager to see if it can continue its strong track record of selling iPhones, Macs and other devices in a dismal economy. Observers are also wondering whether investors will take profits for their high-flying shares while they await Apple’s introduction this summer of a new iPhone, as well as a touch-screen tablet and small laptop later in the year. Reuters (4/20)
(Below) More reason for me to finally make the jump to Verizon.
Verizon Communications is expanding access to the remote-scheduling feature of its FiOS TV DVR service by allowing customers who do not use Verizon Wireless handsets to manage their digital-video recordings online. The telecom is also opening the Web-enabled service to all of its FiOS DVR subscribers, not just Home Media customers. Multichannel News (4/20)
The UX-series netbooks will have a 10.1-inch LCD with 1,024 by 600 resolution and a four-hour battery life — upgrades from the 8.9-inch LCD and 2.9-hour life of the previous model. The netbooks will be released in Japan on Friday with a pricing set between $606 and $707. Computerworld/IDG News Service (4/20)
Netgear has started shipping its Digital Entertainer Elite EVA9150, the company’s first networked digital media adapter that has its own hard drive. The DMA, which carries a suggested retail price of $399, enables users to stream audio and HD video from a networked personal computer or NAS device to an A/V system in multiple formats. TWICE (4/20)
The next version of Motorola’s set-top au Box digital media center is not — the company stressed — built on Google’s Android platform. The device, which Motorola soon will deliver to KDDI, a Japanese telephone operator, actually is built on Motorola’s Linux-based KreaTV platform, the company said, hoping to derail rumors about the Android connection. Digital Trends (4/20) , CNET (4/20)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Android, Bluetooth, Google, iPhone, MetroPCS, Motorola, Smartphone, Wall Street Journal
Google has released an “early look” version of the much-anticipated Android OS 1.5 open smartphone platform. The update features an on-screen keyboard with soft-keyboard support, speech recognition and home-screen widgets and is largely based on the Cupcake development branch of the Android Open Source project. eWEEK.com (4/14) , IntoMobile (4/14)
As part of a recent effort to up the interest quotient of its handset line, MetroPCS has begun offering the supercompact Motorola QA30 Hint. Measuring 3.23 inches by 2.43 inches, the slider phone includes a full QWERTY keyboard, stereo Bluetooth, a music player, a 2-megapixel camera, USB connectivity with PC syncing and other features. It is listed at $249 on the MetroPCS Web site. MobileBurn (4/14) , CNET (4/14)
Recognizing the next must-have devices, extending his company’s exclusive deal for the iPhone and refocusing its marketing effort on wireless are among the challenges facing AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, who represents the generational shift in telecom from wireline to wireless services. “We have 77 million wireless customers and 30 million consumer phone lines,” he said. “Which customer base would you rather work from?” The Wall Street Journal (4/15)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Android, App Store, Apple, Facebook, Google, iPhone, ITunes Store, Yahoo! Messenger
Popular social gaming developer Zynga
has just released Mafia Wars on Apple’s App Store, bringing the company’s incredibly popular game, which has over 9 million monthly users on Facebook alone, to the iPhone. You can grab the free game here (iTunes Link). (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/07/zynga-brings-smash-hit-mafia-wars-to-the-iphone 4/7)
Google has launched a new Gmail mobile web app for the iPhone and Android-powered devices. The app has been revamped to have the same look and feel as your desktop Gmail. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/07/mobile-gmail-becomes-more-like-its-desktop-father 4/7)
Yahoo Messenger now has an iPhone app (iTunes link). It lets you IM your friends, see their status, share photos, share links, choose emoticons, and see recent conversations. It also lets you send free text messages by choosing a contact’s mobile phone number if they are not online. Replies come back to the app, which could save you a dime each time. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/07/yahoo-messenger-brings-free-text-messaging-to-the-iphone 4/7)
Just in time for the playoffs, Turner Sports’ NBA Digital launched the NBA Game Time mobile app on the Android Market for the T-Mobile G1. The free app offers live game scores, stats and schedules. NBA Playoff brackets will also be featured through a free upgrade just before the start of the postseason. (Cynopsis 4/7)
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