Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: BestBuy, BestBuyMobile, Google, PalmPre, Rebate, Smartphone, Sprint Nextel, Windows Mobile
Shoppers who pick up their $200 Palm Pre smartphones starting June 6 will have no need to send away to Sprint Nextel for their $100 rebate because all of the U.S.-based 1,067 Best Buy Mobile outlets will provide them on the spot, the retailer said. The question is, will Best Buy have enough phones to sell: Sprint CEO Dan Hesse said he expected Palm Pre handsets to be in short supply “for a while.” CNET/Crave (5/20) , PC Magazine (5/20) , MocoNews.net (5/20)
PC maker Acer will expand its smartphone presence this year with the introduction of 10 models, including one based on Google‘s open-source Android and the remainder running on Windows Mobile software, a top executive said Wednesday. Aymar de Lencquesaing, who heads Acer’s phone unit, said the company had talked to 40 operators, adding: “We’re in discussions with all of them. To date none of them has said ‘thanks, but no thanks, and never come back.’” Reuters (5/20)
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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: WIRELESS | Tags: Amanda Congdon, Bluetooth, HTC Corporation, HTC Touch Pro, iPhone, Rocketboom, Sprint Nextel, Windows Mobile
During its earnings reports today, AT&T posted numbers that easily beat Wall Street’s expectations. Yes, profits were down, but we’re in a down economy, and there’s simply no denying that things would have been much, much worse without the iPhone. (http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/04/22/proof-that-att-needs-to-extend-that-iphone-deal/ 4/22)
In its latest hardware upgrade, U.S. Cellular will market the Windows Mobile-based HTC Touch Pro smartphone for $250 under a two-year contract. The handset includes a 3.2-megapixel camera, slide-out QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth 2.0, Wi-Fi and EV-DO Rev. A technology. CNET/PhoneScoop (4/21) , MobileBurn (4/21)
HTC Touch Pro for U.S. Cellular(Credit: HTC)
Amanda Congdon, who emerged as the face of indie Internet darling Rocketboom before going on to digital initiatives at ABC and HBO, is resurfacing at Flo TV, the live mobile TV service from Qualcomm. Her series, “Sometimes Daily,” serves up quirky commentaries. (Iwantmedia 4/22, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3icbbfbd34476c8990e504d0475d03c894 4/21)
As a mobile-DTV group makes progress toward approving a final standard and broadcasters launch free-to-air mobile programming, wireless providers said they hoped to turn the threat into an opportunity by forming partnerships for a premium-content platform. MobiTV, Sprint Nextel, Sinclair Broadcast Group and PBS demonstrated such a service this week, dubbed MixTV, that would add on-demand video subscriptions to the free broadcast content. Telephony Online (4/21) , TVNewsday (4/21)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Apple, Blackberry, iPhone, Microsoft Windows, Mobile phone, Smartphone, Time Warner, Windows Mobile
The iPhone now accounts for 50 percent of mobile Web traffic from smartphones in the U.S., according to an AdMob Mobile Metrics report released this morning. Over the past six months, the iPhone has taken share from Blackberry and Windows Mobile. In August 2008, the iPhone made up only 10 percent of mobile Web traffic from smartphones. During the same time, Blackberry’s share has gone from 32 percent to 21 percent (with the Curve and the Pearl coming in stronger than the Storm), while Windows Mobile has taken an even bigger hit, declining from 30 percent to 13 percent. Palm is also down to 7 percent from 19 percent six months ago. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/24/iphone-now-50-percent-of-smartphone-web-traffic-in-the-us/ 3/24)
Time Warner’s AOL is releasing a version of its online coupons service, Shortcuts.com, optimized for mobile phones. Registered users will be able to redeem the coupons in-store without a paper receipt. Competition among mobile coupon purveyors is said to be growing. (http://download.cnet.com/8301-2007_4-10202079-12.html 3/23)
Dell will have to go back to the design table after cell phone carriers showed little interest in the PC maker’s attempt to compete with the iPhone and BlackBerry in the smartphone market, according to Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu. Wu said the pending Palm Pre, however, is already being viewed as a viable rival to the market leaders. vnunet.com (3/24) , InformationWeek (3/23)
Are iPhone app developers getting paid on time from Apple? Not all of them. On this iPhone developer forum
, there are numerous threads from developers who are complaining about delays in payments for January and not being paid the amount of money the developers are in fact due from sales. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/24/iphone-app-developers-gripe-about-payment-delays-and-dismal-customer-service/ 3/24)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Android, App Store, Blackberry, CityMint, Google, iPhone, iPhone 3G, Windows Mobile
In the last week, a pair of new iPhone applications have appeared on the App Store that put the menus of hundreds of restaurants at users’ fingertips. Dubbed GrubHub
and CityMint, both applications allow users to order food on the go from online menus, buying entrees, appetizers, and drinks on the fly without the hassle of human interaction. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/02/04/mobile-restaurant-ordering-finally-hits-the-app-store 2/4)
If you ever get a craving for classic literature while on the go, Google’s just given you the ability to check out your favorite literary works via an iPhone or Android phone. Google’s Book Search currently features 1.5 million public domain books, which have all been optimized to fit a mobile screen. Unfortunately, Blackberrys and other non-Android operating system phones are out of luck in accessing this feature. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/02/05/googles-answer-to-the-kindle 2/5)
Not sure this is the best device to read on especially as my iPhone battery can’t handle normal usage without dying halfway through the day…but then again, I’m not a big fan of reading via Kindle either.
Asustek Computer and Garmin, consumer-electronics companies that have made names in the personal computer and portable-navigation fields, respectively, have formed a strategic alliance to market smartphones under the Garmin-Asus brand. Asustek Chairman Jonney Shih, whose company produces the popular low-cost Eee line of PCs, said the companies were pondering various operating systems, including Android and Windows Mobile. The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones Newswires (subscription required) (2/5) , InfoWorld/IDG News Service (2/4)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Computers, Google, Google Latitude, Google Maps, Privacy, Search Engines, Searching, Windows Mobile
Google unleashed Google Latitude software today that allows users of wireless devices to be tracked on a Google map under a location-based system that will operate in 27 countries. The company promises that it built “fine-grained privacy controls” into the system that gives users total control over who gets to see their location — as well as the location where they are tracked. Reuters (2/4)
I love how Google always makes it seem like they were the first to come up with products like this one… It aint a party unless Google’s there.
Yesterday Samsung unveiled the Mobile Applications Marketplace
, a storefront purposed with peddling Samsung-friendly Windows Mobile and S60 applications to consumers while making developers some more cash than they otherwise might. It’s an admirable idea at face value – but is it the beginning of a terrible trend? (http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2009/02/04/not-every-company-needs-an-app-store 2/4)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Android, Mobile phone, Motorola, Phones, QWERTY, Smartphone, us, Windows Mobile
In launching the LG Incite, AT&T has introduced LG’s smartphone handsets to the U.S. with a device designed for the on-the-go professional. Armed with a 3-inch touch screen and a QWERTY keyboard, the handset comes with a feature that automatically rotates the screen for the user based on how it is being held. InformationWeek (11/18)
Motorola pointed to improved sound quality on its new MOTO VE66 slider phone, the handset maker’s first mobile device that integrates the use of widgets. The multimedia handset, which Motorola expects to ship this quarter, features what the phone maker calls “Crystal Talk” audio technology, designed to improve sound clarity by muffling background noise and amplifying conversations. cellular-news (U.K.) (11/18)
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