It was only a little of nine short years ago that all cell phones had antennas. That’s right, if you remember cell phones either had a fixed antenna or some had antennas that you could retracted into the phone. The problem with antennas on phones is that they 1) always seemed to get in the way 2) they had to be extended to receive phone calls.
All that changed when Nokia introduced the Nokia 3210. The 3210 was the first cell phone to have an internal antenna. No need to have an antenna sticking out of the phone or extending an antenna to receive a signal. The 3210 launched in 2009 with great fan fair. The phone sold over 160 million units which was a HUGE number at that time. We can all thank Nokia for their long lasting invention. Could you imagine having an antenna sticking out of your iPhone or Blackberry?
Remember a few weeks ago my post Top 10 Places Not To Talk On A Cell Phone. I guess one of the places that should have been included is the White House, the White House Press Briefings to be exact. Obama’s press secretary Robert Gibbs took exception when two people’s cell phones were ringing. This is an example of what will happen to you if you let your cell phone ring in one of Gibbs briefings.
There have been rumors swarming around for sometime now that Microsoft was creating a Zune inspired cell phone. On numerous occasions the rumor has been squashed. However, something has breathed new life into the rumor. Recently on the OfficeTheMovie twitter account a tweet was posted that stated “New product launch, that’s all I’m allowed to say. Hold off from buying an iPhone/Pre. ”.
One could only think that this would be referring to a cell phone created by Microsoft. If the rumor becomes true Microsoft better get in the game soon. The Pre and possible new iPhone will be launching sometime this Summer, which technically is only a few weeks away. It will be interesting to see Microsoft’s marketing strategy. It better be good if they want to compete with the Pre and iPhone. Stay tuned!
Today Verizon Wireless announced the release of the Samsung Alias 2 (sch-u750). The Alias 2 is the successor to the popular Alias (sch-u740). In true Alias fashion the Alias 2 has a dual-hinge which allows the phone to be flipped open both vertically and horizontally. Features of the phone include:
Full QWERTY keypad that can change to numeric with symbols
Supports RemoSync, so customers can synchronize corporate e-mail, contacts and calendars from their office PCs
2.0 megapixel camera and video capture capabilities
Bluetooth
VZ Navigator(SM)
Visual Voice Mail
Media Center-capable – downloadable games, ringtones, wallpapers, location-based services and more
Mobile Web
Mobile Email; Mobile IM; and text, picture and video messaging
microSD™ card slot with support for up to 16 GB (card purchased separately)
Personal organizer with calendar, calculator with currency converter, notepad, alarm clock, world clock and stop watch
The Alias 2 is available now online and at Verizon Wireless stores across the US. The price of the Alias 2 is $79.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and two year agreement.
We’ve been hearing since last year that the Garmin Nuvifone G60 is coming, but to date will still haven’t seen the phone. The last we heard from Garmin was that the phone would be available the first half of this year. With the first half of the year over in a few weeks it’s more than likely the phone Nuvifone won’t be here.
It turns out that Garmin is finding it’s not so easy to make a smartphone and one based on the Linux platform. President and COO Cliff Pemble spoke about the difficulties at a conference call with analysts, noting “Smartphones are complicated and bringing one to market that’s built totally from the ground up on a custom Linux platform is not an easy task.” The word on the street is that the new delivery date may be somewhere around Q3 of this year. We’ll see if that’s the case or not. Stay tuned!
The guys over at Blackberrycool attended WES 2009 this year in Orlando and highlighted the best technologies presented at the show. The majority of the technologies centered around Blackberry. Below is a list of products they looked at and once you make the jump you’ll see a short description of each.
Giesecke & Devrient Mobile Security Card
Magmic Social – mobile gaming social network
Vayyoo’s vPost – capture, prepare and share
WHERE LBS application for BlackBerry
Zenprise MobileManager for enterprise mobility
Viigo Alpha adds even more functionality
Nobex Radio Companion for BlackBerry
SmrtGuard keeps your BlackBerry safe
Vlingo speech recognition for BlackBerry
Gwabbit converts email signatures to contacts
Xobni connects your Outlook and social networks
Maximizer Mobile CRM for BlackBerry
Poynt LBS app for BlackBerry
MobiTV and Mobi4Biz streaming TV for BlackBerry
7Digital music store for BlackBerry
Cellcrypt voice encryption for BlackBerry
Cortado Corporate Server 4.0
It really is mind blowing how cell phones have made the leap from simple calling devices to full fledged mobile computers that allow an unlimited number of applications to run on them. Simply amazing!
I think I read somewhere that overall people text more than they actually talk on their cell phones. This is no surprise to most of us. It can be a lot easier to shoot someone a text message than to go through the process of making a phone call, exchanging pleasantries and then eventually asking your question. As we’re doing all this texting you might wonder why text messages are limited to only 160 characters. Why can’t we write as much as we want?
The inventor of the text message is Friedhelm Hillebrand. Hillebrand was sitting at home one day, back in 1985, typing on his typewriter and noted that each sentence or thought ran about 160 characters. It just so happened that Hillebrand was the chairman of the nonvoice services committee within the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), a group that sets standards for the majority of the global mobile market, he pushed forward the group’s plans in 1986. All cellular carriers and mobile phones, they decreed, must support the short messaging service (SMS).
It took some time for the agency t find a data pipeline to support text messaging, but when they found the lane text messaging officially arrived. At first texting had its limitations because it was cumbersome to write a message using a standard keypad. It wasn’t until T9 took hold that texting really took off. Now texting is here to stay and is even more popular than making phone calls.
So now you know, texting started as an idea born from a typewriter and an idea!
There are rumors going around that the Sidekick LX 2009 is on back order. T-Mobile wanted to squash those rumors and they did that via Twitter. The official tweet says: “Sidekick LX 2009 pre-orders started shipping 5/6! We wanted to confirm that the back order rumors are false!” So if you ordered a Sidekick LX no worries, your phone is probably in the mail.
Bell Mobility customers can rejoice knowing that the Palm Pre will be available later this year. Here is the offficial press release from Palm:
TORONTO, May 06, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ:PALM) today announced that Palm Pre(TM), the first phone based on the new Palm(R) webOS(TM) mobile platform, will debut in Canada exclusively on Bell Mobility’s 3G high-speed mobile network in the second half of 2009.(1)
“We’re excited to bring Pre to Canada with Bell Mobility,” said Brodie Keast, senior vice president of marketing for Palm, Inc. “We’ve seen enormous interest from mobile operators worldwide and fully expect to continue to expand distribution for Pre, putting it within reach of more and more customers.”
Palm webOS is invented exclusively for mobile use. It’s the first mobile platform to automatically bring your information from the many places it resides – on your phone, at work or on the web – into one simple, integrated view.(1) The new Palm Pre and webOS are designed to be so in sync with your needs that it feels like Pre is thinking ahead for you.
Pre has a breakthrough user interface and hardware design that makes it the most integrated and user-friendly mobile phone. Featuring a smooth, rounded ergonomic design and a physical keyboard that slides out only when needed, Pre is engineered to feel natural in your hand and comfortably small in your pocket. When closed, Pre is ideal for phone calls, web browsing, music, photos and videos; when open, Pre is optimized for email and text messaging. It provides an exceptional experience for phone calls, whether held to your ear, over speakerphone or via Bluetooth. With its curved slider and gesture-controlled touch interface, Pre fuses exquisite design with the revolutionary webOS software for fast access to content on the device or web. It’s an instinctive user experience that seems to anticipate your needs.
“Bell is excited to be only the second carrier in the world to announce the 3G Pre,” said Adel Bazerghi, senior vice president of Products for Bell Mobility. “With the unique user experience of the world’s first webOS phone, running on the country’s largest 3G network, we’re confident that Canadians will embrace Pre as the phone for their lives today.”
Your Life, Brought Together
Palm webOS introduces Palm Synergy(TM), a key feature of the new platform that brings your information from all the places it resides into one logical view. You don’t have to worry about tracking multiple calendars, contacts and messaging applications – Synergy seems to think ahead to bring you a more comprehensive and truly representative view of your life.
Linked contacts – With Synergy, you have a single view that links your contacts from a variety of sources, so accessing them is easier than ever. For example, if you have the same contact listed in your Outlook(2), Google and Facebook accounts, Synergy recognizes that they’re the same person and links the information, presenting it to you as one listing.
Layered calendars – Your calendars can be seen on their own or layered together in a single view, combining work, family, friends, sports teams, or other interests. You can toggle to look at one calendar at a time, or see them all at a glance.
Combined messaging – Synergy lets you see all your conversations with the same person in a chat-style view, even if it started in IM and you want to reply with text messaging. You can also see who’s active in a buddy list right from contacts or email, and start a new conversation with just one touch.
Your Information, Effortlessly
By smartly integrating your information, webOS is designed to think ahead for you and keep you on top of the things that happen in your life, but that’s just the first step. The platform’s unique interface brings your information to you with the ease that only Palm can offer.
Run multiple applications at the same time – Palm’s revolutionary webOS lets you manage multiple activities more effectively than any other mobile platform today. It lets you keep multiple activities open and move easily between them like flipping through a deck of cards. You can rearrange items simply by dragging them; when you are done with something, just throw it away by flicking it off the top of the screen. (3)
Web-connected applications – Applications are seamlessly connected to the web and always active(3), ensuring you have the most up-to-date information.
Universal search – Finding what you need is easy with universal search – as you type what you’re looking for, webOS narrows your search and offers results from both your device and the web.(4)
Intuitive and unobtrusive notifications – When important things come up or new updates arrive, you’ll receive notifications with a diplomacy that’s a radical departure from other mobile platforms. For example, if you receive a text message or email, a scrolling notifications bar at the bottom of your screen lets you address it right away or leave until later. webOS alerts are one step ahead, ensuring that you never miss a thing, but never lose your place or train of thought.
Palm Pre Features
3G EVDO Rev. A high-speed connectivity
Integrated GPS(5)
Large 3.1-inch touch screen with a vibrant 24-bit color 320×480 resolution HVGA display
Gesture area, which enables simple, intuitive gestures for navigation
Slide-out QWERTY keyboard
Email, including Outlook EAS (for access to corporate Microsoft Exchange servers), as well as personal email support (POP3, IMAP)
Robust messaging support (IM, SMS and MMS capabilities) (3)
High-performance, desktop-class web browser
Great multimedia experience and performance (pictures, video playback, music), featuring a 3-megapixel camera with LED flash and extended depth of field, and a standard 3.5mm headset jack
Bluetooth(R) 2.1 + EDR with A2DP stereo Bluetooth support
8GB internal memory (~7GB user available)(6)
USB mass storage mode
MicroUSB connector with USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
Proximity sensor, which automatically disables the touch screen and turns off the display whenever you put the phone up to your ear
Light sensor, which dims the display if the ambient light is dark, such as at night or in a movie theater, to reduce power usage
Accelerometer, which automatically orients web pages and photos to your perspective
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g(7)
Ringer switch, which easily silences the device with one touch
Removable, rechargeable battery
Dimensions: 59.57mm (W) x 100.53mm (L, closed) x 16.95mm (D)
Weight: ~135 grams
An array of compelling accessories also will be available for Pre, including the first inductive charging solution for phones (sold separately). Simply set Pre down on top of the elegantly designed Palm Touchstone(TM) charging dock without worrying about connection, orientation or fit. Pre is active while charging, so you can access the touch screen, watch movies or video, or use the speakerphone.
Availability and Pricing
Palm Pre is scheduled to be available in Canada exclusively from Bell Mobility in the second half of 2009. Bell Mobility’s pricing for the phone has not yet been determined.
Customers who would like to register to receive additional information about Pre and be notified when it’s available can register at www.palm.com/ca or Bell.ca/pre.
Look at what we have here. You’re looking at a leaked document that shows some of the new phones that will be hitting T-Mobile shelves over the next several months. The phones listed include the Sony Ericsson CS8 & CS5, Dash 3G, Samsung t469 “Smiley”, Samsung t549 “XO” and Rhodium (not sure from which manufacturer). In addition T-Mobile will now be up to par with AT&T and Verizon with Visual Voicemail. Visual Voicemail is just that, it allows you to read voicemail in text format. This eliminates the need to listen to your voicemail in a crowded place or when it’s just not convenient to place a call. With a bit of a slow down from Q1 to Q2 in new cell phone launches it looks like the Summer is shaping up to be a blockbuster!
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