We all know that Android 1.5 with cupcakes is about to launch. Here’s some more info about the release:
G1 community,
We’d like to provide an update on the rollout of Android 1.5 for T-Mobile G1 customers.
We are working diligently to get Android 1.5 out as soon as possible, while aiming to ensure a consistent, positive experience for our customers. We’re finalizing the build this week to ensure optimal functionality and smooth delivery. Therefore, the rollout schedule has been reset by approximately a week, and we expect all G1 customers will have the update by early June.
Your device will notify you when the update is available. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
If you can’t wait and you want to see a video with the new features check it out at Android 1.5 features.
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.
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!
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.
Jim Balsillie, RIMs co-CEO has confirmed that they are working on a next generation Storm. RIM had largely been criticized for the BlackBerry Storm and its technical issues. Despite all the criticism the Storm had huge sales in the US. With the success of the Storm RIM has decided to make a second device, we’ll call it the Storm 2 for now. Jim Balsillie did not confirm anymore information, just that the device was on the drawing board. His official quote was, “we have next-generation devices with that and the whole roadmap.” I wouldn’t count Blackberry out just yet all you critics out there. They might be a little behind, but in an ever changing technology landscape it’s not too hard to make giant leaps quickly.
An article from the AP is saying that while Boost Mobile’s $50 unlimited plan is helping the company draw new customers, it’s majorly slowing down data traffic. There are reports that text messages are sometimes taking hours to be received. When it comes to texting it’s all about the instant response. Having a text delayed at all is a headache for most. The article says that there may be an underlying problem with Boost Mobile’s infrastructure, but Boost Mobile denies this claim and says it’s due to the large number of new customers.
In todays economy maybe there is a trade off between service and cost. For some $50 unlimited texting and data transfers is not such a bad deal. Having their text message delayed outweighs paying a higher cost for another carrier. I’m guessing this is an opinion shared by a small minority though. Boost needs to get whatever the problem is straightened out. As they say in business, the first thing you should plan for is success. If you’re not ready to support that many customers you shouldn’t be signing them up. Boost Mobile customers, “where you at”!
Palm does not specify what phone the winners will be given to review. All they say is that it’s a current phone. That could go two ways. That COULD mean that the Pre might be one of the phones since technically it has been created. More than likely though it’s probably an existing model that you can buy on Palm’s site. You can apply to be a Palm reviewer by visiting Palm Reviewer Contest. I’ll be very interested to know if Palm will do this contest right and hand on Pres.
Verizon announced yesterday that their customer base grew by 1.3 million subscribers in the first quarter of 2009. This brings the grand total of Verizon customers to 86.6 million. As they say in business if you set goals and position your strategy to meet those goals then you have a better chance of growing. Clearly Verizon has done this. The iPhone and G1 get a lot of attention, but clearly the US consumer market likes the cell phones available on Verizon.
You didn’t really think President Obama was going to give up his Blackberry without a fight did you? Well, after all the reports that the Secret Service made him give it up, it looks like the President has a Blackberry back in his possession. It turns out that RIM worked with the white house to create a secure phone for Obama. The Blackberry Curve 8830 World Edition has been loaded with special security software called SecureVoice. The company who makes the software, Genesis Key, says the software is designed to provide access to NSA Top Secret information. If you don’t know what that means it basically means the software adheres to the highest grade of security classification.
I’m sure the President is very happy to have his Blackberry back in his hands. A nice touch would be an engraved presidential seal on the back of the phone.
