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Monthly Archives: June 2009
Navigon (turn-by-turn GPS) now available for iPhone
MobileNavigator Europe has been released and is now available on the App Store for £54.99. It appears to be fairly feature packed, but no traffic managements that I can see. The introductory price lasts until June 30th and it comes in at a whopping 1.65GB-
Turn your iPhone into a first-rate navigation system with MobileNavigator. Try the feature for yourself and enjoy the excellent user control and superior design that allow simple and intuitive operating. The application includes the latest map material from the market leader NAVTEQ and can be used without an Internet connection, which is of enormous benefit abroad, for example, as no extra charges are incurred. With MobileNavigator you can turn your iPhone into an equally handy and convenient route guidance system.
Features and range of functions:
2D and 3D map displays
Can be used in portrait and landscape format
Precise voice announcements
Intelligent address entry
Reality View Pro (realistic display of motorway interchanges and exits)
Lane Assistant Pro
Real signpost display
Speed Assistant with adjustable audio-visual warning
Day and night mode for map display
Direct access and navigation to contacts saved in the iPhone’s address book
The latest NAVTEQ map material including more than two million (EU version) places of interest (POIs)
Navigation is automatically resumed after an incoming phone call
Quick access to user-defined POIs in the area and along the route
Take Me Home function with a single click
Automatic language selection to match the iPhone’s user language
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The Phones Show 83 is now available
The Phones Show 83 has been published and this time features news, a Hands-on review of the HTC Touch Pro 2, with a head-to-head versus the Nokia N97, plus a tour around Proporta, the cross-platform case makers.
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iPhone, therefore I am – Stephen reviews Apple’s iPhone 3GS
Stephen Fry has now reviewed the iPhone 3GS and as usual puts an interesting and funny slant on proceedings- “A little under a year ago in this very newspaper I reviewed the Apple iPhone 3G and its new firmware release: ‘Now that the Applications store is up and running,” I wrote, “you will soon find it a very common sight indeed to see people crowded around each other’s iPhones showing off the latest impossible, breathtaking and ground-breaking application. ‘Ah, but mine can do this!’ will be heard in every café and bar. Satirical sketches will be written and performed on Channel 4 mocking the trend. Once again Apple has changed the rules and nothing will be ever be quite the same again.”
It is very rare for any prophetic utterance of mine to bear fruit, but in this case it seems I was bang on the money. On July 11th 2008 the Apple iTunes App Store Apple iTunes App Store opened its virtual doors and the world changed. The diversity, originality and imagination that has since gone into the authoring of apps has created, from the standingest of starts, a whole new business model, and one that benefits cottage industry amateurs quite as much as established software houses. With over 50,000 apps and more than a billion downloads, it is hardly surprising that Blackberry, Nokia, Microsoft and Google have all now jumped on the app emporium bandwagon. Apple has shown that a mobile phone can be a pedometer, a restaurant guide (one which can make the reservation, direct you there and let you know which kinds of sustainable seafood you can order with a clear conscience), an ensemble of musical instruments that can be blown down, tapped and strummed, a library of literature, a periodic table, a performer of magic tricks, a language translator…”
webOS SDK coming… late Summer
The webOS SDK is coming, but sadly not until late Summer. Palm posted the details and these were greeted with not a lot of joy from developers. Scott summed up the feelings of many-
“While I appreciate that a few months is faster than the iPhone got their SDK out, ease of programming for third party apps was one of the BIGGEST selling points in many people’s decision to buy a pre.
Palm needs to get an unofficial SDK out sooner. Not something clean and shiney, but if some devs can use it, why can’t all of them? SDK Beta would be a brilliant move and show a commitment to getting tools in our hands. Devs are used to beta.
I love the phone, but Palm screwing things up was a big fear of mine and this isn’t looking good at all…”
In related news, webOS 1.0.3 has been released with a host of changes. The full list is here.
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The HTC Whitestone appears from nowhere
The HTC Whitestone has made an appearance and looks like basic fodder for the company. wmpoweruser has posted details including rumoured specifications- “3.6 inch WVGA screen, 5 megapixel camera, 256 MB RAM, 512 MB ROM, and have a Qualcomm 7600 processor running at 528 Mhz.”
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Win $50 of mobile software!
We Brits have had a painful few years, over 50 in fact, waiting for a world class tennis player to hit the scene. Andy Murray is without doubt world class, and now you have the chance to win $50 of mobile software just for guessing how many games Andy will play at Wimbledon 2009.
All you need to do is reply to this article and input the number of games you think he will play- to win Wimbledon he would have to play 7 matches and each match is the best of 5 sets so some calculation will be required. If each match went to tie-breakers, the amount of games would be approx. 450, but final sets do not have a tie-breaker so could in theory last forever…
GOOD LUCK! Let’s hope we finally have a British winner at Wimbledon.
Entries must be posted before Andy’s first match starts which will be on Monday or Tuesday and duplicate entries will not count (i.e. do not duplicate numbers already posted). You will also be unable to edit your entry and only one guess per person please.
BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Symbian and Palm OS software prizes will be available from the 247 software stores. iPhone software will be redeemed by an iTunes gift card (UK store) or by PayPal for overseas winners. The winner will be announced following the men’s singles final on 5th July.
The iPhone 3GS: an iPhone 3G not in disguise
I spent some quality time with an iPhone 3GS today and was surprised at how unimpressed I was, and I mean seriously unimpressed. It does feel quicker, albeit not hugely so compared to a 3.0 updated iPhone 3G. Obviously the speed differential will become more apparent as new games are released which take advantage of the extra memory and general performance boost, but until then I did not see the super fast performance others have talked about.
The camera looks good and this is definitely a bonus, but I would have like to have seen a flash included. However, the performance does seem to be a step up from the 3G version and this brings us a use anywhere, unless its dark, shooter which will produce good quality results time and time again.
The compass will no doubt have its uses, but unless Apple have discovered a huge orienteering smartphone market the advantages may not be clear initially. Besides these changes I felt under whelmed by the 3GS and the reason is because it does not feel like an upgrade to me.
I do think the 3GS is at a valid price point when bought on a new contract or pay as you go, but to upgrade from a 3G may leave you feeling a little short changed by the whole experience. Isn’t Apple about giving the customer an emotional as well as a productive experience? With the 3G you essentially have exactly the same device as the 3G in your hand, and there is almost no indicator that this is a 3GS. There is a group of people out there who must have the latest device in their hands and this design choice by Apple may make them reconsider an upgrade because to all intents and purposes they will be carrying an iPhone 3G.
Would a small colour change or slight re-design have cost too much? My suspicion is yes because I can think of no other reason to not change the design at all. Maybe the business plan is to heavily increase iPhone ownership and this then makes sense. More people may opt for the cheaper 3G because it looks the same as the 3GS and this could spread the ownership levels greatly.
Whatever the motives and reasons behind the iPhone 3GS design, it is probably the best smartphone on the market today, but simply does not feel like a new experience when you start to use it. For a few hundreds pounds I expect to be playing with something that at least looks and feels a little bit different…
QOTD: What desktop?
We ask many questions about smartphones on 247 and today we want to know what desktop you use? A PC or Mac, and have you changed because of the smartphone you use i.e. lack of compatibility or for another reason?
An interview with a Psion user… I envy him
Clove recently set up a new blog to discuss smartphone and mobile industry happenings and one of the posts detailed the smartphones each of the team use. Colin’s section caught my eye for obvious reasons-
“Colin – A Psion user! Yes, say no more he does still use one, and what’s more it looks brand new. There is nothing he doesn’t know about Psions and you want catch him using anything else for his diary and contact database. He does have a very basic Nokia too. Although he knows all about Windows and Symbian etc, we will not see him using one any time soon.”
I envy Colin because I have wasted so much money on smartphones and PDAs over the years doing needless upgrades which were no better than the previous devices, and here he is quite happy with probably the best handheld platform ever produced. Clove are probably happy about my upgrades as well because most have been bought from them! I am convinced that it still competes in many areas today and asked Colin to answer some questions about his Psion usage-
1/ Colin. Obvious question first- why are you still using a Psion? What is it that makes you stick with one even though newer smartphones have more advanced features?
Seasoned Psion users tend to consider the basic organiser programs more flexible and user friendly especially the data and agenda applications and these two represent my main use of my machine.Windows mobile devices are certainly more technically advanced but I do not need to carry PC applications on my handheld , nor do I need Web access on the move for example.
2/ Which Psion do you use, and how many have you owned in the past?
I use a Psion 5MX , but have previously used Psion series 3,3c,3mx and the original series 5.
3/ Do you connect it to a desktop computer and how do you keep your data backed up?
I back up to a PC, but I did learn the hard way like lots of other PDA users when I lost my data having dropped my device and dislodging the batteries.
4/ How far back does your personal data go on your current Psion?
I first began using a Psion when I started working at Clove Technology in 1992 and so my data is fairly historical!
5/ Do you ever see yourself upgrading to a newer smartphone?
It seems inevitable that I will upgrade if for no other reasons that my device will eventually fail or Psiwin will not be compatible with Windows Vista for example.
My thanks go to Colin for answering the questions and to Clove for providing many years of first class service to me as a customer, even back to when I was buying Psion stuff from them. Clove is also responsible for almost all of the review devices supplied to 247 and is always around when help is needed.
Is RIM pulling away further away from the rest?
IDC has published some statistics which suggest that RIM is pulling away from the other big players in the market, including Apple. According to these figures RIM now has 55.3% of the North American market with Apple next on 19.5%. Samsung has 5.1%, HTC 4.4% and T-Mobile 3.9%.
This compares favourably with the third quarter of 2008 when BlackBerry had 40.4% and Apple 30.1%. This does seem like a very big change in a short space of time which makes me think that all is not what it seems, but there is little doubt that RIM is more than holding its own in the mobile market no matter what the figures say.
It is also good to see devices which concentrate on stability, big battery life and near perfect PIM doing so well.
PhoneBAKup (BlackBerry)
PhoneBAKup (BlackBerry) offers a new solution for BlackBerry owners wishing to backup and restore their data over the air- “Solve the number ONE problem for BlackBerry users on the move; to backup and restore critical information directly “Over-The-Air” to the device without the need to synchronize from desktop!
Easily backup all device’s data “Address Book, Task, Calendar and MemoList” to any predefined email address all automatically.”
- Backup:Just schedule the time ONCE to backup and it will run on the background, sending all the important data hassle free, daily, weekly or monthly. Backup to the storage card or Backup and Email directly to selected email address
- Restore:Simply download the backup files from the email to the device’s storage card and with a click, restore back all the vital information easily.
- Information can be restored to other devices as long as there is PhoneBAKup program running.
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PhotoFrame for Palm OS
PhotoFrame has been released for Palm OS and is on sale at $2.99 currently- “PhotoFrame converts your Palm OS device into an electronic Photo Frame
Resurrect your old Palm OS device with this nice Photo Frame application.
Instead of catching dust use your old Palm OS device to display every day a new picture.
Maybe you put your current Palm OS device on your desk and use PhotoFrame to display a new picture of your love-ones every other hour.
PhotoFrame uses the pnoJpegLib and the palmpnglib to show pictures directly from the memory card of your digital camera. Additional you can view any other JPG, JPEG or PNG image.
Tap the screen to manually move to the next/previous picture or to pop up a small month view with a current time display.”
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Nokia N97 & N86 launch in UK today
AAS has posted details of the N97 and N86 UK launch today. Somehow I expect the N97 to be a BIG hit- “The Nokia N97 and Nokia N86 will launch tomorrow, Friday 19th June, in the UK. Nokia’s Regents Street flagship store will open it doors at 10am. They are advising customers to come in, if possible, and pre-order a device, ahead of tomorrow, to avoid disappointment. You can also order the N86 and N97 via Nokia’s online store. Other UK online stores will also start selling both devices and they will become available through select operators in the next few weeks.
We’ll be popping along to the flagship store in the morning and tweeting away on @aas. It should be a busy day in Regents Street – Apple will be launching the iPhone 3GS on the opposite side of the street.”
We Are Together for Windows Mobile released
We Are Together has been released for Windows Mobile and adds a lot of functionality for sharing information. However, both devices need to have the applications installed.
If you want to exchange with your friend or workmate, some Calendar appointment, Task, or Contact, easily, efficiently, and wireless…
You just see a new menu “Send by WeAreTogether”, in your default Windows Mobile Calendar, Tasks, or Contacts interface.
You only have to select appropriate item, and give the number of friend’s phone,
where you want to share (send) the selected item.
Recipient will get a message to accept, and your item will add automatically to his/her Calendar, Tasks, or Contacts.
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Smartphone & PDA Essentials Issue 89
Issue 89 of Smartphone & PDA Essentials is now available to buy and has some excellent content within… This month we get hands-on with the Palm Pre, look at the rise of the touch screens, test mobile web browsers and discover the best GPS applications for smartphones. Plus, reviews of all the hottest devices including HTC’s Magic and Snap.