Archive for the ‘General’ Category
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10
Mar
2010
The Phone that Keeps Going… and Going… and Going…
Looks like India is ahead in terms of eco-friendly power solutions. Olive Telecommunications’ FrvrOn V-G2300 is a 2G device running on the ULC2 7800 platform with a 1.5-inch CSTN color display. It features an FM radio, a memory capable of storing 200 contacts in the phonebook, a bunch preloaded games, a standard calculator, an alarm, a calendar, polyphonic ringtones and a speaker phone function. Sounds like a mobile phone from yesteryear right? You might just be surprised.
The phone has a very valuable feature: it is dual-powered. Meaning, not only will it come with a rechargeable 600 mAh Li-on battery, it can also run on a single AAA Alkaline battery. Now there is no need to wait around in charging stations just to call someone. This technology can potentially save time for those who need an instant hour of talk time. The mobile phone’s price is a steal as well at just around 27 EUR.
Aside from the fact that batteries are readily available, alkaline batteries can also be considered eco-friendly. When recycled and reused the proper way, these disposable batteries pose very little threat to Mother Earth as opposed to Li-on batteries. While the phone may not have been developed with just that cause in mind, the fellows at Olive Telecommunications sure are causing a stir and people all around the world are now starting talk about dual-powered smart phones.
Although Li-on power is unlikely to be replaced by this technology any time soon, a dual-powered mobile phone is a novel concept and is sure to be handy under a variety of situations.
Will this mean a line of dual-powered smart phones? Considering the fact that standard alkaline batteries have the capacity of 1000 mAh and some higher capacity disposable batteries reach up to a whopping 2000 mAh, two AAAs may just be enough to power a smart phone temporarily. We may very well see dual-powered Blackberrys in the future.
See screens of this handy phone in Engadget.
8
Mar
2010
Bringing the Internet to the Rest of Europe
According to recent studies, the lack of mobile coverage and internet in many rural regions has become the main reason why the younger generations tend to migrate to more populated urban areas and why the gap between the regions continue to grow.
Teenagers and young adults are first to feel the disconnection with their generation due to the fact that there is hardly any mobile or internet service in many rural areas. While over 60% of urban environments would allow you to access a mobile network or even the internet easily, this number drops down to a frighteningly low 1.5% in rural areas.
With society becoming more and more reliant in internet access, social networking and doing business online, plenty of people are finding themselves unable to keep up when forced to live in areas that are pretty far away from the rest of the world –in terms of getting online that is.
Even adults in rural areas are finding trouble with the limited options for having mobile coverage since there are plenty of areas in the UK that only have network coverage for specific providers –as other mobile network operators are not able to expand as much as their competitors.
There has already been talk of the possibility of a new legislation that would force operators to open their services to other subscribers for a small “roaming charge” –similar to travelling outside the country where access to local providers is absent.
Education is also another major issue –with the internet being the major source of information for children for doing research, homework and social growth outside of class, there are now calls for increasing the number of Government initiatives in many rural areas.
Read more about the lack of mobile and net coverage and its effects in rural areas at the Guardian UK.
1
Mar
2010
Windows Phone 7 Series Gets Tentative Handsets
The new Windows Phone 7 series mobile platform is a truly impressive new OS. Obviously, with a release date not due until later this year, lots of work still has to be done and the platform is far from ready. Despite that, Microsoft did not fail to impress. If anything, they proved that they can make a truly amazing operating system that could possibly change the way we look at mobile phones.
Now, the one thing we are all wondering about is: what kind of phone will the OS appear on?
So far, three major mobile phone manufacturers have been tagged as the next potential WP7 handset producer. The lineup is pretty promising too.
HTC was first to make the announcement that they would be making a Windows Phone 7 handset and would have a device ready by the holidays. The Taiwanese mobile phone manufacturer has had a very long history with Microsoft, longer than their new ties with Google and the Android OS. Since HTC was one of the pioneers during the Pocket PC era, it would be fitting for HTC to play a major role with WP7.
Asus and Microsoft are currently working on a WP7 device that will be branded by Microsoft –or so goes the rumor. In any case, this might be the first time Microsoft will be working with its own mobile device and we are certainly looking forward to seeing what these two companies can bring to the table.
Just recently, reports that the upcoming LG Apollo will be the first WP7 handset have also popped up. The new phone is expected to come out as early as September; there are even reports that it might be ready by August. Even if this is true, the OS is not expected to be ready until much later.
Read more about the LG WP7 handset at Mobile Choice UK.
23
Feb
2010
Microsoft’s New Battle Plan
The Mobile World Congress came with a flood of brand new mobile devices, apps, gadgets and even new mobile platforms. Samsung’s Wave phone debut the new Bada OS for the Korean developer and while that was amazing, one cannot deny that Microsoft stole most of the spot light with their presentation of the new Windows Phone 7 series.
If you are wondering why there is so much excitement over a mobile platform that is not due until later this October, then you probably missed the part where they showed the user interface.
On paper, it sounds pretty basic. Large pages that go beyond the range of a phone display will be used as the main interface. The touch screen will allow users to pan around to get to the specific information needed and the bleeding effect is both stylish to look at and telling of the fact that there is always more to see.
Each major page delivers one specific phone feature –people, music and videos, pictures, games, marketplace and office. At present most of the pages still have missing features. Take office for example; so far only OneNote and SharePoint is accessible. “Games” only has Xbox Live Games and no actual games.
When shown in an actual working demonstration however, everything falls into place. Not to mention that they also added in Zune for media and Bing services as well.
Microsoft has been focusing not only on delivering a user experience that is unique, but also a platform that will attract developers to invest time and effort in the platform. There are thousands of apps out there, but to actually have applications that are well made and can deliver “immersive experiences” would be a key factor to the success of WP7.
Read more about Windows Phone 7 at Tech Radar.
18
Feb
2010
Windows Phone 7 Brings Absolute Change
Change is a great thing when you have a platform that never seemed to work right. And so, Windows Mobile changed.
Steve Ballmer and his troops have been at the front lines of the Mobile World Congress as they showcased the new Windows Phone 7 series platform. Yep, you heard that right. The new system comes with a new name. Phone 7 replaces Mobile 7. Despite Windows Mobile 7 being a lot more catchy, the new name designates the vast change in pace.
This strong symbolism comes from strong will and intent. It is clear from looking at the new Windows Phone user interface that the developers have worked hard to create a mobile phone experience that changes the way we view and use mobile phones.
To quote the presenters, “the phone is not a PC”.
It’s a great mantra that has allowed MS to reinvent the way we handle and open data. The new page hubs layout makes things so much easier to find and customize. Speaking of customization, the new tiles system will be replacing widgets and will allow you to assign almost any form of content.
Office was also shown in the demonstration, though only OneNote, SharePoint and Mobile Outlook are confirmed to be present. It is expected that when the full version comes out, Office will be with complete systems.
Zune is confirmed to be present. While Zune is not yet locally available in the UK, it is impressive in the way it handles music. It certainly makes tagging and sorting so much easier.
Xbox Live Games is also new. Too bad there are no game demos so it is still anyone’s guess if exclusive XBL titles will make it to the mobile form.
Get the full scoop on the Windows Phone 7 series at the Telegraph UK.
12
Feb
2010
Does Higher Fees Mean Better Apps?
The Guardian’s Vic Keegan raises a very sound idea; for those of us always asking for more – let’s pay more to get more.
And by more, it is not a matter of quantity but quality. Indeed, with applications being sold at better prices, both companies and independent developers can truly invest in creating fully functional and bug-free programs for a good profit. Since the software will sell for a higher price, they can manage to spend more time on the production processes to polish things better.
Ideally, this would work, but in practice, the idea will only go so far as having developers earn a whole lot more.
Now, the argument extends to an even more logical point, that if the developers were paid better, they can create applications that are suited not only for a specific platform. In this case, hundreds, if not thousands of iPhone applications will be made available for smart phone using other operating systems such as Symbian, Android and even Windows Mobile.
Basically, by moving away from the Apple’s C programming language to HTML5, then developers would have a more universally usable language to play around with. Ironically, it was Steve Jobs who said that the reason why the iPad currently does not support Flash was that he believed that HTML5 is the right way to go –perhaps Apple would later integrate apps written for web.
The problem about making an application that is universal is that it will not be able to make full use of the hardware and features on specific phones. Without going around in circles, it seems that having a universal sub platform for apps on existing operating systems would also help solve things.
Anyway, it does get pretty odd when you start viewing things from a consumer’s standpoint. But for a unique look into the many difficult considerations that developers have to face, read Keegan’s article at the Guardian.
8
Feb
2010
WinMo Maldives: Better Than We Thought
Just because the number was changed to 6.5.3 does not mean that the Maldives update is any less than it would have been if it retained the previously announced 6.6 designation –or so Microsoft would want us to believe. Obviously, the pressure to prematurely bring out the update for the upcoming Mobile World Congress this month at Barcelona, Spain would have forced some features out the Window.
Still, from what has been announced about version 6.5.3, there seems to be a lot to look forward to with the OS. For those who may remember, WinMo 6.5 and previous versions of the operating system had plenty of critics due to the way the user interface was made. It was designed to be used with resistive touch screens and stylus controls. This made for small icons and buttons that were hard to press if the user was using a finger –which made using WinMo incompatible with capacitive touch screen phones. The HTC HD2 had a workaround using a skinned WinMo OS with the HTC Sense user interface.
Anyway, the Maldives update has been looked forward to since it was originally announced and it looks like we are going to see it active on a device during the MWC.
This week, it was announced that the Sony Ericsson Aspen with be the very first mobile phone to have the 6.5.3 version of WinMo. The business edition smart phone will come equipped with a 2.4 inch touch screen and full QWERTY keyboard –a nice match for the Windows Mobile OS. Maldives is reported to be compatible with gestures, multi touch and other finger input commands –a vast improvement over the previous version which relied heavily on the use of a stylus.
Read more about the Windows Mobile 6.5.3 Maldives and its’ new features from Tech Radar.
28
Jan
2010
Mobile Phone Recycling
Here is something to think about: each year, over a million mobile phones are disposed. The total amount of plastic waste that the mobile phone industry is spewing is already several metric tons. Add in the disposed batteries, extra casings, accessories, and waste by-products from the production processes and you have got a serious amount of waste to deal with.
This is why it is very important for both consumers and manufacturers to take an active role in being responsible for the sake of the planet. Manufacturers are all following their own carbon emission reduction goals, though some are more successful than others.
Take Sony Ericsson and Nokia for example, the two companies have been pretty close to their CO2 emission reduction goals that Greenpeace ranked the two companies as the greenest of all the electronic companies in the world. Other companies such as Samsung have been behind on their plans and have plenty of catching up to do.
For consumers, eco-responsibility becomes more of a personal discipline with a balance of community participation. The easiest thing to do is to simply support eco friendly products such as the SE GreenHeart mobile phones.
Another easy thing to do is to take part of recycling programs such as Orange’s Recycle and Rewards program. There are even incentives for sending in your old mobile phones and electronics.
Recently, Scope (a cerebral palsy charity) held a major recycling campaign for mobile phones. Officially, the world record for the most mobile phones recycled in a week is 952 (according to the Guinness Book of World Records); apparently, Scope surpassed that number.
It is efforts such as these and the continuous work of many individuals that are keeping the spirit of green awareness alive. If you have electronics and other devices that you are planning to dispose of, contact your local authorities or civic groups to locate proper recycling hubs.
Read the rest at Dial-a-Phone UK.
27
Jan
2010
25 Years of Falling Blocks: Tetris
Need something to celebrate? Tetris has now been downloaded over 100 million times, and more and more people are playing the game every day.
If you have not played Tetris, then you should congratulate yourself for having been able to avoid playing a game that almost every single person with a mobile phone, PC, video game console, handheld, media player or similar gadget, has played. The game is considered to be the most prolific game of all time, beating even Snake (which was made more famous by mobile phones that had Snake installed by default).
The amazing 4 block Russian game was developed 25 years ago by Alexey Pajitnov and it has spawned many variations, sequels, unlicensed spin offs and an untold number of falling item games inspired by Tetris.
The game is simple; you get blocks, line them up and keep them from filling up your screen. Each solid line of block you make (no gaps) will clear that specific line, if you let the blocks pile up, then it is game over. Keep it up and the speed of the falling blocks increase, making the game more challenging.
The game is simple, but endless in terms of gameplay and unbelievably addictive regardless of your gaming skill. The original version did not feature points, but revisions and later versions of the game featured points and levels to challenge more people.
So far, not other video game is as well accepted or as widely played as Tetris. It is actually pretty ironic, since the creator did not get credit for his work until much later on (until 1996, the Russian Government held the rights to the game, not Pajitnov).
Today, almost every single gaming device has a version of Tetris for it, official and otherwise. There are even plenty of unlicensed standalone Tetris game devices as well.
Read more about the History of Tetris and Alexey at the Guardian.
10
Dec
2009
Google Introduces New Voice and Location Search Features
Mobile phone users can now enjoy a new feature on their mobile phones as Google introduces Visual search with Google Goggles. This is a new option for users of the search engine from their mobile phone phone’s browser. There are however other great novelties brought by Google to its services. Some of these services are the addition of support for new languages on search by voice and a new search location feature.
The search by voice brought to the table almost a year ago has witnessed a great deal of improvements ever since, including the addition of Japanese, according to Vic Gundotra, Vice President of Engineering who stated this on the Google Mobile Blog. Google also stated that the voice service has also experienced the introduction of Mandarin and it is also looking like other features like in-conversation translation will be added.
Google has also enhanced the search by location service with a new feature called “What’s Nearby,” which adds to the existing list like My Location, Real- Time Traffic, and Turn-By-Turn navigation. The new features are available for all Android 1.6 and other higher mobile phones to enjoy. All a user need to do is “just long press anywhere on the map and we will return a list of the 10 closest places, including restaurants, shops and other points of interest. It’s a simple answer to a simple question, finally.”
Google also introduced the mobile labs which are meant to offer the development of Google Maps the possibility to quickly innovate and come up with new features for users of mobile phones. For the phone users, they can access the maps from the mobile phones by pressing the menu key, then pressing “More” and selecting Labs from the list.
Google further stated that “you‘ll find several stocking stuffers under Labs. You can now:
-display a scale bar on the map, to get an idea of how far apart things on the map are shown a terrain layer, to help plan your hike or cross-country ski trip.
-search for popular categories, so you never have to type in “Vietnamese restaurant” or “bowling alleys” again
-turn the blue My location dot into a compass arrow that shows the direction you‘re facing when stationary
-add a Layer button to the screen so you can quickly toggle layers like Traffic, Satellite, Latitude, and Transit Lines.”
