So far we have only seen a key driven interface for Google’s Android OS but yesterday, a video that appeared on the BBC website seemed to confirm that there is already a touchscreen version of the OS up and running.
The sleek looking unit pulling this trick is referred to in the video only as a ‘reference design that one of our partners built for us’ by Google’s director of mobile platforms, Andy Rubin. Could this be the first ever video of a true Gphone?
Continue reading ‘Android touchscreen ‘reference design’ demoed on BBC’
The word round the campfire today is that Sony Ericsson’s recently announced flagship handset, the Xperia X1, might be facing a delay of up to a year. The source of this unconfirmed rumour is the SEMC Blog, which claims to have a table of legitimate release dates for all of Sony Ericsson’s announced new handsets for this year.
The table lists the Xperia X1 as launching on February 10th 2009 which if true could be disastrous for the device. It wouldn’t look good for Sony Ericsson to let its new flagship handset slip that far and considering how quickly the technological landscape evolves in the mobile space, the Xperia might not seem like quite the showstopper is does at the moment in a year’s time.
Some are speculating that perhaps the delay of Windows Mobile 6.1 could be holding back the device but even if that is the case, a full year seems slightly excessive. We’ll surely know more about this by the end of the week so stay tuned to see if this rumour is in fact the awful truth.
(Via Unwired View)
Criticism is regularly levelled at mobile phones for how often they are replaced and the huge surplus in dust collecting handsets that trend creates. A Dutch designer called Gert-Jan van Breugel has come up with something to combat the problem with what must be the world’s first biodegradable mobile concept.
Named the Bamboo Phone, the device can be thrown into the compost heap when you move onto your next handset from where it will sprout seeds that are contained within. The ultimate idea is that the shoots will grow to become oxygen churning bamboo trees, thus offsetting the carbon expunged during the phone’s creation.
Clever stuff and definitely a great direction to be thinking in. Sadly, the chances of this sort of thing taking off are slim in our view. Oh well, ten out of ten for effort.
(Via Trendhunter)
While many of us have been fawning over our iPhone’s for a good few months now, spare a thought for the territories that Apple has yet to bless with its touchscreen wunderkind.
The wait is almost over for Irish Apple fans however as O2 has announced that it will be launching the device in Ireland on March 14th. Happily, the wait appears to have been worth it as early Irish adopters will have the immediate choice between 8 and 16GB variants of the device.
Hit the jump for a full list of available deals.
Continue reading ‘iPhone finally launching in Ireland’
Playboy Mobile is looking for a face to solidify its credentials in the mobile porn space. So if you are an aspiring glamour model and are looking for the chance to secure $5000 in exchange for some nude photos of you at the Playboy Mansion (as well as the accolade of Miss Playboy Mobile 2008) then Mr Hefner is awaiting your call.
Entrants need to be at least 18 years old and presumably capable of fitting into some exceedingly skimpy under garments. The winning playmate will be voted for by the porn loving public and officially sworn in to the temple of the bunny at the Hugh Hefner Sky Villa at Vegas’ Palms Casino on April 2.
Any takers?
(Via Gizmodo)
It’s not like Vodafone’s new branded phones are going to be turning any heads for their looks. In fact they are not going to be winning any prizes for their feature set either as both the 227 and the 228 sport the shallow accolade of a ‘color screen’ and not much else.
But that’s ok because these are cheap and cheerful bottom of the rung handsets that do exactly what they say on the tin; i.e. you can use them to make phone calls on the move – it’s a cunning sort of devilry that we here at Pocket Picks are somewhat enamored with. Both are free on a contract and are available now across Europe.
(Via engadget)
Market research firm ChangeWave Research claims that 59% of iPhone-owning business customers are “very satisfied” with the handset, compared to 47% of BlackBerry users, 40% of Nokia users, 30% of Samsung users, 25% of Motorola users and a lowly 10% of Palm users.
People have already seized on the survey as proof that the iPhone could unseat the BlackBerry as the device of choice for business users. To which I say “Phooey!”. Of course people love the iPhone, with its touchscreen and intuitive user interface. There’s no reason why businesspeople should be immune to these features either.
But is an iPhone really more satisfying to use for mobile email - the most popular business application on phones - than a BlackBerry, considering the latter’s physical keyboard and full push-email features? Can you get iPhone working easily with a corporate network, and will your IT admin let you? It’s questions like these that would really show if iPhone has a future as a business handset. Apple certainly isn’t marketing it as such…
(via Zdnet)
Okay, so the iPhone SDK wasn’t released yesterday after all, meaning developers are going to have to wait a bit longer to start creating native iPhone apps. However, Apple did quietly release the latest firmware update for iPhone, v1.1.4.
However, don’t get too excited: the update is basically bug fixes rather than new features for the handset. Apple hasn’t said what bugs have been fixed, but it seems Safari may have been tweaked to load multiple pages better, while the known bug with text messages appearing in the wrong order may have been nixed too.
Another theory, though, is that contained within the firmware update is the code required to run third-party iPhone apps when the SDK is eventually released. Good news for those of you with hacked iPhones - v.1.1.4 won’t turn your handset into a brick, either. It’s a 162.1MB file, and can be downloaded from within iTunes, anyway.
(via Information Week)
Those accelerometer-based apps for new Nokia phones keep on coming.
Although most of them are one-trick-ponies - this one locks your phone, that one sends a text, etc. - ShakeMe seems to be shaping up as more of an all rounder.
The latest release of the beta app will let you use a flick of the wrist to activate a variety of functions including toggling Bluetooth, adjusting the backlight and activating the keylock.
Here is a video clip of the app’s author Samir demonstrating ShakeMe. Note the touchingly lo-fi backdrop made from overlapping sheets of A4 paper. Bless.
Hmm. We can’t see this one lasting very long
At first glance, Google2Go seems like a Googlized version of Yahoo! Go - Yahoo’s Symbian and Windows Mobile portal app. And it kind of is. Kind of.
Google2Go is in no way an official Google product, and seems to have been knocked together by a fan of the big G who liked the idea of Yahoo! Go, but who prefers the mobile web to be a bit more, y’know, Googly.
The app is fairly well put together, allowing access to many Google services including Gmail, Reader, Google Docs, Picasa and Google Calender. It runs on Windows Mobile 6 ( there are reports of some WinMo 5 phones working too).
We can’t really imagine that Google will suffer this to live - maintaining the brand identity and all that - but it is a reasonable effort and is available as freeware (thank goodness - I hate to think what would happen to the guy if he tried charging for it).
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