smartphone

Beauty is Better Than Brains

Chris Dannen — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:56:54 -0500

It's no wonder Detroit's Big Three are failing; we hold them to a very high standard. We want cars that look good and function well, and why shouldn't we? We spend a lot of money on them, and use them constantly. But what about the other invaluable products in our lives -- our gadgets?

TechWatch: Buy The BlackBerry Storm

Chris Dannen — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:30:07 -0500

Go ahead - run to a Verizon store on Thursday, November 20th and plunk down your hard-earned $200 for RIM's new touch-screen marvel, the BlackBerry Storm.

fBook Joins Social Media Lineup on Android Market

Lynne d Johnson — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:41:05 -0500

Since first writing about, "A Week Inside T-Mobile's G1," I've had a fun time setting up apps from Android's Market on my phone. In fact, that's that best part of the phone, having the ability to access apps that enable you to actually do something other than make a call.

Tech Watch: Hackers on Obama's Network, Hookers on Craigslist

Chris Dannen — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 14:30:05 -0500

According to CNN and Newsweek, sources within the campaigns of both Sen. John McCain and President-elect Barack Obama are saying that their computer networks were infiltrated by hackers from undisclosed international locations.

Nokia Planning More Touchscreen Phones?

Chris Dannen — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:34:31 -0400

Consumers that checked out a Nokia [NOK] podcast on its new S60 Symbian operating system this week might have noticed that it featured press photos of an as-yet-announced touchscreen device. On the heels of the release of the Finnish company’s first true finger-operable touchscreen phone, the Tube, this news might suggest that Nokia is investing more R&D in the touch format, and perhaps looking into a combination touch/clamshell form factor like the one seen in the press photos.

Nokia Expands Email Abilities; Buys OZ Communications

Chris Dannen — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:38:49 -0400

Around the smartphone industry, RIM [RIMM] is traditionally known as the email specialist. Now it appears that Nokia [NOK] might be trying to gin up a little competition for the Canadian Blackberry-maker by purchasing OZ Communications, a company that specializes in mobile messaging technologies.

The absorption of OZ, which, like RIM, is based in Canada, will allow Nokia's phones to achieve quicker access to instant messaging connectivity and Web-based email like Yahoo, GMail, AOL and Hotmail.

Samsung's 8MP Touchscreen Phone Coming

Chris Dannen — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 19:18:31 -0400

With Nokia [NOK] announcing their "Tube" touchscreen phone this week, it seems like Samsung [SEO:005930] got a little jealous and decided to let a few details about their Pixon cameraphone slip. The touchscreen phone will feature a massive 8MP digicam, and Samsung is branding it as a phone for the photographic connoisseur. The camera will have auto focus, a twin-LED flash, face recognition functionality and image stabilization.

Nokia "Tube" Coming October 2

Chris Dannen — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 21:59:29 -0400

Without a true finger-operable touchscreen phone, Nokia [NOK] has been a little bit behind the industry eight ball. The company has made repeated promises to release an iPhone competitor called the "Tube," but it's been delayed seemingly forever (perhaps, this blogger hopes, in an attempt to come up with a better name than "Tube").

SanDisk Proposes Memory Card Albums

Chris Dannen — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 09:37:30 -0400

SanDisk [SNDK] is betting that you miss going into a store and buying music the old fashioned way. Well, not the "old-fashioned" way, exactly -- but on memory cards instead of CDs. Memory cards packed with DRM-free music, and sold at Best Buy [BBY] and Wal-Mart [WMT]. The gamble is part of a new strategy the company hopes will allow them to keep up revenues and continue to stave off bids for purchase by Samsung [SEO:005930], who recently offered $5.8 billion USD for the company.

Earth, Meet Google Android

Chris Dannen — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 09:16:14 -0400

Today is the day that many smartphone enthusiasts have been nerdily anticipating: the release date of the first Google [GOOG] Android phone, otherwise known as an HTC [HTCKF] Dream running an open-source platform developed by Google. The platform will be open to what will someday be hundreds or even thousands of free applications, perhaps rivaling Apple's [AAPL] iPhone for its breadth and depth of software offerings.

Apple May Return To Home-Activation for iPhone

Chris Dannen — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 20:02:58 -0400

Since today is apparently smartphone day here on Tech Watch, we’ll start with some news about the sector’s crowned prince: Apple’s [AAPL] iPhone. Apparently Apple and AT&T [ATT] have learned something from their little iPhone 3G launch debacle: home activation was the way to go. Forcing customers to activate in-store led to epic, day-long lines even months after the device had gone on sale. Now, there’s word the home activation process is coming back.

LG Renoir Smartphone Will Tout 8MP Camera

Chris Dannen — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 20:01:23 -0400

Built on the decent success of their Viewty phone, LG [LPL] is releasing another touchscreen smartphone, this one dubbed the Renoir. They first gave consumers a glimpse of the device in August, but more details have since emerged that tell the story of a capably-spec’d device that incorporates one hell of a camera: an 8MP sensor with a Schneider lens, xenon flash and up to 1600 ISO film speed.

Nokia’s E75 Slider On The Way

Chris Dannen — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 19:59:12 -0400

Perhaps in response to the success of HTC’s [HTCKF] slider phones, Nokia [NOK] is reportedly developing a new slider device called the E75. The designation “slider” refers to the slide-open form factor that reveals a full QWERTY keyboard, which can be stowed away inside the phone when only the number pad is needed.

Samsung Attempts Purchase of SanDisk

Chris Dannen — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:50:16 -0400

Samsung [005930] had a few billion laying around, so the company decided today to make an unsolicited offer to purchase Flash memory maker SanDisk [SNDK]. In what was apparently an attempt to broaden its influence as the second-largest chipmaker in the world, and perhaps to expand its growing solid-state memory offerings, Samsung bid $26 in cash for the company, or a total of $5.85 billion. That represents a margin of 93% higher than the company's share price the day on September 4th, a day before Samsung expressed industry. SNDK's share price responded by jumping 56% after hours today.

HTC To Release Touch 3G For Developing Markets

Chris Dannen — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:37:48 -0400

The original HTC [PINK:HTCKF] Touch wasn’t a big critical hit when it arrived last year; it was widely panned for having a clunky touchscreen, too-small keys that could only be operable with a stylus, and not enough custom features on top of Windows Mobile. The HTC Touch Diamond corrected a lot of those flaws, but still left the masses wanting a more economical 3G touch-based smartphone from HTC. Now they’ve delivered.

Asus Announces Smartphone

Chris Dannen — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:35:49 -0400

Perhaps sensing a hole in their otherwise-comprehensive product line of consumer electronics, Asus has endeavored to create a smartphone called the Galaxy7. Assuming a candy-bar form factor and a touchscreen interface, it looks to be kith and kin with the Samsung [SEO:005930] Omnia, with which it will presumably compete. The Galaxy7 will sport a 5MP camera with auto-focus, a front camera for video calling and a touchpad-cum-trackball controller.

iPhone OS 2.1 Hits Web

Chris Dannen — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 17:11:08 -0400

Apple [NASDAQ:AAPL] has caught a lot of flak for all the issues cropping up with the iPhone 3G: dropped calls, bad 3G service, too-slow email, and the list goes on. Today it released iPhone OS 2.1 to ameliorate the problems, and here's what you can expect.

The OS is noticably speedier: from typing (which used to lag) to jumping to Home, things feel snappier. Menus and scrolling don't lag like they used to, either, and application installation and iTunes syncing are much quicker.

Asus Continues World Domination; Releases Smartphone

Chris Dannen — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 20:00:36 -0400

Late last Friday, the world's most fecund tech company, Asus, [TPE:2357] announced it's latest gadget: a Windows Mobile phone. It's called the P552w, and sports a touchscreen interface, a respectable 624MHz processor, 3G radios, WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth 2.0, and a 240x320 XVGA display. It's also got 256MB of flash memory, 128MB of DDR memory, and is expandable via microSD or SDHC cards. So far so good.

Palm Announces Treo Pro

Chris Dannen — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:36:31 -0400

Palm [NASDAQ:PALM] didn't do such a hot job of keeping this thing under wraps, but that doesn't make it any less interesting to the smartphone community. The Treo Pro unfurled its red carpet months ago when a whole littany of leaked photos and leaked promotional materials made their way onto the Web, but now it's getting official: the Treo Pro will be sold unlocked, without a carrier.

Google's Android Gets Closer

Chris Dannen — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:38:02 -0400

BlackBerry Javelin Leaked

Chris Dannen — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:20:29 -0400

RIM [NASDAQ:RIMM] is capitalizing on the BlackBerry's increasing popularity by cranking out new models Asus-style. Next up is apparently the BlackBerry Javelin, a non-3G smartphone that seems to be a value-proposition model for the wanna-be Crackberry set. According to some leaked marketing materials, the Javelin will feature a 512MHz processor, 256MB of onboard Flash memory and a hot-swappable microSD card slot below the back cover. Like the Bold, it will sport a 460x360 HVGA+ screen, WiFi, GPS, and a 3.2MP camera in the back (with a flash).

HTC's Android Phone Delayed

Chris Dannen — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:47:35 -0400

Google's Android and Nokia's Symbian to Combine?

Chris Dannen — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:21:22 -0400

BlackBerry Kickstart Only $50?

Chris Dannen — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:09:41 -0400

RIM [TSE:RIM] has done a shamefully poor job of keeping the prototypes of their first BlackBerry flip phone, the Kickstart, under wraps, and today the ignominy continues. According to a chorus of tech bloggers who are rarely wrong about their prognostications, the Kickstart will be available for a scant $50 when it launches in September on the T-Mobile network (with a two-year contract).

Nokia's N78 Now Available

Chris Dannen — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:47:24 -0400

The newest addition to Nokia's [NYSE: NOK] N-series, the N78, is now available for purchase at Nokia's flagship stores in New York and Chicago. The candybar device sports HSDPA connecticity and a 3.2-megapixel camera, along with assisted GPS -- the same technology to be featured in the iPhone 3G, which uses cell tower and WiFi network data to assist a satellite GPS transponder in finding a given phone's location. Online retailers will also be getting the phone this week; the street price looks to be about $560.