Note to phone manufacturers: When giving press/bloggers hands on time with the handset that is the crucial first step in your rebuilding process, please do so in desirable lighting as opposed to darkness. Ambiance is great on a first date — not so much when you’re tying to check out a new phone. Moving along, we finally had some time alone with the Motorola CLIQ a short while ago and we have to say, we were pretty impressed. This is not a high-end handset by any means of course, but it’s not supposed to be. Moto set out to create a social network-friendly handset for the younger crowd and in that regard, we think the company really excelled. Where the seasoned mobile enthusiast is concerned, the CLIQ gives us a glimpse of what’s in store for higher-end handsets like the Sholes that are still forthcoming. So sit back, relax and hit the jump for our initial thoughts and a handful of dimly-lit pics and a video.

We’ll start things off by saying that the CLIQ really did impress us. The device is thin, it felt solid and it had some good heft; it’s definitely not some plastic-feeling lightweight that would shatter from a two-foot drop. This will be good news for those who were a bit worried by the plasticky look of the initial Morrison pics that leaked a while back. Our main concern with slider phones in general is the actual sliding mechanisms — they have a tendency to feel clunky and wear out quickly. With the Motorola CLIQ however, nothing feels like it was made in haste. The components look and feel great and the slider was as good as it can possibly get on a phone with this form factor. Of course, we here at BGR are more discerning about keyboards than anyone else we know, so you’ll be happy to know we were very happy with the keyboard on the CLIQ. It had just the right amount of tactile feel and the contour of the keys made the board feel like it was spaced out perfectly. Moreover, the devices we handled weren’t final production units so it can only get better when the production run slides off the line (in theory).

Onto the UI — our initial impressions of MOTOBLUR over the Android OS are great. It’s snappy, laid out quite well and very intuitive over all. Motorola did a fine job on the glass screen and it doesn’t take away from the vivid display or the experience of touching and swiping. The social networking aspects of BLUR are the highlight of Motorola’s new device of course, and Moto’s UI does a fine job of showcasing SoNet features and making it easy to interact with your contacts.

Perhaps we weren’t expecting much to start (we were assuming, given the social networking strengths, that the CLIQ was geared entirely towards teens), so that could help explain why we were so impressed after handling the phone. The true test is always seeing how we feel after a week or so with the handset so for that we’ll just have to wait for T-Mobile to start shipping review units. We tried to squeeze a release date out of Moto of course, but all we got was a reiteration that it’s due in Q4 and more specifics will be announced toward the end of this month. In the end, we think Motorola has certainly put itself back on the map with the CLIQ and its new MOTOBLUR UI, and more importantly for us, we’re hearing Moto’s next few Android handsets will take things even further. Game on.

Verizon is adding another broadband data card to its lineup with the Novatel PC770 2-in-1 wireless card. The PC770 will work with both ExpressCard slots or PC peripheral interface slots making it plenty more versatile than your average card. Like any respectable data card these days, it will feature EVDO Rev. A for a speedy connection but it also sports a few tweaks to allow for simultaneous high speed uploads and downloads. If you’re wondering how much the PC770 is going to set you back, it’s $99.99 after mail-in rebate and a 2-year contract — pretty standard fare these days for data cards. It will launch August 2nd so you might want to hold off on any lesser data cards you might have had in mind until then.

Read

Google Chrome OS is a new project, separate from Android. Android was designed from the beginning to work across a variety of devices from phones to set-top boxes to netbooks. Google Chrome OS is being created for people who spend most of their time on the web, and is being designed to power computers ranging from small netbooks to full-size desktop systems. While there are areas where Google Chrome OS and Android overlap, we believe choice will drive innovation for the benefit of everyone, including Google.

With the meticulous nature of Google, we can expect this to be a top-notch operating system but sometimes data-driven features don’t always make for the best user experiences. Let us also not forget that the Chrome browser, though still in its infancy, fell short of many expectations. We’ve still got plenty of time before Chrome OS materializes so we doubt Redmond and Cupertino are shaking in their boots just yet. Anyone excited?

Read

Up until now, most folks have had to resort to using Turbo SIMs or walking into shady back alleys to get their iPhones unlocked. The Dev Team has been hard at work so you can enjoy carrier freedom with your iPhone 3G (not the iPhone 3GS!) and, you know, wander off to T-Mobile (or anywhere GSM is available if you’re a travel junky). As usual, ultrasn0w is made to be easy enough for grandma to use. Just follow the simple few steps that the Dev Team has laid out and you should be good to go! We’ll remind you once more not to do this on the iPhone 3GS — S support is still forthcoming where jailbreaking and unlocking is concerned. Oh and as always, perform these hacks at your own risk.

Read

How do you pass the time when you’re sitting in a train, plane or bus? Do you listen to music or surf the web on your phone? Are you the type who likes to get some work or emails done on your daily commute? For those of us who like to think we’re being productive during our travels, or maybe just productive in general, meet Peter V. Brett. While commuting on the subway to and from work, Brett was writing a novel — on his smartphone! Brett adhered to a strict writing schedule (his train commute) and produced about 100,000 words over the course of two years. The fruits of his labor came together in The Warded Man, or The Painted Man as it’s called in other countries, a fantasy fiction novel that has been well-received by critics everywhere. While some of you may already be familiar with Mr. Brett’s story, he decided to share some details about his phone and gadget preferences with BGR. Hit the jump for the interview!

What prompted you to write a novel on your phone? Was it something planned or did it just happen by chance?

I would say it happened more out of necessity than planning or chance. I wanted to write a book, but I had a steady job with a successful PR firm in Times Square, a wife, friends, family, and a long commute. There was never time. I wrote whenever I could get the chance, but there just never seemed to be enough hours in the day.

I was also shackled to my computer. I was the first kid on the block with a home PC in the 80’s, and have done all my writing digitally ever since. Of course, my handwriting suffered as a result, so when I write by hand, I felt like a crypto-linguist trying to crack some foreign military code as I key the notes into my digital files later.

I had a laptop, of course, but you can’t effectively use a laptop on a New York City subway at rush hour, or any of a number of other places where you have a short window of downtime and want to quickly jot down an idea or snippet of prose. Writing on a hand-held digital device was really the only logical solution.

Have you written long pieces of work on your phone prior to the novel?

Nothing really comparable, but I’ve always used it for blogging, too, which probably adds up to a lot over the years, now that I think of it.

What kind of phone did you use and what condition was it in after the whole process was done?

I started taking notes on a Nokia music phone, which had a comfortable design for its QWERTY keyboard, but it had a minuscule screen, and you could only type short note files. The sync software was also terrible, and the phone’s whole operating system had a tendency to freeze up every time I got on the subway and it was cut off from the network.

After that, I moved on to the Palm m515, which would sync with MSWord, but required you to write with the stylus using their graffiti letters, which was a really frustrating interface. I got pretty fast with it, but it was still very inefficient for writing large amounts of text.

It wasn’t until I switched to the HP iPaq 6515 with Windows Mobile that I began to really write significant amounts of text on a mobile device. The 6515 had a huge screen and a well-spread QWERTY keyboard with space between each raised key. It was very easy to write on, and between my commute, lunch hour, and other downtime, I began to average between 700-800 words a day, every day, written on the phone.

This destroyed the battery, of course. I don’t think it was designed for that kind of heavy use. Writing depleted power very quickly, so that I had to charge it 3 times a day, and eventually had to buy a much bulkier battery that doubled the phone’s already considerable thickness. It was also a very buggy device, crashing often and having sync problems, which worsened with the heavy use.

Are you still using that same phone today?

Last fall I bought a more recent version, the iPaq 910, which fixed many (if not all) of the operating bugs of its ancestor. However, the screen is like 1/3 the size of the 6515, and the keyboard much more cramped, so it doesn’t give as good an interface. Still, I use it daily, and have written many tens of thousands of words on it.

Are you very particular about your gadgets and smartphones? What are your top three requirements for a smartphone?

I am incredibly particular, but no matter how careful I am in selecting a device, it is usually obsolete the moment I take it out of the box. Any smartphone by this point should be passable as a phone, planner, organizer, and e-mail client. Assuming those things as a given, my three priorities are as follows:

My main focus is writing, so the device needs a comfortable physical keyboard and a good word processor I can sync with MS Word. This precludes the iPhone, at least for the moment.

My next requirement is music/videos, which most smartphones can provide once you buy extra memory, but it eats battery life and system resources like crazy, and doesn’t have nearly the memory, speed, or easy functionality of my 80GB iPod video, which I am therefore still forced to carry.

Third is internet access & functionality, which some phones do better than others, but none do to satisfaction, mainly due to the limitations of screen size.

When one gadget call do all of the above, I’ll be satisfied until they invent the tricorder.

Did you ever lose a significant portion of work due to system crashes or errors? How did you save your daily work?

Like most people whose entire livelihood is digital, I sync and back up constantly. I mirror all my files up to an external drive nightly, and to a flash drive on my keychain and my laptop frequently. My most vital and/or active stuff is also backed up to the phone.

Since large files require too much system resource and are difficult to navigate on the phone, I usually break novels into individual chapters that I can work on both on the phone and desktop until they are complete and can be added to the main file. That also minimizes loss if the active file gets corrupted, or if Activesync glitches and saves the wrong version of an Office Mobile file, which happens occasionally (though not as often since I got the iPaq 910).

Aside from technical issues, what other problems did you run into while writing on the train? Thumbs cramping, seating space or crowded areas?

I was riding a New York City subway at rush hour, heading to Times Square, so seating was always a problem. You can’t thumb-write with one hand holding onto a rail. My stop in Brooklyn is far out enough that I could get a seat 70% of the time on the way into the city in the morning, but the reverse was true on the way home when I was getting on at 42nd St. I became an expert at reading people to see which were gathering their things to disembark, and positioned myself to snag their seats before anyone else realized they were getting up. Once I was sitting, I would just put on the iPod, tune out my surroundings, and start writing. The rest of the trip would often go by in an instant, and I would sometimes even miss my stop because I was so engrossed in the writing that I forgot to keep track.

When the novel was completed, how did you feel about your accomplishment? Do you think you’ll ever write another novel on your phone again?

I had a huge sense of accomplishment, but it was more about the book itself than the technicalities of how it was written. Writing a 400+ page novel requires considerable commitment under any circumstances, and I put my heart and soul into The Warded Man. It was picked up by publishers all over the world long before the fact that much of it was written on a mobile device became common knowledge.

About 50% of the sequel, The Desert Spear, was written on my phone as well, and I expect the third book, The Daylight War, will have more or less the same ratio. Even though I am writing full time now and no longer commute, now that I am no longer shackled to my desk, I see no reason to put the chains back on.

We at BGR are very thankful for Mr. Brett’s time and wish him all the best with his future projects! His novel, The Warded Man, is currently available from Amazon.com as well as major retailers across the country (and world).

We were filled with envy when COWON announced that its higher capacity S9 would grace South Korea’s gadget freaks, but it looks like it’s finally going to be our turn. Better yet, the bump to 32GB only sets you back $299 compared to $239 for the 16GB version. There is really no complaining with this one because we were practically gleaming with our review unit. Audio quality from the S9 is tops and the AMOLED screen just pops. As you can see, the COWON S9 is being shipped and sold from JetAudio, Inc. and while the actual JetAudio site shows 16GB as the largest capacity S9 you can get, we’re not going to argue with what’s shown on sale through Amazon. Grab one while you can because these units are just so PMP.

Read

Adobe is bringing Flash and HD content into your living rooms via set-top boxes, Blu-Ray players and other Internet-capable equipment. If you’re thinking it’s going to be a small or niche market participating in this program, think again — content providers already on board include Atlantic Records, Comcast, Disney Interactive, Intel, Netflix and even The New York Times amongst many others. The Adobe Flash Platform for Digital Home is available right now for OEMs and will be hitting System on Chip vendors in the latter half of 2009 ensuring all of your favorite Flash-based web content, videos, applications and services will become accessible to screens beyond just the computer. Of course, we have all been expecting this since Adobe first began moving forward with the Open Screen Project but we’re pretty excited about this coming digital technology and the fact that so many big industry players are involved. Hit the jump for additional details and information.

Flash Platform News

Flash Platform for the Digital Home
A new Flash runtime optimized for Internet connected televisions, set-top boxes, Blu-ray players and other digital home devices.  Brings HD videos, interactive applications and services, new user interfaces and other rich web content to digital living room devices.

Partners
Major System on Chips (SoC) vendors, OEMs, cable operators and content providers are announcing support for the optimized Flash runtime including Broadcom, Intel, Comcast, Disney Interactive, Netflix, New York Times Company, NXP Semiconductors, Sigma Designs, STMicroelectronics, Atlantic Records etc.

Availability
The optimized Flash runtime is available immediately to silicon vendors and OEMs.  SoC platforms, televisions and other devices are expected to be available with support for the new runtime in the second half of ’09.

Data points:

• Close to 420 million televisions, set-top boxes, Blu-ray players and other connected digital home devices are expected to ship with the next 3 years.  (Source: Strategy Analytics: Digital Media Devices Global Market Report December 2009)
• Adobe Flash Player content reaches over 98% of Internet-enabled desktops.  According to data from independent research firm comScore (Feb ‘09), approximately 80% of online videos worldwide are viewed using Adobe Flash technology, making Flash the #1 platform for video on the web.
• Flash Player 10 was installed on more than 55% of computers worldwide in just the first two months of its release, and is expected to surpass 80% in Q2 ‘09, far outpacing the installation rate of past versions. (Source: Third-party survey by Millward Brown that determines these stats, the survey methodology, breakdown by version, etc at http://www.adobe.com/products/player_census/flashplayer/ )
• The mobile Flash runtime has shipped and delivered Flash technology based content on close to 40% of all new mobile phones and devices in 2008.  More than 1 billion mobile phones and devices have shipped with Flash by the end of Q1 ‘09.  (Source: Strategy Analytics Forecast, Jan 2009)  Flash Player 10 for smartphones is on track for OEM avail in second half of ‘09.  First platforms to be supported: Symbian, WiMo, Android and Palm webOS

Flash Platform for the Digital Home – Partner Quotes

Comcast: “Comcast is constantly working to deliver richer user interfaces and services to our customers,” said Labeeb Ismail, vice president, Technology at Comcast. “As an active participant of the Open Screen Project, we are working closely with Adobe to integrate the optimized Flash runtime with tru2way technology, enabling a new range of engaging, interactive services to consumers.”

Disney: “Disney and Adobe share the vision of extending HD video and rich, engaging experiences across multiple screens,” said Bud Albers, CTO and senior vice president at Disney Interactive Media Group. “Adobe Flash technology plays an important role in delivering the latest Disney content via the web, mobile phones and other consumer electronics. As a leading innovator for media and entertainment, we are excited about the opportunities of Flash based applications and services coming to televisions.”

Intel: “Intel and Adobe have a long history of collaboration and have worked together to optimize Flash technology for the digital home on the Intel® Media Processor CE 3100, the first in a new family of purpose-built Intel System-on-Chips (SoCs) for CE devices,” said William O. Leszinske Jr., general manager of Intel’s Digital Home Group. “As an active participant of the Open Screen Project, we recognize the value of extending rich, Flash based Internet content and applications to a broad range of devices in your pocket, on your lap, at the office and now in your living room. We are excited to integrate the optimized Flash runtime into digital home platforms featuring Intel’s SoC, such as advanced set-top boxes, high-definition digital televisions, Blu-ray Disc players and other connected AV devices.”

Netflix: “As the world’s leading online movie rental service, Netflix always seeks new ways for subscribers to find and enjoy the movies they’ll love,” said Bill Holmes, vice president of Business Development at Netflix. “Adobe’s Flash Platform for the Digital Home offers great promise as Netflix continues its expansion directly to the television with our consumer electronics partners.”

New York Times: “The New York Times is pleased to work with Adobe on the Open Screen Project,” said Michael Zimbalist, vice president of Research and Development Operations at The New York Times Company. “The extension of Flash technology to digital home devices is an important step in delivering applications consistently across screens and will help the Times Company better deliver our high quality news, information and multimedia to the digital living room.”

Sigma Designs: “Sigma Designs has long recognized that IPTV is the future, and has been a constant innovator of SoC solutions for IP-connected set top boxes and Blu-ray players,” said Ken Lowe, vice president for Business Development and Strategic Marketing at Sigma Designs. “Consumers clearly want to access Flash based HD videos and other rich web content on their televisions. We are working closely with Adobe to integrate the optimized Flash runtime into our SoC solutions to enable a better, more interactive user experience on connected digital home devices.”

Adobe Dynamic Media Organization (DMO) News

Strobe:  New software framework, code-named Strobe, which aids in the development of an open industry standard for media players and accelerates the creation and delivery of high-quality video and interactive experiences for web audiences. Strobe will offer production-ready software components for media players, reducing the time content publishers spend creating their own playback technologies.

Preview of Adobe Story:  Collaborative online scriptwriting for use in film, broadcast, and rich media. Adobe Story captures metadata in the script, the earliest part of the production chain, and will enable users to collaborate on scripts and expand their ideas.  A public beta is expected to be avail on Adobe Labs in late ‘09.

Premiere Pro CS4 version 4.1:  Free update for existing customers. Includes compatibility with RED R3D content for users of laptops and lower-powered systems, and support for an updated RED plug-in.

In an economic climate such as the one we’re currently experiencing, we’re sure that Sun Microsystems is wishing they could say, “No takesies-backsies!” For the past few weeks, it seemed like everyone was on the edge of their seat waiting to see what would happen with IBM’s offer Sun. On Sunday, everything came to a halt when IBM withdrew a hefty $7.5 billion bid for the computer and software manufacturer. Sun became apparently picky when the sum ($9.40 per share instead of the $9.55 offer from the prior week) and details of the negotiations didn’t quite meet their tastes. Now the company could be facing a rough future if IBM can’t find a way to please and purchase it.  In the meantime, Sun’s stock prices could continue to drop as they further their quest to find a buyer.

Read

It’s time to get to upgrading, folks, because the new version of iTunes promises to be faster and includes a new set of features. The Genius feature now supports movies and TV shows beyond just music, CDs can be imported at a much higher quality and the overall experience is much faster. That means when you’re syncing your iPod or iPhone, browsing through playlists or shopping in the iTunes store, the improved speeds will make the experience more rich and pleasant – especially with how impatient many of us can be. Oh and if you’re planning on grabbing a new 4GB iPod Shuffle, iTunes 8.1 is required. You don’t need us to tell you what to do next, but just in case, go ahead and download it already!

Read

We’re pretty big fans of music here at BGR, so we can become a little scrutinizing when it comes to the headsets we use on a daily basis. What we’re looking for is a headset that can deliver clear, clean and crisp sound at all volumes (there is nothing worse than getting garbled noise when you crank it up). Sure we have a few pairs laying around HQ that we’ve grown fond of but we can still check out some new ones from time to time, right? We’ve been testing out the Platinum i-Series and the Pro i-Series buds from iHarmonix over the past week or so and to be honest, we weren’t expecting much from these mid-range buds. You know what they say about judging a book by its cover though, so hit the jump for the skinny.

Let’s start out with the Platinum i-Series. The headset’s wires are designed nicely with a thickness and coating that keeps them from getting tangled — always a good feature when you’re stuffing them into a bag or pocket. They also have an in-line microphone with a button to send/end calls and to pause music. The build quality seems good enough for the unit to last as long as your phone or MP3 player will. Unlike the Pro i-Series, these come with three different rubber earbud sets so that ears of all sizes get the perfect fit. The sound quality is definitely impressive and beats most headsets we’ve tested in the same class and price range for sure. Bass is clear and heavy without getting distorted at higher levels and you almost feel like your chest should be getting rumbled by a subwoofer. Almost. Unlike similar headsets, the bass doesn’t take away from the mids or the treble however, so the balance is damn near perfect at low or high volumes. We came away very impressed.

Call quality on the Platinum i-Series is also very good for both the iPhone 3G and on the BlackBerry we tested them with. Although the caller can sound a little on the sharp side, it wasn’t that bad and it didn’t hurt our ears. For the most part, they sounded very natural and there was little to no background noise – even outdoors. Our friends on the other side of the line said we sounded crisp and clear, but a little distant at times. While they could understand and hear us perfectly they reported that we sometimes sounded like we were on speakerphone, albeit a really good one.

Next up is the Pro i-Series and we’re a little less excited about this particular model. The overall quality of the headset itself is just as good as the Platinum, but unfortunately it doesn’t perform as well as the Platinum when compared side-by-side. When compared to other headsets in the same price range, it is definitely above average but part of the problem is the earbud attachments. They come in large and slightly larger. The memory foam earbuds, which are like earplugs you roll and put into your ears, were difficult to place in the ear canal and were very uncomfortable. The rubber earbuds were much easier and more comfortable to wear, but weren’t a perfect fit. Because we had some difficulty getting these in our ears, sound quality suffered a bit without question.

When listening to the same songs with these headsets, we noticed that we had to turn up the volume a bit more to get the same effect as the Platinum series. However, once the volume started going up the sound started to become muddled. Of course, it probably isn’t best for your ears to listen to music that loud, but if you wanted to drown out outside noise so you can enjoy your music in a loud environment, it might sound a little distorted. Call quality is just as good as the Platinum series and has the same mic button, too. Actually, when listening to callers on the iPhone, they sounded a little better through the headsets than they did on the phone’s earpiece. Voices sounded natural and clear with little noise in the background and our friends said the same on their end.

So, are the iHarmonix earbuds worth it? At $59.95 for the Platinum and $39.95 for the Pro we definitely say yes for both — with the caveats that 1. your ears have to be the right size for the Pro i-Series to work out well and 2. you don’t need to get up near max volume, ever. For the money, it’s pretty tough to beat the Platinum i-Series and it’s definitely worth forking over the extra $20 over the Pro i-Series. The Platinum was just way more impressive — to the point where we think we’re going to keep them around for daily use.

iHarmonix Platinum product page
iHarmonix Pro product page

For a while now there has been talk of Facebook 1.5 for BlackBerry. Back in November we cited a report which indicated a January release, something that obviously did not come to fruition. However, we can say with absolute certainty that Facebook 1.5 is just around the corner because we manged to get our hands on it courtesy of one of our RIM ninjas. A lot of the new features are ones we’ve already gone over, but some are more recent additions and actually pretty interesting, though not necessarily for a good reason.

Now we know your time is important and the only BlackBerry content you’re really interested in is our amazing giveaway that is offering up a Bold, a Storm, a Curve 8900 and 500 BlackBerry unlock codes, but if you’ll take but a few moments out of your day you might just learn a thing or two. We promise it’s short and sweet.

Three Somewhat Major Enhancements

When starting up Facebook for the first time a Setup Wizard pops up on the screen and lists options to control the three biggest changes to Facebook for BlackBerry — the integration with the BlackBerry Message, Calendar and Contacts applications.

BlackBerry Message Application Integration:

Truth be told, this is probably the single greatest feature of the Facebook 1.5 app. In previous builds, when a Facebook message/poke/whatever was received one was forced to navigate their way to the Facebook application itself, open it up and check what you’ve received. But with 1.5 you can bypass all of this by enabling the BlackBerry Message application option and view every Facebook message from the convenience of your inbox.

BlackBerry Calendar Application Integration:

The title of this feature pretty much sums it all up: all of the Facebook events you’ve RSVP’d to and all of your friends birthdays are downloaded to a calendar labeled “Facebook”. Again, this is completely optional but we’re not too sure why someone would avoid taking advantage of this feature. In fact, we’re confident that this feature will save at least a few relationships a year (yes ladies, he has no more excuses).

BlackBerry Contacts Application Integration:

This feature, which we’re torn about internally, allows users to integrate Facebook friends with existing BlackBerry contacts. Phone numbers, work details, and most profile pictures from Facebook are added to the BlackBerry Contacts application. The great thing about this is if you would like to apply this feature to only a select few you are able to do so by “linking” or “unlinking” whomever you wish. And if your Facebook friend does not have their phone number listed and it’s not already in your Contacts then the app allows you to request that they share it with you.

Everything Else is Hum-Drum

Design and GUI:

We’re very disappointed with the design effort that went into Facebook 1.5. In fact, there clearly wasn’t any. Save for a few animated transitions between a limited amount of screens, the application still looks exactly like it did on an 8100 Pearl when it came out in October 2007.

Call Friends from the Friends Screen:

Now it’s possible to call friends who have their numbers listed on Facebook or whose Facebook profile is linked with their Contact profile on your ‘Berry. This is perfect for those who have friends who tend to tweet slanderous things and need to be straightened out.

Comment on Status Messages:

One of the more popular Facebook features is the ability to comment on friends status messages. This functionality was not available in previous versions of Facebook for BlackBerry, but that is simply because the feature is newer than the application updates. We’re very pleased to see this has been packaged in with 1.5.

Change your Listed Phone Numbers:

At this point in time it’s not possible for users to edit their Facebook profiles from a mobile device. However, Facebook 1.5 introduces an option to edit your mobile and landline numbers so that your friends can keep tabs on your ever changing numbers (if only Google cared about GrandCentral). Umm, is it really expected that someone is going to change his or her phone number so frequently that this is necessary? If you can wait a few hours to get to a computer to change update your favorite movies after seeing the latest flick then surely you can wait until that time to change your listed phone numbers. Besides, your friends can just message you and ask you to call them.

Improved access to Facebook’s WAP site:

One of the most irritating things about previous builds has been the fact that whenever you wanted to view a friend’s profile on the WAP site by way of the application, you would have to enter your sign-in credentials for the WAP portal. Thankfully this isn’t the case any more because so long as you launch the WAP site via the application you will not have to enter credentials ever again.

Conclusion

The new intergration with the BlackBerry Message, Calendar and Contacts applications is quite enjoyable, but we’re really disappointed that nothing more substantial will be included. With that said, Facebook 2.0 is in the works but if it took us this long to get to where Facebok 1.5 is today then we have to confess we don’t have much hope for anything but the same old, same old. Then again, by the time Facebook 2.0 is expected to be released the less powerful units on the market like the Pearl will be pretty much be antiques, meaning that RIM and Facebook can safely roll-out a more enhanced application platform-wide.

Listen up Quickfire owners, AT&T just made a pretty major announcement: Your phone is going to self-destruct in exactly five days! Just kidding, sort of — if you don’t follow the proper procedures for charging your device, it just might. On Monday we broke news of the Quickfire being pulled off shelves and being cut from sales indefinitely without any public statement from AT&T. Now Big Blue is saying there have been reports of significant overheating when the charger is forced or incorrectly inserted into the phone. While there is usually only one way to get a charger in, sometimes phone designs allow for some wiggle room and these bad connectors appear to be the culprit of the Quickfire’s dismissal. If you own a Quickfire and haven’t received a notice already, you’ll soon receive an email and SMS that reads:

Please take special care when charging your Quickfire GTX75 mobile phone. There have been a few reports of significant overheating of the phone when the AC Charger adapter is inserted incorrectly and forced into the phone. The clearly marked, embossed arrow on the AC Charger adapter should always be face-up on the same side as the display screen of the Quickfire when it is inserted into the phone. See the diagram below for proper positioning and insertion of the AC Charger adapter into the phone. You should never force the AC Charger adapter into the phone.

This goes without saying but be sure to take note of this to avoid any injuries or serious damage to your phone and property. At least now we know why such a cool little device was suddenly yanked from store shelves and we hope the problem is remedied soon.

Thanks, Craig!

[Via Phonescoop]

Read

Word broke out over the weekend that Microsoft had sent letters to ex-employees asking for repayment of severance package overages. Apparently damage control was able to beat the Grinch out of HR because the company apparently decided to do the right thing. Microsoft human resources chief Lisa Brummel says the company is reversing its course of action and contacting those who received the notice to advise them that repayment is not necessary. About 25 ex-employees were overpaid and 20 were underpaid due to the error. We’re also glad to hear the workers who were underpaid will be compensated for the amounts they were due. Lesson learned for Microsoft: There are some cases where accounting errors can’t, or shouldn’t be fixed and this is one of them. The former employees who spoke up can also give a nod to the media for spreading the news like wildfire and bringing it to Microsoft’s (and everyone else’s) attention.

Read

Hardcore messaging fanatics on AT&T have a few more options to look forward to in the near future. If you find yourself in need of a full QWERTY keyboard and blazing fast data speeds aren’t a necessity, the Samsung Shift and LG Etna might be for you – if the Propel, Quickfire, Slate, Matrix and Duo just aren’t cutting it, that is. The Samsung Shift is a 2G candybar phone that has a full QWERTY keyboard and apparently not much else to tout; perfect for those who do some talking, a little browsing and a whole lot of messaging. It’s a pretty basic handset and really doesn’t offer much to squeal about with EDGE speeds, a VGA camera and no real smartphone features. But there is something for everyone and the Shift definitely has its purpose. For a video of the Shift along with info and a video of the Etna, hit the jump.

Next up for AT&T is the LG GT365 (sounds more like a muscle car than a phone), or the Etna. This little slider also offers a QWERTY keyboard as well as a 2 megapixel camera and stereo Bluetooth support. It’s basically just a hair above the Shift in the features department for those who want a little more. It also has a resistive touchscreen with haptic feedback so you save some extra bulk and size by being able to dial on the screen instead of having another keypad (like the Pantech Duo). Otherwise, it’s a pretty basic phone with heavy messagers in mind.

Thanks, Fernando!

If you’re a Verizon customer who is looking to get a new touchscreen device without breaking the bank, you might want to mark down March 1st in your calendar. Rumor has it that’s when the LG Versa will go on sale and while it might not be the most impressive phone Big Red’s stable – with its dumb phone OS, simple 2 megapixel camera, a basic web browser and a dreaded stylus-operated touchscreen – it does have a rather peculiar way of adding attachments that some people are sure to think of as being the neatest thing since sliced bread. You see, the Versa is designed to allow users to customize it for certain tasks through after-market purchased dockable modules. Like what, you ask? Some of the modules we’ve seen include a “how bad are the default speakers” speakers, the “are you admitting that typing with a stupid stylus is an exercise in futility” full-QWERTY keypad and our personal favorite, the “why the hell does that guy need to attach a bulky add-on to his phone to get Wi-Fi” Wi-Fi antenna. Get the feeling that it’s in your best interest to save up a little longer and get a Dare?

Read

Our inbox is full of tips lately regarding customers who have succeeded in ordering and receiving BlackBerry Curve 8900s from T-Mobile and now we have an unboxing video thanks to one of our tipsters. If you’ve been itching for one of these and it’s time to upgrade, you might be able to get one before the February 11 release date if you act now. We know that sometimes things just can’t come soon enough – especially if you’ve braved the release of the G1 or you’re a serious BlackBerry addict. As is often the case, we think it may be a question of who you spoke to in the telesales department. It looks like it comes with your run-of-the-mill accessories such as the data cable, travel charger, earbuds and a leather pouch (no holster?!). If you’ve already ordered and received your 8900 or it’s on its way, share the wealth in the comments section and tell us how the process went. For the full unboxing video, hit the jump.

Thanks, trini_pirate!

If you’re the type who doesn’t mind picking up slightly-less-than-new products from eBay or Craigslist, Apple has the online store for you! Except it’s only in China. In a country where many Apple products are sold on the black market, Apple has decided to take on pirates and scammers by launching a used product section on its site where discounts of up to 22 percent can be found. That’s not a bad deal in a place where it can cost an arm and a leg to pick up an iPhone. We’re not sure what kind of warranties are being offered with these sales but it can presumably be expected to rival the refurbished goods that Apple sells elsewhere. The next time you’re on an extended vacation in beautiful, breezy Beijing, it looks like you can look forward to picking up some refurb’d Apple gear on the cheap.

Read

After making all kinds of efforts to save money and cut back on expenses, a recent settlement for Dell is sure to set those efforts back just a little bit. The computer giant is going to have to pay $3.35 million as part of a settlement in 34 states for misleading consumers about financing and warranties. Apparently, many people who purchased Dell computers were charged higher interest rates than promised (for those who financed), did not receive rebates and were lied to about warranties. So, $1.5 million will be paid as restitution for those rip-offs and consumers will have 90 days to submit a claim. The remaining $1.85 million is going to cover, you guessed it, legal fees. The moral of the story is it doesn’t pay to be shady and we hope that other companies take this as a wake-up call because it doesn’t help business or consumers. It does however, help lawyers.

Read

Ok, someone please tell Nelson Muntz he’s on in five… Now that Z2K has come and gone, we have to sit back and wonder how something so widespread could have such a simple fix – wait till it dies, then turn it back on. For real? The good thing, we suppose, was that if there were people who couldn’t manage their way to Google to search for an answer, their Zunes would eventually just start working again. The bad thing of course, was that the cause of the problem was probably something bush league. Indeed – here is the explanation from itsnotabigtruck of Zune Boards:

The Zune’s real-time clock stores the time in terms of days and seconds since January 1st, 1980. When the Zune’s clock is accessed, the driver turns the number of days into years/months/days and the number of seconds into hours/minutes/seconds. Likewise, when the clock is set, the driver does the opposite.

The Zune frontend first accesses the clock toward the end of the boot sequence. Doing this triggers the code that reads the clock and converts it to a date and time. Below is the part of this code that determines the year component of the date:

…

Under normal circumstances, this works just fine. The function keeps subtracting either 365 or 366 until it gets down to less than a year’s worth of days, which it then turns into the month and day of month. Thing is, in the case of the last day of a leap year, it keeps going until it hits 366. Thanks to the if (days > 366), it stops subtracting anything if the loop happens to be on a leap year. But 366 is too large to break out of the main loop, meaning that the Zune keeps looping forever and doesn’t do anything else.

Here it comes… Haaa haaa! The affected source code causing this bug can also be found in a few other portables such as Toshiba’s S series. If you happen to be one of the few people out there with one of those puppies and you haven’t resolved the issue by now, the fix is the same so don’t fret. We have to imagine Microsoft will have a fix in place before 2012, the next leap year, but this was a massive bungle that Redmond certainly can’t wait to be forgotten. Sure most people will forget, but we wonder if a bad enough taste was left in the mouths of Zune owners to make them think about jumping ship. Some will, no doubt, but we don’t imagine any hardcore anti-iPod people will have their allegiance swayed.

Read

The lavish and sometimes frivolous mega-Internet-corp that is Google has been feeling the effects of the recession this year. First it started with the dismissal of a good chunk of manpower and now it is being reported that Google employees won’t be receiving Christmas bonuses this year. That’s a pretty major downer if you’re one of the employees who received a bonus as high as $20,000 in the past (though if that’s your bonus, you’re probably faring better than most anyway). How is Google making up for it? Free, unlocked G1s for everybody. Um, yay? We don’t know about you guys but we’d gladly take a bonus over a G1 any day, even if it is unlocked – how are you going to use 3G on that thing anyway if you decide to use it on a GSM carrier other than T-Mobile? Oh well… In these rough times we suppose the remaining Googlers should all just be thankful they still have a jobs.

Read

Read

Moving forward with the Open Screen Project, Adobe has recently released a beta version of an image management app for your phone with Photoshop.com Mobile. While it is still in beta and available on a few devices (those which support Flash Lite 3), it has a lot of potential for picture sharing and editing. For now, options are limited and the application essentially performs one key function: Loading pictures onto Photoshop.com for viewing online or on your phone. Unfortunately, there aren’t any photo editing options via your mobile phone for the time being. Quite frankly, that would prove to be difficult anyway if you’re familiar with even the most basic editing options using a computer. Still, a nice benefit to Photoshop.com Mobile is having tons of pictures at your fingertips without worrying about storage space on your phone. Hit the jump for a quick run through the app and service.

When you open the application, the home screen is very clean and simple. You have the option to view photos on your phone, your Photoshop.com library and the albums you’ve created for your pics. There isn’t much else here, but like we said, it’s still in beta and it looks like Adobe is keeping things clean, simple and easy to use – never a bad thing.

Opening up your library or phone photos shows your pictures arranged as thumbnails. From here, your options are pretty limited. While you can’t send pics to an email address or another phone from here, you can upload pictures to your Photoshop.com library where they can be shared with your friends and family. For now, it’s only an album for your phone and doesn’t do much else.

Here we see the options screen. Short of adjusting your settings, getting help (which you likely won’t need) or checking for upgrades, there isn’t much to be done. The interface is minimal and simple, but we do wish there were more options available such as the ability to create albums from the device or being able to send and receive pictures.

When you go into options from any screen and click on settings, this is the screen you get. Not a whole lot here but the option to sign in or out and to auto-upload photos that you take to your Photoshop.com account. So, if you’re trigger happy and take tons of photos, it would be wise to turn auto-upload on (if you don’t mind sharing) so that you don’t have to go back and manually do so later. Turn your camera on, take a snapshot and the picture is automatically uploaded onto your account. You can even configure the website to share your photos instantly with a handful of other sites such as Facebook. In other words, if you have auto-upload turned on you can literally snap a pic and have it show up on your Facebook page in about a minute. Pretty cool! If you have a phone without memory expansion, this will certainly help so you don’t have to store many photos on your phone and eat up memory. There is, however, a 2GB storage limit with a basic Photoshop.com account. We wish it were a little more, but it is certainly plenty for a free account.

Even if you aren’t tech savvy, there is pretty much no way you can screw things up or get confused within this application. We found the Help screen to be of little use to us given the simplicity of the application. The way Adobe set things up is pretty simple and very intuitive; within five minutes of playing with it we were already comfortable using the app to its full potential.

For such a simple application, you might be wondering, what’s the point? Doesn’t Photobucket Mobile and Mobile Flickr already do the same thing? Well, they sort of do but with Photoshop.com Mobile, you can edit, clean, and touch up your pics right on Photoshop.com and as soon as you save your changes, they are effective immediately on both your phone and the Internet. Anyone who knows about sync knows that this is a feat in itself. Photoshop.com Mobile allows you to make edits and take or upload pics via mobile or online and have it automatically synced between device and computer. While it’s convenient to be able to upload pics to your account with your computer or your mobile phone and have access to it at all times using either device, we were expecting a little more. Again, the ability to edit images on your phone will be very difficult once you get down to details, but adjusting lighting, contrast, sharpness, and the ability to crop should be simple enough and we feel that it should have been included on the mobile app. As we mentioned of course, Photoshop.com Mobile is still in its infancy so expect some big things to come down the road a bit. Still, if you use mobile Photobucket or Flickr and you want the ability to have your phone and online account synced at all times, Photoshop.com Mobile is the way to go – the clean and intuitive interface makes sharing and storing your photos very simple and easy.

Remember when we teased you all with this sexy new PMP from COWON and how disappointing it was to find out it was hitting Korea with no US release date? Well stop your crying already – COWON has just announced today that it will be releasing this gadget in the US a lot sooner than we all thought. With its very own GUI lovingly shown off by an AMOLED screen, this PMP most definitely a stunner with specs to match. This thing is just jam packed with tons more features than your average PMP:

• 3.3″ AMOLED touch screen, 16 million colors, 480 x 272 pixels
• 500MHz dual-core processor
• DVD-quality MPEG4 and TV output (supports AVI and WMV)
• Bluetooth 2.0 with stereo headset support
• G-sensor accelerometer
• Extended battery (11 hours video and 55 hours audio, not bad!)
• JetEffect 2.0 audio technology
• EQ Filter and stereo enhancement including BBE+, Mach3Bass, 3D Surround and MP enhance audio processing

Wondering how much this thing will cost you? For an 8GB model it’s $199.99 and a 16GB will run for $239.99 and it will be available on December 19, not January like we previously thought. We’re not sure if it will be in stores, but we know it will be available through JetMall, Newegg, Amazon, eBay and a few other online retailers. Anyone going to pick one of these up as a stocking stuffer?

Read

Earlier this week, Sony Ericsson announced that it will be joining the Open Handset Alliance and made known its intention to develop an Android-based handset. Hot on the heels of that announcement, rumors began circulating about a possible summer 2009 release of the first Sony Ericsson branded Android handset. According to the folks over at the Unofficial Sony Ericsson blog, that very optimistic rumor was false and the real story behind Sony Ericsson’s Android development plan differs greatly. According to USEB, here is what we know about Sony Ericsson and Android:

• The first Android-based handset will be a high-end product.
• The Android platform won’t be exclusive to high-end products, and will also be used in mass-market products in the future.
• Android-based products won’t be niche products, and Sony Ericsson will continue developing phones based on Symbian and Windows Mobile.
• As of now, there are no specific announcements or release plans for any Android-based product by Sony Ericsson. It is simply too early for anything specific.

Though not as exciting as a hot new Sony Ericsson Android phone hitting the market in less than a year, this latest assessment of Sony Ericsson’s Android plan is probably much more realistic. It still wont stop us, though, from hoping for the former, despite the fact we realistically expect the latter.

Read

With the way technology and software have been moving, nothing beats open source anything. From open source browsers to operating systems, it seems the trend is going to become the standard very soon. So, the Open Handset Alliance has just announced the addition of 14 new members to its growing community. Powered by the sacred Google-juice, Android seems to be the platform or mobile OS of choice these days, and why wouldn’t it be given its open source goodness? In addition to those already part of the alliance, AKM Semiconductor Inc., ARM, ASUSTek Computer Inc., Atheros Communications, Borqs, Ericsson, Garmin International Inc., Huawei Technologies, Omron Software Co. Ltd, Softbank Mobile Corporation, Sony Ericsson, Teleca AB, Toshiba and Vodafone are jumping on the bandwagon. The more the merrier indeed as all of these companies will now be actively developing handsets, hardware and other goodies powered by the Android OS. The G1 is getting lonely fellas, get moving!

Read

First, it was PayPal. All you needed was access to the Internet and you could pay bills and make money transfers at your computer. Now, that same type of service is going to be available via mobile phones and SMS. Mobile banking is certainly nothing new and has been around for quite some time, but you were usually limited to viewing account information, transferring funds within your own account, and making bill payments (except Obopay, which allowed transfers from user to user). Some countries support transferring money between phones, such as India and the Philippines, but other countries and carriers are taking a serious look at adopting the service for themselves. Carriers like Vodafone are teaming up with financial institutions like Western Union to make these types of transactions and services more ubiquitous. If this catches on, it’s going to make money transfers, and life in general, a whole lot easier. However, like with PayPal, there’s no doubt that security concerns might push people away for a little while.

Read

After an extensive series of betas and intense testing for bugs, stability and security, BoxTone is ready to announce the general availability of its self-service BlackBerry app, myBoxTone Expert. MyBoxTone Expert can be considered a silent “guardian angel,” if you will, for your BlackBerry smartphone. The application runs in the background and will notify you of any problems with your device before they become serious issues. When myBoxTone Expert finds a problem, it will help you to resolve the issue with a clear, simple, step-by-step process that will allow practically any user to remedy the problem on his or her own. If the issue goes beyond what the user is capable of resolving, myBoxTone Expert offers remote troubleshooting and assistance which quickly resolves the problem. Businesses that manage a number of BlackBerry handsets would benefit greatly from myBoxTone Expert because of its ability to fix problems quickly and conveniently. Long story short, even the most evil IT Managers in the world can’t help but crack a smile when the board finally approves that myBoxTone Expert requisition…

For the less savvy user who was issued or asked to acquire a BlackBerry for corporate use, it can be a headache trying to navigate around the BlackBerry OS (remember your very first time picking up a BlackBerry?). What’s worse is when something goes wrong, they typically haven’t a clue as to where to begin or what to do. The home screen of myBoxTone Expert gives you basic information about the phone, such signal strength, battery life and available memory:

From here, users can see how much their battery life has decreased in the past hour and how much time is left so they can adjust and monitor their usage – very convenient if you’re wondering whether it’s time to plug in or pop in that extra battery. Whereas the Blackberry OS offers you battery percentages by increments of 5%, myBoxTone shows the exact battery life for more accuracy. Unless you’re an extremely tech savvy power user, this screen would be extremely beneficial to most corporate users who may not be aware of their power consumption.

MyBoxTone Expert is constantly monitoring processes on the handset and whenever there is a problem with the phone, the application icon changes from green to yellow (meh, it’s not so bad) or red (ruh roh) depending on the severity of the issue. Clicking the icon while after an alert has occurred will bring the user to the second tab which displays alert details along with the date and time of the occurrence. Alerts in yellow mean that the problem hasn’t escalated to its highest level yet, or it is a problem that can be easily resolved. An alert pictured in red however, is more serious and typically requires immediate attention. Data outages, syncing or connectivity issues, extremely low memory or very low battery life are some examples of red alerts.

Here you can see that the myBoxTone Expert icon has changed from green to yellow, signaling a minor problem, but one that could potentially worsen if it isn’t addressed.

And finally – this may be a little unnerving to see – the icon turns red when there is a serious issue with the device.

The last tab can be appreciated by the extremely picky and curious power users. It shows usage on a time line such as phone calls, data usage and signal strength. If you find any fluctuations in battery life, such as sudden decreases, this tab will likely show you the corresponding activity that caused the fluctuation. Again, this is an extremely useful tool for monitoring and adjusting usage and predicting battery life as well as recognizing which areas provide the best or worst network strength. Detailed reports can also be generated from this tab and emailed to the help desk in the event a user is not able to resolve an issue on his or her own.

Every year, a lot of time and money is spent by corporations on troubleshooting BlackBerry smartphone issues. With myBoxTone Expert, you’ll be surprised at how many calls to IT departments and help-desks can be avoided altogether because the application monitors the device’s health and notifies you immediately if there is a problem. If the issue goes beyond what a user is capable of fixing on his or her own, there is the option to take a screen shot of the issue and send it to the help desk. The image is also accompanied by critical information regarding the state of the device during the time the issue occurred and the image was sent.

Most of our BlackBerry-packing readers are technically adept and very savvy, but not everyone who owns a BlackBerry is quite as slick. As an example, some folks will take many pictures on their devices and suddenly messages and call records disappear – as they had no idea that their free memory was being eaten up by the pictures. Or perhaps they’ll see that battery life is down to 20% and think they still have several hours before it’s time to charge, when in reality it could only be another hour. So, if you’re working for a company with a fleet of ‘Berrys deployed, it is most definitely in your best interest to check out myBoxTone Expert. If you’re at a large company where there might even hundreds of BlackBerry devices in the hands of employees, you’d pretty much be crazy not to check it out. It can potentially save your company tone of time, headaches and most importantly, money.

Read

After receiving approval from the FCC and shareholders, the Sprint and Clearwire merger has been finalized. Sprint has gone and contributed all its Xohm WiMax assets to Clearwire, and in addition, Clearwire has received $3.2 billion worth of investments from companies such as Comcast and Google. The merger will allow Sprint to shift its focus on its own network, namely Nextel and the slowly dying iDen, while Clearwire will handle most of the WiMax business and keep its name and headquarters in Kirkland, Washington. On December 1, 2008, Clearwire will hold a conference discussing its future and giving analysts a look into the company’s plans. Should things go well, we could be seeing WiMax networks spreading rapidly in 2009.

Read

Regardless of how large, powerful and influential a company is, no one is recession-proof. Internet search giant Google has been laying off employees since this summer, and it has been doing so under the news radar for the most part. The SEC requires companies to disclose information regarding layoffs but apparently Google had slipped around the rule and reported its Q3 earnings as expected by saying it had cut down on “operational expenses”. Though Google officially has 20,123 employees, there are an additional 10,000 which are just labeled as temporary operational expenses. However it wants to label those human beings, they are still going to get shafted and are still going to be hurt by this massive cut in manpower. Google’s very own Sergey Brin says, “There is no question that the number (of workers) is too high”.

Though some of these employees are temporary, they have faithfully been employed by Google for several years. The method in which it has kept temporary status and slipped under the SEC radar is by constantly moving employees around to different jobs every so often, thus retaining the temporary employee label and holding on to the bodies nonetheless. They are full time employees without full time benefits. While it’s unfortunate that many of these employees are being let go, they did last longer and enjoy more benefits (Google’s facilities) than most temps do. Times are getting tough and it shows – that’s actually water, not the usual Cristal, in Brin and Page’s hot tub.

Read

Back when Vista was announced, everyone was upset that they’d have to make significant hardware upgrades in order to accommodate the new operating system from Microsoft. Many faithful Windows users had to buy new computers because it was less expensive than making the upgrades necessary to their then-current notebooks and desktops. However, there was a slight problem involved. The original date for the “Vista Capable” campaign was slated for June 1, 2006. For one reason or another, Microsoft decided to launch it three months earlier on April 1. Some of the folks over at Intel were upset because the premature release would not give them enough time to make the chipsets necessary to run properly on Windows Vista. Now it looks as though the two company’s CEOs allegedly had a little agreement of their own – one that would misleadingly label machines with the inadequate Intel chips as “Vista Capable”. Though Microsoft and Intel employees were aware of the situation and were unhappy with it, the issue seemed to be controlled further up the corporate ladder.

Microsoft is now facing charges for misleading consumers and a class-action lawsuit trial is set to begin next April. Steve Ballmer has been assured by Microsoft that he wouldn’t have to be deposed but the judge handling the case thinks otherwise. Ballmer has 30 days to meet with plaintiffs’ lawyers for his deposition and will be forced to testify when the case goes to court. The plaintiffs insist that Ballmer is well aware of what happened with the Vista Capable campaign, even though the Microsoft CEO says, “I was not involved in establishing the requirements computers must satisfy to qualify for the Windows Vista Capable program. I was not involved in formulating any marketing strategy or any public messaging surrounding the Windows Vista Capable program.”

Apple has been gaining a lot of ground on Microsoft and the last thing the makers of Windows need is to further tarnish its reputation by showing how deceitful it had allegedly been to consumers. This possible misplaced effort by Microsoft has been viewed by many as a sign of fear of how Vista might stack up to the Mac OS.

Read