Cool toys and Gadgets

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Email / IM, Smartphones, Mobile, Originals, Columns, Who's On Crack, Features

This is where we call out the tech moves that seem odd, out of touch or just plain straight up smokin’ crack.  This week sees posturing, positioning and flat out insanity. 

Here’s what I am calling out this week as whack:

• AT&T wants Symbian on every phone?
• Sprint points out Instincts weaknesses for us
• Verizon gets all paranoid about Omnia’s pricing
• Nokia’s nutty new entry

AT&T’s one OS world

Sure, supporting all these OSes isn’t easy.  Your tech’s knowledge has to be limited by all the myriad of OSes they’re supposed to know. News came today that you blue-sky-guy says Symbian would be good choice for a company-wide one OS to offer and support.  But consolidating down to one OS?  And you think Symbian is that OS?  Really?

Whispering sweet nothings into Symbian’s ear isn’t going to get you anywhere.  Stop worrying about a Nokia take over of the US market, that train isn’t leaving the station.  A much better idea, at least in my mind, is to convince Apple to license its software onto other devices.  Hitch your train to that engine, crackheads. 

Sprint says, “Hey, did you know the instinct couldn’t support your work calendar?“

Sometimes, all that is needed is an email to customers.  Something quiet in the night that says, “hey boys, go here and download this and you get Outlook Calendar support, sweet huh?“.  But no, you had to go and issue a press release telling everyone our out-of-the-box expectation of calendar syncing was off.  Thanks for pointing this out, as I’ve not made fun of the Instinct in a while.  I feel better now.  iPhone killer? LOL.

Get the Verizon Omnia price ticker gadget on your desktop?

I watch the stock market.  I watch the price of light sweet crude.  And now, I am watching the daily price of Verizon’s Samsung Omnia.  This thing is more volatile than a barrel full of gasoline next to a Sony laptop.

Jump beside me in the way back machine, we travel back to 2008, a cloudy November day, the 25th if you are taking notes.  The shiny Omnia is introduced at $249.99 after a lame $70 mail in rebate.  Now, as we are chased by the bizarre inhabitants of November 25,  we land on Dec 2nd of the same year.  Here we find the same Omnia, now priced at $199 after the same lame mail in rebate.  Nervous much?

Did you wake up, presumably strung out, in December and say to yourself, “Holy cow!  Have you heard about this economy stuff?  And this Apple phone, who knew about that?  Quick, slash the price before these phones end up at Odd Lot!“  Lay off the dope.

Nokia disappointments with the N97

I believe we all keep expecting someone else to “get it” with phone software and it clouds are judgment and/or enjoyment of an otherwise snazzy phone.  The new Nokia entry is beautiful, well-built with lovely screen resolution.  But.  And then things start flowing.  The biggest “but” is Nokia refuses to update its OS for the touchscreen times. 

HTC gets it.  Their Windows Mobile skins walk the line of needed Active Sync support mated with something actually functional and close to fun to use.  But not Nokia.  And the N97 is a bit brickish.  Keep at though, your getting warmer.  Appletell’s Josh Holat, while espousing his love for Apple’s device sums up his look at the N97 with:

“Although companies like RIM and Nokia can try to beat out Apple, I don’t see it happening anytime soon, that’s for sure.“

That’s my list for this week.  Let me know in the comments what crazy things I missed and stay off the crack kids.

Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile

Man, would I have loved to be in the crowd at the Symbian Partner Conference when AT&T’s Director of Next Generation Services, Roger Smith, stated the telecom’s lofty goal of having the company’s smartphone offerings on the same operating system.  You know what is coming: he said Symbian is “a very credible and likely candidate” to become that one operating system.

Symbian who?

Symbian, which garners 45% or so of the worldwide smartphone OS market, owes much of its success to Nokia.  The platform is stable, works well, and is loved in Europe.  As of late, Symbian was purchased by Nokia and is committed to going open source. 

iPhone effect

Other news this morning from Bloomberg states Apple’s iPhone is recession-proofing AT&T thanks the steady line of new customers for the device.  The company is expected to be the only carrier to post accelerating growth this quarter as companies hunker down for the economic storm.  While AT&T has announced layoffs, subscribers are not detered from obtaining these luxury phones.

“People still want those iconic devices and are willing to pay up for them,” said Will Power, analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co..  “Look at wireless and consumer behavior generally, this also applies to the lower- income demographics.”

Additionally, iPhone buyers are among the industry’s most wanted customers, those that pay 1.6 times what the average customer pays for phone and data services.  In a time where carriers are running out of new customers, they are looking to steal or hold onto these higher-paying customers.

Sucking up?

Perhaps Mr. Smith was sucking up the Symbian crowd?  Certainly a unified OS would make AT&T’s life easier.  One OS to support would be a welcome task to AT&T’s customer support team who currently deal with Windows Mobile, Blackberry, Apple, and then the home brew jobs from Pantech, Samsung and lots more.  Is it possible AT&T could narrow that list down to just one?

Perhaps, but at what cost?  When you remove consumer choice, demand will typically lessen.  Unless other carriers adopt similar rules (and who wants to be the first?), AT&T’s dream of one OS is just pie in the sky thinking.

Source: [Bloomberg]

Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Samsung has a brand new luxury cellphone in the Samsung Ego GT-S9402. The body of this handset is made of a “liquidmetal” composite alloy developed by Caltech, which is said to be three times stronger and can withstand 1.8 times the pressure, 1.6 time more flexible then, with three times better vibration absorption, and 100% lower termal conductivity then titanium. That’s quite a claim.

The Ego GT-S9402 is a DuoS phone that works with 2 SIM cards. Some other features include 2 inch 262K color QVGA AMOLED display, 5MP camera (with autofocus, image stabilization, smile detection, WDR and LED flash), an FM Radio with RDS, 1 GB of built-in memory, microSDHC memory card slot (up to 8 GB), Bluetooth 2.0 and USB, and 960 mAh battery.

[Techfresh]

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Mobile

Let’s get this out of the way right up front: this phone runs on something not invented yet.  In the future, let’s assume we can make anything clear or invisible.  Very well, with that caveat out of the way, let’s take a look at the future of phones: GlassyGlassy.

As you can see, or see-through, this phone is conceived in a variety of form factors, each as elegant as the next.  The impressive concepts are created by Mac Funamizu.  Sadly, Mr. Funamizu doesn’t believe we’ll discover a new form factor as he iterates his design in the usual suspects: flip, slider and candy bar.  Certainly we can come up with something new, yes?

Presumably finger prints, grease and grime will not be an issue either as a new film will prevent these from smudging the view.  In the concept, the clear panels are touch sensitive and allow for an almost unlimited array of inputs and screen configurations.  This things just oozes style.

Is clear the next frontier for phones?  Will we tire of black and silver?  If only the future was so clear…

Read: [Yanko Design] via [JoshSpear]

Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Section: Apple, Communications, Cellphones, Smartphones, Mobile

The boys at BGR announced they are hearing word that Wal-Mart will have a 4GB version of the iPhone and sell it at a Wal-Mart-y low low price of $99.  A couple of commenters suggested they’d heard the same thing inside Wal-Mart.  If this is true, we are about to see some major changes.

Certainly there are those that suggest the data is fee is too high for Jonny Consumer, and that may be for some, but not most.  Here are the facts: the iPhone currently bests the Razr in volume; the iPhone is outselling Windows Mobile phones; 10,000 apps in the app store is a big draw all on its own.  Now, drop the entry fee to play and this party gets rolling.

4GB is what my first iPod Mini sported for memory.  It is still going, though handed down after purchasing 3 more iPods.  4GB is enough for those seeking a cheap iPhone.  We suspect, the current iPhone costs $173 to manufacture.  But it wouldn’t take much to strip out GPS or perhaps a 3G radio?  And in the shady world of telecom phone deals, who knows what AT&T would be willing to cough back to get the lions share of new phone activations.  And that is just the impact a $99 iPhone would have.

We all are forced to sit through (or at least fast forward through) iPhone advertising.  The reach is there, all they need is a low dollar entry and away it goes.  Forget AT&T’s line of texting phones like the Matrix.  Forget silly little flip phones.  Who won’t be drawn like moths to the flame to be able to swipe, pinch and tilt?  If this happens, other makers have just been put into a corner they may not be able to come out of.

Jobs and the Apple marketing team don’t even need to hold a conference for this.  Just put the products out on the shelf at Wal-Mart complete with the security cord (maybe two) and stick the $99 price above.  The lines are going to be huge.  Mark your calendar for December 28, Christmas may really be a few days late this year.

What do you say?  $99 iPhone to take over the world?  Let us know in the comments.

Source: [BoyGeniusReport]

Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Target Customers: Style conscious people.

After Nokia revealed its plans to stop manufacturing cellphones for the Japanese market, except for the luxury Vertu brand, this was quite expected. Vertu has announced its latest mobile phone editions for the Japanese market. The new Vertu phones to be launched in Japan includes the ‘New Signature Collection’, ‘Ascent Ti’, ‘Ascent Ti Ferrari Rosso’ and ‘Giallo’. I don’t think Nokia will be able grow their market share in Japan just by selling Vertu phones. Anyway, this is great news for the uber rich people of Japan as Vertu phones are amongst the most famed luxury handsets in the world.

Pricing & Availability: No words on pricing, but these phones will be available on February 19th via NTT DoCoMo.

Via: Aving

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Mobile

Aww rats.  So what if my idea of HTC buying Palm didn’t really make any sense.  It might have been Palm’s big chance not to take a dirt nap.  HTC, refusing to yield to my new world view, decided to purchase One and Co., the design firm that helped create their awesome Touch Diamond.

Interestingly, One and Co. works with a lot of big names outside tech such as Nike, North Face and Soloman.  One and Co. brings broad expertise in design and manufacturing techniques combined with an emphasis on lifestyle design.  One latest achievement for the company was a helmet for K2.

“Design is key, it is why you love or hate something,“ said Horace Luke, Chief Innovation Officer, HTC Corporation. “Integrating iconic design into HTC products is an inspiring and dynamic challenge that requires a unique combination of consumer insight, creativity, innovation and an appetite to take risks; attributes that embody One & Co.“

This move, rather than purchasing Palm, should prove a much higher return for HTC.  The Touch Diamond was their breakout product (in my mind, at least) that made consumers take note of the HTC name.  Focusing on developing their own style is exactly what HTC should be doing.

I can’t help wondering how One and Co. will deal with only working in electronics now as last time I checked, HTC doesn’t have a footwear or ski business going yet, other core design competency for One and Co.  Perhaps I should stress yet.

Thanks to reader John Donaldson for the tip.

Read: [MarketWatch]

Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Section: Apple, Communications, Cellphones, Mobile, Web, Downloads, Web 2.0

Vlingo Corporation has introduced a free voice-based iPhone application called vlingo, that interacts with other iPhone applications.  It is not your run-of-the-mill voice-activated dialing app.

In addition to voice-dialing, you can also voice activate a Yahoo! or Google search, a Google Map search, and even update your status on Twitter and Facebook.  You simply open the vlingo application, press and hold the “press and speak” button on your screen, and then say whatever it is you want to search for or update.  Vlingo claims that users can speak normally—that is, no special commands are necessary for vlingo to work.  It will be interesting to see how well this works in everyday use.

Read [vlingo]

Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Section: Audio, Portable Audio, Communications, Cellphones, Mobile

Perhaps Motorola just felt left out of the excitement surrounding the earlier Nokia N97 announcement, or perhaps they just felt they needed to announce something new with the Motorola name on it.  Regardless, they have announced the not-quite-as-exciting MOTOROKR EM35.  Keeping with tradition of the ROKR lineup, the EM35 is a slider style music centric phone.  The EM35 features the MOTOMUSIC player, has built-in dual speakers, virtual stereo surround sound and an FM radio with RDS. 

Additionally, the EM35 also has support for stereo Bluetooth and a standard 3.5mm headphone jack.  As for the phone features, they include a 2.2-inch QVGA display, a 3.1-megapixel camera and 110MB of internal memory that can be expanded up to 32GB via the microSD card slot.  Despite the full feature list being included in the announcement, Motorola has kept quiet on the price as well as just which carrier will be offering the EM35.  As for a release date, it is “expected” to be available sometime in Q4 2008, or in other words, pretty soon. 

Read [Motorola]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile

Following up on the recent announcement that Rogers would soon begin offering the Nokia E71, it seems that it is now available, and at a very nice price.  The Rogers branded E71 will be available for just $49.  Of course, in order to get that low price, you should be willing to accept the three-year agreement that comes along with it. 

Additionally, customers also need to choose a $45 a month (or higher) voice and data plan.  As for that low price, it appears to be “promotional.“  No date has been given as to when it will increase and although the non-promotional price has not been announced (it is expected to be $99).  The E71, as we have seen in the past features a full QWERTY keyboard, 320 x 240 display, aGPS, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, 128MB RAM, 256MB ROM, a microSD card slot, microUSB and a 3.2-megapixel camera with autofocus and flash.

Via [MobileSyrup]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »