by Matthew on November 12, 2009
The Garmin Nuvifone took ages to be launched from when it was announced at the beginning of this year. We first got our hands on it in April and then it was only just recently launched a few months ago. When launched the phone was running Windows Mobile 6.1 which Garmin ASUS have now said that all owners of the phone are entitled to a free upgrade to Windows Mobile 6.5.
When I tested the phone back in April briefly I was quite impressed with what it could do. It just sucked that it took them so long to bring it out which seemed to kill quite a bit of interest in the device. [click to continue…]
by Matthew on November 12, 2009
Fujitsu have revealed a new phone called the Fujistu F-04B that has a dual keyboard setup, projector and a 3.4″ screen that separates from the keyboards.
When separated the keyboards and screen connect over a Bluetooth connection. Each part of the phone contains a battery to keep it running. The screen section of the phone works independently allowing you to detach the keyboard to slim the whole unit down a little and then use the keyboard when needed. Alternatively you can attach them together and access the keyboard like a slider phone. [click to continue…]
by Matthew on November 12, 2009
Back on November 4th, iFixit posted a bounty asking for someone to provide the innards of the Motorola DROID. The person who could get some decent pictures to them first would receive $300… that person has now provided the photos. The reason they didn’t do their own teardown was due to being busy on other projects.
phoneWreck were the ones who got the pictures sorted first and describe the DROID as being difficult to take apart thanks to hidden screws and a bunch of other preventative ways of letting you in to the phone. Anyway, they got past the problems and managed to take the phone right apart. [click to continue…]
by Matthew on November 12, 2009
Vodafone [VOD] have launched the much anticipated HTC HD2 on to their network in the UK, and good news is that if your willing to spend £35/month on a 2 year contract, you can pick it up for free.
The 35/month 2 year contract also entitles you to 900 minutes of free calls to landlines and other mobile networks along with unlimited internet access.
The main feature of the HTC HD2 is that it has a large 4.3 inch capacitive touchscreen along with a 1GHz SnapDragon processor that allows it to work very smoothly. HTC decided to go with Windows Mobile 6.5 on the HD2 although they also have installed the HTC Sense UI hiding some of the frustrations that Windows Phone operating systems bring. [click to continue…]
by Matthew on November 11, 2009
Yesterday saw the launch of the Apple [AAPL] iPhone on to the Orange network in the UK. The launch came as the O2 exclusive contract came to an end. Reports show that launch day went well with Orange shifting over 30,000 units on the first day.
The amount of phones sold sets a record for the Orange network and as O2 have been the only company allowed to sell the iPhone it must make Orange happy that they can now get in on the iPhone.
In the next few months we will see the Vodafone network starting to offer the iPhone in the UK which will also increase competition on the device. Orange was partly criticised recently for being too tight with their unlimited (limited) download of 750MB/month although with iPhone sales hitting a record for Orange it seems that either people do not know about the 750MB limit, or that they are not too fussed. [click to continue…]
by Matthew on November 11, 2009
by Matthew on November 11, 2009
Yesterday a challenge was set on the XDA Forums to see if any users could manage to get Google Maps Navigation to work on the T-Mobile G1. The thread was opened at 8:32pm last night with an answer to the problem being provided at 3:36am this morning with full instructions how to complete the hack.
Alright… i’ve yet to be able to identify the specific lines yet… but here you go.
I was able to get navigation using the 2 build props attached.
I used SU File Browser and adb to do this. You can do it all with adb but between the 2 i was able to do things faster.
Mount system as rw
delete build.prop and build.trout.prop
(or you may modify yours to match, and skip the next step)
push the new build.prop and build.trout.prop to /system/
delete /system/app/Maps.apk
delete /system/sd/app/com.google.android.maps.apk if present
delete /system/sd/dalvik-cache/data@app@com.google.android.apps.maps.apk@classes. dex
REBOOT you have to reboot for the phone to re-read the build props
install the new maps.apk — i did adb install
if you do not get Success then you missed something.
update: after all is working.. you may put your old build props back
[click to continue…]
by Matthew on November 10, 2009
Last Friday saw the release of the Motorola DROID which is the first smartphone to run the Android 2.0 OS. Reports are showing that perhaps 100,000 phones were sold in the first weekend of it’s launch. Verizon at the weekend had 200,000 DROID handsets made available and most of the stores sold at least half the stock indicating that perhaps 100,000 were sold in total.
The information came from Mark McKechnie of Broadpoint AmTech Inc who has also indicated that Motorola expect to sell 1 million phones based on Android software this year and 10 million in 2010. [click to continue…]
by Matthew on November 10, 2009
RIM and EA recently showed off what the BlackBerry will be capable of game wise in the near future. A video of Need for Speed can be seen below running on a BlackBerry and as you’ll see, the graphics look fantastic for a mobile device.
The graphics are down to BlackBerry supporting OpenGL ES that allows 3D gaming and graphics to be used on a BlackBerry device.
GL ES Support Enables 3D Games and Graphics for BlackBerry Smartphones
With OpenGL ES support, Java developers will have the ability to build 3D games and graphics for BlackBerry smartphones running BlackBerry OS 5.0 and higher. The OpenGL ES support is available through an update of the BlackBerry® Java® Software Development Kit (BlackBerry Java SDK). A beta version of the BlackBerry Java SDK 5.0 including OpenGL ES support is available at http://na.blackberry.com/eng/developers/devbetasoftware/javasdk5.jsp
[click to continue…]
by Matthew on November 10, 2009
Just a few weeks ago we mentioned that Adobe had launched Photoshop for iPhone that allowed easy editing of photos on the iPhone. Adobe have now announced that Photoshop for Android is now available that allows you to also edit photos on your Android phone.
Adobe describe the Android version of photoshop as allowing you to drag your finger to crop, adjust colour, apply effects and perform a number of adjustments of your photo. [click to continue…]
by Matthew on November 10, 2009
Nokia [NOK] have announced that the first batch of Nokia N900 handsets are now shopping. The N900 is a Maemo 5 device that has been spoken of quite a lot since first hearing about it. The phone will be priced at around 500 Euros SIM Free of course with contracts and subsidies lowering that cost significantly.
“The Nokia N900 has generated a lot of interest since its public launch in August, which has been reflected in the device preorders. What’s exciting is the Maemo software, which takes its cues from the desktop computer and offers a full browsing experience like no other handset. We believe the Nokia N900 will be a very compelling device for people who are passionate about technology.”
[click to continue…]
by Matthew on November 9, 2009
When the DROID was launched just a few days ago, we already knew it lacked pinch and zoom functionality while the equivalent version for Europe supposedly will have that feature as standard.
As of now it seems that pinch and zoom for native applications will not be made available. What this means is that you wont be able to use pinch on zoom on Google Maps Navigation, the web browser and any other apps built in to the phone. However, this doesn’t prevent third party apps from using these features thanks to pinch and zoom being included in the standard API of Android 2.0. [click to continue…]
by Matthew on November 9, 2009
AT&T [T] have announced a new USB model that allows mobile broadband at speeds of up to 7.2Mbps. The timing of the announcement comes as they are rolling out the new 7.2Mbps service in various locations.
The USB Modem it’s self is just as interesting as any other USB modem although I guess if we were to pass comment on it we’d mention it looks like it has some sort of fancy swivelling USB connector to allow it easier access to awkward ports on a laptop. [click to continue…]
by Matthew on November 9, 2009
Matthew Key of O2 has confirmed that Apple [AAPL] iPhones on the O2 network that are out of contract or over a year old for PAYG will be able to have them unlocked so they can be used on any network.
For those out of contract the unlock service will be free, whereas those with a PAYG iPhone over a year old will need to pay £14.97 for the service.
There is absolutely no truth in that rumour. Once the iPhone becomes available on other UK networks, we will allow O2 customers to unlock their iPhones, although of course they will still need to honour any outstanding contract period they have. At the end of their contract period, they are entirely free to move to another operator – though naturally we hope they won’t want to!
[click to continue…]
by Matthew on November 6, 2009
If you are the forgetful type of person who can never remember where you parked your car then check out this Augmented Reality Car Finder iPhone app that allows you to track exactly where your car is and how far it is to your car.
With the car finder app using augmented reality it makes use of your iPhone’s camera and overlays data of where your car is on to the stream of video displayed on the screen. The GPS part of the phone tracks where you are and figures out where your car is while the digital compass on the iPhone can help you figure out which direction your car is by detecting which direction the camera is facing. [click to continue…]
