The CEO of Verizon [VZ] has commented that his network wants the Apple iPhone.

Normally Ivan Seidenberg avoids iPhone related questions, but this time around he is quite open in that he has said…

“we’re open to getting the device,”and that “our network is capable of handling it.”

However, what wasn’t said is if confirmation from Apple [AAPL] has arrived about them actually getting it. Just a couple of weeks ago we found out that two iPhones were being built with one being a new model (either the iPhone HD or iPhone 4G – it’s rumoured names), we then heard a CDMA model was being created which could potentially be going to Verizon. [Read more…]

Nokia [NOK] have announced that a couple more of their phones are now capable of running Ovi Maps that provides free satellite navigation around the world. Phones now compatible with the service are the Nokia E71 and the Nokia E66.

The Ovi Maps application has worked on several other phones since January which included the E72, N97 Mini and X6, and due to the amount of people requesting it function on the E71 and E66, they decided to listen and created a compatible version.

When used with the Ovi Suite, the latest country maps can be downloaded on to the device allowing users to use the service off-line making it quite an attractive application. When compared to other free mapping services such as Google Maps (only in the US), they use on-line maps meaning that when you loose signal you are unable to navigate. Nokia doesn’t suffer with this problem if maps are synchronised. [Read more…]

The latest version of Skype for the Apple iPhone has been released. The new version is numbered 1.3.1 and unfortunately does not add 3G calling to the VoIP software.

Skype first announced that it would open up for 3G calling back in February, so it was expected with the 1.3.1 update that this would happen, unfortunately it didn’t.

The update that was launched today instead just fixed a number of bugs in the software that had been reported. [Read more…]

According to a tweet from the official Microsoft [MSFT] twitter stream, we can now drop the Series from Windows Phone 7 Series by just calling it Windows Phone 7.

The original name was a bit of a mouthful and thankfully they have dropped the Series. However, it appears that nothing else has changed at all in that it’s just a slight name change and doesn’t indicate any changes to the mobile OS are coming in the future. Basically it was just a bad choice of names and it seems MS listened to the criticisms and complied.

The operating is still on target from what we hear to launch later on this year with a few manufacturers of phones showing interest and already creating hardware for the OS. [Read more…]

Microsoft [MSFT] announced Windows Phone 7 Series a few months back now which included a new panoramic user interface that could be used to scroll sideways around menus. It’s quite an impressive user interface that actually surprised a number of people as it actually looked good. Microsoft for the last 10 or more years have generally stuck to the same UI for mobile phones and for some reason, they came to a realisation with Windows Phone 7 Series and created something far better.

I think we can also safely say that Microsoft also think their interface is good too as they applied for a patent to protect the methodology and application of it back in summer of 2008. The patent will allow only Microsoft to use the interface and no others without permission… they have patented the whole thing by the way.

From what we understand, Microsoft are also patenting other things related to the Windows Phone 7 Series user interface and as of yet, we are not sure what else has been applied for and of course, we don’t know if the applications will get granted (ie, if they are unique etc…). [Read more…]

If you are one of the lucky ones to get your hands on a HTC Desire in the last week or so since it launched, then you might be surprised to know that HTC are already pushing out an OTA update to it to install a new firmware. Once installed the phone will then run version 1.15.405.4.

HTC haven’t mentioned what is included in the update, but we suspect a couple of tweaks here and there to help the phone run smoothly.

HTC recommend that when you get the message informing you an update is ready that you either download the update over Wi-Fi, or have an unlimited data plan to avoid the cost of downloading the update. [Read more…]

The Windows Phone 7 Series theme for the Apple iPhone [AAPL] is something you don’t expect to see every day. However, this has been done. A user called woocash-kun found over here has created a theme that runs on his iPhone.

The downside is that the theme hasn’t been release yet along with instructions on how to install it. If he does release it you’ll need to jailbreak your phone to install it.

What you will get in the theme is the home page for Windows Phone 7 Series that you can easily scroll down. Along with that a second page with smaller icons is also included. Right now some of it doesn’t work such as the status bar although there is a very good lock screen clone for those of you who prefer the WM7S version. [Read more…]

We don’t normally cover information about cars here at gadgetvenue, but for this new Apple iPhone app we thought it was worth a mention due to it being an in-car app for the iPhone.

The application is called Smartest and it’s a dock and application that integrates with your Smartcar. The application has been designed to be used in a car and thus, the icons are larger as well as the text larger and less clutter is to be found on the screen to avoid distracting the driver.

Functions include the ability to play your music over the cars internal radio. The application integrates with the music found on your iPhone and lets you browse through it to play it back in the car. It makes for a good music player. Another interesting application built in is internet radio that lets you stream music from radio stations around the globe to your iPhone and in turn, this is output to the speakers on the car. [Read more…]

The Samsung Galaxy S is quite a decent phone for various reasons. First off it has a 4 inch Samsung Super AMOLED screen making it very bright and vibrant. It also has a powerful CPU and GPU that see it outperform competitors with three times the amount of triangles being shifted around per second (90 Million per second). The device it’s self runs Android 2.1.

We heard rumours about a new Samsung Galaxy S Pro being launched which will have a slide out QWERTY keyboard (as pictured above… note it’s a render and not the real thing). This device has all but been officially confirmed by Eldar Murtazin who is bang on with what he says in terms of what’s happening with new devices. From what his tweet said, the Samsung Galaxy S Pro will have a QWERTY and cost an extra ‚¬50 when launched in June. [Read more…]

If you have a Jailbreak’d Apple iPhone and are thinking about downloading iTunes 9.1 which was launched yesterday then take a quick read of this first. Rather than saying there is definitely a problem, we have just heard that some users are having problems with syncing their iPhone to iTunes 9.1.

First impressions on this seemed to indicate Apple [AAPL] had made changes to iTunes 9.1 where they could detect an iPhone that had been jailbreaked, however, it seems like a simple solution to the problem is to just reboot.

Although we can’t be sure yet if Apple are trying to block phones that have been tampered with it might be worth leaving the update for now unless you are planning on getting an Apple iPad this weekend where the new update will be needed [Read more…]

The HTC Desire will be shipping from Vodafone ready for launch on April 8. We first mentioned an April shipping date of the HTC Desire a few weeks back, but now confirmation of the exact date is here.

The HTC Desire runs the Android operating system, has a 5 megapixel camera and a 3.7 inch AMOLED touchscreen. All the usual features can be found inside such as a GPS, Wireless connectivity, Bluetooth and other features.

Price wise, the handset is free on the Vodafone network although to get the handset for free you’ll need to sign up for either an 18 or 24 month contract. If opting for the lower 18 month contract the cost is £35/month and you get 600 minutes and unlimited text messages. If opting for a longer 24 month contract the cost is £30/month with the same amount of minutes and texts as you get on the shorter contract. [Read more…]

Just a few days ago Geohot showed a video of an iPod Touch running OS 3.1.3 being jailbreaked. Not only was the jailbreak successful, it also didn’t come with the requirement that the iPhone, iPod (or even iPad) be tethered to a computer to run.

We have just found out about a new jailbreak this time from hacker Comex who has created a jailbreak that works OTA. When launched it will require you visit a website where you can then apply the jailbreak on to your 3.1.3 OS iPhone or other Apple device that runs the OS.

Although neither Geohot or Comex have released their jailbreak software yet, it is expected that now two potential unlock systems are being worked on that each will probably/hopefully rush to getting theirs launched. [Read more…]