Tag: mobile
Googlers getting G1 for Christmas
Normally companies pay out cash as a Christmas bonus, but not Google this year. The search giant will be handing out T-Mobile G1 phones to all its employees as thanks for their hard work this year. The phones will come without a SIM card, but unlocked. They’ll also be specially customized, with a “‘droid” on the back.
The company, in their Christmas email, jokes that it’s a great chance for them to ‘dogfood’ the product – i.e. get employees of the company to test it. Perhaps this mass stock clearout (20,000 people work for Google!) lends weight to yesterday’s rumours that the G2 will be coming along sooner than we think.
(via Valleywag)
Related posts: G2 (and G3!) rumours surface, debate over release date | Google shows off 2008’s top searches
Garmin to launch Android mobile, too
Adding further fuel to the fire of evidence that Android will become the mobile OS of choice in 2009, GPS manufacturer Garmin has announced that it’ll be building an Android-based mobile phone. The release is promised for the second half of the year.
It’s unclear as to whether this is an entirely new handset or a upgrade to the still-not-released Nuvifone, but either way, this should be a touchscreen GPS mobile device that packs a powerful punch. Current plans are just to launch the device in Taiwan, but given that the company’s GPS units are sold all over the world, I wouldn’t be surprised if this followed too.
Garmin (via Adding further fuel to the fire of evidence that Android will become the mobile OS of choice in 2009, GPS manufacturer Garmin has announced that it’ll be building an Android-based mobile phone. The release is promised for the second half of the year. It’s unclear as to whether this is an entirely new handset or a upgrade to the still-not-released Nuvifone, but either way, this should be a touchscreen GPS mobile device that packs a powerful punch. Current plans are just to launch the device in Taiwan, but given that the company’s GPS units are sold all over the world, I wouldn’t be surprised if this followed too. Garmin (via Phandroid) Related posts: Garmin intros rugged nüvi 500 Series portable navigation device | Garmin partners with GyPSii geo-social network, find where your friends are and how to get thereroid-phone-coming-in-2009/”>Phandroid
The LG Ice Cream Phone 2, or the LG LU1600 to its parents when it's in trouble
We revealed the original LG Ice Cream Phone back in March, and were just as bewildered by a phone inspired by shades of ice cream colours then as we are now. This newest Ice Cream Phone also lights up in fancy pastel LCD colours when someone ring you, plus there’s more in the way of web browser integration and tacky emoticons to keep the kids happy.
But, of course, we’re not particularly interested in the telephone or its features – it’s all about the ladies being forced to eat cold ice cream in the middle of the winter in the name of promotional photography.
The poor things. Hopefully they weren’t forced…
SHINY VIDEO REVIEW: LG KP500 "Cookie"
In the video above, Zara gets to grips with LG’s rather popular new KP500, or the “Cookie”, as I mocked here. There’s no 3G, or GPS, so I’m not sure how much I could recommend it, but it does have a lovely 3″ touchscreen and an accelerometer. It’s a decent low-end handset, and should come cheap on contracts.
LG KP500
Related posts: The LG KP500 is now the LG “Cookie” and wuvs you very much | LG-KP500: UK’s most affordable touchscreen mobile handset coming October
Skyfire is a very capable little mobile internet browser
Those among you who access the web on your mobile device will know the value of a good internet browsing application. Most standard phone browsers (iPhone excepted) are rubbish at rendering the web on a tiny screen. I’m secretly quite a fan of the bog-standard N95 browser, but if I wasn’t, then I’d try Skyfire, which launched today.
It’s simple enough – just an application which you download and install on your S60 phone, but then it offers a very ‘full’ browsing experience, which renders pages like they would on a PC and lets you zoom in and out of them. It’s powerful, though – it’ll happily render Flash, Silverlight, Ajax and Java.
UPDATED: New Zunephone Rumours
I know, I know, this one’s been round the block a few times, but given Microsoft’s dalliances with portable media players, and the fact that they own the most popular smartphone OS in Windows Mobile, it’s nearly a given that there’ll be some sort of Zunephone before long.
The rumours have resurfaced after the announcement that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will be delivering the keynote address – the spot which was previously filled by Bill Gates. Microsoft almost always unveils something at CES, and given that we know plenty about Windows 7 already, a Zunephone is on the cards.
More androids unveiled – the Kogan Agora
This is the Kogan Agora, a Google Android-based smartphone. Kogan is an online-only company that gets its products custom-made in Chinese factories. That means they’re able to sell for rock-bottom prices. Before I tell you about that, though, let’s talk specs.
The Agora has a 320 x 240, 2.5″ touchscreen, full QWERTY keyboard, microSD card slot, and 3G. A ‘Pro’ model, also offered, adds Wi-Fi, GPS, and a 2-megapixel camera. Neither will blow the N97 out of the water, but when you factor in the price, you’ll see why they’re so special.
The Agora will sell for AU$299 (£130) and the Pro model for AU$399 (£175). That’s unlocked, and with no contract. For comparison, the N97 will cost £465 before it gets subsidised by contracts. At those prices, these are going to be fantastic entry-level smartphones, especially as they’re Android-powered, with all the joy that comes with that.
Both are available for pre-order now, with those orders arriving on Jan 29th 2009.
Kogan (via Engadget)
O2 launches universal, enviromental phone charger
This is the ‘Universal Charger’, which O2 will be selling in its high street shops. It kills two birds with one stone – firstly the annoyance of trying to find the right charger on some dodgy market stall if you happen to lose yours, and secondly, the annoyance of not being able to charge your phone in someone else’s house.
O2’s also touting the energy-efficient nature of the device. It consumes 70 percent less power than a standard mobile phone charger, and meets the strict energy efficient guidelines of the US Energy Star rating system. If every single phone in use in the UK was charged with one of these, it would save the country nearly £31.4 million, and cut the carbon emissions of the equivalent of 36,000 cars.
Nokia launches N97 – new touchscreen behemoth
Yesterday, Nokia execs teased the world’s tech bloggers by saying that they had a big announcement, and were surprised that it hadn’t leaked. I’m surprised too – the big announcement is the N97. It’s the followup to their brilliant, and ridiculously successful N95, and semi-upgrade the N96.
The specs on this baby promise a lot. It’ll have a 3.5″, 640 x 360 touchscreen display (16:9, not 16:10), a QWERTY keyboard, HSDPA and Wi-Fi, 32GB(!) of onboard memory, a 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, “DVD-quality” video capture (eat that, iPhone), and a battery that promises to pump out a day and a half of continuous audio playback. No mention of GPS, but I’d be very surprised if it lacks it.
Best of all, Nokia promises an ‘always-open’ window to the internet and social networking sites. If that integration runs clearly through the phone, it could be very powerful indeed. This is Nokia’s answer to the iPhone. The specs certainly win the day, but can they crack the all-important interface? We’ll have to wait and see.
Nokia N97 (via N96 Bruce Lee edition – enter the handset | MWC 2008: Nokia N96 versus Nokia N95
Nokia developing Home Control Centre technology
Betting that within a few years every appliance we own will be hooked up to the internet, Nokia has announced plans for something called Home Control Centre. It’s basically software that will let you control everything in your home from your mobile device, from the heating to the toaster.
I know, we’ve all been there – gone out with some toast in the toaster, and forgotten that you actually wanted it on browning level three, rather than browning level five.
More seriously, though, this also has energy saving implications. You’ll be able to monitor energy usage from your mobile, and switch off anything that you don’t need remotely. Plus there’s a big convenience factor – preheat your oven 15 minutes before you arrive home, so you can just stick dinner straight in.
The only definite that Nokia has announced is some carbon footprint monitoring technology, from European energy firm RWE. That will use Wi-Fi enabled thermostats on each radiator. Nokia are promising to show this off in December at its annual Nokia World Conference. I wouldn’t be surprised if we heard a fair bit more about the broader too then, too.
(via Reg Hardware)
Related posts: How green is your kettle? | Ecobee – a Wi-Fi thermostat
