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Smartphones and Cell Phones

Matthew Miller provides you with news, commentary and in-depth reviews of the latest in mobile phones sporting iOS, Android, and Windows.

Matthew Miller

Matthew Miller started using mobile devices in 1997 and has been writing news, reviews, and opinion pieces ever since. Matthew started using mobile devices with a US Robotics Pilot 1000 and has owned hundreds of devices running Palm, Linux, Symbian, Newton, BlackBerry, iOS, Android, webOS, Windows Mobile, and Windows Phone operating systems. His current collection includes the latest and greatest foldables, wearables, and more, along with classic devices like the Apple Newton MessagePad 2100 and Sony CLIE UX50. Matthew can be found on various social networks under the user name of "palmsolo."

Latest Posts

Cupcake update may be coming to the G1 Android device in April

I wrote a couple of times about the upcoming cupcake update for the T-Mobile G1 Google Android device and it now looks like this updated may be coming to us in April. According to Pocket-lint T-Mobile confirmed to them that the update is coming to G1 owners soon. There was no confirmation on the rumored G2 that may also be coming in April, but I will be at CTIA later this month and we may see more news about this non-keyboard device then.

March 11, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

Windows Mobile does better than iPhone in 4th quarter 2008

Back in December we saw Gartner's 3rd quarter 2008 report on the world smartphone market with Nokia showing its first decline in sales. Today, Gartner released the 4th quarter 2008 data and Nokia continues to show a decline in market share. Compared to the same quarter in 2007 Nokia is down from 50.9% to 40.8%. Apple went from 5.2% in 2007 to 10.7% in 2008 while RIM also saw an increase from 10.9% to 19.5%. HTC also saw a minor increase from 3.7% to 4.3%.

March 11, 2009 by Matthew Miller in CXO

Qik announces Ovi Share integration and Ovi Store feature

I started using Qik on my Nokia N95 over a year ago and find it to be an entertaining and great service on my Nokia devices that have great cameras. Today, Qik announced two advancements for Nokia that should increase the number of satisfied Qik users.

March 11, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Microsoft

Is Nokia's focus on services keeping them out of the US?

I wrote about the Nokia announcements made this morning and then I was interviewed for a few minutes on KCBS about the announcements as they pertain to the Nokia Music Store. The questions focused on looking at the world's largest phone maker and asking if there is any threat to Apple and the iTunes store. I tried to answer as best as I could, but there are a lot of unknowns about Nokia in the US. The interview and this mornings announcements gave me a chance to think a bit more about Nokia, their services, and US marketshare and I am now more depressed than before about the prospects for Nokia here.

March 11, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

Nokia announces three new music-focused phones for Q3

Earlier this morning Nokia announced three new music-focused devices, but unfortunately there were no announcements made about rolling out the Nokia Music Store or Comes With Music service in the US. Mexico was one of the countries where the Nokia Music Store was announced today so Nokia is moving into North America. Keep in mind there is a difference between the Nokia Music Store and Comes With Music with the Comes With Music store generally following Music Store rollouts and being in far fewer countries at this time.

March 10, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Finance

Dilbert explains why we love our mobile phones

Readers here know that I have used tons of mobile phones over my history in the mobile space. I can always be found with at least one smartphone with me and am still ROTFL after reading the Dilbert comic that popped up in my RSS feeds this morning.

March 10, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Mobile Carriers

Sleek HTC S740 impresses reviewers with power and battery life

I took a look at the HTC S740 in December and still regularly use this non-touchscreen device because I think it is an excellent device with great form factor, long battery life, and cool text entry methods. The upcoming Nokia E75 actually uses this same type of form factor so I thought readers may want to check out a couple more reviews of this HTC device.

March 10, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

Motorola announces new MC55 enterprise digital assistant

Enterprise devices running Windows Mobile are quite common in the retail, healthcare, field service, and government spaces.Motorola announced their latest enterprise digital assistant (EDA), the MC55, that is the smallest and lightest such device with a 3.5 inch color touch screen display. There are two models available, one with and one without cellular capability, to fit the needs of the enterprise customer.

March 9, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

TouchDown provides push email for the T-Mobile G1 Android device

I've written about TouchDown for the Google Android a couple of times (here and here) and as I have said in those posts it gets better and better on a regular basis. I have been using beta versions and the latest available beta supports PUSH email, ability to send attachments, device-local drafts, and more. The folks at NitroDesk, Inc. were able to sign a licensing agreement with Microsoft to support direct push capability through Exchange ActiveSync. I think this is one of the first products for the G1 that provides this functionality, even though a couple others are working on it as well.

March 8, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Security

Microsoft Recite: useful, interesting, drop-dead simple and powerful

ZDNet colleague Zack Whittaker has a way of firing me up from time to time (check out my Windows Mobile post from last month) and he does it again this Friday with his Microsoft Recite post. I am not sure if it is because of Zack's foreign accent, the site says it is available in English (US) and not the English(UK), or maybe the particular Windows Mobile device he is using (Zack, what device do you have?), but Recite doesn't seem to work very well for him. On the other hand, I actually used it several times just this week on my Palm Treo Pro (I've been using this device more and more lately) and find it to be an awesome utility and find the technology behind the application to be quite powerful.

March 6, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Smartphones

BlackBerry App World priced apps start at $2.99, sounds good to me

After I wrote about the naming and further information of BlackBerry App World, Kevin emailed me about some information found in the developer information that he found a bit shocking. There is a tier for free applications in the App World, but the minimum price for paid apps is US$2.99 with tiers up to $999.99.

March 4, 2009 by Matthew Miller in BlackBerry

BlackBerry App World announced by RIM, PayPal required

Earlier today RIM announced that the upcoming BlackBerry software store would be known as BlackBerry App World. The site informed visitors to come back at 10:00 PM Eastern for more exciting news. After this time, the site was updated to its current design and let's you register to be one of the first to know when the store launches and also setup your PayPal account to enable purchases of applications. The site states that PayPal is needed to download BlackBerry App World.

March 4, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

Why does the Sprint Treo Pro get IE Mobile 6 on 15 March?

The Palm Treo Pro appeared on the Sprint site back in January, but it was then pulled down and never was released. Sprint and Palm now posted an official announcement that the Palm Treo Pro will be released on Sprint on 15 March. The Sprint Palm Treo Pro will be available for US$199.99 after US$100 instant rebate and US$100 mail-in rebate with an Everything or $30/month or higher data plan and a 2-year contract. The unlocked Treo Pro is still priced at US$549.The BIG news though is that this Treo Pro will have Internet Explorer Mobile 6 loaded as well. Will existing Treo Pro owners get this updated browser?

March 4, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Mobile Carriers

Hands-on image gallery and video of the Amazon iPhone Kindle software

I just posted about the Amazon Kindle iPhone application availability and now I'll take you on a walk through the software and let you also see how it works with a Kindle 2 device. As you can see in my image gallery the software is easy to use and gives you all your Kindle ebook content on the iPhone. I am not sure if newspapers or magazines are supported yet, but plan to try that out soon as well. You can see in the video how the Whispersync technology keeps the Kindle 2 and iPhone in sync so no matter where you are or what device you have with you at the moment (Kindle or iPhone) you can always maintain your current location in your book.

March 3, 2009 by Matthew Miller in iPhone

Amazon releases Kindle iPhone application and ebook readers rejoice!

I was reading my Twitter feed and stumbled upon a post by Rene announcing the new Kindle for iPhone application that you can now download for free (iTunes link) from the Apple App Store. Folks, this is BIG news for the ebook industry and came MUCH faster than I ever anticipated given that the Amazon Kindle 2 (check out my review) just started shipping last week. My Kindle 1 is now up for sale on ebay and it looks like my iPhone will now be a regular part of my gear. With the Kindle 2 and Whispersync technology the iPhone and Kindle 2 will make a perfect pair.

March 3, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Amazon