Smartphones and Cell Phones

Can Palm and WebOS make it through 2010?

Palm stole the spotlight at CES 2009 with the announcement of their Palm Pre and WebOS operating system and Palm fans rejoiced. It hasn't been as successful in 2009 as was hoped and in October their stock was down again, 20%, with limited Palm Pre availability and slow rollout of applications. I personally do not have a lot of confidence in Palm getting past 2010 without rolling out updated WebOS devices on other carriers. Do you think Palm can continue and succeed with the WebOS?

October 28, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Hardware

Google rolls out limited Google Voice support for your existing phone number

I signed up with Grand Central way back when it first launched and then transitioned to Google Voice along with everyone else. I then paid $10 for a custom Google number and love the experience on Google Android devices. I was browsing through the Google blogs and discovered that Google is now offering you the ability to use Google Voice with your existing phone number instead of having to select and use a new number. Keep in mind this is a lighter version of Google Voice as you can see in this blog post and in the chart shown below. If you have a Google Voice account, you can add Google voicemail to any mobile phone linked to your account.

October 26, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

Sprint and Palm announce 15 Nov date and $99.99 price for Pixi

The Palm Pixi was first announced back on September 9th with no pricing and availability stated as "in time for the holidays". Today, Sprint and Palm announced that the Palm Pixi will be coming to Sprint on 15 November for $99.99 with a two-year contract, $50 instant rebate, and $100 mail-in rebate. The Palm Pixi is the second Palm WebOS-based phone, following the Palm Pre.

October 26, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Smartphones

Linux in your hand; from geeks only to consumer friendly mass market

My first experience with mobile Linux was with a Sharp Zaurus SL-5500 I bought back in 2003. It was very customizable with apps and functionality and you could change the ROM on it rather easily to fit your needs, but it also required you to spend hours and hours tweaking and refining it to get it to work just right. When I heard that we would see more Linux-based mobile operating systems I didn't think they would amount to much because consumers seem to want products that work even if they don't have the most powerful functions (as we see with the iPhone). I am pleased to now see that smartphone operating systems based on Linux look to be the most powerful, customizable, flexible, and consumer friendly of all platforms we see in the market. We are seeing some wonderful devices running the Palm WebOS, Google Android, and Nokia Maemo operating systems with the Palm Pre, HTC Hero, Verizon Droid, Nokia N900 , and many more.

October 25, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Enterprise Software

HTC kicks off global ad campaign and its all about YOU

HTC Corporation today kicked off their new global advertising campaign based on their "Quietly Brilliant" brand positioning and everything is about YOU. They are focusing on the personal experience that we are coming to associate with our mobile phones and have been working with a LA-based agency, Deutsch LA Inc., to create the You campaign. As you can in their logos and other media, the You logos are modeled after doodling. There will be commercials, billboards, and many other forms of advertising for this new global campaign.

October 25, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

T-Mobile rolls out new plans, huge monthly fee increases for unlimited voice on family plans

There have been rumors of new T-Mobile plans, code named Project Dark, and earlier today T-Mobile took the wraps off of their new Even More and Even More Plus plans. The plans include options for obtaining an account with no contract, paying for your phone with monthly no-interest payments, and having unlimited voice, text, and data service. While they are quite competitive with other carrier unlimited plans, existing T-Mobile customers need to take a hard comparative look at the new plans and their current plans before jumping on these new plans too quickly. In my case where I have a MyFaves 1800 shared minute family plan with five lines, unlimited family text messaging, and smartphone data on one line I discovered that I would see a minimum increase of $75/month if I wanted to gain unlimited voice calling and add one smartphone data service.

October 25, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Hardware

iPhone app review: Mantis Bible Study

I previously posted reviews of two Bible study applications I have used on other smartphone platforms that moved onto the iPhone (Laridian PocketBible and Olive Tree Bible Reader), primarily because they are the programs I was most familiar with over a number of years. One thing we have discovered with the launch of the iPhone and the App Store is that there are a ton of developers creating new and exciting applications just for this platform. The most compelling of these native iPhone programs pertaining to Bible reading and study that I found so far is Mantis Bible Study. I actually discovered this a few months ago when I was looking for a program and was pleased to see it was one of the only ones with note taking support. After adding back the two apps I used in the past, I reloaded Mantis Bible Study and actually think it may be the best of all Bible applications on the iPhone platform.

October 24, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

Apple thumbing nose at Nokia? Nokia sues them over wireless patents

You can't argue with the success of the Apple iPhone, especially here in the US. However, Nokia believes that Apple infringes on their patents for GSM, UMTS, and WLAN standards so it is suing Apple in a Delaware court. There are ten patents called out in the suit that cover wireless data, speech coding, security and encryption and are infringed by all Apple iPhone models shipped since the iPhone was introduced in 2007. The details of the patents were not in the press release, but I have to wonder why the iPhone is different than all the other smartphones using these same wireless technologies and maybe it has to do with the way they all work together or something.

October 22, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Apple

T-Mobile announces 3G BlackBerry Bold 9700 with 624 MHz processor

The new BlackBerry 9700 from T-Mobile comes as no surprise given all the leaks. I was actually in a T-Mobile store a couple months ago and a salesperson mentioned it was coming in an offhand manner. T-Mobile made it official today though and announced that the BlackBerry Bold 9700 would be coming in "time for the holidays". This is T-Mobile USA's first 3G BlackBerry and it looks sweet. It also has a speedy 624 MHz processor that should really fly.

October 20, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Hardware

Videos and details reveal features of the Nokia N900 Internet Tablet

As readers here may know, I am the editor of Nokia Experts and currently have a pre-production Nokia N900 Internet Tablet to evaluate until January. This Maemo 5-powered Internet Tablet is quite an improvement over previous Nokia Internet Tablets that never seemed to take off with an integrated cellular data connection and much better native software provided by Nokia. Since this is a pre-production device and not necessarily focused on the enterprise market I have been making most of my posts about the device on my Nokia Experts site.

October 20, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Microsoft

Hands-on with the Sprint Samsung Intrepid Windows Phone

A few new devices launched with the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system roll out on October 6th. One QWERTY messaging-focused device that launched on Sprint is the Samsung Intrepid. The Intrepid is the successor to the Samsung Ace and is a touchscreen device in a forward facing QWERTY form factor, similar to a BlackBerry device. Most all of the specs of the Samsung Intrepid are quite good, but the low resolution 320x240 QVGA kills the whole experience for me since every device I now have has much higher resolution and I can never go back to something with this low of resolution. The Samsung Intrepid is priced on Sprint at $150 so it is quite reasonable for a fully functional Windows Phone.

October 19, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Enterprise Software

Can a BlackBerry watch succeed where SPOT watches failed?

I still have a few MSN Direct SPOT watches floating around at home, but find I rarely even wear a watch and just rely on my mobile phones for time and date information. Crackberry.com looks to have the first images and information on the upcoming BlackBerry Watch. This Bluetooth accessory will connect to your BlackBerry device and act as a viewable terminal for specific data. Much like the SPOT watches of old, it is designed to give you quick glanceable access to data without having to pull out your phone. Honestly though, does it really take that much effor to pull out your phone? If there is a piece of data you want to view more of or respond to then this watch actually introduces an unnecessary step in the process, right?

October 19, 2009 by Matthew Miller in BlackBerry

Rock on the go with Rock Band on your Apple iPhone

I spend most of my time using my Windows Mobile and Nokia devices, depending on my needs at the time. However, I keep getting drawn back to using my iPhone due to the incredible quality, functionality, and low prices of the games. The latest game from Electronic Arts that appeals to me is Rock Band (iTunes link). This game is priced at $9.99 and has four different ways to play, including multiplayer via a Bluetooth connection.

October 18, 2009 by Matthew Miller in iPhone

BGR gets hands-on with the Motorola Droid from Verizon Wireless

Andrew wrote an earlier post showing the new ad and campaign against the iPhone and for the Google Android platform that Verizon just kicked off. I saw the Droid Does commercial on TV this weekend and am interested in seeing what Verizon's device looks like. It turns out that I didn't have to wait long as the folks at The Boy Genius Report got their hands-on with the Motorola Droid (aka Sholes) and they are pretty impressed with the device. They stated that the Motorola Droid makes their Motorola CLIQ look like a "child's toy" so I guess it confirms that I won't be getting one now. Verizon has had a rather lame smartphone lineup for a while now, but with the Touch Pro2, Motorola Droid, and upcoming Palm Pre they may finally have some devices to compete with the other carriers and keep their lead in the number of US subscribers.

October 18, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

Is the Google Android platform the upcoming smartphone of choice?

My T-Mobile SIM is setup for my T-Mobile G1 Google Android device that I have owned since day 1 (see my full review) and continue to enjoy with the updates and growing Android Market application selection. T-Mobile was the first US wireless carrier to support Android and then rolled out the T-Mobile myTouch 3G to add a second Android and become the carrier of choice for Android fans. T-Mobile will be launching a third Android device, the Motorola CLIQ, very soon, but they are no longer the exclusive Android carrier. Sprint has the awesome HTC Hero with the Samsung Moment coming soon and Verizon will have a couple of devices in 2010. AT&T has nothing announced yet, but there are rumors of a Dell handset. When you decide you want an iPhone, you only have one choice in carrier and form factor, but when you now consider an Android device you can stay with your carrier and/or have a choice in form factor. Let's take a closer look at what Android devices are or will be coming to each carrier in the US, followed by my thoughts on what I have found to be the best so far.

October 16, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Hardware

Matthew Miller

Latest Posts