Smartphones and Cell Phones

And we're back, Android Market appears to be well populated again

The day before I received my black G1 (DO NOT BUY the brown one because you won't be able to see the keyboard in most lighting conditions) Google took the Android Market offline for maintenance to make sure things were up and running for the full retail launch. Applications then slowly started trickling back onto the Android Market and now there are 47 applications and 15 games currently available to download and install for free. All the ones I wrote about using on my evaluation device are back up after the Video Player finally appeared overnight. You can also load up applications found online and I think we will soon see these on the Android Market too. I also discovered a few new applications that have now become part of my daily usage and have some favorites already.

October 23, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Hardware

BlackBerry Bold coming to AT&T on November 4th

The BlackBerry Bold is available now in select countries, but there have been a few delays getting it out in the U.S. It looks like that is no longer the case as AT&T just announced that the Bold will be available on Tuesday, 4 November, for as low as US$299.99 (with qualifying plan and contract).

October 22, 2008 by Matthew Miller in BlackBerry

You aren't limited to just the Android Market, try Twitroid for Twittering on the G1

I recently posted some of my experiences with 11 applications I installed from the Android Market on my evaluation T-Mobile G1 and was pleased with most all of those selected applications. I just received my own purchased black G1 today, do not buy the brown one or you won't be able to see the keyboard in most lighting conditions, and understand that the Android Market was reset for launch. Applications are appearing over time, but I was quite disappointed to find that key applications I enjoyed using were not there yet. These include the video player, PacMan, Android Says, and QuickList.

October 21, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

RIM announces BlackBerry StoreFront coming to devices in March 2009

Apple made the on device application store popular with the iPhone App Store and we have the Android Market available today with the T-Mobile G1. Nokia has had a Download section on their devices, but it is unrefined and offers different device-specific downloads with a very poor user interface. The BlackBerry Developer Conference is going on this week and the latest press release states that RIM will be launching the application storefront in March 2009 for on-device and on the web locations for managing your 3rd party applications. You can sign up to learn more about the BlackBerry Application StoreFront today.

October 21, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Hardware

Two new HP Windows Mobile devices appear with new keyboard options

I was checking out jkOnTheRun this morning and read their post on new HP Windows Mobile phones that lead to the details on the wmpoweruser.com site. Sam wrote last month that HP was jumping deeper into the smartphone market after a couple years trying to sell their iPAQ line that largely focused on the enterprise buyer. These two new devices, the iPAQ Voice Messenger and Data Messenger, actually look quite modern and may appeal to consumers as well.

October 21, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Hewlett Packard Enterprise

First Android phone in stores today and tomorrow

While I like the fact that T-Mobile let us existing customers pre-order the T-Mobile G1 the day it was announced last month, the benefit of pre-ordering seems to have lost that huge advantage I was thinking we were gaining. If you were in the first batch of pre-orders then you should be getting your device today or Wednesday, with some reports that people started receiving them yesterday. The latest news from T-Mobile is that you will be able to pick up a G1, supplies are limited, at the San Francisco store at 3rd and Market starting at 6pm Pacific Time tonight, Tuesday, 21 October. Then on the 22nd of October T-Mobile will supposedly have stock of the G1 at retail stores within the 3G coverage zones. If you were thinking about ordering online today you may just want to head down to the store to pick up the device in person instead of waiting until some time in early November.

October 20, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

Nokia updates Nokia Email service and provides Map Loader for Macs

Nokia continues to improve their Nokia Email service and has taken it from Beta 2 to Beta 3 status with support for up to 6 email accounts and support for more devices. Nokia also continues to add functionality to their devices and Mac computers with the latest release in their Beta Labs of the Nokia Map Loader for Mac software.

October 20, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Microsoft

T-Mobile USA provides BlackBerry Curve 4.5 update

I already upgraded my Sunset BlackBerry Curve to firmware 4.5 using an official RIM update for another country, but TmoNews just posted that the official T-Mobile USA 4.5 update is now available for the BlackBerry Curve 8320. This is the Curve with UMA support so if you don't have one of these then I don't recommend risking the update. You can visit the T-Mobile BlackBerry update page to get the software and update your device.

October 20, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Networking

Mobile software Monday: 11 3rd party applications from the Android Market

The T-Mobile G1 is showing up in the hands of those who pre-ordered one this week (mine is schedule for Tuesday arrival) and I have been seeing new applications appearing in the Android Market almost daily on my review unit. There are still a very limited number of games and I think only one or two were added since I started my review. I loaded up eleven applications (a couple of these just appeared yesterday) and took the below video of eight applications in action on the G1. I covered the Video Player in my full review since that was really an application that should have been included by T-Mobile and Google. As I stated in my full review you only get 128MB of onboard storage to load up applications and you cannot currently load them on the microSD card. With the eleven applications I tried, I only had 34MB of remaining memory. However, in looking at the space allocation settings it looks like your data is stored in this area too so if you have a ton of contacts and lots of calendar entries your space may fill up faster.

October 19, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Developer

MobileTechRoundup show #151, T-Mobile G1, new MacBook, my new Wind purchase

The T-Mobile G1 Google Android device discussion took up a large portion of MobileTechRoundup show #151 since Kevin and I both have one to play with. James also has something new at the house since he ordered and received a new MacBook already. I also talked a bit about my traveling experiences with the MSI Wind and why I bought one for myself too.

October 18, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Apple

Did T-Mobile halt the G1 pre-order shipments?

OK, now that you spent the time checking out my full T-Mobile G1 review you are wondering where your order is. There was talk yesterday that T-Mobile had sent out the pre-ordered devices early and I just checked and confirmed that my device did indeed leave the warehouse on 14 October. However, I just checked it again and it has been rescheduled for delivery on 21 October. Is everyone else's preorder getting this mysterious rescheduled delivery status? It seems that T-Mobile may have paused the delivery mid-stream.

October 16, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

Review: Over 260 images and 5 videos of the T-Mobile G1 Google Android device

The biggest mobile news of 2007 was definitely the Apple iPhone and I think the biggest news of this year is the Google Android. I enjoyed my trip out to see the T-Mobile G1 launch last month and have now had the opportunity to use the T-Mobile G1 for almost a week. As a long time T-Mobile customer I am pleased to finally see a 3G device and one as functional and powerful as the G1. The G1 is not perfect, what mobile device is?, but after getting to spend time with it I am very pleased and happy I pre-ordered my own for delivery next week. You can check out my hardware image gallery with 57 pictures and my other image gallery with over 215 images that show every screen on the device, including pop-ups and options that appear with tap and holds on the display. I also have included 5 YouTube videos that show the device in action. The T-Mobile G1 is the first Google Android device and as I state below, the future success is largely dependent on developer ingenuity and involvement.

October 15, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

SE XPERIA X1 appears to be available now in Sweden

One of the most anticipated new devices in the Windows Mobile market, the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 now appears to be available in Sweden. Daily Mobile has unboxing photos of a production model and I plan to follow their site for more thoughts on the device. I saw a couple of early models of the XPERIA X1, but you could see some early software issues in them so I can't wait to actually see the device in production mode. I am also hoping we see a 1700 MHz model for T-Mobile USA.

October 14, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

Mobile software Monday: Handy Tools Pack for S60 devices

I am working on getting Mobile software Monday reviews up and running here again on my ZDNet blog, but there are so many devices coming in that it is tough to find the time to write about all the great software titles. The Nokia E71 (see my full review) is where my AT&T SIM card can be found sharing time with my Palm Treo Pro and I truly enjoy using this mobile device. I was looking for an easy way to switch between applications rather than having to go back to the standby screen or into the main menu area and a few people recommended I check out Handy TaskMan from Paragon Software Group. While looking for this utility, I discovered the Handy Tools Pack for S60 3rd Edition devices that includes 11 titles in one package for US$129.95 (savings of 49% if you bought them all separately).

October 13, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

T-Mobile BlackBerry Flip 8220 now available

The BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 (aka Kickstart) was announced a short while ago and today I received the press release announcing that T-Mobile customers can now pick up the T-Mobile BlackBerry Pearl Flip in black color for US$149.99 after US$150 instant discount and US$50 mail-in rebate (full price is US$349.99).

October 12, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Hardware

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