December 2008 Archives

The BlackBerry Storm touchscreen remains active and works even during  phone calls. This can be frustrating for many BlackBerry Storm users, because a touch can activate a function.

"The most common problem with the touchscreen being active, is that a cheek or ear sets off the mute function,"  said Will David, president of CellAvant, developer of BlackBerry enterprise custom applications, "The BlackBerry Storm user continues to talk without knowing that the other person can't hear what they are saying."

Unlike the iPhone which has a sensor to detect when the user puts the iPhone near the ear and disengages the iPhone's touchscreen, the BlackBerry Storm's touchscreen continues to work while the phone is held to the face or ear. CellAvant developed a free application that shuts off the the touchscreen whenever a call is answered and then turns the touchscreen back on when the caller hangs up, called TalkLock.

The application was Beta-launched December 19 and has been downloaded 13,000 times.

"The response has been very positive," commented David, "TalkLock has prevented many BlackBerry Storm users from returning them."

Christian Ringtunes are ringing all over the world and projecting the greatest story ever told, says their latest news release.

The Christian oriented off-deck website's most popular ringtone is "Amazing Grace, Creole Trumpet," followed by "Believe in God" with the song snippet, "I believe in God and Jessus Christ, You gonna' have eternal life," sung by Jonathan.

CNET Asia did an extensive interview with the management of RIM, maker of BlackBerry devices. BlackBerry smartphones grew 81.7 percent in the third quarter of 2008.

Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO founded RIM while he was a student at University of Waterloo.

During the interview, when asked if he considered netbooks to be competitors, Lazaridis replied:

"No, I think I can put Netbooks in here [referring to the BlackBerry Storm]. These are Netbooks. They are just smaller."

Lazaridis is also a great PR spokesman for his company, he said,

"The BlackBerry solution epitomizes the highest evolution and balance possible with today's technology for both businesses and consumers. At RIM we continue to invest in R&D to make sure that we are able to maintain our lead in providing the best wireless handheld messaging and multimedia solutions globally"

Time magazine released it's Top 10 Lists of everything for 2008.  The iPhone 3G is the only phone on the Gadget List and given the number three position.

Times' Josh Quittner wrote about the iPhone 3G

"It doesn't handle email as well as the cheapest BlackBerry, and as a telephone, it's no better than most cell phones. But this is the gadget that launched the era of mobile computing, and what an epoch that promises to be! "

Note that they actually use an exclamation point!!!!!!

Time is so crazy about the iPhone,  they even named the top iPhone Apps of 2008 which are:

1. Pandora Internet Radio - once you choose music you like, it helps choose music for you.
2. AroundMe - helps find services around you sucha banks, coffee shops, bars, gas stations, hospitals, movie theaters, and restaurants.
   
3. AP Mobile News Network - read, email, text and save the latest AP news.
4. Ocarina - lets you play the iPhone like an Ocarina.
   
5. Wikipanion - quick easy Wikipedia search app.
6. Adrenaline Pool Lite - virtual pool game.
7. Instapaper - saves web pages in an iPhone format to be read later on your iPhone.
8. NetNewsWire - RSS feed aggregator.
9. iTalk - captures audio in the high-quality AIFF format.
10. Fake Call -  a fake contact can call you and interrupt that very boring conversation.

"New Year's is one of the highest 'text messaging' days of the year," said Bob Azzi, senior vice president of network services for Sprint. "We anticipate traffic volumes this New Year's to be about 200 percent, double the normal rate. Every year, we enhance our networks in areas like New York's Times Square, Las Vegas and in other cities across the nation where our customers may be celebrating."

HP is now offering a free iPhone app HP iPrint Photo, giving the ability to easily print photos.

HP iPrint Photo allows for quick and easy wireless printing of 4 x 6-inch photos from an iPhone or iPod touch to most HP inkjet printers connected to a local Wi-Fi network.

The application is fully compatible with Apple's Bonjour technology and uses the Multi-Touch interface for easy and fast wireless iPhone or iPod touch print experience.

• January 21: Sony Ericsson TM506 (Scarlett)
• January 21: Nokia 7510
• January 28: T-Mobile Shadow
• February 4: Motorola Renew
• February 4: Samsung t119
• February 18: RIM BlackBerry Curve 8900
• February 18: Samsung Memoir

• Camera (3.2 MP)
• Wi-Fi Support
• Built-in GPS
• Enhanced Media Player
• Video Recording

The company performed detailed research and focus groups, finding out exactly what people want from a watch phone. Yes, women and girls do like pink. Tweens and teens love the whole concept.

Lots of people like to ease drop and search Twitter to see what people are Twittering to each other.  They want to know what Twitters are from the Twitters with the highest authority, meaning the ones with the most followers.  Currently, Twitter search which was based on a startup Summize which Twitter bought in July, only performs a general search.

Although the latest research shows 35% of Twitterers have 10 or fewer followers. Snoopers, I mean researchers want to know what Tweets with the most followers.

After some blog posts and debate, there are now two Twitter search engines that offer authority rank Twitority and Twithority.

"I spoke to Sony Mobile Technical Support. The girl said they only thing she has heard is some phones had a crack near the stylus area and that could have been a reason for the partial recall."

Sprint announced the availability of local, 10-digit phone numbers for internet-based Relay (IP), Instant Messaging Relay (IM), Video Relay Service (VRS) and Federal VRS customers. These services are used by deaf and hearing-impaired users.

Sprint Relay's 'Call Now' service allows IP and VRS users to be assigned a local 10-digit phone number to receive calls directly and make 911 calls based on their geographic location.

LG will be showing the next generation of its wrist phone, c at CES this year. We can't help but call a handset...

The GD910 is its first 3G watch phone. It has a 7.2 Mbps HSDPA wireless data connection with a secondary video camera for video calls. 

 GD910 has a 1.43 inch touchscreen for user input. It also accepts voice commands via voice recognition and will speak text messages. It is 13.9mm thick. Other reported features include a camera, music player and Bluetooth.

Note: This is not the only wrist watch phone on the market.

Beginning January 1, 2009, texting while driving will be illegal in the state of California.

The fine in California for texting while driving is $20 with added court costs and fees upping the total to be paid to reach as much as $90 depending on the county. The law also covers email and other electronic devices.

• Fix some bugs.
• Speed up the accelerometer action for automatic portrait landscape changing.
• More responsive typing.

B4UDrink.mobi  provides information about an individual's BAC and is accessible "at their fingertips" on any mobile device including a cell phone, BlackBerry, or iPhone.

The B4UDrinkprogram takes the guessing game out of the equation and gives the user factual information about how alcohol consumption affects an individual's BAC.

The user enters gender and weight and the type and quantity of drink(s) they plan to consume. A few short clicks later they are given their approximate BAC.

HubSpot’s “State of the Twittersphere” report for Q4 2008 shows a dominance of new users this year with 70% of Twitterers joining in 2008.

The report reveals 5,000-10,000 new accounts opened per day while 35% of Twitter users have ten or fewer followers.

Other fiindings from the report:

• Nine percent of Twitter users follow no one at all.
• There is a strong correlation between the number of followers you have and the number of people you follow.

On Christmas CNET released its BlackBerry Starter Kit which mentions many of the BlackBerry Apps we suggested for the BlackBerry Storm.  These applications don't have BlackBerry Storm-specific versions yet but they are very handy for other types of BlackBerry users.  They are definitely on our "wish-list" for BlackBerry Storm versions soon.

Opera Mini - this mobile browser according to Opera's figures is growing very quickly for BlackBerry users proving how good it is.  There is not a BlackBerry Storm version yet but it supports many other BlackBerry devices including the BlackBerry Bold.

There will be public beta version of Sling Player Mobile for BlackBerry available on December 30, (next Tuesday.) SlingPlayer Mobile lets viewers watch and control your home TV and DVR via your Slingbox on a smartphone. 

They strongly recommend that when connecting to your Slingbox you use a 3G cellular or WiFi connection that meets our minimum network download speed requirements.

Models to be supported include, BlackBerry Bold, BlackBerry Curve 8320, BlackBerry Pearl Flip and BlackBerry Pearl 8120.

The new Windows Mobile SlingPlayer update includes support for new screen resolutions, including 800x480 pixels, 640x480 pixels, 400x240 pixels, and 320x320 pixels.

TMO News forum leaked  RIM's BlackBerry roadmap for 2008.

Three's  a touchscreen BlackBerry Bold 9900 (codename "Pluto") with a standard Bold QWERTY keyboard which will maintain the current form factor. There will be a possible announcement at WES 2009. for AT&T Rodgers and others to sell for $199 -$299.

It also suggests  a slider BlackBerry Storm with a slide-out keyboard, possibly 3G and Wi-Fi for Europe. They label it "unconfirmed."

There are HSPA and EV-DO versions of the 8900 (referred to as the 9220 and 8930, respectively), a 3G Kickstart, as well as an EV-DO/HSPA BlackBerry Bold with high res screen, new firmware, browsers/media player, GPS, 1G on-board, microSD and 3.2 megapixel camera.

There are refreshing the line of BlackBerry Pearls with the new UI for emerging markets. The EV-DO products are due for a release in the first half of 2009, while more heavily featured BalckBerry devices will be released at the end of 2009.

There is no mention in the original post where the document was obtained and if the source was valid.

Yesterday, we started receiving emails telling us about after holiday sales at regular retailers.  We decided to see what wireless carriers were doing and we found some good after-Christimas post-holiday deals and discounts. If you use our $50 off discount deal from AT&T you can a nab a refrub iPhone for $50 with online activation and contract. There are also some good deals at Wirefly.

Until December 31 Online Only with Coupon $49 and $149 iPhones:
AT&T has reduced the price of the iPhone 3G 8GB Black refurb to $99 with a contract (qualifying data and voice plans) and the iPhone 3G 16GB (Black or White) refurb is $199, add the Wireless and Mobile News'  $50 Off on AT&T phones or accessories with a plan "coupon-link" and that makes a sweet deal.

Other good deals from AT&T include $99 for the LG Incite after rebates, add our $50 discount and that is another great deal. Hwever, as of this morning the LG Incite is temporarially out of stock. It's worth checking back to see when they get in. AT&T will not let you buy a phone when it is not in stock.Please note that the Wirelss and Mobile News disocunt only works through our link. It doesn't work with prepay,  requires a plan and can be ordered online only. Some deals also require online activation.  The $50 Off AT&T Links also appear in the far left and right columns of Wireless and Mobile News.

Wireless and Mobile News is dedicated to helping our readers sort out all the information about smartphones out there. At year end, many publications name their top, best, coolest, hottest or perfect smartphones of the year.  Just like in our Review of Reviews for cell phones and smartphones, we reviewed top sources and summarized the findings here. We took all the data from eight publications to research what the consensus is for the best smartphones in 2008.

First place is no surprise with many editors and writers pointing out the popularity of the  Blackberry Storm, iPhone 3G and T-Mobile G1. Keyboarded smartphones came in second and a dual entry phone in third.

It is interesting to note that although the Sony Xperia had been recalled, many pundits still put it on their best reviewed lists.

HTC and BlackBerry Top Manufacturers

As far as manufacturers go, BlackBerry had two winners under its name while HTC has two smartphones under its name and also makes the Xperia, and G1 making the top maker of the winners.

Wireless smartphone shoppers please note some of the winning smartphones are now appearing discounted during after-holiday sales including the iPhone 3G and BlackBerry Storm.

Opera Mobile watches how its mobile browser is used. Here are there latest findings. It's interesting to note that many of the top handsets are BlackBerry, making Opera a very popular browser on BlackBerry Devices.

TeleNav GPS Navigator, GPS and mapping app, is now available for the BlackBerry Storm. There is 30 day free trial for this well rated GPS navigation service. This gives Verizon users an alternative to Verizon’s VZ Navigator. Some reviewers have called it the “most fun” BlackBerry Storm app to date and a replacement for a GPS unit.

TeleNav GPS Navigator for BlackBerry Storm has full-color 3D moving maps,voice and on-screen directions, and optional speech recognition for address entry.

TeleNav also shows traffic alerts with one-click rerouting and an on-screen ETA. With 10 million business listings, gas price listings and Wi-Fi hotspot finder, it can come in very handy when travelling. It also features a peedestrian mode so you can use it while walking around town.

My TeleNav offers online preplanning. Navigation works in both portrait and landscape mode on the BlackBerry Storm.

After the free 30-day trial, TeleNav GPS Navigator is $9.99/month for unlimited use. Click here to find out more information or to try out TeleNav GPS Navigator for free.

If you are doing your last minute cell phone shopping or spending the money you were gifted, this deal is the one of the best cell phone deal discounts directly from a carrier.

We searched through our partnerships and and affiliate deals to discover the secret code and best gift we can offer our readers besides breaking information and our "Review of Reviews" of the top cell phones and smartphones. You'll receive $50 Off on AT&T phones or accessories with a plan.

This fifty dollars off, can be used any phone or accessory with free shipping. The discount requires online activation via att.com/wireless andrate plans $39.99 or more with a two-year agreement. Discount will be automatically applied to your shopping cart.

AT&T top phones include the iPhone, LG VU, BlackBery Bold, LG Incite, Palm Centro, HTC Fuze and many others. AT&T offers a full line of texting phones including the Pantech Matrix, Quickfire, Propel, and Samsung Slate.

You have to use this $50 Off AT&T link, we provide in this article or on the left and right columns of Wireless and Mobile News.  Please follow the link to get your free coupon discount.

"Offering Joost on the iPhone and iPod touch is an important step for Joost as we endeavor to offer users premium entertainment, where they want it and when they want it," said Mike Volpi, CEO of Joost.

The Nokia website is inviting you to send a free Season’s Greetings e-card. For each e-greeting that is opened Nokia will donate money to UNICEF  This year cards will help fund education in cyclon struck Myanmar.

You can send up to 30 greetings at a time with email addresses separated with a semi colon.

Nokia is also helping build schools in Iraq.

UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence.  The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS.  UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

Pinger Phone is a free iPhone app that provides a menu for contacting people via contacts and social networking. It also allows users to send free text messages through the iPhones data network.

Pinger Phone has manage and communcations with contacts as well as with friends on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. People can see IM presence in their contacts or their social network feeds, and then decide whether to call, text, instant message, mail or even send a Facebook, MySpace or Twitter message, all from one simple menu.

Key features of Pinger Phone for iPhone include:

The Pinger Menu — A single menu that allows users to call, text, IM, mail, or even send a Facebook, MySpace or Twitter message to contacts. The Pinger Menu makes communicating easier because users don’t have to navigate back and forth between different applications when communicating with friends.

Readers of Global Traveler magazine selected Verizon Wireless as providing the world's best wireless service. This is the second time Verizon has won the honor.

The survey, now in its fifth year, gives Global Traveler readers the chance to voice their opinions on the best in many categories of business and luxury travel.

Verizon was the only wireless carrier to be recognized by the magazine. Verizon offers a number of international solutions for customers whose business or leisure travel takes them to points around the globe. The Global Travel Program works for the occasional or infrequent global traveler who needs to stay connected to home and the office.

Existing Verizon Wireless customers traveling in a GSM country for less than 21 days can receive a global device for short-term use. A nominal shipping fee applies, but there are no daily rental fees or security deposits with this program.

Trade association 3G Americas, announced that in December 2008 with 4 billion connections to mobile devices worldwide.

The estimate by Informa Telecoms & Media represents 60% of the entire global population today. In some countries, millions of people are now experiencing connectivity to the world for the first time through wireless and changing their economic, social and political fortunes forever.

The Latin America and Caribbean region continues to show steady consumer growth with 16% year-on-year growth as subscription numbers are expected to reach in excess of 440 million, equating to 76% penetration.

2009 Presidential Inauguration attendees now have their very own smartphone app to navigate Washington's gala events.

The application, from Qorvis Communications and the law firm Patton Boggs, provides location-aware (GPS) information about all inaugural galas and events while delivering details in real time. Information helps attendees find where to eat, what Metro line to take, and how to find museums and other places in Washington, DC. It also provides walking directions to the Inauguration.

The first iteration of the Qorvis/Patton Boggs application is now available in the iTunes App Store. A Blackberry version will soon follow. Development of a version for the Google phone "Android" is slated for early January 2009.

"Everyone in Washington is throwing a party or hosting clients, family and friends for the inauguration," said Michael Petruzzello, managing partner of Qorvis. "We wanted to offer the public a useful and speedy way to obtain information about this historic event."

The mobile application was designed by Qorvis' in-house interactive team and developed by PointAbout, which has enabled the application to be used on a variety of mobile platforms.

Smartphone app seller, Handango has partnered with mobile game publishers Digital Chocolate and I-play. Thus aa vast array of top entertainment content for Blackberry and Windows Mobile devices.

Digital Chocolate titles include 3D Brick Breaker Revolution, Mini Golf 99-Holes and Shopping Madness and games from I-play include Deal or No Deal, Million Dollar Mission, Jenga, Jewel Quest 2, Mercenaries 2, and Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift and more.

Previously this year, Handango announced distribution deals with EA Mobile and Capcom as part of its ongoing effort to increase entertainment and gaming options for smartphone users.

USA TODAY is offering a free USA Today iPhone app on the Apple App Store.The app provides access to the latest news stories, weather, photos and interactive polls.

USA TODAY for iPhone offers the following features:

Headlines - Browse and read stories from News, Money, Sports, Life, Tech and Travel. Articles can be shared via email, text message or Twitter, and are automatically saved for later reading.

USA TODAY Snapshots - Scan through USA TODAY Snapshots, and vote on an interactive poll question for each. Review responses from all users and filter the results by state and city.

This is the time of year when a change in the weather could mean a major change in your plans.  Here are some weather apps for the BlackBerry Storm to help you weather the holidays and trips to grandmas, the mall or Las Vegas.

Viigo users can view weather their weather and check 5 day forecasts your favorite cities in one simple menu.

KeyToss Mobile Web Portal  offers a 5 day weather forecast from MSN Weather. After you register you can enter as many locations as you’d like. And you can switch between them with a single click. Switch between Celsius and Fahrenheit. View a weather map. Check out the five day forecast. Other features of KeyToss include a Flight Status Tool, Snow Conditions Tool, Currency Converter, and a Translation Tool. Since it is a web tool it will work only in the BlackBerry Storm Browser.

What's that up in the sky?  Is it a bird?  Is it plane?  An Alien?

No it's just the flying Samsung Text Messenging Team.

On December 19, at team of 10 skydivers attempted to set the Guinness World Record for fastest test messaging while skydiving.

The team texted on five  Samsung Mobile messaging phones with full QWERTY keyboards.The Propel, Alias, Ran, Messenger and Gravity The entire team took two jumps and landed safely

The challange was captured in the air with two aerial videographers plus two more cameras on the ground.. Samsung Mobile is sending the video to Guinness judges to determine if the record was sent and they expect confirmation in the coming months.

Skweezer's mobile content optimization technology is now available with JumpTap's mobile search .

Mobile social network users is growing quickly.

According to a study conducted by The Kelsey Group and ConStat, the percentage of mobile phone users who said they accessed social networks from their handset jumped 182% from September 2007 to October 2008.

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Verizon has revamped its Inpulse prepay plans with three options  

1. The Core Plan has a daily access fee is $0.99 for each day of use and unlimited in-network calling. All other calls are $0.10 per minute and text rate.
   
2. The Plus plan has a daily access fee is $1.99 with free night calling $.05 minute for weekends and text messages..
   
3. The Power plan, night and weekend calling is free with a daily access fee $2.99. Text messges are 2 cents.
   

• $20/month for Unlimited Messaging to anyone on any network in the U.S.

• $10/month for Unlimited Mobile to Mobile Messaging with Verizon Wireless customers PLUS 250 additional messages.

When you buy the Salvation Army Christmas Music application for iPhone for $2.99,  $1 is donated to the Salvation Army.

You will can listen to a thousand Christmas-spirited songs on your iPhone.

These Christmas song are placed into appropriate playlists for your listening pleasure. Playlists include: - Children’s Christmas - Christmas from Around the World - Christmas Hymns - Classical Christmas - Instrumental Christmas - Soul/Jazz Christmas - The Salvation Army Brass Christmas

Shake your iPhone when selecting a song list for a familiar sound. 

ChangeWave Research's new survey looks at the marketshare of the RIM vs Apple. New RIM products such as the BlackBerry Storm have provided a jump in consumer planned buying that suggests RIM is gaining steam.

A total of 12.2% of respondents plan on buying a smartphone over the next 90 days, 0.3% more than previously, surveyed by ChangeWave.

While RIM (41%) is still the consumer market share leader, it has fallen 1-pt since the previous survey in September to its lowest percentage of the last 12 months.

At the same time, Apple (23%; up 6-pts) has witnessed explosive growth - up 6-pts just since September. Importantly, its overall market share has more than doubled in the past six months - a direct result of the late-June release of the 3G iPhone.

What iPhone app has blasted to the top of entertainment category? It even gassed past Koi Pond and the burpiliscious iBeer. Really, we are not pulling your finger.

iFart Mobile is a digital sound machine with many fart functions. It has a built-in security system, designed to surprise and discourage iPhone theft. iFart for iPhone also as a "Sneak Attack" function for pulling pranks on parents, children, friends, teachers, workmates and employers alike.

This gaseous news is not good news to the iPhone app that was rejected in September by the iPhone App Store, "Pull My FInger." Pull My Finger is now back in the entertainment category and appears to have lost some of it flatulence to iFart. We have not been able to tell which app provides the best fart and most fun. Videos follow to help you decide.

• Browse YouTube Videos
• Share, rate, and comment on videos.
• Access favorites, your own uploaded videos and  favorite channels.

Atif Shamim, an electronics PhD student at Carleton University, has developed a way to greatly reduced smartphone, such as BlackBerry or iPhone power consumption.

He developed a prototype that removes of all the wires used to connect the electronic circuits with the antenna. It uses packaging technique to connect the antenna with the circuits via a wireless connection between a micro-antenna embedded within the circuits on the chip.

"This has not been tried before -- that the circuits are connected to the antenna wirelessly. They've been connected through wires and a bunch of other components. That's where the power gets lost," Mr. Shamim said in the Ottawa Citizen

The module, Shamim developed consumes 12 times less power than the traditional, wired-transmitter module. It is also much simpler in design which lowers the overall cost of any device using it.

The BlackBerry Storm can be very useful over the holidays for news, social networking, music, photos, and travel. Here are some apps to help bring joy, information and light to the holiday season.

For more BlackBerry Storm apps for all year long, please look at the Wireless and Mobile News BlackBerry Storm Apps page or read of Best BlackBerry Storm Apps of the Month column.

 SimCity is now available for the iPhone and iPod touch.

“SimCity for the iPhone and iPod touch takes mobile games to a whole new level,” said Adam Sussman, VP Publishing Americas and Asia for EA Mobile. “Easy to learn, a lifetime to master, it’s one of the largest mobile games ever produced, providing our customers with hundreds of hours of great gameplay.” 

"On download performance Sprint wins overall, beating AT&T five cities to three, and beating Verizon in four cities," said Wilson Rothman, Gizmodo Features Editor. "Proving that Sprint is a serious contender in almost any location... they should be taken seriously as a 3G and 4G data service provider."

PheedYou is working on additional features such as saving searches, alert notifications, ImageFlow for pictures attached to posts, and adding countries and locations.

"We are really excited to have released CraigSearch, and the best stuff is truly yet to come. The goal of releasing now is that we wanted users to help direct where we go from here. Please keep the suggestions flowing," said Chad Marcus.

After 12 days in the App Store, CraigSearch had to 20,000 downloads.For more information on PheedYou, please visit our website, www.pheedyou.com.

Once again Sprint received a top ranking in customer care, from a Pali Capital Inc.survey.  This is the second time for the past two quarters.

Sprint answered 89 percent of 1,000 calls to its customer service lines within 30 seconds. Sprint is also the only major carrier to score above 80 percent in the current quarter.

"Sprint's performance over the past two surveys is well above the prior five surveys when Gary Forsee was CEO, and the company answered a little over half of calls to customer care in less than 30 seconds," Pali analysts said in a note about the results.

Here are some of the other results:

79% of T-Mobile calls were answered within 30 seconds.

68% of Verizon calls were answered within 30 seconds.

43% of AT&T calls were answered within 30 seconds.

"AT&T continued to have the worst response times, but its results improved to 43% from 33% due to greatly improved response times in the morning and early afternoon," Piecyk wrote. "AT&T's response times are very poor after 2PM."

Sources:   Wichita Business Journal

and Sprint Connection.

There's good news for BlackBerry Storm buyers, the wait is over.  Verizon has got them back in stock, while supplies last.

BlackBerry Storm devices are now available in select Verizon Wireless stores in Washington, Oregon and Northern Idaho and California in time for the Holidays. The new shipment of BlackBerry Storm devices is significant, but supplies will still be limited, notes the Verizon news release.

While orders can still be direct-shipped, the company made an extra effort to get limited supplies in its most popular stores. The BlackBerry Storm is available in many California stores.  A list appears at the end of this article.

If you can't get to a store Wirefly. still has the $149.99 deal  for the BlackBerry Storm for new customers and with free shipping with a choice of plans.  Let's Talk after entering in a zip code for availability shows a price of $99.99 for the Storm after rebates for new customers and it looks like that price requires the $99 a month unlimited email plan.

• New MMS features including the ability to save attachments
• Email fixes with notifications for POP3 accounts.
• Browser features and improvements include updated WebKit browser core, synced with Nov 2008 WebKit version; Copy / paste is enabled in the browser; drawing has been sped up substantially by supporting partial content invalidates and partial screen invalidates and pages with animations are 5x faster.
• Camera/Gallery, New features include video recorder mode, share intent for videos,ideo thumbnails and local file playback.
• Support for 3rd parties to make their own onscreen keyboards.

Research in Motion has admitted that it has been difficult for them keep up with the strong demand for BlackBerry Storm smartphones and says that supplies will increase in the coming weeks.

"The response to the BlackBerry Storm launch with Verizon and Vodafone has been exceptional and demand for the devices is even stronger than we anticipated," RIM reported in a conference call.

RIM shipped about 6.7 million units, and much of the success can be attributed to the BlackBerry Bold and the BlackBerry Storm. They gave an update forecast for holiday sales, revenue in line with expectations and 2.6 million in new customer additions in the third quarter. RIM said it was entering the holiday season with "strong momentum."

In the meantime, each update of the BlackBerry Storm's firmware improves performance, making it an even better smartphone than before

CrackBerry once again as leaked a Storm firmware update 7.7.0.83 which they suggest you only do "at your own risk."  We don't suggest you use any leaked software unless you are prepared to backup your BlackBerry or lose data.  If you find the update process confusing, check an update clarification suggestions article we wrote a few weeks ago.

Our list of top wireless and mobile news stories for 2008 reflects a changing world that weathers storms, recalls what doesn't work, helps the poor, debates what is right, and chooses hope.

The Winners of Wireless and Mobile News' Top Stories of 2008 are:

1.  BlackBerry Storm - stories about RIM's first clickable touchscreen phone were the most widely read on Wireless and Mobile News. Starting off with the BlackBerry Storms' early reviews, followed by its delay, rumors about the firmware being a lower number than expected, online leaking of updates, shortages, and a video of the BlackBerry Storm being knifed without a scratch, showed its strength and fortitude.

   

2. Sony Xperia X1 Recall - this Windows smartphone with a stylish case, touchscreen and QWERTY keyboard, at first was going to be mentioned on Wireless and Mobile News' sold-out list. Ace reporting, however, revealed that the $799 Sony Xperia X1 was not just hard-to-find but recalled due to carrier compatibility and OS issues.

3. Free Cell Phones for Low Incomers from Safelink and Tracfone - in a world where cell phones can cost as much as a car, it's nice to see U.S. government funds support free cell phones with features and minutes for low income households in some states.

4. T-Mobile G1  Walmart Controversy - the T-Mobile G1 Android phone being sold at Walmart was not the core of this story, but the fact the techierazzi made it a controversy.

5. Barack Obama Txts VP BFF on BB - Barack Obama has endeared himself to Wireless and Mobile News and our readers. His text messaging of his running mate announcement, iPhone app, and his desire to not give up his beloved BlackBerry while in the White House; provided the clicks to make Obama the only human being on Wireless and Mobile News' top story list.

iBreath Breathalyzer & FM Transmitter for iPod & iPhone

"Young people may not listen to parents or party hosts, but do listen to their iPods," says Don Bassler, David Steele Enterprises Founder and CEO, "Parents who have given the iBreath to family members confirm that iBreath users are more aware of their alcohol consumption and when they should not drive. It is also a great holiday gift."

Huawei Technologies' Android-based phones will be available to be sold in Austrailia by the third quarter of 2009

Huawei joined he Android open handset alliance earlier this week with plans to launch smartphones running the Google's mobile operating system next year.

"Huawei can confirm that their first Android smartphone is scheduled to launch in the third quarter of 2009. Huawei's smartphones can be ordered and developed for Australian operators based on any such requests," a Huawei spokesperson told CNET Austrailia.

• The iPhone is at the forefront of Wi-Fi usage and recently launched smartphones such as the G1 and BlackBerry Bold suggest that Wi-Fi traffic will continue to grow in the coming months. Mobile devices that aren't phones (e.g. Sony PSP, iPod Touch) are also generating significant traffic on WiFi.

National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) show that the number of American homes with only wireless telephones grew once again. More than one out of every six American homes (17.5%) had only wireless telephones during the first half of 2008, an increase of 1.7 percentage points since the second half of 2007.

More than one out of every eight American homes (13.3%) received all or almost all calls on wireless telephones even when they had a landline telephone in the home.

The report shows interesting facts.  Men, younger people, Hispanics, and poor people are more likely to be wireless only. Wireless only household were more likely to drink alcohol often, report excellent health, be without medical insurance, and to have been tested for HIV AIDS.

Alltel is now offering the  Trimble Outdoors application. The Trimble Outdoors applturns a wide range of Alltel GPS-enabled handsets into a off-road navigation and journaling tool. It can be used for hiking, backpacking, mountain biking, hunting and many other outdoor activities.

The application, available for a daily rate of $1.99. It allows customers to review and plan trips online. It sends trekking routes, maps and waypoints wirelessly to the phone for use as a guide during trips.

Customers can track theirroutes with a GPS "bread crumb trail," mark and edit waypoints during their journey. A built-in digital compass to displays coordinates, speed and heading. Maps generated by Trimble Outdoors can be accessed in topographic, street and aerial views.

AT&T is now selling the 8GB iPhone 3G Refurb for $149.99 and 16GB iPhone 3G Refurb for $249.99.  You still have to sign up for a two-year contract ($39.99 rate plan or higher) and data plan for as long as you use the iPhone. They are limiting sales to one iPhone 3G  Refurb per household.

The iPhone 3G devices are discounted $50 from the regular price and are returns that were used less than 30 days, tested may have a few scratches. The price includes free shipping.

The AT&T website states, "Refurbished iPhone 3G devices carry a warranty of 90 days or more. For details about the warranty on your refurbished iPhone 3G go to www.apple.com/support/oss/."

Starting December 28, you can buy an iPhone  3G at Walmart, for a three dollar discount.

Sprint is partnering with location platforms Veriplace by WaveMarketd WHERE by uLocate Communications (www.where.com). 

They want to help developers create new location-based services for Sprint customers.

Both platforms provide developers with tools to create and launch location-enabled applications,

Third-party developers will be able to location-enable their applications, WAP sites, Web sites and SMS campaigns through a  Web-service API. For more information, please visit http://developer.where.com.

 "The Storm has the lowest return rate of any of our PDAs and at this point in its life cycle, it has the lowest return rate of any PDA we currently sell."

If you purchased a phone from Verizon recently, Verizon is extending its 30 day return policy which is a nice option for gift givers and receivers.

"Holiday Returns: All purchases made between November 16 and December 15, 2008 may be returned or exchanged through January 15, 2009. "

Hugh? As far as we can tell BlackBerry Storms are selling so well that there is a shortage.  Yes we did see a rumor fly by that suggested that before the Firmware update came out, Verizon employees were made aware of the OS issues to help reassure customers.

In fact one commenter said that he was going to return it and after he downloaded the update, he kept it.

EDITORS NOTE:  On Thursday: Verizon refuted the rumors.  Click here to read what they said.

If you order your BlackBerry Storm today from Verizon it should ship by December 22.  Wirefly. still has the $149.99 deal  for the BlackBerry Storm for new customers.

• Verizon Employees Hack Obama's Cell Phone Records.
• Barack's BlackBerry Comical Answer.
• Obama's BlackBerry Banned from White House?
• US Mobile phone web surfers are much more likely to support Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama.
• There is an Obama iPhone application.
• Nielsen Mobile reported that mobile media was slightly more popular with Democrats than Republicans, as of Q2 2008.
• Pew Research noticed that election polls are landline biased.
• Nielsen Mobile estimates that 2.9 million US mobile subscribers received a text message from the Obama campaign announcing his running mate.
• You can reach the Obama mobile site byTexting SITE To 62262 or Go to http://m.barackobama.com on your mobile phone.
• The Obama website offers free ringtones.
• Obama won the Virgin Wireless election poll and the CTIA Wireless election poll.

Visa Mobile advanced mobile payment-related services, are now operational on mobile devices powered by Android, including the T-Mobile G1 phone.
 
Chase  Visa credit and debit cardholders will have exclusive access to the Visa Mobile application for a limited time. The application will allow select Chase Visa cardholders to receive notifications about transaction activity on their accounts; obtain offers from a wide array of merchants; and use the integrated Google mapping technology to quickly find nearby participating merchants or ATMs that accept Visa.

Fox Mobile has made available of more than 100 new and exclusive pieces of mobile content from The Simpsons.

Mobile content includes holiday-themes and The Simpsons Itchy & Scratchy Land mobile game from EA.

It is available at www.thesimpsonsmobile.com and www.jamster.com. There ares also exclusive wallpapers, made-for-mobile voicetones, polytones, screensavers and videos.

This new content is part of “The Yellow Plan,” a subscription service offering exclusive, made-for-mobile content based on  “The Simpsons.”

In The Simpsons Itchy & Scratchy Land mobile game, Homer, Marge Bart, Lisa and Maggie vacation at the Itchy & Scratchy Land amusement park. Players join the Simpsons as they navigate their way through Explosion Land, Unnecessary Surgery Land, Torture Land and Searing Gas Pain Land, avoiding traps and rampaging ‘bots in their most thrilling adventure yet.

“We are thrilled to be releasing a second game with EA Mobile, delivering new and original content to Simpsons fans everywhere,” said Denise Sirkot, Executive Vice President of Gracie Films.

Qualcomm's MediaFLO  tested mobile TV in cars with Toyota. MediaFLO  live televised programming was transmitted to a vehicle equipped with a MediaFLO phone connected to in-car video displays.

Their news release states, "The drive test, conducted successfully throughout San Diego County, demonstrated the MediaFLO platform's ability to deliver high-quality, uninterrupted video transmissions in real world driving conditions."

"We are very pleased to further demonstrate how the MediaFLO platform supports diverse broadcast mobile TV services in a host of solutions beyond mobile handsets," said Neville Meijers, senior vice president and general manager of Qualcomm MediaFLO Technologies. "Purpose-built for mobility and speed, MediaFLO technology is an ideal complement to existing automotive applications."

Momail (www.momail.com) has launched Flickr integration to its mobile email service. Users can now can upload photos from their camera phone, search and download public and private photos and receive information on recent updates from friends and family.

All photos sent to the mobile via the Flickr search and download functions are automatically optimized for the individual handset via Momail’s patented MMOPE-technology. Photos download quickly and save up to 99.9% of mobile data.

Research In Motion today announced plans to expand its support for Windows Mobile®-based devices with a new software application suite that will enable devices from third-party manufacturers to benefit from the popular BlackBerry software applications and services

 RIM plans to begin offering the new software application suite later this year for select devices based on Windows Mobile 6.

Once installed, the software will provide users with a virtual BlackBerry application experience, including support for BlackBerry email, phone, calendar, address book, tasks, memos, browser, instant messaging and other applications developed for the BlackBerry platform.  

Devices running the BlackBerry application suite will be able to connect to BlackBerry services via BlackBerry Enterprise Server as well as BlackBerry Internet Service.

Once the small plug-in is installed,  users can begin to compose and reply to emails or sync with their enterprise networks contact management systems. Users click on "Compose (MyCaption)" or "Reply (MyCaption)" and start speaking the email. When finished click "done" and an email is sent to anyone in the user's network. MyCaption gives all users the ability to review and edit their email before sending.

In addition to the new BlackBerry Storm,MyCaption is currently supported on the BlackBerry Pearl, BlackBerry Curve and BlackBerry 8800 series smartphones.

Consumer Reports has named their top smartphones: the Samsung BlackJack II, T-Mobile Wing, Motorola Q9c, T-Mobile Shadow and BlackBerry Pearl Flip are the top five in order.

There's not a iPhone or Android G1, Xperia  in the pack, causing some wireless pundits to poo-poo their choices. The WinMo crowd is praising the fact four out of the five chosen were Windows Mobile Phones. The one BlackBerry they picked, The BlackBerry Pearl Flip is not the as famous as the BlackBerry Storm or as well known as the BlackBerry Bold.

When we look the prices the phones of the smartpones Consumer Reports picked, it gives insight as to why they were chosen.  Most of the Consumer Reports' smartphone choices are priced under $100 and can be found online cheaper with some deals giving cash back or a free companion flight. The phones were mostly released nearly a year ago  or more which may contribute to lower prices. JD Power reports the average smartphone price is $216 most of the top phones are well below that price point. All the Consumer Reports' top-ranked smartphones except the T-Moble Wing are much cheaper and a better value. 

Consumer Reports may believe, like many consumers, that you shouldn't spend over $100 on a smartphone.

AT&T is offering the Samsung Samsung BlackJack II - for $79.99 after rebate and contract with free shipping with online activation the Samsung BlackJack II Refurbished costs $49.99  While Wirefly shows the Samsung BlackJack IIto be free with rebates and $49.99 cash back, new customer discount and contract in various colors. Let's Talk is also selling the BlackJack II in four colors for free after rebates.

• My Name is Rod Blagojevich: A mash-up based on the popular Eminem song, "My Name Is Slim Shady."
• The Blagojevich Storm: A quick, rain-infused pick-me-up delivered through Blagojevich's famous comment: "I don't believe there is any cloud hanging over me, I think there's nothing but sunshine hanging over me." Indeed!
• Wire Tap - Rod Blagojevich: A mock-up clip of a Blagojevich impersonator claiming, "If I don't get what I want, then I'll just take the Senate seat myself."
•  Governor Blagojevich Arrested: A funny re-enactment of Blagojevich's arrest, overdubbed with the infamous Comedy Central interview where the Governor turns off-camera to ask, "Is he teasing me, or is this legit?"
• Wire Tap - Blagojevich Needs Editorial Support: Blasting commentary from a Blagojevich impersonator discussing his recommendation to get those people "the $#@! outta there and get us some Editorial Support.
  

Pocket Cocktails’ iPhone application, is graphic program with high resolution pictures. The “shaker” feature that selects cocktails at random. This random mode lets iPhone users shake the phone to get a random drink image, recipe and ingredient list all from an ebartender.

Pocket Cocktails is available for 99 Cents at Apple’s iPhone application store, iTunes or at www.pocketcocktails.com . 

The application was produced by a couple who love to entertain: Robert Maran, the developer and computer book packager teamed with Deidra Jones, a veteran of the advertising industry.

Olympic record breaker Michael Phelps and 505 Games, will develop console and iPhone videogames. The first title is scheduled for release in spring 2010 and will be developed by 505 Games’ newly formed U.S. operations in Los Angeles.

505 Games will donate a portion of the videogame proceeds to the Michael Phelps Foundation.

“I am really excited to partner with 505 Games and work with them to develop a game that is reflective of my personality, lifestyle and competitive nature,” said Phelps. “I believe this will be a tremendous opportunity to help continue my quest to raise the profile for the sport of swimming.”

The FCC has approved the 8-megapixel camera phone Pixon, also called Samsung Memoir.

t tons of photo features includig auto-focus, face-detecting, blink-detecting, and panorama technology, geotagging, double LED flash and slow motion video.  Other features include MS Office viewing, HTML browsing, multimedia, FM radio and virtual surround sound.

It has  3.2-inch touch screen is used for most of the input.  Some blogs are saying its destined for T-Mobile while others suspect AT&T.

Alltel is now offering mobile email for their smartphones and feature phones. The service requires an application to be downloaded directly to the handsets.

Customers can check their personal e-mail from their smartphones on AOL, Hotmail YahooMail and more by simply entering their username and password one-time to establish the connection to their phone.

Alltel Mobile E-mail is also compatible with Microsoft Outlook Web Access (OWA), allowing customers to easily sync their work calendars and contacts without IT support or the need to run any software inside the firewall. Small and medium size businesses can deploy and support Alltel Mobile E-mail using Workgroup Connector, powered by SEVEN, a desktop software solution that allows one computer to centrally manages mobile email access for up to 25 employees and provides access to Microsoft Exchange and other POP/IMAP corporate email servers.

Wirefly announced the winners of the Wirefly "Most Embarrassing Moment with Your Phone" Contest. The crazy unsettling moments involve weddings, bosses, misunderstood text messages, toilets, and flying cell phones.

Here Comes the Cell Phone Funny Ringtone

Grand Prize Winner, Karen Emerson of Biloxi, MS, won a Motorola Krave ZN4 and accessory bundle. She won for her amusing story of  forgetting that her cell phone was in her garter belt on her wedding day.  The celluar garter rang to the tune of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" as her father walked her down the aisle.

Here are the other winners:

Boss Called Dog

2nd Place: Jon Froehlich, Alexandria, VA - Believing he was speaking to a co-worker on the phone, Jon Froehlich referred to his boss, Mr. Clifford, as "The Big Red Dog", referencing the popular children's book. Unfortunately, it was Mr. Clifford on the other line.

Ericsson is offering energy-efficient products with emphasis on network energy optimization. This kind of deployment is especially needed for the emerging markets their news release notes.

In 2007, Ericsson implemented biofuel as an alternative energy resource, and in 2000 Ericsson was the first telecom player to deploy a solar solution to power a Moroccan operator's mobile network. Wind power is another example of an alternative energy resource for powering mobile networks located beyond the electricity grid

Ericsson also introduced of a unique hybrid solutions where we use submarine batteries that can be recharged over and over again to power a mobile network.The solution saves approximately 10 000 liters of diesel per radio site per year, which is 40 to 50 percent of the diesel needed. This adds up to large quantities of fuel that can be saved in a mobile network with hundreds or thousands of diesel powered radio sites.

Nickel Buddy is offering a fun tilting marble game that uses the BlackBerry Storm's accelerometer, Marble Trap.  Players roll their marble through a maze and try to avoid the traps.

Marble Trap claims to be  a game of logic. To play the game, you will move the marble up, down, left or right, and the marble rolls until it hits something or rolls off the board. This game is a test of your thinking skills, not your reaction speed. In other words, "Easy to play, hard to solve"

The trial version is free and the full version costs $9.95. Marble trap works with BlackBerry with OS 4.2 or newer (81xx, 83xx, 88xx, 89xx, 90xx, Pearl, Curve, Bold, Storm)

Here's a video of the game, about half way through is a demo of it on the BlackBerry Storm.

Sprint is now offering  the BlackBerry Curve 8350i smartphone with advanced push-to-talk.

The BlackBerry Curve 8350i uses iDEN technology on the Nextel National Network for Nextel Direct Connect. It is the first push-to-talk BlackBerry smartphone to offer built-in Wi-Fi and  Group Connect.

The BlackBerry Curve 8350i smartphone also supports:

• Integrated business solutions, including a large selection of GPS-enabled solutions and access to thousands of other third-party mobile applications for jobs such as dispatch operations and fleet and workforce management.
• International Direct Connect, which enables instant connections between the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru.
• Talkgroup, which connects groups of up to 200 people at once within the same local market and in the same fleet.

MobileVerbs has launched mobile marketing program Jack-in-the-Box restaurants. The restaurant guests can provide their feedback and redeem coupons via their cell phones.

Jack's guests follow 'call to action' instructions on table tents and send a SMS message to the MobileVerbs service. The mobile service delivers a series of survey questions to guests' cell phones. Once the guests complete the survey in couple of minutes, they are provided with a secure mobile coupon on their cell phones.

The guests can redeem mobile coupons instantly at participating restaurant locations by showing a secure redemption code on their cell phones to the restaurant staff.

The system automatically detects the device type to send simple text coupons on feature phones and rich barcode coupons on PDAs with mobile browser. The management has full control over the number of coupons delivered per guest, expiration of coupons and overall coupon quota in a campaign.

A New Jersey firm that provided customers unauthorized access to the cell phone voicemails of others through a software program called "SpoofCard" and two cellular providers (T-Mobile & AT&T) agreed to permanent injunctions banning misrepresentations of cell phone security and the legality of the "spoofing" system.

The civil actions, filed with the accompanying stipulated judgments agreed to by the three companies, culminated an investigation by the Los Angeles District Attorney's Bureau of Investigation that began last year after a citizen complained of unauthorized cell phone voicemail access.

Nortel’s share price recently dipped to about 40 cents. While ABI Research in no way singles out the beleaguered network equipment vendor as worthy of particular criticism, according to senior analyst Nadine Manjaro Nortel’s low fortunes are symptomatic of several current industry trends.

A recent study from ABI Research, “Mobile Network Vendor SWOT Analysis,” examined the strengths, weaknesses and strategies of the world’s major wireless infrastructure providers. It provides insights into why bad economic times affect some companies more than others.

“Nortel is strong when it comes to the enterprise,” she says, “but recently they have made a lot of investments aimed at winning business from service providers, efforts that have not really taken off because of an unclear strategy and changes in operators’ technology choices. That was an ominous situation, which the global recession has now made more serious.”

Microsoft Labs'  Seadragon allows iPhoners  to see giga-pixel images on their iPhones.  Some are calling it the first Microsoft iPhone app

Seadragon Mobile is a super smooth image browser for high-res photos first used on PCs. The zooming allows users to get super-close in on a map or photo, with just a few pinches or taps of fingers.  Browse an entire collection of photos from a single screen.  It gives users the ability to browse Deep Zoom Images that from pictures or Microsofts 3D  Photosynth collection. Photosynth stitches together digital photographs to create a high-resolution three-dimensional re-creation (dubbed a synth.)

Seadragon Mobile is available for free at the iTunes App Store.

•  3G
• aGPS and AT&T Navigator
•  Bluetooth
•   MicroSD
•   1.3 MP camera
•   AT&T Video Share capabilities
•   AT&T Mobile Music

The Pantech C630 is available at AT&T and costs $39.99 after a two-year service agreement and mail-in rebate.

Watch out world, the mobile internet life is approaching soon. According to a survey of experts by the Pew Internet & American Life Project that asked expert respondents to assess predictions about technology and its roles in the year 2020:

• Some 77% said the mobile computing device (the smartphone) with more significant computing power will be 2020's primary global Internet-connection platform.
• 64% favored the idea that 2020 user interfaces will offer advanced touch, talk and typing options and some added a fourth "T" - think.
• Nearly four out of five respondents (78%) said the original Internet architecture will not be completely replaced by a next-generation 'net by 2020.
• Three out of five respondents (60%) disagreed with the idea that legislatures, courts, the technology industry, and media companies will exercise effective intellectual property control by 2020.
• A majority--56%--agreed that in 2020 "few lines (will) divide professional from personal time, and that's OK."
• More than half (55%) agreed that many lives will be touched in 2020 by virtual worlds, mirror worlds, and augmented reality, while 45% disagreed or did not answer the question.

Mobile travel service providers WorldMate's WorldMate Live is now available for the BlackBerry Storm smartphone.

Here are some features of the service on the BlackBerry Storm:

• The BlackBerry Storm smartphone's touch functionality and landscape view enhance the user experience and makes it easier to access all of WorldMate Live services including:
• Hotel booking -- allows users to make reservations on-the-go based on their precise location and personal preferences; partnership with Hotels.com provides access to the best prices, worldwide inventory and secure transactions directly on the BlackBerry Storm.
• Itinerary manager -- after forwarding travel confirmation emails, WorldMate Live automatically creates, organizes and syncs travel details on the Web and the BlackBerry Storm; eliminates paper printouts of flight, hotel and ground transportation reservations, as well as meetings and appointments.
• Contextually relevant tools and resources -- one-touch access to real-time flight status; maps and directions to hotels, meetings and airports; and weather forecasts, allowing members to easily prepare for and access information about their travel.
• Real-time notifications -- alert members instantly of changes to their travel plans, including flight delays and cancellations and allows them to take action by providing the necessary resources at their fingertips.

Novatel Wireless, unveiled MiFi last week. I's a teeny tiny, intelligent mobile hotspot router that fits in your pocket or handbag. MiFi is about ths size of credit card and connects to HSPA and EVDO networks.

MiFi creates a personal cloud of high-speed Internet connectivity that can be  shared between multiple users and Wi-Fi devices such as laptops, cameras, gaming devices and multimedia players. It supports of 5 users at the same time. It also has a microSD slot avaiable to store data.

MiFi also serves as an intelligent, open platform capable of hosting advanced software applications.

The FCC was supposed to vote on very important wireless decisions on December 18, but not any more.

The vote have been delayed on the Auction of the Advanced Wireless Services 3, 2175-2180MHz band to a bidder who would roll out a national, free broadband service with the porn filtered out.

Sen. John Rockefeller, (D-W.Va.), and Rep. Henry Waxman, (D-Calif.), who will chair the Senate and House committees overseeing the FCC next year, earlier Friday sent a letter to Mr. Martin asking him to cease actions on controversial policy proposals. . ."We received the letter from Senator Rockefeller and Congressman Waxman today and spoke with other offices," said FCC Spokesman Robert Kenny. "In light of the letter, it does not appear that there is consensus to move forward and the agenda meeting has been canceled."

Wireless and Mobile News has been following the BlackBerry Storm explosion since November with its shortages and firmware updates.  The good news is they are still available and the discount deals are back.

Verizon is now shipping orders by December 17, (Wednesday) for BlackBerry Storms.  We called a Verizon store to verify that they are still offering a $50 instant in-store rebate. It saves waiting time for the rebate, if you order the BlackBerry Storm in a Verizon Store.

Here are the best prices and deals we are seeing for the BlackBerry Storm:

The $149.99 deal for the BlackBerry Storm with new customers is back at Wirefly. It requires a a two-year contract for new Verizon customers only.

Let's Talk after entering in a zip code for availability shows a price of $124.99 for the BlackBerry Storm after $100 in rebates but it will be backorderd to ship on 12/20/2008. Please note you have to be a new Verizon customer, for this deal.  We used a different search method on Let's Talk, other times and it showed a final price on the BlackBerrry Storm as $249.99.

These deals are current as of 10:28 am PST Sunday, December 14.  The Last time we ran one of these stories by the next day, many of the deals were gone.  Prices change and sometimes they run out and have to reorder.

HTC Fuze (AT&T) Rated 3.5 out of 5 by Wireless and Mobile News Review of Reviews

The HTC Fuze from AT&T is full-featured Windows Mobile smartphone with a QWERTY keyboard that lacks the number row. Although most reviews thought it was bulky, they praised the email and messaging capabilities along with its full features. The neatest untested feature of the Fuze is the ability control the music player by shaking the phone.

Other good features of the HTC Fuze are Wi-Fi, multimedia, Bluetooth and GPS. The HTC Fuze also has an OCR business card reader application.

The browser is snappy and worked well in most cases. The TouchFLO interface on the touchscreen can be used with fingers but once it switches to Windows Mobile mode, you can only use a stylus. The camera with LED flash took good photos. All the reviewers commented that the HTC Fuze does not have a standard headphone jack and requires an adapter or special headphones.

Reviewers found the video to be sluggish, speakerphone weak and call quality decent. One reviewer noted that the HTC Fuze was snappier than the Sony Xperia X1 which is recalled until January.

Reviewers also commented that AT&T price of $299 at its release date to be too expensive for its features. New AT&T customers can get the HTC Fuze cheaper at Wirefly with a two-year contract for new customers at $174.99 with a rebate at the time of this writing. To read summaries of the reviews, reviewed continue reading.

Update: April 24, 2009:  The HTC Fuze is now available for free in a Refurb data package from AT&T.

Attention Walmart shoppers, you will not be able to get your iPhone along with your laundry detergent until December 28.  Originally some store associates said iPhones would be sold on December 15. Wireless Week today reported Walmart employees are being trained for that busy Sunday after Christmas.

For those who are worried about having to go to an AT&T outlet to activate your iPhone, Gadgetell has confirmed that when you buy an iPhone from AT&T online you get it delivered with it already activated. You can order AT&T iPhone 3G - 16 GB or 8 GB model online at AT&T. 

If you buy an iPhone from an Apple store, however, you will have to have it activated at the Apple Store.

The first model of the iPhone could be activated via iTunes connected to a home PC.  The system was changed with the iPhone 3G to prevent un-locking  and jailbreaking of the iPhones for "other" uses.

Teenage girls and boys are sending, receiving, posting, and sharing naked or barely-clothed photos at an alarming rate.  According to a survey released by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and CosmoGirl.com, parents and teens have a lot to be concerned about.

Photo sharing technology, social networking services, and MMS make it easier than ever before for people of any age to send photos that can come back to haunt them.

Mobile Distillery is offering new tools to convert iPhone applications to programs for other smartphones and feature phones.

Mobile Distillery's technology  parametric development methodology makes conversion of iPhone apps to Java ME phones and other platforms such as BREW, Windows Mobile and Google Android, faster and easier.

Their news release says that "companies can quickly and effectively reach the other 80% of Smartphone users who don't have an iPhone, as well as potentially reaching out to the billions of subscribers using mid and low end handsets."

Loopt is now available on Android Market, Google's new app store. Loopt users can share their location between carrier networks with fellow Loopt users on AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, Boost, MetroPCS and T-Mobile.

Loopt is currently supported on more than 100 handsets including the iPhone andBlackBerry and is now available on select phones with the Android Market

The Loopt features include:

• Background location updating which enables users to receive alerts when a friend is nearby.
  
• Users can also switch between map modes for a satellite view of their friend map or to monitor traffic delays.
• Users can share their information with popular web services such s Facebook, MySpace and Twitter or personal blogs and Web sites.

Loopt is available for free in the United States from the Android Market beginning today. For more information about Loopt please visithttp://www.loopt.com.

Annual revenues from the global mobile market will top USD 1.03 trillion by 2013, when the number of subscriptions worldwide will have risen to more than 5.3 billion, according to Informa Telecoms & Media. From end-2007 to end-2013, the global mobile market will see huge growth, increasing in size by over half (56%), according to the latest edition of Informa Telecoms & Media's Global Mobile Forecasts to 2013.

No matter what anyone says about the features of the BlackBerry Storm, it has become a world sensation even with its shortages and firmware fumbles. Many pundits have said that it has been over-hyped. In different parts of the world the commercials for the BlackBerry Storm are completely different and they too are experiencing shortages and difficulties getting them.

In the United States, Verizon commercials start off with a few features of the BlackBerry Storm and then pans out to the Verizon Network people in its commercials, selling the network.

According to Nielsen, ChaCha's 28 percent share of transactions is up from just seven percent in Q2, marking a 300 percent quarter over quarter gain, driven by a 660 percent quarter over quarter growth in overall ChaChatransactions. ChaCha reports that they now deliver 30 million impressions per month and have had more than 2.5 million users since the SMS answers service launched in January.

Verve Wireless, has inked deals to deliver mobile apps, ads and coupons for Chicago Sun-Times, The San Diego Union-Tribune, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Time Out Chicago, Time Out New York and Metro International.

Verve’s local mobile network now covers the top 200 designated market areas across America. Additionally, Verve launched a new mobile couponing application for publishers that utilizes location based technologies, LBS.

To date, traffic on over 1,000 local mobile sites managed by Verve Wireless is growing at a rate of more than 375% per month.

When Apple’s iPhone transformed the public’s idea of how a mobile handset should work, one of its most impressive - and apparently disruptive - features was its slick touch-screen interface. While resistive touch screens activated by physical force had been around for years, the iPhone’s was different: it was of the capacitive type, activated by a finger’s electrical charge.

The great appeal of this interface led many in the industry to conclude that they had seen the future of most mobile handset displays. But according to ABI Research director Kevin Burden, nothing could be further from the truth. “The reality is that existing operating systems, legacy applications, and regional aspirations make the change to capacitive screens for many devices very challenging.”

Although cellular handset accessories such as chargers and batteries ship far more units in what is today a $58 billion industry, memory cards provide the greatest revenue of all mobile phone add-ons, according to a new study from ABI Research.

Driven by the photo, audio and video demands of media-centric handsets and smartphones, these memory cards, largely from third-party suppliers such as SanDisk, will see a 17% compound annual growth rate in shipments over the years to 2013.

However, says industry analyst Michael Morgan, it’s not just about units shipped: “Of all accessories, memory cards deliver the best revenue return. In fact, as production has outstripped demand the market is currently oversupplied, leading to a 60% year-over-year fall in per-Megabyte prices. However, the memory capacity of the cards being sold is always increasing, and the resulting higher Megabyte volumes more than offset the decline in ASP.”

Mobion comes with a removable cartridge that can be swapped for a new one when depleted.

The new Mobion self-sufficient power pack includes a USB interface, allowing the prototype to also be used as an independent energy source for a variety of purposes, including for recharging mobile phones, digital cameras, portable media players and other handheld electronic devices on the go.

T-Mobile is committed to delivering the best experience in wireless to our customers. If a T-Mobile customer would like to use their T-Mobile G1 while outside the country, they should contact Customer Care before they leave to ask that the WorldClass feature be added to their service at no additional charge. If they choose, customers can also disable data roaming on the G1. This can be done by going through the following steps: Home Screen > Menu > Settings > Wireless Controls > Mobile Networks > Data Roaming.

Some third party applications available for download on Android Market require access to the internet and have the ability to turn on data roaming when in use. Customers are informed whether an application will use this feature prior to downloading, but should also be aware when traveling outside the country.

Smartphone app seller, Handango will be selling its apps in Best Buy’s retail stores nationwide. The alliance includes Handango’s catalogue pre-loaded on app-plicable feature phones and  App-Packs sold on microSD cards.

Handango’s catalogue will offer top-quality apps ranging from business and productivity to entertainment and games for Windows Mobile, Blackberry, Palm, and Symbian S60 smartphones. 

Best Buy stores will also offer their customers a selection of Mobile App Packs featuring three favorite game titles for Windows Mobile, Blackberry and Palm devices. Games will be pre-loaded onto Micro SD cards which eliminates the need for over-the-air or desktop downloads that require sync cables.

If you are one the few that are lucky enough to get a hold of a BlackBerry Storm because of delays and shortages, what then will make this special gift even more special?

Instead of traditional gift wrapping, we think it would be really heart warming to include a hearth with a fire burning showing your love. The number one top theme from BPlay is a flaming burning fireplace. So warm and cozy:

For the best songs to play when you give this BlackBerry Storm, to your loved one, we suggest, loading "Let it Show" on the MP3 plays and sing along,

"At the fireplace hold me tight. How I hate going out in the Storm. But if you really hold me tight all the way home, I'll be warm."

Or maybe that other classic:

"I don't want to set the world on fire, I only want to start a flame in your heart."

During the two-month study, Dr. Kemp asked students to write as many abbreviations as possible in five minutes and then read a series of shortened messages.

"Though it was quicker to write a message with abbreviations than conventional English, it took twice as long to read and many students made interpretation errors," Dr Kemp said.

The most easily understood texticons were 2, 4, c and u. While, harder to comprehend abbreviations included:

• ttyl - talk to you later.
• bbs be back soon.
• pu - pick up.
  
• cn - seeing you soon.
  

The study also found people used abbreviations too often and in formal documents.

Virgin Mobile  links to SentForever.com, where you fill in form for your space message. SentForever transmits the  message into deep space using a high powered radio transmitter from BT's Goonhilly earth station in Cornwall. Once sent, the special message will continue to travel for the rest of eternity. Their website says "It's truly a message that has been sent forever."

It's also a wonderful way for Virgin to harvest email addresses, phone numbers and other information because there's a box on the form that states.

"The sponsor of this free message would like to send you other offers. Click this box if you don't want to receive them."

What would you send?

How about Peace on Earth Good Will to All Planets?

• Request walking directions (in addition to driving and public transit) to get anywhere on foot,
• Receive transit alerts from participating public transportation authorities,
• See what other people think of a place by reading reviews directly on your phone.

What's the greatest moment in AT&T Cotton Bowl history? Now texters and web surfers have the chance to decide.

AT&T  is offering  the Greatest Moment in AT&T Cotton Bowl History contest, which allows fans to vote for the best play in Cotton Bowl history.

Since the Kindle is sold-out, maybe you can read books on your iPhone. Free eBooks, are now available for  iPhone or iPod touch from Randon House and Ballantine.

The authors list includes Alan Furst, Julie Garwood, Charlie Huston, David Liss, Laurie Notaro, Arthur Phillips and Simon Rich. The initial offerings will be drawn from each author's backlist and will include excerpts for any new hardcovers coming in 2009.

The Open Handset Alliance, has added 14 additional members. The new members are:

1. AKM Semiconductor Inc.
   
2. ARM
   
3. ASUSTek Computer Inc.
   
4. Atheros Communications
   
5. Borqs
   
6. Ericsson
   
7. Garmin International Inc.

1) "Lollipop" by Lil Wayne
2) "Whatever You Like" by T.I.
3) "Low" by Flo Rida
4) "Sexy Can I (Chorus)" by Ray J
5) "I Kissed A Girl" by Katy Perry
6) "Suffocate" by J. Holiday
7) "Love In This Club" by Usher (featuring Ft. Young Jeezy)
8) "The Boss" by Rick Ross (featuring T-Pain)
9) "Addicted" by Saving Abel
10) "Crazy B****" by Buckcherry

Amobee Media Systems, advertising solutions provider for mobile operators, has released its Handset Application Programming Interface (HAPI) for the Apple iPhone and Google Android operating system.

HAPI already supports BREW, J2ME, Blackberry and Symbian.

Operators can serve advertising impressions into applications running on the iPhone and Google G1.

LG demonstrated the chip at its Mobile Communication Technology Research Lab in Anyang, Korea, achieving wireless download speeds of 60 Mbps and upload speeds of 20 Mbps. The fastest phones currently on the market use HSDPA technology and download at a maximum speed of 7.6 Mbps.

Here are a few key facts from the report:

• As of Q3, 57 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers use text messaging regularly
• While the U.S. still lags behind other markets in terms of SMS penetration, short code marketing is gaining momentum
• 16 percent of U.S. text message users recall seeing some form of advertising while using text messaging
• Younger and minority subscribers are more likely to recall seeing some for of SMS advertising

So far, Nielsen's report notes, marketers have used short code marketing in a tight but creative range of ways: from simple information messaging, to rewards programming, to couponing, and even direct SMS purchasing.

When you visit the HTC website you will see the HTC Touch Diamond is all it's white splendor, surrounded by white snow flurries. They wish viewers, "A More Connected Holiday Season." White phones are in style, in case you haven't heard, the G1 is harder to get in white.

The white version of the HTC Touch Diamond has been spotted previously and probably won't make to the U.S. in time for a White HTC Touch Diamond Christmas. HTC is expected to surpass Motorola in U.S. sales next year.

Smartphones are like kitchen appliances, their colors go in and out of style. It looks like "White" is new "Avocado" for smartphones.  Apple launched a white iPhone 3G earlier this year.

Google is offering advertisers AdWords targeted  for Apple’s iPhone, T-Mobile USA’s Android-powered G1 and other full HTML web mobile devices.

The ads can point to desktop landing pages advertisers don’t have to create mobile landing pages or ads in mobile formats. The ads will have many of the same benefits as Google’s standard mobile ads, such as the delivery of mobile-specific calls-to-action and reaching mobile users that are searching with their phones more than ever — especially during the holiday season.

For our wireless wonderful friends, we would like to give them the the best hottest wireless gadget, smartphones or accessories. However, rumors and inflated accusations may keep us from getting the right gift.  While fear of shortages may cause us to pay too much. Wireless and Mobile News has investigated shortage and sold-out claims to fin the truth about the BlackBerry Storm, Xperia X1, Kindle, T-Mobile Shadow and T-Mobile G 1.

Webster's Definition of sold-out is having all available tickets or accommodations sold completely and especially in advance. Let's see what devices are actually "sold-out."

Price:

$359.00 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. Details

Availability: Expected to ship in 11 to 13 weeks. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Due to heavy customer demand, Kindle is sold out. Please ORDER KINDLE NOW to reserve your place in line. We prioritize orders on a first come, first served basis. This item will arrive after December 24. Note that Kindles cannot currently be sold or shipped to customers living outside of the U.S.

Verizon's BlackBerry 8830 Curve and BlackBerry 8130 Pearl GPS receiver that formerly only worked with Verizon Wireless's VZ Navigator service. Not any more - a new firmware opens the the GPS receiver to another free app, BlackBerry Maps.

BlackBerry OS 4.5.0.97, for the Verizon BlackBerry 8830 Curve and Verizon BlackBerry 8130 allows the GPS to work with BlackBerry Maps for free reports Howard's Forum. members.Verizon users don't have to pay the month $9.99 a month Verizon navigation feature.

Google Maps and Windows Live Search, however, won't work with the unlocked GPS.

Berry Review leaked links to where the OS can be found.

Unlocked Windows Mobile Xperia X1 phones with iPhone-like features (Wi-Fi touchscreen, GPS) as well as video capture, 3.2 megapixel camera and keyboard sold-out of some Sony Style Stores the last week in November.

Following the lead of the San Jose Mercury News reporter, who called Wal-Mart stores to scoop the Wal-Marting of iPhones, Wireless and Mobile News called several Sony Style stores.

The Xperia X1 smartphones were received just before Black Friday and sold-out shortly after that, one store associate told us. Their shipment of Xperia X1 were all gone by Black Friday noted another employee at another Sony store.  Fifty Xperia X1 phones sold-out quickly, in the Garden City Sony Style Store in New York, also around Black Friday. While the New York City Sony Style store concierge said they didn't have any.

Here's where the story gets interesting, at two stores, we called, the concierges stated that the Xperia X1 were delivered but they were sent back. One concierge said that they had a call-back. Neither knew the reasons why. Another store we called had the best details. The concierge stated that there was a recall due to an operating system software issue and that there were problems of compatibility with U.S. carriers (T-Mobile and AT&T). The store received an email in the morning and was not allowed to sell the Sony Xperia X1 at all.

Today there were reports of shortages and later ship dates of the Sony Xperia X1 on the Internet.

TeleNav Vehicle Tracker  is now offered through AT&T’s enterprise mobility services.
TeleNav Vehicle Tracker is a GPS-enabled device that is hard-wired or embedded onto a vehicle. It helps monitor and manage fleet operations.

Once installed, TeleNav Vehicle Tracker powers up and is active without any additional driver interaction or resources.”

TeleNav Vehicle Tracker is accompanied by TeleNav’s secure, password-protected and web-based management console. Managers can log ontot he site and view the location of each vehicle in the fleet.

Truphone for the iPod Touch works on the 2nd generation iPod Touch and lets users make free calls to other Truphone or Google Talk users from any Wi-Fi zone.  Calls are made via iPod Touch's internet connection and a headphone with mic, or mic adapter.

Like Skype calls between Truphones is free however there calls to landlines and mobiles are .06 while SMS are .20. They also offer low rate packagers for Nokia and BlackBerry.

Truphone for the iPod Touch is free to download from the iTunes App Store. Calls on the iPod Touch require a headset with microphone and headphones, which you can bought at electronic retailers or the Apple Store.

Cricket is offering $40 per month unlimited EV-DO Rev A data broadband to customers in all of its markets. They call it Cricket Broadband Internet.

The service is offered to customers who pay in advance, without credit checks or a service contract.

They are targeting  low-income customers without broadband Internet services in their homes. The service works on Windows PCs and Mac (Leopard)  that connect to the network via a USB modem. It looks like the price for broadband modem is $59.00.

Bloomberg News reports that Wal-Mart will start selling iPhones this month. They called Wal-Mart store cell phone departments and asked if they would be carrying the iPhone.

Employees are being trained to learn more about the iPhone and told Bloomberg. One employee said that the iPhones will be available December 15 another said December 28. (The same day BlackBerry Storms are shipping from AT&T.)

They were not able to confirm pricing.  However, a leaked advertising at Mac Rumors, shows the price of $197, two dollars cheaper than through AT&T or Apple.

Attention Wal-Mart shoppers when you buy your twenty rolls of toilet paper, you can now get an iPhone or a T-Mobile G1.

We were finally able to find the top selling cell phones on Black Friday and Cyber Monday from our friends at Wirefly. Traffic was at all time high. They sold a wireless phone every 12 seconds on both days.

Wirefly.com’s Top 5 Best Selling Phones for Black Friday & Cyber Monday

LG Vu CU920 - The LG Vu has dominated the best-seller list since its arrival. A sleek touchscreen phone with high-speed data and expandable memory, the Vu is specifically tailored for live TV and Video Share services.

For the first time you can play Flickr videos back on your phone from m.flckr.com. Formerly users could upload video from their phones but soon they can play them back on a variety of handsets.

The video player is based on the Yahoo! Video Platform and takes advantage of its ability to serve content to a wide variety of phones with different specs. They will launch video playback out over the coming weeks for handsets that support streaming video, starting with the iPhone and iPod Touch today, and more later.

The new m.flickr.com design makes it easier to view  photostreams and sets, and puts recent activity front and center. Added  capabilities include, adding contacts, favorite images, and change your privacy and permission settings as well as exploring the latest "interestingness" photos.

iPhone users have have been testing a  beta version since. October. New versions are planned smartphones that support browsers like Webkit, Firefox Mobile, and Opera Mobile.

• Provides step by step emergency first aid software to lead you by the hand and show you what to do and how to do it.
• Automatically records what has been done and compiles a handover report to give to the emergency services.
• Holds your medical records in a safe and secure fashion.

Wireless and Mobile sales are quite different in the U.K. than in the U.S.   As you can see If you look at  Top selling Contract handsets

1. Nokia N96
2. Samsung F480 Tocco
3. Nokia 6500 Slide
4. Sony Ericsson C902
5. Samsung U900 soul
6. Nokia 6300
7. Nokia N95 8GB
8. LG KC550
9. Nokia 6220
10. Samsung i900 Omnia
11. Samsung i8510 INNOV8
12. Samsung U800
13. Sony Ericsson K770i
14. Sony Ericsson W910i
15. Samsung J700
16. Nokia 6500 Classic
17. Samsung G600
18. Blackberry 8310
19. Nokia E71
20. Sony Ericsson W580i

The Android Dev Phone 1 is a SIM-unlocked and hardware-unlocked device designed for advanced developers.It ships with a system image that is fully compatible with Android 1.0.

The G1 developer phone can be used with any SIM in it and can flash custom Android builds that will work with the unlocked bootloader. Unlike the bootloader on retail devices, the bootloader on the Android Dev Phone 1 does not enforce signed system images. The Android Dev Phone 1 will also work for developers who are outside T-Mobile's range.

Here Are the Glitches BlackBerry Storm Update 4.7.0.75 Fixes:

• Intermittently, the device may have powered and immediately powered back on while sitting idle or when using multimedia applications.
  
• Intermittently, a user may have experienced muted incoming audio when using voice-activated dialing.
  
• Intermittently, while listening to music (on low volume) with "wired" stereo headsets, if the user received an incoming call, the audio volume of the music increased to the highest level.
• Intermittently, customers received a recording stating, "cannot complete call as dialed" when manually dialing *86.

General Improvements in the BlackBerry Storm Update 4.7.0.75

• Improvements in performance for multi-media applications such as video, music and MMS.
  
• Improvements in Bluetooth audio performance.
• Improvements in display performance in terms of correctly displaying keys when switching between landscape and portrait modes.

The web-based upgrade is recommended for those who don't have BlackBerry Desktop Manger installed.

EMBARQ customers who now call 1-800-EMBARQ2 during business hours to speak with a customer service representative will be greeted by a live person instead of the company's interactive voice response (IVR) system.

The nationwide trial was put into place to see if customers prefer this new approach to customer service. The EMBARQ representatives answering the phone are located in the company's North Carolina office and, like most EMBARQ customer service representatives, are not outsourced, overseas.

Trimbe is offering next generation of durable, computing devices with integrated Global Positioning System (GPS) technology—the new Trimble® Juno SB and Juno SC handhelds.

The devices have integrated GPS, both models include wireless LAN (WLAN) and Bluetooth connectivity, a 3 Megapixel camera, a 533 MHz processor, 128 MB of onboard memory, a MicroSD/SDHC memory card slot, an all-day battery and a 3.5 inch display.

“The Juno series handhelds are the ideal solution for GIS-enabled organizations that require high productivity from their mobile field workforce,” said Peter Large, general manager of Trimble’s Mapping and GIS Division.

Virgin Mobile has two new social networking features: Connect a new social networking connector and Mobile Lounge, a new mobile community exclusive to Virgin Mobile.

• Customers receive a message on their wireless phone saying that a new handset update is available and are give an option to accept the update.
  
• Or customers are "pushed" an update and then are asked to "reset" or reboot their phone.
• When the phone is rebooted after the update software is received, it may take seconds or minutes for the phone to process the update.

It was one of those days, I didn't notice that I dropped my purse. Then I felt a bump as I backed out the garage. My cell phone was in the cell phone pocket on the front of the purse.

I drive a Geo Prizm which is a Toyota Corolla clone. Surprisingly, my cell phone still works except for there being a white pixel-less star in the middle of the phone screen. My eyeglasses survives with just a nick on the edge of a lense.

This morning we posted a video of a guy hitting a BlackBerry Storm with a knife, receipt poker and keys, which caused not damage.

A toy Yorkie, however was able to completely destroy a BlackBerry Bold. The DJ at Boy Genius Report's Yorkie did just that. A dog's jaw can apply 320 pounds of pressure and the teeth are really sharp. Yes a Yorkie has more power and is sharper than knives, and keys.

• Las Vegas, NV
• Grand Rapids, MI
• Atlanta, GA

• Unlimited Monthly Usage for $50 a month.
  
• Frequent 2GB of monthly usage for $40 a month.
  
• Occasional for $30 200MB of monthly usage.

Len Barlik, vice president of wireless and wireline services for Sprin, said. "Along with existing access to corporate email and contacts through Mobile Email Work, the addition of corporate calendar sync to the Instinct lets Sprint customers increase productivity and stay connected whenever and wherever they want." 

 Sprint worked with SEVEN, one of the leading providers of mobile messaging solutions, to create Mobile Email Work, which now allows Instinct users to access work calendars from Microsoft Exchange Server 2000, 2003 or 2007 accounts, or IBM Lotus Domino accounts.  

Music discovery service Shazam, has increased its music database from six to eight million tracks.  Shazam users are now able to access a broader range of music.

The claim they have the largest collection of the most important long tail undiscovered music gems and hot pre-release future hit records.

Will Mills, Head of Music, Shazam comments: "This increase in our database cements Shazam's position as the leading mobile music discovery service in the world. With our strong music alliances we gain access to the most relevant music well before many other music services, which ensures users can discover popular and niche music all over the globe.

For more information please visit www.shazam.com

MobiTV's mobile TV and radio has surpassed the five million subscriber mark. MobiTV is Available on more than 350 handsets across 20 carrier networks including AT&T, Sprint and Alltel in the U.S.

"With the addition of over a million new subscribers in less than five months, MobiTV is widening its lead in the mobile media delivery industry," said Charlie Nooney, chairman and CEO, MobiTV. "We've seen our subscriber base accelerate rapidly by creating an exceptional experience for the consumer and continuing to develop innovative offerings."

A Portio Research  report  suggests that SMS will continue to be the cash cow of mobile data revenues for some time to come. Traffic and revenues continue to keep growing through the economic downturn.

The entire mobile messaging industry worth USD 130 billion in 2008 is predicted to be worth USD 224 billion by 2013, 60 percent of non-voice service revenues.

The report, 'Mobile Messaging Futures 2008 - 2013' ventures that there is nothing likely to stop continued growth of mobile messaging in the short term, driven by a cocktail of ubiquitous SMS, media rich MMS, enterprise based mobile email and youth conscious mobile IM.

SMS remains 'King' because there is no cheap, easy to use alternative that will work with all phones and across all networks.  In the US market, where SMS was a comparative slow starter, use per subscriber per month is now almost double the European average. In China average users send over 100 messages each month whereas the Filipinos continue to be the leading exponents with 755 messages each month.

“Having used many other Research In Motion devices, I can’t remember a device being released with so many bugs,” said Allen Nogee, In-Stat Research’s principal analyst for wireless technology and infrastructure.

“This is the fastest-selling device we’ve had to date,” said Nancy Starker, a Verizon Wireless spokeswoman.

She referred questions about the phone’s performance to RIM, but did say, “As with any phone, there are constant tweaks that are made and pushed to the phone” via the carrier’s wireless network

At least Verizon is finally admitting there is a problem.  RIM’s outlook for profits has been lowered even though, they call sales of the Storm “exceptional.”

David Pogue in the New York Times ran a list of complaints about the BlackBerry Storm from his readers. He notes “Mac fans make up the world’s most watchful, most hostile grass-roots lobbying arm. There’s an even nastier one: the BlackBerry nuts.”

oh my god..... I spent 45 mins doing the freaking upgrade just to discover that the main OS was NOT upgraded but something else instead. And I lost all the settings..... this is really a big piece of junk.

mellison Contributor Posts: 13 Registered: 11-26-2008 Message 99 of 106 Viewed 90 times 12-03-2008 06:25 PM

I went to the first posting on this thread and clicked the update link.  Plugged in my USB cable and connected my device.  Then clicked updates and after the pin came up and I synced the unit, it showed both .0.65 and .0.75 as options.  Selected the second and went on from there. Just ---updated. Took 15 minutes.  Still doesn't deal with the constant rebooting issue after the screen goes into battery saver mode, for those of us with this issue.

REPLY:
mellison - thanks.  however, just to let you know, those links have been around since yesterday (or Monday), and is still not "official".  I believe the official release version will be enabled to be downloaded OTA.

Attention all you James Bond wannabes, who like your martinis shaken, not stirred, but don't like the consequences of real martinis.  There's an iPhone app for you iMartini.

Their PR people sent us this information:

iMartini has two modes - Drink and Bartender.

In Drink mode  iMartini pours you a drink-then sit back, relax and enjoy. Taking full advantage of the iPhone or iPod Touch's high-resolution screen, accelerometer and speakers, it will seem as though you are truly sipping down your favorite martini. The olive will even roll down as you finish your drink!

The bartender mode challenges you to make five different martinis for your eager patrons. Whether you can mix the right ingredients, make the best recipes and make your patrons happy in a timely matter is entirely up to you. And don't forget - you have to shake it up before you serve your tasty drinks! 

007 warns "Please don't faux martini while driving, piloting your submarine, or flying your private jet."

It's available for 99 cents at the iPhone App Store.

The Amazon app includes a new feature called "Amazon Remembers". Amazon Remembers helps customers keep track of items they see in their daily lives. Then it tries to match photos of products to the same or similar products available on Amazon.com.

Customers snap photos with their iPhone, the photos are automatically uploaded to Amazon.com, which then tries to find products similar to the ones in the photos. As soon as the customer receives the results, they can then purchase the item immediately or "remember it" for later in their Amazon account.

The Amazon app offers a way for users to search and browse for products offered by Amazon and retailers like Target and Macy's. It accesses Amazon's popular shopping features such as Customer Reviews, and purchase using 1-Click Shopping and Amazon Prime.

The Amazon app is available free from Apple's App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore/.

For more information please visit www.amazon.com/iphone_app.

It can help people who juggle a couple of phones. txtForward running on one smartphone you won't miss any SMS text messages sent to one phone while you use the other, or if your friends don't have your new number yet.

There is a free trial version available at Electric Pocket full versions are available for $9.95.

City ID, an application from Cequint, features over 20,000 specific cities in the U.S. and Canada, listing towns with as few as 700 people.

"Unless someone is saved into the mobile phone's address book, subscribers only have a number to try and guess who's calling them," said Edward Perez, Sr. Director, Product Development and Management. "City ID gives U.S. Cellular subscribers that additional piece of information that helps identify the incoming caller."

Available starting in first on the LG UX585 and Samsung Delve R800, U.S. Cellular subscribers will receive a complimentary 15-day trial of the application beginning with the first incoming call. Customers can subscribe to City ID for $1.99 per month or a one-time purchase of $34.99, added directly to their bill.

HTC and One & Co first began collaborating in 2006 on the HTC Touch Diamond.

MySpace mobile now offers streaming video. MySpace’s beta mobile video allows users to will view videos they’ve uploaded or have marked as a favorite.

MySpace used RipCode’s On-Demand Video Transcoding technology that supports several different handsets.

Premium content, including branded channels such as TMZ, National Hockey League, National Geographic, The Onion, College Humor, etc., are now available on mobile devices. Because MySpace is transcoding video on-demand, there is no longer need to store the entire MySpace video library in multiple mobile formats, thus saving significant hardware, energy and storage resources.

Accessing and viewing video from mobile devices is a data intensive service. MySpace mobile users are advised to consult their mobile data plan to avoid excessive fees. MySpace mobile video quality, as with all mobile services, is dependent on individual device capabilities as well as network speed and connection.

Premium Paid iPhone Apps

1. Apple’s Texas Hold ‘Em,
2. Freeverse’s Moto Chaser
3. Vivendi Games Mobile’s Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D,
4. Sega’s Super Monkey Ball
5. Pangea Software’s Cro-Mag Rally
6. Pangea Enigmo.
7. The Blimp Pilots’ Koi Pond,
8. Shinya Kasatani’s PocketGuitar
9. Retronyms’ Recorder
10. Hottrix’s iBeer

Freebies

1. Facebook
2. AOL’s AIM
3. Google Earth
4. Urbanspoon.
5. Apple’s Remote
6. The MacBox’s Lightsaber Unlimited
7. Pandora Radio
8. Shazam.
9. Tapulous’ Tap Tap Revenge
10. Codify AB’s Labyrinth Lite Edition.

• SMS messages have sender specific ringtones, then you don't have to look to see who sent the text.
  
• When sending a SMS, push the menu key twice to send the message.

• When you are in email, and you hold your finger on the screen on a particular email (not pressing the screen just touching it) it brings up all the emails from that email address.

Consumer Reports revealed the results of their cell phone survey. Verizon topped their survey with high marks from survey respondents in overall satisfaction and customer service, as well as providing service in most of the country.

They reported cell-phone service has become significantly better this year. Contract terms for cell-phone service are easier to understand, and there were fewer problems with call quality. The best carriers even came through after a hurricane hit one of the survey cities.

For the first time, PEANUTS will appear on mobile phones in the mentioned countries. The mobile content features the hilarious adventures of the entire PEANUTS gang.

They plan to build theme specific sub portals for PEANUTS, which will offer end consumers, mobile network operators and licensors a significant added value.

Smartphone Security: Solving the Mobile Malware Problem examines the mobile malware security sector. Key findings include:

• Mobile operating systems and downloads, both of which are increasingly similar to those found on PCs, are significant problem areas for mobile malware threats.
• Carriers will begin offering mobile malware services as a way to compete and differentiate themselves in the market over the next 12 months.
• A number of factors must be considered when budgeting for mobile malware security, including the customer's risk profile and the type of applications run on the device.
• The SMB market is one of the strongest for mobile malware security vendors.

Sierra Wireless, Inc., provider of wireless modems for mobile computing, and Wavecom S.A.,  provider of embedded wireless technology for M2M (machine-to-machine) communication, announced  that the companies have reached a Memorandum of Understanding providing for a business combination.

Gumiyo's Mobile Ready Platform can be privately labeled and integrated directly into a publication's existing ad sales business. The platform can also mobilize a paper's classifieds.

Nokia's secret announcement is no longer a secret They call it a mobile computer, the Nokia N97. It has a full touchscreen, internet surfing and in their video it rocks. It something you can always keep with you and use one hand or two. They call it versatile, contextual, and truly mobile.

Features include a pull-out QWERTY keyboard the pulls out from a 3.5" - 16:9 aspect ratio - touchscreen. The 5-megapixel camera on the back has Carl Zeiss Tessar lens and dual LED flash. The N97 can capture video in DVD quality in 16:9 aspect ratio, far better than the iPhone or G1.

The Nokia N97 comes with 32 GB of memory which can be expanded with a microSD card. It has HSDPA speeds of 7.2Mb/s, Wi-Fi,  A-GPS (with an electronic compass), and the N97 can deliver up to 37 hours of music and 4.5 hours of video playback.

Wireless and Mobile News Rates the AT&T Quickfire 4 out 5

AT&TQuickfire is “tween” phone. It has some high-end features but it is not a full smartphone. Therefore although reviewers liked it, they found it useful to tween-users especially the young texting crowd.

The AT&T Quickfire has both a touchscreen and a a slide-out keyboard. It is built for texting, IM, email and other textual uses.  The touchscreen is capacitive like the iPhone and can be used in conjunction with the the roomy keyboard.  The call quality was very good and camera works fine.

The AT&T Quickfire has a good full HTML browser with fast 3G speeds for data, music and video.  Reviewers liked the speed and the music, but found it strange that AT&T Quickfire doesn’t come with ear buds.  It does however offer stero Bluetooth for music listening.   AT&Tsells it for $99 with a rebate and contract, while the AT&T QuickFire is free at Wirefly for new AT&T customers.  It is a good value for texters who don’t need super iPhone web browsing.

The BlackBerry Storm operating system upgrade known as 4.7.0.75 is currently available for download at Crackberry.com.

It appears to be popular because it was busy when we tried to reach it.

There have been reports that this upgrade will be available over the air soon.

Crackberry advises to install at own risk and install only if you're comfortable doing so.

Yesterday, Boy Genius sang praises of the next version of the OS 4.7.0.76.

Plese note you download the update from a third-party website, it might void all support from Verizon.

We are in the process of compiling the best app must-haves for the BlackBerry Storm and found that Mobigloo has released a version of Nintaii their box tipping game that uses the BlackBerry Storm accelerometer.

Nintaii is a brain twisting puzzle game of rolling blocks and switches. Be ready to roll your block over the course of this 100 level challenge. Just like most of the greatest puzzle games, Nintaii has a simple concept and yet proves to be very challenging, electrifying and attractive!

Nintaii

The Japanese kanji 'nintai' means patience, perseverance, or endurance. To see a demo of the game watch the video that follows.

Most mobile handset vendors acknowledge public pressure to create environmentally sound products. It is an issue they need to continue to address through their corporate responsibility charters. Faced with the economic realities of “going green” however, their appetite for creating biodegradable and recyclable products from sustainable resources often fades like a wireless signal in an underground parking lot.

Are you ready to rock and roll?  Strum guitars or beat drums on your mobile phone? Hands-On Mobile can rock your mobile you with Guitar Hero World Tour Mobile. 

Guitar Hero World Tour Mobile is available today on major carriers nationwide and will be debuting in January on Android.

Guitar Hero World Tour Mobile has real-time multiplayer capabilities and MP3 quality original artist recordings,  Players can take their Guitar Hero experience beyond the phone and create profiles, download new songs and track player rankings through the game’s web companion located at: www.guitarheromobile.com/worldtour.

Alltel teamed with mFoundry for it's Alltel Wallet, consolidated mobile banking, commerce and commerce platform. It includes many U.S. banks.

The platform has pre-built moudules for payments  and other features to allow for third party development.

"Recent research has shown that early adopter consumers are willing to switch mobile carriers to gain access to mobile payments solutions," said Drew Sievers, CEO and co-founder of mFoundry. "We are very pleased to team with Alltel in creating the Alltel Wallet and anticipate that this new application will help drive adoption of mobile financial solutions in the U.S."

The Alltel Wallet will launch in early 2009. Alltel Wireless recently launched Alltel Mobile Banking, a free service giving its customers mobile access to accounts from many of the nation's leading financial institutions. The Alltel Wallet will provide one-stop access to those financial institutions as well as access to many other payment services.

AOL released their data for top searches in 2008. Social networking,ads, weather, maps and match-making were all in the top ten.

From AOL Mobile Search

1. MySpace
   
2. AIM
   
3. iPhone
   
4. MocoSpace
5. Facebook
6. Craigslist
7. Weather
8. Free Ringtones
9. MapQuest
10. Match.com

The iPhone also came in number one for shopping, followed by Wii, iPod, Garmin Nuvi, Bratz, Crocs, PS3, Guitar Hero, Uggs, and Rosetta Stone.