Recently in mobile software Category
Here are the services and their code names. SkyMarket is a mobile app store for Windows Mobile applications. SkyBox is mobile syncing service for contacts, backup/restore, email, and calendar in the "cloud" that has been called MS MobileMe. SkyLine is small business version of SkyBox.
The names of the products will most like have Windows Live in them or other Microsoft branding.
The app store follows the iPhone App Store, BlackBerry Application Storefront and Android Marketplace.
NEC Corporation announced it that it has improved its mobile phone software that translates common travel words and phrases in Japanese and English. It automatically translates from Japanese to English and English to
Japanese.
The translation software doesn't need network connections or outside servers.
The software recognizes a word or phrase quickly and translates them in a few moments. NEC will continue to improve the software and services.
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.
The Sprint Open Software Platform, will be opened first, via the Sprint Titan platform for Windows Mobile devices. It will give mobile developers the same codes, tools and resources used for desktop applications The platform is the first of its kind from an operator.
PocketGear now offers AndroidGear.com, an app store of freeware and commercial applications for Android-powered smartphones based on Google's open source operating system, Android.
"With the tremendous success of the first Android-based phone, T-Mobile's G1, Google managed an overwhelming first appearance in the smartphone-market," said Ralf Ockenfelds, Vice President International of PocketGear. "Additional Android devices have been announced for launch in Q1 2009, and we believe this platform provides a significant opportunity for developers to distribute innovative applications to smartphone users."
PocketGear is celebrating the launch with a 25%-Off site-wide-sale at all of its app stores, including PocketGear.com, PalmGear.com, SymbianGear.com, RIMGear.com, Mobile2Day.com, and of course AndroidGear.com. By entering the voucher code "SALE25" users save 25% on all apps purchased until November 30, 2008. The sale code is also valid on all of PocketGear Germany's sites.
Mobile phone users must be getting really flabby because today there is another announcement for a health oriented application for iPhoneLIVESTRONG.COM is offering Calorie Tracker application for iPhone and iPod tTuch from the Apple App Store. The new application provides a way for users to monitor nutritional intake by tracking what they eat and how much they exercise each day.
To use the tracker, people users search for the foods they consume during the day, and the application automatically tallies their calories and shows fat, carbohydrate and protein intake with the touch of a button.
LIVESTRONG.COM Calorie Tracker is available free from Apple's App Store on iPhone and iPod Touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore/.
LogMeIn is offering a limited beta version of LogMeIn Ignition software
that gives Apple iPhone and iPod touch users access to
their remote computers and and work as if they were sitting in front of it. Features of LogMeIn Ignition for iPhone and iPod touch include:
- One-touch access to remote PCs and Mac computers, allowing users to access and control files and programs
- "My Computers" list that displays all available remote computers
- Full keyboard, mouse, zoom and scroll control using touch screen, consistent with other iPhone/iPod touch applications
- Securely saves login information
- Option settings for optimising the experience of connecting to and controlling the remote computer, including locking the remote computer's keyboard, blanking the screen of the remote computer and screen resolution
buzzd, a location-sensitive city guide and social network for mobile devices, has raised $3.2 million in a Series A Preferred Stock financing with BlackBerry Partners Fund, Greycroft Partners, Monitor Ventures and Qualcomm Ventures.
Digby, Digby, a leading mobile commerce service provider, has raised $5.5 million Series B Preferred Stock with the BlackBerry Partners Fund and existing shareholders.
WorldMate, a company that has paved the way for mobile travel innovation and serves over one million frequent flyers and road warriors around the world, has raised $8 million in a Series C Preferred Stock financing with BlackBerry Partners Fund, Motorola Ventures and AMC Communications.
According to the Google Mobile Blog, Goggle has released Gmail for mobile version 2.0
for J2ME-supported and BlackBerry phones. The rearchitected
the entire client to push all the processing to the background, greatly
improve the client-side caching scheme and optimize every bottleneck
piece of code we came across.So, what does this all mean for you?
- Overall performance improvement:
- Multiple accounts management:
Users can easily
switch between Gmail and Google Apps accounts.
- Multiple mobile email drafts:
- Powerful shortcut keys: QWERTY phone users can use shortcut keys. Hit 'z' to undo, 'k' to go to a newer conversation, and 'j' to go to an older conversation. See Menu/Help in the app for more shortcuts.
- Basic offline support: User can compose and read r most recent emails even when there is no signal. Also, any outgoing messages will be saved in the outbox on your phone and sent automatically when you're back in coverage.
Go to m.google.com/mail in your mobile browser to download the new Gmail for mobile for your phone.
Research In Motion announced the availability of the new BlackBerry Web Signals technology for the BlackBerry developer community.
BlackBerry Web Signals luses RIM's push technology to
allow online content providers to automatically notify BlackBerry
smartphone users when relevant content has been published and to allow
streamlined, one-click access to the online information.
With online content services powered by BlackBerry Web Signals, BlackBerry smartphone users can spend less time searching the web and more time connecting directly to the content that matters to them personally. Content providers will offer a range of services powered by BlackBerry Web Signals that enable customers to stay connected with news, weather, sports, entertainment, financial information and more.:
Companies that plan to use the technology include Dada Entertainment, Thumbplay and CBC.
Research In Motion announced two major distribution initiatives for BlackBerry smartphone applications at the BlackBerry Developer Conference. A new online application storefront and a new on-device application center will help application developers and carriers reach millions of BlackBerry smartphone users worldwide and will provide consumers with greater choice, enhanced application discovery and an easy method for managing installation, upgrades, and purchases.
RIM plans to launch the application storefront in March 2009 and BlackBerry application developers can begin submitting their applications and content for inclusion in the storefront in December 2008. The storefront will allow developers to set their own prices for applications and developers will retain 80 percent of the revenue generated from their applications. RIM is working with PayPal, a leading global online payment service, to provide consumers with a convenient and trusted way to pay for applications within the new application storefront, right from their BlackBerry smartphone. Organizations that have deployed BlackBerry Enterprise Server or BlackBerry Professional Software will retain control of what applications can be downloaded to BlackBerry smartphones within their corporate deployments.
Indaba Music, the leading online music collaboration web application, launched IndabaVox, revolutionary online music collaboration functionality to allow musicians worldwide to record to sessions and conference together directly from their mobile devices.
The IndabaVox features will act as a supplement to Indaba Music's online tool, which is centered around 'sessions,' where members can record and mix online to create music together. IndabaVox uses advanced VoIP technology, allowing members to record to a session they are involved with and conference directly with others in a session - all through the use of a standard or mobile telephone.
The mobile recording functionality allows on-the-go musicians to record notes and comments when and wherever inspiration may strike them. These recordings show up quickly within the corresponding session online, where any member of the session can access them. The conferencing feature gives Indaba users the unique ability to discuss their projects directly with session members from across the world - while keeping each user's personal information discrete.
Cell phone owners can use the iSync plugins from nova media to synchronize contacts and calendars with a Mac and more than 200 cell phone models from BenQ, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson.The all new version 7.1 includes a preference pane to manage installation and update of cell phone plugins. This eliminates the need to download the complete iSync plugins everytime a plugin is updated or a new plugin is made available.
"The list of all available plugins and updates is now visible right from the preference pane and updated everytime iSync plugins is launched. There is no need to search the internet to see if a new plugin is available." states Jan Fuellemann, PR spokesperson at nova media. "The installed Plugins can be updated right from the preference pane. And iSync should launch faster, as we do not install all 200 plugins, but only the selected ones."
iSync plugins now supports English, French and German languages within the program and manual.
The slowdown in mobile communications will accelerate next generation of mobile software
According to JPMorgan, mobile phone handset growth for 2009 will drop by roughly two percent, primarily because consumers, particularly in Europe, are reluctant to upgrade their phones. Other market analysts argue that consumers are being put off buying new mobile phones because of the current economic climate.
This follows recently issued research findings from Globo, which show that 65 percent of users of mobile phones, who want access to emails or other online applications, aren’t ready to replace their handsets just to obtain it.
Dr. Joseph Coughlin, Director, AgeLab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Non-Executive Director, Globo, believes that new developments in mobile software are the logical next step in the development of the mobile society. He argues that current economic developments highlight the requirement for the market to adopt a new breed of open software that has the ability to turn every mobile phone into a ‘smart’ phone. The next generation of ‘all-in-one’ solutions will push, synchronize and share all a users’ different applications onto one single platform - regardless of the service provider or handset.
“We have already seen communications bring the death of distance and the next generation of mobile software will really represent the death of ‘place’ and the birth of a mobile society,” Dr. Joseph Coughlin said. “And this development will continue regardless of the current economic uncertainties.
The new on-device store allows users to browse and search thousands of applications compatible with their specific phone by best-sellers, new, updated, free, and discounted categories. The store will integrate with BlackBerry Wallet to make users' initial purchase faster and easier. Once registered, users can purchase applications with a single click and have them delivered over-the-air within seconds.
To celebrate the launch of the new store, CrackBerry.com and MobiHand are running their largest "MobileHeist" event ever -- offering 25 top-selling BlackBerry applications for only $9.95, representing discounts as high as 70%. The MobileHeist will be available only in the on-device CrackBerry App Store and will run from September 23rd until September 29th.MobiHand plans to launch similar co-branded, on-device AppStores for other smartphone platforms including Android, Symbian, Palm, and Windows Mobile in the coming weeks.
Yahoo! has released developer previews of these new enhancements, further cementing Yahoo! Blueprint's distinction as the only platform enabling developers to create powerful and compelling mobile services that run seamlessly across thousands of different devices. Yahoo! is using Blueprint internally to develop iPhone applications and is in discussion with Apple on how to make Blueprint for the iPhone available to other developer
MapQuest announced the beta launch of MapQuest 4 Mobile, a free,
downloadable application that extends MapQuest.com capabilities to
compatible BlackBerry smartphones.MapQuest 4 Mobile offers users an easy-to-use interface and the same accurate directions and maps they rely on from the MapQuest.com site. Local search is also accessible, enabling users to search for businesses by proper name or category. Additionally, MapQuest 4 Mobile provides hybrid imagery, traffic and incident information as well as a GPS "find me" feature which locates a user and tracks the progress to their destination. MapQuest 4 Mobile also utilizes smaller map tiles allowing for faster downloads and quicker screen refresh.
Sony Ericsson's Project Capuchin allows developers to combine the richness of both Java ME and Flash Lite by encapsulating Flash Lite content in Java ME applications making content created by Adobe Flash technology appear as Java ME applications
Sony Ericsson unveiled the new Sony Ericsson Beta SDK for Windows Mobile 6.1 to enable developers to create XPERIA Panels and applications for Sony Ericsson's XPERIA X1 phone.
XPERIA Panels can be Native or Web (HTML) and the new SDK includes an X1 emulator, MicrosoftVisual Studio IDE plug-in and templates, documents and sample code for the quick development, testing, debugging and deployment of these panels.
Sony Ericsson Developer World also offers XPERIA Panels testing and signing information and a new Windows Mobile moderated discussion forum. XPERIA Panels will also have a dedicated category in the upcoming Sony Ericsson Content Awards 2008.
