WIRELESS AND MOBILE NEWS

Verizon Sends COLT to Fargo North Dakota Adds Capacity During Red River Floods

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:42:53 -0800

Verizon Wireless has deployed a temporary cell site, or Cell on Light Truck (COLT), at Centennial Elementary School in South Fargo to enhance coverage and capacity of its wireless voice and data network in this area. The school is a staging area for first responders to the flooding Red River which is predicted to crest this weekend.

In addition to deploying the COLT, the Verizon Wireless network team has added capacity to cell sites in the Fargo area and is monitoring the network 24/7 to add additional capacity as needed. All cell sites have remained on the air in rising flood areas in North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota.

Android an' Droid Widgets: Google Buzz Widget

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 11:40:11 -0800

Google has released the Google Buzz widget for Android phones that lets you post text and photos with a single tap from an Android home screen widget. It

The Google Buzz widget lets you choose to tag your post with the location or place from which it was posted. You can post buzz about a great meal you had and share photos of the new restaurant. To save time, your posts will upload in the background, letting you get back to your scrumptious dessert without a wait.

The widget is initially available in English for Android phones running v1.6 and later.

Search for 'Google Buzz' in the Android Market to download it now. Once installed, you can add it to your home screen: tap "Menu" while on the home screen and select "Add > Widgets > Google Buzz".

Free New Android an' Droid Apps 2Day: Zillow House Pricer/Hunter

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 11:20:21 -0800

If you like real estate information, Zillow data on 95 million properties is now available for Android an Droid smartphones.

The Zillow Android app is handy for home buyers and sellers and gives Zestimates, searches for homes for sale/rent, shows maps, and gives curbside view of homes. Voice search makes it easy to find information.

BlackBerry Top Smartphones, iPhone #2 in N.A. Says Canalys

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:57:49 -0800

It comes as no surprise that smartphones are ruling the marketplace. RIM’s BlackBerry retains it lead over the iPhone while Android smartphones like the Droid are moving into the smartphone market place.

Smartphone shipments in North America totalled 47.2 million units in 2009, an increase of 27% over the volume seen in 2008, helped by a strong fourth quarter. This healthy growth is forecast to accelerate to 38% in 2010, bringing total shipments in the region to 65.1 million units reports Canlysis.

RIM’s Blackberry will retain its leadership position in the North American market in 2010, with Apple in second place by operating system (OS) vendor share. Both vendors will grow their annual shipment volumes in the region, by 21% and 27% respectively.

In 2009, RIM held a 49% market share in North America, with Apple at 23%, though they will each lose a modest portion of their share this year as the total market grows at a quicker pace. RIM will remain strong in the corporate space and will continue to entice consumers. Apple’s strong performance in the market is set to continue, with 2010 volumes expected to be helped by a likely mid-year product update.

Shipments of smartphones running Google’s Android platform are forecast to see the strongest growth in 2010. In 2009, 4.7 million Android devices shipped in North America. With new devices from HTC, Samsung, Motorola and LG, among others, this number will grow in 2010 by 169% to more than 12.3 million units, with considerable growth expected for several years ahead. 21.7 million Android smart phones are expected to ship in North America in 2013.

Droid Updates TBD: Droid Android 2.1 OTA Update ETA Not Set Yet

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:55:47 -0800

Verizon Motorola Droid users are awaiting an update to Android 2.1 for their Droid smartphones. The Droid update 2.1 has been tested and will be rolled out eventually, but no date has been set, confirmed Verizon.

Tom Pica, a Verizon Wireless spokesman, said. that there was no delay, previously rumored, "The Android 2.1 upgrade for the Droid by Motorola was deployed to a small number of Verizon Wireless test users as scheduled this past week...We will keep you posted. We will issue no upgrade before it's time."

A full rollout of the update to all Verizon Droid by Motorola users will take place, but not just yet. No date is scheduled.

Verizon usually sends out updates starting on a Friday, and then progressively extends the update over time. Verizon first tests the updates to make sure there are no glitches an sometimes takes longer than other carriers. The testing is important to OTA updates, T-Mobile pushed out OTA recently with an update to the the Motorola CLIQ, causing problems and a date error with loss of data.

The update will be to the promised Android 2.1 operating system which packs the Droid with all the super features of the Nexus One that came with Android 21.

OTA updates roll out over time. You will get a notification that there is an update. Tap on the update wait for it to install, the Droid may then reboot. Make sure that your phone is at least 40% charged.

The Android 2.1 system update for the Motorola Droid by Verizon offers a lot of perks to users:

Voice to Text filling in of all fields on the Droid, by tapping the microphone and speaking the text.
Pinch-to-zoom with your fingers in the browser, Gallery, and Google Maps.
New Photo Gallery app with 3D layout and Picasa sharing.
Live Wallpapers animated wallpaper.
Yahoo! mail support.
Google Maps update synchronized desktop maps.google.com and memorized locations.
New night mode in Google Maps Navigation automatically changes the screen at night for easier viewing.
Email accounts no longer need to be re-entered after an over-the-air update.

Touchy iPhone Patent Issues Continue HTC Defends Firsts, First

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:17:30 -0800

HTC disagrees with Apple's legal actions, especially in the touchscreen department. Apple contends that HTC's phones infringe on 20 of its patented technologies such as iPhone two-finger screen recognition.

Peter Chou, chief executive officer, HTC Corporation said "From day one, HTC has focused on creating cutting-edge innovations that deliver unique value for people looking for a smartphone. In 1999 we started designing the XDA and T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition, our first touchscreen smartphones, and they both shipped in 2002 with more than 50 additional HTC smartphone models shipping since then."

iPhone, BlackBerry Curve, Top Smartphones, Android 25.3% Increase, Says Millennial Marketing

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:36:46 -0800

Millennial has released their latest S.M.A.R.T. report and the mobile web increased by approximately 4%, to 69.6M users in January,

Mobile behavior trends increased time-wise. January's average user session time of 4:57 (min:sec), increased to 5:14 (min:sec) in February, the longest session time we have seen since the June '09 S.M.A.R.T.

The iPhone remains the top smartphone, followed by the BlackBerry Curve, and Samsung Instinct.

Android impressions increased 25.3%; the largest month over month increase the OS has had on our network. Apple increased once again and remained the number one device manufacturer with approximately 39% share of impressions. Following Apple's impression share lead, the Touchscreen category increased 17% month over month within the Device Input Method mix and led with a 54% share of impressions.Wi-Fi also retained the largest impression share of the U.S. Carrier Mix in February and held 26% share of impressions.

AT&T Sends Network Disaster Recovery Resources to Chile

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:28:32 -0800

AT&T has deployed Network Disaster Recovery (NDR) resources to Chile as a preventive measure to ensure business continuity of the AT&T node in Santiago. The is in response to a series of natural disasters and devastating earthquake of February 27, which was followed by tsunamis and various aftershocks.

iPhone Top Downloaders, T-Mobile Android 2nd & Verizon Top Paid Apps, Says Yankee

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:57:19 -0800

Paid downloaded apps are expected to reach $11 billion by 2014 notes a new Yankee Group report. Yankee Group attributes it to increased smartphone shipments, more app stores and more expensive apps--combining to nearly double forecasted mobile app revenue, from $537 million to $1.6 billion in 2010 alone.

Here's what they found:

Paid apps are on the rise. Nearly a third of all apps downloaded today are purchased, compared with just 18 percent a year ago.
Average price per app is up. The overall average paid app costs $2.85, up from $1.99 a year ago.
AT&T and iPhone users download the most. Apple iPhone users download 60 apps per year, three times the average, while AT&T users download 27 apps annually, or 42 percent more than average.
T-Mobile and Android are a close second. T-Mobile, the closest thing to an Android pure play, comes in second for all carriers, with its users downloading more than 18 apps per year on average.
Verizon has the most paid apps. Two-thirds of apps downloaded by Verizon users are paid, the most of any carrier.

Android WiMAX News 2Day: HTC Supersonic Smartphone with WiMAX Debut @ CTIA

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:28:52 -0800

Sprint is really going for a PR sprint this week. The latest report from the Wall Street Journal, revealed that Sprint CEO Dan Hesse during a press conference next Tuesday in Las Vegas will unveil a new WiMAX device, the HTC Supersonic.

The HTC Supersonic is expected to run Google's Android 2.1 platform with HTC Sense UI, a 4.3-inch touchscreen display, a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor and a 5-megapixel camera. The Android 2.1 offers pinch-to-zoom browsing, voice-to-text form filling and turn-by-turn voiced navigation.

Android Nexus One to Sprint to Sprint Network with Value

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:11:26 -0800

Sprint will offer the Nexus One via the Google Nexus One webstore, pricing has not been announced. Yesterday, Google started selling an unlocked version of the Nexus One for AT&T priced at $529.

"While a pricing plan has not yet been determined for Nexus One, we are confident that it will be consistent with Sprint's commitment to deliver more value than our competitors and keep pricing simple," Fared Adib, Sprint vice president of product development.

Droid Updates Soon: Motorola Droid Update 2.1 OTA

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:36:06 -0800

Verizon Motorola Droid owners were supposedly going to receive an Over-the-Air Update (OTA) to their Droid smartphones starting on March 18, suggested leaked-documents, incorrectly.

Editor's Update 3/19 : Verizon confirmed that the Droid update 2.1 recently leaked was a test of the Android 2.1 for Droid. There is no date set yet for the full update for the Droid by Verizon to be rolled out over the air in the future

The Droid update will be to the promised Android 2.1 operating system.

OTA updates roll out over time. You will get a notification that there is an update. Tap on the update wait for it to install, the Droid may then reboot. Make sure that your phone is at least 40% charged.

The Android 2.1 system update for the Motorola Droid by Verizon offers a lot of perks to users:

Voice to Text filling in of all fields on the Droid, by tapping the microphone and speaking the text.
Pinch-to-zoom with your fingers in the browser, Gallery, and Google Maps.
New Photo Gallery app with 3D layout and Picasa sharing.
Live Wallpapers animated wallpaper.
Yahoo! mail support.
Google Maps update synchronized desktop maps.google.com and memorized locations.
New night mode in Google Maps Navigation automatically changes the screen at night for easier viewing.
Email accounts no longer need to be re-entered after an over-the-air update.

Super Apps Get Pushy: BlackBerry Push Service Open to BlackBerry Developers

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:20:36 -0800

BlackBerry developers can now push information to BlackBerry users.The BlackBerry Push Service allows the application to process information in the background and alert users.

The BlackBerry Push Service developer website suggests that developers use the BlackBerry Push Service to incorporate the characteristics smartphone customers love into your applications, including improved battery life, applications that run in the background and the ability to get instant information.

Bold Moves for BlackBerry Bold 9650 aka BlackBerry Tour2 Smartphone?

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:22:44 -0800

The BlackBerry Tour2, documented to be now named BlackBerry Bold 9650 may be coming to carriers in May.

At first it was rumored that the BlackBerry 9650 Tour2, later called the new BlackBerry Bold 9650 would be coming in February. RIM even hinted that the BlackBerry Tour2 9650 was coming soon on their Facebook page.

An unnamed source noted that the would be called BlackBerry Bold 9650. Uniits were sent back from Sprint for Wi-Fi issues and from Verizon to update the OS to BlackBerry 5.0.

New reports suggest a May release with a "don't really know for sure," caveat while web reports suggest it's ready for prime time.

Al Sacco at CIO wrote "May sounds like a likely release-date for Research In Motion's (RIM) successor to it BlackBerry Tour 9630, which will reportedly be named the BlackBerry "Bold" 9650, because pictures, technical specifications and even leaked operating systems."

Sacco suggests that RIM's really big show the WES is April 27-29 and good time for revealing the BlackBerry Bold 9650 Tour2. The BlackBerry Bold 9000 was revealed at WES.

Features of the BlackBerry Bold 9650 include a trackpad that works well and a faster processor, the same as the BlackBerry Storm2, which makes it run faster. It's about the same size as the original BlackBerry Tour, while the bottom row of keys is slightly shorter than the original BlackBerry Tour. The BlackBerry Bold 9650 has a better camera possibly 5 megabytes. It may have the new improved BlackBerry Webkit browser.