Mobile Devices - Page 366

Apple has just dumped another firmware on the iPhone. This one is a small update to 2.2 and only includes a few stability fixes to Mobile Safari and one for mail images not saved to your camera roll.

As always if you have an Unlocked or Jailbroken phone approach this update with caution, you will need to reapply any hacks you have setup.

Read more here.

Apple's New CEO (for now) Tim Cook has been busy denying rumors of an Apple Nano.

According to a blurb over at Fudzilla, Cook says that Apple will not enter the low-end phone market as they cannot be the best there. To me that sounds like they cannot really compete on a technology level and have to have gimmicks and gadgets to work.

Apple is also keeping an eye on the Netbook arena. They have not made plans for $500 book due to the tradeoffs that would have to occur. Additionally the iPhone can do much of that a netbook can, as long as you do not need to copy/paste, run flash, shockwave, real java applets, any kind of productivity work and a host of other things.

Read more here.

President-Elect and CrackBerry addict Barack Obama is at it again.

Despite being informed that keeping his BlackBerry will be a violation of the Presidential Records Act of 1978 (since there is no real way to make those phone conversations and emails available) and the dozens of security issues surrounding him keeping it he still is going to try.

His stated reason for this is that he wants to keep in touch with the world outside the Presidential Staff. However I personally do not buy it. I think that he just can't get along without it. If he really wants to keep in touch then get out amongst the people and talk to them. How many regular people are going to have this e-mail address or phone number.

I am not sure about the abilities of a President that can't function without a smart phone. Perhaps when it is hacked, or used in an attempt on his life that will put other's lives at risk he will get the picture and put the thing down.

Read more here.

President Elect Obama is still clinging to his blackberry despite the potential security risks.

For some odd reason he feels the need to maintain a publicly controlled communication device that can be tracked by not one but three spate methods. In addition to being able to pinpoint its location by the unique GPS transceiver in the device you can also use cell tower pings and radio frequency triangulation to nail him down. In fact using Cell Tower Data Pings is a proven method for tracking criminals and finding their patterns. Not good for a President.

This is in addition to the insecure RIM network that opens all of his emails to the hackers out there.

I did some looking and think his fuss about his Blackberry might just be a nice little Presidential Plug for RIM. Especially considering the $63,000+ US Dollars they threw and the Democratic Party this election year.

Read more here and here.

Well it has finally happened; WebEx is coming to the iToy. Although I am not surprised I do wonder how effective it will be.

The new client for iPhone will leverage WiFi and 3G connections. I would hate to see it over an Edge connection though. The application will be free from the App Store and will support audio, texting in a messenger like method and the ability to view content shared from other attendee's desktops. As of the current release video is not supported.

Read more here.

Since it is Monday and I am feeling a little grumpy I went looking for some Apple bashing news (not really but it makes a good lead in). I did not have to look very long as I happened upon a nice little article about the iPhone and its affect on non-US carriers.

Now in the US there is only one iPhone partner and that is AT&T, they reap the sales benefits even if the phones end up unlocked and on another carrier.

In Europe this is not the case and it seems that the iPhone has become something of an Albatross according to Strand Consulting. They recon the iPhone is as vapid as Paris Hilton according to their 2008 predictions ("when we compared the iPhone to Paris Hilton. We said both were beautiful, but ultimately little more than media hype"). They blame the issue on the press, something I find odd considering there is almost as much bad press on the iPhone as there is good.

Read more here.

Despite many rumors about a Zune-Phone, it looks like we won't be seeing one at CES 2009.
Fudo over at Fudzilla has been keeping in touch with someone at MS about this, but there was no need to cite unnamed sources as Brian Seitz, Group Manager for the Zune products, went on record to say there would not be a Zune-Phone launch at CES 2009

Read more at Fudzilla.

President Elect Obama does not want to give up his cherished Blackberry phone. Despite the security (personal and data) that surround the device.

He is fighting with the laws that prevent the president from having such a device and the ones that exist to preserve all presidential communications for posterity.

The Blackberry (and indeed almost all Cellular devices have means to be tracked remotely. This (to me at least) would seem to be reason enough to do away with the device as it puts the President at risk to long range remote attacks. But not for Obama, I guess he is hoping that big red "s" he is going to have tattooed on his chest will protect him.

The Sidney Morning Herald has more here.

This is Bill, he is my virtual friend. See Bill on his virtual Cell Phone? Boy when I was a kid they kept telling me to live in the real world. But I guess no one gave the gang over at VMWare that talk.

VMWare (an EMC Company) have added another platform to their virtual list. Now they are going to virtualize the mobile phone platform. That is right, you will be able to run multiple OSes on your smart phone now. The new technology is called MVP (Mobile Virtualization Platform).

MVP information here

HTC today took the covers off its latest phone and this one is a truly a stunning gem of a product. Say hello to the Touch HD - it's packed with features we don't even know where to begin.