Samsung Glyde 2: Image Leak Boogaloo.

Topic: Mobile Phones

The Samsung Glyde 2 probably won't come out for the Verizon network for a few more months. Until very recently we had absolutely no info about this new smartphone at all. Thankfully, the friend of a Verizon employee snapped a photo of his buddy's handset and sent it over to Boy Genius, who promptly spread it to the world.

I've got to say, the Glyde 2 is one of the best looking Samsung phones I've ever seen. It's got a nice, big touchscreen (I'd say 3.5-4”) that looks like it's OLED or AMOLED. It also has a sliding four row keyboard, which is almost enough to make me consider cheating on Android for this baby. Sources also indicated that it has a TouchWiz UI and a built-in accelerometer, plus an on-screen QWERTY keyboard as well.

Posted on Fri, 3 Jul 2009 15:15:00 CDT | by Robert Evans

T-Mobile Touch Pro2: Out August 12.

Topic: Mobile Phones

I know a lot of people were hoping for a July release date for the T-Mobile Touch Pro2, but some pretty solid information has just come down which states that we won't be seeing a release for a while. August 12 was the date given on a leaked internal T-Mobile document, which is about as much confirmation as any rumor can get. Most speculation on the delay seems to lay the blame on quality control issues that T-Mobile is currently ironing out.

The Touch Pro2 is a 3G enabled smartphone with a sliding QWERTY keyboard, a big 3.6” touch screen that tilts, and Windows Mobile 6.1. It's a pretty hot little mobile, and there's been a fair amount of buzz about it in the T-Mobile community. T-Mo has stated that their target audience are “successful professionals” who are also early adopters.

Posted on Fri, 3 Jul 2009 11:55:00 CDT | by Robert Evans

Google Voice Lets You Change Your Number...Again.

Topic: Mobile Phones

Today the folks behind Google Voice took a short break from answering invite requests and added a new feature to their service. If, for whatever reason, you decide you really don't like your Google Voice number, you can now change it. It'll cost you ten bucks, but that's really pretty fair when you consider what it's letting you do (and the hassle that switching numbers represents for Google).

Google Voice is a brand-new service that lets you consolidate all of your mobile, home, office, and Skype numbers together under one customized number. Google even has a number picking tool that lets you type out words to see if the number spelling them is available in your area. It's a very convenient little service that is getting a lot of attention.

Posted on Fri, 3 Jul 2009 10:35:00 CDT | by Robert Evans

Samsung Omnia II I8000 Video Review

Topic: Mobile Phones

The Samsung Omnia II got unveiled last month amongst serveral other new Omnia smartphones.
The Omnia II has a huge 3.7-inch AMOLED screen, TouchWiz 2.0 UI, Advanced Resistive Touch, and 7.2 Mbps HSDPA. It can hold up to 48 GB, which will help with its 480p video playback and recording. It's also WiFi capable, and also has HSUPA 5.76 Mbps.

Italian hdblog has published a Omnia II video review (watch it below) highlighting the new device and its beautiful screen. Read more

Posted on Fri, 3 Jul 2009 07:46:37 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

The iPhone 4.0 Rumors Begin.

Topic: Mobile Phones

It's been just over two weeks since the release of the iPhone 3.0 firmware update, and already the 4.0 rumors have started. Unwired View has put together a list of Apple patent applications that could end up being what we'll see next from Cupertino. These aren't the same patents we looked at earlier, as they cover software ideas, not physical design changes.

The first patent is for a program that would allow the iPhone to automatically switch between 'modes' depending on where you are and what you are doing at the time. Using its internal GPS and the new program your iPhone would know when you've, say, arrived at Church. It would then automatically turn off its volume or switch to vibrate, or apply whatever other zone-appropriate settings you've set for Church.

Posted on Thu, 2 Jul 2009 13:25:00 CDT | by Robert Evans

The Verizon BlackBerry Tour Pre-Order Shenanigans.

Topic: Mobile Phones

Smartphone drama strikes! Yesterday Boy Genius castigated Verizon for refusing to allow upgrading customers to pre-order the new BlackBerry Tour. This policy was rightly seen as unfair by a lot of VZW customers. They complained loudly, and in large enough numbers that Verizon was forced to take notice.

This morning they posted that the situation was being remedied. Current customers upgrading to a Tour will be able to do so on the site starting Monday, July 13, when the rest of the pre-orders begin. Apparently the squeaky wheel does get the grease. This is exactly why it is important to be an active and informed consumer. Your voice can have an impact if you can get enough other people to complain along with you.

Posted on Thu, 2 Jul 2009 12:55:00 CDT | by Robert Evans

CodeTalker: Real-Time Translation For Your Phone.

Topic: Mobile Phones

Yesterday I wrote an article about the awesome new Arabic to English translator from Sakhr Technology. After a few hours time Otis Jones of Codetalker Technologies, Inc. Posted a comment on the article to let me know about the service his company offers. Codetalker offers a translation solution that isn't based on software technology.

If you have a BlackBerry phone, you can sign up for the Codetalker service. You buy a certain amount of minutes, install the Codetalker suite, and then have access to their bank of over 3,000 interpreters (there's no mention of how many translators are actually on call at any given time). Codetalker has translators for “over 175” different languages.

Posted on Thu, 2 Jul 2009 12:00:00 CDT | by Robert Evans

Another University Requires iPhone/iPod Touch

Topic: Mobile Phones

Last month the University of Missouri listed an iPhone or an iPod Touch as one of the requirements for their journalism program. Today, that trend continues with the University of Florida ordering all of their Doctor of Pharmacy online students to have either an iPhone or an iPod Touch. This is good news for Apple, as U of Florida is considered to have one of the best online pharmacy schools in the country.

The interesting thing about this news is that, apparently, the possession of either an iPhone or iPod Touch actually seems to be a hard-and-fast requirement here. In U of Missouri's journalism program the requirement was actually just listed as such to obtain a tax break for any of their students who wished to purchase one for the program. If they don't issue a similar qualification, this could prove to be a very significant development for the smartphone market.

Posted on Wed, 1 Jul 2009 18:10:00 CDT | by Robert Evans

What Stops People from Buying Smartphones?

Topic: Mobile Phones

Most people want smartphones. It hardly takes a corporate funded study to find that out. So Best Buy looked into more than just why customers wanted smartphones. They spent a lot of money and interviewed over a thousand consumers to find out just what stops normal mobile owners from buying smartphones.

Close to half (47%) of non-smartphone owning adults say that the sheer number of different smartphones on the market is what keeps them from buying. There are just too many different options and features, and the sheer amount of choice they have confuses them. Other issues include the “difficulty of the shopping experience”.

Posted on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:30:00 CDT | by Robert Evans

1.1 Billion Smartphones By 2013

Topic: Mobile Phones

The vanilla mobile industry is shrinking, and the smartphone industry is growing. We've known both of these facts for a while now. What we didn't know was just how rapidly smartphones are spreading across the face of the globe. In 2008 there were 131 million smartphones sold worldwide. By 2013, the number of smartphones sold annually is expected to top 300 million.

This new number comes from the Parks Associates industry research firm. They recently conducted a study which showed that users love smartphones because they “combine practical and entertainment applications into a mobile platform”. That's a nice way of saying 'they let you goof off and also make phone calls'. The growth of app markets was also listed as another major reason for consumer attraction to smartphones.

Posted on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:55:00 CDT | by Robert Evans

New Verizon BlackBerry Phones coming

Topic: Mobile Phones

BlackBerries, BlackBerries, BlackBerries! It must be summer, because BlackBerries are popping up all along the countryside. First up; the BlackBerry Tour. The Tour is a 3G smartphone with a 3.2 megapixel camera (that has geo-hashing and video recording), GPS, HTML web browsing, tethering support, Vcast, and VZ Navigator. It'll cost you $199.99 (after a $70 rebate) with a 2 year contract, and it comes out on July 12th.

Verizon is also offering a version of the Tour without a camera. The price of this stripped-down Tour is currently unavailable.

Posted on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:00:00 CDT | by Robert Evans