Nokia N98 new threat to iPhone

Nokia N98 has been sighted on the net and will be released really soon according to Nokia France specification sheet. Despite it’s earlier claims that iPhone is no threat to lucrative NSeries smartphone multimedia computer business, Nokia was really frightened by it and started scrambling for an answer literary the next day. Result of that is new Nokia N98 who really looks like Apple iPhone, but when you look at specifications there is huge advantage over iPhone. So we might look at new mobile phone war in which only consumer can benefit by better products and new technologies.

Nokia N98 specifications:

* 7.2 mega pixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens
* Optical zoom x5 and digital zoom x20
* 3.5 inch VGA 16 million color touch screen
* GPS
* Symbian S70 3rd edition (now that would be something)
* Graphics accelerator
* Bluetooth/WIFI b+g+n/HSDPA

Tiny bug causes major wave @ Vodafone

IT SEEMS that fellow INQ hack, Wil Ferret, hit a raw nerve with Vodafone over his story concerning Vodafone customers' attempts to flee the network in the general direction of O2 and the Iphone being blocked by the IVR system.

Vodafone couldn't have denied it more vociferously. A charming Vodafone spokewoman informed us that the company had spent a day trying to track the problem down.

Vodafone's technical bods discovered that there was, indeed, a bug in the customer care IVR system. However, the bug was so obscure that they're adamant it would only have affected a tiny percentage of the weekend's callers.

The spokelady naturally declined to comment on how many customers Vodafone had lost to the Iphone, of course. But what she could say is that significant numbers of people had visited Vodafone stores over last weekend.

And she revealed that Vodafone's best weapon against the Iphone seems to be the Nokia N95 allied to an explanation of how Vodafone's Musicstation online music service works.

So, in effect, the hype surrounding the Iphone is accidentally helping Vodafone flog Nokias. Highly amusing

Google Announces Android Mobile OS

Rumors about GPhone have been running since a long time. People expected the Google to come out with a revolutionary mobile device which will probably give some competition to Apple’s iPhone, but Google actually had a plan of their own.

Instead of working on a single mobile phone, Google has announced a Linux based mobile operating system called Android, and it will be freely available under mobile open source license. Google has partnered with 34 companies including Sprint, HTC, LG, T-Mobile, Motorola, Nvidia, and eBay. Android-based handsets are expected to roll out to costumers in second half of 2008.

Next week, Android Software Development Kit (SDK) will be handed over to developers, so that they can build third party apps for the forthcoming mobile operating system. By giving a head start to developers, Google is expecting lots of third party apps by the time Android-based phones start shipping. I’m really curious to see what Android has to offer for die-hard mobile users.

Mozilla is working on Mobile Firefox

After making a revolution in desktop web browser market, Mozilla have now announced their plans to step into the mobile space with a new version of Firefox for mobile devices. They’ve already hired two high-profile mobile developers for this project. And the first, basic release is expected to come as early as 2008.

For Mozilla, this isn’t the first venture into the mobile browser space. They have already released a mobile browser called Minimo. Unlike most other mobile browsers, Minimo offers full AJAX supports, RSS feeds, addons and is probably the only tabbed browsing solution for Pocket PC. Mozilla has also developed a mobile browser for Nokia’s N800/N770 mobile internet device.

The sweetest part of Mobile Firefox would be its support for extension. Third party services and other additional features can be easily integrated with ease. Think of it something like using Greasemonkey or Adblock Plus on your mobile phone.

Full browsing experience is the greatest demand in the mobile community. One factor, which probably made Apple’s iPhone a huge hit, was the fullscreen browsing support. Web pages on iPhone are rendered, as they appear on your computer, but the same feature isn’t available on other mobile devices. So, if Mozilla’s upcoming mobile browser will be able to put the same functionality on other high-end devices like N95, it could quickly become a huge hit as well.

It is unclear whether Mozilla picks Windows Mobile or Symbian as their target platform. Currently, the Symbian browser market is largely monopolized by Opera and Opera mini.

Google India Launches 5GOOG Text Messaging Service

Finally, Google has launched beta version of their text messaging service in India. Mobile users can now use Google to access information on-the-move without using an internet-enabled mobile device.

Mobile users can use the service to check weather, movie show timings, search for businesses and more by sending text messaging their queries to 54664 ("5GOOG"). Supported mobile operators are Airtel, Aircel, BPL, BSNL and Reliance. Google SMS is a premium text messaging service, so it will cost you more than standard text messaging rate. Interactive demo of the service is available here.

Google SMS is a premium SMS service; queries sent to 54664 will be charged at the following rates:

• Aircel: Rs. 3.00
• Airtel: Rs. 2.00
• BPL: Rs. 3.00
• BSNL: Rs. 0.80/1.00 (post-paid/pre-paid)
• Reliance: Rs. 3.00

Here in India, text messaging is the most widely adopted form of communication, especially among teenagers. It makes complete sense to offer a quick way to look-up Google without having access to the internet.

----------------
Now playing: Guru - Ye Manpuru
via FoxyTunes

Brix

Brix is just a concept, but one of the best I’ve ever seen so far.

With the black stylish coating and big touchscreen on the front face, the Brix reminds me a little of the Apple iPhone, but thanks to its capabilities, this phone is more like an iPhone 2.0. Let’s just see.

A big quality screen covers the entire front face. You won’t get any buttons, speakers or decorations here, just the touch screen. And you’ll see why pretty soon. Thanks to this display you can access all the main functions of the phone: calling, personal organizer, messaging, Internet, gaming and Multimedia. Definitely multimedia.

That’s what i would want from the iPhone 2.0

As the front face is covered entirely by a screen, what do you think happens when you put together two Brixs? You’re right, the screen expands on both of them. That way, you may end up with a huge touchscreen, by connecting multiple phones, ideal for watching TV, movies, or playing some great interactive games with your friends. A temporary virtual shared folder is created to merge content between the devices until they’re disconnected or one device can be designated as the media hub and interface.

The number of ways in which you can combine the Brixs is limitless. Just from the pictures, you can see how the Brix can be a TV, with an extra unit used as a command center, or for displaying the score on the soccer game you’re watching at.

Just imagine what you can do with this concept. GPS, television, WEB, Video, all of these would be a finger’s touch away. Also, it would make you a more sociable human being, cause you’ll always want to hang out with your friends, to unite your Brix Power.

Limitless combinations with the Brix

Unlike other concepts, this one has the advantage of being relatively simple. No fancy equipment or technology, that’s why we might end up seeing something it in the near future. Apple, listen to me. I would love your next iPhone 2.0 to be like this Brix!!!

What do you think?

----------------
Listening to: Akon - Once In A While
via FoxyTunes

Google Calendar for Mobile Phones

Industry pundits have for long been speculating that the future of computing is in mobile devices. This is especially true for a scheduling app like Google Calendar. Though just about every cellphone worth its name had a calendar app for ages, most of them lack the simplicity and the Google foo, which Google Calendar offers. Google seems to have understood that releasing a mobile friendly version of Google Calendar will boost up its user base by orders of magnitude, since smartphones have pretty much supplanted PDAs (and let’s not forget the PSPs and Nokia 770s).

The mobile friendly interface can be seen by visiting calendar.google.com from your phone. You can see your upcoming schedules and quickly add new to the calendar with details like time, location and description.

Following Gmail mobile, Perhaps, it’s about time Google releases native j2me app for Google Calendar (quite like j2me app for Gmail).