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Garmins Nuviphone has GPS, GSM and automatic location tagging for media

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 12:00:00 PST

Garmin most known for their GPS units plans on releasing the Nuviphone in fall 2008. Although the touch screen 3.5G device has already been slated at a potential iPhone killer what really sets it is embedded GPS - an increasingly important feature in mobile devices today as it would allow personal navigation and location aware applications out of the box, something only a few phones such as high end Nokias have attempted and only with limited success.

Moblogging links for Feb 3, 2008

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 12:00:00 PST

Read through for news and announcements on YouTube Mobile expanding handheld content, CellSpin one click content posting software, some hot social trends for 2008, why Yahoo is the mobile portal to beat Nnd a really interesting Super Tuesday project featuring Nokia N Series phones and everybodys new darling Flixwagon scoring yet another hit for mobile content generation. As always readers are encouraged to click through to original content as the content here is heavily condensed.

Would Micro-Hoo be good for mobile content?

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 00:56:33 PST

Microsoft's bid for Yahoo (http://www.news.com/Microsoft-bids-44.6-billion-for-Yahoo/2100-1014_3-6228705.html?tag=st.nl) yesterday took a lot of people by surprise and while of the obvious questions revolve on how this would affect Google dominant position in online marketing, or whether overall competition would increase or decrease, some are seeing this as a win for mobile device users everywhere. As far as the question on competition goes, I think Louise Story in the NYTimes (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/02/technology/02google.html?ex=1359694800 en=55702671c708bfef ei=5124 partner=permalink exprod=permalink) is correct in stating that some consolidation of the online marketing industry needs to happen.

MobileCamp coming to Boston March 15 '08

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 15:51:47 PST

BarCamp is hosting a MobileCamp in Boston MA on March 15th. Not many details out yet but expect it to follow the general layout and setup of similar events held in London England and Sfo CA in the previous year. I've never been to one but imagine it must be heaven for technology geeks and handheld enthusiasts. The one in SFO as reported by WaPReview (http://wapreview.com/blog/?p=427) a few months back talked about playmegaphone.com's upcoming digital signage products as well as a Bebo sponsored presentation on upcoming mobile social apps. MobileTee (http://www.mobilitee.org/archives/279) had some great notes on previous one in London.

Sony Ericsson's K790i top selling mobile for February 2007

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 15:00:00 PST

Krusell published their monthly list for the top selling phones and PDA's. In February 2007, the honor goes agian to the Sony Ericcson K790i although the new Razrs just behind. The Treo 680 and updated Blackberry pearl take the third and fourth slots. I can't but help notice that over half the phones on the list are Sony models which goes to show you how truly global Krusells sales statistics are.

How come it's suddenly cool to be a Twit?

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 16:00:00 PDT

Suddently everyone seems to be talking about Twitter and micro-blogging. Well not everyone but just the people you know or perhaps secretly admire. They seem to have abandoned MySpace and traditional social apps for the good old handheld phone and now you can barely get a word in between their incoming beeps. The issue is you're a Twitter noob and they're proud of being Twits. What can you do?

iPhone integrates iLife08 for easy web sharing

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 16:00:00 PDT

Apples new iLife 08's (http://www.apple.com/ilife/) photo module can easily upload content to the .Mac hosting service and vice versa over the iPhone. This means the iPhone can be used to easily browse peoples web albums and other hosted content. A simple navigation bar in the iPhones picture controls provides the option to send to web gallery and everybody's happy.

Mojobaby scores with configurable widgets

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 16:00:00 PDT

Mojobaby is a new mobile content sharing service claiming easy photo and video uploads and easy integration with popular social networking sites. As is the norm with some sites, an MMS enabled phone and a data plan are required before you can join the fun but I can't help wondering how this site will set itself apart.

Cell phones and social activism

Sat, 30 Jun 2007 16:00:00 PDT

Ethan Zuckerman writes an amazing article on cell phones and social activism that I wanted to share with you. We are all familiar with a handhelds increasing ability to post thoughts and images from anywhere and the development of the so called mobile web but have we really looked in depth at its ability to foster activism especially in countries where there is lack of personal freedoms and media censorship?

Reuters bases mojo kit around 5 MP Nokia N95

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 12:07:16 PST

Reuters the news agency revealed plans today to equip reporters with tools for mobile journalism. Working with Nokia to develop the MoJo kit, the aim is to allow posting of content via a mobile device without technical or editorial support. The original plans also call for supporting HD mobile video as soon as possible. So why this sudden interest in the MOJO kit? For starters, Reuters like news agencies worldwide are realizing the power of mobile devices. Cell phones are everywhere as are people and it is to an organizations benefit to have as much real time visual information of an event as humanely possible.

Technorati's State of the Blogsphere December 2007

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 10:54:45 PST

Technorati's quarterly State Of The Blogsphere (http://technorati.com/weblog/2007/04/328.html) reports are well known. The latest shows Japanese as the leading posting language with almost 37% of the total followed closely by English at 36%. The report also states that most Japanese blog posts tend to be shorter than English counterparts with a focus more on jokes or quick comments vs the more traditionally structured posts and that a large number of these are being posted by mobile devices.

Juicecaster, your personal mobile broadcast network

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 16:00:00 PDT

Juicecaster 3.0 allows you to post messags, pictures and enjoy social networking directly from your phone or handheld device. Once connected to the JuiceCast network, you can use the MediaBox functionality to maniulate text and rich media and instantly post it to your MySpace, Live Journal and Blogger profiles to name just a few. Juicecaster allows you to capture your life as it happens and share it with your worldwide community of friends. A lite version of the products extends WAP based functionality to older phones - all you need is a connection.

Moblogging could get boost as people embrace phone downloads

Sat, 26 Aug 2006 16:00:00 PDT

Almost 13.5 million mobile subscribers downloaded a game onto their handsets in Q2 2006 representing a huge increase in such activity and almost $47 million profit for the companies involved. As expected companies such as Namco and Gameloft ranked among the top. This is great proof that increasing number of people are using their phones for advanced functions and gives a boost for those creating moblogging products independant of provider and service sites. Developers would now be encouraged to produce commercial grade products for this as yet largely untapped market. Better software and more choices could see moblogging explode.

Deep Space Moblogging, "Hallo World" from Anousheh Ansari

Sat, 30 Sep 2006 16:00:00 PDT

Anousheh Ansari, the first woman space tourist is among a handful to ever blog from space - yes, astronauts (http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/astronauts/journals_astronauts.html) have been doing it for ages. Ever since boarding her shuttle flight for the ISS in near Earth orbit, Anousheh has been sharing her thoughts (http://spaceblog.xprize.org/) and her Space Explorer (http://www.flickr.com/photos/spaceexplorer/) Flickr photo stream with the world. Describing everything from the initial take off to making fun of space fashion she is at once technical and also a like a child on a wonderous journey.

Nakama brings easy MySpace and Flickr photo uploads

Thu, 05 Oct 2006 16:00:00 PDT

Nakama.ca the latest venture from Toronto based Ambient Vector - the brainchild of Sutha Kamal - is a media and other rich content sharing site for handhelds. Images and other rich content can be easily uploaded and the service even lets you know (via SMS) about successful submits. The free service is compatible with MySpace, Flickr Windows LiveSpaces and other popular photo blogging sites and has familiar social netowrking functions such as tagging ratings and syndication.

Italians lead world in mobile FIFA coverage and video projects

Thu, 07 Sep 2006 14:24:38 PDT

Ok, so as predicted, the US largely ignored this event but the rest of the world knows that soccer is king! From the German collaborative mobile blogs and other projects reported by this site and countless others, we knew that World Cup 2006 was as much a testbed for mobile technologies as watching the worlds finest dribble the football ball across the field. Italians led the mobile video field with 6% of users checking out footage followed by the French with 3% with 3G users comprising 14% of all usage.

Youtube and Facebook see sharp mobile video upload trend

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 16:00:00 PDT

Telephia drives home the increasing popularity of moible/phone video with some latest figures based on upload statistics from popular sites such as YouTube Facebook and Myspace, saying that over 8 million users are using their phones to capture and share video. Although that represents only 3% of US phone wireless subscribers, it's a massive increase in such activity especially for Motorola RAZR, Nokia 6105 and Motorola E815 users.

Samsungs rebranded Cybershot phones driving handset sales

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 16:00:00 PDT

It's finally happening - Worldwide mobile handset shipments are slated to reach a billion units this year with Q3 results totalling almost 255 million - a 7.9 percent increase from last quarter and almost 21 percent higher than a year ago. As expected, China and India represent much of this growth but all is not lost in Europe or the highly developed North American markets either. As early holiday season shopping gets underway, incentive pricing for normal upgraders and premium devices for trend setters continue to drive demand. Samsung pairing with Sony for rebranded Cybershot phones seems to be playing well for both parties.

14 % of mobile handsets in Japan and Korea support mobile TV

Tue, 24 Oct 2006 16:00:00 PDT

Japanese and South Korean consumers are early adopters of new technologies, and today, nearly 14 percent of all mobile handsets in South Korea support Digital Mobile Broadcast television. This high percentage is just one indicator of the continuing flow of innovation coming from Korean and Japanese handset designers, a trend explored in a new study from ABI Research on the topic of mobile phone research and development initiatives including 4G.

HTC Excalibur/TMobile Dash WIFI enabled WM5 device with innovative Jogggr strip

Sun, 20 Aug 2006 16:00:00 PDT

More details on HTC's Excalibur smartphone. Yes, it's going to be a full QWERTY device running Smartphone OS but unlike the popular Q, it'll feature QUAD band GSM/EDGE with availabe W-Fi and Blluetooth for a truly encompassing always on experience. Release dates as well as carriers and pricing plans are still in the air, but look for something close to the Q or Cingular 2125 - its main competitors.It will be marketed in the US by T-Mobile as the Dash

Spybot Mobile, great product or more marketing hype?

Fri, 18 Aug 2006 16:00:00 PDT

Spybot Search and Destroy has released a Windows mobile version extending its malware and spyware scanning functionality to handheld devices. A good move considering the sheer volume of Windows related viruses out there. Although many people consider mobile viruses more a marketing hype than an urgent need or even a pressing reality, Spybot's excellent product is available for free for anyone interested in using it.

Extending Web 2.0 for restricted devices

Wed, 16 Aug 2006 16:00:00 PDT

Ajit Jaokar writes writes about the Mobile Web and how it can be extended to allow collective intelligence to restricted devices ie/ anything with a battery such as cell phones or pda's. Using the web an information source and the pc as a local cache, virtually limitless information could be accessed by handheld phones and media devices or really anything carried by a person.

Gary Oldman short premieries on NSeries Studio

Tue, 15 Aug 2006 16:06:33 PDT

Nokia NSeries Studio (http://www.nokia.com/nseries/studio) , a new online movie community where people can upload and showcase digital content, premiered the short film shot by Gary Oldman with his N93 today. Titled Donut the two minute long clip featuring a round reflection in rippling water and a lonesone melody highlights the N93's DVD quality movie recording ability as well as its strength as a mobile production device. Nokia hopes this film will encourage others to record live moments of thier lives - with their N devices of course:)

Pixsense, photo management inspired by frozen frappuccinnos

Tue, 15 Aug 2006 11:31:46 PDT

PixSense has one aim - to let people focus on taking pictures. PixSense does the rest for you - photo uploading,conversion,quality enhancement and sharing with their click and you're done model. As the story goes, Anurag's wife loved photography, but couldn't find a simple way to manage and share her photos. So an idea sparked and many Starbucks' house coffee and frozen frappuccinnos later PixSense was born. Presently in Beta, people are encouraged to sing up for a free account. Cute story aside, let's take a closer took at the service.

75% find mobile web frustrating experience

Tue, 15 Aug 2006 10:30:01 PDT

A new survey by British firm Hostway, indicates as many as 75 % of users (from 1500) surveyed find the mobile web, ie/ accessing the internet from a phone, a frustrating experience at best. Slow loading times, the inability to view sites formatted correctly for small mobile screens and the ability to access sites at all ranked high on the list. Obviously, companies need to start developing mobile compatible content soon but how and around what standard?