In order to entice more consumers to Blackberry addiction, RIM has announced a partnership with Microsoft. RIM will integrate Windows Live Hotmail (with push capabilities, naturally) and Messenger onto the Blackberry platform some time this Summer.
As rumored, HTC unveiled today Touch Diamond, a touchscreen Windows Mobile device featuring VGA screen and other goodies. If official press pictures are any indication, it will be one gorgeous, fully featured device. More details (such as price and availability with carriers other than Orange) to come later. Full press release after the jump:
Alltel is sweetening the deal for loyal customers of My Circle plans by adding you a free number. So if you have been on that plan for at least 2 years, instead of 10 and 20 numbers, you’ll now get 11 and 21 numbers. It doesn’t seem like much, but a freebie now and then doesn’t hurt anyone.
An unfortunate series of events that can be blamed on a poor localization of a cell phone has ended with two persons dying, and three more put in jail. It’s been reported that 20-year old Emine and her 24-year old husband Ramazan were going through a tough separation, exchanging bitter SMS messages when, one day, Ramazan sent a message to say "you change the topic every time you run out of arguments" which ended up being "you change the topic every time they are fucking you" due to poor localization. Instead of saying "sıkısınca", the phone’s lack of closed i sent out the word as "sikisince".
This is where it turns out tragic: he went to her and her family to apologize, and he was stabbed by her father and her two sisters… he wasn’t killed instantly, found a knife and managed to kill Emine. He later committed suicide in jail.
Sprint announced its iPhone-killer Samsung Instinct. Featuring 3.1 inch touchscreen, it bests Apple’s iPhone in several areas including EV-DO Rev A, GPS, haptic feedback, customizable home screen, expandable memory and even GPS navigation.
SPECIFICATIONS
• Dimensions: 2.17 x 4.57 x 0.49 inches; 4.4 ounces
• Display: 3.1″ TFT (240 x 432 pixels and 262K vibrant colors)
• Standard Lithium (LiIon) battery: up to 5.75 hours continuous talk time
ENTERTAINMENT/PERSONALIZATION
• Sprint TV® with an extensive selection of live and on-demand programming including Sprint Exclusive Entertainment (SEE), the industry’s only made-for-mobile sports and entertainment video
programming network
• Sprint Music StoreSM allowing users to wirelessly download full-length songs directly to their phone for just 99 cents each
• More than a dozen streaming-radio applications, including Sprint Radio with more than 150 channels
• Sprint Media Manager PC to phone transfer application
• Background music mode allowing the user to play music while text messaging, playing games or surfing the Internet
• Customizable Favorites menu
PRODUCTIVITY
• Sprint Navigation with GPS-enabled audio and visual turn-by-turn driving directions, one-click traffic rerouting and more than 10 million local listings
• Live Search for Sprint, powered by Microsoft, provides easy access to directory information, integrated GPS-enabled directions, interactive maps and one-touch click to call access
• Voice to Action button providing many functions using voice activation including call, text, picture messaging, traffic, movie, sports, news and search.
• HTML Web browsing
• Visual Voicemail allowing users to listen to messages in their order of preference and manage them with a tap of the screen
• 2.0 megapixel camera with 2x digital zoom and video camcorder
• Advanced Stereo Bluetooth® Wireless Technology with audio caller ID
• Access to corporate and consumer (POP3) email including AOL, Gmail and Yahoo!
• Threaded text messaging provides a view of the full conversation
• Mobile Sync to restore contact information if the device is lost, stolen or damaged
• Phone as Modem connects the phone with a computer for Internet and email access
Microsoft has a new promotion where you can win a Zune simply by sending an e-mail from your mobile device. On your phone, login to your Hotmail account (through Hotmail Mobile), and send an e-mail and you’ll be eligible to win a red 8GB Zune as long as you are a US resident.
Full details at the official contest website.
Samsung’s new flagship will be called Soul, part of its Ultra Editions. Soul is a quad-band GSM slider with 7.2Mbps HSDPA for some 3G action, 2.2 inch display, 5 megapixel camera with Power LED flash, face detection and image stabilization, FM radio, microSD slot, Bluetooth in a 12.9 mm thin package.
Another innovation over previous models is Magic Touch interface which replaces the traditional d-pad with a touchscreen that adapts to what you are doing on the phone. For example, if you’re in the music player, it will show music controls. This phone is set to hit the European retail shelves in April this year.
Here’s another cell phone related death… a man in South Korea was killed by his cell phone when it exploded in his shirt pocket, puncturing his heart. The phone was manufactured by LG, but the company released a statement saying death by exploding cell phone battery was virtually impossible.
[Read story at CNN, Read story in Korean at Yonhapnews]
UPDATE: it looks like this story is fake… KWON Young-sup, who originally discovered the body, has been charged with manslaughter after he admitted hitting the victim with a 15-ton hydraulic rig…
You can now run Palm OS Garnet VM on N-series tablets (such as N770, N800 and the upcoming N810) by using Garnet Virtual Machine Software. The best news is the virtualization software is available for free: it is still in the beta stage right now, but Access is promising it will remain free when the final version hits the streets at the end of this year.
Here’s a video demo of how it works, courtesy of TabletBlog:
HTC has consistantly and reliably created high-quality Windows Mobile phones. Its latest creation seems to outdo so many of its devices with a sleek package, high-performance and technology, and even a low price. HTC Shadow, featuring a 2 megapixel camera, wi-fi, 2.6″ QVGA screen, all in a slim slider format with pull-out BlackBerry-style 2-keys-per-letter keyboard.
Look for this device to hit the US T-Mobile this Wednesday October 31, 2007 at just $200 with 2 year contract, or $150 with 2 year unlimited data plan.
Update:
As promised, it is now available for purchase: retail price is $349, and you can get your own Shadow in brown or green. A bit odd choice of colors for mobile phones, but it certainly beats having another black or silver phone on the market. Maybe Microsoft’s own Zune is suddenly making brown fashionable…
