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CES 2007 Video: Ontela Sends Photos From Phone To PC
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Gizmatic, Short Bytes, Cell Phones, CES, CES 2007, Features, Software, Videocasts
We met with Dan Shapiro from Ontela here at CES and learned more about their coming mobile photography technology. The average consumer takes more than 150 pictures with their cell phone each year, and does nothing with them - they sit on the phone, unprinted, unsent, and unappreciated. Ontela’s technology automatically transfers photos from your phone to your home computer using your phone’s internet connection.
The Ontela technology is brain dead simple: the trigger for the transfer is as simple as clicking the shutter button. Once you have taken your photo it’s sent to the computer, effectively giving you a computer hard drive sized memory card. You can also choose to have the Ontela service transfer the photos to Flickr, Kodak, or other services for you automatically.
The technology is being sold to carriers and is not available yet, but will be appearing in phones soon - stay tuned for more information on this fantastically simple way to get your photos off your phone, and in to your life.
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Apple Announces The iPhone, Widescreen iPod, Internet Navigator
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Cell Phones, Handhelds, Music, PC / Laptop, Portable Audio / Video
We have been waiting for this one for quite a while, and Apple delivered on the iPhone rumors that have been making the rounds for the better part of a year. The iPhone is more than just a phone though - this is the next generation iPod, a portable version of OS X, and a portable Internet navigator. Let’s first look at the hardware features.
The new iPhone features a 3.5-inch widescreen tough-sensitive display. The screen is a 320x480 at 160 ppi - that is an absolutely amazing feat, as 160 ppi is going to be gorgeous. The phone itself is 11.6 mm thin, and features a 2.0 megapixel camera, quad-band GSM/EDGE, EiFi, and Bluetooth 2.0. Battery life will be 16 hours for audio, 5 hours for talk time, video, and web browsing. Even cooler still is the built-in proximity sensor, which recognizes when the phone is on your ear so that it turns off the screen to save power. The accelerometer senses when the phone is tilted into a portrait or landscape display, and changes what is seen on the screen as appropriate. Lastly, there are ambient light sensors as well.
On the software side of things, the iPhone runs a specialized version of OS X, with the promise of support for full desktop-class applications. The phone also has SMS session support, which looks to have an iChat-like interface. This allows you to follow an SMS conversation back and forth on one screen. The three way calling support on the phone looks to work easily and seamlessly - if you have two calls going at once, simply hit the conference button, and both calls are brought together. Safari is built in, touted as the first fully usable HTML browser on a phone, and it features on-the-fly zooming that reminded us of the Wii Opera Browser. Photo management is top notch, and the phone even support Dashboard widgets as well, allowing for a whole host of software application possibilities that haven’t even been thought of yet.
Apple also announced support for Yahoo! IMAP email, which will be PUSH email similar to what you find on the BlackBerry. Google Maps is also integrated into the phone in a snazzy way, and that includes satellite map support.
The iPhone is going to be offered exclusively through Cingular in the US starting in June, and hits Europe in the fourth quarter of 2007, followed by Asia in 2008. The 4 GB model will be available for $499 with a two-year contract, while the 8 GB model will sell for $599 with two-year contract. Once it passes FCC approval, the phone will be available for purchase from both Cingular and Apple.
Apple has created a great interactive site that lets you see exactly how a bunch of the iPhone features work, which you can check out below.
Read More 
| Apple iPhone Product Page
Mobile Halo Developer Suing Microsoft
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Corporate News, First Person Shooters, Xbox 360
Mobile content develop In-Fusio is suing Microsoft over issues regarding a version of Halo for mobile phones. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is reporting that the lawsuit alleges that Microsoft is wrongfully attempting to end the partnership between the two companies. According to the report, Microsoft wishes to terminate the agreement based on missed payments by In-Fusio. In-Fusio says that it is withholding payments because of Microsoft’s alleged stonewalling while the mobile developer attempts to get design approval.
This does mark the second high-profile deal that has had problems in the past few months; Microsoft’s Halo movie deal fell apart and now there is trouble with this partnership. Bungie and Microsoft have been very protective of the Halo franchise; it is hard to tell if these problems were due bad matches between the corporations or if if Microsoft is being an overprotective parent. Either way, it does appear that with both of the deals, expectations were not met by any of the participating parties.
Read More | The Seattle Post-Inteligencer
2006 Holiday Gift Guide: BlackBerry Pearl 8100
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Cell Phones, Handhelds, Men, Techies, Teens
BlackBerry has gone mainstream with the BlackBerry Pearl 8100. Much more than a business-level messaging device, the Pearl 8100 packs in a 1.3-megapixel camera, vibrant 320x240 display, and MP3 support. The abridged QWERTY keypad allows you to type messages quicker than you would using standard T9, and also keeps the phone as thin as any other cell phone out there, with dimensions of 4.2 x 2 x 0.6-inches. The BlackBerry Pearl 8100 throws away the scroll wheel, and instead uses the Pearl-esque scroll ball in the center of the device. Throw in EDGE support, and you have a winner.
Price: $199 with two-year contract
Read More | BlackBerry Pearl Product Page
Samsung Shows Off 4G Wireless Internet
Posted by Brian Viele Categories: Broadband, Cell Phones, Internet, PC / Laptop, Wireless / WiFi
Today in South Korea, Samsung Electronics demonstrated new 4G wireless technology to the press. Samsung showed 4G technology could carry speeds of 100Mbps over the air. That’s more bandwidth than most current broadband providers can even harness. The demo took place on a bus while traveling across the city. Samsung reps demonstrated high speed access through HDTV streaming as well as data access. According to Samsung, this type of performance should be attainable whether standing still or traveling at over 70mph on the highway.
The speeds demonstrated by Samsung best the WiMAX standard that is currently being used to supply wireless network access city-wide to customers at speeds of up to only 20Mbps. Samsung also did some demonstration showing that the 4G technology could potentially even hit speeds of up to 1Gbps! 1Gbps wireless…the best I can get is Comcast’s ultimate connection at a rockin 6Mbps. Go figure.
Read More | EE Times
ATI Radeon Xpress 1250 for Intel Mobile Processors
Posted by Brian Viele Categories: PC / Laptop
ATI announced today that they are delivering a new chipset including a technologically unmatched integrated graphics processor for Intel mobile processors including the Core Duo. The new Radeon Xpress 1250 is the first Intel chipset utilizing ATI’s revolutionary AVIVO graphics architecture allowing for vibrant images and smooth video playback, for all types of multimedia, including high-definition content. This AVIVO engine includes hardware acceleration for MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264 and WMV9. The IGP also includes an integrated TV encoder providing advanced TV-out capabilities. The internal TV encoder is based on ATI’s Xilleon set top box solution and delivers Macrovision 7.1 copy protection with YPbPr component video output. Resolutions of 480i, 480p, 576i, 576p, 720p and 1080i are supported via component outputs. DVI and HDMI are also supported with an external TMDS transmitter.
But let’s not forget that this isn’t just a mobile video chip, this is a north bridge solution for Intel’s newest processors. The memory controller allows up to 16GB of 400MHz-800MHz DDR2 memory, 512MB of which can be dedicated to the IGP video buffer. And if the IGP doesn’t have quite enough punch for you, one PCI Express x16 slot is available for an external video adapter. The Radeon Xpress 1250 will likely be paired with the SB600 south bridge for 10 USB 2.0, four SATA II, one ATA133 ports, high definition audio and PCI.
NEC will be the first to use the Radeon Xpress 1250 in its notebooks, but expect others to follow closely behind. Also, expect to see desktop variants of this product for both AMD and Intel desktops in the not too distant future.
Read More | ATI
Free Mobile Web Hack on Verizon Wireless
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Cell Phones
Check it out, you can now use Mobile Web on your Verizon Wireless phone, and not pay the $4.99 per month charge to Verizon to do so. In fact, this is a perfectly legal alternative, because you are simply using a different server than the one Verizon Wireless provides. This hack works for any Verizon Wireless phone that supports Mobile Web 1.0 - 2.0. All you need to do is go into the setup menu and make a couple of changes.
Read More 
| MobileWEB4U
EDIT: I should have been more clear. Use MobileWEB4U to find out how to access the appropriate menu on your phone where you change servers. Once you find the menu, enter a proxy server. You can find one at http://www.publicproxyservers.com.
You must also enter both the proxy server address as well as the port it uses. If you don’t have both, it won’t work.
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