Thousands of at a European rock festival, featuring Coldplay, Metallica, and Kings of Leon, were tacked using the Bluetooth feature on their mobile phones. Researches that conducted the test hope to launch new tracking applications for security and retail sectors.
The team from the University of Ghent in Belgium installed a total of 36 Bluetooth scanners most of which were located on the grounds of the rock festive with a few on surrounding roads and nearby bus stops. The scanners, each with a 30 meter radius, were able to track users with a Bluetooth enabled device in real time. Researchers assure festive-goers that no identifying was collected as only the MAC address of each device was used for tracking.
Read how HowardForum member desertbunny caught an iPhone thief. It’s a twisted story that involves iPhones, Blackberries, Google mobile sync and Active sync.
check the whole story out here and kudos to desertbunny.
The Google Mobile Search team announced on its official blog Wednesday that Google Search is now optimized for all mobile devices, smartphones or feature (regular/dumb) phones, in 38 languages.
One of our top goals on the mobile search team is to bring you the comprehensiveness of Google’s web search while optimizing the search experience for your mobile device and in your language. Whether you have a smartphone or a feature phone, if you have mobile internet access you can get the new mobile-optimized Google Search results pages on your phone just about anywhere in the world. Just go to Google.com in your browser and do a search.
The optimized search will look just like Google Search does on your computer. News, images, blog, video and product search results will appear on your mobile device when available. The team is still optimizing mobile specific results, for example a search for Hotels in Toronto will return an easy to read list complete with phone numbers.
Head over to Google to read the complete blog post.
I meant to write about this when the price drops first occurred on July 1st but I was busy setting up a new feature for the site, more on this in the coming days. As you can see from the image about the HTC Magic and HTC Dream, which were released on Rogers Wireless at the beginning of June have been slashed $50 down in price. Both devices are now only $99.99 on a 3 year term with a voice and data plan totaling $45/month. If you purchased either phone from Rogers directly you should be able to get the $50 credited back to your account assuming you are within the 15 day price adjustment window.
Three more phones were leaked in the latest BestBuy Mobile Buyer’s Guide.
Follow the ”more” link for the marketing blurbs in a larger font.
BlackBerry Tour
Launching with TELUS and Bell in July 2009, the BlackBerry Tour fits as well in your pocket as in your hand. The user-friendly, backlit keyboard makes typing emails and working on documents easier than ever, and the 480x360px hi-res display delivers crystal-clear quality-whether you’re browsing the web, watching video or viewing pictures taken by the built-in 3.2MP camera.
HTC Snap Launching with TELUS, keep in touch with the people who matter the most with the Snap’s Inner Circle feature. With the press of a button you can view emails from only your closest contacts, while the Snap’s integrated life management features keep your social and work life in sync and running smoothly.
HTC Touch Pro2 Launching with TELUS, business is quicker with the Touch Pro2. Make conference calls and instantly invite people from your contact list, or even direct from an email. Place it on your desk and you get a professional-quality speakerphone, with clear sound quality and an adjustable tilt screen for easy viewing.
Best Buy Mobile advertisements are always a good place to look for upcoming handsets. The latest publication features a full page of QWERTY devices, one LG device for each carrier. Rogers has the Xenon, Koodo has the Keybo, Fido has the Neon, and Bell and Virgin both have the Rumour. All the device mentioned already have been around for awhile, release at various times throughout the past year. The new device in the lineup belongs to Telus-the LG Keybo 2. The Keybo 2 has a 3.0MP camera with video capabilities, as opposed to the 2.0MP the Keybo 1 sports, and adds an addition 0.2″ screen area for a total of 2.6″.
No word on pricing or a launch date but the buyers guide is only valid until the end of the month so expect the Keybo 2 to launch before August.
I’m still getting used to it so I don’t have that many comments on it yet so here are some miscellaneous observations:
The keyboard slides out. When you use the keyboard the n97 is in landscape mode, otherwise it’s in portrait.
The screen is pretty big and easy to look at. The standby screen has widgets each of which can be configured to display different information like your favourite contacts, recently emails, the weather, etc. They display well whether you have the n97 in landscape or portrait mode.
Like the 5800 the other day the N97′s UI doesn’t always feel very optimized for touch screen. For example sometimes you have to double tap while other times a single tap is sufficient. Another example is how sometimes you can scroll by pressing and holding the screen and then sliding around while other times you can’t. It can make for an inconsistent user interface.
When you’re on the E71′s standby screen you can type someone’s name and it will automatically search your phonebook. This doesn’t work on the N97
The back of the phone feels kind of cheap, like it’s unpainted. It also creaks a tiny bit when you slide the hold button. Not a big deal but it doesn’t inspire confidence. I think the N97 looks more expensive than it feels.
Anyways, I’ll have some more thoughts on the N97 later.
Sorry for the cheesy title. The Xperia’s been around for a couple of months now but it only hit Canada recently. Here’s my unboxing:
The Xperia is smaller than it looks in pictures. It’s a pretty compact phone with some heft to it. Based on that alone you know it means business.
The screen has a resolution of 800×480 which is pretty insane; just remember, high resolution can mean small text. Then again if you have troubles with your eyesight you’re probably not looking at the Xperia anyways.
To differentiate the Xperia from other WinMo phones out there, SE includes different tiles which you can use instead of the Today screen. The idea is that you pick a tile that works best for you. There’s a tile that’s just the Google homepage, an FM radio tile, etc. While the Tiles are a neat idea I question how much 3rd party support they’ll get.
Besides the tiles there it doesn’t seem like SE has done much to customize the Xperia beyond giving it a very Sony Ericsson-esque exterior design. That said there aren’t many 800×480 displays with North American HSDPA band support so I guess the Xperia has that going for it. Still, if you’re drawn by the Xperia’s specs you’re probably going to customize it the way you want anyways which may including removing the tiles completely anyways.
Anyways those are my first impressions. We’ll have more on the Xperia later.
While I don’t like having to use a stylus the included guitar shaped stylus is cute and plays in well with the whole Xpress Music theme. Maybe the next version will come with a minature drum stick…
The 5800 is narrower than say an iPhone or Blackberry Storm but at the same time it’s thicker. Personally I find it makes the 5800XM easier to hold but at the same time it makes the screen feel cramped. You win some and you lose some.
While the 5800 comes with 2 stylii (the guitar pick plus a regular stylus) Nokia intends for you to be able to use the 5800 with just your finger. I wish the screen was a little more ‘slippery’ like the screen on the iPhone. So it doesn’t feel as nice when sliding my finger around on the 5800′s screen. Still, a few pizzas or a bucket of fried chicken should help me get some grease on the screen so it feels more smooth.
There are 2 speakers on the left side. While I’m used to Nokia including good speakers on their phones the 5800′s is really good. It’s loud and relatively full bodied sounding. Still, they’re small speakers so don’t expect miracles, just expect better than when you can get elsewhere.
The 5800 runs Nokia’s S60 user interface, the same one that powers most of their other smartphones (from 3650 to n96). The difference is that the 5800′s is a touchscreen version. While I’m able to use it just fine the user interface feels slightly broken. You see when you’re navigating top level menus you can select items by tapping on them (so far so good). However, some menu items require you to double tap them to select them, tapping them once only highlights them.
Entering text is another strange thing. There are 2 keyboards; one is a tiny keyboard that you have to use a stylus with. The other is a full screen keyboard that’s so ‘full screen’ that it hides the program you’re working on. It’s really weird.
There’s a button above the top right corner of the screen. Pressing it pulls up a ‘ribbon’ – (Office 2007 anyone?) which lets you quickly launch the music player, browser, pictures, etc). It’s a nice feature.
Anyways, those are my first impressions. I’ll have a review up later.
The iPhone 3GS was launched on July 19th in most parts of the world, with it available from both Rogers and Fido in Canada. Two weeks after the launch and the 3GS is already sold out at Rogers and Fido retail locations across the country. The 3GS is reportedly still in stock at Apple stores across Canada. The iPhone 3G, last years model, may still be in stock at retail locations and will continue to be sold until stock is depleted. Expect stock of the 3GS to be replenished next week with back orders being filled first.
