Day: April 6, 2010

“Microsoft is holding a press event next week, but its subject matter remains unknown. Speculation is running rampant that it’s the debut of a new mobile operating system and a pair of Microsoft-branded phones to run it.The invite is labeled “It’s Time to Share” and the event will be held on April 12. The phrase isn’t used in the marketing materials for the two Microsoft-branded devices that leaked recently, which instead use the phrase “Make Your Network More Social.” Nevertheless, unconfirmed reports disclose that these models will be released soon, so their respective debuts at this event seems likely.
‘Project Pink’ Coming to Light
Unconfirmed reports about the mysterious “Project Pink” have been around for nearly two years. They started shortly after Microsoft acquired Danger Inc., the maker of Sidekick smartphones. Supposedly these two companies have teamed up to make a messaging-oriented operating system for phones targeted at consumers.It will reportedly use the same OS core as Windows Phone 7 and the Zune, but won’t have the same user interface.Windows Phone 7 will be for high-end models and have an emphasis on multimedia, while the devices under “Project Pink” will allegedly be more affordable and more focused on social networking. The two apparently won’t be able to share third-party software.” Read more here:

“Nokia today announced the availability of Ovi Maps 3.3 (3.03) for the Nokia E71 and E66. The updated version brings the free, worldwide pedestrian and car navigation edition of Ovi Maps to these devices. Nokia says the release is a result of listening to consumer feedback; ‘you spoke, we listened’ says the press release. The E71 and E66 version do not include the Lonely Planet guides due to technical constraints, but the core navigation offering is the same as that found on more recent devices.

“The process of making the latest version of Ovi Maps available for existing devices is quite involved, but the team managed to include complete navigation functionality. Due to technical constraints in back porting the app to existing devices, unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to offer further premium content such as Guide Michelin and Lonely Planet guides.”

In the press release Nokia note that the E71 and E66 will be “the last of our S60 3.1 and older devices to sport this version of Ovi Maps”. This means we will not be see free navigation support for the Nokia N95 and other S60 3.1 devices. However as we noted in an earlier story Nokia have reduced the licenses prices significantly for earlier version of Ovi Maps, which means navigation is available for older devices at a relatively low cost.Ovi Maps is a relatively large install and will be placed on the C: drive, so you will need too ensure you have enough free disk space (recommended 10 MB or more) before installing the application. It will replace any existing version of Ovi Maps or Nokia Maps that is installed on the device.In usage there are occasions (as with earlier version on the Nokia E71) when Ovi Maps can, in some areas, feel somewhat sluggish compared to more recent devices. However the streamlined user interface is a significant improvement and the new version is a recommended install for all E71 and E66 users, not least for the availability of free car and pedestrian navigation.

“Were you thinking that the Samsung Wave (remember to check out our hands-on, too) would be the only Bada-powered handset the Korea-based company would manufacture? Of course not. Because it’s Samsung, and they never just leave well enough alone. Especially not when they know they’ve got a good thing in their hand. While many may think the Bada mobile Operating System is just another OS in the huge pile of others, we’re sure that Samsung sees it a bit differently, and we’re glad to finally see some images of the devices that are heading down the track with the new OS. The images you’re looking at are coming off a slide, in which Samsung was utilizing to show where they see the price points for their devices, along with showing off a few more handsets in the process. Unfortunately though, we don’t have any names, specifications, or anything of the sort, but we can safely assume that any of the devices launching with the Bada OS are probably going to ship with a Super AMOLED display. Or, you know, at least There’s no mention of release dates either, but Samsung did mention that we should be happy waiting until Autumn. We don’t necessarily know about that, but we probably don’t have a choice. After all, if we can get any of these handsets with the full QWERTY keyboard and Super AMOLED display for somewhere in the ballpark of $350 (10,000 Rubles), we’d be happy campers.” via slashphone.com
an AMOLED one.

“SPB Software has announced their first release for Palm’s new platform. SPB TV for webOS brings a mobile optimized IPTV viewer designed for tuning into publicly available digital television channels from all over the world. SPB TV gives mobile users easy access to over a hundred of international TV channels and the application includes a TV browser with quick channel previews, an instantly accessible TV guide for all offered channels, quick channel switching, adaptive bandwidth control and more. SPB TV for webOS is compatible with Palm Pre and Palm Pre Plus devices with firmware version 1.4 and above. Pixi support is planned for an upcoming release. The application can be downloaded from Palm’s on-device AppCatalog for free, while the application is ad-supported. With the arrival of SPB TV for webOS, SPB Software expands the list of supported platforms (including also Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and Symbian), at the same time starting a new line of TV 2.0 apps – free-of-charge, no-subscription-fee programs supported with advertising revenues. Ads in SPB TV 2.0 are still and unobtrusive, lasting only the amount of time necessary to buffer the stream when starting a channel.” via palminfocenter.com