All of the latest mobile news
Transferring music to my Nokia N95 has always been a pain. With the release of the Nokia Music Client, things should get much easier.
It requires a Windows-based system and a compatible Nokia phone. The list of supported phones:
I’m looking forward to giving it a try. I hope to install it tonight and I’ll let you know what I think. You can get it yourself here.
About about a month in beta, Opera Mini 4.1 has been released. The featureset is unchanged, consisting of:
There’s no reason not to upgrade, so go get it at OperaMini.com.
The much-rumored BlackBerry Bold has been officially unveiled. Among other things, it features:
I’ve never thought that BlackBerry devices looked very sharp, but this one looks nice. I’d still rather have a device with a slide-out keyboard (like the upcoming XPERIA X1), so you can have a big screen and a QWERTY keyboard. Still, this is a very nice-looking phone.
The device will be available on AT&T this summer for a price of roughly $300 to $400.
It’s been widely reported that the online Apple store has completely stopped selling iPhones. This would seem to indicate that the 3G iPhone is coming soon. It’s widely believed that the new iPhone will been unveiled at WWDC 2008 (June 9-13), but now it appears the phone may be released before then.
TechCrunch points out that in addition to the online store being out, 02 in the UK has stopped selling phones, and many folks have had difficulty purchasing them in stores.
Also, 3G support is apparently no longer a 99% certainty — it’s 100%.
The Symbian Blog has a great review of Guardian, software written to help protect your phone from unauthorized usage. For most of us, that means trying to get it back if it’s been stolen. Once configured, you can send an SMS to the phone and it will silently send back a wide variety of information.
Among other things, it can:
The only catch is that the thief can’t flash the phone, which any smart thief would do. However, if they fail to flash it, then you’ve got some great tools on your hands to try to track it back down!
Read the full review for more details and a bunch of screenshots.
Version 4 of the VZ Navigator has just been released! Among the new features:
They’re really doing a nice job of adding features that take advantage of the data connection, something that most standalone GPS units can’t do. The cost is $9.99/month or $2.99 for a single day.
It was rumored to come out on May 9th, but it’s official today.
It’s a good looking phone. I love the form factor, and it’s got a nice, large touchscreen. In addition, it features:
All in all, it looks to be a pretty slick phone, though it’s certainly going to suffer with Verizon’s horrible UI. Anyone pick one up yet?
As reported by PHONE Magazine, Handango has (mistakenly?) confirmed a mid-September release date for the X1. See the image below:
I’m very anxious to see this phone, so I hope the information is accurate.
(via AllAboutSymbian) Powered by ARC Transistance, Nokia Maps will soon have real-time traffic to help you find the quickest route to your destination. It will cover 16 countries in Europe, but apparently none in the US (yet). Hopefully that will change if things go well.
Press Release:
Espoo, April 29, 2008 - Nokia and ARC Transistance, the European network of automobile clubs, announced today that they are working together to provide Real Time Traffic Information to users of Nokia mobile devices. Nokia will offer the service as a premium offering in Nokia Maps 2.0 and in future versions of Nokia Maps. By adding RTTI, Nokia can save precious time for drivers by alerting them of traffic, construction or other road hazards that could affect their journey. When Nokia Maps receives the road updates from ARC Transistance, the application can dynamicly re-route during navigation and provide a faster route. This is a significant milestone for Nokia Maps, which makes navigation an even more compelling experience for Nokia device owners.ARC Transistance Traffic Information services aggregate the real time road and traffic conditions of 16 countries in Europe, and growing. The leading navigation industry players also use the ARC Transistance Traffic Information services to enhance the routing guidance and navigation experience of their customers.
Nokia Maps turns mobile devices into local mapping and routing engines with a navigation option, providing worldwide mapping free of charge. In so doing, the unique hybrid solution combines the advantages of on-board and off-board navigation. Maps and location-aware content only need to be loaded once - they are then always available on the device.
Upgrading to the GPS navigation option enables your mobile to become a powerful connected personal navigation device, that provides clear, turn-by-turn visual and voice guidance. If your Nokia device does not have built-in GPS, you can also use an external GPS module with a compatible device. With vector maps provided by TeleAtlas and Navteq, Nokia Maps now has maps covering over 150 countries, with over 70 of them navigable.
The new version of Nokia Maps 2.0 for selected devices is available on the Nokia Beta Labs website: http://www.nokia.com/betalabs. Beta Labs shares some of the exciting new ideas that Nokia is working on and let users help shape their future development. A strong online community has developed around Beta Labs, attracting especially technology savvy, early adopter mobile enthusiasts. The current version of Nokia Maps and the Nokia Map Loader are freely available for download* for selected devices at http://www.nokia.com/maps.
According to PHONE Magazine, the upcoming Garmin Nuvifone may cost $499.99 with a two year AT&T contract, which would include a mandatory $19.99 unlimited data and navigation plan.
Considering that it requires a voice plan to go with it, you’re looking at a minimum of $60/month after the $500 purchase. That seems a bit high.
At this point, they might be able to get away with it since it has some compelling features. However, if the 3G iPhone includes GPS, much of that advantage will disappear and this price tag will seem much worse.
