Steve's been thinking about battery life and discusses how long your smartphone really needs to last to be useful. As long as you can get through a working day, any excess battery life is a bonus. All your phone needs to do is "cross that battery threshold"...
The worlds of mobile and social networking keep circling each other but (the hibernating Jaiku aside) never seem to really hit it off. Ewan Spence has been looking at Zyb, an online sync host and social network that launched recently. How integrated is Zyb and is it worth signing up for yet?
In a move which is set to further shake up the UK data market, T-Mobile has launched free access to it's network of WiFi hotspots for new users signing up to it's web'n'walk plus or pro plans. What with almost unlimited 3G data and WiFi, this move sets T-Mobile yet another step ahead of the competition in the rush to offer for "free" data access. The full press release follows.
Following on from yesterday's question of "is Jaiku dead?" Jyri Engestrom replied both on the Jaiku Blog , but also to some questions over on my blog . The short answer is the integration with Google has been a massive headache, but things are going to start picking up in the near future.
UK readers looking for the latest smart phone deals will be interested in the price comparison facilities over at newly launched Phones Limited (via SMSTextNews ). And yes, it's probably a good idea to use this alongside Steve's infamous grid of current smart phone features.
The next time you think Symbian Signed is a major problem on your otherwise wide-open smartphone, consider the world of Apple's iPhone. This scare story tells how even one unauthorised ringtone was enough for Apple to refuse honouring the device's warranty. Gulp. Hey, Apple, remember that famous Big Brother video you wanted to smash up? Careful you don't turn into the same character...
Ever since Jaiku was bought up by Google, questions have been gathering about the mobile presence-based network. Now Ewan's spotted a pertinent post by Ryan Paul and has written up his own thoughts on the saga . Is Jaiku long for this world?
Wired are carry a rather US-centric report on the history of the iPhone. Dramatically titled "How the iPhone Blew Up The Wireless Industry", it's still a good read, and for those of us outside the US, an interesting look at the US carrier structure that every handset manufacturer has to deal with.
Carlo Longino has been covering the CES Show for MocoNews, and he's posted a summary of the impact on the announcements and products from the floor of the Las Vegas Convention Centre; Mobile Internet Devices, Mobile TV, better Bluetooth and pico projectors were on display, but Longino wonders if CES is falling behind 3GSM (Feb 11-14 this year) in the product release schedule?
Popular Palm and Windows Developer Astraware (with a number of mobile phone titles, and the promise of S60 and UIQ this year) has been acquired by Handmark, the company announced this week . I've been waiting a long time for the team behind the addictive Bejeweled titles to come to Symbian OS, and they promise it's still happening in Q1 this year! Congratulations to Howard Tomlinson and the team.
