Posts Tagged ‘iPhone’

Interview: zintin CEO talks iPhone, Android and mobile future

by Steve O'Hear

June 6th, 2008 | Posted in Mobile | Comments2 Comments

Interview: Zintin CEO talks iPhone, Android and mobile future“Smartphones have historically been oriented towards business users. The iPhone is more of an entertainment platform”, notes John Jersin, CEO of mobile startup zintin. “Its not that there won’t be serious business applications on the iPhone, but the apps will have exposure to a different audience, and developers are very aware of that fact”, he says.

The brainchild of three Stanford computer science graduates, Silicon Valley-based zintin, like hundreds of other new startups, is exploring the new Internet frontier: Mobile. Described as a mix of social networking, media sharing and location awareness, zintin will debut first on the iPhone later this summer, while at the same time the company has already began porting the application to Android, Google’s open-source mobile operating system.

In an email exchange with last100, Jersin talked about the opportunities for developers that both iPhone and Android represent, how the two platforms differ in their approach to openness, and what the mobile landscape may look like in 12-18 months time.

Excerpts from our Q&A edited for space and clarity, follow after the jump…

Continue reading »

Android, it's the browser stupid

by Steve O'Hear

June 1st, 2008 | Posted in Mobile | Comments2 Comments

Android at a crossroadsIt’s hard not to be impressed by the latest demonstration of Android, Google’s soon-to-be-released open-source mobile OS. While my colleague Dan Langendorf is reserving judgment until a killer application and real handsets emerge, I’m already sold on Android’s User Interface, which looks to have borrowed just enough from Apple’s iPhone, as well as some of the design Zen of the original Palm OS, to more than satisfy my needs.

Of course, the biggest promise of Android isn’t its UI but its openness, and it’s here where comparisons to the iPhone are also inevitable. On the one hand Google wants us to believe that Android isn’t a direct response to Apple’s own offering (which, chronologically, may well be true), but at the same time is keen to remind developers that in contrast to the iPhone they won’t need to get Android applications certified by anyone, nor will there be any hidden APIs (application programming interfaces) accessible only to handset makers or mobile operators — another dig at Apple.

Continue reading »

Google demos Android again; it's full of promise, but we're still waiting for the real deal

by Daniel Langendorf

May 29th, 2008 | Posted in Comms, Mobile | Comments2 Comments

android ioGoogle demonstrated its Android operating system again, this time at the I/O conference in San Francisco. And, well, it’s still full of promise, just in case you were wondering.

As you would expect from the company that brings you search and Google Maps, Android handles information delivery, location and navigation extremely well — or so we think. There’s still no actual Android phones to play with.

The coolest feature shown was a “compass” tool that automatically roams with the phone while a user looks at photos of a city map.

But the rest of what was shown was, well, underwhelming or just plain expected.

Continue reading »

AT&T says its 3G network is nearing completion; we're not so sure

by Daniel Langendorf

May 22nd, 2008 | Posted in Comms, Mobile | CommentsNo Comments

AT&T says that its rollout of a speedier 3G mobile network is nearing completion in the U.S.

Bull.

AT&T says all it needs to do is add six more markets by the end of June and deployment of High Speed Uplink Packet Access technology — faster access to data networks for mobile phones, for those who could care less about tech speak — will reach more than 280 markets.

So? Will you get 3G speeds where you live or work?

A few miles away from me, in Southlake, Texas, there’s an Apple Store where bunches of people will wait in line, probably in near 100 degree heat, to secure the highly anticipated iPhone 2.0. If they live in the affluent Dallas and Fort Worth suburbs of Southlake or Colleyville or the more modest ‘burbs of Grapevine, Keller, the Mid Cities, Justin, Lewisville — the list goes on — the new iPhone may not receive 3G coverage.

And this is according to AT&T’s own coverage viewer list, which you can review here.

Click on a neighboring city and drill down by zip code, and AT&T’s coverage viewer shows 3G is in every nook and cranny whether a specific city or suburb is listed or not.

Which is it?

Continue reading »

Finding streaming content for iPhone, iPod touch: There's a lot available

by Daniel Langendorf

May 21st, 2008 | Posted in Comms, Mobile | Comments9 Comments

I just got finished organizing a Home Screen on my iPhone with a whole new subject area — streaming content. It’s one that, until now, I have completely ignored because I didn’t think it was for me.

I was wrong.

Having FlyTunes, AccuRadio, Revision 3, and others on a Home Screen opens up even more possibility for the iPhone (or iPod touch). What if I want to catch up with “Tekzilla” or “The GigaOm Show” and I’ve not downloaded them via iTunes, or I’m not sitting in front of my computer or the AppleTV?

Easy. Tap the Revision 3 icon on the iPhone, tap All Shows, and scroll through a listing of programs. I expect this to come in handy when I’m out and about with the wife and kid and they’re trying on clothes for three hours.

Om Malik to the rescue.

So like a kid with a new toy, I surveyed streaming content for the iPhone and was pleasantly surprised by what I found. I assembled the following list based on stuff I like, so if you have other favorites, please let us know in the comments.

I have a few spaces left on this Home Screen.

Continue reading »

Google prepping more iPhone-native apps

by Steve O'Hear

May 19th, 2008 | Posted in Mobile | Comments4 Comments

Google prepping more iPhone-native appsWith Apple set to roll out the next major software update for the iPhone, and with it official support for third-party applications, it will come as no surprise that Google is busy prepping some new wares. “We expect to have applications at Day One”, Google’s vice president of engineering, Vic Gundotra, tells Macworld.

Even before the publicly available Software Development Kit (SDK) announced in March, Google had partnered with Apple to produce two of the iPhone’s flagship applications: Google Maps and a native YouTube client.

So what can we expect next from Google? While Gundotra didn’t give many clues, he did say that the company is eager to take advantage of native access to Apple’s device.

Continue reading »

iSlsk brings filesharing to the iPhone and iPod touch

by Josh Catone

May 15th, 2008 | Posted in Audio, Mobile | Comments2 Comments

iSlsk brings filesharing to the iPhone and iPod touchSoulseek, which was creted by former Napster programmer Nir Arbel and visibly resembles early versions of Napster, is not one of the most popular filesharing apps. It doesn’t have the mainstream appeal of Kazaa or Limewire, nor does it garner the press attention of BitTorrent. And that’s all probably fine with its users, who tend to gravitate toward more independent musical fare. But Soulseek has done something the others haven’t — made the jump to the iPhone.

Developer Errrick created iSlsk, a new filesharing client for jailbroken iPhones that works with the Soulseek network, by basing it on open source versions of the client for the Mac. “I saw all the capabilities this little gadget had and then thought ‘why didn’t someone already do something like this?'” he told TorrentFreak.

Continue reading »

It's like Christmas in July: Google announces winners of Android Developers Challenge

by Daniel Langendorf

May 13th, 2008 | Posted in Mobile | Comments1 Comment

androidscannerSeeing the results of the Google Android Developer Challenge today was like being told what you’re getting for Christmas … in July. Worse yet, what’s under the tree is mostly socks and underwear.

Google announced the 50 round-one winners in the worldwide search for the best Android-developed applications. For using Google’s open-source mobile operating system, each winner will receive $25,000 to further fund their apps.

Also see: Android Developer Challenge I Winners Announced: Our Picks (ReadWriteWeb)

For a list of the winners, you can go to several places on the Web:

It’s not that the winners are unworthy and their applications unimaginative and useless. Quite to the contrary. These point to the future of mobile applications.

Continue reading »

iPhone who? Opera Mini gets speedy update

by Steve O'Hear

May 13th, 2008 | Posted in Mobile | Comments1 Comment

Opera Mini keeps getting betterAs we’ve noted before, Apple isn’t the only company putting the full Web in your pocket. When Opera released version 4 of its Java-based Opera Mini browser last June, we suggested that features such as ‘desktop view’, tiled zooming, and the use of a proxy server to speed up browsing, meant that it went a long way to addressing any iPhone-envy.

With the release of version 4.1, Opera isn’t resting on its laurels. New features include the ability to search for text within a Web page, auto-complete of URLs as you type based on your bookmarks and browsing history, and — as long as your phone supports the higher spec JSR-75 version of Java — you can now upload files and save Web pages for offline browsing. The ability to handle uploads means that Opera Mini can, for example, be used to share photos with sites such as Flickr, Facebook or a personal blog, all within the browser. Additionally, Opera claims that improvements to its proxy servers means that Web page requests are now up to 50% faster, resulting in “desktop-like speeds”.

Check out the company’s own video tour of Opera Mini after the jump…

Continue reading »

The AP forms Mobile News Network, bringing 100+ newspapers and local news to iPhone

by Daniel Langendorf

May 5th, 2008 | Posted in Mobile | Comments1 Comment

ap logoThe idea for newspapers delivered to mobile devices goes back many years, long before the iPhone. Unfortunately, cell phones were designed more for fashion than information, and the newspaper industry had its head in the sand when it came to innovative new ways to deliver news other than print in the Age of the Internet.

Sadly, not much happened and what did was a horrible user experience.

So it’s great to see that The Associated Press, the top news service in the U.S., has teamed with 100 member newspapers to formally launch the Mobile News Network (apnews.com). Finally, it feels like newspaper news is being delivered to your cell phone, wherever you are, and without the messy ink on your fingers.

The Mobile News Network, announced in April with just 18 participating newspapers, is intended to run on the iPhone but will also work on other mobile phones. What differentiates it from similar services offered by Google and Yahoo is access to local news.

Continue reading »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »