I know, I know — it was just starting to seem like we might go a full week without another Windows Phone 7 handset leaking out, right? Not gonna happen. Really, these things leak at such a constant rate that we’re starting to wonder if it’s not someone at Microsoft’s way of keeping WinPho7 on the radar. Either way: look, new phone!
For almost every product, there is a polar opposite. I think it’s safe to say that the John’s Phone is the exact opposite of the iPhone/Blackberry Twitter-booking web browsing contraptions that the kids are using these days.
The John’s phone is simple to the point of minimalism, with no LCD display, just numbers and a send and an end button. The John’s Phone is available in white, pink, brown, black or green, works with just about any SIM you throw in it, and sells for €69.95 (about $89 US). I think it’s a bit too simple for my tastes — but at the very least, it makes a good snowpocalypse phone.
[via BoingBoing]
As a wise man once said: pimpin’ aint easy. Then cell phones came along, and made things even harder. You know how hard it is to keep your pimpin’ voice strong when it’s being compressed down to pretty much nothing and sent through a few dozen cell towers? In the age of GSM, no one gets to sound like a stunnah on the phone. No one*.
Smule, the masterminds behind the oh-so-damn-clever I Am T-Pain iPhone app, think they have the answer: your voice? Auto-Tune it. Slap some beats on top, and then send it straight to your boo’s voicemail.
As MG wrote yesterday, Android is only as open as the carrier wants it to be and now we essentially have confirmation that Verizon is locking in Bing for many of its Android phones.
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The black box that is the Apple review process is creaking open. In a very brief release, Apple has essentially relaxed the requirement that developers use Apple’s own development tools “as long as the resulting apps do not download any code.” They’ve also published some review guidelines, allowing programmers to understand just what will go on behind the curtains in Cupertino.
What does this mean? Well, in the updated SDK license, circa April of this year, a number of paragraphs essentially banned outside development tools including systems that ported Flash, Silverlight, Java, and other platforms to the iPhone. Now, presumably, any app that runs on the iPhone, regardless of source, will be considered. The language is so mushy that it’s still unclear what this means.
As for the review process, Apple will be publishing review guidelines, allowing app developers to meet the requirements before submitting. This is definitely a welcome change considering the current Star Chamber atmosphere at the app store.
Press release after the jump.
In this video we find AT&T’s rep, Seth Bloom, reaching out to New Yorkers in particular and explaining, as simply as possible, while their calls suck and how AT&T is trying to fix the problem.
Essentially AT&T is starting to move some calls to the the 850 MHz band for more in-building coverage. The best thing about this video is that Seth the AT&T Blogger Guy looks like someone you’d want to give a noogie to (that’s a good thing) and they show you whats inside those crazy switch boxes on top of buildings. Double rainbow.
Looking for an easy way to get SMS, phone call, and battery life notifications to your desktop? Got an Android phone? Well, Android Notifier will do all that to your PC, Mac, or Linux box for free. All you have to do is install the appropriate software. You can send notifications via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, and choose which notifications you want to receive. You phone will then let you know whenever something happens on your phone. Android Notifier is a free download, but you’ll also need to go to the app’s homepage for detailed instructions on how to install the software and the QR code that’ll take you directly to the Android Marketplace.
[via Gizmodo and ReadWriteWeb]
You know the greatest thing about the R2-D2 Edition Droid 2? It comes with a Live Wallpaper that lets you shift into hyperdrive whenever you want. PUNCH IT, CHEWIE.
You know the greatest thing about the Internet? Said Live Wallpaper, along with a handful of other wallpapers from the R2-D2 Droid, have already leaked out for use on other handsets. Check out the videos of the somewhat ridiculous wallpapers after the jump.
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The news is good for iPhone jailbreakers everywhere this morning — but for Apple? Not so much.
Just minutes after the iOS 4.1 update became available to all, iPhone hacker pod2g has revealed that they’ve discovered a new bootrom exploit, with all recently released iOS hardware seemingly being vulnerable. In less geeky words: the iPhone 4? the new iPod Touch? If it was built anytime before today, it’s theoretically jailbreakable — and there’s not a whole lot Apple can do to fix that.
If you’re one of the people who decided to wait on the leaked final build of iOS 4.1 in hopes that Apple would have an official release soon (look at you and your patience), good news: it’s go time.
While Google has a history of giving Android tasty names for its version names, it seems that they aren’t the only ones that equate green robots with food.
Today, ex-Google China president, Kai-Fu Lee, announced in the Wall Street Journal that he will launch a whole new mobile operating system based on Android, to be known as “Tapas“.
If you’re as eager for the upcoming T-Mobile G2 as everyone else was for its older brother, then you’re probably keen for any info you can get on its crowning feature: the QWERTY keyboard.
Samsung knows you love a good AMOLED. They knows it well. A little too well, actually, what with all the recent shortages they’ve faced.
Samsung aren’t sitting around doin’ nothin’, though.
Samsung told the Wall Street Journal today that their new Mobile Display fabrication plant — set to go live in July 2011 — will increase the current AMOLED display production from 3 million units per month to a jaw-dropping 30 million per month. Yeah, that’s right, a 10x increase.
While it may not be as super-charged as the Samsung Galaxy S, this QWERTY-packin’ Android slider still looks to be a solid phone — even if we have only a few details on it at the moment.
“What details?” I hear you ask. Well, to be honest… very few. It’ll be priced around 200 Euros (no US pricing release details just yet).
The rest seems standard for a mid-range device: 5MP camera, HSDPA, WiFi Bluetooth 3.0, and MicroSD. The best news is that it’ll run Android 2.2 (aka Froyo), the not-best news is that it’ll probably also run Samsung’s less-than-awesome TouchWiz 3.0 UI (coz Samsung love it so).
