The blockbuster series hits the smallest of screens. Glu Mobile Inc. (Nasdaq:GLUU), a leading global publisher of mobile games, today announced an agreement with Activision, Inc. that will extend the companies’ exclusive, worldwide partnership to include Call of Duty: World at War for mobile phones. (more…)
No Comments I recently acquired an Apple Airport Express (gracias a kamyn1) with the intent of wirelessly broadcasting music/audio from my computer (one side of the room) to my home stereo system (other side of the room) using the AirTunes functionality. This has been a good solution for me as it’s designed for iTunes and that’s what I primarily use to play music on my computer.
First, you need to install the Airport Express. This can be a difficult process depending on your level of experience with wireless networking; if you’re having trouble, visit the Apple Support page for the AirPort. To use the device, begin by running the installation software that comes with the device (or download it from Apple) on your computer. You will also need to connect the Airport Express to your stereo; for this, you can either use a 1/8″ to RCA connector or 1/8″ to Optical/Toslink connector and hook it to your stereo receiver or other audio input.
Once you’ve setup your wireless network and connected the Airport to your stereo, you can begin broadcasting music from your computer to your stereo using iTunes. In iTunes, check Edit->Preferences->Advanced to make sure “Look for remote speakers connected with AirTunes” is selected. In the bottom right-hand corner of the iTunes screen, a dropdown list will show the speakers iTunes is able to connect to. It will allow you to select “Computer” to play audio through your computer speakers, and the list will also include the names of any identified Airport Express connections. In my case, it shows as “Casa Express” so it’s ready to play. Once I select “Casa Express,” iTunes connects and begins playing audio through the speakers connected to the Airport.
This works well for playing music from iTunes; however, I also want to be able to play other file types besides MP3, AAC, and Apple’s DRMed files; specifically, I want to be able to play FLAC files.
Thanks to another attendee at SaturdayHouse, I discovered Airfoil. Here’s the description:
With Airfoil for Windows [or Mac] you can take audio from any application and send to your AirPort Express units, as well as Apple TVs, and even other PCs and Macs running Airfoil Speakers! Transmit audio from Winamp, RealPlayer, and other media players. Send audio from Rhapsody, Yahoo Music, and other music stores. Even web-based applications like Pandora, Last.fm, can now be transmitted wirelessly.
The good news about Airfoil is you can install a fully working demo version (Windows, Mac) in order to try it out before you buy it. I downloaded it, installed both the Airfoil for Windows and Airfoil Speakers applications.
At this point, I discovered my used AirPort Express had an outdated firmware version that I needed to update. No problem - I downloaded and ran the AirPort Express 6.3 firmware updater (Windows, Mac). (Note: The Windows version didn’t work on Vista for me, but I had no trouble running the update from a Windows XP installation connected to the same wireless network.)
Now that I had Airfoil installed, I ran both the Airfoil and Airfoil Speakers applications. I then booted up Winamp (features include FLAC support) to try the wireless broadcast using a FLAC-rip of Motion City Soundtrack’s album “Evin If It Kills Me.”
In Airfoil, I selected Winamp from the application list at the bottom of the screen. Then I clicked the volume icon next to the name for my Airport Express (Casa Express) and adjusted the volume. Airfoil informed me it needed to restart Winamp so I let it. Once Winamp loaded back up, I pressed play again and then my stereo (which was already turned on and set to the channel the Airport Express is hooked to) began to play the Motion City Soundtrack album.
In the demo version, it starts to make noise on the sound after 10 minutes. With the product fully working, I decided to give them my $25 so I can enjoy the benefits of the Airport Express with any application on my computer and not just iTunes.
Sources have revealed that in a relatively quiet manner, Motorola has begun shipping out the new V9x RAZR2 to AT&T stores. With no real pomp or circumstance, it doesn’t seem to be a matter of much importance or publicity. However this can be great news for the Motorola faithful who always look for the latest and greatest model.
The V9x offers a couple major differences than that of its sister model, the V9 mahogany. One obvious difference is the color - black, instead of mahogany - but the largest addition is the inclusion of GPS with this model, thus enabling users to receive turn-by-turn navigation through the AT&T Navigator service.
AT&T seems to be working on adding GPS into more of its non-smartphone lineup. It first added GPS in the Motorola Z9 and most recently released the Samsung Rugby A837 in September. Frankly, it’s about time - many of the competitors are offering navigation on their non-smartphones. There is a large underserved market for consumers interested in turn-by-turn navigation that do not need the bells and whistles provided by a PDA phone.
We will keep you posted on any more GPS-capable phones coming down the pipeline, but we are hoping this is just the beginning!
via undisclosed source
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Apple’s iPhone non-disclosure agreement (NDA) has plagued developers from all over the world ever since the release of the iPhone SDK. The NDA prevents developers from talking about iPhone software development, which in turn prevents them to share information with fellow developers, as well as to users or anyone else interested to learn.
There’s been a lot of bad press about it, especially on the Web, and for too long Apple has not responded to the issue. Until now.
Finally, Apple has decided to drop the NDA, at least for finished and released iPhone software, saying the following:
To Our Developers
We have decided to drop the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for released iPhone software.
We put the NDA in place because the iPhone OS includes many Apple inventions and innovations that we would like to protect, so that others don’t steal our work. It has happened before. While we have filed for hundreds of patents on iPhone technology, the NDA added yet another level of protection. We put it in place as one more way to help protect the iPhone from being ripped off by others.
However, the NDA has created too much of a burden on developers, authors and others interested in helping further the iPhone’s success, so we are dropping it for released software. Developers will receive a new agreement without an NDA covering released software within a week or so. Please note that unreleased software and features will remain under NDA until they are released.
Thanks to everyone who provided us constructive feedback on this matter.
This is certainly great news for the iPhone developer community. Now, let’s see the devs put this to good use.
Via 9to5mac
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Recently, the Palm Treo has been the product of choice in high-end smart phones. The Treo can not only make phone calls, but also send and receive e-mail, surf the Web, play music, take pictures and handle Microsoft Office documents, with the aid of a small built-in keyboard. The latest Treo 700 models are more capable than most of Research in Motion’s BlackBerrys, which many companies dole out to employees. But the Treos are fairly bulky and pretty expensive, often costing $400 apiece, depending on the carrier and the service plan.
Now the Treo has a new high-end competitor from Motorola and Microsoft that’s much thinner and cheaper, yet promises to match it feature for feature. It’s called the Motorola Q, and it’s popping up in the hands of more and more power users, intrigued by its stylish looks.
I tested the Q, comparing it mainly with the newest Treo, the 700p. I loved the Q’s hardware design and its price. At $199 (with a two-year service plan), it’s half the cost. And while a little wider, the Q is just half as thick as the Treo 700p and more than one-third lighter. It’s a heck of an engineering achievement by Motorola.
However, the Q’s beautiful hardware is dragged down by poor software. The Treo 700p uses the tried-and-true Palm operating system, which was overhauled a few years back to turn it into a phone-oriented interface you could control with one hand. But the Q is burdened with Microsoft’s Windows Mobile system, which hasn’t been fully converted to quick, one-handed phone use. The result is that it’s much more annoying to use the Q than the Treo, especially if you are a heavy mobile e-mail user. For too many functions, the Q requires more steps, more clicks and more opening of menus than the Treo 700p. (The Treo 700w, which uses Windows software, has many of the same software flaws as the Q.)
Despite being eye-catching, the Q’s design has a few drawbacks as well. Its screen is smaller and has 25 percent fewer pixels than the Treo’s, so you see less of e-mails and other documents, and photos are more squashed. And unlike the Treo’s display, the Q’s isn’t a touch screen, so you can’t use a finger to tap icons for quick results. The Q also has less battery life than the Treo, and while its keyboard is roomier, I found typing on it to be a tad more difficult.
Like the Treo 700 models, the Q works on Verizon’s broadband - like EV-DO data network, so it does a good job with both Web surfing and downloading large e-mail attachments. In my tests, the Q typically reached speeds of between 200 and 500 kilobits per second, only slightly slower than most wired low-end DSL connections at home.
Voice calls on the Q were also clear and strong, better in some cases than on the Treo. But unlike the Treo 700p, the Q can’t be used as a modem for a laptop, at least not out of the box. Neither phone has Wi-Fi wireless capability. Both have cameras with resolutions of 1.3 megapixels.
Many tasks took more work on the Q than on the Treo, even such basic things as muting the phone and locking the keyboard. Deleting e-mail requires two steps on the Q, one on the Treo.
The Q does have one nice navigation control the Treo lacks - a scroll wheel and back button on the right side, like what a BlackBerry sports. But the Q is more limited than the Treo in the way it handles Microsoft Office documents and PDF files. On the Treo 700p, Word and Excel files can be edited, whereas on the Q, they can only be viewed.
Still, the Q should sell well because of its price, speed and svelte appearance. It makes the high-end smart phone much more accessible and much more pocketable, which is no small feat.
Has the Softbank iPhone pricing plan been leaked? According to What Japan Thinks a purported confidential memo detailing Softbank’s pricing structure for the iPhone has made its way to the web.
“A number of Japanese blogs are publishing what purports to be a confidential memo from SoftBank on the pricing plan for the new 3G iPhone. Assuming the memo to be genuine, what they are offering is as follows.”
What Japan Thinks has the full translation and breakdown of the memo, explaining the various pricing which is claimed to be tied to the iPhone’s eventual release in the Japanese market on July 11, 2008.
In short, it boils down to roughly 10,695 yen per month, or about $100/mo, for the iPhone with an unlimited data plan and MobileMe mail. You read that correctly folks: $100/mo on top of the $199 the iPhone handset will set you back. Softbank will try to tie all iPhone purchases to a 2-year contract, which has the potential impact of costing consumers roughly $2600 just for the basics.
That is pretty damn expensive in and of itself, but especially for a personal monthly mobile plan, and especially here in Japan. What the fuck is Softbank thinking? Surely they are not interested in selling iPhone’s in Japan if this plan is realized. Makes me wonder if docomo will ever offer an iPhone, because I could potentially see them as a much better partner than Softbank.
Selling the iPhone in Japan is going to be difficult to begin with. Japan already a well established market for powerful mobile devices. The phones we have here do far more than most phones in any other country. Granted, no keitai has as elegant an interface as the iPhone has, nor do any have Safari-like browsers. But Japanese devices have a lot more functionality than your average US mobile phone. Comparatively, feature-for-feature, the iPhone is definitely not a knockout punch in the Japanese market.
The younger generation, which is driving keitai sales in Japan, have feature prerequisites which will make iPhone adoption difficult. The iPhone lacks standard emoji (the wacky emoticons seen on all Japanese keitai), mobile wallet (making payments with your keitai much like a credit card), 1-seg TV tuners and more; these features are completely absent from the iPhone yet Softbank plans to charge an arm, leg and your spleen for the iPhone?
Additionally, the iPhone is much larger physically when compared to other keitai. Add to the fact that the handset lacks “necessary” features and it becomes almost self-evident that the iPhone will be a potential major failure in the huge Japanese market.
If this purported memo is true, and this is in fact the pricing structure, then I find it hard to believe that Japan will sell many of these little critters. I have been craving an iPhone since day 1, and have patiently waited for over a year to hear news of the iPhone’s release in Japan. After reading this, assuming it is true, I have to truly question whether or not purchasing an iPhone is a worthwhile decision.
I must admit my extreme disappointment. After waiting as long as we have had to wait in Japan, I have to say I expected more. Although I was afraid Softbank would “win” the “war” for the device I never thought they would go balls-to-the-wall and charge such a high price for the near-holy grail of mobile computing. Assuming the worst, purchasing an iPhone in Japan may only be for those very dedicated few who will blindly follow Steve Jobs regardless of price.
I can only hope this memo is outdated or a fake, with more reasonable heads prevailing. Until we know for sure, I can only be cautiously optimistic.
We’ve covered the Android-powered T-Mobile G1 from head to foot on the day of its official launch, but we have no doubt that there are still many things we’ve missed, especially when it comes to the itty bitty details.
Thankfully, Google isn’t holding back in providing the skinny on Android’s oft-overlooked details, and now gives us a first-look at how Search works on its open-source mobile OS, more or less.
Search on Android, according to Google, is integrated “with applications in a variety of ways, in order to make it universally accessible.” There will be a Search menu option in every searchable application, and some of these applications will support type-to-search (start typing, and [insert app name here] will automatically open the Search UI for you) while others will have Search widgets. Also, there will be a dedicated Search key on the bottom row of the keyboard that you can just press before starting to type your query.
As expected, Search on Android is enhanced by Google’s Search Suggest for the web, which automatically suggests search terms depending what you have typed on the Search box.
One interesting new feature for Search on Android, though, is the fact that it’s integrated across the platform “so that applications can even share search capabilities with each other.” The way it works is like this: you search for something inside the music player, and before you know it you’ll be seeing results from other apps as well (like the browser or YouTube).
Clearly, Search on Android seems far more superior than the search features found on many available handsets in the market, but that should pretty much be a given because Android is a product of Google, after all. If they can’t do good Search, then who can?
Watch Google Search on Android in action with the video below.
Via Google Mobile Blog
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The live pictures of upcoming Samsung i7110 candybar appeared on the net in the beginning of August.
However, not much has been known about the device then.
Pictures told us that i7110 should have 5 megapixel camera, FM radio and microSD memory card support. We also new that it should be based on Symbian S60 OS.
But that was about it.
Well, today we got our hands on Samsung i7110 spec sheet and can tell you some of the things you wanted to know about the new handset. Like - yes it will have built-in GPS, and no, it will not have Wi-Fi.
Samsung i7110 specs include:
Samsung i7110 will probably be launched during Symbian Smartphone Show that is scheduled for Oct. 21-22 in London.
We’ll be there to give you our impressions on this and other interesting Symbian handsets that should appear at the show. So stay tuned.
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We confirmed the Samsung i708 more than year ago, and gave you our Samsung i708 review a few months back, but guess what, AT&€™s going to launch in under their network real soon. And it’s been renamed as the Samsung i907 Epix.
That’s right. Though that i907 number designation might as well be one for a variation of the Samsung Omnia, it is indeed for the AT&T Epix, which we’ve got pictured for you in full detail below. It’s from AT&T, and talks about an event for the said handset on October 23rd.
What does the AT&T Epix give us? Well, Windows Mobile Professional 6.1, for starters. Then there’s UMTS/HSDPA, while its built-in GPS is still included. The device itself actually looks like it was redesigned a bit itself, judging from the cleaner appearance. Other than that it should be pretty much the same handset.
It’s said that the AT&T Epix will launch at about the same time as the AT&T Fuze, and will sell for $199, though both claims are still not confirmed.
Via BGR
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So Nokia arranged for an online webcast for S60 earlier today, and was showing different slides when the image we’ve got pictured below showed up.
Now, Nokia just made its very-first touch-based S60 handset, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, official earlier today, and the touch-based S60 handset pictured here certainly isn’t it.
Rumor has it that this is actually a full-touchscreen handset that, true to being a Nokia Communicator, opens up in a pencil-box form factor to reveal a really sweet virtual-QWERTY keyboard.
Nokia’s mum on whether this handset is real or just a concept, but this could be a great pick for Nokia’s next Communicator since they haven’t really worked much on that department for quite some time now.
Via Cellpasion
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January 6, 2009 
