It’s not exactly clear here, but either the iPod Observer and/or Engadget has a source that says the 2nd generation of the iPhone will be a 3G phone and will have GPS, real GPS that is, and not the triangulation stuff they do with now with cell towers. It will be a bit thicker and could ship as early as July.
via The iPod Observer and Engadget.
Skype has just annoucned that for about US$10/mo, you can get unlimited long-distance (Skype-to-landline) to the country of your choice (well one of 34 at any rate). Not a bad deal at all. This turns the traditional long-distance market on its head. I still remember paying over $1/minute for long-distance calls (made in the same hemisphere no less). Yes, that is per minute.
Ok, so there’s a little * next to the ‘unlimited’ as in no more than 10,000 minutes per month, but seriously are you going to be using Skype for more than 5 hours a day?!
See the page on Skype’s site for more details on rates, etc.
I want to talk briefly about bluetooth cellphone headsets, as California’s new cell phone ban is due to take effect in a few months, and I might need to buy one for myself. The decision I face reminds of the plight of Stanley, the iconoclast everyman of absurdist playwright Eugene Ionesco’s Rhinoceros, played by Gene Wilder in the 1974 film adaptation. In the story, Stanley and his friends are shocked (not surprisingly) when people suddenly begin turning into rhinoceroses. Ionesco takes the allegory for conformity in society to the extreme as more and more people turn into rhinoceroses–what was shocking at first, soon becomes avant garde. Desire to resist tranforms into envy as more and more people change into the large, clumsy, powerful beasts. …
Oh no. The European Commission said Monday that they plan to allow airlines to offer cellphone calls to passengers across the EU. This may sound like good news to cellphone carriers, airlines (who probably stand to gain a cut), and overzealous businessmen, but not to my ears. People (at least on the flights I’m on in the States) are already obnoxious enough on the tarmacs with their mobiles. Perhaps with some guidelines and/or rules, it may not be terrible, but I’m not holding my breath as airlines have done nothing to curtail those loudmouths, the same ones who don’t turn their phones off when they’re supposed to.
Now, I’m not against midair Internet access, mind you. Can’t get enough of that, and although the FCC voted to allow that over 3 years ago, we’re yet to see much of that in the States. Drag.
What do you think? Take the quick poll.
If you’ve got a Windows Mobile-based device with a touch screen, and you’re terrible at texting/writing quickly, then take a look at these products from Israeli company, Dasur. First up is SlideIT which is an app that combines a keyboard, graffiti as well as predictive text. It’s best explained by taking a look at their video demo. After the jump, we’ll also look at their ThumbKey product.
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‘Type’ faster on a Mobile using SlideIT and/or ThumbKeyRead More »
Now you can get your hands on a Palm Centro, aka the Treo 800p, the smallest Treo that Palm has put out yet in sexy black from at least AT&T and Sprint. It is approx 10-15% narrower, with a smaller screen, so this may appeal to you folks who don’t like the current Treos’ bulk. At US$100 (with rebates and a plan), now you can have your very own smartphone. Of course, with the ‘p’ at the end of the model #, this Treo will run PalmOS (Garnet for those of you keeping track).
So like other Treos, the Centro offers features like a built-in 1.3 Megapixel camera/camcorder, full qwerty keyboard, speakerphone, e-mail app, Bluetooth, memory card slot, EVDO broadband on Sprint, MP3 player, productivity apps like Documents to Go, and the PalmOS so you can run thousands of existing apps.
More info from the manufacturer
Price: $99.99 with plan
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)
G4 (yes, the cable TV channel) has launched a website, called Gcycle, devoted to helping you find locations near you that will recycle electronics, batteries, computers, etc. Although there are already similar sites out there, they certainly aren’t as flashy. This one is totally done in Adobe Flash and is a little ‘jumpy’, but then they were going for a unique, cartoony look and succeeded.
Bottom line is that it has the goods. Punch in your zip code, select the stuff you want to recycle and it delivers. Before you do that, hit the Flummoxing Facts link and be flummoxed. It’s staggering, a bit sickening and frightening how much we’re tossing into landfills. Not only are we polluting at a ridiculous rate, but we’re going to run out of resources to make more and new gadgets in the future!
As for my comment about there being other sites to help you find recycling resources, I say bring them on in droves. We need as much info out there to drive up awareness, and it needs to be easy for folks to find it. Google helps; use it. Please.
In what seems to be a crowded field, speech and imaging company Nuance, joined the fray with their voicemail to text solution. This however isn’t a direct consumer product but will probably be sold as an add-on service to wireless/wire line service providers and will integrate with their voicemail systems. The end-user would get the transcribed voicemail as an e-mail or a text (SMS) message.
Earlier this year, we had reported on Simulscribe which we tried and we very impressed with. At this point, they’re still offering a free 30-day trial for GfG readers.
Apple has finally released an SDK (Software Developer’s Kit) for the iPhone that answers the clamor by developers and enthusiasts who want to write applications for the iPhone. Also released was a beta version of the 2.0 firmware of the iPhone.
While the SDK will be freely available for download and will quiet some of the noise for it, not everyone is completely happy as the SDK only runs on a Mac, it costs $99 to publish an app through the iTunes Application store, and doesn’t appear to be completely open to accessing everything the iPhone can do.
The bright side of course is that there is an SDK and I’m sure it will evolve in time … and with some more clamoring. Get your SDK over at Apple’s Developer Connection site.
Here is some more USB goodness for you. This time, it’s not a toy or some novelty that sits on your desk sucking small amounts of power out of your computer, but something with a great deal of utility. The Powerstick is a essentially a portable battery that charges up by plugging into any USB slot.
It can then in turn re-charge practically any mobile device, as long as there is an adapter available for it. So far, they (Powerstick) have adapters for things like cell phones (popular brands include: Sony Ericsson, LG, Nokia, Apple, Blackberry, Samsung and Motorola), iPods and other devices that charge using mini-USB adapters (ex: Bluetooth headsets).
More info from the manufacturer
Price: $69.95
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)
