October 20th, 2009

B&N Nook ebook reader revolutionizes the ebook world with sharing between friends and more

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 12:19 pm

Categories: BlackBerry, Gadgets, Kindle, Linux, Open Handset Alliance, ebooks, iPhone

Tags: Nook, E-books, Personal Technology, Matthew Miller

Rachel posted about the leaked details of the Nook and then I found that Engadget posted the full press release. After reading way down in the details and FAQs I saw that the Nook supports the ePub format so will work with local library ebooks so I just pre-ordered mine for $259. If you go to the pre-order page you can see all the details on this pretty amazing ebook reader that has me quite excited. You can also lend books to friends for up to 14 days at a time. This capability really turns the ebook world into a world almost the same as a paperback and is HOT!

Here are some of the specifications of the Nook:

• Support for AT&T and WiFi networks (free WiFi access at B&N stores)
• 2GB storage with microSD card slot
• 3.5 inch color touchscreen lower display
• MP3 player with integrated mono speaker
• Removable and rechargeable battery
• MicroUSB connector for charging
• Dimensions: 7.7 x 4.9 x 0.5 inches and 11.2 ounces
• Integrated Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary
• Ability to read content on iPhone, iPod touch, BlackBerry, PC, and Mac
• Based on Android operating system

With the Android-based OS I wonder if developers will be able to customize the device to add even more functionality? I also wonder if there will be ebook clients for Google Android or other mobile phones beyond the iPhone and BlackBerry.

I was all ready to purchase this and just needed confirmation of all the formats and then found this FAQ buried deep down:

Can I put other files on my nook?
Yes, you can transfer files from your computer to your nook using a USB connection. You can transfer ePub and PDB files, as well as MP3s, PDFs, and JPGs.

Support for ePub sold me on the ebook reader so stay tuned for my full Nook review as soon as it arrives, hopefully in November.

BTW, there is some great reading buried down in the FAQ support page where you can see you can redownload your content as many times as you like from your library.

September 17th, 2009

MobileTechRoundup show #182, Moto CLIQ, ZuneHD, iPod nano, HP Envy

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 8:21 am

Categories: Apple, BlackBerry, MP3 players, MoTR podcast, Mobile software, Zune

Tags: MobileTechRoundup, Apple iPod, Hewlett-Packard Co., Opera Software ASA, Apple iPod Nano, Opera Mini 5 Beta, Digital Music, Digital Media, Personal Technology, Consumer Electronics

Listen here (MP3, 35.2 MB, 38:20 minutes)

Subscribe to the show with this link (RSS)

We missed recording last week due to the Mobilize 2009 event so MobileTechRoundup show #182 is a bit longer than normal as James, Kevin, and I chatted about mobile tech products. James and Kevin had a chance to play with the upcoming T-Mobile Motorola CLIQ Google Android device that will be tough for me to resist. I talked about my new Zune HD and iPod nano and then I learned about Opera 10’s Turbo Mode on a PC. Opera Mini 5 beta is out for Java-enabled phones and adds some great new features, all for FREE. James also had a chance to swing by the HP offices and play with the new Envy notebooks that have features you may envy, but at a price you may not.

November 13th, 2008

MobileTechRoundup show #154, A Bold step was taken on the way to the Shotgun wedding

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 8:11 am

Categories: BlackBerry, Gadgets, MoTR podcast, On the road

Tags: MobileTechRoundup, Battery, Engineering, Matthew Miller

Listen here (MP3, 33.1 MB, 36:00 minutes)

Subscribe to the show with this link (RSS)

Kevin, James, and I were all together last weekend before recording MobileTechRoundup show #154 to celebrate the wedding of Kevin and Barbara. Congratulations again to the both of them. In this show we talked a bit about the device I bought on the drive up to the wedding and the device James used to get from the airport to the wedding. James and I also received the new Richard Solo 1800 battery solution for iPhones and iPods so we spent a few minutes chatting about that solution.

Please let me know if you have anything you would like us to cover and discuss on the show and I’ll try to work it into a future podcast.

November 12th, 2008

Nokia working to reduce traffic congestion

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 7:08 am

Categories: BlackBerry, Mobile software, Nokia, Nseries, On the road, S60, mobile services

Tags: Nokia Corp., Nokia Research Center, Podcasts, Advertising & Promotion, Internet, Marketing, Matthew Miller, Mobile

I had a nice chat with Ross Lamont from Nokia this morning regarding the Nokia Legends campaign (my interview should be in the next MobileTechRoundup podcast) and he mentioned that their Mobile Millenium project highlighted on the Nokia Telegraph “virtual paper” was moving forward with a larger scale testing program. Nokia issued a press release announcing the launch of the pilot program that will collect and study traffic data received from GPS-enable mobile phones, particularly the N95, E71, and N96. Nokia Research Center is working with UC Berkeley and NAVTEQ on this project.

I mentioned before that the Dash Express personal navigation device collects user data and uses that to help provide you with localized traffic conditions. Most of the time you only see traffic status for major highways, like on Google Maps, but for many of us the other minor roads can be just as congested. This new Nokia program appears to work like the two-way communication on the Dash as Nokia will be gathering real-time information from those with the handsets in the testing program.

And for those of you who are worried that your personal location is now being tracked and monitored, the team has built safeguards into the system to keep individual device identifiers out of the transmitted traffic data.

Participation is open to anyone with a GPS-enabled mobile phone who live in this Northern California area. The pilot program is scheduled to run for four to six months with up to 10,000 participants. You can visit the Mobile Millenium project page to see what devices are supported and sign up for the program. The currently tested devices include the Nokia E71, E61i, N96, and N95 with the BlackBerry Curve and Pearl working as well.

September 17th, 2008

Check out the new ZDNet Smartphones and Cell Phones blog

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 7:07 am

Categories: BlackBerry, Feature phones, Open Handset Alliance, Palm, S60, Smartphone, Ultra portable PC, Windows Mobile, Wireless carriers, Zune, iPhone

Tags: Phone, Mobile, Smart Phone, Blog, Cell Phone, Smart Phones, Blogging, Advertising & Promotion, Cellular Phones, Consumer Electronics

I’ve been covering everything related to mobile tech here on the ZDNet Mobile Gadgeteer blog, including mobile phones, Tablet PCs, netbooks, digital media players, portable gaming devices, and more. In an attempt to provide a bit more focus, I am now splitting that blog into two blogs with this new one focused solely on news, review, and commentary of mobile phones, accessories, and software. The new ZDNet Smartphones and Cell Phones blog kicked off this morning and in addition to the smartphone devices (Apple, Palm, Windows Mobile, S60, BlackBerry, and Google Android) I will also start including some higher end feature phone coverage there as well.

I’ll be covering all other types of mobile gear here on this blog, including Tablet PCs/MIDS, digital audio players, portable GPS units, portable gaming devices, and much more. Please let me know what interests you and what you would like to see covered in future posts, including any software or hardware you would like to see me evaluate and review. Thank you very much for your support on the Mobile Gadgeteer these last two+ years and I look forward to writing on this new blog and keeping you informed.

September 16th, 2008

BlackBerry Storm video and Verizon Q&A posted

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 11:07 am

Categories: BlackBerry, Rumors, Smartphone, Wireless carriers

Tags: Verizon Communications Inc., Video, RIM BlackBerry, Corporate Communications, Keyboards, Handhelds, Marketing, Hardware, Peripherals, Matthew Miller

As we have seen in recent analyst reports, RIM’s marketshare is increasing as they continue to support and promote consumer-focused features like video capture, enjoyable web browsing, and style. RIM is now getting closer and closer to launching their first ever touch screen-enabled device, the BlackBerry Storm, and CrackBerry.com has the latest news on this device that appears to be coming soon to Verizon.

They posted a video of the Verizon BlackBerry 9530 (aka Storm) announcement video that was given out to Verizon Wireless employees and also a PDF of the talking points/Q&A so you can find out just about everything you wanted about the Storm. Specifications of this new BlackBerry device include a high resolution touch screen with “click” technology, quad-band functionality (sounds like GSM world support), 3.2 megapixel camera with video support, visual voicemail, and integrated GPS. You will soon be able to find out more details at www.verizonwireless.com/storm. No release dates or pricing information is yet available.

September 11th, 2008

Manage your calendar and team members with Franklin Covey FCmobilelife on your phone

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 5:30 am

Categories: BlackBerry, HTC, Mobile software, On the road, Windows Mobile, mobile services

Tags: Team, Phone, Team Member, Post Functionality, Team Management, Management, Matthew Miller

Nokia just made their Sync on Ovi service available for those of you with S60 devices who want to sync you PIM data (calendar, contacts, tasks, etc.) to a server and have it backed up and secure. You also have the choice to use an Exchange, or hosted Exchange service, or a BlackBerry service for this functionality. I was reading Mobility Site and the words Franklin Covey caught my attention since I used these planners for years before discovering my first Palm Pilot. I am not sure how long Franklin Covey has been offering this server sync/backup solution, but they now have a free version that is limited to yourself and one team member.

The FCmobilelife solution models the old paper planners I used to use with the ability to manage your schedule, tasks, goals, and team members. The software works with both BlackBerry and Windows Mobile 5/6 devices. The solution is completely separate from your system PIM data though so you have to use this system to enter in your calendar if you want to take full advantage of this planner system. With the price of free, it looks to be a great alternative to syncing and backing up your data, especially if you are a Franklin Covey fan.

In addition to accessing your data on a mobile device, you can go to the web browser version on any PC, Mac, or Linux box to manage your data as well.

The Post functionality allows you to communicate with team members through a private system where you can send voice, text, and photos to others. If you want more than one person on your team, you need to look at the subscription options that have monthly (US$9.95) or yearly (US$99.50) fees with unlimited team member support.

Have any readers tried using this FCmobilelife solution?

September 10th, 2008

Google launches Google Mobile App for BlackBerry devices

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 2:47 pm

Categories: BlackBerry, Mobile software, Smartphone

Tags: Google Inc., Mobile, RIM BlackBerry, Handhelds, Hardware, Matthew Miller

My BlackBerry Curve is now my main T-Mobile phone and I find that the 3rd party application support is just what I need to get things done and be productive. Google sent me an email to let me know that the Google Mobile App for BlackBerry devices is now available for free by visiting m.google.com from your BlackBerry browser.

As stated on the Google blog, you will get the following with this new Google App:

• Fast Google search - enter queries without waiting for a browser to load
• Search history - easily access and amend your previous queries
• Google Suggest - complete queries with less typing
• Easy access to Google products for your phone - click once to download and install our applications for BlackBerry, and get immediate access to our web-based services
• Google Apps support - get direct links to your Google Apps Calendar and Documents/Spreadsheets (select Menu, Options, Use Google Apps Domain: yes, and then enter your domain name)
• Update alerts - learn about new versions of downloadable Google mobile applications and upgrade with just one click (Google Mobile App replaces Google Updater for BackBerry)

They also give you a link to steps to take so you can assign the Google Mobile App to a convenience key on your device. I am going to go download and try it out right now.

September 8th, 2008

RIM continues to gain in smartphone sales, 2nd quarter 08 report

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 9:40 am

Categories: Apple, BlackBerry, HTC, Nokia, S60, Symbian, Windows Mobile, iPhone

Tags: High Tech Computer Corp., Research In Motion Ltd., Smart Phone, Sales Strategy, Smart Phones, Sales Force Management, Handhelds, Sales, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology

Regular reports on smartphone and mobile device sales are issued and are interesting to view. However, they are often missing information that makes the data a bit less informative. In the most recent Gartner report we finally see analysts including the largest Windows Mobile manufacturer, HTC, in their tables. Sales of smartphones have increased at a lower rate than in 2007, but were still quite strong considering that consumer spending has slowed in the U.S.

Nokia, of course, remains in the lead with a 47.5% worldwide market share in the second quarter of 2008, followed by RIM at 17.4%, HTC and Sharp at 4.1%. HTC usually ends up in the Others category and actually many of their devices are still in that category because the only HTC devices that are filed under HTC are those they self brand. All of the other devices they make for carriers end up in the Others category. It would be interesting to see where HTC really ends up when all of their devices are accounted for and I am sure they would be in at least 3rd by themselves and maybe even in 2nd. It is interesting to see that Apple doesn’t appear in the top 5 worldwide as their sales dropped to 2.8%. They will most likely rise again when 3rd quarter sales are reported, due to the iPhone 3G availability.

When you take a look at the operating system, you see that Symbian (S60 and UIQ) was tops at 57.1 percent, followed by BlackBerry at 17.5%, and Windows Mobile at 12%.

RIM looks to have had the largest growth percentages in both devices and OS tables (the iPhone had the greatest increase in OS alone) and I think RIM will continue to grow as they expand further into the consumer market with the Bold and other new devices on the horizon. I am using my BlackBerry Curve more and more and know several friends who recently picked up Curves as well.

August 21st, 2008

BlackBerry Bold may be joining the iPhone 3G with reception issues

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 3:00 am

Categories: BlackBerry, On the road, Smartphone, Wireless carriers

Tags: Apple iPhone, Apple iPhone 3G, RIM BlackBerry, BlackBerry Bold, Bold, 3G, Cellular Phones, Wireless, Handhelds, Consumer Electronics

There are lots of people reporting on the spotty iPhone 3G reception issues and according to Barron’s it looks like the BlackBerry Bold may be experiencing those same 3G reception issues. The Bold is available only in a couple countries at the moment and isn’t yet available here in the U.S. so there is the possibility that the Bold’s software will be updated prior to the release.

According to the Citigroup analyst, the Bold does have an amazing display and updated BlackBerry software that adds HTML email and a better web browser. But the 4.5 software update (the Bold runs version 4.6) is available for some current devices and will be widely released for other devices and adds the HTML email, better browser, and video recording capability so there may not be a compelling reason to upgrade. I use my EDGE-enabled BlackBerry Curve and the Opera Mini browser and new BB 4.5 browser works quite well without 3G. In truth, I hardly notice that 3G is not supported on the device since email also seems very snappy. I tested the Sprint BlackBerry Curve and am not sold that 3G data is a compelling feature on a BlackBerry. 3G is a vital feature for phone calls though since you can answer a call even if you have an active data connection.

I haven’t seen a definite release date for the BlackBerry Curve on the AT&T network and the reported issues with the 3G radio may be delaying the release. There were reports that the Infineon chip was a possible cause of the problem. My search results indicate the BlackBerry Bold uses the Marvell Tavor platform for 3G so the problem with the iPhone may be on the software side, which means it can be fixed by Apple.

If you are looking for solid 3G reception you may want to consider a Nokia S60 or Windows Mobile device for now since their devices have been performing well on 3G networks.