Skype pulled from Nokia’s Ovi store in the US, Verizon Wireless to blame?

March 7th, 2010

Skype users that own a Symbian-powered Nokia handset will have to go the extra mile to install Skype on their handset. As noticed following Wednesday’s debut of Skype in the Ovi store, Skype is reportedly not available for Nokia owners in the US. In response to an email from Venture Beat, Sravanthi Agrawal, a member of Skpye’s corporate communications team, said the following:

“Skype has made a decision in the United States to not promote the Skype for Symbian app through the Ovi Store. We did this so that we could drive more attention to the recently announced Skype and Verizon Wireless agreement. This was a marketing decision — plain and simple.

“Skype users in the U.S can still download Symbian by going directly to Skype.com.”

The supposed reason behind this removal is not surprising considering the controversy over the removal of the Windows Mobile version of Skype from Skype’s website, the removal of Skype from the Android Market, and the rumored delay of the 3G-enabled version of Skype for the iPhone. Unless this policy changes or is revealed to be incorrect, anyone unduly affected will have to search a little harder to find a version of Skype to install on their handset or sign up with Verizon Wireless.

All credits and information was found on boygeniusreport.com

Skype hits Nokia’s Ovi Store

March 3rd, 2010

The fate of Skype for Windows Mobile may be in jeopardy, but the vitals on the Symbian version of the voice and text chat client seem to be very, very good. Yesterday, Nokia added Skype for Symbian, complete with the ability to make Skype calls via Wi-Fi, 3G or EDGE, to its Ovi Store. “With Skype for Nokia smartphones, more than 200 million smartphone users worldwide will be able to take the Skype features they love with them on the move,” said Skype’s mobile GM Russell Shaw. If you’re rocking a Nokia handset, and have Symbian^1 or higher, you can head on over to the Ovi Store to pick up the goodies.

All credits and information was found on boygeniusreport.com

Nokia’s C5 Is Its First Cseries Device

March 2nd, 2010

Nokia has unveiled the C5, its first phone bearing the new Cseries naming convention. The C5 is a candybar phone with quad-band GSM/EDGE and dual-band 900/2100 HSPA. It runs S60 3rd Edition and also has GPS and Bluetooth 2.0. The C5 has a 3.2 megapixel camera with flash, a 2.2-inch display, and includes the latest version of Nokia’s Messaging service (supporting Google Talk and Windows Live Messenger). Nokia says that the C5 has a new phone book that integrates with Facebook where users can see their friends’ status updates directly from Facebook. The home screen also borrows some elements of S60 5th Edition, and places three contacts directly on the home screen for quick access. The C5 supports miroSD cards up to 16GB (boxed with 2GB card), has an FM radio and a 3.5m audio/video out jack. Nokia said the C5 will be avaialble in European and Asian markets during the second quarter for about $182.

All credits and information was found on phonescoop.com

RIM’s BESX goes live, available for download

March 1st, 2010

Last month we reported on RIM’s announcement of BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express (BESX). And today, we are happy to report that BESX is alive, well, and ready for download on RIM’s website. As previously mentioned, BESX is RIM’s solution for small and medium sized businesses who could benefit from the centralized control and functionality of a BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) but can’t justify the cost of a full fledged BES. We’ve got the official RIM BESX site all linked up for you. We’ll be sticking to a regular BES server around these parts, but what about you guys?

All credits and information was found on boygeniusreport.com

Nokia X6 With Capacitive Screen Up for Pre-Order

February 24th, 2010

Nokia has started taking pre-orders for a version of the Nokia X6 music phone with support for North American 3G networks. U.S. customers will get the 16GB version of the phone, as opposed to the 32GB model available abroad, and can choose either a black or yellow body. The phone sports a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen, while capacitive technology is still a rarity on Nokia devices. Nokia’s pre-order site says the phone will start shipping at the end of February. The unlocked device, which works with AT&T’s 3G network, is available for pre-order for $455.

All credits and information was found on phonescoop.com

Droid, Imagio Can Become FiOS TV Remotes

February 18th, 2010

Today Verizon Wireless announced a partnership with its parent company, Verizon Communications, that will allow subscribers to Verizon’s FiOS TV services to use their Motorola Droid or HTC Imagio as a remote control. The Verizon FiOS Mobile Remote app lets the Droid and Imago do everything that the standard FiOS remote can do, such as view the guide, get program information, and access settings. It also includes the ability to transfer photos from the handset to the TV screen. Droid and Imagio owners can download the application from their respective platforms’ apps stores. An in-home Wi-Fi network is required to make the FiOS Mobile Remote application work. The application and service are both free.

All credits and information was found on phonescoop.com

Meebo Is the New King of iPhone Messaging Apps

February 17th, 2010

There are some very good paid instant messaging apps for the App Store, and plenty of free options too. Meebo is the first that manages to be both, with almost no compromise.

Meebo was one of the first companies out of the gates with an instant message web app for the iPhone, so it’s weird that it took them this long to go native. But hey, whatever, they did, and it’s goddamn fantastic. Here’s the cream of the feature list:

• Multiprotocol support, including obvious choices like AIM, Google Talk, Facebook and MySpace, as well as an impressive list of smaller networks
• Push notifications, which automatically activate when you close the app without signing out.
• conversation logging, not just on your phone, but on Meebo’s servers, as associated with your Meebo account.
• “Now typing” notifications, away messages, message copying, landscape mode, swiping between chats—the kind of stuff that makes the experience rich, versus merely acceptable

Meebo’s aesthetic is subdued and unobtrusive, and gesture and navigation behaviors make sense throughout the app. Patchy EDGE connectivity didn’t seem to degrade my experience at all, push notifications worked like a charm, with roughly two seconds of delay versus a regular client.

In short, Meebo does everything I need from a chat client, does it well, and does it for free. My only hangups? There’s no Skype messaging support, and—though I haven’t—some iPhone 3G users are experiencing crashes during regular use. But! (And I can’t say this enough!) It’s free. Just give it a try. Even if you’ve already paid for a Trillian or a BeeJive, you might find something you like here. [Meebo]

All credits and information was found on gizmodo.com

Samsung i8520 ‘Halo’ Android 2.1 phone with 3.7-inch Super AMOLED and pico projector (updated)

February 14th, 2010

While Samsung is desparate for us and the world to focus on its very first Bada device — the Wave S8500 — we found something a bit more interesting for Google fans. Tucked away in the depths of a spec sheet is Samsung’s unannounced i8520 phone running Android 2.1. After quizzing a team of perplexed executives of increasing rank, a VP from Samsung’s mobile division finally told us that it’ll be revealed as the “Halo” tomorrow when the show floor opens. Looking at the spec sheet then, the i8520 Halo packs a 3.7-inch WVGA Super AMOLED display (bigger than the Wave’s 3.3-incher), 8 megapixel autofocus camera with flash (VGA on the front), 720p / 30fps video encoding / decoding, DivX and Xvid playback support, Bluetooth 2.1, standard 3.5mm headphone jack, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, A-GPS, 16GB of internal storage and microSD expansion, stereo speakers, DLNA support, and — get this — a DLP pico projector integrated. The spec-sheet also lists a “Specialized Projector UI” as one of the features, suggesting it’ll look a little different when you toss it up onto the big screen. This quad-band GSM / EDGE phone with tri-band UMTS 900 / 1900 / 2100 will ship in Q3 to Europe and Asia with a chance for a US version at some point later. We’ll bring you more tomorrow just as soon as we get through all this paella.

Note: Even though the i8520 clearly seems to run the same UI as the Bada-powered Wave, we’ve been assured by multiple people in Samsung — including a VP in the Mobile division — that it is, in fact, running Android 2.1. That ties in nicely with the fact that Bada’s graphical representation comes through as a new cut of TouchWiz, so it makes sense these guys would want to port the same look and feel to other platforms. Also of note is the fact that we couldn’t confirm from the company that it’s got a projector on board, but there’s plenty of evidence to suggest it does: the so-called Specialized Projector UI, the fact that the 14.9mm girth is likely thick enough to swallow the necessary optics, and — of course — the big DLP logo on back. We’ll bring out the final details just as soon as we know ‘em.

All credits and information was found on engadget.com

Palm orders halt on production of Palm Pre, Palm Pre Plus, and Palm Pixis?

February 11th, 2010

According to an OTR Global report, three different sources have confirmed that all future orders of the Palm Pre and Palm Pre Plus are being suspended as of Wednesday. One of the sources said, “The decision is very sudden, and Foxconn was told to reduce all February Pre forecast to zero on Wednesday and nobody knows whether shipment will resume in March.” We have to be honest, we are pretty baffled by this report. Is Palm being bought by another company? Is this the sign of new hardware — even though the Pre Plus just came out? Let us know what you think in the comments.

All credits and information was found on boygeniusreport.com

Opera to show off Mini for iPhone at MWC

February 10th, 2010

Listen: It took six months of the App Store’s existence for Apple to approve the first batch of third-party browsers for the iPhone and iPod touch. It was a pretty damn exciting event because it was the sort of app everyone was used to being rejected because it replicates native features of the iPhone OS. Well, since then Apple rejected some pretty prolific apps for the same asinine reason to the point that even the flippin’ government took notice and started asking questions. And now, today, we have a new potential app disaster on our hands because Opera, the third-party mobile browser powerhouse, announced it will be previewing Opera Mini for iPhone next week at Mobile World Congress. Opera seems to think its app will be able to slide through the approval processes without issue, but we’re not going to get our hopes up just yet.

Totally random thought we’re just going to throw out there: Anyone think AT&T might be keen on seeing Opera Mini approved? Just think of the Draino of a job Opera’s data compression technology might do to unclog the long, hippie hair stuck in AT&T’s data pipes.

All credits and information was found on boygeniusreport.com