Mobile Phone News

Skype Now Available For Nokia Smartphones in Ovi Store

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The latest version of Skype’s mobile VoIP app for Symbian S60 devices has been added to the Nokia Ovi Store, making free calls over WiFi or 3G a more viable option for the millions of handset owners out there.

There are currently around 200 million Nokia phones in the world and with the Skype app they’ll now be able to send SMS messages, share images and other files, use IM and of course make free or low-cost Skype calls.

This isn’t a first for Skype on mobile though… Manufacturer INQ runs Skype on Brew OS out-of-the-box and the Skype iPhone app has been out for a while now. However, this is certainly the largest mobile platform for Skype to land on yet.

For more information on Skype for Symbian, including the latest supported handset list, at http://www.skype.com/go/symbian.

Download the app from Skype or from the Ovi store.

Orange To Charge For Smartphone Support

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Orange is to start charging their smartphone customers for product support. The dedicated hotline assistance that will also include a remote assistance service, which would enable Orange staff to remotely connect to a device and solve any issues.

Special support will help users get the most out of their handsets: setup web and multiple email access, assist them in connecting accessories and synchronizing their phone with their desktop applications.

Free support will continue, but the new service will be offered on an opt-in basis for customers who require dedicated support for their smartphone needs.

While more and more people are buying smartphones, many users don’t even scratch the surface of what their phones are able to do. Turning over smartphone assistance to a specialist service might also allow the network to respond quicker to more general customer queries.

The smartphone support service will be available either as an Orange Care package, or provided on a per call or per act basis. Specifics such as pricing will be confirmed as the service rolls out in each market.

Launching from April the service will be available in France, Switzerland, the UK, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Romania, Moldova and Belgium.

Check out Orange’s smartphone range here.

Source: CellularNews via IntoMobile

Tired? There’s An App For That!

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Sleepyhead iPhone users will be glad to hear about the Sleep Cycle alarm clock app, which ensures that you awaken feeling rested and relaxed.

If you’ve ever woken up after a night’s sleep, but spend the rest of the day zombified, then you probably woke up during a deep sleep phase.

The Sleep Cycle is a bio-alarm clock that uses the iPhone’s accelerometer to analyse your sleep patterns, only waking you when you are in the lightest sleep phase.

After each night, Sleep Cycle gives you a sleep chart displaying your patterns so you can monitor the patterns in your sleep:

On the downside, you have to sleep with your mobile phone, but for anyone concerned about radiation, the developers, LexWare Labs assure us that you can just switch your iPhone to the safe flight mode:

Sleep Cycle has become a huge success with a #1 paid app position in many countries, including Germany, Japan and Russia.

Considering bio alarms usually come with a hefty £100 price tag, we’re giving this £0.59 app a try as of tonight!

Apple And Microsoft Discuss Binging Up iPhone

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Amidst increasing rivalry between Apple and Google, reports are circulating that Apple is in talks with Microsoft to make Bing! the default search engine for the iPhone’s Safari browser.

The unlikely alliance goes to show the new lines that are being drawn in the battle over the technology market.

Apple and Google have recently begun competing in several markets, most notably in the mobile arena: Google’s release of the Nexus One smart phone now puts them in direct competition with the iPhone.

A deal between Apple and Microsoft would be worth millions as iPhone users would automatically get Bing as their default search engine.

With Bing accounting for just 11% of the mobile search market, Microsoft have everything to play for as Google currently accounts for 86% of mobile searches.

It wouldn’t be the first time Apple and Microsoft have paired up – Microsoft continue to provide Office updates for Mac.

But given Apple’s desire to slow down Google, don’t bet that Apple aren’t developing a search engine of their own, in which case that a deal will more likely be a tactic to buy themselves time.

[Via Business Week]

LG Unveil LG-GM310, GM210 & GM205 Music Phones

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LG have just released a bunch of new music phones, aimed at younger users.

The LG GM310, GM210 and the GM205 all feature Dolby Mobile, LG Sound Engine and have dedicated keys for the phone’s music player.

The LG GM310 has a 2 megapixel camera, 4GB of internal memory, USB 2.0 port and 2.1 stereo speakers with subwoofer as well as LG’s high-end sound engine.

With a sound system and speakers like these, the new music phones are just as good for listening to music aloud as they are through headphones.

The three new devices are aimed at the emerging markets including China, India, Korea, Mexico and Brazil and will then filter down to European stores in the future.

LG haven’t released any pricing details for the phone yet but they should be in the lower to mid range.

Blackberry Storm II Out In September

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RIM will be offering a Blackberry Storm 2 this September. This time the new handset will dodge the criticisms it originally received about not having Wi-Fi connectivity.

Slash Gear have a reliable inside source saying that the new and improved Storm2 will be out this Autumn.

One of the chief criticisms about the Storm phone, as well as the rather dodgy touch screen, was that it didn’t support Wi-Fi connection. The new version will have both, much to the relief of loyal Storm phones.

The dodgy touchscreen was a common complaint about the Storm; Stephen Fry said it “shockingly bad” and he knows his gadgets. If the source if right, we can look forward to a much better touch screen as well as improved Wi-Fi. Here’s hoping.

Verizon had the Storm in mind as a challenger to the iPhone and if it weren’t for the below par touch screen and the lack of Wi-Fi connectivity, it would have been not only treading on the iPhone’s coat tales but stomping all over them. With those glitches ironed out and the increasing popularity of the new Blackberry App Store, the Storm might just start poaching those business users that Apple often overlooks.

Image: SlashGear

Nokia E75 versus HTC Touch Pro: It’s Friday Showdown Time

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Nokia are the dependable old boys of the phone world. HTC: the rogue newbies, intent on making a name for themselves but out of the two who has came up with the best slider QWERTY keyboard device. It’s a toughie.

It’s Friday, the afternoon is winding down and it’s mobile phone showdown time. We’ve lined up the oh-so-similar HTC Touch Pro with the Nokia E75 to see how they both stack up, relatively speaking of course.

Operating System

Both phones have different operating systems. The Nokia E75 features the Nokia native Symbian Series 60 3rd edition. The HTC Pro has a Windows Mobile 6.1 OS.

Camera

Both phones pack in 3.2 megapixels but the HTC sneakes ahead with its VGA CMOS camera.

Networking

Both models sport WiFi and Bluetooth v2.0 connectivity, quad band GSM GPRS, EDGE and 3G technology. The two are WCDMA are compatible.  The E75 has an integrated A-GPS receiver and support for Nokia maps. While, on the other hand, the HTC Touch Pro has a special integrated GPS antenna to support maps.

Memory

Of the two phones, the E73 has a much larger comparable memory – 50MB. The HTC meanwhile has only 288MB but both phones have an expandable micro SD card for added memory.

Display and Design

With a touch screen measuring a paltry 2.4″ and 240 x 320 pixels, the E75 falls behind in the display rankings. The HTC Touch Pro has a 2.8″ screen with a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels. The E75 does have two different styles of keyboard so it redeems itself slightly. It also has the regular alphanumerical keyboard so you can use the phone like you would with a regular keyboard.

Battery Life

The HTC Touch Pro has the more powerful battery here – just under 7 hours of life for GSM usage and 6 hours for WCDMA usage. The Nokia E75 smartphone offers 5 hours and 20 minutes of battery life for GSM usage and 4 hours & 20 minutes for WCDMA usage.

Dimensions

The HTC measures 102 mm long, 18.05 mm wide and weighs in at 16.5g. In contrast, the Nokia is 111.8mm long, 50mm wide, 14.4mm thick and weighs only 139g.  Six grams – it makes all the difference.

Price

A SIM-free Nokia E75 is the cheaper of the two handsets in this often determining purchase factor.

Which of the two are you pining for?

Nokia Xpress 5800 Debuts BBC Live Streaming

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How cool is this.

Video footage has come to light of the Nokia 5800 streaming live footage from the BBC. Watching the BEEB in real time, who would have thought it.

It’s something that has the danger of being just good in theory and there’s always the chance that video being blocky and jaded, with content taking ages to buffer. But that doesn’t seem to be the case with the Xpress 5800.

Nok Nok, who reviewed the live streaming on the handset are singing its praises, even in the initial beta testing stage.

The video runs on Real Player over Wi-Fi and early reviews report that, even though video footage takes a while to buffer (around 10 seconds), audio kicks in straight away. After that video is glitch-free, clear and sharp.

So Nokia 5800 customers will soon be able to watch BEEB institutions like Jonathan Ross and a Question of Sport anywhere, even on the bus into the work. It sure beats a crumpled copy of the Metro.

Skype Downloaded Every 6 Seconds

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Of course we knew it would be hit. But on this scale? We never thought it would be this popular.

Since it became available to download in the iTunes store last Tuesday it’s been downloaded around one million times by iPhone users, which equates to about 6 downloads per second.

Yip, that’s 6 times per second.

Peter Parkes, Skype blogger extraordinaire went as far as to say he’s, “confident it’s one of the fastest-downloaded iPhone apps ever”.

This could well give it the accolade of being the fastest free app to reach the million download mark.

But there is one thing to consider. Perhaps why it’s being downloaded so zealously is that iPhone users are scared that it’ll get yanked off the app store, like a lot of other VIoP apps, and they’re getting in there early?

Just a thought.

Source: Tech Crunch

Palm Pre Time Travelling Back To Palm OS

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Those of you waiting for the Palm Pre release day (there are a few of us in the Omio office), brace yourself for some good news. Come launch day, the phone will come with thousands of new games and apps available for download.

All this new software is down to one thing.

Palm killed off their Palm OS in February this year in favour of, the speedier and easier to use, Web OS. But it seems they’ve had a change of heart and have asked the Palm OS emulator class people to integrate Palm emulator into Web OS and with it more than 30,000 apps and games come launch day.

For Palm it will give them a much-needed leg up. They’re up against the full force of the Apple marketing machine and the recognition of brands like BlackBerry, Sony Ericssson and Samsung and all their affiliated app stores and add-ons. Making an impression on consumers that aren’t necessarily tech savvy will be a Goliath task.