Omio News Blog

Global Mobile Awards 2009: The Winners!

Last night saw some of the biggest movers and shakers in the mobile phone industry rub shoulders with celebs like hobbit-faced crooner Jamie Cullum and fashion ‘pioneer’ will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas at the National Palace in Barcelona last night, as the GSMA Awards celebrated the biggest and best innovations over the last twelve months.

Everything from best mobile game to best use of mobile for social and economic development was recognised at the event (Nuance Communications won the latter for their Airtel-T9 India Consumer Vernacular Messaging Campaigns, but you knew that already), so here are the big winners!

Best Mobile Game:

Gameloft’s Real Football 2009 was the runaway winner, official FIFPRO licensing, 3D graphics and console-quality gameplay making it a hit with the judges. How much of the praise heaped upon it was for the iPhone version, I wonder?

An honourable mention went to Digital Chocolate for AvaPeeps: FlirtNation. Looks to me that this game is teaching kids to dress up their avatars and ‘hang out’ in strange parts to proposition other real world underage “peeps”. Social networking of the dirtiest kind…

See the demo video for yourself below.

Yes, you did see “Use your sex appeal” as one of the options for your avatar.

Best Mobile Music or Video Service:

BBC’s iPlayer was the clear stand out in this category, beating out Nokia’s own Comes With Music and Sony Ericsson’s remixed PlayNow Arena. The iPlayer’s is available across all operating systems from the Nokia N96 to the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1, and the retention of the desktop version’s functionality has changed how, and where, people watch TV.

Best Mobile Technology Breakthrough:

Ooh, controversial! 2008′s mobile phone Marmite was certainly the Blackberry Storm 9500‘s ‘SurePress’ screen. The SurePress screen clicks like a physical button allowing the user to receive a tactile response from a virtual interface, one thing that has proved difficult thus far for touchscreen manufacturers.

Many felt it offered a unique experience that was the best of both worlds, whilst others found it imprecise and forced.

Nevertheless, the judges loved it!

Best Mobile Handset or Device:

The big one! The shortlist consisted of some interesting phones, all unique in terms of both looks and features. Among them was the ‘my first smartphone’ LG KS360, the ground-breaking T-Mobile G1, the touchy feely BlackBerry Storm 9500 and our Nokia E71 review showed just how good that one was!

Even so, the humble INQ¹ Facebook phone beat them all! The seamless integration of the popular social networking site, web calls with Skype and killer looks all in one nice device was too good to beat! Congrats to 3 for making a handset good enough to make people change networks to get one!

As the black tie event went on into the early morning, we at Omio were tirelessly toiling to bring you the most interesting stories of MWC 2009. Not least because it cost an arm and a leg to attend, but because we love you loyal readers that much!

What do you guys think of the results? Were the judges crazy to put the INQ¹ ahead of the Storm? Are you amazed a great iPhone game wasn’t at the top of the charts? Let us know in the forums!

BlackBerry Storm 9500 Sells A Million In The U.S.

Well, despite UK figures still being a mystery, network provider Verizon has answered my question about exactly how well the BlackBerry Storm 9500 has done…in the US at least.

A recent statement put out proclaims that the Storm has gone down a storm (sorry!), selling a million in the home of RIM’s neighbours. This news release is impeccably timed, ostensibly in an attempt to combat the negative press surrounding their co-CEO’s remarks about buggy smartphone software.

“That’s not a bumpy start,” a Verizon spokesperson said after the Storm success was revealed, a play on the title of the original Wall Street Journal article.

Proof that the much-maligned Storm software issues aren’t enough to deter from the allure of a touchscreen BlackBerry, or is it just that RIM fans are rabid enough to buy up anything with a flashing ‘mail alert’ light on it? Time will tell…

Source: Electric Pig

RIM Exec: Software Bugs On Smartphones The ‘New Reality’

I hate bugs. I also hate patches, fixes and ‘title updates’ on XBox Live that are compulsory, yet tell me nothing about what is being fixed. I hate glitches on mobile phones, where little features like making and receiving calls or using the web make it break.

So when an executive of RIM, co-CEO Jim Balsillie in fact, mentions in a Wall Street Journal article that glitches and bugs on smartphone firmware are ‘the new reality,’ I become upset.

RIM, the makers of the BlackBerry Storm, a handset with a reputation as being a bit buggy from early adopters and a raft of fixes and updates to make it slick and functional, should not be perpetuating this mentality.

The “push it out the door, we’ll patch it later” mentality is the worst affliction to hit the games industry now that consoles have hard drives and internet access to accommodate updates. Some publishers pressed for time to meet deadlines and quarterly shedules release sub-standard product, in the knowledge they can plug gaps in quality later on. To see the same happen to mobile phones is a travesty, one which consumers should not be asked to put up with.

After missing the original October launch date, the BlackBerry Storm was launched on November 21st, just in time for the highly popular ‘Black Friday’ shopping period in the US.

Despite over half a million sold in that first month, issues with the handset are almost certainly indicative of a rushed release, with a lot of disgruntled owners as a result. Updates are often bundled in with new features, like a virtual touch screen keyboard on the fabled T-Mobile G1 ‘Cupcake’ fix, but is little solace for those lumbered with a brick until the manufacturers see fit to release an update.

Unofficial leaked ROMs and homebrew fixes may placate the very vocal tech-savvy crowd, but what of the casual consumer waiting patiently for an over the air update for their shiny new phone?

One that has every chance of not coming out at all if the LG Viewty or Sony Ericsson P990 are any indication…

Slingbox Coming Soon For BlackBerry Phones!

Watching TV on your fancy new phone just got a lot easier, with the announcement of a SlingPlayer beta coming as soon as December 30th to all entirely non-geeky, casual, cool and media friendly BlackBerry handsets!

Support will initially be available for the new Curve 8900, the Pearl Flip 8220, BlackBerry Bold, the BlackBerry 8820, BlackBerry Curve 8320, and the classic 8120. What of the touchscreen wonder of the BlackBerry Storm? Surely that huge screen is prime real estate for some streaming action!

This service will allow all Slingbox owners to catch their fave shows on the go, wherever they are able to catch a 3G or wireless connection.

Already available for Windows Mobile and Symbian handsets, the SlingPlayer is one of those programmes that becomes indispensable once installed! Watching On the Buses whilst on the bus – classic.

Source: Electric Pig

MySpace For BlackBerry : 1,000,000 Downloads In A Month

Well, that’s me told. As I mocked BlackBerry’s valiant attempts at courting the casual market with a MySpace app, it seemed as though RIM was onto something as their PR has released a suitably smug press release:

RIM just found out that the MySpace application for BlackBerry Smartphones has been downloaded more than one million times. The one millionth unique download happened sometime on Saturday December 13th, which makes it a month exactly since the application launched.

BlackBerrys only for movie stars and lucky children, eh? Guess more than a few of those lucky movie star children will have a Storm in their stocking this Christmas if these numbers are any indication…

Want to be number one million and one? Well tough, as that was a while ago but you can download it from www.blackberry.com/myspace.

If you are looking at Omio on your rhinestone-encrusted BlackBerry, go to m.myspace.com from your browser and get it straight that way.

Source: IntoMobile

BlackBerry Javelin/Curve 8900 Coming To O2 In January!

Disappointed with the dilution of the BlackBerry brand with ‘casual’ handsets like the Storm 9500 and the media playing Bold 9000?

Well, the hardcore ‘CrackBerry’ handset previously known as the BlackBerry Javelin is about to break cover!

The BlackBerry Curve 8900 is the thinnest and lightest full-QWERTY handset from RIM to date, similar to the Bold in terms of software and operating system but with a snazzier 480×360 screen and a 3.2 megapixel camera.

It does lose the Bold’s 3G connectivity, but makes up for it with wi-fi, GPS and a full HTML browser…and by being a nice redesign of the Curve range.

BlackBerry Curve pre-registration is on the O2 site from today, can be pre-ordered from December 22nd and is available to buy in January 2009!

Apple iPhone 3G Outsells All Windows Mobile Phones In Q3 2008

Okay. We’re as surprised at this as you all are.

Apple with their single handset, the iPhone 3G, has managed to outsell all of the Windows Mobile powered mobile telephony machines during the third quarter of 2008. Worldwide. Globally. Everywhere.

Just…take a moment to let that sink in. All those touted iPhone killers. The Samsung Omnia. The HTC Touch Pro. The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1. Put together. Outsold by the iPhone.

Other interesting changes in the smartphone landscape have been witnessed, including Nokia experiencing their first year-on-year sales decline, and BlackBerry shifting 81.7% more mobiles than this time in 2007. Well, the holy trinity of the BlackBerry Storm 9500, Pearl Flip 8220 and Bold all in Q3 must have had a great deal to do with that increase in sales.

What is also intriguing is the shift in operating systems, seeing Symbian’s share of the pie dipping below 50% of the market. Could it be because they were relatively late to the touchscreen party, forcing many to switch to WinMo or go it alone? Either way, the double whammy of the touch Symbian-rocking 5800 XpressMusic and the Nokia N97 will go some way to redressing the OS balance in 2009!

Love Hate to say it, but I was right about the iPhone’s software strategy for the 3G! From that announcement of the new iPhone in tandem with 2.0 and the App Store, it was clear that it wasn’t about megapixels or CPU speed but rather simple usability, freedom of choice and customer satisfaction.

Now the sales speak for themselves.

Nokia N97 vs. Apple iPhone 3G – Clash Of The Touchscreen Titans!

With the announcement of the new Nokia N97, it is inevitable to compare it to the current undisputed champ, the Apple iPhone 3G.

Using our Omio phone comparison widget, we have put the two great handsets side-by-side, flanked by recent releases the T-Mobile G1 and the BlackBerry Storm 9500.

Far from making up the numbers, these touchscreen handsets all pose the most real threat to the latest Nokia dream, proving more than a match on paper…

Let’s break down exactly which wins what:

Size: The N97′s dimensions are a svelte 117 x 55 x 16mm, making it a hair longer, but also narrower than the iPhone’s 116 x 62 x 12mm frame.

That 16:9 screen results in a far thinner face than the stocky iPhone, but that 16mm depth is the thing to notice. This makes the N97 a far sexier proposition than the N95′s horrendous shape, showing that Nokia have realised the importance of both form and function.

Weight: The iPhone 3G is positively waif-like, as it tips the scales at a mere 133g. Yes, that’s a lot, but a relative lettuce muncher in smartphone terms. The N97 comes a close second at 150g, with the Storm at 155g and the G1 at 158g.

More follows!

Read more…

T-MobileG1 UK Launch In Time For Halloween!

A release date being brought forward? Oh, T-Mobile G1, you are different from all those other phones!

Yes, the handset which looks like the result of congress between a Sidekick and an iPhone will be out this month in the UK, with an October 30th release!

The pre-registration service has also gone well with 25,000 sign-ups in the UK. This may be short of the eleventy billion “sales” in the US, but with relatively little fanfare the G1 is still stirring the blood of many.

It will be free on top end T-Mobile tariffs, with unlimited browsing, with the Pay As You Go plans (if any) still to be announced.

Have they been startled into action by Vodafone’s sexy BlackBerry Storm, or is this early release an altruistic act in the spirit of Halloween from T-Mobile? We know what our money’s on…

Source: T-Mobile

Vodafone’s BlackBerry Storm 9500: A Formal Introduction

World, meet BlackBerry Storm.

It gets thoroughly, thoroughly, handled in the next vid. Browsing, touchscreen loveliness, GPS, texts, video playback, it’s all here.

By the end, I felt like I had one in my pocket.

A bit scared of the Vodafone Music Store, mind.

Flashbacks of the bad old days where Voda firmware prevented things like homebrewed MP3 ringtones on certain Sony Ericsson handsets. Please let those dark days be behind us!