Archive for: October 16, 2009

By Chris Scott Barr Keys are one of those objects that seems almost archaic when you think about them. We have so many technologies at our disposal, you have to wonder why we rely on these so heavily. If you don’t have a car with a fancy keyless setup, you can now add a Viper StartSmart system that will let you control your car from your iPhone. The new StartSmart System won’t have you driving your car from an iPhone, but you can do a host of other functions: Lock/arm Unlock/disarm Remote car starter Trunk release Panic or car finder You can do all of the above functions anywhere using your iPhone or iPod Touch, so long as you have either a data connection or WiFi available. The App is free, but you’ll need the Viper StartSmart hardware in your car. The StartSmart kit will set you back $499, and you’ll need to pony up $29.99 a year for service (the first year is free). [ Viper ] VIA [ Dvice ]

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Use Your iPhone To Start Your Car

By Chris Scott Barr Keys are one of those objects that seems almost archaic when you think about them. We have so many technologies at our disposal, you have to wonder why we rely on these so heavily. If you don’t have a car with a fancy keyless setup, you can now add a Viper StartSmart system that will let you control your car from your iPhone. The new StartSmart System won’t have you driving your car from an iPhone, but you can do a host of other functions: Lock/arm Unlock/disarm Remote car starter Trunk release Panic or car finder You can do all of the above functions anywhere using your iPhone or iPod Touch, so long as you have either a data connection or WiFi available. The App is free, but you’ll need the Viper StartSmart hardware in your car. The StartSmart kit will set you back $499, and you’ll need to pony up $29.99 a year for service (the first year is free). [ Viper ] VIA [ Dvice ]

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Use Your iPhone To Start Your Car

Businesses, schools and individuals are gearing up for the Oct. 22 launch of Microsoft’s new operating system, Windows 7. While Microsoft prepares for the rollout and users prepare for changes, Apple is preparing to cash in. Apple has been mocking Microsoft’s Vista operating system in marketing campaigns for more than a year in its Mac-versus-PC advertisements. Now with the anticipated rollout of Windows 7, Apple is planning to boost marketing to slam its rival’s new operating system while pushing Mac OS X Snow Leopard. Apple plans to use the challenging process of upgrading to Windows 7 as ammunition. In order for Windows XP users to upgrade to Windows 7, they must first back up all their files and settings to external media, reformat their PC, reinstall all applications and backed-up files, and reconfigure settings. Executives at Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple hope PC users will want to avoid that process and instead make the switch to a Mac, Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, told Business Week. Apple has already started by introducing programs to help users move from PCs to Macs. People who pay $99 for Apple’s One to One training program can bring in their PCs and have all their files transferred to Macs. Disadvantages and Advantages for Apple Apple has seen an increase in the number of households using Macs, according to a NPD Group report, which will be an advantage for the company. Approximately 12 percent of all U.S. computer-owning households have an Apple computer, up from nine percent in 2008, according to NPD. Apple was also able to tap into complaints of bad performance by Vista users. Windows 7, however, has been touted by both Microsoft and early adopters as a strong and efficient operating system, which puts Apple at a disadvantage. And ...

Google Wave is great, and companies should consider offering its functionality to their employees, a consultant says. But only when the concepts come from companies without Google’s baggage and with enterprise track records. The tool from Google, announced in late May, aims to merge virtually all real-time and non-real-time online communications, including e-mail, IM, wikis, blogs and social networks. It’s designed to work in real time, be flexible, and accept add-ons. Last month, the first 100,000 invitations to try Wave were sent out. “I love the concept,” said Irwin Lazar, a vice president at Nemertes Research. “We’ve been talking about the uses of unified communications. This represents the integration of real-time voice, video and IM with non-real-time things such as e-mail and document sharing.” ‘Not Soup Yet’ There’s a wide gap, however, between a good idea and something that businesses should roll out. The question of whether Google Wave is a good idea for businesses in both the long and short term was answered by Lazar as well as Scott Yates, who writes for the New Technology Examiner. Yates, who got one of the invitations, said companies should be careful about adopting Google Wave now. He agrees that its potential is great, but said the service is complex to use. “The problem is that it is just not soup yet,” he said. “People should not be trying to get into Google Wave unless they are pretty technical. It’s just hard to use.” Yates added that the service’s reach is limited. “The fundamental reason to hold off right now is that it is a communications tool — but you can’t get invitations for everyone you want to communicate with. … The potential is huge, but it just needs more time.” Enterprise Players in the Wings Companies also should be reluctant to ...

Although there’s miles to go before it is perfected, solar powered phones are here to stay. Where electricity is scarce, more and more people in the provinces are relying on mobile phones to do more than just call and SMS. RIght now, Nokia has led the pack in terms of offering two good things: phones that have built in flashlights and phones that have built in “Life Tools” services for farmers. Add email to the picture and you get more than just an Internet cafe on your hands. Solar charged phones complete the circle, allowing folks to do more while they leave their phones idle. About an hour of solar charging offers around 5-10 minutes of talk time. Selling at around US$60 (NZ$81), Samsung Solar Guru features FM radio, MP3 ring tones, embedded games, and a torch light. [ source ] [image via textually.org] Post from: Cellphone9

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Solar Powered Phones — here to stay

Walmart is launching a new solution for the no-contract cell-phone world that may have competitors worried. Dubbed Straight Talk, Walmart’s wireless service will be offered through its 3,200-plus stores across the nation, starting Oct. 18. The program offers two prepaid plans at $30 and $45 a month. “It has been very encouraging to see the excitement and response to the Straight Talk pilot in 234 stores that began last summer at Walmart,” said Greg Hall, vice president of media devices for Wal-Mart Stores. “In light of the savings customers continue to need, we have worked very quickly to extend this offering to all of our Walmart customers nationwide, and just before the holidays.” All About Savings Walmart’s latest venture seems to be all about savings. The company points to Nielsen Mobile Bill Panel Data that reports the average U.S. adult spends $78 for 1,000 minutes of cellular minutes a month. That’s not even counting data packages. By switching to the $30 Straight Talk plan, Walmart said, the average 1,000 minutes-per-month consumer could save more than $500 a year and still be on a reliable nationwide network. For $30 a month, the Straight Talk “All You Need” 30-day plan includes 1,000 minutes, 1,000 texts, and 30MB of mobile Web access. The $45 plan includes unlimited minutes, unlimited text, and unlimited mobile Web access. Both tiers of the Straight Talk service include nationwide coverage and 411 information calls at no additional charge. Despite its deal with Apple to sell the iPhone, Walmart’s new endeavor has it selling ultra-low-cost phones as part of the Straight Talk service, which was developed as an exclusive offering with TracFone Wireless. Consumers can buy a range of phones, from the entry-level LG 220 flip phone at $39.98 to the LG Slider 290 at $79.98 to the Samsung ...

There’s a new Storm coming. On Wednesday, Research in Motion and Vodafone announced the BlackBerry Storm2 smartphone for Europe and South Africa. The newest version of the Storm line has improved touchscreen technology and enhanced features. The new device will be available initially in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, France, Italy and South Africa. Multi-Key Typing RIM said Storm2 offers its new SurePress technology, in which a user receives tactile feedback after pressing the touchscreen. Pressure applied at any point on the screen receives the same feedback, and the company also said the virtual keyboards are “easier, more comfortable and more accurate.” A letter can be typed into the keyboard with one thumb, even though another finger might be touching or resting elsewhere on the screen, such as on another letter. RIM said this allows faster typing and Shift-, Alt-, or other multi-key combinations. The screen is a 3.25-inch, 360×480 capacitive display, with Send, End, Menu and Escape as integrated functions. Connectivity is Wi-Fi, UMTS/HSPA (2100 MHz), and quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM, and the 3.2-megapixel camera has video recording, variable zoom, autofocus and flash. The microSD/SDHD memory card slot supports 16GB cards now, and will support 32GB cards when they’re available. There’s also built-in GPS, Bluetooth and such BlackBerry software as Media Sync for syncing iTunes and Windows Media Player music and Desktop Manager for syncing with PCs and Macs. Storm2 comes with BlackBerry’s OS 5, which RIM said also enhances ease of use. The enhancements include “spin boxes” to allow easier setting of time and dates, a greater use of animation, shaded buttons, refined typing accuracy, faster JavaScript and CSS processing, and support for Gears and BlackBerry Widgets. Original ‘Didn’t Take World by Storm’ The OS also enables the user to use the device to manage Microsoft Exchange ...

Good news for Sidekick users — Microsoft is restoring lost data. But the high-profile data loss and another involving Mac OS X Snow Leopard may leave Microsoft and Apple customers with a bad taste for some time. Microsoft reports it has recovered most, if not all, data for Sidekick customers whose personal information was affected by a weekend outage. Microsoft plans to begin restoring users’ data as soon as possible, starting with personal contacts, after the company validates the data and its restoration plan. Microsoft will then continue working around the clock to restore data to all affected users, including calendar, notes, tasks, photographs and high scores, as quickly as possible, according to Roz Ho, corporate vice president of premium mobile experiences for Microsoft. ‘Minority’ of Sidekick users affected “We now believe that data loss affected a minority of Sidekick users,” Ho said. “We have determined that the outage was caused by a system failure that created data loss in the core database and the backup. We rebuilt the system component by component, recovering data along the way. This careful process has taken a significant amount of time, but was necessary to preserve the integrity of the data.” Ho said Microsoft will continue working closely with T-Mobile to restore user data as quickly as possible and is taking steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Microsoft has already made changes to improve the overall stability of the Sidekick service and initiated a more resilient backup process to ensure that the integrity of backups is maintained. Meanwhile, Apple is still grappling with data-loss issues of its own. On Oct. 12, Apple acknowledged a critical error in its new Mac OS X Snow Leopard that caused massive data loss for some users. The company insisted that the issue “occurs only in extremely ...