HISTORY

Email access is arguably the biggest “killer app” of the smartphone era. It allows direct communication and file transfer anywhere a network connection is present, taking business out of the boardroom and giving it more agility, global reach, and response. No smartphone today lacks an email client.

Canadian smartphone purveyors RIM, makers of the #2 smartphone platform in the world, owe most of their success to focusing on email access. It has become their forte, and allowed the Blackberry brand to become an icon.  It is not uncommon in the US for the uninitiated to erroneously attribute the Blackberry name to any email capable device with a screen positioned above a mini QWERTY keyboard. It is the preferred form factor amongst business users, mostly out of habit or familiarity with the original Blackberry. In retrospect, email access has probably had the biggest influence on today’s business professional, and today’s corporate smartphone world.

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From the very first time I have used a S60 device, to the present day, I always thought that the backlight has a primitive and incomplete way to function. It fails to deliver an effective and satisfactory usability, and is not designed with convenience and cleverness in mind.

The backlight lets the user view with clarity the colors on the screen, and although Nokia has included a light sensor to regulate light intensity, Nokia forgot to make it SMART. Read more »

On October 27^th, the BITS section of the New York Times published an interview with Opera’s co-founder and chief executive Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner, who discussed several matters, such as the future of web browsers, especially those which are meant for mobile devices. It is mentioned that they developed a version of Opera Mini for the iPhone, however, it was surprising to read that it was rejected due to the fact that it represents a direct competition for Safari web browser.

It has been known that Apple has rejected several apps claiming that those applications “reply core functionality” of apps that are already installed on the iPhone or iPod touch. Gmail App or Podcasting app come to my mind.

I think that is a not so smart move by Apple, because it represents a limitation for developers, making them lose interest on developing new applications for that particular platform. It’s also considered non-ethic, because it is limiting competition and gives the impression to be a bit like a monopoly, mostly because Opera Mini could bring something interesting to customers which could differentiate it from the native web browser Safari. The ones that get more affected are precisely us, the consumers, who should have the freedom of choosing between different options, the one that best suits our needs. For example, on my Nokia E71 I have installed three different browsers: the default browser from Nokia, Opera Mini, and Skyfire. I have been using my device for around a month, so I haven’t been able to decide which browser is the best one for me, only time will tell.

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Symbian developers found their heaven at the MobDev fest corner at the Symbian Smartphones Show. Within the team, few developers could pride themselves for securing a 2 metre-radius circle, used to play around with an RC car, but not just any car: the remote-controlled vehicle moved by tilting a Nokia N82.

The uses of the accelerometer (motion sensor) included in high-end NSeries phones has been pushed to the limit ever since Nokia released its API. One of the developers let me play with the N82, which moved the car by either tilting the phone to the front, back, right, or left. Combinations of directions sometimes rendered the car to a halt.

The modification was simple to the experts, and according to what I heard, the hack was achieved in a night’s work. The experts replaced the RC circuit by a Bluetooth circuit, which received signals from the N82.

Pictures after the break, as well as the Bluetooth circuit used inside the car.

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Google has compiled a Google Earth version compatible with both iPod Touch and the iPhone, which also has 3D vision. The PC application itself has achieved more than 400 million downloads since its debut in 2005.

According to the Google Mobile blog, the application has been used by “people from around the world have used it to view their house, research travel destinations, learn how to make the world a better place, find local businesses, and view geo-located photos.”

The touch interface on the two devices will be a bonus as you will be able to navigate by the means of swiping your finger, title the view as you tilt the phone, zoom by tapping on the display, and make use of the built-in GPS to search nearby attractions.

Google Earth is downloadable in the App Store in Apple iTunes.

Video after the break.

[via Google Mobile blog]

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