Megnabytes by Michelle Megna (bio )

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October 13, 2009, 4:23 PM

Google extends Voice party line

The Internet giant today said it will start allowing more people to use its Google Voice call management app.

"As a token of appreciation for all of the feedback our users have been sharing over the past few months, today we're going to start giving Google Voice users invitations to share with friends and family. Over the next few weeks, each Google Voice user will receive three invites to distribute to whomever they choose," a Google spokeswoman told InternetNews.com.

Prior to today's news, Google Voice, which manages a user's calls under one number, among other services, was only available to a limited pool of users.

The move to expand the Google Voice user base comes as the app becomes more controversial -- most recently as the subject of an FCC inquiry over how it routes calls to rural areas.

AT&T helped prompt the latest FCC investigation, charging that Google should adhere to the same common carrier laws as the wireless networks.

Meanwhile, AT&T, Google and Apple were all asked by the FCC to file documents explaining their respective roles in Apple's decision not to include Google Voice in its App Store. That resulted with Google claiming Apple rejected Google Voice outright, while the iPhone maker said it was still reviewing the application. AT&T played no part in the decision.

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October 13, 2009, 10:59 AM

Storm 2 brewin' for late October release

Mobile rumor alert: the BlackBerry Storm 2 is coming out Oct. 28 on Verizon.

Research In Motion's Storm 2, its answer to the iPhone 3GS and sporty Android handsets debuting this month, has been suspiciously absent from the mobile hoopla.

That could change before Halloween, as blogs are citing promotional posters of the Storm 2 bearing a code number being interpreted as a 10-28-09 release date.

The Storm 2 is expected to include the addition of Wi-Fi, an upgrade to BlackBerry OS 5.x and an enhanced touchscreen experience. It should also come with 2GB of internal memory and an included 16GB microSD card. Like its predecessor, the Verizon version will support the carrier's CDMA/EV-DO network in the U.S. and include a second, GSM, radio for use when abroad.

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October 7, 2009, 4:01 PM

Dell and AT&T to offer Android smartphone?

Dell and AT&T are planning to launch a new Android phone in early 2010, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

The report said that Dell expects to launch an Android-powered smartphone in conjunction with AT&T, marking Dell's first entry into the competitive smartphone market.

If reports are true, it would also be the first Android-powered handset for AT&T, which is currently the sole carrier for the iPhone -- and the only major network without an Android handset.

Verizon Wireless yesterday unveiled plans to bring Android handsets to market under a new partnership with Google, while Sprint is offering the HTC Hero and Samsung Moment.

T-Mobile was the first to come out with an Android smartphone, the G1, last year, and now also sells the myTouch and is slated to offer the Behold II by Samsung.

The Wall Street Journal, which cited people who were briefed on the plans, said that the phone will have a touchscreen instead of a keypad, similar to Apple's iPhone, and will also have a tiny camera.

The phone is reported to be similar to a device that Dell showed in China in August, but has some additional features. The company is also in discussions about offering the Android device on other U.S. carriers.

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September 29, 2009, 3:58 PM

Pricing, sale date set for Motorola Cliq

T-Mobile today issued details on the launch of Motorola's Android handset, Cliq: it costs $199 with a two-year contract and pre-sales for existing customers begins Oct. 19.

The Cliq impressed industry observers when unveiled at Motorola's press event Sept. 10, but absent was any news of the first Android-powered handset slated for Verizon, also made by Motorola, and code-named Sholes.

Sholes, a.k.a. A855, recently passed muster with the FCC.It will support EVDO Rev A and Wi-Fi 802.11b/g, but no other details are available.

Now reports are surfacing that Sholes will be dubbed Tao and released in October. That would be a good thing for Verizon, because Sprint's HTC Hero goes on sale Oct.11, and today we learn T-Mobile is kicking off Cliq sales at retail Nov. 2.

October will see the culmination of several firsts for Android that have been in the works for some time.

The touchscreen HTC Hero, $179.99 after rebates, is Sprint's first smartphone running on Google's open source mobile platform. It's also the first Android phone with a redesigned user interface. Called HTC Sense, the new user interface offers a multi-panel, customizable home screen with Internet-based widgets.

The Hero is also the first Android phone to go on sale that's not under contract with T-Mobile, which sells the G1 and myTouch.

With the Cliq, Motorola debuts its first Android-powered handset as it mounts a comeback in the mobile sector with a slew of new releases in time for the holidays.

And, with the mobile rumormill in full gear with reports of Motorola's Sholes-A855-Tao coming soon, Verizon may be added to the list of firsts for Android.

(Cliq photo courtesy of: Motorola)

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September 24, 2009, 3:02 PM

iPhone owners buy boat, Lamborghini with eBay app

The eBay iPhone app is proving to be profitable for eBay, with the company realizing $380 million in sales through the iPhone within the first nine months of this year, said CEO John Donahoe, during a keynote speech at the Shop.org event this week.

The eBay chief said the online marketplace is making mobile a priority as it's having a "a powerful impact on commerce and payments," adding that about 4 million people have downloaded eBay's iPhone app.

And, iPhone users aren't just buying liquidated and collectible items. Donahoe said earlier this year a Lamborghini was purchased with the iPhone app and last month a shopper used their handset to buy a $150,000 boat.

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September 24, 2009, 2:23 PM

Google updates WinMo app with location, more

Google's app for Windows Mobile phones got some love today from the search giant in the form of three new features.

Designed to make mobile search of Google faster and easier, the updates include My Location, Google Suggest and Search with Maps, writes Craig Wilkinson, software engineer, at the Google mobile blog.

The location feature provides local results without a user typing in their location. Once a user sees the blue My Location dot with the current location below the search box, he or she can search for a local query, for example "italian restaurant," and the search results will contain local business results along with Web results.

"To protect your privacy, location is encrypted when sent to the server, and only your most recent location is stored so that successive searches can use the same location. You can disable My Location at any time in the Advanced Options screen," writes Wilkinson.

Google Suggest reduces typing time by supplying suggested URLS. Search with Maps works by typing in a local query, getting suggestions, and then selecting the ones with red pins next to them to launch the search inside Google Maps.

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September 24, 2009, 1:45 PM

Sybase, Siemens streamline mobile management

Sybase and Siemens Enterprise Communications (SEN) Group just joined forces to provide customers with an integrated mobile and fixed-line voice and data service targeted at making unified communications and mobile work together more efficiently.

The new offering marries Sybase's mobile device management capabilities with the SEN Group's fixed mobile convergence (FMC) technology to provide a streamlined for businesses to manage diversified communications. The service will also help businesses to effectively manage operations such as inventory and expenses, logistics, mobile devices and applications.

Sybase Afaria enables the SEN Group to significantly reduce the complexities associated with managing multiple device types at a time when consumers are increasingly bringing personal smart phones into the workplace.

Afaria will be embedded into the SEN Group's technology, a platform that centralizes enterprise VoIP, VoWLAN and cellular mobility.

The new offering consists of two components. The first is the MobileConnect Appliance, located at the central site, sitting on the wired network between the WLAN and the SIP PBX, which continually monitors and manages mobile user sessions regardless of whether they are on the corporate or public network. The second part is the MobileConnect Client, software that resides on the dual-mode handset and works with the MobileConnect Appliance to navigate enterprise-cellular exchange.

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September 24, 2009, 1:26 PM

IBM-RIM mobile service gets subscription model

IBM today released a new subscription-based management service for the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution platform aimed at helping companies to budget their mobility costs more efficiently.

The newly unveiled IBM Mobile Enterprise Services for the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution is a service designed to simplify management, technical support and cost of a client's BlackBerry deployment, while making it easier for them to scale the solution to meet their business demands.

It consolidates the technical, administrative, licensing and support costs of the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution with pricing on a monthly, per-user basis. The new subscription-based pricing model is designed to help organizations better project and budget mobility costs and minimize their upfront investment.

The new managed service offering will be provided by IBM professionals certified through the BlackBerry Certification Program.

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September 24, 2009, 12:21 PM

Study: Palm Pre Cool, BlackBerry Not So Much

In just over four months, the Palm Pre is making progress in mindshare, second only to the iPhone 3GS, says a study out today.

While the iPhone and its apps are nothing less than a cultural touchstone, it appears that the Palm Pre is also getting some of those warm-fuzzy feelings consumers attach to Apple's handsets. What's more, the Pre is beating out BlackBerry Curve and Storm and Android G1 in the cool quotient.

"Palm has seemingly demonstrated that other brands can successfully launch smartphones that not only match the iPhone's glow, but can stand alone in their own right," says the report, "Signature Smartphones: Gaining Mindshare in Order to Gain Market Share," by consultant group Interpret LLC.

The top three factors consumers weigh when deciding which smartphone to buy are, in order, how "smart," "hip/cool" and "productive" it makes them appear to be, according to the study, which does not indicate how many people were polled.

Proving marketers should never underestimate a consumer's need to project a flattering image, the study says people are willing to pay more for smartphones that, in their minds, do so.

"It appears the most highly publicized signature smartphones are no longer expected to simply accomplish advanced tasks, but they must also project three key attributes of their owners to others," says the study. "Consumers are so pressed to portray these traits that they are demonstrating a willingness to accept phones that accomplish this undertaking at a higher price tag."

While the Pre is faring well in terms of how consumers perceive the Palm brand, placing second to the iPhone 3GS, RIM's BlackBerry is still not in the V.I.P tent of cool, ays the report.

"Interest in projecting a hip or cool image was so prominent (at 48 percent) that it is crucial that vendors put more focus in connecting with this sentiment in their marketing collateral and campaigns. Although RIM has focused on exceptional e-mail functionality with its BlackBerry portfolio and Google has emphasized its advanced operating system with the Android OS, they have not leveraged these capabilities in such a way to necessarily embody 'coolness' with the general public."

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September 11, 2009, 2:47 PM

Is it time for Time Inc. to enter e-reader market?

Time Inc. wants a slice of the burgeoning e-reader market, though it remains to be seen exactly how the magazine publishing giant will go about it.

After an internal document was leaked to a news outlet, reports circulated speculating that the company may be considering offering an e-reader device by the end of the year.

From the sidelines, it would appear that moving into the nascent market by licensing content or through some other type of content-delivery deal would make sense for the magazine publishing empire. But getting into the hardware aspect of the business? Not so much. It's a daunting challenge, and one that's already being undertaken by stalwarts in the electronics, book publishing and e-commerce industries.

Amazon's Kindle currently rules the e-reader roost, but challengers are jumping into the mix. Sony's new wireless e-reader aimed at taking on the Kindle goes on sale this holiday season. Not far behind is Barnes & Noble, which will debut a wireless e-reader early next year in a partnership with hardware maker Plastic Logic.

Taiwan-based netbook maker Asus is also considering rolling out two new e-readers, one for about $160, that would seriously undercut the competition.

For now, Time Inc. isn't disclosing what approach it will take, though it appears it is keen on licensing the content from its stable of magazines, which includes Sports Illustrated, People and Entertainment Weekly.

"We're speaking with a number of hardware and software companies, as well as other content companies," a Time Inc. spokeswoman told InternetNews.com.

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August 24, 2009, 1:25 PM

Verizon map: Storm 2, Motorola's Android Sholes on tap

Research In Motion's answer to the iPhone 3GS, for now being called Storm 2, is expected to be released by Verizon in October, along with Motorola's Android-powered handset code-named Sholes.

A leaked Verizon Wireless document outlining upcoming smartphones hit the blogosphere this week, and according to reports, highlights mobile devices that will be on sale by the holidays.

In addition to the BlackBerry Storm 2, Verizon is on tap this fall to sell an updated version of the Curve 8520 that includes Wi-Fi.

Motorola and Verizon are also slated to begin offering the Sholes handset, which could be the first Android-powered smartphone for the wireless carrier. It will also mark Motorola's push in the fourth-quarter to reinvent itself as a viable contender in the lucrative smartphone market with a new line up of Android phones.

There is widespread speculation that Motorola's Sholes will run on the updated version of the Google-backed mobile OS, version 2.0, or eclair, and will cost $199. It's also expected to boast a 5-megapixel camera and 3.7-inch touchscreen.

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August 19, 2009, 5:44 PM

Wikipedia Mobile debuts; Upgrade for Facebook iPhone App on tap

Wikipedia is going mobile today with the release of an iPhone app while Facebook awaits approval of a significant upgrade to its existing iPhone program.

Wikipedia Mobile is available today for those wanting on-the-go access to the online, collaborative encyclopedia. The 1.6MB open-source application is free, and for now, appears to offer about the same experience as simply viewing the site on a mobile browser, though the company is working on adding more features soon.

In other iPhone app news, a significant upgrade to the Facebook for iPhone app should be available as soon as Apple approves it, according to the blog AllFacebook.com.

"The new application includes events, Facebook page management, full access to the news feed, the ability to create and edit notes, video upload and more," writes AllFacebook's founder Nick O'Neill.

He also says page administrators will be able to access their page's content from the updated iPhone app. "You can post updates to the page, view users' wall posts and post replies, and upload photos to your page as well," he writes. "It's a great addition that I'm sure many page users and managers will enjoy."

The Facebook for iPhone currently has 12 million monthly active users and 4 million daily active users.

Spokespeople from Apple and Facebook did not return requests for comment by press time.

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August 17, 2009, 4:47 PM

Study: iPhone is a detriment to carriers

The iPhone is not a run-away success increasing profits for carriers -- or shareholders -- and reports of such are the product of Apple's "unique PR campaign" and uncritical media, according to the Danish consulting firm Strand Consult.

The company debunks what it says are 10 myths about the iPhone, including the following: The iPhone drives data traffic into mobile operators networks; the iPhone helps operators attract new customers; and the iPhone is good business for mobile operators.

In a newsletter summarizing the report "The Moment of Truth: a portrait of the iPhone" Strand says the data is based on CEO John Strand's "many workshops at CxO level for operators across the world that have requested qualified information on the future mobile market and how it will develop."

One summary point reads: "When you examine the iPhone data consumption, you will see that iPhone customers use their browser to view ordinary Web sites and that they often choose not to view the websites in XHTML -- optimized for low bandwidth and mobile phone sized screens. In practice this results in that when an iPhone user browses a typical news site, an ordinary Web page will be around 1MB, while the mobile version of the same page will often be less than 100 Kb. It is significantly cheaper for an operator to produce 100 Kb data than it is to produce 1MB data and it is much more fun to deliver 100 KB rather than 1 MB when you are selling data at a flat rate."

(more) |

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July 31, 2009, 3:17 PM

Can spreadsheets save Google Checkout?

Google just released a Checkout store gadget that works with Google Docs and allows users to set up an online store using spreadsheets.

Google Checkout users can list items they want to sell online in a Google spreadsheet, and insert the Checkout gadget to create a digital storefront within minutes, says Google Checkout strategist Mike Giardina.

"Using new Spreadsheet Data APIs, we've integrated Google Docs and Google Checkout to make online selling a breeze. In three simple steps, you'll be able to create an online store that's powered by Google Checkout and has inventory managed and stored in a Google spreadsheet," writes Giardina in a blog post. "No complicated coding or technical tasks are required. You can get your first online store up-and-running in under five minutes."

When the search company first issued the online payment processing service Checkout several years ago, the e-commerce industry braced itself for what many thought would be a rival to eBay's PayPal. To date, however, Checkout has failed to gain popularity in e-commerce -- and certainly isn't a "PayPal killer" -- despite the resources of its parent company.

The new Checkout gadget may be an effort to change that, as it can be embedded in a personal Web site, though naturally Google offers detailed steps for doing so in Google Sites, iGoogle and Blogger.

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