It hasn’t been a year already, has it!? I guess it has! Our friends at Tether have just celebrated their first birthday, and they want to show their appreciation for their love and support by offering you, our beloved readers, a chance to win one of 25 FREE copies of Tether for BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM)! Awesome! All you have to do is leave a comment to this post (one per person, please) and you’re automatically entered for a chance to win.
If you’ve never heard of Tether before, let me give you a quick history. It popped on the scene a year ago as ‘TetherBerry’. Since then, they’ve rebranded as ‘Tether’ and it has been downloaded to over 110,000 BlackBerry devices, and a new Android version is now in Beta. The team at Tether has also put together a Mac and Bluetooth version, PLUS, they are working hard to push out a tethering solution for all major mobile operating systems. Me thinks this is going to be a great year for Tether!
On top of the giveaway they’ve gracefully offered us here at IntoMobile, they’re also running a contest over at tether.com/contest. The deal? Head over there for your chance to win one of 6 smartphones (3 BlackBerry and 3 Android devices). Sweet! Again, for all the details hit up this link (it’s simple, you just need to enter your name and email). The contest ends this coming Sunday at midnight PST.
So, what are you waiting for? Leave a comment to this post for your chance to win one of 25 FREE copies of Tether for BlackBerry. Again, one entry (comment) per person please.
The LG’s family of Shine phones, currently available in slider, candybar, and flip incarnations, will be expanding with a touchscreen device bearing the model number KM555, or more colloquially, the Shine Touch. It’s due to land on Rogers (NYSE: RCI) according to internal docs, and TELUS (NYSE: TU) according to the LG Canada spec sheet, but still no official word from either carrier. The Shine Touch is a relatively low-end device – 3 megapixel camera, 3″ WQVGA display, FM radio, Wi-Fi, 3G with quad-band GSM support, S-class UI, and 5 hours of talk time.
It’s not much to look at, and presuming you’ve had a chance to check out the S-Class user interface, navigation on the Shine Touch might be a hard pill to swallow. Still, if you’re looking for something simple but reasonably stylish, Rogers should be getting the LG Shine Touch for $49.99 on a three-year contract, and one would expect TELUS pricing to be in the same ballpark.
Bold 9700 users, yet another OS leak for you to take in. Love it or leave it, this is a very unofficial leak, and should be installed at your own risk. The build? Well, we’re looking at OS 5.0.0.545 here. The last leak took us up to OS 5.0.0.536. We’re makin’ progress.
As always, be sure to backup your device and take all necessary precautions before you proceed. This release is NOT supported by RIM or any carrier, so if your device gets all out-of-shape, don’t come crying to me. If you do download and install, be sure to let us know your findings in the comments. Download link is below.
Nothing really stunning here, but for folks in Saskatchewan seeking a new BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM)… this may be of interest. Sasktel has just launched the BlackBerry Curve 8530 for all in the coverage area. Pricing starts at $40.00 on a 3-year contract. Other options include 2 years for $275.00, 1 year for $375.00 or off-contract for $440.00. Wow, that’s quite an insane jump from the 3-year to the 2-year and other options.
Of course, the Curve 8530 on Sasktel still packs the same optical trackpad, 3.2″ display (320×240), 2MP camera with 5x digital zoom and video, expansion to 32GB via microSD, WiFi, GPS, Speakerphone, Bluetooth and more.
Just in time for March Madness, Miller Lite has put together an iPhone app for the legal-aged beer-drinking basketball fan. Combining ones love for beer and basketball, the Miller Lite ‘Tip ‘n Spin’ iPhone app puts you to the test by making you spin and balance a basketball on top of a Miller Lite bottle.
Seems easy I know, but it’s actually quite challenging. Get the ball spinning (and keep it spinning) by swiping your finger, and balance the ball by tilting and twisting your iPhone. Compete against your friends, earn points, beat personal or global high scores, and share your results with friends on Facebook. In the app you’ll also find links to other MillerCoors mobile apps. The release of this app comes with March Madness upon us, so look out for ads promoting this app and others on television.
Before I go, did I mention the app was free? Download link below.
The Game Developer’s Conference is currently underway in San Francisco this week and during last night’s super secret Street Fighter event, Capcom pulled the switch and put Street Fighter IV onto the App Store.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, Street Fighter IV will cost you $9.99 and feature 8 out of the 19 characters from the console versions. A new ‘Dojo’ mode is also available on Street Fighter IV iPhone, which serves as a way for players to practice simple moves, to more advanced ones. Multiplayer is possible as well via Bluetooth, so traveling street fighters can take on all comers no matter where they go.
To be more exact, Stitcher is now available for the Storm2 9550 and 9520. If you’ve never heard of Stitcher before, it’s a free media and podcast player for your BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM). It allows you to stream personalized, on-demand internet radio stations, based on a variety of interests. No matter if you need the news, sports updates, or just want something for entertainment, chances are Stitcher has your back.
Still to come for Stitcher is an anticipated update to version 1.2. The update should hit us sometime this summer (July), and will bring full seek functionality, Bluetooth support, and improved handling of longer shows. Stay tuned for more details on the update.
Besides a deep BlackBerry offering, Stitcher is also available as a free download for the iPhone, Android devices, and the Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre and Pixi. For more information or to download hit up stitcher.com/dl from your device, or give it a look in App World.
Quick, think about the last time you used your smartphone on the road. How did you task your mobile phone? Chances are good that, if you have GPS functionality, you used some sort of GPS navigation feature on your handset. You probably also used your mobile phone to look up businesses in a particular area. According to new numbers from Telenav, chances are good that you either searched for Walmart or Starbucks while on the road. Telenav’s data also shows interesting preferences for food and the higher rate of GPS searches in some US cities compared to others.
Thanks to aggregate data from Telenav’s network of 13 million subscribers spread across multiple smartphone platforms, it seems American road-trippers are looking for last-minute supplies and a quick caffeine fix to get them through their journey, with Target, Best Buy, and Bank of America rounding out the top five most-sought retailers. It’s also interesting that Telenav’s data suggests that some US cities are more likely to generate GPS business searches than others. Los Angeles took the No. 1 spot as the city with the highest rate of mobile warriors looking for businesses in their area. The Dallas/Fort Worth area came in second place, with Chicago, Houston, and Atlanta coming in 3rd, 4th and 5th place, respectively.
When it comes to food, “pizza” is the most popular search among Telenav’s user base. Chicagoans are most likely to search for pizza, but New York City is most likely to search for the second-most searched for cuisine – Chinese food. For GPS navigation services, the highest frequency of use comes from Maryland – the rate of nav use in the state is twice as high as the national average. Los Angelinos are the most likely Americans to use Telenav’s navigation re-routing service to side-step driving congestion and traffic. Phoenix, Arizona residents apparently use the gas price feature the most, indicating that the desert city is the most concerned with gas prices in the US.
The take away here is that there’s more to GPS navigation services than just pure navigation services. So, the question is – how do you use your smartphone when on the road?
Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) is reportedly working on a low-end Android smartphone called Vodafone 845 (though the name could change in due course). Details are scarce at the moment, but we’re hearing the upcoming device will run Android 2.1 and come with such features as HSDPA and WiFi connectivity, GPS, 2.8-inch QVGA touchscreen display, 3.2-megapixel camera, 512 MB of internal memory and a 1200 mAh battery. Moreover, it will be compatible with Vodafone 360 suite of services.
The price is rumored to be around 150 EUR and launch date is apparently set for May.
As you may know, the 3G-enabled version of the Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) iPad will be exclusive to AT&T (NYSE: T). That, however, won’t stop Verizon (NYSE: VZ) Wireless to pursue iPad ownin’ users to sign up for their mobile broadband service. In other words, the Big Red wants to see iPad folks grabbing the MiFi and use it on “America’s largest and most reliable 3G network.”
And you know how MiFi works, right? Simply press a button and it instantly creates a hotspot which can be used for connecting WiFi-enabled devices such as… guess… the iPad.
The only problem I see is that Verizon’s 5GB plan costs $59.99, whereas AT&T offers unlimited data to iPad users for half of the amount.
So what Verizon wants? Rich folks who hate AT&T and their (let’s face it) limited coverage? Is that a plan to bet on? What do you think?
