Heavy-duty social networkers will be familiar with the name “Seesmic“, a desktop and web Twitter client. It has officially gone mobile for Android and BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM), with the expected features such as home screen notifications, picture sharing, timeline viewing, saved searches, and basic tweeting. The one thing I haven’t seen elsewhere on a BlackBerry twitter client yet is lists support; more specifics can be found on the BlackBerry page. The Android version has a few cool tricks, like saving tweets as drafts and video sharing, but to get a closer look, check out Seesmic’s Android page. To get downloading, point your mobile browser to seesmic.com or find it in the Android Market.
Despite the fact Nokia (NYSE: NOK) announced that its N900 will sell for $649 in the U.S., the good ol’ Amazon is offering the Maemo-powered device for $480 ($479.99 to be more precise). As you probably already know that money buys you one of the most capable smartphones on the market today with features that include tons of storage (32GB), GPS, WiFi, great 5-megapixel camera, and so on. Exact shipping date is unknown at the moment, but I assume you won’t have to wait for too long to grab the N900, in case you want to.
Sprint (NYSE: S) users with BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) and Android smartphones can now use YouMail-powered visual voicemail service free of charge. You know how it works, right? Just like on the iPhone, plus more:
You can scroll through incoming voicemail messages to see caller information including caller name, time of call, and length of message
Play voicemails by simply clicking on them
Share and forward voicemails as an email or post to a blog
Delete, archive or save voicemails, forever
In order to use YouMail on your phone, you’ll need the YouMail application. Search for it in the BlackBerry App World or Android Market, depending which device you use. Then go to YouMail’s website, sign up for a YouMail account and follow the brief instructions for forwarding unanswered calls to YouMail. It’s that easy.
There are plenty of apps out there that allow you to control your computer from your smartphones, but what if you want to browse your Windows Phone from your desktop computer? Well, then you’ll want to check out WiFi Remote Access for Windows Mobile. The new Windows Mobile app installs itself on your Windows Phone and acts as a bridge between the phone and your computer, allowing you to connect to your handset via WiFi and browse its contents through a web browser (like the one you’re using to read this very sentence).
Remote Access is still in beta, but doesn’t skimp on features. You can view photos, complete with thumbnails. You can listen to the music you have stored on the phone. You can even edit your Windows Phone’s registry through the app.
There’s no desktop installation required. Simply install the Windows Mobile app on your smartphone and point your desktop computer’s browser to the handset’s IP address. It’s that simple.
Find more information on Remote Access here. Grab Remote Access here.
Quick, raise your hand if you sent an MMS from your iPhone this past week. Okay, how about this past month? If you’re not raising your hand, your either A) not following the rules of this game or B) just like the millions of Americans that just don’t send out MMS (picture messages) regularly from their iPhones. I fall into the latter category. Today’s release of FunMail might change all that.
FunMail for iPhone automatically analyzes your text message and serves up relevant images that you can embed into your message. The idea behind FunMail is to bring MMS out of the dark ages and allow people to use images for rich communication. Rather than send your friend a text message asking them if they want to eat, FunMail would have you send them the same text with overlaid on an image of a burger. You can even send that messages to Twitter and Facebook.
The trick to making picture-chats convenient is FunMail’s “Media Brain,” which pulls out the semantic meaning behind your text and gives the user a set of pictures that might fit the situation. If you’re talking about going to lunch, FunMail returns images of food. Talk about a birthday, and you get birthday-related images.
The app is free in the iPhone AppStore, so it won’t hurt to give it a shot. I personally can’t see myself using FunMail for everyday communication, but it’s definitely worth trying out at least once.
Those who use GMail regularly be familiar with the Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Talk sidebar showing which of your friends are online, as well as the wide variety of customization options available. A new one fresh from the labs is Android icons that let you know if your contact is currently online thanks to an Android device, complete with yellow Away robots, and red Busy ones. This would be a great option even if it were just extra eye candy for the Android-obsessed, but knowing someone is mobile definitely helps contextualize the conversation, and potentially avoids anyone getting offended at short, terse replies. You can enable the option in GMail over here.
Ow, did anyone else feel like their wallet just got kicked in the crotch? At a Swedish press event, Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) revealed that their Android-powered X10 to be released in February will be costing 6,000 Swedish kroner (which works out to $US 860 at the current exchange rate). Even among high-end smartphones that’s pretty steep, and considering SE’s history with selling the xperia brand unlocked, odds are we won’t see X10 carrier-subsidized for awhile. We’ve seen the super-slick user interface built on top of Android, 8 megapixel camera, slim profile, 1 Ghz processor, and 4-inch display, but it is a very small niche that will shell out that kind of money for this device. Anyone out there unfazed by the pricetag?
Hey all of you Canadian Android-lovers, looking for a good price on a first-gen Android device? How about the Rogers HTC Dream? Sound good? The folks at Canada’s ‘Big Red’ have dropped the price on the HTC Dream (about time) to $49.99 on a 3-year contract. If you don’t mind being locked-in to a device that is already passé, then throw down your Mackenzie King and pick one up.
The Rogers (NYSE: RCI) HTC Dream features a 3.2″ touchscreen (320×480), built-in accelerometer, full slide-out QWERTY keyboard, WiFi, GPS, 3.2MP camera with auto focus and video… and much more.
Bold 9700 users, a new OS has leaked that may peak your interest. Keep in mind, this is a very UNOFFICIAL release, so do install at your own risk. The leak brings us up to 5.0.0.351, and is available right here.
As always, please backup your device and take all necessary precautions before you proceed with this, or any other OS update. If you install, be sure to let us know if you notice any major enhancements or improvements in this build. Happy OS updating!
I’ve no idea why it took so long for Fring to embrace Google (NSDQ: GOOG)’s mobile platform, but whatever the reasoning is, it’s good to see them jumping on board. Yap, Fring is now an Android thing, too — joining the likes of the iPhone/iPod Touch, Symbian S60, Windows Mobile, Linux (Maemo) and Java ME-enabled devices.
Just like that’s the case with other smartphone platforms, Fring for Android allows users to chat with their buddies across multiple IM networks, make free calls, post status updates, as well as make calls to mobile and land-lines using SkypeOut or some of the available SIP VoIP services — either via WiFi or 3G.
And that’s it. Simply search for “fring” in the Android Market and take it from there. And check out the introductory video after the jump.
Those who use GMail regularly be familiar with the Google (
Ow, did anyone else feel like their wallet just got kicked in the crotch? At a Swedish press event, Sony Ericsson (
