Yep, still waiting over here - plenty of rumours, but nothing concrete for what is promising to be a more than adequate contender for the iPhone!

Interestingly, TechRadar picked up a story that Palm (NSDQ: PALM) will make a special announcement next week - quite what the scope of that will be is unknown, but you’ve got to wonder - and of course, ponder along with that which network operator is going to get the deal to have it first - my money currently is on O2 (NYSE: TEF)…

Now with all that gadget loveliness in evidence, customers do have a real choice about what they get - is it going to be an iPhone 3GS, HTC Hero, Palm Pre, or maybe even a Samsung Jet?

[Original story via: TechRadar]

TerreStar has announced the successful launch of TerreStar-1 - the world’s largest, most advanced commercial communications satellite. Today’s launch is a major achievement in TerreStar’s strategic vision of delivering voice, data and video services on an all IP next-generation mobile broadband network that combines the power of TerreStar-1, an all-IP  core network, and the latest in smartphone technology.

Launched by Arianespace from Kourou, French Guiana, TerreStar-1 is the foundation for TerreStar’s satellite communications network; ensuring network resiliency and availability during times of critical communications need.

“With the successful launch of TerreStar-1, we are redefining the mobile communications landscape,” said Dennis Matheson, CTO of TerreStar. “We are creating a new paradigm in mobile broadband network services and devices that will leverage our integrated satellite and terrestrial communications components to enable true ubiquity and reliability – anywhere in the United States and Canada.”

“Today’s launch is just the beginning of the TerreStar story,” said TerreStar President, Jeff Epstein. “We believe there are tremendous opportunities ahead – in both the commercial and government sectors – and we remain focused on our promise to help solve the critical communications and business continuity challenges faced by government, emergency responders, enterprises and rural communities.”

Prior to the launch of TerreStar-1, the Company, with its partner EB (Elektrobit), introduced the world’s first quad-band GSM and tri-band WCDMA/HSPA smartphone with integrated all-IP satellite-terrestrial voice and data capabilities. Similar in size to today’s mainstream mobile devices, TerreStar’s dual-mode smartphone will allow users to seamlessly and securely stay connected to TerreStar’s satellite and terrestrial network.

TerreStar’s network will operate in two 10-Mhz blocks of contiguous MSS spectrum in the 2 GHz band throughout the United States and Canada – with a spectrum footprint that covers a population of nearly 330 million.

To watch or download video coverage or images of the TerreStar-1 launch, or for more information about TerreStar, click here.

Kiboo, who are the creators of the Buddymob Application, have announced a cooperation with Facebook, the world’s largest and best-known social network.

Buddymob is a social network for mobile users and a revolutionary application. Buddymob offers users the possibility of chatting, locating contacts anywhere in the world in real-time on Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Maps (even if the mobile device does not have a GPS function), subscribing to feeds (photos, videos and messages) and of course, sending feeds, with one click of a button. Buddymob integrates effortlessly with the most popular social networks Facebook, Twitter, MSN, GoogleTalk and Jabber.

Christophe Chatillon, co-founder of Kiboo, says: “We all have a lot of friends who post messages daily on Facebook. So it was essential for us to integrate Facebook messages into our mobile application Buddymob, as we did previously with Twitter, MSN and GoogleTalk. In the same way, users can send and receive at the same time as sharing their posts - whether they are text messages, pictures or video messages - with other Buddies (Buddymob users), as well as with MSN, Twitter and Facebook users.”

In response to demand from a large number of Buddies, Kiboo has also introduced a number of new features for setting up new contacts or staying in touch with other users: you can locate Buddymob users on the map (Google Maps), even if they don’t yet belong to your group of friends. Another new feature is the public timeline on which, just like on Twitter and Facebook - you can share public posts with everyone.

Since the launch of Buddymob for the Android phone, over 100,000 people have downloaded Buddymob and the app has received an extremely positive user rating of 4 out of 5 on Android Market.  Buddymob is already all the rage in the United States and the United Kingdom. Over 10,000 Buddies in Manhattan are frequent users of the Belgian application.

To find out more about Buddymob, go here.

Flirtomatic has announced the launch of its Flirt-word service. The new service gives users the opportunity to buy the rights to a certain word for a 24-hour period, giving them the chance to be ‘hot’, ‘cool’, ‘London’ or anything else for the day.

For the last six weeks, Flirtomatic has given users the ability to profile search, generating over a million Flirt-word searches. Now it’s expanding the search by giving users to chance to buy targeted exposure and attach themselves to a word in order to be found quicker by other users.

Purchasing a word makes users appear at the top of every search of that specific word, much in the same way as a sponsored link appears at the top of results in any of the major search engines on the web. For example John might buy the exclusivity to the word ‘London’ and if anyone performed a search on Flirtomatic for the word ‘London’ John would appear at the top of the search results for 24 hours.

Obviously some words are going to be more popular than others and to account for this, Flirtomatic has built an automated pricing adjustment system. The price of words will be calculated on a day-to-day basis in relation to customer demand. So the most sought after words should naturally move to a higher price point. In addition, the Flirt-words service will provide users with extra value by automatically producing banners promoting users and their exclusive word across the network. For example one could read – “Look who’s ‘hot’ today”.

Mark Curtis, CEO of Flirtomatic commented: “We know that users love to advertise themselves on the site and the Flirt-words service gives them a new and targeted way to get instant exposure. Think of it as Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Adwords for the flirtatious. I’m planning on buying Chelsea.” Mark added: “It’s an extremely interesting experiment for us and as the majority of our users seem to realise the value of screen real-estate on mobile it seemed like a natural progression in profile search capability. It’s a simple concept over perhaps a bidding system, but let’s see what our users think of it!”

You can check out more about Flirtomatic here.

According to metrics released by Admob, WhosHere is in the top 5% of all free apps that run across the Admob network.  A little over 100 applications have more than 100,000 users a month in a review of over 2,300 free iPhone apps that run on the Admob network.

The Admob report states “5 percent of applications had more than 100,000 active users in May 2009.”[1]  WhosHere uses Admob, among others, to provide ads to WhosHere users.  Just under 90 percent of WhosHere users were presented Admob ads in May.

WhosHere has substantially more than 100,000 users per month.  The extremely popular iPhone application is also in the top-20 of all Social Networking apps on Apple (NSDQ: AAPL)’s iTunes App Store.  And, last Thursday, WhosHere users sent a record 1.6 million text and image messages in a 24 hour period.  WhosHere is used by people in over 150 countries.

WhosHere is a social proximity application that enables users to meet friends, potential dates or network through an exceptionally simple interface. WhosHere will show you matches that are near you or anywhere in the world based on your answers to a few questions about yourself and who you are interested in meeting. It takes the chance out of the chance encounter. When you find someone you want to talk with, you can send unlimited, free text and image messages to them; all within the WhosHere application.

WhosHere runs on Apple’s iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3G S and iPod touch and is available for free download on the iTunes App Store and can easily be found at myRete.com/download. Users of WhosHere can find online help at myRete.com/support and on the WhosHere page on YouTube (http://YouTube.com/WhosHerebyMyRete).

Further to a post/review I wrote previously, circuit_strike.one has had an upgrade, and is now toting a whole series of graphical and game engine updates - which just make it more playable than before (and it was good then!).

This really is a cracking little game, and for (currently) 59p GBP, I think you can afford to give it a pop!

For those that are interesting in the minutiae of the changes, enjoy the list below

Circuit_strike.one is available from the Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) App Store.

In parallel to the development of its manufacturing activity, ModeLabs Group (the guys that make the Dior Phone, and TAG Heuer Phone) has reinforced its organisation and enhanced its management teams by recruiting two new key executives with experience in product marketing and industrial processes:

Hannah Madsen has been appointed Product Director of ModeLabs manufacture. Hannah Madsen, who holds a degree in information technology and product development from the University of Copenhagen, was until now responsible for Vertu LTD (Nokia (NYSE: NOK) Group)’s brand marketing plan, product development, partnerships and distributor relationships. With ModeLabs manufacture, she will henceforth be responsible for the marketing development of the Group’s products conceived and manufactured on demand on behalf of international luxury and lifestyle brands.

Patrick Boulet has been appointed Industrial Director of ModeLabs manufacture. Patrick Boulet, who trained as an engineer at ENSAM and holds a degree in management from ESSEC, was previously responsible for industrial processes with Uniross Batteries and for purchasing and sub-contracting strategy with Alcatel Mobiles in France and in China.

Patrick Boulet has more than fifteen years’ experience in the field of R&D and the development and industrial optimisation of high technology products. With ModeLabs manufacture, he will be responsible for developing manufacturing processes and for supervising production and after-sales service for mobiles on demand.

Sounds promising - I can’t wait to see what their next product is!

NTT DoCoMo (NYSE: DCM) is joining the mobile money market with its own remittance service. Starting from July 21st, individual users (as opposed to corporate customers) of the carrier’s i-mode service will be able to remit up to 20,000 yen (about $208) per transfer by simply inputting the payee’s mobile phone number. The payee then receives a mail notification on its mobile phone and is given the option of depositing the money in a domestic bank account or having the amount credited to their monthly phone bill. The payee can receive remittances totaling up to 200,000 yen (about $2,080) per month.

Best of all, the service doesn’t require any registration or opening of a specific bank account!

Cost wise, the charges per payment (including consumption tax) will be 105 yen for the payer and 65 yen for the payee. The payee is not charged, however, if the remittance is deposited into a Mizuho Bank account or credited to their monthly phone bill.

We live in a very mobile-oriented society. With laptops and mobile phones in hand, Americans are increasingly more willing to coordinate their lives using mobile technology. Cellphones, in particular, are becoming more and more important to the everyday American. Case in point, a new survey, commissioned by Best Buy, indicates that 6 in 10 Americans (60%) would choose to give up alcohol for a week if it meant they could hold onto their mobile phone - a shocking 15% would even opt to have their teeth drilled in exchange for keeping their mobile phones in their pockets. The survey also highlights that many Americans (47%) haven’t yet made the switch to the smartphone way of life because they’re just too confused about models and features.

The Best Buy survey shows that, while mobile phones are quite important to the average Joe American, there is still a lack of smartphone adoption. Almost half (49%) of US citizens without smartphones think those with smartphones are “too connected to their job” - whatever that means.Interestingly, only 62% of those surveyed said they used text messages as a “convenient and quick way to communicate.” We would have expected this particular statistic to be a little higher.

And, to hammer home the notion that men don’t like asking for directions, even from gadgets, the Best Buy survey reveals that women are much more likely to use the GPS features of their mobile phones - 51% of women versus just 33% of men.

Best Buy surveyed 1,000 Americans, half men and half women all over the age of 18, was conducted by telephone May 29-31 by GfK Roper, a division of GfK Custom Research North America.

Full press release after the break.

Read the full article »