Instant message aficionados have been eagerly waiting on Cerulean Studios to bring their profile-synchronizing Trillian client to the iPhone. It’s been years, in fact, since we first heard of the Trillian iPhone app. Today, that wait ends. Trillian for iPhone has officially hit the AppStore with a $4.99 price tag!

The thing about instant messaging apps is that there are a veritable truckload of options available on the AppStore. Some really good apps are offered for free. If you’re not a hardcore IM user, you’re probably going to be just fine sticking with one of those apps. But, if you use instant messaging services like your life depends on them, Trillian for iPhone will probably be a worthy investment.

Trillian supports multiple IM services and allows you to switch between conversations with a tabbed interface. But, it doesn’t stop there. Trillian for iPhone synchronizes your IM accounts with their the Trillian Astra servers, so when you change your status or update your buddy list on the iPhone app, those changes will automatically be pushed to your Windows Trillian client and the web-based Trillian client. There’s also an option to have any instant messages pushed to your iPhone. And, since all chats are stored on Cerulean Studios’ servers, you’ll never have to worry about losing a chat transcript again.

Trillian for iPhone isn’t going to be for everyone, especially with its premium price-point. But, for power-users, Trillian is going to be hard to beat.

Trillian for iPhone [iTunes link]

The very handy (or should I say hands free?) Drivesafe.ly app for BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) has apparently reached the 1 million user threshold. Wowza! Congrats to the folks at Drivesafe.ly. If you’ve never heard of the app before, Drivesafe.ly enables you to put your phone DOWN while driving your car. It reads emails and SMS messages to you, allowing you to focus on the road (which is what you should be doing in the first place). Other key features of the app:

• Hands Free – No need to touch the phone while driving
• One-touch activation – no complicated setup
• Bluetooth and radio transmitter compatible
• Reads text message shorthand (lol, brb)
• Optional customizable auto-responder

Ideally you’d turn your device OFF, or throw it in the glove box out-of-reach, but Drivesafe.ly is the best compromise I’ve seen yet.

Versions for both BlackBerry and Android are available, and new editions for the iPhone and Windows Mobile are coming soon. For more information hit up Drivesafe.ly.

[Via: BerryReview]

Today Virgin Mobile Canada released an official statement regarding iPhone availability:

Virgin Mobile Canada will launch iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS in Virgin Mobile Retail Stores and online in Canada in the coming months.

I’m not sure if they could have been any more vague… But at least this is an official ‘it’s coming’ statement. My buds over at MobileSyrup believe ‘coming soon’ means February 2010. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case, but would be pleased if it does arrive sooner… I mean, the holidays are fast approaching, you think they’d want to cash in on that?

Pricing on the 3G is expected to come in around $100 for the 8GB and $150 for the 16GB. The 3GS should run you $200 for the 16GB and $300 for the 32GB model. Of course, you’ll need to sign the standard Canadian 3-year agreement too. Ugh.

OK Virgin Mobile Canada… Sounds great. But I’ll believe it when I see it. Bring the iPhone… Bring it!

[Via: Newswire]

Received an email this morning from the good folks at Dropbox. The news? They’ve released a Dropbox iPhone app… Cool! The app is of course free, and offers access to your Dropbox while you’re on-the-go. Access, view and download your files right from your iPhone for offline viewing. Take new photos or videos and sync them to your Dropbox… Or even share links to files in your Dropbox, all from the convenience of your iPhone.

In case you’ve never heard of Dropbox before, here’s the official skinny:

Dropbox is software that syncs your files online and across your computers.

Put your files into your Dropbox on one computer, and they’ll be instantly available on any of your other computers that you’ve installed Dropbox on (Windows, Mac, and Linux too!) Because a copy of your files are stored on Dropbox’s secure servers, you can also access them from any computer or mobile device using the Dropbox website.

For my own personal use I’ve used Dropbox to share files, pictures, movies and more. On the business side I’ve used it while collaborating on projects… uploading new documents, design files and more to a central location, ensuring the latest versions were always up and ready to go. Dropbox is truly a handy tool.

For more information on the new Dropbox app, hit up the App Store (iTunes link). For more information on the service in general (and to setup a free 2GB account) hit up Dropbox.com.

Sony Ericsson has a new plan to whip itself back into shape to compete with leaner and meaner mobile phone makers. The Japanese-Swedish joint venture is planning to close four facilities and cut some 2.000 jobs in an effort to streamline the company. Following a recent round of job cuts that left 450 employees at its Research Triangle Park R&D facility without work, Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) has announced that it will be closing the RTP facility and cutting additional jobs around the world.

Sony Ericsson will close the doors to its RTP headquarters by the third quarter of 2010. The SE North American headquarters will move from RTP to Atlanta, with the R&D operations relocating to Redwood Shores, California. A facility in Miami, Florida will also be permanently close, alongside facilities in Kista, Sweden and Chennai, India. Sony Ericsson says that severance packages will be included, with some lucky employees getting a chance to apply for jobs in California or Atlanta.

The cellphone maker boasts 4.9% of the global mobile phone market, making it the No. 4 handset maker in the world. When it comes to smartphone market share, which we care about more than overall market share, Sony Ericsson isn’t really a big player. But, with leaned-out operations and attractive new handsets, like the Android-powered XPERIA X10, coming down the pipe, Sony Ericsson looks poised to make a big splash in the smartphone space in 2010.

[Via: BusinessJournal]

Cash-strapped webOS hopefuls and deal seekers alike, take note: Amazon is offering Sprint (NYSE: S)’s Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pixi for just $25. The entry-level webOS smartphone hasn’t been on market for more than a week and we’re already seeing the handset hovering dangerously close to “free with contract” territory. As it stands, Amazon will sell you the Palm Pixi for $24.99 when you purchase it with a new 2-year wireless contract through Sprint.

Remember, though, the Palm Pixi’s entry-level price comes with compromises. The 2.6-inch capacitive touchscreen is smaller than the Palm Pre’s display. The 2-megapixel camera falls short of the Palm Pre’s 3-megapixel shooter. And, WiFi isn’t an option. Still, you get GPS, 3G data, 3.5mm headphone jack, and 8GB of onboard storage.

If that’s enough to get you to make the jump, here’s a link to Amazon’s $25 Palm Pixi.

Amazon’s $25 Palm Pixi

[Via: Engadget]

The data issue is only going to grow in the coming few years, particularly with ‘unlimited’ mobile web add-ons (both for contract and PAYG users) becoming the norm – so this is all good news

O2 today unveiled plans to accelerate growth of its mobile network and build extra capacity for mobile data, in a multi-year programme of investment (running to hundreds of millions of pounds).

The planned investment will cover upgrade of the current radio network and also the delivery of new sites. 200 sites will be delivered in London alone in the next 12 months, 40 of which will be live by Christmas 2009. In 2010 other areas of the UK will see similar developments.

Derek McManus, Chief Technology Officer for O2:

“Anticipating growth in demand for mobile services, we have quarter on quarter increased investment in our voice and data networks. Our £500m investment over the last two years has enabled us to offer our customers the best products in the world, including the Apple iPhone and Palm Pre.

“In the past 12 months the mobile industry has seen an unprecedented change in demand. The introduction of world-class devices, in combination with a wide variety of data applications, has brought about a dramatic change in customer behaviour and created an exponential demand on mobile data networks. To put this in context, watching a YouTube video on a smartphone can use the same capacity on the network as sending 500,000 text messages simultaneously.

“We are now aggressively accelerating our network growth programme to ensure we have significant headroom for the future and retain our focus on being number one for customer satisfaction.”

Fairplay on O2 – they’ve taken their share of criticism for issues of network bandwidth/contention with the hugely accelerated data consumption coming from the likes of the iPhone, and are pressing on in addressing the issue.

The data issue is only going to grow in the coming few years, particularly with ‘unlimited’ mobile web add-ons (both for contract and PAYG users) becoming the norm – so this is all good news

Well what do we have here? After some random browsing on the TELUS (NYSE: TU) website this morning, I couldn’t help but notice that the Storm2 9550 is now available on their website! Pricing? The TELUS BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) Storm2 will run you $199.99 on a 3-year contract. Other options include $599.99 to pick it up off-contract, $549.99 for a one-year, or $499.99 for a two-year deal.

Enough talk though, right? If you weren’t satisfied with the first edition of the Storm, or are simply looking for the latest and greatest in the world of BlackBerry… TELUS is now catering to those Canadian needs. Hit up the Storm2 on TELUS for more info.

AT&T apparently isn’t going to let the likes of Verizon Wireless and bitter AT&T (NYSE: T) subscribers get them down about their 3G network performance. Big Blue has announced that it’s beefing up 3G services in the San Francisco Bay Area – they’ve upgraded more than 800 cellular base stations and is in the process of migrating 3G services from the 1900Mhz spectrum to the more powerful 850Mhz band in an effort to improve 3G performance.

So far, AT&T has racked up $65 million in infrastructure upgrades this year in the Bay Area, which has allowed it to double network capacity in the last 45 days. In the end, tasking AT&T’s 850Mhz spectrum for 3G services should give subscribers better coverage, better 3G performance and improved wireless reception inside buildings.

If you’ve been hoping for better 3G service from AT&T, you’ll soon be in luck. On top of the infrastructure upgrades, AT&T will be flipping the switch on 7.2Mbps HSPA data speeds in some markets by the end of the year.

[Via: SFGate]

Droid Does. That’s the slogan that Verizon (NYSE: VZ)’s ad campaigns for the Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Droid have been hammering into our heads for the past several weeks. With $100 million reportedly invested into the marketing push to turn struggling Motorola’s Droid the de facto alternative to the iPhone 3GS, Verizon and Motorola are betting big on the new Android phone. Turns out, the Motorola Droid did damn well in its first week of sales. A new report estimates Droid sales hitting 250,000 during its launch week!

The analytics gurus at Flurry track over 10,000 iPhone and Android apps, which Flurry says gives it an eye into usage patterns for two out of every three iPhones on the planet. They used that data to estimate that a quarter million Droid handsets made their way into customer pockets this past week. Thanks to the power of a $100 million advertising campaign, Verizon’s 90 million-strong subscriber network and a far-reaching 3G network, Flurry says the Droid is the “fastest-selling Android phone to date.”

Droid nay-sayers will be quick to point out that Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) pushed out 1.6 million iPhone 3GS units in the first week of sales, but it would be good to remember that Apple launched the iPhone 3GS in eight countries around the world. There were also 27 million installed iPhone users around the world pushing the iPhone 3GS on their friends. The Droid obviously can’t live up to the iPhone’s numbers, but 250,000 handsets sold in the first week is still an impressive number.

It’s not going to stop there either. The Droid may be the most visible Android handset of late, but there are some incredible Android offerings coming down the pipeline in the near future.

[Via: Flurry]