By Simon Sage on Friday, November 20th, 2009 at 2:53 PM PST
In Podcast, The Signal
Could Windows Mobile really be catching up?
Between the opening of the Marketplace for Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1, and some leaks about the upcoming version 7, it sounds like Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) is getting ready for a big push. Will is out judging Under the Radar, but we tap Windows Mobile blogger and Microsoft MVP Darren Humphries from MobileJaw for his take on the platform in the face of fresh competition on the smartphone circuit. We also talk about legal squabbles between carriers over “misleading” ads.
Of course, we never want to leave our listeners empty-handed – this week we’re giving out a Scosche reCOIL to one commenter in the U.S. It’s handy, simple car charger for the iPhone whose cable is retractable for easy stowing when not in use. Normally it retails for $29.99, but you can nab it for free just by leaving a comment.
Hit the jump to get started!
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By Simon Sage on Thursday, November 12th, 2009 at 3:02 PM PST
In BlackBerry Developer Conference 2009, Live Event Coverage, Podcast, The Signal
BBDC was unexpectedly busy – hear how the devs feel about it all!
If you haven’t been following, the 2009 BlackBerry Developer Conference was the source of a lot of big announcements, like OpenGL support enabling some rich 3D graphics, an Adobe partnership that cements Flash on BlackBerry, and a long-overdue LinkedIn app. This episode of The Signal focuses a lot on themes, as we have the fine folks from BlackBerry Theme Park and themes4bb giving us our take on the new Theme Builder Studio. The winner of the BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) (NSDQ: RIMM) Partner’s Fund challenge, James Shannon from DevelopIQ, gives us some feedback from the app developer side, and how all of the various announcements impact the 7digital music store. No conference is complete without hooking up with some fellow bloggers – Ronen Halevy from BerryReview and Kevin Michaluk from CrackBerry weigh in on the show overall, and what RIM’s future with developers is looking like.
At points it’s a little technical, but if you’re into BlackBerry, development, or user interface stuff, this is the podcast for you. Hit the jump!
Sorry about the audio quality, it was tricky finding a quiet spot to record.
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By Simon Sage on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 3:59 PM PST
In Podcast, The Signal
Two more Canadian HSPA networks = a whole lot more devices
Bell and telus (NYSE: TU) both kicked off their HSPA networks this week, with a lot of new phones to take advantage. Of course, in the U.S., droid mania has kicked in, and we give some thoughts and impressions of the HTC Eris.
On the giveaway chopping block, we’ve got the smooth, simple Motorola H790 Bluetooth headset for one lucky U.S. commenter in this very post.
Hit the jump to get started!
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By Simon Sage on Saturday, October 31st, 2009 at 3:54 PM PST
In Podcast, The Signal
Motorola (NYSE: MOT)’s back in the game with droid.
Motorola’s droid launch captures all of our attention this week, spanning from hands-on impressions of the hardware, Android 2.0 and what the freshly-included turn-by-turn navigation system means for traditional PNDs. So far, the Motorola’s will be the Android handset to beat, but Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE)’s X10 may very quickly grab that claim.
We take a few questions from twitter, which are always welcome at either our @IntoMobile account, or directly to our editors, @WillPark, @SimonSage, or @GJCAG. Thanks to @acurrie, @Phonedog_Noah, @samrsdad, and @moosc for the questions!
As usual, we’ve got some toys to giveaway: two Tenqa stereo Bluetooth speakers, so you can stream your tunes from your phone out to whatever room suits your fancy. Entry criteria are a little bit different, this round, though; instead of leaving a comment, you’re going to have to listen to the podcast for our secret password, then e-mail it to podcast contest@intomobile.com. Odds of winning are good, since we have both the SP-109 and the SP-99 to hand out. So, get listening and keep your ears open.
Oh yeah, and happy Hallowe’en, everyone. 
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By Simon Sage on Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 2:53 PM PST
In CTIA WITE 2009, Podcast, The Signal
Yeah, yeah, we know, we’re a little late.
Sorry for the delay, y’all – between recovering from CTIA, and some technical difficulties, the podcast fell to the wayside for a few weeks, but we’re back on track now.
San Diego had a few treats in store for us, like the Samsung Moment and the Behold II, but there was a lot happening with T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) both before and after CTIA: the details of Project Dark came to light, so Will and I hashed out what hardware financing means for American wireless (mostly good things). On the downside, T-Mobile Sidekick data outage was a big blow to the brand’s credibility, and we wonder if cloud computing really is all it’s cracked up to be.
Of course we have more toys to give away – this time two pairs of in-ear headphones from Ifroz, specifically the EarPollution Timbres, with in-line microphone. Wooden gadgets are pretty sweet in terms of style alone, but in terms of sound quality, reviewers have been largely happy with ‘em. They normally retail for $49.99, but you can get two chances to win by A) dropping a comment in this podcast post, and B) tweeting using the hastag #intomobile. U.S. readers only please, international shipping will cost as much as the headphones themselves.
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By Simon Sage on Friday, October 2nd, 2009 at 2:58 PM PST
In Podcast, The Signal
Why are these big-name Android and webOS developers getting stomped on?
This week’s IntoMobile podcast has Will, Stefan and I talk a lot about Cyanogen and JWZ, what role platform managers have in app distribution, and if they should be sticking their nose into “unofficial” software scenes. We also touch on the possibility of the Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre coming to America’s top carrier, Verizon (NYSE: VZ), as well as a rumoured Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) acquisition and what it means for Google’s Latitude service on the iPhone.
American listeners, we’re giving away a Commuter Series OtterBox case for one of the following phones. For your two chances to win, leave a comment in this post and tweet with the hashtag #intomobile with which device you’re packing.
- BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) Bold
- BlackBerry Curve 8520
- BlackBerry Curve 8900
- BlackBerry Tour 9630
- Nokia (NYSE: NOK) E63
- Nokia E71
The three of us run down some mobile productivity options, but we didn’t get any questions, unfortunately. If there’s any questions or topics you’d like us to chew on in the next episode, hit us up on twitter, or right here in the comments. Hit the jump to get listening!
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By Simon Sage on Friday, September 25th, 2009 at 3:12 PM PST
In Podcast, The Signal
We’ve finally seen what’s coming out of Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)’s Project Pink – was it worth the hype?
We manage to muster up four of our editors for another show, and although things get a little silly, we cover all the week’s big topics, like the rumour of Nokia (NYSE: NOK) buying up Palm (NSDQ: PALM), Google (NSDQ: GOOG) and Apple (NSDQ: AAPL)’s GVoice spat escalating to the FCC, as well as what the FCC could (or should) be regulating when it comes to carriers.
Last week we kicked off our giveaway for the Novatel portable Wi-Fi hotspot, and will be contacting our British winner shortly. Now you guys in the U.S. can enter to win a CDMA MiFi - just drop a comment in this post and tweet using the #intomobile hashtag. A couple of Americans already entered last week, and we’ll be sure to include them in the giveaway, but if you haven’t yet, why not throw your name in the hat? You can get a closer look at the MiFi over here.
Things ran a little long, so we cut the App of the Week segment in favour of listener questions. The topics ranged from the call quality on HSPA+ and crude comparisons of corporate logos. Thanks to @acurrie, fort, and @ramjetharley for the questions. Everyone else, keep ‘em coming! Leave a comment here, or shoot a tweet to @IntoMobile to get in on next week’s discussion.
The download link and week’s biggest mobile news is behind the jump!
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By Simon Sage on Friday, September 18th, 2009 at 3:51 PM PST
In Podcast, The Signal
Curious about something in wireless? Drop us a line, we’ll see if we can hash out an answer.
This episode, Stefan and I run through the recently-released Opera 5 Beta, which, although isn’t quite finished, is a hugely impressive third-party mobile browser. An update to Android is looming, and we briefly go over some of the new features, but the most interesting news this week has got to be rumours of T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) snatching up Sprint (NYSE: S). Even if it doesn’t happen, it’s a cool thought experiment.
You might have seen Will playing with the Novatel portable Wi-Fi hotspot earlier this summer. If you were remotely impressed, you’ll be happy to hear we’ve managed to fanangle two for giveaway! This week we’re going to give one out to a lucky U.K. listener, and next week we’ll be giving away the other in the U.S. How do you enter? Drop a comment in this post, for one, and if you want a second entry, tweet using the #intomobile hashtag. Easy, eh? Take a closer look at the hardware over here.
In addition to going over our usual App of the Week segment (this go-around we cover music apps for BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) and Symbian), we’re also kicking off a Listener Question portion. Have a question of your own for the next podcast? Leave a comment here, or shoot a tweet to @IntoMobile.
The download link and week’s biggest mobile news is behind the jump!
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By Simon Sage on Friday, September 11th, 2009 at 5:54 PM PST
In Podcast, The Signal
Man, everyone gets a little jumpy when Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) has an announcement, eh?
Palm (NSDQ: PALM), HTC, and Motorola (NYSE: MOT) all announced new handsets this week, conveniently close to Apple’s iPod event, but timing aside, Motorola’s cannonball into the Android pool is bound to make some waves. Stefan was busy shmoozing it up at the Helsinki twestival, but Will gives us his hands-on impressions of the Cliq.
This episode we’re giving away a Yubz Magnum, which is a portable stereo Bluetooth speaker for whatever smartphone you happen to be rocking. This beaut is available in four different kinds of leather, and normally retails for around $109.95. U.S. listeners can drop a comment or tweet with the hashtag #intomobile for a chance to win their own.
There’s a lot more going on – hit the jump and be sure to check out the Releases section for other devices outed this week.
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By Simon Sage on Friday, September 4th, 2009 at 8:23 PM PST
In Podcast, The Signal
Nokia (NYSE: NOK) rocked our socks this week with releases, but the competition met them head-on.
Hooah, what a busy week. Nokia World had a giant batch of announcements, including the the Booklet 3G, the N900, the N97 Mini and lots more. Stefan gives us his perspective on the event, but we also go over the conveniently timed Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) and HTC announcements. We also run down a few instant messaging options for iPhone, Symbian, and BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM), both free and premium.
As for giveaways, Will has a big batch of Belkin iPhone accessories for you good listeners out there; just leave a comment in this post and tweet with the #intomobile hashtag for your two chances to win. U.S. participants only.
Hit the jump to start listening to our Nokia World edition of The Signal, and scope out the week’s biggest releases, rumours and headlines.
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