The early iPhone jailbreak scene spawned numerous iPhone applications that were free of Apple’s iPhone SDK restrictions. One of those early applications, Orb, caught our eye as a PC-to-iPhone streaming media application. With the ability to place-shift music, video, and even live TV (if your computer is equipped to pull down TV broadcasts), Orb offered…
Verizon prompted by FCC to divest 105 markets before gobbling Alltel
Verizon Wireless, the joint wireless venture from Verizon and Vodafone, is poised to become the largest wireless carrier in the US. Once the company finalizes a deal to acquire Alltel, Verizon will supplant AT&T as the largest carrier, by subscriber count. Verizon has been given the greenlight to acquire Alltel from the US DoJ and…
Internet Explorer Mobile 6 coming to China’s Samsung Omnia first
Microsoft recently took some heat for their decision to make their revamped Internet Explorer Mobile 6 available only on new Windows Mobile handsets. With the promise of full-HTML web browsing and integrated Flash support, Internet Explorer Mobile 6 uses the desktop IE code-base to deliver a browsing experience more like that offered by Skyfire and…
Celio preps two new Celio REDFLY C7 and C8N models
Celio, makers of the Palm Foleo-like REDFLY Mobile Companion, has announced that they’ve got two new devices in the pipeline for the coming holiday shopping season. Celio apparently didn’t think the current REDFLY was good enough on its own and has announced the REDFLY C7 and REDFLY C8N to round out its thin-client portfolio. The…
Virgin Mobile USA cuts jobs by 10%
Following on the company’s announcement of a successful Q3 2008, Virgin Mobile USA has cut some 10% of their workforce. Virgin Mobile USA doled out walking papers to 45 employees from their New Jersey and California offices, citing a “duplication of assignments.” It was only a matter of time before Virgina Mobile USA made good…
Sciphone’s half-baked Dream G2 from China – Land of the useless Android smartphone
Why is it that handsets from little-known Chinese manufacturers always claim to feature ground-breaking technologies but come wrapped in low-end plastics and half-baked ideas. The latest Chinese smartphone to hit the intertubes is the Sciphone Dream G2. Powered by the same Android OS that made a splash on the T-Mobile G1 (wherever did Sciphone get…
Scalado announces new camera phone platform for zero shutter-lag
In this megapixel war that pits camera phone manufacturer against camera phone manufacturer in a race to pack as many pixels on to an image sensor before the competition catches up. Cameraphones are fast approaching the double-digit megapixel-barrier in the mass market, but hardware makers have seemingly overlooked one critical aspect of a mobile phone’s…
T-Mobile G1 touchscreen can do multi-touch, but doesn’t
When you’re a wireless carrier vying for the hearts and minds of the smartphone-craving masses, it’s probably a good idea to throw caution to the wind and pack your smartphone to the brim with all the latest bells and whistles – like multi-touch. The T-Mobile G1 ushered in the age of the open-source Android OS…
Palm Treo Pro gets Bluetooth fixing update
The Palm Treo Pro, being Palm’s flagship handset, is the best Palm Treo to ever come out of Palm’s R&D labs. But, that doesn’ t mean that the recently launched handset is immune to the bugs that tend to plague new devices. Palm has issued a new software update that promises to fix a niggling…
Sprint offering voluntary resignation compensation
When companies sail rough waters, it’s usually non-essential employees that are first to be forced to walk the plank. Sprint, still reeling from a dismal Q3 2008 that had it losing $326 million and 1.3 million subscribers, has reportedly extended its “voluntary separation package” program to most of its employee-base. Rather than simply handing pink-slips…