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The mobile phone news keeps on coming and to keep everyone up to date, here’s our handy, weekly roundup of the stories which may have escaped you!

1.  Dance, Wherever You May Be!

Remember the T-Mobile Dance TV advert filmed at Liverpool Street Station, where hundreds of people spontaneously broke out into a complex dance routine?  Well, Universal Music and T-Mobile are giving you the chance to re-inact it wherever and whenever you like with the release of the Liverpool Street Station Dance album, featuring all the songs used in the ad.  Get if from iTunes and Amazon etc on the 2nd March.

2.  Texting Makes Kids Clever!

Well, maybe not clever, but according to Coventry University, those who text more often have better reading and vocabulary skills thanks to being involved with another form of text-based communication.  Interestingly, kids using abbreviations and text-speak often (more…)

Post from Dial-a-Phone, UK's no. 1 for Mobile Phones.

In new evidence that modern technology is so far into the future that it’s coming up behind us again,  the Blackberry Storm is tweaking its copy & paste function.  You know, the thing we had working perfectly back with Windows 3.1.

Touch-screen text selection has been a thorny issue for months, so challenging that certain white branded phones (that shall remain iNameless) simply refuse to do anything so plebeian as “select and copy text.”  After all, what possible reason could a smartphone owner having for dealing with information?

The OS update adds a thick text-selection bar that appears when you start selecting text, tackling the key issue: the mismatch between the average font and finger sizes, which means  that you either accidentally select three paragraphs (and all the wonderful web-page formatting and images around the edges), or else have characters so big you can display one word at a time.  Now, hopefully, you can actually do what you meant to without patting your pockets and going “Where’s that stylus again?”

Post from Dial-a-Phone, UK's no. 1 for Mobile Phones.

It seems Microsoft are keen to turn over a new leaf when it comes to their much-maligned mobile phone operating system.  Windows Mobile 6.5 was announced at the Mobile World Congress and promises to be a big step forward in usability over the current 6.1, however, it looks like we’ll barely be used to this latest revision before Windows Mobile 7 appears, which according to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, will be (more…)

Post from Dial-a-Phone, UK's no. 1 for Mobile Phones.

Mobile phone spam and mobile phone viruses are both areas of big technology security concern according to the most recent report by McAfee. The computer security company has released its annual mobile phone report and the bad news is in that there has been a huge jump in mobile phone malware reports in just the past year.

The 2008 statistic from McAfee was that less than twenty percent of the world’s mobile phone handset makers had experienced problems with mobile phone viruses and spam issues. This year that number has climbed to over fifty percent.

The issues that are related to mobile phone security threaten a broad range of different categories of cell phone use. The biggest area of concern is the issue of privacy; many viruses tap into the private information that you have stored on your cell phone in an attack similar to phishing. Other areas of that may be impacted include the ability to use the phone, problems with the network and problems related to third party mobile phone applications.

The bright news is that mobile phone industry experts are aware of the problem and are working to improve mobile phone security. McAfee reports that over two thirds of handset makers have made mobile phone security a priority for this year. In the meantime, use common sense when using your mobile phone, particularly when downloading applications or opening links from your mobile web.

Post from Dial-a-Phone, UK's no. 1 for Mobile Phones.

Even though the original Kogan Agora and Kogan Agora Pro were scratched due to the specifications being "not fit for production," the company is far from giving up the goat.  According to reports, the update to the device will scrap the keyboard for a 3.8-inch touchscreen with Cupcake's onscreen keyboard.  Though company founder Ruslan Kogan has been mysteriously quiet regarding the new device, it is rumored to lauch soon (for real, this time).

On another note, Gizmodo Australia got their hands on the original device, and was pleasantly surprised, referring to the design as a close cousin of the Samsung Blackjack.  Hopefully we'll see the device on the market soon!  As much as I like the G1, it's about time for a new Android device.

Surf's up, baby! Noah checks out MOTO's newest Windows Mobile device, the touch and QWERTY Surf A3100. Live from MWC 2009 in Barcelona.

Security tries to run Noah out of the building when he gets too close to the $5,000 MOTO Aura Diamond at MWC in Barcelona. But MOTO PR saves him and gives him hands-on time with the "regular" Aura (only $2,000).

I'm such a klutz. A few nights ago, after putting a roast in the oven and retreating to the computer to finish some stuff, I jumped when I realized I'd forgotten about the food. Well, not jumped — more like fell. Zooming back to the oven, I wound up having the mother of all slip-and-falls on my kitchen floor, a Wile E. Coyote style fumble complete with scrambling legs, mid-air suspension and thudding back flop.

The roast wound up dry and overdone, but I didn't even notice because I was distracted by having to eat standing up and holding an ice pack on my butt. As I said, I'm clumsy, and I have a tendency to lose myself in my activities — games, phones, writing, social networking, reading kooky Diggs, etc... This is why having a timer to remind me of things has become essential.

After my colossal fall, I turned to my trusty cell. I'd tried using the microwave, as well as my built-in oven timer, but they don't work if you're not in earshot. Plus, I love any excuse to use my iPhone, so why not let it give me a helping hand?

In all honesty, the phone itself has a decent alarm clock that even lets you set your own music and a seemingly endless array of alarms. And I do use it often — but mostly for waking up in the morning. I need something much faster and easier to configure on the fly when I want to time an activity like cooking, gameplay or laps around the jogging track (not that I need that one, but it's nice to know it's there).

Turns out, I wasn't the only one with this idea, because there are several entries in the App Store for timers. I took a closer look at four, plus a few extras, and tested them to see which had the best features and ease of use.

One thing you should know before you attempt to use any of the timer apps: These, like all third-party applications, won't work in the background. But in some cases, the developers have figured out a decent workaround. Where noted, the programs have a continuity feature that tracks the time elapsed when you switch to another app and back. This only works mid-session, though. If you take a phone call or open a separate program when a timer is done, the alarm won't go off until you return to the app. Just remember that before you set it and forget it.

So with that in mind, let's get to the first item, the 5 in 1 Timer. Ready. Set. Go!

The 5 in 1 Kitchen Timer is an elegantly designed app that tracks multiple items and is super simple to set up. I've been using this timer the longest, so it was natural to start here. (Caution: The clickable links in the headers will take you to the App Store. Don't click on them unless you want iTunes to launch.)



5 in 1 Kitchen Timer (0.99)
This is common-sense design that lets users visually match their kitchen setup with its five timers, which includes four "burners" and one "oven."

If you don't like the colors, you can change them in the settings. The timers themselves are really easy to operate — just tap +5 or +1 buttons to add minutes. It features dings and vibration alarms, an automatic force-awake function (to keep the phone on during use) and a continuity feature, so you can open another app and go back in. The app factors in the elapsed time and puts you back on track.

What you should know:
You can't apply labels or adjust time increments while a timer is running. Also, the alarm only dings three times, not endlessly, so if you somehow miss them, it doesn't keep sounding off. On the up side, the alerts are loud enough to hear if you're anywhere near your phone (and you don't have Linkin Park turned up or something).

When I put the phone to sleep (to shut off the screen and put it in my pocket), the alarm is kind of hit-or-miss. I got it to work occasionally this way, but definitely not consistently.



Impressions:
Not bad. I love being able to keep track 5 things at once (which could be applied to multiple activities, not just cooking). It's very easy to use, and I even like the little icon on the main screen. The fact that it doesn't sound off when the phone's asleep, however, is sort of a dealbreaker for me. I'd like the ability to put it in my pocket without accidentally changing the settings.


That's where Chef Timer comes in.

April 15 is only about a month and a half away. eeshk.

I enjoy doing taxes about as much as I like having root canal — It's horribly slow, and the more digging that's done, the more pain there seems to be.

But now, thanks to the new partnership of Shoeboxed and Evernote, the process has gotten — well, easier for sure, but dare I even say fun?



If you've used Evernote (whether on your iPhone, online or on the desktop), you know that it's awesome for remote syncing/storing audio notes, text notes, and even searchable photo notes.

I use it on my phone to document wine labels. Sounds dorky, but I got tired of having a delicious bottle at dinner only to forget the name of it a week later at the wine store. Now if I want to remember one, I just snap the picture, and voila! Evernote "reads" the text in the image, and I can find it by searching the keyword. Nice.

But what does all this have to do with taxes? Well, imagine if you could have some remote service to scan all your receipts, then have a partner service make all those image files searchable.

See where I'm going with this?

You snail mail slips to Shoeboxed, and then Evernote basically reads and catalogs them. All of a sudden, tax time starts looking a little less like a ticker tape parade in your living room and more like a clean, breezy walk through a digital memory lane.

To learn more, visit Shoeboxed's blog, or just click the vid below.

(And try not to be nervous about entrusting your tax documentation to a CEO who looks like a college drop-out. He might be one of those genius types. He'd have to be, to come up with this awesome idea.)