Loo-Lee.com

• 28Aug

  ARTICLE: Motorola Sholes coming to VZW, and soon

  Industry, News No Comments

  You'll have to excuse the delay in my posting this, Android lovers. I've been tied up with other, somewhat related, work. Better late than never though, right?

  On the 23rd, BGR published some screenshots from a Verizon insider that indicate what to expect from Big Red for the remainder of the year. Covered topics include: which VZW handsets will be updated or replaced, such as the Blackberry Storm 2; which phones remain unchanged in the line-up, like the Env3; and new products to be introduced.

  The "Upcoming New Device Opportunities" section lists The BB Curve 2, HTC's Blitz 2, Nokia's Twist, and the Motorola Sholes Google Phone. As you can see, late October is the launch window and the cost is yet to be determined. I'm going to side with Android Central here and say that I'm pretty sure we'll have a lot more information on September 10th. As much as I'd like to do something crazy and report live from the event, it just isn't practical and Noah Kravitz has everything well in hand. Remember to check for his coverage. (Don't worry, I'll remind you - just in case.)

  

   

  

   

  
  

  

  Tags: blog, cell phone news, discussion, mobile

• 28Aug

  ARTICLE: Motorola W766 does its best to ‘Entice’ Verizon customers

  Industry, News No Comments

  
  
  Despite the fact that smartphones have dominated the rumor world this season, dumbphones are equally important; after all, the market for them is still significant.  The Motorola W755 has been on the market for 15 months - in other words, an eternity in cell phone months - and it's time to be replaced.  Enter the W766, with its cool name and updated profile.  Sporting a 2-megapixel camera, touch sensitive external music controls, and a microSD card slot with support for up to 8 GB.  Though retail stores are receiving shipments of the W766 now, they are under instruction to sell their remaining stock of W755's prior to cracking open the W766's.
  
  Anyone interested in picking this bad boy up?  Or maybe a few hundred W755's?
  
  Source: Engadget Mobile

  
  

  

  Tags: blog, cell phone news, discussion, mobile

• 28Aug

  ARTICLE: iPhone back-to-school guide, pt 3: Docs and Notes

  Industry, News No Comments

  Let me be blunt: You will never, ever need to write a term paper on an iPhone. (Not unless you get a sadistic prof who enjoys torturing his students.) Even so, having the ability to read or edit docs on the fly can be critical — especially if you need a last-minute tweak before emailing an assignment to the prof or suddenly have study time on a stuck train.
  
  Notes apps are great for jotting down random/brilliant/sporadic ideas. When I was in school, I usually had some sort of notebook on me — alright, I actually had like 6 of them — so writing up a quick thought was no problem. Finding it later, however, was another matter.
  
  Ever since landscape mode was unlocked for basically any app that wanted it, editing text on the iPhone has become way less painful. Even so, these picks aren’t meant to replace your desktop editing programs or college-ruled notebooks. But they support them nicely, and you always have them on you.
  
  
  Top 5 Documents & Notes Apps
  
  
  
  DataViz Documents to Go: This lets you read, write and edit MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF files anywhere you are. It can’t change fonts,  but it can add or delete underlines, view footnotes, and use bulleted and numbered list formats. It also has a desktop app that syncs two ways via WiFi, so your computer docs will always match your iPhone’s. $4.99/9.99
  
  
  
  
  Quickoffice: It may be meant for mobile office warriors, but the document and spreadsheets editor is still handy in the university setting. If you’re the type who prefers mounting the device like an external drive rather than syncing to the desktop, this might be just your speed. Bear in mind that you can’t view footnotes or underlines (although you can change fonts and other visual formatting). That might make it more suited for casual or rough draft use than for final assignments. $12.99 (on sale)
  
  
  
  
  Stanza: It’s not really intended to handle documents; it’s more of an ebook reader that offers tons of digital books, both free and paid. That alone makes it handy for any studious user. But add the fact that you can use the free downloadable desktop software to load your own PDFs onto the phone, and you’ve got an indispensable tool for reading notes on the go. Free
  
  
  
  
  Evernote: The grandpappy of them all is still my go-to app for short notes, whether that’s voice, photo or text. The photo notes, in particular, blow me away. Snap a clear shot, and the service scans the text in images, so you can search them later. Plus, your notes stay on your phone (for offline access), but also syncs with an online server. Because there’s also a desktop program that syncs with the server, your notes are the same wherever you access them — at the dorm, library or on the go. Free
  
  
  (TIE) Awesome Note and NoteMaster: Sure, there’s an built-in notes app. But why stick to that when there are better ones out there? Awesome Note is exactly what the name implies — awesome looks, awesome organization (with themes, colors and folders), and awesome one-touch notetaking for fast data-entry. The design freaks among you (post-it note fans, especially) will love the gorgeous UI. NoteMaster is another favorite. If you need to take notes with images in them, this is a super simple way to get it done. The best part of these apps is the sharing: You can back up and restore to and from Google Docs, or email notes to buddies. Both are $3.99, for a limited time. (This is NoteMaster’s sale price. The discount ends today, so grab it asap.) Grab Awesome Note here, and NoteMaster here.
  
  Awesome Note
  
  
  
  NoteMaster
  
  
  
  Is there a docs or notes app you love that’s not on the list? Share the knowledge below!
  
  Next up: Top 5 Apps for college kids that have nothing to do with studying. (You know, because everyone needs a break.)

  
  

  

  Tags: blog, cell phone news, discussion, mobile

• 28Aug

  ARTICLE: Will Apple unveil a new iPod lineup on Sept 9?

  Industry, News No Comments

  Word on the street is that Apple’s fall event will take place on September 9. You know what that means: There will hopefully be something juicy on tap from the Cupertino-based iPhone maker.
  
  Details have been somewhat fuzzy on this, but according to sources reported by AppleInsider, the event will introduce the company’s 2009 iPod offerings and some music-related announcements, which will be of prime importance to iPod and iPhone users.
  
  Over the past four years, the company has used the annual meeting to unveil new iPod products, including the Nano and Touch. Rumors abound that the latter will be getting a brand-spanking new camera, so Apple watchers are expecting the news to break at the event, as well as a new version of iTunes (9), with social networking features.
  
  As for those of you who might be expecting the mythological Apple tablet to debut — well, I can’t say for sure that you’ll be disappointed. All I can say is that most pundits aren’t expecting it at this event. If it does reveal itself at all, they’re thinking it might be early next year.
  
  Why are all the details so fuzzy? Well, because invitations typically don’t go out until a week before the show. That means analysts and members of the media should start getting theirs pretty soon.
  
  [via AppleInsider]

  
  

  

  Tags: blog, cell phone news, discussion, mobile

• 28Aug

  ARTICLE: Will Apple unveil a new iPod lineup on 9/9?

  Industry, News No Comments

  Word on the street is that Apple’s fall event will take place on September 9. You know what that means: There will hopefully be something juicy on tap from the Cupertino-based iPhone maker.
  
  Details have been somewhat fuzzy on this, but according to sources reported by AppleInsider, the event will introduce the company’s 2009 iPod offerings and some music-related announcements, which will be of prime importance to iPod and iPhone users.
  
  Over the past four years, the company has used the annual meeting to unveil new iPod products, including the Nano and Touch. Rumors abound that the latter will be getting a brand-spanking new camera, so Apple watchers are expecting the news to break at the event, as well as a new version of iTunes (9), with social networking features.
  
  As for those of you who might be expecting the mythological Apple tablet to debut — well, I can’t say for sure that you’ll be disappointed. All I can say is that most pundits aren’t expecting it at this event. If it does reveal itself at all, they’re thinking it might be early next year.
  
  Why are all the details so fuzzy? Well, because invitations typically don’t go out until a week before the show. That means analysts and members of the media should start getting theirs pretty soon.
  
  [via AppleInsider]

  
  

  

  Tags: blog, cell phone news, discussion, mobile

• 28Aug

  ARTICLE: Sizing it Up: How big is the Nokia N900, anyway?

  Industry, News No Comments

  

  So like I said yesterday, I'm kind of excited for the Nokia N900. While I won't be heading to Germany next week, my pal Ewan will be at Nokia World in Stuttgart and so I'm hoping to bribe him into some hands-on reports with the promise of a PhoneDog T-Shirt. One of my big questions about the N900 Internet Tablet/Phone is just now big the thing's gonna be. Large enough to be more usable than an iPhone for hardcore "computing" tasks? Small enough to fit in a jeans pocket?

  Today I have a few answers.

  The Nokia Blog has a size comparison chart and a helpful photo - the photo is from Chansearrington's twitter feed, and shows a prototype  N900 sitting next to a Nokia E71.  Said photo is cropped and reposted here.

  Dimensions-wise, N900 measures up at 110.9 x 59.8 x 18mm, according to Nokia Blog. iPhone is 115 x 61 x 11.6, for comparison's sake. And that svelte E71 in the photo? Just 10mm thin.

  As Chanse put it, "@sloanb Feels fine. Not going to lie, it's not a super slim E71, but the size is fine especially given the capabilities."

  And as Nokia Blog put it, "I think the best way to imagine it in your hands is that it’ll have the width of the iPhone with the thickness of the Nokia N97." It's actually just a hair shorter and narrower than iPhone, even, if also a hair - well, two hairs, really - thicker than N97.

  Perhaps a better comparison, though, is with HTC's new Touch Pro2. TP2 is a beast of a phone - not necessarily "pocketable" by many people's definitions. TP2 measures up at 116 X 59.2 X 16.65 mm.

  So N900 is a little shorter and a little thicker than Touch Pro2?  Hmm, that could spell trouble ... We'll have to wait and see - er, um, wait and feel - for ourselves.

  
  

  

  Tags: blog, cell phone news, discussion, mobile

• 28Aug

  ARTICLE: Apple files patent for location-aware iPhone screens

  Industry, News No Comments

  Looks like Apple’s interested in turning the iPhone into your travel buddy. According to a patent application, the phone could someday sport a dynamically updating screen featuring local weather, time, maps and contacts — all based on the user’s location.
  
  The filing — which was entered in February 2008 as "Transitional Data Sets," but only recently came to light — focuses on a gadget whose displayed apps are populated by variables like location. Unlike typical mobile devices, this gadget would minimize a crowded screen by providing just what users need based on where they are. A change in location could also even trigger an icon swap.
  
  Like, say you’re in San Francisco, so it shows an icon of the Golden Gate Bridge. When you fly to Las Vegas, it could change to an Elvis impersonator or a showgirl automatically. That would be fun. And if the features work as it’s supposed to, you could find a rental car, look up the nearest casino, and ask a local friend to go to Cirque du Soleil with you, all from the main display on the iPhone.
  
  
  
  I like the idea of this, as long as the new icons occupied its own page. But if it messed with the order of the apps I already had, I’d be one cranky blogger.
  
  What do you think? Cool idea or silly novelty?
  
  
  [via AppleInsider]

  
  

  

  Tags: blog, cell phone news, discussion, mobile

• 28Aug

  ARTICLE: AT&T and T-Mobile conned out of handsets

  Industry, News No Comments

  The Wall Street Journal reported that eight men were indicted last week of conning AT&T and T-mobile out of free handsets. The accused — two of whom used to run cell phone stores in Brooklyn, NY — allegedly used dealer access to tap the carriers’ systems. Once inside, authorities believe they obtained customer data, and then used those stolen identities to get the phones for free.
  
  This isn’t a digital smash-and-grab of a few fraudulently obtained devices. They milked the carriers out of a mountain of handsets worth [cue Dr. Evil voice] 22 MILLION dollars.
  
  The men were charged with conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. If convicted, the conspiracy charge alone could put them in the big house for up to 20 years.
  
  I say, “Good.”
  
  Things like this affect every customer of wireless carriers. It’s tough enough to stomach the thought of our personal info winding up in the hands of thugs. But we also wind up paying higher cellular fees, due to these and lesser scams — whether that’s for business insurance expenses, security system overhauls, or just plain old loss recovery. So one way or the other, we wind up getting ripped off.
  
  I hope they get the book thrown at them.
  
  [via BoyGenius Report]

  
  

  

  Tags: blog, cell phone news, discussion, mobile

• 28Aug

  ARTICLE: Augmented reality browser on Android; soon 4 iPhone

  Industry, News No Comments

  Back in April, I posted an item called “Meatspace Hyperlinks.” The idea (which I totally pilfered from ReadWriteWeb) was that users could aim their cell cameras at statues, buildings, whatever in the real world, and see information about the item pop up on their handset screens. The guys at the MOBVIS project in Europe already has technology capable of doing this.
  
  Well, they just got seriously lapped.
  
  Layar is now available worldwide for Android, and it works much the same way. Users point the device at things in the real world, and the screen shows the image with an overlay (or “layar”) of location-based info. See a bar code in the Mazda ad and want to know where the nearest dealership is? What about info on stuff you see on the street? Well, now there’s an app (I mean layar) for that. Just point your phone at it, and you’ve got info.
  
  Call it an augmented reality browser or consider it a platform — either way,  content providers are lining up to add their own overlays. And the list so far is already impressive: Flickr, Wikipedia, Yelp, Google local search, Qype, Brightkite, and Twitter, among others.
  
  Check out the vid of the Brightkite integration in action:
  
  

  Brightkite Augmented Reality from Brightkite on Vimeo.

  
  
  
  Is it a novelty app or an indispensable tool? Hard to say. I almost never have the urge to buy a car on impulse, but who cares. I’d play with this constantly, moving the camera around to bring new icons and info on the screen. The only question is whether it would drain the battery dry in just 5 minutes or 10. Oh, but I’d love to find out.
  
  Well, that’s too bad for me. I’m on an iPhone, and this is only available for Android — at least for now. The company plans to offer a version for the 3G S next year.
  
  So iPhone users need to be patient. Android users, however, only need to tap the Android Market.
  
  [Layar via BoyGenius Report]

   

  
  

  

  Tags: blog, cell phone news, discussion, mobile

• 28Aug

  Top Ten Mobile Phone News Stories of the Week - 28th August

  Industry, News No Comments

  This week’s big news story is the announcement of the Nokia N900, a device which some will not see as a mobile phone, but there’s no denying it fits in with the current trend of purchasing powerful all-rounder devices.  We start our round-up with a closer look:

  1.   Nokia Showcase the N900 on Video.

  If the press pictures weren’t enough to get you interested in the N900, these three videos should do the job!  There’s a hands-on with the new Maemo 5 OS - which looks wonderfully smooth - a browser demo and the stylish Nokia advert.

  2.   Solar Samsung in October?

  The Samsung Blue Earth, their environmentally friendly mobile phone is rumoured to be launching in the UK during October.  The solar panel is the Blue Earth’s main attraction, but it’s also created from recycled plastics, has clever power management tweaks and a low-power charger. (more…)

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

  Tags: blog, cell phone news, discussion, mobile

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