I never owned a T-Mobile Sidekick, but I always admired the device–enough so that I heartily endorsed our decision at PC World to name it as product of the year back in 2003. (It wasn’t the first smartphone, but you can make a good case that it was the first modern Webphone.) The history of the device turned out to be rather bittersweet–it didn’t really live up to its potential, and Microsoft’s acquisition of Danger, its creator, led mostly to the infamous Sidekick data outage and to the Kin. And now GeekWire’s Todd Bishop has put together a neat retrospective of the whole Sidekick saga.
Tag Archives | Smartphones
Microsoft’s Mango Preview
Here’s Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore demoing Mango, the next release of Windows Phone 7. Looks interesting–especially if the version of IE does indeed feel more like IE9 for Windows than it does like Windows Phone 7’s IE, which is one of the operating system’s weak spots.
As Jared wrote recently, Microsoft is moving Windows Phone in a contrarian direction, focusing less on apps and more on building features like search and social stuff directly into the OS. It could work–and at least it’ll give Windows Phone its own distinct personality. But it does multiply the number of things that Microsoft needs to nail to make the OS appealing.
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Microsoft’s Android Windowfall
We’ll know that Windows Phone 7 is a success when Microsoft makes more money from it than it does by collecting royalties on Android phones.
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White iPhone Kit Purveyor Settles With Apple?
Apple appears to have reached a settlement with a young entrepreneur who capitalized on the Cupertino company’s failure to release the white iPhone by selling conversion kits. How’d 17-year-old Fei Lam do it? By dealing with Foxconn himself, getting the parts on his own.
This obviously rankled Apple quite a bit, and the company had a private investigation firm send him a letter accusing him of being in receipt of stolen goods. Lam did not back down, and hired a lawyer.
It took until yesterday for Apple to file a lawsuit against Lam and his family, but it concurrently took the step of filing a request for dismissal as well. This could mean that the two sides have come to an agreement. It should be noted that the dismissal was filed “without prejudice,” legalese for meaning that an acceptance of the request would give Apple the option to refile if it decided to do so.
Given that the white iPhone 4 is now a reality, I doubt Lam has any reason to start his business anew. Then again, if Apple can’t make a future device in a highly coveted color, all he needs to do his give his buddies at Foxconn a call…
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Google Wallet? I’m Going to Need Some Convincing
I’m not a luddite. I don’t have an instinctive distrust of Google. But my gut reaction to Google Wallet–Google’s new NFC-based system that will let people make payments, receive “loyalty” rewards, and perform other retail transactions by tapping their phones–isn’t wildly enthusiastic. I’m trying to figure out why.
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Windows Phone “Mango” Pushes Apps Off the Pedestal
As I read This is My Next’s liveblog of the Microsoft Windows Phone event today, one quote from Microsoft’s mobile president Andy Lees resonated: “The problem is that today smartphones only include basic communications — everything else is an app,” he said.
That remark sets the tone for nearly every feature that Microsoft will bring to the next Windows Phone upgrade, codenamed “Mango.” The gist? Apps aren’t everything.
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Lark, the iPhone “Un-Alarm,” is About to Ship
At last September’s TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco, a startup called Lark unveiled Lark Up, a $99 wristband “un-alarm” that vibrated to wake you up, thereby avoiding disrupting anyone else who happened to be in bed with you. It came with a charging station that let your phone double as a bedside clock. And…it never shipped. Instead, the Lark folks found additional funding for their idea and decided to fast-forward to what would have been their second-generation upgrade. That version–called just plain Lark–was announced (re-announced?) at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York today, and will soon go on sale at Apple Store retail locations, which are adding health and wellness sections.
The new version of Lark retains the silent alarm feature, but it’s beefed up features for monitoring your sleep patterns, incorporating input from a Harvard instructor who studies sleep and making it more of a direct competitor to a gizmo called Zeo. The wristband transmits data back to your phone via Bluetooth, letting you can use your phone to log when you feel asleep, when you woke up, and just how restful (or restless) your slumber was. And a Lark Pro version provides you with a more detailed analysis of your sleep habits based on seven days of data, with advice about how to improve them.
The included dock recharges the wristband and lets you prop up your iPhone or iPod Touch as a clock. It doesn’t include a dock connector, but there’s a USB port in back that lets you charge your device by plugging in your own cable. It’s an Apple-only setup at the moment, but an Android version is in the works.
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Opera Mini Hits the iPad
Thirteen months after Opera’s Opera Mini browser became the first and only full-fledged Web browser that Apple allows to compete with Safari on the iPhone, it’s back in version 6.0 for iOS–and the big news is that the new version is optimized for the iPad as well as the iPhone.
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Verizon: “iPhone 5” Will Compete with AT&T for Global Coverage
I noticed this story late last night, basically another ‘iPhone 5’ tease that’s even bigger news from where I sit than whatever newfangled whatsits Apple’s tucked under the hood: global Verizon iPhone support.
The tipster: my wife. She wants a phone she can take on business trips abroad (like the U.K., or more recently, the Middle East). But the phone has to be all things. It has to work across the pond, but also in her tiny northwest Iowa hometown. Actually out of town a couple miles to where her parents’ farmhouse sits, nestled behind a tower-blocking hill, flush with trees, cows, and a compost pit. Lest you think we’re asking the moon for cheese, Verizon’s had bumper voice and data coverage across the area for years, while—nothing against them otherwise—AT&T offers neither.
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Android Security Problem Fixable With Update You Probably Don’t Have and Can’t Get Right Now
Here’s a problematic side effect of Android fragmentation: if there’s a serious security issue and it gets fixed in the new version of Android, the vast majority of users may have no way to get it.