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Mobile Nations 7: Beta

Rene Ritchie — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 12:22:35 +0000

Phil, Kevin, and Rene beta test a new video rig, survive technical problems, and talk RIM results, BlackBerry striking back, next generation Android phones, Windows 8 tablets, and a tale of two iPhones. This is Mobile Nations!

Agenda

Feedback

Got something to say? Agree or disagree with something we said? Have something you want us to discuss on a future show? Don’t just sit there yelling at the screen, dammit, let us know!

Hosts

Phil Nickinson (@philnickinson) of Android Central

Kevin Michaluk (@crackberrykevin) of CrackBerry.com

Rene Ritchie (@reneritchie) of TiPb.com

Credits

Our music is pROgraM vs. Us3R by by morgantj. Introduction by Joseph Holder.

Thanks to the Smartphone Experts network of store for sponsoring this podcast, and to our fantastic live chat members for keeping us honest and making us smart!

Android 2.2 “Froyo” unveiling today – the competition

Rene Ritchie — Thu, 20 May 2010 12:01:29 +0000

Google seems set to announce the next version of their Android operating system, deliciously dubbed Froyo (frozen yogurt) at the Google I/O conference today. Android Central’s Phil Nickinson is at the conference and will be bringing us the action live and as it happens.

The exciting and terrifying thing about Google is that you never know what they’re going to do (and give away free) next. Last time it was Navigation, and TomTom is likely still reeling. This time it could be free cell service for everyone in Rhode Island. Who knows?! My official prediction is up as part of the Android Central Round Table. They’ve also got a ton of coverage from yesterday, which included the announcement of the VP8 video codec being released open source and freely licensed as part of their WebM initiative (which includes the MKV container and Ogg Vorbis audio codec), a Chrome Web Store, Adobe’s HTML5 exporter for Dreamweaver, Google’s foray into the 10″ TV “experience” with Clicker.tv, and more. Here are some more highlights, but join Phil and crew for all the live fun and we’ll be back with our thoughts later:

We’ve seen much of iPhone OS 4 (iPhone HD/iPhone 4G special features not withstanding), we’ve seen BlackBerry OS 6, we’re not sure what’s up with the next version of webOS yet (are we?), but after today we should see what Apple has to compete with when it comes to Google for the next half a year or so…

The Competition: Android Central Nexus One Meta Live Blog: 1pm ET/10am PT

Rene Ritchie — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:44:33 +0000

Our sibling site, Android Central, will be doing a meta live blog of Google’s big Android/Nexus One event at 1pm ET/10am PT, and yours truly is going to be online with them to help them out and get a sneak peak at the competition.

What will Google announce? Just the mega-phone? Free candy? Who knows with them! Join us for the meta live blog!

From the Forums: Help Casey from Android Central, iPhone Apps, Jailbreak & Unlock, Leaving BlackBerry for iPhone

Jeremy Sikora — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 22:19:41 +0000

From the Forums is a great way to see what all of the current hot topics are on the TiPb forums. In order to create any new threads of your own or reply to any of the existing threads, you must be a registered member. Becoming a member is a simple process that will only take a few minutes out of your day, so if you have not already already done so, head on over and register now.

It’s week 3 of our Smartphone Round Robin and this week Casey from Android Central needs your expertise. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
What is an iPhone without all of the applications within the App Store? Apps are essential to our beloved device so this particular forum, iPhone Apps and Games, is a great place to visit for anything app related!
If you are interested in the jailbreak process or perhaps you need to unlock an iPhone for a friend or relative, this forum is a must – iPhone Jailbreak and Unlock.
It’s really great to see so many people leave their old phones for a new iPhone, especially when the user is leaving their old school BlackBerry behind. If you left the BlackBerry platform stop by this thread and chime in!

See you on the forums!

TiPb on Digital Trends Podcast: Smartphone Wars

Rene Ritchie — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 19:38:15 +0000

Digital Trends was gracious enough to invite CrackBerry Kevin, editor-in-chief Dieter, and yours TiPb-truly to:

Smartphone Wars: iPhone vs. BlackBerry vs. Palm pre vs. Android – Our panel of smartphone experts from all different corners of the Web duke it out over some of the most contentious issues facing the smartphone industry today.

Listen now (MP3 download)

Around SPE for February 15, 2009

Rene Ritchie — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 15:26:43 +0000

With our editor-in-chief, Dieter Bohn off in Barcelona for Mobile World Congress, the inmates site editors are left running Around SPE this week. So, while he’ll be breaking news and giving us some hands-on observations on all the new software and hardware on display, we’ll be keeping you covered here at home, starting with a quick recap of where we are right now:

CrackBerry.com

In the world of BlackBerry, T-Mobile customers were happy to see the official roll out of the next-generation BlackBerry Curve 8900 this week. With AT&T said to be dropping support for 2G phones, there has been some worry that this new Curve wouldn’t come to AT&T, but with the 8900 SKU now showing up on AT&T systems, it’s likely the device will launch there in the next month.

The BIG new this week comes from the CrackBerry Podcast. Kevin was in NYC on for a RIM Business Solutions Press Preview. While there, him and Craig recorded a podcast and for the first time had an employee from Research in Motion on the show. Joined by Mike Kirkup, Manager of Developer Relations, they tackle a bunch of topics from the upcoming App Store to OS 5.0 and whether or not Flash support will appear in a BlackBerry browser and more! Listen Here.

More after the break!

Android Central

This week Android Central reported that Android Market was leaving beta and finally receiving paid applications. Hopefully we’ll see even more amazing applications such as this recently announced TeleNav turn-by-turn GPS application.

We also wondered why Google would comply with Apple’s request to leave multi-touch out of the G1. Hint: It has something to do with maintaining a great relationship with Apple. Read: Google still wants to play nice with Apple to get iPhone eyes on Google AdSense.

Nokia Experts

News was a bit slow this week as everyone in the mobile space waits for big announcements from Mobile World Congress next week, including some announcements about devices and services from Nokia. We are in our third week of the the launch contest so make sure to get your entry in and look for week four’s entry task. Great input and information is coming in from the contest entries. Also, check out our SBSH Reminders giveaway for a chance to win a free registration code.

Some topics of interest this week on Nokia Experts includes the amazing Nokia Maps 3.0 beta update, Nokia 5800 firmware update, Nokia E63 availability in the US for just $279, and the announcement of the Nokia 5630 with 600 MHz processor.

PreCentral

Over at PreCentral this week, we learned that Bell Canada will be launching the Palm Pre. We heard conflicting launch dates of late Q2 or early Q3 and also the end of Q3-Q4.

We also had more Touchstone details to emerge when Adam Kaufman, a Product Manager at Palm started answering questions on Facebook. Plus, many people are wondering if the Palm Pre made an appearance on the TV show “Knight Rider”.

The iPhone Blog

Is this the first glimpse of the 3rd Gen iPhone? Looks pretty much the same as the iPhone 3G, but then Apple brass re-affirmed that the iPhone market is strong, and they won’t be diluting it with an iPhone nano or keyboard slider any time soon. What with 20,000 Apps in the store, and the iPhone and the iPod touch now owning 51% of the mobile browser space… and growing, who can blame them?

Maybe jailbreakers, as the EFF asking the US government to grant it an exemption from the DMCA has Apple declaring jailbreaking illegal. (Oops, we just jailbroke live for xGPS on the last podcast!). Lastly, Google gave us Spreadsheet editing, but did Apple deny the Android multi-touch and… a 3.5mm headphone jack?!

TreoCentral

This week when Ed Colligan spoke to investors at the Thomas Weisel Partners Technology, Telecom & Internet Conference, he announced that there will be no more PalmOS devices released by Palm (excepting the Centro getting released on other carriers) as they’re focused on WebOS and Windows Mobile. He also said that not only will Palm have an app store when the Pre launches, but Palm isn’t locking down the device so you can only install apps from their app store.

We also learned this week that the Sprint Treo Pro is now targeted for a March 15th launch, and that some Sprint stores are now getting re-stocked with new Treo Pro’s with the new ROM on board. And even though the Sprint Treo Pro is delayed, it was great to hear that Palm’s stock has neared double-digits.

WMExperts

It’s been the calm before the storm over at WMExperts while we wait for Mobile World Congress to get under way, but that doesn’t mean it was a quiet week. We saw more information surface on Windows Mobile 6.5 including a new video, an updated version of Skyfire Beta released while Opera Mobile plans to go turbo. Google offered up contact and calendar sync and brought public-domain books to mobile devices. Mozilla’s Fennec mobile browser hit pre-alpha, and we got a sit-down with developer Brad Lassey. On the hardware side, new Windows Mobile devices were spotted from Garmin-Asus, Gigabyte, as well as the “Hummer” of Windows Mobile Devices from I-Mate.

Round Robin: Android Casey’s iPhone Video Review

Rene Ritchie — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:00:12 +0000

[This is an official Smartphone Experts Round Robin post! Every day you reply here, you're automatically entered for a chance to win an iPhone 3G, Case-Mate Naked Case, and Motorola H9 Bluetooth Headset! Full contest rules here!]

Everything is going according to Smartphone Round Robin‘s designs: While I’ve been learning the ways of the Android, Casey shows the iPhone is still strong in him.

Head on over to Android Central, and be sure to tell him what you think: his own council should he keep, or do you find that it is he who is mistaken… about a great many things?

Remember, each SPE site is giving away their signature smartphone and accessories, so it’s not just an iPhone 3G up for grabs! Every day you comment on Casey’s video, or my thread in the Android Central Forum, you get two more chances to win a T-Mobile Android G1, along with a BlueAnt Z9 Bluetooth Headset, and SPE Screen Protectors!