Ten years ago today, 9/9/99, our fearless leader Marcus Adolfsson launched VisorCentral.com - a community providing news, reviews and forums focused on a single product: the Handspring Visor.  The Visor, you may recall, was the PDA that was destined to start the smartphone revolution with the VisorPhone.

Ten years later, we have grown from that single small site to a network of seven different communities, each focused on a core brand of smartphone and dedicated to providing everything a user could need or want to know about their smartphone - from news to chat, reviews to ringtones, podcasts to apps, accessories to wallpapers. The Smartphone Experts Network has over 1.8 million members in our forums; on any given day there are thousands of users logged in: finding help, talking about the latest news, reviewing products, and more. We still have plenty of active members that signed up literally within days of our 9/9/99 launch. Millions of visitors every month come to us to find out the latest information for their smartphone.

The original VisorCentral

On our blogs, we have moved from an average of a single post a day on a single site to around thirty per day across our network. In our accessory stores, we provide a wide variety of accessories for every major smartphone platform and were named the fastest growing retailer of 2007 by Inc500. Our stores also provide sales and support for a large and growing network of affiliate sites.

Back in 1999, it wasn't at all clear that a 'Blog' (the term still needed quotes back then) and community could be formed around a single device and thrive - VisorCentral was one of the first to do it and looking at the landscape of the technical blogosphere today, the model has worked. Since then we've kept the same goal: give users a place to learn about their specific smartphone and use it better. We couldn't have done it without an incredibly great team of editors and writers, but most of all we couldn't have done it without you.

So we just wanted to say thanks to our users and readers - thanks for sticking with us on what started as a strange experiment in web communities, thanks for being so passionate, engaged, and intelligent about your phones. We're grateful for the knowledge, the discussions, and the friends we've gained over the past ten years and look forward to even more in the future.

To celebrate our ten year anniversary, each of our sites is giving away ten $50 gift certificates to its respective accessory store. To enter, simply make a post in this forum thread (not here on this post) sharing how this site has helped you better use your smartphone before midnight Pacific this Friday.

The Smartphone Experts Team

Got mad developer skills and a deep, enabling love for smartphones and their communities? Well, Smartphone Experts, the network behind theiphoneblog.com and many of your other favorites like CrackBerry.com, PreCentral.net, and a host of others, is looking for YOU!

For more info, check out Dieter's post in the forums.

Our sibling site, PreCentral.net has just pulled a Palm, getting a great new look backed up by rock-solid Web-based underpinnings. Some would call it Karma, we call it the tireless work of our ole' editor-in-chief, Dieter Bohn, the awesome crew at PreCentral.net, and the backstage magicians at Smartphone Experts.

If you haven't already, check out PreCentral.net for all the latest news and views on Palm's upcoming new miracle device, the Palm Pre, inarguably the second most anticipated device launch (after our own next-gen iPhone, 'natch!) coming some mid-point this year.

Congrats again to the PC team! Great new look, same great content.

(And in keeping with the Palm Pre Pun Prevention Pledge, not a single groan was prepended to this post!)

The Smartphone Experts (SPE) Book Case for iPhone 3G is available from The iPhone Blog Store for $29.95. If you are looking for a case that folds closed and can store the basics such as a license and credit card, then this case might be for you. Let’s see how it measures up after the break!

Design

The SPE Book Case for iPhone 3G allows you to carry your iPhone in a convenient flip-open design that not only is practical but also protects your iPhone. The bottom of the case unsnaps exposing the 30-pin connector. This allows you to plug in a cable for syncing/charging, or you can place the iPhone 3G on its charging dock. If you like variety, this case also comes in variety of colors from red and black to beige.

Daily Use

The first thing you need to know is that this is not a "pocketable" case. It is meant to be carried or placed in a purse. Though technically you could place this in your jeans pocket, the size is prohibitive. Having said this, for a case if this type, it is really quite good!

I typically keep my case/iPhone in my pocket when I am not using it. Needless to say, it took some adjustment not keeping it in my pocket. I was able to carry the bare essentials in the case; my license and credit card (I am not a cash type of guy, so that part was not a big deal). This was somewhat liberating since I then did not have to carry all of my wallet possessions with me; I could take only what I need.

The case is sturdy and the leather feels good. The inside of the case where the iPhone lives is not leather, but a soft felt. The buttons at the bottom were very easy to remove but where not so tough as to think I would break them and the iPhone was definitely secure inside of the case.

There are openings around the case to access headphone jack, sleep button and camera. I found with the case that I was using these fields were well placed, but I would have issues with the camera; the hole opening was just a little off. Not a huge deal to resolve, I just nudged the iPhone a little and it would no longer be obscured. My bet is that this is not an issue with every case, just mine. The volume controls are not accessible since they are obscured by the flip-open cover; I did not find this to be horrible troublesome.

Conclusion

Overall, I had no real issues with this case other then having to use it outside of my comfort zone. I think there is a specific target market that will find this case useful, especially due to the excellent protection and sleeves for cards. However, if you are a big gamer, I think you will find that the flip-open design is not the best to allow maximum game playability.

Pros:

• Nice leather finish
• Protects the the iPhone front and back
• Convenient flip-open storage of credit cards or license
• Multiple colors are available

Cons:

• Not very pocketable
• Some leather cut outs are not aligned flush with the iPhone 3G
• Can get in the way of playing games

TiPb's Rating:

In a sense, it was a calm after the Mobile World Congress storm this week, but we got together and recorded a massive hour-and-a-half-long Smartphone Experts Roundtable Podcast to discuss all the news from Windows Mobile 6.5 to the Ovi app Store to Apple's "absent presence" at the show.

If you didn't realize, SPE has four podcasts for your listening pleasure: the CrackBerry.com Podcast, the Phone Different Podcast (with the occasional iPhone LIVE! show), the PalmCast on both TreoCentral and PreCentral.net, and finally the WMExperts Podcast. The bold and daring may even want to try the (still in Beta, since it's based on the somewhat unreliable Yahoo Pipes feature) Smartphone Experts Combined Podcast Feed, which puts all four podcasts into a single feed -- also available in iTunes, if that's how you roll.

Now for the roundup of the week's news!

Android Central

On the Android side of things, we have a lively discussion going on about whether or not Android's open source attitude is actually resulting in open results, given that Paid apps aren't showing up on Unlocked G1s, that outlook isn't as rosy as we'd like -- even Symbian is talking trash on the subject! Meanwhile we're watching to see if and when Android will show up on AT&T. We're also eyeing two potential new handsets from Yuhua and General Mobile

CrackBerry.com

CrackBerry's Birthday festivities overshadowed the news this week and if you hurry you might be able to get in on some contests. Most contest draws end tonight (Sunday night) at Midnight PST. You can click here for the full list of CrackBerry contests (including a new BlackBerry Curve 8900 custom painted by ColorWare!). As for actual BlackBerry news, there is excitement over the CDMA version of the Bold thanks to new details emerging and Mac + BlackBerry users have a new media syncing with doubleTwist!

Nokia Experts

The economic situation is impacting just about everyone Nokia is trying out some unique programs to try to reduce costs. OPK also made a single comment this week that has many jumping to the conclusion that Nokia will be entering the laptop business, but I think it is too early to really stated that. Unfortunately, Nokia had a difficult week with the very confusing 5800 XpressMusic launch here in the U.S. and needs to get their act together if they really want to increase sales here. Our Nokia Experts Launch Contest is now over and we'll be picking the winners soon.

PreCentral.net

While we're doing our level best not to be too jealous of the Celebrities getting the Palm Pre, the biggest news of the week has come in terms of webOS development. There were quite a few details to be gleaned from the developer web presentation, leaving us both hot and cold on the widget platform. Yes, we're still trying to pin down a Pre release date, right now the feeling on the web is that later is more likely than sooner.

The iPhone Blog

Previously, on TiPb: Apple gave MobileMe a facelift just in time for the new Safari 4 beta. Meanwhile, the App Store cleaned out non-customer reviews, banished Emoji-enablers, and just said "No!" to Howard Stern and the Sirius/XM radio iPhone app.

Microsoft talked iPhone. AT&T talked iPhone (and slapped a customer with a $28K bill!). And Apple? They didn't say much at their annual shareholders meeting. But they did sing Happy Birthday to Steve Jobs on his 54th!

TreoCentral

At TreoCentral we heard that for the 2nd time in 2009, Deutsche Bank analyst Jonathan Goldberg raised his rating on PALM, this time bumping it us to a Buy.  There was an interesting Smartphone Experts Roundtable Podcast in which the editors discussed Mobile World Congress 2009.  Plus, we heard that the CDMA Treo Pro has been officially released on Bell Canada, while Sprint customers here in the states are still waiting for the smartphone. A post in the forums does give a bit of hope for a 3/15 release though.

WMExperts

So much for a post-Mobile World Congress hangover. WMExperts learned with great relief that the HTC Touch Pro 2 is destined for North America. And speaking of HTC, we saw updates to the orginial Touch Pro as well as the Touch Diamond. Both also are scheduled for release in Europe through T-Mobile.

The Sprint Treo Pro is on pre-sale at Best Buy.The Celio REDFLY finally is playing nice with Opera 9.5. Speaking of browsers, Mozilla's "Fennec" browser will sync tabs from your desktop and will be known simply as "Firefox," and we got in deep with the Iris browser.

And, finally, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer laid out plans for the company at his Strategic Update Meeting, where he talked about Windows Mobile, and again mentioned that WM7 will come out in 2010.

Join Dieter, Matthew, Kevin, Rene, and Casey as they discuss Mobile World Congress 2009 -- there's a little bit for everybody in this gigantic cross-platfrom smartphone podcast!

• Download it directly with this link
• Subscribe via iTunes
• Subscribe directly to the Podcast feed with your favorite Podcatcher here
• Listen to it here with the player above

Show notes after the break.

• Casey Chan for Android Central
• Kevin Michaluk for CrackBerry.com
• Matthew Miller for Nokia Experts
• Rene Ritchie for The iPhone Blog
• and Dieter Bohn for TreoCentral, PreCentral.net, and WMExperts

WMExperts

• Windows Mobile 6.5
• My Phone
• Windows Phones
• HTC Touch Pro2 and Touch Diamond2

The iPhone Blog

• Turn by Turn GPS is shown off
• Docs2Go for the iPhone is incoming
• Adobe still doesn't get that Apple's just not that into Flash
• AT&T talks about the iPhone because "99.5 percent of the industry is trying to copy the iPhone".

PreCentral.net

• GSM Palm Pre
• HTML5, Google Maps

Nokia Experts

• Ovi Store
• N86, E75 and N97
• Omnia HD

CrackBerry.com

• Happy Birthday CrackBerry.com
• SurePress - Best Mobile Technology Breakthrough
• BB Application Suite

Android Central

• Huawei Mystery Slate
• HTC Magic
• DocsToGo
• Excellent roundup here

Credits

Special thanks to gmz for the song Parametaphoriquement, licensed under the Creative Commons at CCMixter.org

TiPb isn't the only Smartphone Experts site working our tails off this week. Our editor-in-chief, Dieter Bohn is pulling the live-blogging trifecta, going straight from Macworld to cover Steve Ballmer's CES kickoff tonight at 6pm PST for WMExperts AND for the (very much anticipated) debut of Palm's next generation NOVA hardware and OS for TreoCentral -- not to mention everything AndroidCentral. Never to be out done, CrackBerry Kevin (with a full on CrackBerry Crew!) will push any and all BlackBerry news they get their cracky hands on. Check out all our sites throughout the day for the latest, greatest, most Smartphone-geeky coverage.