smartphones — GigaOM

smartphones

Mobile can be a new platform for building brand loyalty, stimulating traffic, and enhancing interaction. Eventually, sooner than we think, mobile will drive sales. If you’re going to “go mobile,” make sure that your efforts are framed by clear and attainable goals. Read More »

Motorola has been enjoying the popularity of its Android product line, and the Droid Pro looks to take it to the enterprise worker. It starts with the Android 2.2, and adds a touch screen coupled with a keyboard that could have come from the BlackBerry folks. Read More »

 
 

Smartphones with big touch screens are popular, but RIM has gone old-school with the BlackBerry Style. The Style is a modern adaptation of the flip phone, and given RIM’s attention to detail and the new BlackBerry 6 operating system the handset works the form surprisingly well. Read More »

Those looking for a new smartphone should check out the penny sale at Amazon Wireless. BGR reports that all Verizon Droid smartphones are only one red cent through Nov. 22, and investigation shows there are also BlackBerry devices, including the brand new Torch on AT&T. Read More »

The Angry Birds phenomenon just keeps rocking the mobile world, and soon a second Android version will be rocking low-end handsets with older versions of the OS. Performance issues are forcing Rovio to develop this version to address the diversity of devices running Android today. Read More »

A website has launched that puts popular smartphones through a series of controlled stress tests to see how they fare. Gadgetstress.com takes smartphones and puts some serious hurt on them, then ranks them so consumers can tell how each phone stacks up against the competition. Read More »

The only thing I don’t like about Instapaper is the lack of a native Android app for my phone, as often that’s the device at hand when I have time to catch up on some reading. That’s where Hard Copy Pro comes to my rescue. Read More »

Android phone owners who have taken the step to root their phone can do things not possible otherwise. ResToggle is an app for rooted Android phones running Froyo (Android 2.2) that provides the ability to change the display to higher resolutions than originally supported. Read More »

Mobile technology has the potential to make a huge contribution for advancemetns in global healthcare, but incorporating it is not without significant challenges. The mHealth Summit is currently underway in Washington, D.C., where healthcare experts have come together to address these challenges. Read More »

The folks at Evernote have rolled out version 2.0 of the Android mobile client, a major update that lets premium users keep notebooks on the phone for access without network connectivity. Premium account holders can now download notebooks to the phone for access without the web. Read More »

Augmented reality is one of those technologies that has always appealed to me, but without a practical application I can use. That changed since installing Lookator for Android, a Wi-Fi hotspot detector that uses AR to show the location of the hotspots in the real world. Read More »

LG, MSFT Team Up for Free Windows Phone 7 Apps

LG is teaming up with Microsoft to help kick-start Windows Phone 7 through a promotion that will provide 10 free apps every 60 days. The promotion is a move to help push the newly released WP7 in a crowded smartphone market currently dominated by Android. Read More »

More Must Reads

HP’s webOS with its revolving task manager is just plain cool. Interacting with the cards that represent running apps is intuitive and fun; it’s too bad other platforms don’t use a similar method to work with tasks. Android phone owners have one available, and it’s free. Read More »

A charge often levied against Android is the fragmentation that resulted from releasing so many versions of the OS in such a short time. That concern is lessening as the latest numbers shows that 77 percent of all Android devices are running Android 2.1 or 2.2. Read More »

Mobile Tech Manor is my home office where all sorts of gadgetry is always arriving. In this column, I look back at the week in the Manor and recount the happenings and lessons learned. I love sharing my weeks with you, so welcome to the Manor. Read More »

The FCC proved it does indeed have consumer’s backs by handing out a $25 million fine to Verizon for charging its customers spurious fees over a period of years. The fine was the result of a 10-month investigation into the carrier’s billing practices. Read More »

The spooky Halloween season is upon us and to get you in the spirit, we’ve collected fun resources to deck out your phone for the occasion. These sights and sounds will haunt your smartphone and make you the life of the party. Read More »

Portable keyboards are nothing new, I’ve used them for years. Many mobile gadgets rely on onscreen keyboards for text entry, but for writers that is often not good enough. I needed a keyboard and investigated the options, and chose the Freedom Pro Keyboard. Read More »

Hellotxt is a way to keep track of and interact with a boatload of social networks in one place. The hellotxt Android app launched today, and since I’ve been using it for a while thanks to the folks at hellotxt, I can share my thoughts. Read More »

Research in Motion isn’t keeping the BlackBerry 6 love to just the Torch; today it announced the BlackBerry Bold 9780 with the new OS. The Bold has been a very popular handset for RIM, and this updated model adds features to the line. Read More »

Charging gadgets without wires has been a dream for a long time, and it is finally becoming reality with the Powermat Wireless Charging System. The small charging mat couples with a special charging back on the EVO 4G in the video to charge the battery wirelessly. Read More »

Sprint today launched new tools for developers wanting to build apps for its network phones. The new Sprint Services Framework is a web-based portal into a bevy of development tools, including direct access to APIs for accessing Sprint network services in apps. Read More »

Smartphones are the perfect tool to use for both keeping on top of schedules and tracking things that must get done on time. Pocket Informant for Android is available in a public beta, and from a first look it might be the best PIM app. Read More »

Taiwan-based HTC is looking to entrench its position as a top smartphone maker next quarter, and is predicting it will ship 8.5 million handsets in the fourth quarter. HTC was the first OEM to jump onto the Android train, a strategy repeated with Windows Phone 7. Read More »

Early reviews of the new smartphone platform from Microsoft are appearing on the web, and are restrained in the expectations. Windows Phone 7 shows potential yet is an obvious work in progress; the novel user interface is inconsistent. Here’s what the web is saying about WP7. Read More »

Sprint has partnered with AirStrip Technologies to bring remote patient monitoring to the physician using Sprint 4G-capable smartphones. AirStrip produces a suite of patient monitoring apps that provide real-time access to hospital monitoring equipment, giving caregivers direct access to patient’s vital signs in a timely fashion. Read More »

If time in the market is an indication of how good an app is, HanDBase must be one of the best, with 12 years of sales. The database app that’s on virtually every mobile platform has now been deployed for the Android army. Read More »

HP put rumors to bed with the official announcement of both HP webOS 2.0 and the Palm Pre 2. The evolution of the platform and handsets designed for it are the result of HP’s acquisition of Palm earlier this year for $1.2 billion. Read More »

AT&T has expanded access to the U-verse TV service to Android phones, with the release of the AT&T U-verse Mobile app. The app is available in the Android Market and brings U-verse TV to the Samsung Captivate, HTC Aria, Motorola Bravo and Flipside. Read More »

Capturing a screen image on a smartphone may not be something needed all the time, but it’s a handy capability when you want to share the screen. The free ShootMe app is a utility that snaps the screen with a simple shake of the phone. Read More »

Research in Motion is set to release the second BlackBerry running its new operating system. The BlackBerry Style will be hitting Sprint on Halloween and has a flip form aimed squarely at the consumer. The Style will be priced $99.99 for customers signing a new contract. Read More »

Mitek Systems will today introduce Mobile Photo Bill Pay, a system that allows snapping a photo of any bill and having it paid from customer’s accounts at participating financial organizations. Bills can be paid by taking a photo of a paper invoice with a smartphone. Read More »

Nokia’s newest smartphone comes in the form of the Nokia N8, a GSM touchscreen device with the brand new Symbian^3 operating system. Even with the improvements shown in the N8, several key user experience aspects keep it at least a step or two behind the competition. Read More »

Google has the Android Market for app distribution, but GetJar has Angry Birds with an exclusive deal that shuts Google out of the hot game phenomenon. GetJar is an app store with over a billion downloads, and Angry Birds will likely score a few more. Read More »

Opera Mobile will be hitting Android within a month, according to the company. This is the full mobile version of the Opera browser, and will add pinch/zoom and hardware acceleration to take advantage of high-powered smartphones currently on the market. Other platforms will get it later. Read More »

Android phones like the EVO and Droid X have a front-facing camera to enable making video calls. The iPhone 4 has a camera too, and while FaceTime is Apple’s app for making calls on that platform, newcomer Tango makes calls possible on both iOS and Android. Read More »

A mobile keyboard plays a big role in determining how productive a smartphone can be for tasks involving text entry. I’ve used many keyboards for Android, and Ultra Keyboard is heads and shoulders above the pack. This video shows the major features of the app. Read More »

Windows Phone 7 is a total departure for Microsoft specifically and the smartphone space in general, and RIM should be worried about it. RIM has only recently rolled out BlackBerry 6, and the reaction to it was not enthusiastic. WP7 beats RIM at its own game. Read More »

It is easy to get started with phones running Android, but it can be a bit daunting for new users to tap into the full capability of the platform. Here are five simple things users can do to get the most out of an Android phone. Read More »

Smartphone maker Modu has won the Guinness World Record for producing the lightest touch phone. The Modu T is a tiny phone that is the core of the company’s modular system. Modu phones slip into “jackets” that allow the phone to serve different purposes. Read More »

The first beta version of mobile Firefox for Android has been released and is now available in the Android Market. We have taken it for a test drive and while it shows good potential, it may be solving a problem that doesn’t exist on Android. Read More »

Cold season is upon us, based on the number of GigaOM staff members currently afflicted. A search of the Android Market for an app that offers medical advice turned up the app iTriage. I’ve testing it and find it is pretty good for a free app. Read More »

The T-Mobile G2 is a phone that may have a first for such handsets: an internal cop that detects if the user “roots” the phone and if so, undoes it. Hackers working the G2 have rooted the phone, but the modification gets removed automatically. Read More »

Motorola isn’t content to rest on the success of its Droid line of Android phones; it’s announced six Android phones to join its ranks. The phones cover a wide range of form factors, from the square Spice to the Flipout with a rotating screen. Read More »

We’ve been closely following HP since its acquisition of Palm to determine the direction the company will be taking with the webOS platform. A company official has confirmed that HP will be producing phones early next year to capitalize on the webOS platform. Read More »

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