09:02 AM by sUnShInE in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

CNET reports that cellphone maker Nokia has dumped cash into Mozilla in the hopes of the group producing an Open Source-based cellphone browser. In response to the funding, Mozilla has created the Minimo project.

The goal of Minimo (or Mini Mozilla), is to reduce the footprint of the Mozilla browser to a size suitable for small consumer devices. Mozilla has already produced a preview release based on the 1.7a Mozilla code. If all goes according to plan, Nokia will stake an incredible return on its investment if it could use a browser free from licensing fees on its handsets (think Netscape). In the end, it will not only benefit Nokia, but all handset manufacturers -- not to mention end-users.

Minimo v0.1 is part of the Handhelds.org stable feed.

Read the CNET article.

08:28 AM by ignatz in Miscellaneous | Lounge

musicplasma has a lot of interesting potential. You enter a musician or band into the search and you get a visual result showing similar bands arranged by how alike they are and showing visual links based on style and relative popularity. Not sure how music is judged to be similar, or how popularity is calculated. I've already found a handful of bands that I need to check out. And the application is real eye-candy and very configurable. Recommended!

05:37 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

The new company on2go Ltd. aims to provide "live, rich intelligent content" on mobile phones. on2go is a java-based content delivery system for mobiles that combines the immediacy of SMS with a richness that "far surpasses WAP."

Stock prices, football scores, ski reports, traffic information, racing results, last-minute travel deals, multi-player games, email and Instant Messaging – is the kind of live information on2go is striving to provide you.

If you'd like to be involved in their Beta program, you can send them an e-mail to register your interest.

05:16 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Portable Audio/Video

Brahamt brought the first news a week ago, and now it is official: Today, BMW and Apple unveiled the first adapter (link1, link2) that directly interfaces the iPod with a car stereo system. The BMW iPod Adapter can be installed in 2002 or later models, including the Mini Cooper. It supports up to five unique BMW playlists, which simulate the car's CD changer.

03:13 AM by faie in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Businessweek Online reports that wearable cellphones, which are already being sold in Asia, will be reaching US shores soon.

In the upcoming year, cellphones will be in forms that are cleverly disguised in watches, bracelets, jacket lapels, backpacks -- any imaginable place that will make gabbing a fashion statement.

Taking part in this cellphone evolution, several big players has churned out their versions of wearable phones. Nokia plans to begin selling its Imagewear line of digital necklaces and chokers in the U.S. at the end of June. The necklaces' medallions will store and display up to eight photos, snapped by a Nokia camera phone and uploaded into the necklace wirelessly via Bluetooth (see accompanying image).

Motorola has developed something it calls the SmartButton. The user pins the device onto a lapel, then taps on it and, using voice commands, dials a number and holds a conversation. The button forwards requests to the phone, which is somewhere nearby. Motorola also is looking at flexible phones that don't poke wearers when they take a seat.

This trickle of wearable cell phones could quickly turn into a gushing stream -- and many electronics companies, chipmakers, and startups are betting that the technological tide will carry them into the next stage of cell-phone evolution.

01:02 AM by cbarnett in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Check out http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,116591,00.asp for an interesting atricle about using fuel cells in smaller appliances like notebooks and PDA's.

This could have a real impact on our ebook reading in the future...

Craig.

02:30 PM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Portable Audio/Video

The new watch comes in flavours of 32/64/128/256 MB and is available from Laks (256 MB costs $199.99).

I4U has now a review of this nifty little MP3 player. It's conclusion: "Overall this watch looks good, sounds good, and has a nice GEEK appeal (yes I am a geek) I mean, how many watches can you pull a USB connector out of, and hook to your computer??"

02:14 PM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Brighthand now has a review of the SanDisk Wi-Fi SD Card for the Zire 71. Why is it that only the Zire 71 is supported? Quote:

According to SanDisk, palmOne won't publicly release this. Instead, the patch will be built into the driver that palmOne will release with its Wi-Fi SD card, which is expected to be available soon.

I am not sure if palmOne is in the position today to act like this, but I am definitely reconsidering my decision whether my next PDA will be Palm OS-based again