Cell Phone Hub

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Where will cell phone technology take us? With the introduction of the newest gadgets every year, the experts have given us the technology to put almost everything we do into one little mobile device.

Once just used for simple person-to-person contact, the cell phone has grown up a lot since its introduction in the 1990’s. Even your basic cell phones offer a selection of advanced features. Will it ever end? Will our mobile phones run our daily lives? Unlock our cars perhaps? Be used as a remote control for our television?

Of course, you can place calls with your mobile phone from almost anywhere and at anytime. Of course there are still a few places out there where the signal antennas don’t reach, but before long, this wont matter much.

Another feature that is more common on phones now is text messaging. This works just the same as instant messengers on our computers. People can talk to each other via text. This makes conversing easier when one person is otherwise occupied and cannot keep an actual conversation at the time.

Another feature most phones have nowadays is a digital camera. This feature has both its pros and cons. Most people don’t carry a camera with them at all times for those moments when we wish we did have one. They have proven helpful in situations like car accidents, criminal
situations, and even catching the occasional embarrassing moment on film.

But there have also been arguments in regards to privacy. People have been found using the camera phone for spying on other people in places like dressing rooms and under tables. Shame, shame.

Cell phones now offer so many more advanced options. Things such as MP3 players, FM radios, GPS services and advanced Internet capabilities. Someday, our mobile phones may replace our notebook computers in their capabilities. Let’s see what happens.

Technorati Tags: cell phones, mobile phones, camera phones, mobile phone technology, cell phone technology

Filed under: Cellphones

Ah yes, ye olde we're-going-to-switch-our-network-technology story surfaces again, seems we can't have a quarter without this type of story raising it's head. We heard this same tale back when Bell Canada was involved in all that sale / merger / rumor business, but this time Telus is the center of the fun. It seems that Telus may be set to abandon its 'Betamax" network and is now ogling the hundreds of millions of dollars in roaming revenue that the GSM carriers enjoy by considering a move to tap into it. Of course, this is merely speculation, but the story does seem to be gaining traction and Rogers shares actually suffered a 2.6 percent drop on this news yesterday. The Olympics are in Vancouver in 2010, we're thinking if Telus really was going to go for it -- and shell out an estimated half billion dollars -- that would be a prime time to roll out a hybrid EV-DO / HSDPA network.

 

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Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Portable Video, Transportation

At the nexus of MacWorld and the Detoit Auto Show is this, the iPhone dock for the Land Rover LRX concept car. Our brethren at Autoblog had a chance to sit down with Mr. Sandy Boyes, the LRX's interior designer, to get a better understanding of the iPhone's role in the vehicle. When docked, the iPhone would upload your music, seat settings, steering wheel settings, and all the information for the car's "transfigurable displays." Better yet, he suggests that the dock (iPhone or otherwise) could be offered as a "premium pack" in near-term cars -- there's no need to wait. Check the video after the break.

Continue reading Video: Land Rover LRX's iPhone personalizes your car settings

 

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Filed under: Cellphones

 

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Filed under: Cellphones, Features, HDTV, Home Entertainment

iPhone / iPod touch updates

• The iPhone 1000 SMS limit is now lifted! Huzzah!
• You can now "pre-type" with two thumbs on v1.1.3 now (i.e. type, type, lift thumb, lift thumb -- instead of the usual type, lift, type lift, which is a big slow-down). Thanks Dan L.
• Gmail IMAP is now officially supported! Thanks, Niall.
• iPod touch can still geolocate, but using Skyhook only (since, naturally, it doesn't have cell tower access like the iPhone + Google).

Apple TV updates

• The update adds AirTunes support for the Apple TV for streaming directly to the device.
• Your average HD movie download for the ATV is going to be about 4GB -- but if you've got a reasonably fast connection it should start streaming and playing within a minute.
• Standard SD movies should be a bout 1.2GB.
• Just to be clear about how rentals work, they can't move OUT of the Apple TV if acquired ON the ATV. If you need to finish your movie on the go but bought from ATV, you have to rent it again on iTunes with your computer.
• You've also now got "favorites," which act as pseudo-subscriptions. These aren't synced or the same as the subs in iTunes.
• Front Row is NOT undergoing any UI changes (at this time). Don't expect it to look the same as the new Apple TV.
• Search isn't alphabetical, it's predictive and recommendation based. So if you're looking up a letter, the results will seem out of order, but will actually be calculated to be the most likely hit based on popularity.
• There's Dolby Digital 5.1, as we saw, but otherwise there are no codec changes in the ATV.

Head this way for even more on the new Apple TV and iPhone / iPod touch v1.1.3 updates:

Apple TV Take 2 hands-on
More details on Apple's iTunes movie / HD rentals

Video: iPhone firmware 1.1.3 doing its thing
The skinny on iPhone and iPod touch firmware 1.1.3
iPhone firmware 1.1.3 update announced: it's just like we heard

 

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Filed under: Cellphones

Despite some encouraging financials out of Espoo as of late, Nokia is looking to cut costs and slim down in its effort to keep its paws firmly around the coveted title of number one cellphone manufacturer in the world. Its Bochum, Germany plant bears the brunt of this round of belt tightening, which will be closed by mid-2008; all told, a total of 2,300 jobs may be cut in the process. Nokia is smack in the middle of migrating some of its production capabilities to cheaper countries, with a Romanian plant -- which costs one-tenth to operate what a German plant does, apparently -- taking on much of the load. For what it's worth, Germany is apparently an extraordinarily pricey place to shut down a plant and lay off workers, so with any luck, the send-off will be a prosperous one for these ex-Nokians.

 

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Filed under: Cellphones, Features

Enjoy this special moment that can only occur between one happy iPhone user and their consenting device. You'll get to witness the miracle of icon rearranging, the joy of Google Maps location finding, and the unending pleasure of homescreen Safari bookmarks. We didn't grab the multiple SMS recipient function on film, but we assure you it's exactly like it should have been to begin with.

Continue reading Video: iPhone firmware 1.1.3 doing its thing

 

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Portable Audio, Portable Video

So let's just boil down the newly-available firmware 1.1.3 to the nitty gritty, shall we? Here's what Apple's latest juicy morsel is going to do to your iPhone (or iPod touch, if that's how you roll and you have $19.99 to spare) once you can finally reliably get it from iTunes:

• Maps: New hybrid view, same as Google Maps. Satellite imagery and street mapping available on a single view.
• Maps: Location triangulation. Uses nearby WiFi access points and GSM towers (on the iPhone, anyway) to roughly guesstimate your current location.
• Web Clips: Web bookmarks can now be saved as home screen icons, including zoom and location information.
• Home screen: Icons on the home screen can now be rearranged.
• Home screen: Up to 9 home screens can now be created and "flicked" between.
• SMS: A single text message can now be sent to multiple recipients; groups can be recalled for future use.
• iTunes: Movie rentals are now supported.
• iTunes: Support for lyrics.
• iTunes: Option to "manually manage" music and videos instead of synchronizing. Thanks, Vlade D!
  

Additionally, the iPod touch now features Mail, Maps, Stocks, Weather, and Notes, all of which were previously exclusive to the iPhone. Cheers!

 

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Filed under: Cellphones

 

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Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Portable Video

If you saw the 1.1.3 leaked firmware then this isn't a surprise. The new iPhone firmware features Google maps with location, up to 9 total home screens, Webclips, the ability to SMS multiple recipients, and more. That more being lyrics, subtitles, languages, chapters, in your iPod media. To customize a screen you just touch and hold the icon for a couple of seconds and it begins to "shake." Right, just like we saw in the video. Flicking your finger across the screen moves to the next screen. iPod touch users, it's all yours for $20. No, we're not kidding.

 

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