To push or not to push

MobileMe subscribers recently received an email detailing a few changes. Initially the 2008 launch of MobileMe in was tragic although now, the Push is back. For the iPhone, the main modifications are improved notifications and synchronization. Reliability of new email notifications and syncing of contacts and calendar with MobileMe have both ...

Around SPE for 8 March, 2009

This week CrackBerry.com broke the first real photos of the BlackBerry “Niagara” 9630, WMExperts brought you hands on details of Internet Explorer Mobile 6, Android Central brought you a walkthough of buying apps in the Android App Market, and PreCentral.net wondered whether Palm would survive long enough to release the Pre. Plenty more happened this week in the smartphone world, naturally, so the thing to do is continue reading to find out what you may have missed this week around the Smartphone Experts network.

Android Central

It was definitely an HTC-centric week over at Android Central. First Vodafone announced the HTC Magic would arrive in April. Then. the super sexy black version of the HTC Magic popped up and got an eyes on. Then it was announced that Orange would bring the HTC Dream to France. And finally we can expect more HTC devices because HTC doubled their workforce to focus on Android!

Also, if you were wondering how to buy paid applications on Android Market, we have a great video showing you how!

CrackBerry.com

CDMA BlackBerry users got cause for excitement this week as the first live photos of the BlackBerry “Niagara” 9630 surfaced at CrackBerry.com. With a form factor that looks very much like the BlackBerry Bold and Curve 8900 had a child, this may just be the ultimate full-keyboard trackball BlackBerry.

And if you don’t own a BlackBerry but woud like a free one, Where and CrackBerry.com have partnered to bring you the BlackBerry Haiku Contest. Just head over to CrackBerry.com and leave your Haiku in response to the question “Where is your BlackBerry Right Now?”. Best Haiku wins!

Nokia Experts

Following the lame Nokia 5800 U.S. launch, Nokia has determined that the 3G issue was related to the device firmware so an update was issued so everything should be good to go now. The 5800 is a great, rather inexpensive device so this is good news. fring is also now available and optimized for the Nokia 5800. There are very few Twitter clients available for S60, but the most compelling one called Gravity is coming soon. Get a load of this fish story where a Nokia device survived in the belly of a cod. Lastly, the two winners of our Launch Contest were announced. Thanks to everyone for participating.

PreCentral.net

Still waiting on details for the release of the Palm Pre? Join the club! With luck, we’re going to hear something in an invite-only webcast from Sprint and Palm on March 12th. Meanwhile we’re realizing that the Pre needs to be massively successful in order for Palm to even stay in business. Expectations are very high, but we’re a little worried that Palm investor Roger McNamee is setting those expectations a little too high by claiming that a large number of iPhone early adopters will be making the switch.

The iPhone Blog

Previously on theiPhoneblog.com: Apple dropped a ton of hardware revisions, including the Mac Mini, iMac, and Mac Pro, but all we got were some iPhone friendlier Airport Extremes and Time Capsules. Still, with a rumored March 24 Special Event, could we still see the iPhone OS 3.0 beta or… an iTablet? And if so, would it run Amazon’s new Kindle for iPhone app?

Meanwhile, did you leave Verizon for an iPhone? They think you did. And will you leave your iPhone and become a Palm Pre-vert? McNamee thinks you will for the faster web browsing. We think Sprint can’t do simultaneous voice and data, so how much faster is zero? Also, Ballmerdrops by to make our CEOh-Snap! of a week complete.

TreoCentral

At TreoCentral we learned that Palm’s preliminary Q4 results are grim, and that Palm is short on cash and intends on raising more cash soon. Analysts were reporting different stock opinions on Thursday, some giving Neutral ratings, while others upgraded PALM to Buy. Alltel beat Sprint in getting the CDMA Treo Pro out of the gate first, but the Sprint Treo Pro has been confirmed for March 15th. Dieter got his hands on a Sprint version of the smartphone and put up a nice unboxing and hands-on video.

WMExperts

The Palm Treo Pro made it bit of news this week, first with an official launch date of March 15 for the long-awaited Sprint version. But Alltel beat Sprint to the punch when it became the first CDMA carrier to release the Treo Pro mid-week.

We had a little fun last week. There’s now iFun in Bill and Melinda Gates’ home as we learned the iPhone surprise! isn’t allowed in their home, though Mrs. Gates occasionally wishes she had one. We also got a look at what Microsoft MVP’s are arming themselves with, the mythical Motorola Q9h with WiFi made another appearance, and we reviewed the LG Incite.

On the software side, Malatesta took us in deep with IE6 (for mobile), Microsoft is working with a new Live Search beta, MS CEO Steve Ballmer admits that WinMo 6.5 isn’t what he’d hoped to release this year, and a native Facebook application was ported over from a hacked 6.5 ROM.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Around SPE for 8 March, 2009

25,000 iPhone Apps on the App Store Milestone Almost Crossed

Missing Card trick will leave some mystified

Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Another day, another cool trick makes it to the iPhone/iPod touch. Today it's the Missing Card [App Store Link] for US $0.99.

The effect is that a small group of picture cards are displayed on the iPhone. You are asked to think of one, but not indicate which one you have chosen, and no tapping on the card on the iPhone screen so people don't think that is the secret. There is some nice animation as the cards flip over and one is removed. All the cards are face down. You are asked to reveal your card, and all the cards are turned over but one. Your card is no longer in the group.

It's a nice trick, and an old one. It's generally knows as the Princess Card trick, and after years of being a mainstay for magicians it made it to the web and was widely seen in a number of variations.

This is a nice version of the effect, and the animation is smooth and attractive. My only criticisms are that the magician gets no credit for the trick. it appears that the phone is doing all the heavy lifting. Also, the card left over, the face down one, can't be revealed. I think there are some ways to deal with that if the developer takes the trouble to work it out.

For people who have not seen the trick, it will be a stunner. It's a good little diversion to try in a bar or a party. If you think the secret is too widespread, this is not the trick for you. If the description seems fresh, give it a try on your friends or co-workers.

Missing Card trick will leave some mystified originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 08 Mar 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Missing Card trick will leave some mystified originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 08 Mar 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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StarPlayr for iPhone Officially Waves Bye

Is this really a surprise to anyone who was following the whole Sirius StarPlayr for the iPhone debacle? No wonder Nicemac said their iPhone StarPlayr app was “not rejected” but rather “not approved”. It looks like they ran into some sirius issues with Sirius XM and not Apple. Which I might point out, is what many of our readers predicted.

NiceMac has decided it is in our best interests to discontinue the StarPlayr project. NiceMac will be issuing refunds for purchasers of StarPlayr for Windows Mobile on a first come first serve basis until corporate funds have been exhausted.

Could in their “best interests” mean Sirius XM told them to close shop or they will shut them down themselves?

So what do you think? Nicemac never seemed to have issues before with their software. Whether if it was for Windows Mobile or Macs. This iPhone app may have brought too much attention and Sirius XM said that’s enough.

Maybe we will see a official Sirius XM app in the App Store sooner rather than later. Hmm… we have a feeling it will be sooner.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

StarPlayr for iPhone Officially Waves Bye

Facing App Store limbo, StarPlayr developers give up and go home

Filed under: Bad Apple, iPhone, App Store

Last November, as visions of cranberries and turkey danced in our heads, the first tidbits about a forthcoming Sirius/XM app for the iPhone began to emerge on the Howard Stern fan forums. In January, the satellite radio player's name and details were confirmed -- StarPlayr was on the way from NiceMac.

Two weeks ago, word arrived from NiceMac that the app was neither approved nor rejected by Apple... perhaps keeping it out of the way of an official Sirius app rumored last week. No independent developer wants to be in this no-app's-land between approval on the store and a branded app around the corner, so you can probably guess what happens next.

Early this morning, a blog post on the starplayr.com site confirmed what many of us expected: NiceMac is abandoning development of the StarPlayr app, not only on the iPhone but on Windows Mobile as well. Refunds for WinMo licensees will be available on a first-come, first-served basis until NiceMac runs out of cash.

It's a sad and frustrating outcome, not only for the hardworking team behind StarPlayr but also for the eager fans who were ready to lay down their cash for the app. Without some sort of advance roadmap for internal/partner projects from Apple, or a published list of 'no-go zones' for third party developers to stay clear of the official-app juggernaut, this is going to happen again. I understand that competitive pressures may force Apple to keep licensing and development deals under wraps -- chances are, the team answering emails in Developer Relations has no idea what's in the works up in the executive offices -- but there's got to be a way to avoid this deep chill on innovation and investment from third-party devs.

Thanks Jim

Facing App Store limbo, StarPlayr developers give up and go home originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 08 Mar 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Facing App Store limbo, StarPlayr developers give up and go home originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 08 Mar 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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