phones

Amid the growing group of instant-messaging solutions for the IM-less iPhone, Mundu (a Webware 100 winner) has just released a new contender that handles four of the most popular chatting protocols with a fantastic interface. If you're an iPhone user, just navigate your Safari browser to http://iphone.mundu.com, which takes you to a log-in screen with access to your AIM, Yahoo, MSN, .Mac, and Google Talk accounts. You can log into all of them simultaneously, although there's no master password system like you get with Meebo.

Each client gets its own buddy list, and any additional … Read more

For starters, the Cocoon is highly stylish, featuring a smooth, curved white casing that slips easily into a pocket. In a neat touch, there are hidden LEDs behind the front cover that light up and tell you the time, and preview text messages and incoming caller details. But what's really impressive about these lights is how they work in conjunction with the provided dock, or "nest," as O2 likes to call it.

As well as charging the Cocoon, the dock turns the handset into a fully fledged alarm clock that constantly displays the time and can wake … Read more

The brawniest smart phones may be equipped to withstand a hearty flinging across the room, and the brainiest may be able to finesse your multimedia or autocorrect your photos, but few can do on their own what CodeWallet Pro and eWallet Professional (various versions) can to manage and secure your data in a central, locked-down location.

I'm not talking about one smart phone with separate notebook, word processing, e-mailing, and database programs that have been shrunk down from their original desktop formats to disco with your data. I'm talking about programs that have been made with mobility in mind, that regard themselves as serious guardians of very sensitive information. Whether they stand up to the task and whether you really need them are issues we'll get to. To begin, let's take a look at eWallet Professional and CodeWallet Pro (which shall henceforth simply be known as eWallet and CodeWallet).… Read more

Fumbling around with your iPod while it's in your pocket or engaging with it full-force may be getting old, especially when you're in the middle of a triathlon. Timex aims to fix that by putting basic iPod controls on its new iControl Ironman watch.

The new watch includes a dongle that attaches to the iPod or iPhone connector, allowing users to play, pause, navigate forward and backward, and turn up the volume remotely from their wrists.

Both Engadget and Gizmodo already have some hands-on experience with the watch, which lists for $125.

Although buying info for the watch … Read more

Hundreds of cell phone users in Minneapolis on Wednesday evening complained that they were unable to make or receive phone calls during the aftermath of the I-35 bridge collapse. But many people said they could still contact loved ones via text messaging.

This is not unusual, experts say. People in London and New York City after terrorist attacks in those cities reported similar issues. So did some students during the massacre at Virginia Tech earlier this year. While some of these issues can be blamed on damage to infrastructure, as was the case after the September 11 attacks and during … Read more

This application for iPhone was designed to help you find the best bars in New York City while on the go. Even as a tourist, you'll always know where the nearest bar is with this application. Search for bars by name, cross-street, or even by what's close to the bar you're at currently. When your night is over, New York On Tap will also help you find the nearest subway to get home.

iPhone link: http://newyorkontap.com/mobile.aspx

Web site link: http://newyorkontap.com/

Arik Hesseldahl of BusinessWeek said today (here) that a group of independent software developers led by Patrick Walton have created what "appears to be the first downloadable program created for the iPhone." (More details here.)

But actually I think the first genuinely useful downloadable iPhone application might have been this one:

http://scicalc.belfry.com/

The programmer, a friend of mine named Garth Minette, discovered on July 28 that he could encode an entire application, 85 Kbytes in size, into an iPhone bookmark. So it works even when the iPhone is not connected to the network-- the basic … Read more

Apple could have a lot more in mind for the multitouch user interface found on the iPhone.

A recent Apple patent filing spotted by Macsimum News, among others, covers technology described as a "multitouch gesture dictionary." It's basically a way of assigning certain tasks, such as opening an application, to a series of gestures and "chords," according to the patent application.

Right now, iPhone users navigate by dragging a finger up, down, left or right to scroll through contacts, music or e-mail. Zooming in or out of a Web page requires two fingers that either … Read more

Nokia, the No. 1 cell phone maker in the world, reported another strong quarter of growth, as it capitalizes on poor sales from one of its main competitors, Motorola.

Nokia said Thursday that it shipped 100.8 million handsets during the quarter, an increase of 29 percent compared with the previous year. The company now boasts that it has roughly 38 percent of the worldwide handset market. Meanwhile, Motorola's market share has slipped in the second quarter, placing it in third place behind rival Samsung Electronics.

Nokia's success was driven mostly by sales in Europe, the Middle East … Read more