News Blog

(Credit: Fring)

After so many announcements for this or that application's Facebook appearance, it's nice to see Facebook play a supporting role in kind.

On Tuesday, Fring, a VoIP and IM application for a range of mobile phones, added the ability to fold Facebook into the communicator, through a new Settings menu option called fringAdd-ons. Gmail Notifier, Orkut, vTap videos, and Yandex.mail are also in there, together representing the first extensions created by third-party developers using Fring's application programming interface.

Exactly how many add-ons join this handful will depend on Fring's popularity with casual developers. Fring is not the only mobile software company opening its API to programmers. In fact, crowd-sourcing software authors is now seen as integral to a mobile software publisher's strategy and success. iPhone is the biggest honcho to have more recently welcomed developers, and the success of Google Android as a mobile platform is tied to the mostly independent developers fighting to win big money for their grand ideas and edgy implementations.

So far, connector programs like the Facebook add-on are a good start. Relatively easy to make, programs like these help Fring close in on bragging rights for being the most far-reaching social networking hub out of all the multinetwork text and VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) communicators without putting forth additional development dollars.

FringAdd-ons are currently available for the latest versions of Nokia Symbian 9, Sony Ericsson UIQ, and Windows Mobile.

Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's Entertainment & Devices Division, told the San Francisco Chronicle in an interview published Sunday that the company has no plans to put up a Zune phone to compete with iPhone.

Robbie Bach, president of Entertainment & Devices Division.

(Credit: Microsoft)

On the eve of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, where a new iPhone is rumored to be unveiled, the man who is charge of developing Xbox, Zune, and Windows Mobile began his question-and-answer session with the paper by touting the success of Windows Mobile.

"We will outsell the iPhone," he told the newspaper."We will outsell the BlackBerry."

"We don't make phones ourselves. We don't have any plans to make phones ourselves," the told the paper. "Our focus is on the belief that a phone is a very personal thing. Different people want different types of phones. We think that is going to continue, and we think Windows Mobile is in a great position to service all those different opportunities."

He went on to say that the phone itself is just one component of smartphones' success.

"It's about browsing. It's about music. It's about video. It's about e-mails, text messaging, and photos."

On the topic of mobile browsing, Bach also addressed the issue of the lack of advertising success in mobile Web browsing, saying that it's still a work in progress.

"The business model for browsing on a phone has not gotten itself completely clear yet," he said. "In the PC space, the way people monetize the Internet is through advertising. Now in the phone space, we believe that advertising will be a part of that experience, but it's a different form factor."

Bach also touched on entertainment issues, including Microsoft's backing of the now-largely extinct HD DVD format, pointing out that many consumers say they can't see a substantial picture quality improvement with next-generation discs.

"You have to look at how fundamentally compelling the difference is between a progressive scan DVD player and the picture that it can produce and what you get on a high-definition player. The reality is there is some difference, but most people look at it and say, 'I am not going to pay extra for that.'"

And can we expect to see the company embrace Blu-ray in the next version of its Xbox game console?

"There is nothing to even talk about right now with regard to the next generation. That is so far out that there isn't anything to talk about."

However, CrunchGear is reporting that a tipster with "close friend who works at Microsoft" said they were told that Microsoft will try to upstage Apple on Monday with the announcement that an Blu-ray Xbox 360 will be available by the Christmas holiday shopping season.

Microsoft sees big growth for its Windows Mobile operating system.

A Microsoft executive in Asia told Reuters on Tuesday that sales will increase at least 50 percent over the next year as demand for smartphones picks up.

Eddie Wu, the software company's managing director of OEM embedded devices in Asia, said the company expects to sell 20 million "units" of its software in the 2007-2008 fiscal year, which ends in June, according to the article. And the company expects to grow at least 50 percent annually over the next two years, he added. Microsoft sold more than 11 million units of its Windows Mobile software in its 2006-2007 fiscal year, which ended June a year ago.

Wu told Reuters that the company is seeing the fastest growth in the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, Brazil, Russia, and India. Demand is also strong in Europe and the United States.

Windows Mobile is a software operating system used on smartphones. Companies such as Motorola, Samsung, and High Tech Electronics (HTC) have all released products that use it. And Sony Ericsson introduced a new Windows Mobile phone earlier this year at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Smartphones, which offer e-mail, Web surfing, music, and other Internet services, are growing in popularity. In the first quarter of 2008, sales of smartphones in the U.S. accounted for about 17 percent of all mobile phone sales, the NPD Group reported. This was an increase of 10 percent over the previous year. The increase in smartphone demand comes as sales of cell phones in general are declining in the U.S.

Microsoft has been working hard to cash in on the growing demand for smartphones. Earlier this year, Microsoft released version 6.1 of theWindows Mobile operating system. This version includes an updated browser, which is supposed to make Internet surfing on a mobile phone look and feel like it does on a desktop. The company also has added support for Adobe Systems' Flash.

Windows Mobile 6.1 will be available on a number of manufacturers' phones including HTC, Samsung Electronics, Motorola, and Pantech. And carriers including AT&T, Sprint Nextel, and Alltel have already announced that they will offer the upgrade.

Despite predictions for strong growth, Microsoft still faces tough competition, and it may have a hard time increasing its market share as competition intensifies. Apple is rumored to be getting ready to launch the 3G, or third-generation, version of the iPhone in a few weeks. The company has already announced software upgrades that should make the iPhone more appealing for business users.

What's more, new phones using Google's Android operating system will soon hit the market. And competitors such as Research In Motion with its BlackBerry devices and Symbian, which is used on Nokia and LG Electronics phones, are also expected to continue to grow.

Windows Mobile users now have a green light to try Yahoo Go (video review) on their Windows Mobile phones.

The third version of Yahoo's all-in-one content application for smartphones debuted in January in beta form, and with it came tricks for greater customization. Users can add a variety of widgets to the carousel and quick links to the start page, and otherwise personalize the source of mobile content. The full list of supported Windows Mobile phones can be found here.

Watch out, Nvidia is stalking the iPhone. The maker of fast graphics processors will apply its chip know-how to juice up the mobile internet device market and the Windows Mobile interface.

Nvidia APX 2500-based Windows Mobile device has flick-and-roll interface

(Credit: Nvidia)

As reported back in February, after a decade of pumping up PC performance, Nvidia is betting a big part of its future on boosting graphics performance in fit-in-your-pocket mobile internet devices (MIDs).

CNET Video of APX 2500 prototype here.

iPhone-style devices with Nvdia's APX 2500 system-on-a-chip--due late this year and next year--incorporate most of the functionality of a PC. (See block diagram.) And it is important to note that Nvidia is building all of the core electronics that will run a mobile internet device, not just the graphics component.

The APX 2500 is different from Intel's Atom processor platform--which is offered as a processor and a separate chipset--because the 2500 integrates everything onto one piece of silicon. This makes it more akin to Intel's upcoming Moorestown processor that's due next year or early 2010.

Nvidia's goal is to pack as much processing punch as possible into a few-hundred-milliwatt power envelope, said Michael Rayfield, general manager of the Mobile Business Unit. "I said start from zero. And then made my team beg and plead for every milliwatt," he said. Notebook PC processors typically operate in power envelopes between 10 and 35 watts.

But to the user, the biggest difference will be Microsoft's Mobile Windows interface and what can happen when there is Nvidia GeForce graphics silicon pushing everything around.

The platform that Nvidia is demonstrating goes far beyond the staid, pin-striped Windows Mobile that is used today. Nvidia is showing finger-flick-and-roll screens and accelerometer-based reorienting 720p video.

These tiny devices are designed to run 720p HDTV video for 10 hours--one of the marquee features that Nvidia will be emphasizing, Rayfield said. He plugged a prototype APX 2500-based device into a large screen TV via a High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) connector and played high-definition movies with the same fluidity and resolution as you get from a big HDTV box or bigger computer.

Nvidia APX 2500 block diagram

(Credit: Nvidia)

All on, believe it or not, Windows Mobile. The operating system has struggled since its inception back in 2000. Initially, it had promise on Compaq (and later Hewlett-Packard) iPaq handhelds, but these devices never appealed to a large base, even in corporate America which eventually went en masse for the Blackberry. There is more acceptance now as Windows Mobile 6.1 is adopted by companies like HTC, Samsung, and Acer (which announced its intention to bring out a Windows smartphone)--but it is still Windows. In a post-iPhone world, Nvidia says this is not adequate.

The prototype mobile internet device that Nvidia is currently working on is not the product that will appear from phone companies or navigation device vendors. Rayfield said it is necessarily a thick device and contains extra circuit boards because it is a development platform. The final product made by device manufacturers will be thin, he said.

Nvidia APX 2500-based Windows Mobile device interface

(Credit: Nvidia)

HTC Touch Diamond

(Credit: HTC)

As expected, HTC officially took the wraps off the HTC Touch Diamond at a press conference in London Tuesday and great googly moogly, does this thing look hot! Not only does it look sexy from the outside with its sleek, black casing, but the Touch Diamond also features a revamped TouchFlo 3D interface that gives you a more animated and easier way to access your contacts, messages, and other content. You can do all this via the Diamond's gorgeous 2.8-inch, 680x480 VGA (yes, that's right, VGA) touch screen; plus, there's a new touch-sensitive control below the display to help you out.

The Touch Diamond is a lot more than just looks, though. The quad-band smartphone runs Windows Mobile 6.1 and has integrated Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, GPS, and HSDPA support. HTC also noted that it will ship the Touch Diamond with a customized mobile Web browser that provides an optimized view of pages and lets you zoom and pan sites with one hand. In addition, the page orientation will automatically go from portrait to landscape mode when you turn the device sideways (hmm, sounds familiar. *cough, iPhone, cough, cough*) Other goodies include a 3.2-megapixel camera, 4GB internal storage, 256MB flash memory, and 192MB RAM.

The HTC Touch Diamond will start shipping in European markets this June, and then later in the quarter for Asia and the Middle East. As for us, there's good news and bad news. The good news is that we're actually getting our own version but unfortunately, we, as well as Latin American markets, will have to wait till the second half of 2008. Now, while the Touch Diamond certainly looks like a gem (sorry, had to do it), we're hoping it's more than just flash. And we couldn't help but be reminded of a similar-looking smartphone from Velocity Mobile. Mmm hmm, things just got interesting. Check out CNET UK's hands-on examination and our photo gallery of the HTC Touch Diamond.

The latest software pledges to fix the dodgy video quality on the Sprint Mogul.

(Credit: CNET)

Sling Media is offering upgraded versions of three of its mobile software clients: SlingPlayer Mobile for Windows Mobile PocketPC (now version 1.6), Windows Mobile Smartphone (also 1.6), and Symbian S60 (1.1). According to Sling's press release, the updated software adds support for additional hardware--including the Nokia N95 8GB, the Treo 500v, and the Samsung i760--and improves the streaming experience on "select handsets," including the the Sprint Mogul. The upgrades are free for registered users of the previous versions. Download prices for new users remain at $30 per handset, and with the free 30-day trial period, you can try before you buy.

Still available (but not updated today) is Sling's Palm OS mobile client. The company is pledging Symbian UIQ (for Sony Ericsson phones, as opposed to the Nokia/S60 version mentioned above), and BlackBerry support by the end of 2008. Of course, in order to stream live TV (or any other home AV source) with the SlingPlayer Mobile software, you'll need a Slingbox up and running in your home.

What do you think: do the new Slingbox Mobile software clients make a good product even better? Or do you prefer rival offerings from the likes of Sony, Hava/Monsoon Multimedia, and--soon--Archos? Or is the whole "TV on your phone" movement overrated?

SlingPlayer Mobile downloads (US): Slingmedia.com

The inventor of the increasingly ubiquitous Pleco Chinese-English dictionary software for Palm and Windows Mobile devices said the company is "very seriously considering developing" an iPhone version.

In an interview in April's China International Business (not yet online), Michael Love tells of developing the 6-year-old product and how it's getting popular enough that many foreigners in China are buying PDAs or PDA phones just to use Pleco.

I, for one, would not have bought my Windows Mobile-running HTC Touch if not for this program, and untold dozens of my Beijing friends and acquaintances are carrying around Treos for the same reason. (Love said he switches between a Treo 680 and an HTC Touch, himself.)

Here's what Love had to say about the iPhone prospects:

We're not thrilled about Apple locking down distribution and charging developers a 30 percent commission to sell iPhone software, but we really like the platform and think it has enough potential to be worth the hefty fees.

The iPod Touch is actually more exciting to us, in some respects, than the iPhone, since it doesn't force you to change your cell phone carrier and can be found almost anywhere.

It's next to impossible to buy a cell phone-less Palm or Windows Mobile handheld in many parts of the world nowadays, but the iPod Touch is all over the place, so for those people who are willing to buy a handheld just to run Pleco, it would be a better option than they've had in quite a while.

Windows Mobile 6.1

(Credit: Microsoft)

Of the four major mobile operating systems (Palm, Symbian, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry), we hear plenty of complaints from users that Windows Mobile devices are the hardest to use because of the laborious navigation. And we certainly agree. Seriously, do you really need to go through several steps just to open or close an application? To be fair, Microsoft has heard the cries and made some headway in making its smartphones easier to use with Windows Mobile 6. But there's plenty of room for improvement, and the company is hoping its latest build will solve some of the problems.

At CTIA 2008 on Tuesday, Microsoft announced the latest version of its mobile operating system, Windows Mobile 6.1. The update includes several new features designed to make the devices easier to manage and help users save time. Here's a rundown of what you can expect:

New home screen
To start, there's a new home screen that provides a more attractive interface but more importantly, quicker access to key information and applications. There are now a series of panels, which you can scroll through up and down, left or right, to view your missed calls, e-mails, and voicemails; check upcoming appointments; peruse your multimedia library; and access certain settings, such as the Task Manager. There's also a Getting Started wizard that will walk you through your e-mail setup, changing the background image, and setting up Bluetooth connections. For Bluetooth headsets, it will even bypass the whole passcode process (the system automatically enters the manufacturer's default passcodes--usually 0000 or 1234) and automatically connect to the headset. Once you've set everything up, you have the option of removing the Getting Started panel from your home screen. And though minor, the clock size has been increased--a feature Microsoft says its customers have been asking for.

Internet Explorer Mobile
Navigating Web sites is made easier thanks to a feature that allows you to pan in and out. Instead of mercilessly scrolling through an entire page just to get to one part of the site, you can pan out, find the spot you want, and then pan in. Microsoft also announced that it will bring Internet Explorer 6, which means Adobe Flash support, to its smartphones around the holiday season.

Messaging and more
As for messaging, Windows Mobile 6.1 offers just a couple--but key--improvements. First, there's support for threaded text messaging. And you can now select multiple e-mails at once. Other enhancements include richer Windows Live capabilities (check out CNET News.com's Elinor Mills's story for more) and System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 and Exchange Server 2007 SP1 support for better device management and security.

So you're probably wondering, when can you get it? Windows Mobile 6.1 will be available sometime in Q2, and a number of manufacturers (HTC, Samsung Electronics, Motorola, Pantech) and carriers (AT&T, Sprint, Alltel) have already announced that they will offer the upgrade. A sample of supported smartphones include the Samsung BlackJack II, AT&T Tilt, Sprint Motorola Q9c, Sprint Mogul, and Alltel Touch. For the full rundown of devices and features, check out the Microsoft Windows Mobile Web site.