Personal communications

Huawei powers up its Android plans

Australian telecommunications companies would be able to start selling Chinese vendor Huawei Technologies' Android-based phones by the third quarter of 2009 if they wanted to, the company said this week.

Huawei entered the Android open handset alliance earlier this week, announcing plans to launch smartphones running Google's new mobile operating system next year.

There would be no launch apartheid where some nations were excluded from the first round of access to the phone, according to a spokesperson, who told ZDNet.com.au that if Australia got the phone later it would be the choice of the telcos and not … Read more

GizmoCall tries to make cheap VoIP calls easy

Correction: An earlier version of this story did not appropriately credit the image used. Tom Keating from TMCnet had taken the screen shot of the GizmoCall dial pad. Keating also reviewed the GizmoCall service here. A new image from GizmoCall has been added to this story.

A new low-cost voice over Internet Protocol service started by serial entrepreneur Michael Robertson promises to provide cheap phone calls without requiring any software to be downloaded.

The service, called GizmoCall, launched this week. Unlike Skype, which requires users to download a software client to use the service, GizmoCall is Flash-based, requiring nothing more … Read more

Will Zune do Windows Mobile? Looks likely

There are a ton of rumors flying around right now saying that Microsoft just might introduce a Zune-ified competitor to the iPhone at CES next month. There are also those who call that a ridiculous notion. I happen, to a degree, to agree with both sides.

You won't see it at CES, but new a mobile phone initiative is brewing at Microsoft right now, and the Zune team is involved.

I live in Seattle. I run with the Microsoft/Amazon/Real/Whatever circle of geeks in the area. Sadly, because I'm a technology journalist, this means that when I run into them at parties they often have to clam up. I was, though, fortunate enough to have a sneak peek at a prototype Zune more than two years ago before anyone knew what it would look like or do. I was also lucky enough to snap a shot of it with my Treo. This became the first public photo of the device. It was black and white and wrapped in its own headphones, you might remember it. You could say I broke the Zune. I thus love the Zune. I pay close attention to what the Zune teams are doing. I listen to the Zune rumors. I have my ear to the Zune ground.

And I can tell you this: There will be a cellular communications device with Zune-like features in the near future. … Read more

Palm releases its own app store. So what?

In the year since Palm released the Centro as an attempt to revive its lagging business, I've barely heard a whisper about new applications or energy for the Treo and Centro lines. Yet late Monday night, the device maker released its own app store download for Centro and Treo users to more easily access the applications.

The arrival of Palm's free app store--for both Windows Mobile and Palm operating systems--was undoubtedly spurred on by the success of Apple's iPhone App Store, Google's Android Market, and the upcoming BlackBerry app store that's slated to debut in … Read more

Report: Android phone on tap for China

Once there was just a single Android phone, the T-Mobile G1. Coming soon, in Australia, is the Kogan Agora. Now reports are pointing to an emerging gadget for China, known for the moment as the "OPhone."

The site ModmyGphone is showing off a photo of a sleek gadget that it says is a joint effort of Lenovo, the PC heavyweight, and China Mobile, the largest cell phone operator in China:

The latest bit is, the phone is looking good and ready for testing. OPhone is a codename for phones that will be based on China Mobile's OMS (… Read more

Palm hosting CES event, could be OS preview

Palm will look to put a rough year in the rearview mirror at CES with what could be a preview of its new operating system.

The company started sending out invitations Wednesday to an event at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas on the Thursday of CES week, promising a look at "all that Palm New-ness you've been waiting for." The most likely guest of honor at that event is Palm's next-generation "Nova" operating system, which has been delayed several times but is crucial to the company's chances of regaining a foothold in … Read more

Skype's latest beta: A worthy Windows Mobile update

Skype for Windows Mobile 2.5 beta, released on Tuesday, essentially brings changes made to Skype's desktop VoIP client (download|review) to Windows Smartphones and Windows Pocket PCs.

The application's display is compact, intuitive, and full-featured.

The mobile version places tabs for your various actions at the bottom of the app. By switching among them, you'll be able to change your online status and see missed calls and instant messages, initiate IMs, or place a call to your contact's Skype account, mobile number, or land line if you've purchased Skype Out. There's also a … Read more

Android phone to emerge Down Under

The much-hyped Google Android phone operating system will hit Australia on January 29, in the form of the Kogan Agora and Agora Pro.

As apparently the first handset provider to bring the Android platform to Australia, Kogan Technologies is cleverly piggybacking on existing hype about Google's open-source mobile phone platform.

The Android platform is currently available in the U.S. in the form of the T-Mobile G1. Much like the G1, the Kogan Agora phones pack a QWERTY keyboard--though no touch screen.

Unlike the G1, there will two models from Kogan, the Agora and the Agora Pro. For the … Read more

Skyfire hops into the UK, onto VGA phones

Skyfire's latest update to its mobile browser, version .85, brings forward a flurry of minor features and functionality, including support for new phones and the official release of its beta to the UK.

The prior restriction to North American phone numbers may not have stopped industrious users overseas, however. When Skyfire announced the proxy browser's availability on Symbian and Windows Mobile phones in Canada, a CNET reader going by 'Oatcake 1' admitted to using it on a UK network since late October.

To sweeten the deal for British residents, and, well, everyone else, Skyfire has also done away … Read more