iPhone

BlackBerry fiends looking for a better Web browser to replace the in-house solution provided by RIM have been able to use a mobile version of Opera called Opera Mini since late last year. The latest beta of the browser got an interesting refresh this morning adding a slew of handy features, including a new landscape mode that's turning phones on their sides. Literally.

The new feature will let you browse sideways, making use of the taller screens on phones like the Pearl. Unlike the iPhone, the lack of an accelerometer in most phones means you have to use a … Read more

Yesterday, top cellphone maker Nokia announced Ovi, an umbrella brand for a forthcoming set of online services. Among these services is a new Nokia Music Store, which will offer both over-the-air and PC-based downloads, with two-way sync between device and PC. The service will launch in Europe, featuring a catalog of "millions" of tracks. Individual song downloads will cost 1 Euro and full albums 10 Euros. A subscription, PC-tethered, streaming-only service will also be available for 10 Euros per month. (The whiz-bang Flash site introducing Ovi is here. A press release is here.)

The service leverages Nokia's … Read more

My friend Pat and some of my other friends have been asking me whether or not unlocking an iPhone is legal.

As a lawyer, I'd prefer the question to be stated in another way: Is it unlawful to unlock an iPhone? (Perhaps I'm channeling Carrie Bradshaw from Sex in the City, but the way the question is phrased in the law can make all the difference).

While the question can be asked more precisely, the answer, as you may have guessed, is anything but precise. But if an iPhone is unlocked, I'm pretty sure you've voided … Read more

Jupiter Research's Mark Mulligan gives a run-down of what Nokia's new digital music strategy looks like and, well, let's just say Steve Jobs isn't exactly shaking in his Nikes.

Nice hardware with 99-cent Windows Media-DRMed downloads and, inexplicably, a PC-only subscription-based streaming service that doesn't do mobile streaming.

Wow. That's anticlimactic. And, frankly, a little confusing.

The one feature the Macalope sees that Apple really should implement is the ability to buy and download songs from the phone. Of course, there's currently no interface to add songs to playlists on an iPhone and … Read more

Well, the 17-year-old boy genius with a soldering iron and a lot of heart isn't in trouble yet, but it does appear that while doing it yourself isn't an issue, there is some question about whether or not informing others how to hack an iPhone to use with another service is exactly legal.

Personally, the horned one thinks a better use of the beloved DCMA would be saving the Internet from the scourge of Russian pirate music.

He doesn't know about you, but the thought of t.A.T.u.'s version of Yo Ho Ho And A Bottle Of Rum … Read more

What makes a cell phone more than a phone? What it can do. Software can elevate your plastic slider, candy bar, or PDA above its earthly mechanics and turn it into the kind of dream machine that entertains you and organizes your life.

Consider, for example, ListPro (for Pocket PC, Palm, and Smartphone), a handy organizer with a slew of built-in, customizable list templates for managing everything from your shopping to your calendar to the sudden surge of brilliance that will eventually lead to that multimillion-dollar idea. No really, it can do that.… Read more

The Macalope found himself scratching his furry head at this piece by Tom Krazit that makes the assumption that most users have to use two hands to use their iPhone.

While the horned one prefers to use two hooves, he often does make due with one quite well (he is, of course, an Artiodactylate). Sometimes when he's holding his iPhone in one hoof, it is a stretch to get his cursedly feeble third toe to the far corner of the screen, but it's still doable and he does it all the time. Frequently while strolling down the street … Read more

When Steve Jobs and company first envisaged the iPhone, a few things surely came to mind. First, Apple wanted a phone with an appealing design and advanced functionality. In essence, the company wanted a device that was nothing like its predecessors. And while it achieved this feat, Apple was still in need of a carrier. It went to Verizon and others, but it was AT&T that was able to offer it what it wanted: revenue sharing on activations and service plans. Basically, Apple was able to sell the device, make a profit and even capitalize on the iPhone'… Read more

Get ready for the onslaught of "iPhone killers".

This isn't necessarily a reflection of whether the iPhone really is a game-changer or an outstandingly good phone. (And I should say up front that in its current iteration I'm ambivalent about the iPhone, for my uses a BlackBerry is better.)

The iPhone killers are coming simply because the iPhone is a "hit" product, and these days the wireless industry is driven by "hits." The Motorola Razr was the first bonafide hit, achieving sales of 2 million units in the UK alone which had … Read more