Moine-Garde offers finely rendered watch apps for indiscriminate Android owners
Moine-Garde recently came to our attention, and we were quite frankly amused by its offer of "fine virtual timepieces" -- if only because, in this context, "fine" and "virtual" would seem to cancel each other out. But like the best websites and catalogs catering to the wealthy, social climbers, or the just plain gullible, this company is not just selling Android apps, it's selling a lifestyle. Some of our favorite item descriptions: EX-01 Homme ($15) Entering the boardroom at 8:30 AM - everyone awaits a decision.
Categories: Android, Mobile Phone, Other Tags: background, climbers, der, incoming, message, moine-garde, rohe, silly, social
Sony earnings call entertains PlayStation Phone, reveals tablets are on the radar
Earnings calls aren't usually that interesting, and that's doubly true when trying to listen via official translators. Still, we couldn't help but give an ear to Sony's fiscals, and sure enough, someone asked about our ( still real ) PlayStation Phone leak . We're not sure who answered since it's through interpreter, either Executive VP / CFO Masaru Kato or Senior General Manager of Investor Relations Division Gen Tsuchikawa (we're assuming the former)
Categories: Mobile Phone Tags: background, Capabilities, earnings, headquarters, interpreter, notion, phone, playstation, projectzeus, smartphone, sony, sonyericsson, station-phone
Google responds to Oracle’s Android patent lawsuit, we break it down
It's been just over a month and a half since Oracle first sued Google for infringing various Java-related patents in Android, and the big G's just filed its official response to the lawsuit after calling it " baseless ." For the most part, it's a pretty standard answer to a patent complaint: Google says Android doesn't infringe any of Oracle's patents, and even if it does, those patents are invalid and / or unenforceable for a variety of reasons anyway, so, you know, shove it. That's basically all Google -- or any patent defendant -- needs to say in the answer, and if that was it, we'd just note it and move on with our lives. But we were struck by the factual background section, which reads to us like Google's geared up for war: it basically accuses Sun and Oracle of not playing fair when it comes to Java's open-source license situation and directly implies that parts of Android are based on code that might require a patent license.
Categories: Android, Mobile Phone Tags: apache, background, based-on-code, half, Harmony, javase, oracle, sun
Jabra Go 660 Bluetooth headset ‘solution’ pairs an Extreme with a USB adapter
Jabra certainly loves to trumpet the noise cancellation abilities of its Bluetooth headsets, and while our own experiences haven't quite lived up to the hype , we always look forward to the company's latest name for its noise cancellation tech. Disappointing, then, that the new Jabra Go 660 "headset solution" (with its Extreme ear jewelry) is said to be the company's "first Bluetooth headset with Noise Blackout Extreme." That's despite the Stone shipping with tech that went by the same name this time last year. Hopefully that system has been improved since then and will now actually live up to its name, putting background noise in a headlock and rendering it completely unconscious
Categories: Mobile Phone Tags: actually-live, Adapter, background, bluetooth, bluetoothheadset, extreme, go 660, headset, Headsets, noise blackout, result, voip
Mark Papermaster leaves Apple for reasons and destinations unknown (update)
We're not quite sure chip guru Mark Papermaster ever truly settled into his role as Apple's SVP of Devices Hardware Engineering in the year and four months since he finally walked through the door , but after the recent antenna troubles someone decided that he wasn't going to work there anymore. The New York Times reports that Papermaster has left and Bob Mansfeld (SVP of Mac Engineering) will assume his role. So far, there's been no official statement as to why the departure is occurring, whether he was ousted or left of his own volition (again, though he oversaw the new iPhone, his background is in processor design ) but either way, the former SVP's picture and bio have already been removed from Apple's website.
Categories: Mobile Phone, Other Tags: background, breakingnews, corporate, inside-apple, mark papermaster, markpapermaster, oversaw-the-new, shakeup, times
Apple slyly enables background iDisk music streaming in iOS 4
Well, would you look at that? The v1.2 update to MobileMe iDisk that Apple pushed out last month has a secret -- er, did have a secret
Categories: Mobile Phone, Other Tags: background, background streaming, grievance, idisk, jams, mobile me, mobileme, universal
Blackbox i10 noise cancelling earbuds tap into iPod / iPhone dock connector for power, pleasure
Oh, sure -- you've got at least 893.1 options (at last count, anyway) when it comes to noise cancelling headphones for your iDevice, but do any of those plug directly into the dock connector instead of requiring a separate battery? Exactly. That's the claim to fame for Blackbox's i10, a new set of earbuds that rely on power from your iPod or iPhone in order to achieve that active noise cancelling action that the youngsters are so crazy about these days.
Categories: Mobile Phone Tags: america, apple, available-today, background, dock connector, entry, fri, headphones, iphoneaccessory, ipod, pleasure
Facebook for iPhone / iPod touch now iOS 4 compatible
We'll get right to the point: the Facebook app for your iPhone / iPod touch is now drinking the iOS 4 Kool-Aid. Fast app switching, high resolution icons (better than the one seen above, since that's pre-update), Korean / Russian localizations, and... that's about it for now
Categories: Mobile Phone Tags: background, engadget, entry, face-book, facebook, ios, iphone, ipod, kool, resolution, touch, uploading
Samsung T-Mobile Vibrant and Verizon Fascinate preview
You'd think we'd be totally sick of Samsung's Galaxy S phones after seeing AT&T's Captivate and Sprint's Epic 4G , but we're just not done lovin' the 4-inch Super AMOLED, Android devices. Verizon's Fascinate and T-Mobile's Vibrant happen to be the last two Sammy phones to jump into our hands-on, but coincidentally, they're also the most alike. Design-wise, both remind us of the iPhone 3G / 3GS -- they're all screen on the front, strikingly thin, and have black shiny backs
Categories: Android, Mobile Phone, Other Tags: background, browser, fascinate, galaxy, galaxy s, galaxys, mobile-as-well, samsungfascinate, vibrant
Palm Developer Day reveals interesting bits on the webOS 2010 roadmap
It's hard to mention the word "Palm" without also mentioning either "takeover" or "shakeup" in the same sentence these days, but the company was able to change the subject -- rather refreshingly, may we add -- to the more pleasant topic of new webOS features coming down the pike at its Developer Day conference in Sunnyvale this weekend. It doesn't look like we'll see anything Earth-shattering this year, but devs will be getting their grubby paws on some oft-requested features including direct API access to the microphone and camera, new security and cryptography features, some sort of "media indexer" that'll make life easier on folks trying to make media apps, and support for Bonjour, zero-config networking, and the Bluetooth Serial Port Profile, a rather generic profile that should open up the door to new categories of accessories that we haven't seen paired to a Pre before
Categories: Mobile Phone, Other Tags: background, bluetooth, camera, developer, media, microphone, mojo core, palm, palmdeveloperday, serial, takeover, water, zeroconf