We've been expecting a femtocell from Verizon, and now it's available and it's called the "Network Extender."
While the principle is the same as Sprint's AIRAVE — the router-looking piece of hardware uses your broadband Internet connection to spit out a short-range cell signal — the pricing is different. Instead of paying, say, $100 for the hardware, then a monthly fee for the service, Verizon's Network Extender costs $250 up front, with no monthly fees.
We're all for paying more up front to forgo the monthly shakedown. You'll save money in the long run. But we keep coming back to the same ol' argument when it comes to femtocells. If you're already paying for service on a company's network — and Verizon arguably still has the best — why would you want to pay more for a signal that you're supposed to have in the first place?
So, any of you Verizon chaps going to shell out for this?
I've gotta admit I've never really understood (though I'm sure I'll be corrected in the comments) just why a touchscreen has to be manually aligned after a hard-reset. For as high-tech as our phones are, its accuracy relies on my steady hand? That's no good. I certainly don't have a surgeon's touch, thanks to all the caffeine, nicotine and a few other -ines that got me through law school late nights blogging.
But, like with so many things in life, the folks at XDA Developers have us covered with AutoAlign Screen, which conveniently enough, will automatically align your screen. As XDA member azharsunny puts it, you'll save time, precisely calibrate your screen, and keep you from digging out that stylus.
Edit: Looks like some people are having problems with the app. Be sure to back up your phone before first (which you should have done anyway). Consider yourselves warned.
We caught word just a few days ago about a HTC Diamond ROM update for Sprint and worldwide, but now it look like the Touch Pro is getting ready for one too.
Evidently, Alexandr Skaryd from XDA had a conversation with HTC Europe about the GPS lag problem. The crux of the convo is below:
Dear Mr. Skaryd I just wanted to get back to you in order to see if you have gotten the GPS working better. I would also like to inform you that there will be a ROM upgrade available in the near future (1.19). Please feel free to get back to us at any time if you have any further questions or queries. Kind Regards Dave Montanya HTC Europe
The bigger news is that HTC appears to be aware of this GPS lag and one can hope that this upcoming ROM addresses this problem.
We've been hearing rumblings that AT&T has restructured data plans and believe we have finally deciphered things where it's understandable. If you are currently using a MediaNet plan, they are being discontinued and replaced with an Unlimited Data/Messaging Plan that will run $30 a month. Instead of having a variety of MediaNet flavors to choose from (Basic, the Works, MediaNet 200, MediaNet 1MB), you have one data package. The common line of thinking is that this move was done to compete with Verizon's data plans. It appears that there are some additional incentives for customers on AT&T's Family Plan as well.
There is one word of caution, these plans are intended for use with non-PDA phones (Motorola Razor, Samsung A737, etc.) that have internet and messaging capabilities. For Windows Mobile devices, AT&T requires their PDA Data plan which, coincidentally, also runs $30 a month. We bet that some of you may be paying more than $30 for the AT&T PDA plan (heck, some of us are!). In other words, it might be worth a call (and some savings) to AT&T and see if you are on the current $30 PDA Data plan and if you're not -- get on it.
Well, here's the rub: we were wrong to call it a Windows Mobile device, turns out that it's a Windows CE device. The difference? Windows CE is the OS that underlies Windows Mobile. In essence it's a modular framework -- you can pick a little of this, a little of that, hit "Go" and kapow -- you have something like Windows Mobile, or a set-top DVR, or an embedded system for a smart car. (Ok, it's not that simple, but that's the gist of it). It's also quite a bit more secure than, well, darn near anything else out there on the planet. PCMag has a great write up on it if you're interested.
So that's the first thing. The second thing -- nobody outside the White House knows if this is his new smartphone. That's right -- all the reporting you've seen claiming that "Obama gets to keep his BlackBerry" or that this Edge is his new device is based on assumption. Near as we can tell, a bunch of tech-blogs like us were speculating about the Sectera Edge and it trickled its way out to the political blogosphere and then into the mainstream media and somewhere in that chain the "Maybe" part got stripped out. Turns out that "Maybe" part is, you know, kind of important.
Above, CNN manages to get the story right, showing the relevant part of the press conference where the administration says "He's keeping his BlackBerry" (for shame, btw, because "BlackBerry" is not synonomous with "Smartphone") and that it's secure. CNN then goes so far as to show a short demo of the Sectera Edge, but rightly admits that the White House is staying mum on what exact device Obama will have on his hip.
Here's the short version: He's got something and we don't know for sure that it's the Sectera Edge. Either way, you'll likely never get to have one yourself, no matter how hard you (ahem) hope.
One of the attractions to the new HTC line-up is TouchFlo 3D. There is no argument that graphically, Touchflo 3D is a eye catching application. While it may be pretty to look at, how functional is it? Before Touchflo 3D hit the market, one of the more popular Today Screen alternatives was SPB's Mobile Shell. There are some reservations over Touchflo 3D's usefulness and SPB Mobile Shell might be a viable alternative for those HTC owners who are looking for something different. Could Mobile Shell hold it's own against the animated graphics of Touchflo?
We decided to compare these two applications and as Michael Buffer so aptly put it, "Let's get ready to rumble!" (key techno dance music please). Read on after the break to see how they measure up against each other.
Believe it or not, Microsoft hasn't forgotten that for all of the hardcore work we do with Windows Mobile, it's still the little things that count (and about which we most often gripe).
Andy Lees, senior VP for Microsoft's mobile side, recently sat down with The New York Times for a heart-to-heart.
“Everyone who is a business person is also a human being,” he said. “We want also to do human things like photos, music, communications, IM, texting and social networking.”
We also get a glimpse of things to come, most likely with the birth of SkyMarket/Box/Line, and undoubtedly with Windows Mobile 7 (and Windows 7). And the word Lees is using to describe how everything's going to work: "Automagically."
“What should happen,” he said, “is when you take a picture it should automagically arrive on your PC and be in the cloud. I should be able to fix the red eye on the PC and have it automagically go back and fix the red eye everywhere else.”
Lees also goes on to say that a most of the services Microsoft will be offering should be free. “I don’t think anyone is going to make money on synchronizing data,” he said. “It is simply what people will come to expect.” Huzzah!
Looks likeDa_G, famous for his kitchens, has released his "very beta" port of WM6.5. He say very beta because he expects bugs and even gives a list of known issues already, so this is only for the brave of you who absolutey must have the latest.
Officially, this build is 5.2.21139.5.0.0 for you number counters and you can find the thread/download right here.
It does have the Pro version of "Chrome" which is also known as Sliding Panels found on WM Standard, so that should be fun. We should mention that this build of WM6.5 is built off of one ROM that is X-months old--so we don't know how much of this stuff is new, what has been left out, or what has been added since.
Hopefully once someone gets some actual screen caps, we'll post 'em here.
By Dieter Bohn, Thursday, Jan 22, 2009 at 10:44 pm
As you no doubt have heard by now, Microsoft reported that they weren't very happy with their quarterly earnings report. Sure, they managed to haul in $16.6 Billon in revenue and that number is still technically a 2% increase year-over-year, but it's not the kind of growth that they feel will be necessary to keep things looking great durng the economic downturn. Still, they missed estimates and nobody likes that.
To deal, they're laying off 1400 folks immediately and another 3600 over the next year and a half. Steve Ballmer wrote a letter for the company about the unprecendented move.
Now comes there part where we get crass: rumor has it that the bulk of the initial layoffs are coming from the Entertainment & Devices division, which is where Windows Mobile lives. Now we know that more people doesn't always equal faster progress or better product and we don't know exactly which parts of the E&D division are taking the hit, but either way we find this news disappointing. Although this division certainly isn't the core of Microsoft's business, it is a place where a lot of great innovation has happened recently (Xbox & Zune) and where we expect a lot of cool innovation ought to happen in the very near future (Windows Mobile and "Project Pink"). So the crass part of us says "Hey, don't let that stuff we're excited for get derailed by these layoffs, Microsoft!" and the business part of us says "Do you really want to direct cuts at one of your most successful divisions?"
The human part of us, though, hopes these folks will be able to find work and quickly.
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