MobileCrunch |  |
- Japan To Get Android-Based “Yahoo Phone” Next Month
- Apple, It’s Time To Block iOS 5 Beta Users From Reviewing Apps
- The Federal Government Wants You! (And Your App Ideas)
- Motorola Droid HD Smiles For The Camera, Droid Bionic Tags Along
- T-Mobile Lands The BlackBerry Bold 9900, Its First 4G BlackBerry
- Korean Lawsuit Seeks $25 Million From Apple For Location Tracking
- HP Pre3 Makes Stealthy Entrance Into The European Market, U.S. To Follow
| Japan To Get Android-Based “Yahoo Phone” Next Month Posted: 18 Aug 2011 02:24 AM PDT  Japan gets an Android-based “Yahoo Phone” [JP]: what may sound weird at first is actually not that surprising a news item, given that Yahoo is the country’s biggest website. Add to the fact that the country’s third biggest mobile carrier SoftBank, the provider of the phone, is Yahoo Japan’s biggest shareholder, and the emergence of such a handset makes even more sense. The phone is manufactured by Sharp and is the rebranded version of the so-called “AQUOS PHONE THE PREMIUM SoftBank 009SH” [JP] the company showed a few weeks back. It features Android 2.3 as the OS, a 4-inch LCD with QHD resolution, an 8MP CMOS camera, Bluetooth 3.0, IEEE 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, a microSDHC slot, a digital TV tuner, an e-wallet function, infrared communication, etc. Buyers can expect to find selected Android apps and services from Yahoo Japan pre-installed on the device, for example Yahoo Japan Home, Yahoo Japan Auctions, a calendar, dictionary, Yahoo Loco (the company’s LBS), etc. SoftBank subscribers choosing the phone become Yahoo Japan premium members for free for two years (instead of having to pay $4.50 monthly) and can also get additional points for every purchase made on Yahoo Shopping for the next two years. SoftBank will start distributing the Yahoo Phone in Japan late next month. Sorry for the small picture – we’ll add more when we get them.
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| Apple, It’s Time To Block iOS 5 Beta Users From Reviewing Apps Posted: 17 Aug 2011 05:42 PM PDT  “Yeah, each new iOS announcement is very… bittersweet. We love it because it means new APIs for us to build on, bug fixes for things we’ve had to work around, and, ideally, more people buying the platform we build for. But then we spend months getting slammed by bad reviews, all written by people who just don’t understand: until the release goes gold, beta-specific bugs are not our fault.” — A developer who asked to not be named. Last night, our sister site TUAW (it’s still sort of weird to write that) wrote a PSA of sorts. The message was simple: if you’re not a developer, but you’ve ignored the warning signs and finagled your way into the pre-release iOS 5 betas, you need to stop. Why? Because people are crushing developers with horribly unfair reviews, sinking their oh-so-important ratings because of bugs they couldn’t possibly have prepared for. The overall message was fair enough, but their proposed solution — telling non-developers to stop downloading iOS 5 — could never work. But there is a solution (a rather simple one, in fact) that would: just don’t let people running iOS betas review things. You see, telling people not to download the iOS 5 beta is like putting the world’s tastiest cookies in a jar labeled “FOR AWESOME PEOPLE ONLY”, then telling a kid they can’t have one unless they totally promise that they are, in fact, an awesome person. Everyone would put on their awesome shirt and their awesome hat, then walk on over to that cookie jar with hand extended. And why not? No one’s really checking just how awesome the self-proclaimed awesome people are — plus, the definition of “awesome” (read: the definition of “developer”) is somewhat loose. It’s just the way it works: we are, as a population, rather self-entitled. If something new is made available to one small group and others outside of that group are made aware of it, they’re going to try to find a way to get it (in this case, that usually means buying a developer seat from someone selling their extra spots for profit.) Apple could theoretically kill off this grey market entirely by opening iOS Beta access to anyone willing to jump through some hoops and void some rights — but that’s a post for another day. It seems there are at least two ways to fix this, one a bit easier than the other:
They’d have to account for applications that were installed from sync’d backups — but that, while not trivial, seems feasible. Apple already detects installed apps for other reasons (for example, changing the “download” button to be grayed out and read “Installed”)
This route is a bit clunkier — but it’s also a bit simpler to implement and easier on Apples servers, as it doesn’t require an additional database call for each and every user for each and every app. This is also somewhat less complicated from a privacy standpoint, as there’s less communication back to the mothership. Sound harsh? It is, perhaps. But it comes with the territory: pre-release Betas are not meant for day-to-day use (even for developers, Apple recommends only putting Betas on devices dedicated to testing.) If you’re a non-developer and you want to tinker, hell, I wouldn’t try to stop you: you’d just have to hold your rants until it’s reasonable to do otherwise. There would probably be some maligned outcries that Apple is somehow blocking freedom of speech — which, of course, doesn’t really apply here. These Beta-hungry reviewers are hopping on their soap boxes without any understanding of why things aren’t working, and are maliciously affecting the livelihoods of developers — many of whom, like most of us, are just some dudes looking to ditch the cubicle and do something cool for a living. Started by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, Apple has expanded from computers to consumer electronics over the last 30 years, officially changing their name from Apple Computer,... The iTunes App Store allows iPhone users to download apps that take advantage of all the iPhone/iPod touch features. Users can either download the app through iTunes or...
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| The Federal Government Wants You! (And Your App Ideas) Posted: 17 Aug 2011 02:05 PM PDT  The U.S. government is no stranger the to app game: they’ve developed over 50 smartphone apps and mobile sites for everyday use, ranging from apps that find local alternative fueling stations to ones that can identify leaves you’ve photographed. The federal app arsenal runs the gamut for sure, but it doesn’t seem to be enough. The USA.gov blog has announced that until September 15, regular citizens like you and I can submit ideas for the next great government app. This gesture of openness is now taking submissions on Google Moderator, and a few people have already thrown their hats into the ring. My favorite so far? LarryM from Baltimore has a good one:
Personally, I’d like to see an app that uses a device’s location services to figure out what state and district it’s in, and display recent activity from the pertinent Congressman. Nothing like some local accountability in the palm of your hand, right? Since Google Moderator is being used to manage all these submissions, users are essentially able to upvote good suggestions, so the inevitable vague or trollish submissions won’t make it too far. There’s already a questionable suggestion or two (including one that isn’t a suggestion at all) in the mix, which understandably haven’t garned much love. The USA.gov blog doesn’t say that the most popular suggestions will definitely make it into the development stage, but if the “winning” choices are technically feasible and novel enough, it should stand a decent chance of becoming a reality. If the chance to have the government bring your app idea to life has you chomping at the bit, then mosey on over to the site and let loose — I’d love to see what a thoughtful audience like ours can come up with.
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| Motorola Droid HD Smiles For The Camera, Droid Bionic Tags Along Posted: 17 Aug 2011 09:56 AM PDT  Ladies and Gentlemen, meet the Droid HD. The previously unseen handset was known to be floating around, thanks to its EXIF data making a quick appearance on Flickr, but the Droid HD is ready for a bit of spotlight. The Droid Bionic has been enjoying its share of attention for months now, even as its release date keeps getting pushed further and further back. Now that we have a good handle on when we can get one, the Bionic is starting to pop up in photoshoots left and right. Engadget got their hands today on what are by far most detailed shots of the Bionic taken to date, but the Droid HD was there to steal the show. First impressions: it’s approaching an Infuse 4G-level of thin, even with a huge battery and an 8 megapixel mounted on the rear. The device appears to be running Gingerbread (no surprise there), and it naturally packs a microUSB and Micro-HDMI port. The MicroSD card and SIM card slots are tucked away on the opposite side of the device’s svelte frame. The device’s name and inclusion of a SIM card immediately suggest the device’s global nature, but hopefully it turns out to be one of Verizon’s SIM-toting 4G LTE devices. If that were the case, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Motorola and Verizon were to play with the branding a bit. The name “Droid HD” seems a little droll next to something with a bit of oomph like the Bionic, but looking at the form factor and its emphasis on size, the Droid HD may well be the successsor to the Droid X2. Any word on release dates would be pure speculation at this point, but the unit looks surprisingly complete for something that hasn’t been officially announced. It could be Motorola’s next big GSM phone, or Verizon could be working on their holiday blitz strategy, but until more news surfaces, Droid fanatics will just have to settle for more eye-candy.
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| T-Mobile Lands The BlackBerry Bold 9900, Its First 4G BlackBerry Posted: 17 Aug 2011 08:48 AM PDT  The BlackBerry Bold 9900 just hit T-Mobile shelves, but wait just a second before you bolt to run and grab one. The handset from RIM is launching for business customers only until August 31, at which point the rest of us can get our BBM on. Of course, BlackBerries are built with the enterprise in mind, so it kind of makes sense that suits would get first dibs. Then again, RIM isn’t necessarily thriving at the moment, so it’s not entirely clear why the phone wouldn’t be available to everyone right from the get go. The press release failed to mention pricing, but thanks to a leaked document discovered by TmoNews, we believe the Bold will go for $300 on-contract after a $50 mail-in rebate. Despite the fact that this is T-Mobile’s first 4G BlackBerry device, we’re still not sure that its price tag is fitting. We’ve seen a number of phones with better specs launch at lower prices, including T-Mobile’s 8-megapixel camera-packin’, dual-core processor-toutin’ myTouch 4G Slide (which retails at $199 with contract). However, BlackBerry loyalists will get everything they need here, along with a few improvements. The Bold 9900 will run on a 1.2GHz single-core processor with BlackBerry 7 OS, the latest version of RIM’s platform. It will sport a 2.8-inch VGA capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 640×480 pixels, along with a 5-megapixel rear camera capable of 720p video capture. The Bold 9900 will also support GPS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth connectivity, and pack 8GB of internal memory. T-Mobile is a mobile telephone operator headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It is a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom. T-Mobile has 101 million subscribers making it the worlds sixth largest mobile...
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| Korean Lawsuit Seeks $25 Million From Apple For Location Tracking Posted: 17 Aug 2011 07:21 AM PDT  Kim Hyung-Suk has been busy these past few months. An attorney based out of Seoul, he gained a bit of notoriety for being the first person to receive a cash settlement from Apple for the iPhone’s location-tracking tendencies. He also announced that he and his law firm, Mirae Law, would be looking into the possibility of filing a class-action suit against Apple. According to a report from Bloomberg, with 27,000 Korean complainants on board, that suit was filed today. Credit where credit is due, Kim Hyung-Suk certainly has a sense of humor. The website set up by his firm last July to reach out to potential plaintiffs greets visitors with an ironic spin on Apple’s language: “Finally. The real action against Apple. Now available here.“ Mr. Hyung-Suk’s original payout was 1 million won (roughly $930), and the firm is seeking that same reward for each of the 27,000 affected customers. This news comes hot on the heels of news that Apple was being fined 3 million ($2,808) won by the Korea Communications Commission for collecting location data even when users disabled all the pertinent features. If this keeps up, Apple may soon be looking at paying out some serious money in compensation. Should Apple settle in this suit, the rough total in compensation paid out would be the Korean equivalent of over $25 million. Given that Kim Hyung-Suk successfully got his piece of the pie, Apple may be looking at some serious legal maneuvers to try and get the suit dismissed. In fairness, with over $76 billion in their domestic coffers, the settlement costs would be a proverbial drop in the bucket. Still, expect to see Apple put up a concerted defense against the suit in coming weeks.
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| HP Pre3 Makes Stealthy Entrance Into The European Market, U.S. To Follow Posted: 17 Aug 2011 06:28 AM PDT  The HP Pre3 launched in Europe today, and oddly enough, HP had very little to say about it. With the TouchPad price falling like a rock, you’d expect that its intended complementary device — and HP’s flagship phone — would launch with more fanfare. But instead HP let the device land in its EuroStore and gave a short response to PreCentral, the first publication to notice its availability. Either way, the most important thing is that the carrier-free smartphone is ready to roll. For US$490, the Pre3 can be all yours sans contract, which is a beautiful thing. Specs on this beast include a single-core 1.4GHz processor from Qualcomm, a 5-megapixel camera with auto focus and LED flash capable of video capture in 720p, and a forward-facing VGA camera for video chat. It comes with either 8GB or 16GB of storage and sports a 3.58-inch 480×800 capacitive touchscreen along with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Speaking of keyboards, HP says this is the largest QWERTY keyboard on any Palm phone to date, so if messaging is your thing then this may be what you’re looking for. The Palm EuroStore listing doesn’t clarify whether the GSM Pre3 will run webOS 2.2 or 2.3, but if you’d rather hold out to make sure you get the latest and greatest, the FCC filing for the device promises webOS 2.3 upon the U.S. launch.
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