Things that aren’t static
Official versions of Skype’s mobile app for the iPhone and BlackBerry have been announced, with the iPhone/iPod Touch version expected to land in the iTunes App Store tomorrow.
The release frees iPhone Skypers from having to fumble around with workarounds like Fring, although there is something of a caveat in the shape of VoIP calls via Skype for iPhone only working if you have a Wi-Fi connection.
Lenovo has let rip a blast of juicy new phone-ness in the shape of its X1 handset, also known as the ‘Touch Dream’.
Sporting a form factor that looks like it would emerge triumphant from a street brawl, the X1 packs no-nonsense industrial lines, with a slide-out numeric keypad lurking beneath the tough exterior.
Mass outbreaks of twittering are taking place all over Blighty with new figures showing that the amount of people using the social messaging service have not just gone through the roof, but they’ve passed the aerial and are carrying on into the stratosphere.
Market research boffins Nielsen Online say that the amount of people using Twitter rocketed by 1,689% from February 2008 to February 2009. There’s now more than than 1.78 million people now signed on in the UK, compared to just 100,000 members last year.
The amount of people using phones and mobile devices every day to access the Internet has more than doubled over the last year, according to the latest figures from comScore.
Their hot-off-the-PC data revealed that a global audience of 63.2 million people were now accessing the Internet through mobile devices, with over a third of those (35 per cent) going online every day.
Another one falls.
Vodafone have announced that they are switching their music catalogue from Universal Music, Sony Music and EMI away from DRM-protected music to MP3 format.
This makes Vodafone the first global mobile operator to do it.
Not only will these tracks but DRM-free in the future, but people who have bought DRMd tracks already will be able to change them to MP3 for FREE. Are you listening Apple? No DRM-dropping tax.
Nokia – currently reeling from a mighty slip in their market share – are hoping their fortunes will improve with the release of three shiny new music handsets, the 5030, 5330 XpressMusic and the 5730 XpressMusic.
The entry level Nokia 5030 can proudly big itself up as the first Nokia handset to feature an internal FM Radio antenna, which means you won’t have to faff about using the headphone cable as an antenna.
Mayhem temporarily broke out around the Samsung offices when no gratuitous pretty girl to hoist aloft their wares could be located.
Brows furrowed deeply as sales managers panicked that product launches and production schedules would have to be postponed, but happily a scantily-clad foxy brunette was soon located and the photo shoot went ahead.
Looking to take the Kindle 2 around the the back of the bike sheds and give it a bit of a duffing up is the BeBook 2 by Dutch firm, Endless Ideas.
The company aim to have their second-generation eBook reader out in the second half of 2009 and are looking to capitalise on their rivals reluctance to travel to European shores. Despite Kindle being up to version 2 over in the land of hamburgers and high fives, Brits are still yet to get their grubby mitts on one.
Venezuela is to offer what has to be the cheapest multimedia mobile phone on the planet with the “El Vergatario” handset due to be sold for just $14 (around a tenner).
You might think that something so cheap is going to be a hefty lump of beastliness with only the most basic features, but it seems that it’ll pack in a few decent features, including an MP3 player, radio and even a camera.
Vodafone UK is set to offer the newly unveiled HTC Magic mobile phone as early as next month, with the handset already listed on their site as “arriving in April.”
The second Google Android platform-based smartphone, the HTC Magic is known worldwide as G2 device and will be available exclusively through Vodafone and offered to their customers in the UK, Spain, Germany and France.