This price is inclusive of a $50 mail-in rebate which previously stood at $560.

We’re not sure why they decided to drop the price of the Nokia N900 by almost a $100 even before its released, but hey, this is definitely good news for interested buyers.

As a quick refresher, the Nokia N900 comes with a 3.5-inch touchscreen, 5-megapixel camera, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, a slide-out QWERTY keypad, and runs on the company’s latest Maemo 5 OS.

So, will you be pre-ordering a Nokia N900 today or are you still hoping for further price cuts in the coming weeks?

[Thanks: http://www.pmptoday.com]

Two campers see a bear, and one immediately puts on his running shoes.
“You can’t outrun the bear,” the other says.
“I don’t have to outrun the bear. I just have to outrun you,” responds the other.

This succinctly describes the relationship when it comes to smartphones between Google (the camper with the running shoes), Microsoft (the other camper) and Apple (the bear).

I wrote an article in Monday’s Times about how Google’s Android operating system appears to be increasingly winning the loyalty of smartphone makers who had been using Microsoft’s Windows Mobile. Neither Google nor Microsoft have proven they can slow the growth of the iPhone and Research in Motion’s BlackBerry. But that probably isn’t Google’s motive.

After all, Google isn’t approaching smartphones like a normal business. It has made Android open source available freely to any handset maker to use and change at will. Google says its only reason is to expand the use of the Internet on cellphones because it believed this would allow more people to use its search engine and other products on which the company sells ads.

Microsoft, by contrast, charges manufacturers $15 to $25 per Windows Mobile phone sold, an attempt to duplicate the rich business model of Windows for the PC. Google’s a-rising-tide-raises-our-ship approach deeply perplexes Microsoft executives.

“If you asked me to go to a venture capitalist and pitch the Android business model, I don’t think I could,” said Robert J. Bach, president of Microsoft’s entertainment and devices division, at a meeting with reporters earlier this month.

Microsoft’s pitch to handset makers is that Windows Mobile costs more and it’s worth it. And they suggest that since Google gets no cash from Android, it will skimp on features that Microsoft can afford to build.

“If you get Android, you get an operating system that is a version of Linux and a few tools,” Mr. Bach said. “That’s fine. But what are you going to do as your music experience? What will yo do for your photos experience?”

He argued that handset makers will need to spend more money to develop a phone using Android than for Windows Mobile.

As I talked to the major handset manufacturers, I didn’t hear that complaint. Indeed, most were excited that the open source nature of Anrdoid will help them cut costs by drawing in a wider range of programming talent. They also appreciate how easy it is to customize Android to make handsets that are different from others in the market using the same software.

Mr. Bach suggested that this will hurt the operating system.

“Every Google phone works differently, and you have fragmentation,” he said. And indeed, that is a common worry among developers, who don’t want their applications to be incompatible with certain phones that have unusual screen sizes or features.

But then again, Windows Mobile, which has been around for nearly 10 years, already has that same problem, and one of Microsoft’s chief goals in upcoming versions is to rein in the variations between Windows Mobile handsets.

But even if Windows Mobile has flaws, Mr. Bach is right to wonder about Google’s motives. That brings me back to the bear joke.

Like PC makers, smartphone manufacturers are falling into two camps. Some—like Apple, R.I.M. and Palm—will write their own operating systems. Others—like Samsung, H.T.C. and Motorola—will get smartphone operating systems from other companies.

Before taking over as chief executive of Google, Eric Schmidt battled Microsoft at Novel and Sun, and he has long put a high priority on making sure Google is never vulnerable to excess power in Redmond.

In that light, Youssef H. Squali, an analyst with Jefferies, wrote recently that Google will be satisfied if Android simply prevents any company from having too much control over smartphones.

“We believe Android is an insurance policy against any potential collusion from carriers, manufacturers and competitors to either block or downgrade Google services,” he wrote. “Google is hoping to further fragment the OS market to avoid any concentration of power in the hands of one or two competitors.”

In other words, Android doesn’t have to beat the iPhone. It just has to be better than Windows Mobile.

[Thanks: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com]

AT&T’s iPhone and Verizon’s Blackberry Storm are ready to go head-to-head once again. In two days. The updated version of the first touchscreen Blackberry, the Blackberry Storm2, will be available Wednesday, Oct. 28.

For the eager, die-hard Blackberry fans, the Storm2 can be purchased at Verizon Wireless stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com. It will also be available through business sales channels on Oct. 28. The storm will retail at $179.99, after a $100 mail-in rebate, and requires the typical new two-year service agreement for a voice and data plan.

Now that the release date is so close, the big question remains: will the Storm2 accomplish what Verizon hoped the original Storm would do? When the Storm was unveiled in November of last year, the hope was to draw iPhone users from AT&T to Verizon with the reliable and trusted Research in Motion Blackberry name, but with touchscreen capabilities like the iPhone. The kinks in the SurePress technology (the tactile sense of actually pressing keys on the touchscreen) and lack of Wi-Fi were just a few of the reasons attributing to the phone’s lackluster performance.

The Storm2 is ready to tackle the iPhone once again with a improved SurePress technology, a 3.2 megapixel camera, background noise suppression technology, built-in GPS, battery with 5.5 hours of talk time, 3.25” high-resolution display, Wi-Fi, 256 MB of flash memory and 2 GB of onboard media storage, with a 16 GB memory card included. Will it live up to the task?

[Thanks: http://www.examiner.com]

The teaser campaign is somewhat an extension of Verizon’s ads over the last few weeks, in which it’s been touting the strength of its network coverage to the refrain of “there’s a map for that”. This new campaign isn’t nearly as subtle and takes aim at Apple with a whole series of “iDont’s” all pointing at perceived weakness of the iPhone. Well, one thing’s for certain, it doesn’t appear that there’s going to be a Verizon iPhone anytime soon unless you take an iPod touch and pair it with a Verizon MiFi.

I haven’t seen the Droid but I’m little skeptical. Rumor has it as a MOTO based Android device, and even running on Verizon’s network there’s a lot that it’s going to need to do. I also don’t love the campaign. Going head to head with Apple over issues like removable batteries and other features has failed for every vendor in the iPod space (SanDisk and Creative both tried similar approaches). Consumers are clearly OK with Apple’s feature set so it’s going to take a lot more than going negative to gain some ground. Here are the big issues that the Droid needs to be able to showcase.

Network vs. Network. It’s a perceived issue but perception is reality that AT&T’s network is the iPhone’s weak link in the US. Granted, I’ve had issues (over the summer at Kennedy airport in NY I needed to make an urgent call and no matter how many bars the phone told me I had, the call would not go through. I finally had to hop on airport WiFi and make the call over Skype). Over the last few months though AT&T has beefed up their network and I find in the NY area it works about as well as anyone else’s, which means I still drop calls and have some connection issues, the same issues I have with every network

Media centricity and sync. This is critical. Palm gets it. Microsoft gets it, RIM gets it. Only Google doesn’t seem to understand the importance of syncing content to a device from a PC and not just dragging and dropping. Right now the iPhone is the only device where media functionality drives purchases. Without a better Android solution for getting content on a device, it’s not a contender.

Cool factor. iPhones are as much about style and cachet and, like the iPod before it, transcend gender, age and other demographic tenures. Younger folks don’t mind using an iPhone even though older folks might use them too. Sort of the same way they feel about things like BMWs. This better be one hip Droid.

App catalog. It’s a different world. Apps matter and the depth and breadth of a platform’s catalog is going to help decide in a big way who wins and who loses. Largest selection and most exclusives win. The Droid better have some apps and functions I can’t get anywhere else and those had better be ones that matter.

At the end of the day, no one is going to out iPhone the iPhone. Handset vendors and carriers must change the game, much like Palm did by introducing Synergy and changing the way apps are approved and sold, or HTC by providing new degrees of features in a UI not available on other platforms. Attacking the iPhone head on is a little like trying to fly directly at the Death Star in an X-Wing.

This Droid had better find a better weakness or it’s going to end just another used phone for sale in a Jawa flea market.

[Thanks: http://www.slashgear.com]

Founding designer Giorgio Armani did pop up during the Windows Mobile 6.5-powered smartphone’s launch, where this handset handles both audio and video playback as well as the ability to run Word and Excel documents on-the-go, making this one portable productivity tool.

Other features include a touchscreen display, a keypad and GPS navigation that are encased in a bronze chassis. Samsung is the manufacturer of choice for Giorgio Armani with their latest handset release.

[Thanks: http://www.ubergizmo.com]

Android currently controls under 3 percent of the market but Dulaney says that number should jump to 14.5 percent within 3 years, given the large push of Android devices being released, even in 2009.

Nokia’s Symbian would still control the market, with 39 percent followed by Android, the iPhone OS at 14 percent, and WinMo and BlackBerry controlling just about 12 percent. Dulaney believes webOS will come in far fifth, with just about 2 percent market share.

[Thanks: http://www.afterdawn.com]

The first full Flash player for mobile devices has been revealed by Adobe.

While smartphones have had Flash players on them before now, they have used a stripped-down Flash Lite player version. But now Adobe is preparing for mobile devices to have full Flash functionality in the following months, as part of its drive to “reach users wherever they are”.

The aim is to bring the Flash Player 10.1 to Windows Mobile and Palm WebOS devices before the end of 2009. Support for Symbian S60 and Google’s Android will come during the early part of 2010. There will also be a BlackBerry version due to Adobe having signed a deal with RIM.

The only OS smartphone not to gain the Flash upgrade - though that could change in the future – is Apple’s iPhone OS, which was not mentioned at all in the announcement. But Adobe isn’t fully giving Apple the cold shoulder, having said it is trying to persuade the company to include support for Flash on the iPhone.

The fully-featured Flash player should ensure that mobile devices get “uncompromised web browsing of expressive applications, content and high definition (HD) video” according to Adobe. The software will use the devices GPU to help accelerate graphics performance, with the company even claiming it won’t make a huge difference on battery life.

Support for multitouch, gesture controls and accelerometers will be included, thus avoiding mobile users from having to deal with desktop-like interfaces when using web applications, for instance.

Netbooks and Standard PCs will also be receiving the Flash Player 10.1, thanks to the Adobe’s Open Screen Project, which aims to achieve a consistent experience across different devices.

[Thanks: http://www.mobilemarketingnews.co.uk]

John Herman of Gizmodo says, “Windows Mobile 6.5 isn’t just a letdown — it barely seems done.” Herman continues to say things aren’t much better underneath the hood, and a quick peek “reveals an OS that hasn’t been fundamentally changed in years, and which bears a strong resemblance to Windows Mobile 6.1, and a startlingly not-weak resemblance to PocketPC 2002.”

Staying far behind the race seems a reoccurring theme in Gizmodo’s review. Herman also has strong words for Windows’ version of the App Store: “This isn’t even a 6.5-exclusive service, and just about any app written for 6.5 will work on 6.1 and 6.0, and vice-versa.”

Herman’s problems with Windows Mobile 6.5 are best summed up when he says the Zune HD is a better handset and it isn’t even a phone.

Dean Takahashi of VentureBeat had slightly better impressions of Windows Mobile 6.5.

He calls it “a big step up from the crappy Windows Mobile experience of the past.” He discusses mostly cosmetic details, such as the finger touchscreen interface; the App Store (which inexplicably has $20 apps); and Microsoft Office productivity you cannot find on other smartphones.

Finally, damning Windows with faint praise, Takahashi ends the article gabbing about how fantastic Apple iPhone is: “But for now, the iPhone has a number of advantages over Microsoft. The upshot: you can still get a much better experience with an iPhone, which has superior multi-touch capabilities and accelerometer-based controls that work wonderfully in some apps. And there’s still far more choice available on the iPhone.” Yikes. Sounds like a review for a different product.

Robin Wauters of TechCrunch discusses Windows Mobile 6.5’s My Phone backup feature. “You can use Microsoft My Phone to backup all your data, including your contacts, calendar, photos, and more, to a password-protected website. When you switch to a new Windows phone, or you lose (data on) your current one, you can head to the website to restore documents, contacts, music, and anything else you synced in just a few clicks.” Calling the download a “no-brainer,” TechCrunch appears positive in its assessment of one of Windows Mobile 6.5’s features.

Matthew Miller of ZDNet flat-out calls Windows Mobile 6.5 a “disappointment.” Miller gets frustrated with the new start menu, which, instead of being a drop-down bar like the start menu on a PC, has an iPhone-esque homescreen. The lack of customization makes Miller use his caps lock key: “You CANNOT place icons where you want to, you CANNOT add or remove icons, and you CANNOT create folders and manage the icons to create an efficient device. IMHO, this is so ridiculous that I see little value in this new Start menu scheme and find it to be worse than what we have on previous Windows Mobile operating systems.”

Almost everything else has not changed, Miller notes, complaining that you still need a stylus, even though it’s supposed to be fully touchscreen-friendly. He also writes: “The Windows Media Player and Pictures & Videos applications are still the same pathetic ones we have had since the good old Pocket PC many years ago” — but the Internet Explorer seems to be a “nice improvement.” Final words: Miller “would never recommend anyone actually purchase a new device just to get this update on their smartphone.”

SlashGear gets super-specific in its review, highlighting the tiny elements of Windows Mobile 6.5 that will make you smile — mostly on the business side of the coin. SlashGear is psyched for the release of Exchange 2010 so 6.5 can show its true colors … but the statement makes no sense to me, since Windows Mobile 7 is due next year. Why not just wait? Still, SlashGear finds many usability tweaks that, to the savvy business customer, may speed up productivity. Overall, SlashGear’s review is the most unbiased I read, therefore highly recommended to those wanting to burrow through the details without necessarily looking at the broader picture.

“Faster, more stable, and more capable it may be, but Windows Mobile 6.5 still leaves us hungry for Windows Mobile 7 simply because that OS promises the revolution Microsoft’s platform so badly requires. Windows Phones do some things very well - their Exchange integration is superb, and that functionality will only get better once Exchange 2010 launches - but Microsoft faces a tough struggle promoting them as consumer devices. Enterprise users will likely find this latest version a decent mixture of the familiar and the new, but Windows Mobile 6.5 still falls short of a knock-out blow against webOS, Android, and the iPhone.”

Windows Mobile 6.5 comes into the world with the world against it. I’m not sure this will be a failure the size of Windows Vista; however, it will most certainly be one of Microsoft’s weaker moments in recent memory. But like Windows 7, and Windows Mobile 7, perhaps Microsoft will quickly learn from its previous mistakes and release something that consumers might, you know, actually want.

[Thanks: http://www.pcworld.com]

Unlike most of the Windows Mobile-based smart phones available from AT&T, the HTC Pure does not have a physical keyboard. Similar to the LG Incite, the HTC Pure aspires to be more iPhone-like with a pure touch-screen interface.

That interface is pretty snazzy though. The Pure has a 3.2 inch WVGA touchscreen capable of 800×480 resolution. The combination of HTC’s TouchFLO 3D interface and the new Windows Mobile 6.5 honeycomb start menu create a very slick way of interacting with the device.

The HTC Pure has dual web browsers–with both Opera and the latest Internet Explorer for Windows Mobile installed. The new Internet Explorer for Windows Mobile provides a fuller desktop-like browsing experience on the mobile device, including support for Adobe Flash which is lacking on previous mobile devices.

The Pure comes with 144Mb of data storage built-in, but you can add up to 16Gb of additional space using the microSD memory card slot. The Pure also includes a 5 megapixel autofocus camera that takes photos and records video.

There are two other cool things users will get with the HTC Pure– the new Windows Mobile 6.5 lock screen and access to the Windows Mobile app store. Rather than simply locking the device and displaying some static screen or the current time, the Windows Mobile 6.5 lock screen allows the user to see the calls and messages they have missed and provides the ability to navigate directly to the associated tools rather than having to browse through menus the long way.

The Windows Marketplace, Microsoft’s attempt to emulate the success of the Apple iPhone App Store, is an online store for finding applications compatible with Windows Mobile to extend the functionality of the mobile device. With the HTC Pure users can buy apps from the Windows Marketplace and have the purchases billed to their AT&T mobile phone bill.

The Pure delivers the Windows Mobile 6.5 experience at a lower cost than other devices, filling a niche that may help bridge the gap and broaden acceptance of Windows Mobile. There are rumors that next-generation Windows Mobile 7 devices may be more like Zune mobile phones (a’ la iPhone with its iPod like capabilities). For now though audiophile users may be turned off by the HTC Pure’s reliance on the same old Windows Media Player and the lack of a standard headphone.

The name of the device may be confusing as well. Microsoft also has a Windows Mobile 7 device in development which is currently codenamed ‘Pure’. You have to keep the naming straight and remember that AT&T’s Pure is really the HTC Touch Diamond2, and Microsoft’s Pure isn’t available yet and will probably have a different name when it gets released.

[Thanks: http://www.pcworld.com]

The drink that gives you wings is set to launch their very own cellular service.  What will no doubt be an MVNO, it looks like it is set to launch in Austria sometime this year.

According to Reghardware, they’ll be offering two monthly plans: €19 (£14/$28) and €29 (£21/$43), which will include limited minutes and texts, but will provide unlimited access to Red Bull TV.  As for hardware, they will offer the Sony Ericsson C702, Nokia 5800 and ZTE RBM1.

Skepitism abound, Red Bull is a savvy marketer that has done a killer job with aligning themselves with the latest dare devil talent that has placed them at the top of the ever growing energy drink pile.

[Thanks: http://www.gadgetreview.com/]