Verizon Wireless has continued its adoption of Adobe Flash Lite by launching several new Flash powered Get It Now applications. New software includes an app from the Weather Channel and a game based on NBC's 'The Office'. Currently just four phones (LG V, Motorola RAZR V3c/m and the Samsung a950) are compatible with the mobile flash lite apps -- but that list is expected to increase significantly once apps developers see how beneficial these flashy new tools are to customers. Ironically, the flagship LG Chocolate phone is not yet compatible -- despite using Adobe Flash mobile to power its graphical user interface (UI).

Adobe Flash Lite features include:
Flash Player 7 support
Multi-Platform support
Dynamic XML data
Persistent data
Powerful and dynamic media
Text enhancement
Shape drawing ActionScript API
Action Script 2.0 support
Synchronized device sound
Compressed SWFs
Tighter device integration

Verizon Wireless customers with a compatible mobile handset can find the new applications in the Verizon Get It Now Store.

Continue reading "Verizon Wireless supports Flash applications" »

Posted by mobilemodo at 02:24 PM | Permalink Posted to Mobile Applications | News | Verizon

Garmin has just announced they will expand their flagship Garmin Mobile service offering. Garmin Mobile 3.0 is currently available to Sprint Nextel mobile subscribers (CDMA and iDEN respectively) with a compatible phone. The mobile software upgrade adds more mapping points of interest (POI) -- such as restaurants, fuel prices, weather and live traffic reports. Traffic data is automatically calculated into routing so that it can direct you to follow an alternative path that will route you around possible delays. Gas pricing information is tracked by compiling recent credit card transactions in the area being recorded by OPIS, a petroleum pricing group.

Garmin Mobile will give you turn-by-turn directions to any address located in the United Statess and Puerto Rico. With the latest 3.0 software update you will have access to over 6 million points of interest. The current pricing is set @ $9.99 per month for unlimited usage.

Posted by mobilemodo at 09:47 AM | Permalink Posted to Mobile Applications | News | Software Update | Sprint Nextel

Microsoft and Qualcomm have announced that they have entered into an agreement to work closely in porting Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating system to Qualcomm's new chipset. Qualcomm has recently unveiled the MSM (Mobile Station Modem) 7000 Series chipset that combines a radio modem and an applications processor on the same chip. Combining the Engineering on these two features will allow consumers to use a phone that can maintain better battery life in a more compact handset enclosure.

The new mobile software is expected to be released during the second half of 2006, and will allow mobile phone manufacturers to come up with creative new devices and mobility applications.

Posted by mobilemodo at 10:59 PM | Permalink Posted to Mobile Applications | News

Opera Software has just announced version 2 of the popular Opera Mini application for java capable cell phones. The free mobile web browser was launched worldwide in late January and has quickly gained popularity with thousands of downloads. Opera Mini 2 uses a proxy server to filter, pre-process and cache web pages to greatly increase speed and performance of the user browsing experience. This allows the mobile application to run on virtually all of the world's Java-enabled handsets, not limiting itself to only smartphones -- like what can be done with the full Opera Mobile Browser.

Opera Mini 2 new enhanced features:
SMS mobile commerce support
Bookmark shortcut key combo; quick dial
GUI Skins, with several new themes
Multiple search engine selection from the homepage
Content download, image fetch, direct to phone
Quick and smooth horizontal navigation panning -- backward and forward

The Opera Mini 2 mobile application is free for unlimited use by mobile users worldwide. The only catch is that you have to pay your wireless provider for any airtime used during your web-surfing sessions.

Posted by mobilemodo at 11:22 PM | Permalink Posted to Mobile Applications | News

Nextel's Cat Trax line of child-tracking phones will be getting a new feature that alerts parents when their child enters a local sexual predator zone. Parents can elect to receive the alert by either text, email, or page.

The new system is being sourced by CATS Communications (CATS = Child Alert Tracking System)and can be had by signing up for a $20 monthly subscription plan for the first phone, and $10 for each additional phone.

Similar Mobile Applications in the market today, like Wherifone and Teen Arrive Alive, also are available to help parents keep tabs on their children's whereabouts and driving habits (going over the speedlimit).

The service is inspired by Joe Dawson, who lives in Jessica Lunsford's hometown of Homosassa, Florida for whom some of the credit can go into getting the Jessica Lunsford Act passed in Congress.

Posted by mobilemodo at 04:47 PM | Permalink Posted to Mobile Applications | News | Sprint Nextel

Palm announced that they are immediately making available the Windows Messaging and Security Feature Pack (MSFP) upgrade (a.k.a AKU2), which will allow you to unlock full support for email Direct Push Technlogy.You will need to backup all your data on the 700w before nabbing the software from Verizon's or Palm's support sites when it is made available. They have not stated, but we surmise this also includes the DST fix to problems 700w customers experienced during the recent time change in the U.S. So, hey this doesn't affect any 700p treos -- because they haven't been officially launched yet -- see rumormill.

Continue reading "Palm announces Treo 700w AKU2 upgrade" »

Posted by mobilemodo at 04:21 PM | Permalink Posted to Mobile Applications | News | Rumors | Software Update | Treo | Verizon

AOL has announced a new mobile application browsing service that will make websites have better formatting on mobile phones. This is not the first company to use mobile browser reformatting as a method to improve user experience, Opera and Google also have mobile products with the same features. Mobile browsing services--which are great for consumers have caused great controversy among advertising agencies whose ads have been stripped from the mobile browser content without consent from the website publishers.

When searching through mobile.aol.com via a wireless mobile, the site will automatically adjust and return links that are filtered through the new browsing service much like Opera's Mini mobile Browser.

The AOL browsing service is free for all to use and access by going to mobile.aol.com. You will then be asked to consent to a copyright notice before entering the AOL mobile portal. AOL is working with wireless carriers like Sprint to provide direct access menu options to browse to AOL's mobile site, which contains Search, AOL Mail, AOL Pictures, News, Weather, Sports, Entertainment and Yellow Pages.

Posted by mobilemodo at 10:31 AM | Permalink Posted to Mobile Applications | News

Sprint Nextel has launched a new Location Based Service (LBS) called "Find It" that will help point mobile users to a location of interest. The Find It mobile application created by InfoSpace, uses existing built-in GPS technology and a back-end database to query for the closest ATM, gas station, or restaurant. After a location has been identified, t can then give you directions from your current GPS coordinates without the need to enter zip codes or information that most people don't know while in an unfamiliar area.

Find It can now be accessed on most of the newer model Sprint Vision phones, and is available for $2.99 per month with unlimited usage. The application was created by InfoSpace.

Posted by mobilemodo at 12:42 AM | Permalink Posted to Mobile Applications | News | Sprint Nextel

Some new competition is heating up for Mobile VOIP providers around the globe, and this time it is another rival to Skype's flagship mobile VOIP service dubbed Barablu Mobile-to-Mobile. The new service will allow free calls from mobile to mobile, PC to mobile and IP Phone to mobile -- so forget about your wireless mobile provider and start calling.

Barablu from Mobile will allow you to "freely" make calls while on the go. In order to make calls you will need to have a Wi-Fi enabled mobile phone along with the Barablu dialer software. The Barablu mobile dialer can be downloaded onto your mobile Wi-Fi enabled phone by going to www.barablu.com/downloads_mobile.htm.

Baskaran Allirajah, Managing Director of Barablu, comments: "Consumers around the world are constantly looking for cheaper, even free, and easy-to-use services. We are meeting this demand by offering similar PC based IP services as Skype, but extending the service to Wi-Fi enabled mobile phones as well. These are quad band phones, which can connect to either a conventional cellular service or a Wi-Fi network."

The Barablu software for mobile on Nokia Communicator series and I-mate SP5 series are available for immediate download and installation.

[More Stories] [Barablu]

Posted by mobilemodo at 01:23 PM | Permalink Posted to Mobile Applications | Mobile VOIP | News | Nokia | Reviews

Mobile Content development continues to rapidly take shape as new startups are getting scooped up by bigger players-- this time it is SplashBlog. The announcement has gone out SplashBlog has been bought by Six Apart, the widely renowned company that created Moveable Type (powers Mobilemodo.com).

SplashBlog is a cool application that will let users instantly send photos from a camera phone or smartphone to an online photo album or blog for sharing. The product is the brainchild of a small innovative Silicon Valley company by the name of Splash Data. The mobile application service is free to download and use if you sign up for an account at splashblog.com.

Mobile Application Handset Requirements:
Symbian OS
Palm OS 5.2 or newer
Windows Mobile 5.0 for Pocket PC or Smartphone
Symbian UIQ smartphone
Nokia Series 60 smartphones

This company is run by Morgan Slain who is the company's CEO. He was formally the GM of Mobile Digital Media (MDM), a spinoff of Palm, that has focused on retail sales of entertainment software for mobile devices.

Posted by mobilemodo at 03:44 PM | Permalink Posted to Mobile Applications | News

Sprint announced today that they will be launching customized mobile content for college hoops made-for-mobile collegiate hoops programming to its customers. Sprint will have what’s called “Sprint Tournament Center” – which will be the cornerstone of the exclusive college hoops content.

Along with offering college basketball wireless content, they will also showcase breaking news and tournament analysis. Other features available will be -- complete game scores, reminders and nail clinching alerts for games winding down to the last few minutes.

"Sprint continues to provide innovative, meaningful mobile content to its customers," said Jeff Hallock, vice president of marketing for Sprint. "Mobile phones offer so much more than just voice applications today - and we're literally 'changing the game' for the better with this original content. Sports fans are active, engaged and invested in these games - they want instant and up-to-the-minute access to their teams."

Sprint Original Programming will be produced in a studio by Intersport for the first 2 weeks, and on-site for the final week. The mobile-exclusive content will be free to all Sprint Vision and Power Vision subscribers, or any Nextel Data Access subscriber using a Java enabled wireless phones.

The mobile application will be available on March 13th for download, and can be initiated by texting the word "HOOPS" to the shortcode address of 7777.

Posted by mobilemodo at 09:36 AM | Permalink Posted to Mobile Applications | Mobile Content | News | Sprint Nextel

CeBIT [2006] -- BenQ Mobile has announced today at the technology fair in Hanover that along with the 6 new phone models being unveiled (12 total this year) they have also struck a deal to preload Google software.

Google has been on a deal frenzy with handset manufacturers to propagate their proprietary mobile search technology. Google's mobile strategy is to beat out other search competitors like Yahoo's Go Mobile strategy and MSN with new services.

BenQ Mobile will make software upgrades available over the air, and handsets that start selling in April with have the Google software already loaded for local information search services.

BenQ took over the failing mobile phone business from German conglomerate Siemens last summer. It is now the world's sixth-biggest maker of mobile handsets, behind the likes of handset behemoths Nokia, Motorola and Samsung.

Last month at the 3GSM wireless trade show in Barcelona, BenQ Mobile said that it would also be the first to launch an HSDPA (high speed downlink packet access) phone. HSDPA will allow blazing fast high speed wireless Internet access and other mobile services at near broadband speeds.

Posted by mobilemodo at 12:05 AM | Permalink Posted to 3G | BenQ | Mobile Applications | News

We are now experiencing a rapid evolution of mobile content on handsets, and with the age of complete interoperability between all kinds of electronic devices getting closer -- the deal signed today between TiVo , the creator of TV services for digital video recorders (DVR), and Verizon Wireless, one of the top three (Cingular #1, Verizon #2, Sprint #3) US mobile carriers the age of Mobile TV has arrived.

According to the new agreement rumors today, Verizon Wireless will launch debut TiVo Mobile, a new downloadable application that lets TiVo service subscribers schedule recordings on their TiVo device directly from their "Get It Now" menu, which also provides access to Verizon's VCAST music, video, ring tones, and games.

"This arrangement will allow the growing base of TiVo subscribers to integrate control of their TV life with the most widespread piece of consumer electronics, the wireless phone," said Tom Rogers, CEO of TiVo.

TiVo Mobile is a new innovation that will allow TiVo subscribers to schedule DVR recordings and access related entertainment information from the convenience of their mobile handsets. Viewers will be able to schedule recordings on the go via the same user interface that makes TiVo the best-in- class DVR experience.

Continue reading "TiVo And Verizon make Mobile Deal" »

Posted by mobilemodo at 01:43 PM | Permalink Posted to Mobile Applications | Mobile TV | News | Rumors | Verizon

Amazon.com has really been breaking into the mobile world lately, first announcing plans to unleash a pre-loaded iPod-like music player, and now they are swinging some deals with a third-party company who is working on a mobile phone Java application called "Price Check for Amazon."

With this mobile application, you will be able to take a quick snapshot of any barcode you find while shopping and immediately you can shoot the information over to Amazon for a price check and review.

This new fangled mobile software solution is being created by Moonlight Mobile, and according to buzz on the web about this cool Java application, they are only going to charge a one-time fee for the application download.

This barcode lookup tool with ultimately put you in the drivers seat allowing you to instantly compare prices no matter where you are -- along with Amazon's customer reviews.

Amazon has had one of the best mobile Internet portals on the Web, and the "Price Check for Amazon" with no doubt be a just another example of a company that is willing to be on the cutting edge of next generation technologies that will change all of our lives. This new mobile application service should be rolling out in the next couple of weeks.

[via MobileMag]

Posted by mobilemodo at 10:24 PM | Permalink Posted to Mobile Applications | News | Rumors

We saw three big mobile media deals announced this week that will take advantage of the cellular phone market, mostly credited to the rollout of next generation 3G high-speed EVDO and UMTS networks across the U.S. The kicker to these deals will be how to generate enough money to pay for the release of new mobile content offerings.

Viacom will be one of the first to bring in some cash through the MTV Networks unit, which plans to sell video clips from its MTV, VH1, CMT and Comedy Central channels to Sprint customers. Many large companies plan to fund mobile content with ads to subsidize the development.

With Fox News Corporation's recent deal with Mobizzo it planned to sell games, ring tones and gadgets for mobile handsets. Mobizzo plans to aggressively distribute and produce content specially catered to the mobile market.

CBS also announced this week that they will launch a service dubbed News to Go Mobile Alerts that will send news in the form of short video clips on some cellphones. ESPN and NBC already offer similar service to CBS' media message launch.

Google and ABC have just announced that they have just made a deal to release mobile news by letting Google provide live daily webcasts of "World News Now" with top search term rankings each day. Internet capable cell phones users can also go to Google.com and search for ABC headline news with this deal.

As Google's Mobile strategy continues to rapidly evolve, you can catch some of the other Google mobile services that include Google Local for Mobile, a mobile mapping and driving directions software application along with Gmail Mobile, a homepage personalization option.

Posted by mobilemodo at 08:50 PM | Permalink Posted to Mobile Applications | Mobile Content | News

The forums are burning about a cool free program to unlock an HTC Wizard. Many hacker wanna bees have been hovering around just waiting to unleash the shackles off their Cingular backed 8125, or T-Mobile plugged MDA.

An XDA-Developers.com contributor has developed a wiz-bang software program called lokiwiz that will untether your Cingular HTC Wizard and free it from its SIM-locked shackles.

We don't currently have a locked HTC or MDA phone in our lab, but lokiwiz users are reporting a not-to-shabby -- 80% success rate of unlocking their HTC. This is not too bad considering their is currently no way to do this without locking into a big contract with T-Mobile or Cingular.

If you are still trying to get your hands on one of these phones you're still going to have to pony up a wad of cash without a contract on these phones. The prices still circulating are upwards of $450 without a signed carrier contract.
[via EngadgetMobile]

Continue reading "HTC Wizard Unlocker code name - lokiwiz" »

Posted by mobilemodo at 04:09 PM | Permalink Posted to Cingular | HTC | Mobile Applications | News | Rumors | T-Mobile

Yahoo Research just announced the release of a new mobile application for photo lovers dubbed Zonetag Photos. The mobile photo geotagging software has been designed to work exclusively on Nokia Series 60 (S60) cell phones.

While you are taking pictures using a Zonetag enabled Nokia S60 mobile phone, it will automatically tag your photos with the GPS coordinates and assign a location based upon the closest cellular tower. In just two clicks your photos can then easily be uploaded to Yahoo's photo site, Flickr.

Currently, ZoneTag Photo will only work on Nokia Series 60 phones and not those popular US based Motorola phones like the RAZR, SLVR or ROKR. Also, if you are thinking about busting a move with Zonetag mobile software on CDMA networks like Sprint or Verizon, you can pretty much forget about it because these Nokia phones are GSM based.

ZoneTag is known to work on Nokia 6620, 6670, 6680, 6681, 6682, 7610 models, and the word on the street is that it will more than likely work on 3230, 6630, 6260 cellphones as well.

This is a great research project launch, but Nokia will have to work on getting more support for the over 100 million CDMA based handsets currently being used in the US by Verizon and Sprint customers.

Zonetag Photo for mobile can be downloaded for free much like Yahoo's other mobile software service products under the Yahoo Go Mobile umbrella.

Posted by mobilemodo at 08:57 AM | Permalink Posted to Mobile Applications | News | Nokia

Sprint is making it easier for their mobile phone customers to share personal media pictures, video, and personalized text with friends, family and colleagues by launching a new mobile application service dubbed Picture Mail Groups.

Sprint has had the Picture Mail Groups project in the oven for quite a while, and will now be launching the preview release this weekend at the Photo Marketing Association tradeshow in Orlando, Florida.

Sprint Nextel's announcement of the new service will ease the process of sharing media captured with its phones. It can be likened to the new service Motorola is launching with the help of Avvenu that we reported on yesterday dubbed "Motorola SHARE". Also, it is similar to Vizrea Snap, a beta service for Nokia S60 phones that was just showcased at the DEMO 2006 Conference in Seattle.

Existing Sprint Picture Mail subscribers will easily be able to create a community picture mail group to invite friends by email address or Sprint PCS number. Community members will then get notified when new content is available.

Picture Mail Groups will launch very soon, most likely during Sprint 2006 (2Q), and will come at no additional fee to current Picture Mail package subscribers.

Posted by mobilemodo at 11:14 AM | Permalink Posted to Mobile Applications | News | Nokia | Sprint Nextel

NTP and Research In Motion are ready for what is hoped to be the final dual in a long drawn out court battle. RIM is trying to fight off an injunction that could potentially ban the operations of Blackberry Service in the United States. Their is no guarantee of a final ruling, but the Judge has recently commented that a ruling shortly after the hearing has completed is likely.

If an injuction is successful, RIM has openly stated that they have a backup plan that will force a handset upgrade for over 3 million US based customers. If the injunction comes to fruition, this will be a logistical nightmare as customers scramble to frantically upgrade their Blackberry wireless phones.

The US Patent and Trademark Office announced yesterday that they officially have rejected one of the patents that RIM was supposedly infringing upon. Mobilemodo will continue to update our readers on the ongoing battle between NTP and RIM as it continues to develop.

[via MobileTracker]

Posted by mobilemodo at 12:53 AM | Permalink Posted to Mobile Applications | News

WIth our recent story on Motorola's SHARE mobile service, we decided to do a test-run review on the services being offered by Avvenu

You can sign up for free.

For your itching curiosity you can check out the demo tour

Continue reading "Avvenu Mobile Application Service Review" »

Posted by mobilemodo at 12:43 AM | Permalink Posted to Mobile Applications | News | Reviews

Motorola has just announced the exclusive launch of a new service called "Motorola Share", that allows mobile phone users to access pictures from your computer at home or office.

The Motorola SHARE service is purported to be a Free service with the only requirement being that you use a compatible Motorola wireless phone. The special advert tag line sent to moto customers and service subscribers says "See your photos, access your files, share photos and files" ... Sign up for Motorola Share.

Behind the scenes Motorola has swung a deal with Avvenu, hence the mention on the right hand side of the SHARE website " Powered by Avvenu". Once you sign up for the service you go to motorola.avvenu.com to login.

With Motorola SHARE, you can always have access to the files and photos on your computer from your compatible Motorola wireless phone. To sign up for this cool sportin new service from Motorola, just check out the Motorola getSHARE page.

Motorola Share is not compatible with all cellphones, but is MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) compatible on the following Moto phones -- A630, ROKR E1, MPx220, V330, V400, V551, V600, V635, V300 and last but not least the popular new PEBL, RAZR and SLVR.

Posted by mobilemodo at 09:43 AM | Permalink Posted to Mobile Applications | Motorola | News

Yahoo! just announced a major deal with AT&T and Cingular to launch the Yahoo Go Mobile services. Yahoo customers will be able to take their ID and login online with their own Series 60 Nokia 6682 phone wherever service is available.

We reported on Yahoo's Go Mobile service offering after the CES conference in Las Vegas. It is now available for download and installation via Yahoo's Go Mobile site.

With the terms of this joint venture between AT&T, Yahoo and Nokia on Cingular's service; Go Mobile will be exclusively preloaded on the Nokia 6682 and will soon be loaded on more Series 60 phones -- the Nokia 6630,
6680, 6681 and N70 handsets.

Yahoo Go Mobile services allow you to access Yahoo! Mail, Photos, Address Book, Calendar, Messenger, Search services, news, weather, and sports all on your Nokia phone with Cingular Service. The Nokia 6682 cell phone also sports an MP3 player, digital voice recorder, data storage capacity, and removable media.

The Nokia 6682 is available from Cingular Wireless for $299 with a $50 rebate with 2 year contract.

Posted by mobilemodo at 10:55 PM | Permalink Posted to Cingular | Mobile Applications | News | Nokia

Sprint Nextel just announced that they have hit the 1 Millionth music download mark through their Groove Mobile linked Music Store. Sprint was the first mobile phone carrier to provide Mobile Music downloads and is the first telecom carrier to reach this milestone. Verizon's VCAST service just launched in January.

The Sprint Music Store news release did not give specific details showing how many songs were paid for, and how many were given away free as part of the "5 downloads for free" promotion that launched the service.

Sprint opened the doors to the first instant over the air "Sprint Music Store" on October 24th 2005, and achieved the 1M song download milestone in about 4 months. The single song download price is still pegged at $2.50 per song, which is 51 cents more than Verizon's $1.99 VCAST, and $1.51 more than Apple's iTunes $.99 cent music download list price. Apple is currently counting down to a milestone of its own, 1 billion song downloads.

Posted by mobilemodo at 02:18 PM | Permalink Posted to Mobile Applications | Mobile Music | News | Sprint Nextel

Google continues to keep their success streak alive, well, and thriving with another announcement that Vodafone will be using Google with their self-branded Live service.

Microsoft may be a few steps behind trying to ramp up their market share of the mobile search market, Google has already made it, and they continue to make a rash of deals with carrier and handset manufacturers to position themselves as the premier search provider for cell phone users worldwide.

Google's latest partnership with Vodafone will net the search titan some prime real estate on the Vodafone Live service. The new search service will provide present location and time-sensitive search results for info such as weather, directions or a movie.

Posted by mobilemodo at 11:57 PM | Permalink Posted to Mobile Applications | News

Several mobile phones made by the handset manufacturers Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications are said to be vulnerable to what is known as denial-of-service (DOS) attacks. The flaw has been found in four models of Sony Ericsson phones and is from an error in their Bluetooth service.

The Bluetooth technology is said to "fail to properly handle malformed L2CAP (Logical Link Control and Adaptation Layer Protocol)". Two different security technology firms have reported this flaw both stating that the potential security risk to mobile phone users is low.

Someone that is bound and determined to knock off one of the four Sony Ericsson phones, which includes the K600i and T68i, would only have to get within about 50 feet to get hit. Malicious code could then be sent to the mobile device that would crash the cellphone.

Posted by mobilemodo at 02:26 PM | Permalink Posted to Mobile Applications | News | Sony Ericsson

Motorola has added another new feature to its arsenal on Wednesday, by unveiling a cell phone application that allows credit card capability.

Motorola's new mobile application dubbed M-Wallet, a technology that will allow cell phone users to pay bills, transfer money, or purchase products is viewed as the way of the future for Mobile Commerce.

M-Wallet, a software application that consumers and merchants alike can download from the Internet, also allows retailers to market goods and services directly to customers’ cell phones.

“Every idea has its time and I think people are now more open to m-commerce,” said Navin Mehta, Motorola’s vice president of applications management. “This is the right time, we think.”

Motorola claims that M-Wallet will work with any cell phone network, including GSM and CDMA (Sprint Nextel / Verizon) and with any mobile device. The M-Wallet mobile application software is also compatible with Symbian, PocketPC, Palm, J2ME, Brew, and SimTK.

The business of m-commerce, or commercial transactions via mobile devices is expected to rapidly grow on a global basis in the coming years.

Posted by mobilemodo at 04:56 PM | Permalink Posted to Mobile Applications | News

T-Mobile recently announced that they will being doubling the price of SMS messaging outside of their messaging Value Bundles. They will be raising the per SMS message price from 5 cents to 10 cents each in the U.S. market.

T-Mobile states in small print online: start sending domestic text messages now for just $0.10?each ? Discounted domestic messaging rate (for US telephone numbers) of $0.05 each in effect through February 28, 2006. Messages to international numbers from the US are $0.15 each."

Users of T-Mobile are reporting that although they love their service, they cannot disable the SMS messaging service. This can cause big problems when voluminious amounts of spam SMS messages are sent indiscriminately to mobile phone subscribers that should not have to pay for such messages.

T-Mobile has stated that they cannot disable the service because that is how they communicate with their customers. Customers of other carriers like Sprint Nextel or Verizon wireless have reportedly been able to disable their SMS services with no problems.

Be thankful that T-Mobile gets top ratings for customer service, because this just might be an issue they have to resolve in the future as more SMS spamming becomes a problem.

Posted by mobilemodo at 11:20 AM | Permalink Posted to Mobile Applications | News | T-Mobile

Amp'd Mobile and Novarra have announced that Novarra's Internet and Web search solution by the name of nWeb, is integrated into all handsets currently offered by Amp'd Mobile.

Subscribers to Amp'd (pronounced amped) Mobile will have unrestricted access to all Internet and mobile content available. Amp'd Mobile users will automatically get full Web content from the original Amp'd Internet site.

Novarra software work much like Opera Software's Opera Mini Java mobile browser by transforming and reducing Web pages on their own servers before they are transferred over the mobile phone network to the user's cell phone.

Novarra's Internet optimization solution is launched by Amp'd Mobile on Kyocera and Motorola handsets. Much like Virgin Mobile which is an MVNO that uses Sprint Nextel's CDMA EvDO network, Amp'd Mobile is an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) that runs on Verizon's next generation EVDO network.

Senior vice president of Amp'd Mobile stated: "We selected the leader in Internet transformation for their powerful platform that simplified creating and expanding our Internet offering. Novarra is integrated with Amp'd Live to create our innovative experience where a user seamlessly listens to a song, reads about the artist, searches and buys content."

Posted by mobilemodo at 02:04 PM | Permalink Posted to Amp'd Mobile | MVNO | Mobile Applications | Mobile Content | News

As the exclusive wireless sponsor of the NFL, Sprint Nextel is ready to launch a smorgasbord of mobile multimedia NFL content for Super Bowl XL in Detroit on Sunday.

Here is a list of the Sprint mobile content highlights for the big game:
Live press conference and halftime coverage on Sprint TV Live (Channel 9)
Exclusive Music Choice "7 Days of Stones" audio and video content on Sprint TV (Channel 33)
Sprint Music Store exclusive downloads of Rolling Stones music for $2.50 a song
Pittsburgh and Seattle marquee player logo graphics and Music Tone Ringers
Scores, stats, highlights, and injury reports on NFL Mobile live during the game
Vote for Super Bowl MVP on wireless devices or superbowl.com

So get our your new Sprint Samsung A900 Power broadband EV DO cell phone, sit back, and enjoy the game. .

Posted by mobilemodo at 10:42 AM | Permalink Posted to Mobile Applications | News | Sprint Nextel

Motorola and Verizon Wireless have once again tag-teamed to bring another new mid-priced V325 clamshell mobile phone to market.

This will be the first wirless mobile handset that Verizon has offered that will work with the new GPS-like audible direction service called VZ Navigator just launched by Verizon. Google and Yahoo services for Mobile can't do this with their new mobile services yet.

Motorola V325 on Verizon Wireless Features:
Full 65k Color Screen
Sleek Clamshell package
VZ Navigator Compatibility
30MB memory built-in
Speakerphone
VGA camera

This phone is for the big kids, because it does not come with a music player. So, forget about dropping down any cash for the V325 if you want to load it up with VCAST.

The Motorola V325 is being offered by exclusively by Verizon only on the web, and can be purchased for $79.99 after $50 mail-in rebate and a two-year wireless mobile service agreement.

Posted by mobilemodo at 11:30 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (1) Posted to Mobile Applications | Motorola | News | Verizon

Verizon Wireless today announced the launch of VZ Navigator, an audible GPS-like positioning service that gives turn-by-turn directions. The VZ Navigator mobile service will help you locate nearly any point of interest in the U.S. with ease.

Verizon's VZ Navigator mobile application service uses GPS positioning to tell you where you are currently located, what points of interest are near you, and directions to where you want to go.

Verizon is now offering the VZ Navigator mobile service in tandem with the new Motorola V325 clamshell mobile phone, that was also launched as a web only exclusive as part of the new service promotion. It is now available for download in Verizon's 'Get It Now' virtual store for $9.99 with unlimited monthly access or $2.99 for a 24-hour novelty splurge.

Posted by mobilemodo at 11:11 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (1) Posted to Mobile Applications | News | Verizon

The newest mobile phone to support Verizon's V CAST music service is the CDM 8945. This latest service allows users to download Music and Audio to their mobile phone using their Computer as a gateway.

Handset features for Verizon CDM 8945 include:
Speakerphone
Dual color screens (176 x 220 Internal display)
Camera Flash and Video Recording
EV-DO capable
Bluetooth connectivity
Transflash slot supporting Micro SD Memory cards

Mobile Application and Content features:
V CAST Music
Voice Dialing
Mobile Web 2.0
Get It Now
Picture Messaging
Video Messaging

The mobile phone dimensions are packed into a compact clamshell that measures 3.5(H) x 1.9(W) x 0.9(D) inches and weighs about 4 oz. It has a talk time of 210 mins and stand by time of 210 hours.

The Verizon Wireless CDM 8945 also known as UTStarcom CDM-8945 / PN-230 is now available for $ 129.99 with a 2 year contract.

Posted by mobilemodo at 11:00 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (2) Posted to Mobile Applications | News | Verizon

Customers of Sprint now have three new ways to use their phones to meet, greet and chat with people across the street or across the globe.

Today Sprint announced the availability of Jumbuck Island from Jumbuck Entertainment, The Lounges from AirG, and Webdate Mobile from Trilibis Mobile for Sprint PCS Vision(SM) and Sprint Power Vision(SM) subscribers. Each service features an exclusive element available only through Sprint.

Jumbuck Island
Jumbuck Island is an innovative new 3D wireless chat service, exclusive to Sprint for the first three months. The first of its kind on wireless phones in the United States, Jumbuck Island brings elements from massively popular multiplayer PC games and Internet chatrooms into one service. Users of the service can customize their appearance and choose from different avatars to represent themselves. Once on the island, users can wander around the different areas, including beaches, cruise ships and waterfalls, and send public messages or chat with other users in private one-on-ones. Jumbuck Island is available for $3.99 per month.

“We are delighted to launch Jumbuck Island, the world’s first massively multiplayer chatroom environment, on Sprint PCS Vision and Power Vision networks,” said Adrian Risch, founder and CEO of Jumbuck. “Users can select a cool avatar and chat in exotic locations that feature beautiful beaches, pool parties, hidden waterfalls and cruise ships.”

Continue reading "Sprint Nextel Launches 3 New Mobile Chat Services" »

Posted by mobilemodo at 11:22 PM | Permalink Posted to Mobile Applications | News | Sprint Nextel

InfoSpace Mobile, one of the leaders in mobile media content, and fuse, a viewer influenced music television network, announced from NATPE in Las Vegas a substantial mobile entertainment initiative whereby InfoSpace will provide fuse with mobile content including ring tones, graphics and mobile games.

This content will be available to consumers on the fuse mobile storefront in the second quarter of 2006. Mobile cell phone users in the U.S on all major carriers including Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, Cingular, and T-Mobile will be able to access this content via mobile internet browsers via WAP, Opera Mobile, or Opera Mini browsers.

"fuse is a recognized and leading channel for tech-savvy music enthusiasts, so we're excited to work with them for a simple, on-the-go solution for easy access to mobile entertainment." - VP of Infospace mobile content

Under the new business arrangement, fuse viewers will be able to order wireless mobile content via a single shortcode (fuseM) promoted on select fuse TV programs as well as one code ordering from the fuse mobile storefront. The Web-based mobile storefront will be developed and managed by InfoSpace. InfoSpace will provide fuse with music tones from major record labels and hundreds of independent labels in addition to thousands of graphics and InfoSpace's library of mobile phone games.

Posted by mobilemodo at 09:38 AM | Permalink Posted to Mobile Applications | Mobile Content | Mobile TV | News

Opera Software today officially announced the launch release of Opera Mini, a Java powered Web Browser for mobile phones. The Opera Mini browser will run on most mobile phones being used worldwide. Opera estimates that their are currently over 700 million cell phones worldwide that are compatible with this software.

Mobilemodo reported on the Opera Mini quiet launch that had been taking place over the past few weeks in preparation for the official release that was announced today. Mobilemodo labs spent some time testing Opera Mini on an older Toshiba VM4050 mobile handset on Sprint's wireless 3G network.

The real advantage of this software is that most users worldwide can use their existing cell phone to immediately start surfing the internet from anywhere. This can be done because Opera's browser technology is cross-platform and modular. It is available for Windows, Windows Mobile, Linux , Mac OS, Symbian OS and several other mobile platform operating systems.

Opera Mini speeds up mobile Internet surfing by compressing Web pages by up to 80% before they are sent back to the handset. As a result of the compression technology, users can surf the Web faster - and those paying for their data traffic can dramatically reduce their bandwidth costs.

Opera Mini can be freely downloaded by pointing your mobile phone's WAP browser to http://mini.opera.com, or for a nominal charge of $2.99 if you download via SMS.

Continue reading "Opera Mini for Mobile Phones launched worldwide" »

Posted by mobilemodo at 01:26 PM | Permalink Posted to Mobile Applications | News

Mobile phone giant Nokia has just announced they are teaming up with other mobile technology firms to promote Digital Video Broadcasting - Handheld (DVB-H) technology standard for wireless mobile TV.

The other technology firms that will be part of the alliance include Intel, Motorola, Modeo, and Texas Instruments. The tie-up, dubbed the "Mobile DTV Alliance", will encourage open standards for TV broadcasts to mobile cell phones, focusing on the North American market.

DVB-H technology bypasses mobile cell phone networks and broadcasts directly to handsets from TV masts, allowing millions of phone users to access the service at the same time.

U.S based wireless mobile network operators like Sprint Nextel have recently made announcements regarding their intentions to invest in advanced Mobile TV solutions.

Not to be excluded from this market are also Verizon Wireless, Cingular, and T-Mobile who are all looking to exploit the marriage of mobile phones and TV, but to date have not come up with a mature consumer solutions that exploit the real opportunities that exist in this market segment.

At the time of this announcement, Nokia's 7710 multimedia mobile phone is capable of viewing DVB-H signals with an add-on accessory, and the company's previously announced Nokia N92 will have built-in support for the DVB-H standard.

Most major U.S. markets are expected to have DVB-H infrastructure ready for use by 2007.

Posted by mobilemodo at 10:46 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (4) Posted to Mobile Applications | Motorola | News | Nokia