Wednesday, December 17, 2008

BlackBerry Application Suite for Windows Mobile spotted virtualizin' in the wild


It looks like RIM's virtualization software is getting close to materializing for end users on Windows Mobile, a bold statement by the company that it's not the least bit afraid that extending the BlackBerry ecosystem to WinMo devices in a far more rich, attractive, and useful way than BlackBerry Connect ever could won't risk cannibalizing sales of its own devices. Shots of the so-called BlackBerry Application Suite running on a Fuze have shown up, looking darn near as polished as a native RIM handset -- except you won't find anything like this form factor from RIM, now will you? All told, that makes it a good option not just for folks that are stuck to Windows Mobile, but also to anyone looking for their nonexistent QWERTY slide BlackBerry. Unforutunately, there's no telling when this thing is going live, but hey, at least it isn't vaporware.


Samsung P3 gets official... in Korea


It's no secret that the Samsung Yepp YP-P3 PMP is on the way -- Sammy's shown it off, it's kicking around the FCC and we've already seen it unboxed -- but it looks like it's getting an official launch in Korea just ahead of CES. Specs are the same as we've known forever: the same 3-inch, 480 x 272 touchscreen as the P2, but with added haptic feedback and a new Flash-based UI with customizable widgets, Bluetooth with A2DP, the usual codec support, and a 30-hour audio playback battery life. No US prices yet, but the Koreans out there should look to have scrounged together 239,000 won ($177) for the 4GB, 279,000 won ($207) for 8GB, and 329,000 won ($244) for the 16GB model by the time these ship in early January. Interface vid after the break.




Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Apple Leopard 10.5.6 Update Pwns Pwnage, Breaks Jailbreak [IPwn]


A warning for all you iPhone jailbreak enthusiasts: Apple's newest OS software update contains quite a stink bomb—10.5.6 disables the Pwnage tool, making you unable to jailbreak or unlock your iPhone or iPod Touch. The update prevents jailbreaking by disabling the software at the computer level, a step up from what the company usually does: release a firmware update that re-locks the iPhone. Now it's stopping your Mac from recognizing the device in DFU (device firmware update) mode by inflicting new code on the USB ports on Apple computers. While the iPhone Dev Team is no doubt working to figure out a new hack around this, some are reporting that the simplest way to work around the update for now is to copy some of the 10.5.5 framework files over the newer ones... or not update.


Monday, December 15, 2008

Nokia's N97 gets sized up, felt up, and photographed


You know what they say -- another day, another hands-on look at the N97. Although the folks at Mobile Review insist that this is not a formal review, they have been kind enough to post their extensive thoughts on the phone -- as well as more UI and comparison shots than you can shake a stick at. Overall, they seem to really dig the handset's design: sure, it's big (a shade larger than the iPhone), but it's well-proportioned, and doesn't seem bulky. And even though it's a slider, it doesn't have that "wobbly" feeling that sliders tend to have. Other features of note include a secondary camera that can serve as webcam and the 3.5-inch, 640 x 360-pixel screen, boasting 16 million colors, which they call "a true marvel." But that's not all! Hit the read link for thoughts on the new, improved music player, all those widgets that you crave, and comparison shots with the HTC Touch Pro, Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1, Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, and the Apple iPhone. Video after the break.




Nokia's N85 and N79 ship Stateside at long last


It feels like a good couple millennia since we first spotted these phones sporting US-friendly 3G, and now Nokia has done the unthinkable and actually released them in the States. As has become custom for Nokia around these parts, the phones aren't carrier branded or subsidized in the least, so you're looking at $550-ish for the N85 and $400-ish for the N79, depending upon the retailer. For some reason the N79 is listed as in-stock at Nokia's own store, while the N85 says "backordered," but over on Amazon.com you can nab the N85 -- with the N79 "temporarily out of stock" for whatever reason. It's a crazy, mixed-up world we live in.