News

Join The Mobile Fanatics at CES 2011 live from Las Vegas

by Timi Cantisano 01.01.2011

As 2010 has come to a close it’s time to start looking forward to the new year and what it might have to offer. Luckily, the The Mobile Fanatics will be heading to Las Vegas and covering the largest consumer electronics show, CES 2011. The show will start on January 6th and end on the 9th, with a press day on the 5th. So what can we expect from the mobile industry in 2011?

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Amazon enables Kindle book lending, share with friends who don’t have one

by Mike Macias 12.30.2010

I got my wife the Amazon Kindle 3 for Christmas this year and she absolutely loves it so far. It’s the perfect device for book lovers and a great replacement for magazines and newspapers. She’s already subscribed to a few magazines and downloaded the newest book in the Sookie Stackhouse (True Blood) series. I’ve spend a little bit of time with it and love the simplicity and how everything ‘just works’. Save my thoughts on it for another article. Today I was happy to hear the news that you can now lend your purchased books to another Kindle user.

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Nokia E7 delayed until 2011, report says

by Mike Macias 12.14.2010

As if 2010 hasn’t gone bad enough for Nokia, Reuters is reporting that the Nokia E7 is delayed until early 2011. Nokia had promised the device would arrive in stores by the end of the fourth quarter. It was speculated a month back that December 10th would be the shipping date and that was quickly shot down by Nokia employees. Many still had hope that would be the date, just in time for holiday shopping. That doesn’t look to be the case.

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Google Nexus S: The second time’s the charm?

by Timi Cantisano 12.11.2010

The Google Nexus S will be released in the United States on Dec 16 via Best Buy and in the U.K. through The Carphone Warehouse sometime after Dec 20. While the device has no doubt piqued some interest (what’s not to like about an improved Galaxy S) what I find even more interesting is Google’s approach this time around for distribution. When Google released its debut device (Nexus One) in January, it was solely available for purchase through its own website. It was sold unlocked, with contract (T-Mobile) or without and like many of Google’s projects they were attempting to change things. They wanted to create a different kind of retail environment and experience for phone purchasers. After 7 months Google decided to close their Nexus One online store with admission .....

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Nokia: Push notifications for 3rd party applications coming, API available for developers

by Mike Macias 12.08.2010

The guys over at Forum Nokia posted an article today introducing their new Notifications API for 3rd party applications on the Symbian & MeeGo platforms. It’s now available as a plug-in for the Nokia Qt SDK. This is great news for Nokia developers and Nokia owners alike. There is now a simple and streamlined way for devs to implement real push notifications in their apps without having to do too much of the leg work on their own. This will also help with memory efficiency and battery life on Nokia smartphones.

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Official YouTube application available for Nokia N8, Symbian touch devices

by Mike Macias 12.07.2010

Until now Nokia N8 and C7 owners haven’t had a decent YouTube viewing solution. With the launch of the Nokia E7 sometime this month the timing couldn’t be better. There are a few 3rd party applications I’ve tried out but nothing worth mentioning. Symbian users will be glad to hear the official YouTube app is out for the Nokia N8, C7, E7, and C6-01.

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Ovi Maps beta update: Download maps directly from phone, quietly gets USA traffic conditions

by Mike Macias 12.02.2010

The Nokia Beta Labs team has been on a roll lately and this morning they kept up the momentum. The beta version of Ovi Maps received an update bringing it to version 3.06. If you have a Symbian/Nokia smartphone and haven’t tried out the beta version you need to do it NOW. It’s much improved over the stock version that comes pre-loaded in the firmware. The reason it’s still in beta phase is because more features are being added which need to be tested by the community but I can assure you it’s stable. Besides the list of updates that I’ll show you towards the end of the article, I noticed on my way home today that traffic conditions are now available for U.S. highways like the CA-91 freeway – .....

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Opera Mobile 10.1 for Symbian goes final; brings keyboard bug fix, speed and geolocation

by Mike Macias 11.24.2010

Opera Mobile is a godsend to smartphone users. Especially for those that don’t have many options like those that have phones powered by the Symbian platform. The default Nokia browser is still years behind in terms of speed, features, and UI. Opera Mobile gives you tabbed browsing, fast page rendering, managed passwords, speed dial start page, and a beautiful user interface. Opera just released their final version of Opera Mobile for Symbian, version 10.1. By calling it “final” it means this is the most polished version they’ve ever released and there probably won’t be another update for awhile. What has been updated?

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Hulu Plus drops to $7.99 / month

by Timi Cantisano 11.17.2010

Want to catch current seasons of your favorite TV shows on the go on your Iphone, Ipad, and ITouch? iOS users will be excited to know that Hulu has discounted their Plus service to $7.99 / month. What do you get with Hulu Plus? All current season episodes, full series runs for over 90 shows, streaming to iOS, PS3, Samsung and Sony supported products, and Roku.If you are on the fence take advantage of the one week trial that Hulu offers. If you use the service chime in! If not, why? What would you pay for Hulu Plus service?

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Swype now available in Ovi Store for Nokia N8

by Mike Macias 11.12.2010

Swype has finally hit the Ovi Store today for Nokia N8 users. It’s been available for the Nokia C7 for a few weeks but the N8 version was delayed. If you follow the smartphone world and haven’t heard of Swype, you’re just not paying attention. This keyboard alternative is hugely popular in the Android community, giving another way to type besides the standard qwerty text input. Instead of touching your finger on each key, you simply ‘swipe’ your finger across the letters of the word you’re trying to spell without lifting that finger off the screen. The word prediction and auto-correct works very well right out of the box. Over time the application will learn words and patterns and become easier to use. I’ve gotten a fair amount of use .....

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The Mobile Fanatics Update: CES Las Vegas, short a staff member, sites in the network, & more

by Mike Macias 11.12.2010

This is just a quick update to tell you guys the latest news within The Mobile Fanatics network. Promise it won’t take too long! CES 2011 First line of business. The Mobile Fanatics will be live at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this January! Actually just one team member will be there, Timi Cantisano, who I trust will do an excellent job with the coverage. He just picked up a brand new video camera to capture some awesome footage of all the new devices that will be on hand and we’re working on a plan to get you all the news, announcements, photos, etc. in record time throughout the entire event. The Mobile Fanatics site is still young (launched in July) and this will be our second major .....

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