iPhone app for car buyers

A new iPhone application that allows users to buy, sell and rent cars with ease has been launched.

The app, named Teck Wei, is a collaboration between ST701, Singapore Press Holdings’ e-marketplace, and Teck Wei, a local car dealer.

It has since saw its first customer, Mr Charles Quek, a 32-year-old SAF personnel.

He bought his car using the app and was “pleasantly surprised that all the information I needed was at my fingertips”.

“The best part was that the data was available wherever I went, a feature bulky laptops lacked,” he commented.

Mr Arthur Ong, director of Teck Wei, said that this initiative was spurred on by the fact that smartphones were prevalent in Singapore.

Said Mr Ong, “It’s easy to connect with people over the user interface, games and downloadable applications.”

Mobile applications for vehicles, with the exception of government portals, are currently still new in the market, and has potential to grow.

SPH’s online portal AsiaOne has also launched iPhone apps.

Users can download the iPhone app to get updates from up to 11 news and lifestyle categories while on the go.

AsiaOne’s food website, SoShiok.com has an iPhone app that gives users easy access to authoritative food reviews, recipes and a dining guide.

a1admin@sph.com.sg

 

Japanese company invents hot-pot phone-charger: Just add fire

Following the recent disaster in Northern Japan. which was severely damaged by earthquakes and the resulting tsunami, one company has created a new (but old) way to charge your phone- with fire.

The Hatsuden-Nabe thermo-electric cookpot uses the energy from a boiling water pot to charge devices through a USB port, which is then compatible with a wide range of portable devices- and most mobile phones.

TES NewEnergy, based in Osaka, began selling the pot-charger this month for 24,150Y (£186) where it hopes to plug the gap in places lacking (or with erratic) power grids.

The pot has thermoelectric strips which generate electricity based on temperature differences between the 100-degree water and the 550-degree pot.

Chief executive Kazuhiro Fujita said it was the recent disaster that lead to the thermo-electric cookpot: "when I saw the TV footage of the quake victims making a fire to keep themselves warm, I came up with the idea of helping them to charge their mobile phones at the same time."

The device takes three to five hours to charge an iPhone, with the addition of hot water for cooking.

"unlike a solar power generator, our pot can be used regardless of time of day and weather while its small size allows people to easily carry it in a bag in case of evacuation," said the co-developer Ryoji Funahashi.

The company says the pot is aimed primarily at emergency situations and outdoor activities, but could develop a huge following in developing countries.

"There are many places around the world that lack the electric power supply for charging mobile phones," Fujita said. "In some African countries, for example, it's a bother for people to walk to places where they can charge mobile phones. we would like to offer our invention to those people."

Compared to Orange’s sound-absorbing, T-shirt-based phone-charger, it’s a very different phone charger for a very different situation.

Via: Economic Times

LG Revolution review

“4G” can mean a lot of things these days. for some carriers, it started out as marketing speak that did little beyond confusing customers. for others, 4G represents a next-generation network that might help ease the strain of a new breed of data-hungry smartphone users that have brought a nationwide 3G network to its knees. but while certain carriers were busy lobbying the International Telecommunications Union or launching crafty marketing campaigns, Verizon Wireless launched the fastest cellular network U.S. consumers have ever seen. on may 26th, Verizon released the LG Revolution and gave its subscribers their third 4G smartphone option. Does LG’s first 4G LTE phone address the shortcomings of Verizon Wireless’ earlier offerings? Read on for the full review.

Reviewing Froyo phones isn’t getting any easier thanks to the countless offerings that have launched over the past year. While Google has since released two new versions of Android, Gingerbread and Honeycomb, new Froyo devices are still being pushed out to market more than one year following the build’s unveiling at Google I/O in may 2010. there is a reason for this, of course: building phone software is expensive.

Android might be free and open source, but R&D, engineering and testing are most certainly not free. Manufacturers like LG, HTC and others used Froyo as a base when building their custom UIs and making other tweaks to the Android OS. To carry these designs forward to new builds of the Android OS is a very costly and time-consuming process. after the major investment made in Froyo, it seems as though cell phone makers have slowed down the development cycle with Gingerbread, especially with Google’s next major version of Android — Ice Cream Sandwich — looming on the horizon. This will be the build that unifies tablets and smartphones, merging the best of Honeycomb and Gingerbread into a single universal OS. Manufacturers have likely already begun porting their respective UIs to Ice Cream Sandwich, so devoting time and resources to Gingerbread is a double-edged sword.

LG’s Optimus UI on top of Froyo is tricky business. on one hand, it does its job fairly well and provides several nifty widgets that can be placed on any of the phone’s seven home screens. on the other hand, it often reads like a cheap, cartoony Sense UI knock-off. the app icons within the Optimus UI in particular are a bit too bright and cheery for me, and the stylized widgets are also not to my taste. To be clear, this is a cosmetic qualm and the issue certainly doesn’t impact function.

LG has included widgets that will take care of just about any need the typical smartphone user might have — from checking the time and weather to controlling music playback or viewing live stock quotes — and there are plenty of third-party widget options to fill in the blanks. the utility is definitely there, but styling is still an important factor that should be considered; this is a gadget you’ll potentially be looking at day in and day out for years to come. As far as my taste goes, I would place LG’s Optimus UI in between Samsung’s TouchWiz and HTC’s Sense, which still wears the crown by a long shot.

Where function is concerned, the LG Revolution can definitely keep up with the bulk of modern Android smartphones currently on the market. It doesn’t have a dual-core Tegra 2 processor, but its 1GHz Snapdragon CPU has yet to give me any real problems during typical usage. I did find that it slowed a bit under extremely heavy strain, but this is expected of any Android device at this point due to the free rein developers have with background processes. again, however, bogging is most definitely the exception to the rule with LG’s Revolution, and most functions free of any real stuttering. there is some UI slowness at times, but this is an issue with Android and it can be seen even on the fastest dual-core smartphones on the market today.

Verizon Wireless users will be excited by the fact that data continues to come and go during voice calls, though the calls themselves will not be overly exciting. Call quality is mediocre at best, though the ear speaker volume is more than sufficient. I found the audio quality with speakerphone enabled to be sub par, and the distortion was simply unbearable with the volume turned up above approximately 60%. Callers on the other end of the phone weren’t impressed with call quality either, so I would definitely recommend investing in a decent Bluetooth headset if you intend to pick up a Revolution.

When it comes to build quality, LG is hit or miss. Some of its devices feel like cheap toys that climbed out of the bottom of a cereal box, while others — like the G-Slate tablet, for example — feature top-notch materials and a solid build that can rival any device on the market. Thankfully, the Revolution falls into the latter of those two categories. the phone is a bit hefty at 6.06 ounces, but I like a phone that has a substantial feel. the front of the device is smooth glass that is noticeably devoid of an oleophobic coating, the bezel is a hard black plastic that feels very solid, and the back sports a smooth, slightly rubbery feel that greets the hand perfectly.

The top of the Revolution is home to a power/lock button and a 3.5-millimeter audio jack, and the bottom of the phone sports only a microphone. the left side features a covered microUSB port for charging and connectivity to a PC, while the right side is home to a volume rocker and an HDMI-out port.

The back of the phone features a second microphone for noise cancellation, which is accompanied by a black chrome strip down the center of the device. This strip holds LG, Verizon and “4G LTE” logos along with a 5-megapixel camera and an LED flash. a second camera is located on the face of the phone to facilitate video chats, and the four standard capacitive Android buttons are located beneath the display.

LG’s Revolution sports a 5-megapixel camera while the HTC ThunderBolt and Samsung DROID Charge feature 8-megapixel shooters. Anyone who owns a camera phone can tell you megapixels mean precious little in terms of the quality of the resulting images — I would take the 5-megapixel camera from Apple’s iPhone 4 or even 2-year-old Nokia smartphones like the N82 or N95 ahead of any currently available 8-megapixel cell phone camera. in the case of the Revolution, the images captured by its camera are at least on par with the ThunderBolt and DROID Charge, if not marginally more clear. Low light images are pretty bad, as they are with 99% of camera phones, but the Revolution’s camera performed quite well in daylight and in well lit rooms.

Speed, speed, speed. the biggest benefit of the LG Revolution over the majority of smartphones on the market is undoubtedly the 4G LTE network behind it. I regularly saw data speeds between 10 and 13Mbps down and 5Mbps or more up. Latency generally fell between 65 and 80 milliseconds, which is also quite impressive for a mobile network, especially considering latency was very consistent. This performance is far better than land-based broadband service from many ISPs. in fact, it’s even better than services offered by some of the country’s top Internet providers. I use Time Warner Cable, for example, and while my download speeds of up to 30Mbps far exceed Verizon Wireless’ LTE, my real-world tests of Verizon’s 4G upload speeds were over 10 times faster than by cable Internet, which is capped at a laughable 500Kbps.

What am I supposed to do with all that speed? good question. Having access to this kind of speed on a mobile phone has limited utility in the real world for the time being. It can still definitely come in handy, however. the LG Revolution ships with a Netflix app that I’ve not yet been able to trip up a single time. I have started to stream movies while downloading giant email attachments, for example, and I couldn’t even get the Netflix app to choke for a fraction of a second. there is also a YouTube app, a link to download Bitbop, Slacker Radio, a link to download Blockbuster’s app, a link to download Rhapsody and several V Cast media apps on the device, just begging users to stream as much media as possible.

Then there’s the mobile hotspot function, of course, which supports up to eight concurrent connections while covered by 4G. here is a test I performed yesterday evening with a MacBook Air tethered to the LG Revolution via the integrated mobile hotspot feature:

“Faster than 88% of US.” enough said.

Of course don’t expect the mobile hotspot feature to take you very far unless you have a charger and an outlet near by. also, I found that it sometimes took me quite some a while before I was able to move data once connected to the Revolution via Wi-Fi. even while I could send and receive data on the phone itself, connected devices such as my laptop, a Galaxy Tab 10.1 and a BlackBerry PlayBook were unable to send or receive data until they were connected for about 90 seconds. Then, other times, I was able to connect to the Internet just fine within a few seconds of negotiating an IP address.

Just as I would place the Optimus UI between HTC and Samsung’s competitive offerings, battery size is another area where the LG falls squarely in between HTC and Samsung — the revolution’s 1,500 mAh battery sits directly between the ThunderBolt’s 1,400 mAh battery and the DROID Charge’s 1,600 mAh offering. To the end user, this hardly matters. What does matter, however, is a smartphone’s ability to manage battery life and perform its various functions without leaving the user worried about having his or her phone die. in this regard, the LG Revolution fails miserably.

With 4G enabled, I could barely get the Revolution to idle for a full day without running out of juice. with regular usage, the phone would cough and sputter by the early afternoon and with heavy usage, I was lucky to get a few hours out of the Revolution. in a day and age where people rely on their smartphones more than ever, this is simply unacceptable.

For reasons unknown, Verizon and LG have chosen not to give users a simple way to enable and disable 4G LTE. I can understand that 4G is novel for Verizon and it wants users to bask in the glow of its blistering data speeds, but when that glow only lasts a few short hours per charge, common sense needs to be exercised. I use a third-party app called “LTE Switch” to enable and disable LTE on my Revolution review unit, and it works like a charm. the device needs to reboot every time you switch LTE on or off, but I was able to get just about a full day of usage out of the phone when I disabled LTE often. I shed a tear when subsequent speed tests rang up at below 1Mbps down, but whenever I needed a boost I just fired up LTE and let the Revolution soar.

My only other major issue with this smartphone is the display. the giant 4.3-inch display consumers can’t seem to get enough of on Android phones just so happens to be my least favorite thing about the Revolution’s hardware. It’s bad. the size is great, the backlighting is sufficiently bright, the resolution is decent at a now-baseline 480 x 800 pixels… but the panel itself just doesn’t do it for me. the viewing angle is terrible, colors are very washed out and graphics just don’t pop compared to more modern displays.

Also — and this may be an issue with the UI as much as it is with the screen — color gradients are particularly terrible on the Revolution’s display. on a better screen like one of Samsung’s offerings or Apple’s Retina Display, colors fade very smoothly from one to the next on UI elements, and this really enhances the look of the graphics. on the Revolution, this effect cannot be pulled off. Gradients that fade from black to dark gray, for example, render as horizontal or vertical bars that are aligned in progressively lighter colors. the transition is not smooth and seamless, as it should be on a modern smartphone display.

Every time we mention Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network here on BGR, we write about how ridiculously fast it is compared to the competition. At this point in time, it really has no rival. Those looking for a new smartphone who value blazing fast data speeds above all else really have three choices, and they’re all Verizon phones. LG’s Revolution is the newest of the three, and while it can’t match the gorgeous Super AMOLED plus display on the DROID Charge or the sleek and stylish Sense UI on the ThunderBolt, it easily features my favorite design and build of the three devices. the Revolution also features the same Android 2.2 OS as the Charge and the ThunderBolt, so it is essentially just as capable.

The trade off with an LTE phone, of course, is battery life. There’s just no way to sugar coat it… battery life on the LG Revolution is abysmal, just like it is on the ThunderBolt and the DROID Charge. Those seriously considering any of these smartphones should be prepared to purchase several additional wall chargers and a car charger in order to have access to power as often as possible.

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Mango Phone: a Peach of a Late Bloomer

Katherine Boehret, on Tuesday June 21, 2011, 5:56 pm EDT

It seems, at long last, that Microsoft has a viable smartphone contender. The bad news is it won’t be available until this fall.

Nevertheless, I got my hands on an early version of Microsoft’s phone, which runs Mango—the code name for the company’s significant software update for Windows Phone devices. For the past week, I’ve been using Mango on the Samsung Focus, a $50 (after contract) smartphone from AT&T.

The operating system is a mix of elegance and whimsy that’s a treat to use. Mango is sprinkled with delightful animations on nearly every screen. these include icons that swing out like tiny doors when selected, and little dots that race across the top of the screen when something is loading onto the phone. The result is a playful yet functional interface.

On the downside, the Windows Marketplace currently offers only 18,000 apps for downloading to the device, compared with the 200,000 plus apps from Google’s Android Market and 425,000 plus from Apple’s App Store. And I had a lot of trouble getting used to typing with my phone’s on-screen keyboard.

Some Adjustment Needed

A bit of mental adjusting is required since Mango operates differently than most smartphones: Actions focus on people rather than apps. This means instead of opening up the Facebook or Twitter apps to look at a friend’s status updates, photos or tweets, Mango users can open one People Hub to look up a name and see a compilation of the friend’s activities in Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Windows Live. The Pictures Hub contains photos of people from social networks. Chats with friends focus on the conversation rather than how the conversation is conducted. so if I start talking to a friend on a PC using Windows Live Messenger and leave my desk, I can keep chatting on my Windows Phone in Facebook Chat or switch to text messaging.

Though unfamiliar at first, Mango’s organizational system made sense after using it for a week. after all, I didn’t need to pay attention to where someone posted a photo or new update; the phone organized all the information on that person for me.

The first feature anyone using a Mango phone will notice is its home screen, which Microsoft calls the Start screen in a nod to its Windows’ PC roots. This screen is filled with live tiles—small squares that dynamically change to reflect new activity in whatever program they represent. Email tiles display the number of new emails. You can “pin” to the Start screen tiles representing people. these tiles reflect updates like new photos people posted, check-ins at locations, missed calls, voicemails, text messages, social-network updates, instant messages and emails.

The tiles in Mango are an improvement over the first version of Windows Phone, though they could stand to be even more insightful. A more helpful display in the email tile might show the newest email’s subject line or sender’s name.

The original Windows Phone didn’t allow people to multitask with third-party apps, and Mango fixes that. By holding down the back button, cards representing each opened app are displayed. I quickly flicked through them to jump from one opened app to another.

Mango also runs a full version of Internet Explorer 9 for satisfying Web browsing.

Hands-Free Feature

One cool feature is Mango’s hands-free messaging and speech capability. People can hear incoming texts read aloud to them via Bluetooth headsets or through the phone’s speakers. they can speak and their words will be translated into a text message. Other voice operations include searching the Web and opening apps, as well as more common tasks like initiating phone calls.

I tried this by saying, “Find coffee in Washington, D.C.,” which returned the plethora of coffee shops around town—most of which are Starbucks. Results included three categories: Local, showing nearby places that sell coffee pinpointed on Bing Maps; Images, showing related photos of coffee mugs; and Web, which displayed news that included the two phrases together. I tried a few harder tests and got surprisingly good results each time. as the phone interprets what is spoken, a clever illustration of jumbled letters dances around on the screen, along with sound effects.

App Connect is a feature that suggests apps related to Bing searches. when I searched for “theater in Capitol Hill,” an icon representing the Yelp app showed up at the top of my search-result list since it may offer better insight on theaters. Other examples could include OpenTable and Fandango. With one click, I downloaded this app to my phone; if I already had the suggested app, I could launch it right from here.

A tile representing any individual person or group can be pinned to the Start screen for quick notifications of these people’s activities. likewise, map search results can be pinned to the Start screen for fast access; I pinned a search result for a favorite D.C. restaurant called Founding Farmers to my Start screen, and this kept a map and reviews of the restaurant within one click of when I turned on the phone.Other Mango features, such as its integration with Microsoft’s Zune software for music, videos and radio, all worked without a hitch.

I also used the device’s integration with Microsoft’s Office 365, a Web-based collaboration services targeted at small businesses. I opened and edited a slideshow presentation, and it synced my changes back into the cloud so others could see them. Mango’s linked inboxes let people group multiple email inboxes together, like linking Gmail and Hotmail for all of their personal emails.

Photos captured on the Mango phone can be edited right on the device with a tap on Auto-fix. Photos from around the Web can be saved to the phone in one step, a feature I took advantage of when I used someone else’s Facebook photo as my wallpaper.

Though Microsoft isn’t announcing pricing for this or other Mango-specific hardware designs yet, current Windows Phone models range in price from $50 to $150 (with contracts) and will all be capable of running this updated software.

With the help of Mango, the Windows Phone has grown up into a device that can be considered a real competitor for Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android devices, which are expected to get updated operating systems this fall. We’ll have to wait until then to see how Mango stacks up to its rivals’ new software.

Write to Katherine Boehret at katie.boehret@wsj.com.

5 Tips For Summerproofing Your Gadgets

Summer’s here! We can finally shake off the chilly blahs and break out the short pants and sandals. Of course, that also means we aren’t sporting our big coats/jackets with all those nifty pockets either. And that means some of us don’t have any secure place to stash our gadgets.

The most die-hard outdoorspeople may want to invest in some summer-friendly devices, like a cool camera. (For a list of the best cams for outdoor vacation pics, check out our post.) The rest of us, however, may simply want to know how to summerproof the gadgets we already have. So here’s my list of top 5 tips. take a look and see if they match yours.

1- Straps are handy. Not sure why, but somewhere along the line, many cell phone manufacturers decided that handstraps were unnecessary. And so, despite the fact that expensive smartphones are all the rage, we inexplicably have fewer ways to secure these precious gadgets in our hands.

In the winter, we have all those nifty pockets, but in the summer, we often end up carting tech around by our mitts. That’s pretty much what happened a couple of days ago, when I dropped my iPhone on a sidewalk.

Yikes! maybe if I’d had a Voi! Interim iPhone case with built-in strap, this wouldn’t have happened. There are also separate straps that can be rigged either directly to certain cell phones or tethered to a separate case, like this little Android cutie below.

Not only can these prevent that cellie from taking a tumble, but considering the rise of smartphone snatch-and-grabs lately, a strap could also be a visual deterrent. Not a bad idea if you’re planning on hanging out a lot in public on those warm summer nights.

2- The right protection for the job. Neoprene arm-bound gadget sleeves are a must-have for runners, hikers and other active people. they can secure a phone or MP3 player, while still allowing touchscreen functionality. And they often have wicking properties, so keep sweat and other moisture from entering the hardware. The Adidas miCoach Armband from Griffin was made with the iPhone in mind, but any device with similar dimensions would be fine. There are others available too, like the one pictured below, which is designed for the Incredible and available on Amazon.

If you’re into biking, hiking or roughsport activity, and you know you’ll have gadgets on you, then you need a superior level of protection. Ballistic offers extreme protection for smartphones and tablets, as does Otterbox, which also has a line of waterproof cases, for the water babies among us. Not all waterproof cases are the same — some are hardshells, like the Otterbox, while others are more like plastic sleeves, so pick the accessory that works for the activity.

3- Bring some “juice” with you. Who doesn’t know the irritation of being on the go when a camera, camcorder, phone, or other gadget runs out of juice? That’s always when the best photo op seems to happen, just when the device dies. Don’t let it happen to you. If you travel lightly with just a mobile phone, then consider a rechargeable case. Otherwise, think about getting an external battery that can power various devices, like the XPal 4000. It’s an external battery with various adapters to fit many different kinds of devices.

4- More power for the road. a USB car adaptor is a handy product to have in the car, particularly if you’re driving around. And they’re pretty inexpensive too, with some costing less than $10. (Suggestion: If you go for one of these, snag the kind with different ports, for more flexibility in what you can power. This is the one I’ve been using for the last six months (at right), and it has not only held up well, but I have one accessory that can’t be powered by USB, only the wall or cigarette adapter, and this handles it beautifully.)

5- The best tip is the cheapest. There are a lot of products out there designed for active people and their on-the-go needs; the ones mentioned above are just a few examples at different price points. but the best all-time tip I have costs almost nothing: Raid the pantry and grab some Ziploc baggies.

It’s facepalm-worthy, I know, and it’s amazing how many people don’t think of this. Ziploc bags are essential for anyone going on a boat, a beach, or a dusty trail or road. And capacitive touch screens work right through them, so there’s no need to take a tablet, MP3 player, eReader or smartphone out of the pouch at all (except for any calling features). If you have a “go” bag, keep a few spares in there. they take up no space, have no weight, and chances are, they’ll come in handy for a spur-of-the-moment need.

To wrap this up, I’m going to add a few other bits of related advice. Hope you find them useful:

  • Emergency: Wet gadget. D’oh! You accidentally got that device wet. now what? Well for starters, don’t panic. And definitely don’t attempt to turn it on. In fact, shut it down immediately and, if you can, take out the battery so there’s no chance something could short circuit in there. When you get home, put it in a container of dry rice and leave it there until it dries. (The rice will help absorb the moisture.) Don’t turn it back on until you are positive that every last bit of wetness is gone.
  • Emergency: Fashion. a smartphone with a front-facing cam makes a pretty handy travel mirror. So if you had to rush to meet friends on the boardwalk, you can whip out your cellie and make sure you’re still rocking some style. Likewise, if you’re toting a camcorder with a flip-out viewfinder.
  • Emergency: Hunger. I have one word for you: Zagat. Nothing’s worse than being hungry in an unfamiliar area, and not knowing where to go. sure, there are free apps with crowdsourced reviews, but frankly, I’d rather trust professional reviewers than a stranger who may consider Spaghettios and Ramen Noodles fine cuisine. Then again, Zagat’s the most handy in larger cities, so if you spend most of your time in remote areas or smaller towns, then there’s always Yelp or Open Table. these are available as apps on every major platform.

Do you summerproof your gadgets? got any words of wisdom or other tips? Share them in the section below.

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The 411: Free messaging from across the pond

Welcome to the 411, my column answering all your questions about cell phones and cell phone accessories. I receive plenty of questions about these subjects via e-mail, so I figured many of you might have similar queries, too. at times, I might solicit answers from readers if I’m stumped. Send your questions and comments to me at nicole.lee@cnet.com. If you prefer to remain anonymous, let me know in the e-mail.

iOS5's new iMessage system provides an affordable way to send messages to other iOS5 devices.

(Credit:Screenshot by Josh Lowensohn/CNET)

Question: My daughter is due for a new phone. she will be spending most of next year in London and would like to be able to text for free or cheap to the US (BBM?). most of her key people are on BBM but many are switching to iPhones. What do you suggest is the best option for her? A new Blackberry? Unlocked GSM phone purchased in US with pay-as-you-go SIM cards? Verizon or AT&TiPhone with international plan? Purchase in UK? — Teresa, via e-mail

It’s a little bit of a difficult question because, as you say, her friends are in transition between BlackBerrys and iPhones. but if you’re absolutely confident that most of her associates will be on iPhones, I would go ahead and get an iPhone for her too. hopefully by the time she leaves for London iOS 5 will have landed, and she can start using iMessage with her friends–iMessage is essentially the iOS version of BBM. of course, there are also third-party iPhone apps for free messaging, like Ping and TextPlus, so you could try looking into those too.

However, if she’s only going to be spending a year abroad, I might just suggest getting a cheap U.K. phone and going for an affordable texting plan; unfortunately, I don’t know a lot about U.K. providers, so hopefully our readers can provide some answers. the alternative is to get the unlocked iPhone (a big chunk of change!), and get a SIM card in the U.K. I probably wouldn’t get a Verizon or AT&T iPhone due to the exorbitant international rates.

If any of our readers have other answers, let us know in the comments!

I’m a fan ofAndroid, but I want a phone with a touch screen plus a keyboard. There doesn’t seem to be many of those, especially for T-Mobile. any suggestions? — Elan, via e-mail

T-Mobile does have a few options if you want a touch-screen Android phone with a keyboard. they include the T-Mobile MyTouch 3G Slide, the Motorola Cliq 2, and the T-Mobile Sidekick 4G. the MyTouch 3G Slide is a popular option, and we’ve given it a high rating, so check that out to see if you want it. Other carriers have their own options too, like the Motorola Droid Pro from Verizon Wireless and the Samsung Replenish from Sprint, but since you seem to like T-Mobile, the MyTouch 3G is a good choice.

I have a follow-up question to the one about the unlocked phones with prepaid plans. could I buy an unlocked Sidekick 4G, then slide in a prepaid T-Mobile unlimited 4G prepaid SIM card and use it? I’m 15 so I want a full keyboard, but I want to stick with Android. I’m afraid that the Sidekick will become obsolete in two years. thank you for your time. — Luke, via e-mail

The short answer is yes, you’ll be able to use an unlocked phone with the prepaid T-Mobile SIM. As I said in answer to the question above, though, you don’t need to go with the Sidekick if you want a T-Mobile phone with a keyboard; there are at least a couple of other options. I don’t necessarily share your view that the Sidekick will be obsolete–with Android as its operating system, I think the Sidekick has a decent future ahead for smartphone newcomers.

LinkedIn IPO Demand: Possible Irrational Valuation

LinkedIn IPO demand could be very strong tomorrow, but a possible irrational valuation of $45 per share could stall things a little. This would value the social networking company at $4 billion, that’s an increase of $10 a share. However, the early signs show that investors will pay that price.

WSJ say that this is one of the most anticipated initial public offerings in years, but they cannot help but think how much interest would be generated if Facebook had already had their IPO? LinkedIn only had a revenue of $243 million in 2010, but only managed to make a profit of $15.4 million.

The worrying thing that investors will have to take into consideration is the fact that LinkedIn is not expected to make much of a profit this year, as they have already made plans to invest heavily into the technology to help its growth. we can be certain that the likes of Facebook and Groupon will be watching tomorrows IPO very carefully, just to see if investors are prepared to buy into such a business. what makes LinkedIn different to other social networking services is the fact that most of their subscribers are somewhat wealthy, as they are mostly business types. This means that they will be more beneficial to the advertisers – something that investors will consider.

Do you think that LinkedIn is worth $4 billion? will the IPO prove popular?

Top 5 Must Have iPhone 4 Accessories

Everybody knows Apple iPhone 4’s mobile phone is so famous and trendy nowadays. Almost everyone wish to own an iPhone 4 and you probably saw from the news that a lot of peoples queuing up in front of the Apple’s retailer store overnight just before a day Apple release the iPhone 4. You can see this situation all over the world which have had released the iPhone 4 especially in the US, China, Malaysia and Singapore. well, iPhone 4 is not a cheap mobile phone, so every owner will certainly treat it like a precious. So, let us see which five must have accessories for your precious.

Screen Protector

The iPhone 4 come with the high definitions Retina display glass which is made from the same materials used in the helicopters, and it is chemically strengthened and harden to make the iPhone 4 more scratch resistant, durable and oil resistant. The oil-resistant coating is help to keep the iPhone’s screen clean but it will reflect the light especially under direct sunlight. Basically there are two types of screen protector in the market, one is the normal shinny screen protector and the other one is the anti-glare screen protector. well, both of them have the same main function which is protect the iPhone’s screen. as describe above, the original iPhone 4’s screen already made from harder materials and it supposedly will not scratch but who will guarantee it at the end of the day. we all paid so expensively to get this baby and of course we shall take good care of it. So, this screen protector will act as the double safety measure for the iPhone’s screen. since the anti-glare screen protector will overcome the light reflection problem, why they still selling the shinny one? well, as an iPhone owner, I believe that the anti-glare type screen protector will blocked some (very little) of the colorful light brightness from it whereby the shinny type one will not. Thus, the iPhone’s screen with shinny screen protector should have better vividness. however, I consider it is a minor issue for the anti-glare screen protector compare to having the light reflection.

iPhone 4 Case and Pouch

The iPhone 4’s case or pouch is another most important must have accessory because I found out the back cover of the iPhone can get scratch easily. The scratch is un-repairable and I felt hurt. So, there are two ways to safe your precious from scratches, it is either using the phone case or pouch. There are a lot of different cases and pouches in the market and it will surprise your eyes. Generally, the iPhone 4’s cases are made from PVC, silicon, rubber, metal and etc. while the iPhone 4’s pouches are normally made from either leather or PU (Polyurethane – a common type of plastic). Every type of materials will have different designs as well and hence give the iPhone owner a wide variety of choosing the cases and pouches.

Bluetooth Headset

Apple is included the wired stereo headset in iPhone 4’s retail box but not the Bluetooth headset. The main functions of the iPhone 4 are making/receiving calls and as multimedia players. In this century, most of the countries have the regulation which requires their peoples to use the hand free instrument while driving automobile. Thus, the Bluetooth headset plays the important role while driving, and the Bluetooth technology giving the users freedom and convenient in terms of wireless connection. I strongly believe everyone should know the benefits of the Bluetooth technology here. Besides using the Bluetooth headset for calls, it is also very convenient while listening to the music especially during exercising.

In-car or Travel Charger

Other than the wired stereo headset, the original iPhone 4’s box shall included one unit of charger (USB cable and power socket) which mean you can only charge the iPhone if there is a personal computer, USB power source or electrical power source socket. So, the in-car charger is the savior for the busy or business personnel which you can always charge the iPhone while travelling. hence with these three power adapters’ availabilities, I can’t understand why the iPhone still have no power. anyway, you can buy an additional travel charger for your iPhone as well if you are travelling often or you wish to keep one in the office and one in the house to avoid forgetting of bringing the charger.

Speaker

Additional speaker is a good accessory for those music lovers. if you think the built-in speaker is not loud or good enough for you, then the docking or Bluetooth speaker shall be your choice. There are many branded speakers that can satisfy your needs. For example: iHome, Altec Lansing, Creative, Bose, Logitech, Yamaha and many more. Further more; some of the speakers are so fantastic to decorate the house.

Lastly, there are still a lot of good stuffs for the iPhone 4 like the docking adapter, multimedia cables, in-car holder set, travel battery pack and many more. well, the accessories might not be so useful but it is worth to have a look and it will astonish you.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kit_Chong

Powermat – How Does the Powermat Wireless Charger Work?

PowerMat is an exciting new wireless charging technology. It was first demonstrated in 2008 and early 2009 and is now available to buy for the home and office.

So what is PowerMat? It is a small device that uses wireless charging to charge your most important gadgets like cellphones (including the iPhone and Blackberry), video games (including the Nintendo DS), and iPod without you having to connect them to a charger or plug them into the wall. the PowerMat itself is, of course, plugged into the wall and connected to mains electricity by a wire, but from then on everything is wireless. You drop your device onto the PowerMat and it gets charged wirelessly, without you having to do anything.

So how does PowerMat wireless charging work?

The technology behind PowerMat is known as ‘electromagnetic induction’ (or just ‘magnetic induction’). Michael Faraday is generally credited with the discovery of the induction phenomenon in 1831 though others were working in the same field at the time.

This electromagnetic induction is officially defined as “the production of voltage across a conductor situated in a changing magnetic field or a conductor moving through a stationary magnetic field” but that does not mean very much to most people. a better way to put it is that it is a means to transfer electrical power using a shared magnetic field.

Consider this arrangement:

1. Put electrical power into a coil of wire

2. this will produce a magnetic field around the coil that affects any metal within the field (as demonstrated by Faraday)

3. Change the field quickly over time and an electric current will be generated in the metal

So what is happening when a PowerMat is charging is that it is generating rapidly changing magnetic fields above the mat; these are converted by receivers on any devices on the mat into electrical power, and so these devices get charged. the magnetic fields and electrical currents are, of course, very small and so they can work on handheld gadgets without being a health risk to humans.

The same technology is used in a huge number of other devices and systems including generators, motors, transformers, some cookers, induction welding, and so on. perhaps to most people the best known example is in rechargeable electric toothbrushes, where they are familiar with dropping a toothbrush into a ‘dock’ daily to keep it charged. however they may be unaware that similar systems are also operating in electric guitar pickups, video tape players, and computer graphics tablets.

PowerMat is currently the best known example of a wireless charger but this technology is developing rapidly and soon we will see it in many other applications and products. the PowerMat company itself is planning to extend the technology and feature it in kitchen counters, walls, and other surfaces around the home. one day this technology may be used everywhere and be invisible, it will be so commonplace. Finally we will be freed of the endless tangle of chargers and wires around the home.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Trevor_L_John,_Ph.D.

Tools Needed to Build an iPhone App

Smartphones have revolutionized the way we communicate with one another. with Apps being introduced in to the market every day, there is opportunity at every corner to serve untapped niches with new Apps. One of the best parts of creating an iPhone App is that it is relatively cheap to get started. you will, however, need a few tools to begin.

An Apple Smartphone

Depending on what platform you would like to create your apps on, you will need that device to truly understand what is possible and to test your App. for example, if you are creating an iPhone app, you will need an iPhone or even an iPod touch that is capable of running Apps. it is important to note that Android Apps cannot run on iPhone apps, so make sure your device can run whatever App you are trying to create.

Admission in to the iOS Developer Program

This yearly fee is paid to Apple for $99. This is absolutely required in order to bring your App in to the market. it is also a good tool to use to get you introduced in to App creation because of the depth of documentation and training materials they provide. furthermore, they provide further tools to actually start developing.

iOS SDK

This is the complete toolset available on the Apple site to begin working on iPhone Apps. This is the complete package that you are provided after registering in the Developer Program.

Mac Computer

Unfortunately, there is no way to run the software and tools above without using a Mac computer. Therefore, in order to code using Xcode and the iPhone SDK, you will need an Intel Mac-based computer to run this software.

Non-Disclosure Agreement

If you’d like to outsource your development, you will need a Non-Disclosure Agreement and funds to hire a freelance programmer or a technical firm. A Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) is used so that firms, freelance programmers, or even friends do not steal your idea and claim it for their own. This is especially important if you have a new and unique idea that you’d like to bring to the market.

Patience

If you are trying to learn how to program on your own, you will need patience. it is a difficult task to learn, but once you do it is a very satisfying and rewarding skill to have.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it should be enough to get you started with building iPhone Apps.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ernest_Monyers