Mobile

Thu, October 08, 2009 - The unveiling of the Samsung Moment is definitely the biggest handset announcement at the Fall CTIA conference in San Diego. With an Android OS, AMOLED technology and a beefy processor, the handset definitely piqued my interest and I was curious to see how it stacked up to other Android offerings, like the HTC Hero and Motorola Cliq. Luckily, I got a chance to play with it and really liked what I saw.

Tue, October 06, 2009 - What's in a name? A few months ago, this smartphone was known as the HTC Touch Diamond 2. Now, it's called the HTC Pure ($150 with a two-year contract from AT&T). Rebranding aside, the handset improves significantly on its predecessor, the Touch Diamond, with better specs, a more sophisticated design, and the new features supported by Windows Mobile 6.5. Unfortunately, the phone lacks multimedia panache while retaining WinMo's trademark sluggishness.

Wed, September 23, 2009 - HTC's third Android OS smartphone, the HTC Hero ($180 with a two-year contract from Sprint; price as of 9/23/2009), is a giant leap forward for the company's family of Android phones, both in hardware and software. It isn't without its flaws, however: Performance can be slow, video playback is unreliable, and the touch keyboard isn't the easiest to use. Even so, the Hero is jam-packed with features, and I appreciated all of its easy customization.

Mon, September 21, 2009 - Here's a concept that business people, journalists, busy bodies and paranoids are certain to find appealing: An application for the iPhone and iPod touch that lets you explore the backgrounds of the people in your contact list. Razix Software's Contact Spy poses the question "How well do you really know who is in your contacts list?"

Tue, September 15, 2009 - Microsoft's Zune HD offers some useful and unusual features that make it compelling - for some users. But it's still not nearly as powerful as its competition from Apple.

Wed, September 09, 2009 - Behind every great point-oh release is a point-one update just waiting for its time to shine. iPhone 2.0 was a revolution for the iPhone, adding support for third-party apps, but it was arguably unusable until iPhone 2.1 ironed out most of the wrinkles. Likewise, iPhone 3.0 added its own stock of features, but it's the newly released iPhone 3.1 that's polishing its predecessor's edges while even adding some new features of its own.

Wed, September 09, 2009 - As is the tradition at its iPod-themed press briefings, Apple opened a demo area to show off the new hardware announced just minutes before at Wednesday's Rock & Roll event. As you might imagine, much of the activity centered on the area where the new iPod nano was on display. Fast though the third-generation iPod touch may be and nicely shiny the iPod shuffle SE, the fifth-generation iPod nano offers tangible--and, Apple hopes, desirable--new features.

Mon, August 17, 2009 - Netbooks have been the small wonders of the mobile world. However, some models are getting too big to be called small. We look at four of the latest.

Wed, August 12, 2009 - Bottom Line: Palm Mojo SDK 1.1 feels unfinished, but has enormous potential.

Mon, August 10, 2009 - Many factors enter in when an end user chooses between a BlackBerry, an iPhone or another device -- there's coolness, cost, cachet, ease of use, features, apps. But for IT execs deploying a fleet of mobile devices, it's all about management.