Redmonds “My Phone” now live

Barcelona was the home to Microsoft’s grand revealing of 2009 as as far as mobile services go. Sadly, while WinMo 6.5 and Windows Marketplace won’t be available until late this year, Microsoft did give us something somewhat tangible to get our hands on…My Phone.  For the cave dwellers out there who haven’t had the mail dinosaur come by today, My Phone is Microsoft’s “MobileMe-esque” cloud syncing service.  The lucky people who pre-registered and received invites got to get in on the action a wee bit early.  For a truck load of pictures painstakingly detailing every little process involved head on over to JCXP.

Source: Engadget

More Android Market details emerge

Even though we’ve already talked about a the Android Market already, more has been let loose today.  I’ll get right to the meat of the story.

• Returns are allowed!  Take that Apple!  The buyer has 24 hours to “return” the app.  So now don’t feel so bad about clicking that “buy” button and wondering if you’re really getting a good app or not.
• Purchased apps can be re-downloaded and re-installed as many times as you want.  (Only seems fair seeing as how you paid for it)
• Upgrades are to come *only* from developers
• Sexually, titillating material is not allowed under any circumstances
• Billing disputes are solely between the buyer, developer, and/or credit card company.  That can be both good and bad.  You don’t have to worry about Google sticking their nose into your business, however, you don’t have that corporate muscle behind you in case one of the developers gets a little shaddy.

All in all it’s good news for Android app buyers.  For those of you dear readers who must have the full version…you can get your fix right over here.

Source: Into Mobile, Andronica

HTC Magic (G2) announced by HTC and Vodafone

Today at MWC Vodafone and HTC jointly announced the next iteration in the “G” series line of phones. The new phone brings several refinements though nothing truly revolutionary. With such features as: *obviously Android*, a 528 MHz Qualcomm MSM7201a processor, 512MB ROM / 192MB RAM, 3.2″ (guestimate) HVGA touchscreen display, 3.2 megapixel camear w/ AF…and still no flash, quad-band EDGE and dual-band 7.2Mbps HSDPA (900/2100 MHz), WiFi 802.11b/g, GPS, Bluetooth, and a 1340 mAh battery. While the 1340 is bigger than the G1′s paltry 1150, 1340 is hardly enough for a smartphone with the web as it’s bread and butter feature. Coupled with the proc speed, G2 users will have to perform a little “magic” of their own. *I know terrible attempt at humor…shame on me*.  The rated talk time of the HTC Magic is 400 minutes for 3G and 450 minutes for GSM with standby coming in at 660 hours/420 hours respectively.  Why is there a longer standby time in 3G than lower the quality and more battery friendly GSM?  Someone please enlighten me and help rid me of my incompitence.

Source: Boy Genius

Nvidia Tegra in pictures!

Engadget was lucky enough to get some hands (and eyes) on time with Nvidia’s Tegra platform. At MWC Nvidia had a proof of concept device connected to a large LCD and pushing 1080p TV to it without breaking a sweat. The sweet part is the claimed 10 hour battery life while doing the previously mentioned task! Awesome. They were also fortunate enough to get a glimpse of the up and coming Yulong N8 and IAC S2 Tegra APX phones.  Hop inside for a few pictures of the devices working their magic.

Why do AT&T iPhones not have MMS…they simply don’t care

A fellow iPhoner and I were discussing the differences in MMS support and rules on iPhones throughout the world. While some carriers now have MMS capability on their iPhones, AT&T here in the U.S. is still a loser without any mention of MMS coming anytime soon. Why you ask? Come inside for a response by AT&T that shows just how much they don’t care about their customers.

alternate MAC/PHY bluetooth standard promises blazing fast bluetooth transfers via WiFi!

Bluetooth is one of those nice little innovations in life that has just made it easier and more convenient. From file transfers to voice calls bluetooth has made cutting the cord possible and opened up possibilities for a vast array of options. One limiting factor of bluetooth however is the speed at which it operates. Bluetooth typically runs at a rather pokey 128kbps-723kbps meaning that while voice calls and other means of communications such as voice calls work perfectly, file transfers, especially larger ones aren’t so fun to do over bluetooth. However, that is about to change. According to the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, a new standar is coming that will allow MUCH faster connection and transfer speeds. Exactly how will this be accomplished? Simple, with the new alternate MAC/PHY standard. Reportedly to be officialy unveiled this April, the new standard works by at first pairing like normal bluetooth pairings operate, then it hands over the transferring task to the WiFi layer of whatever device your using which allows your “bluetooth” transfers to move at a brisk 54Mbps! Once said transfer is complete it hands the reins back to the bluetooth controller. It really is quite simple and is surprising no one has though of this or implemented it yet. Whatever the case may be for the delay, one thing for certain is that it’s definitely cool! Oh and the best part, you’re current device may already support it as a simple software patch can allow many current devices to take advantage of the alternate MAC/PHY standard as their hardware already supports it! Neat! For a quick recap, you’ll be able to wirelessly bulk sychronize music between PC and mobile devices, download in bulk photos to a printer, and send video files to and from device to desktop! April, please come quickly.

Source: Gizmodo, Mobile Marketing Watch *pic*

Liberty saves Sirius XM from certain death…for now

Sirius XM satellite radio lovers will be pleased to know that you can go on listening to your mostly commerical free extraterrestrial tunes. Sirius XM has borrowed a rather considerable chunk of money to the tune of $530 million from Liberty Media in order to stay afloat in the days of dwindling subscribers and fleeting cash piles. It doesn’t come without a few stipulations however as when all is said and done, Liberty will own a whopping 40% of the satilite radio company. The load will come in the form of two bulk payments, the first is a $280 million that will allow Sirius to pay their current $172 million that they currently owe (ouch) while the second load will be a $150 million loan to XM. On top of that Liberty has already commited to buying up $100 million in XM’s debt…that’s mighty generous of them. After all of the cold hard cash is done exchanging hands and the two loan phases are completed, Sirius will give Liberty an aggregate 12.5 million shares of their preferred stock which will be able to be converted into the 40% stake in the company that was promised to them. All of this doesn’t come with the often mentioned “attached strings” as SiriusXM will have to deal with a pretty hefty 15% interest rate. The final stipulation will also include Liberty’s John Malone joining Sirius XM’s board. So satellite listeners, you can breather a sigh of relief for now and keep rockin’ out for a little while longer.

Source: Alley Insider, Digital Journal *pic*