Later this year, Google and partners that include handset maker Motorola plan devices and features aimed at business users of mobile phones. Meantime, Nokia and Microsoft Relevant Products/Services are joining forces in their effort to take share in the lucrative market for company-friendly mobile smartphones.
Next, Microsoft said it will team up with Nokia to put the mobile versions of Microsoft’s Office applications on the Finnish phone maker's handsets.
Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies will begin working together immediately to design, develop, and market productivity applications, the companies said in a statement.
The new alliance brings together the two former foes--Microsoft’s mobile operating system competes with Symbian, the leading mobile OS, used on Nokia’s smart phones--in an attempt to fend off their mutual rivals, Apple and Research In Motion.
The Microsoft-Nokia deal will also give the Redmond, Washington, company some ammunition against Google, as the search engine behemoth has already launched free Web-based Office-like applications that directly compete with Microsoft Office.
The Microsoft mobile applications will first be available on Nokia's E-series phones, a business-oriented smart phone, but will then reach to other Nokia handsets, the companies said.
Griffin has uncovered new and updated cases for the iPhone and iPod touch: the Reveal, Elan Passport Metal, FlexGrip and Elan Form with Sky Blue Trim. The Reveal case is designed for the iPhone and iPod touch, and uses a thin polycarbonate outer shell with rubber interior lining. Meant to protect against minor impacts and scratches, the case also includes a static-peel screen protector.
The Elan Passport Metal is built for the second-generation iPod touch, and features a leather folio design with micro-suede lining. A flap covers the screen, though the case is also bundled with a screen protector and a cleaning cloth.
The FlexGrip also fits the second-gen Touch, but uses hard two-tone silicone protection. Full access to ports, controls and the screen is provided, along with a raised surface to prevent the case from sliding out of a hand.
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It's been only about a month-and-a-half since RIM released the last update to Facebook for BlackBerry (and then a fix to that update just after that), and BlackBerry's maker has already come out with a more streamlined version of the popular social-networking app it co-developed with Facebook's help.
Facebook for BlackBerry 1.6 folds its status feed content, originally in its own screen, right onto the home page. The result is immediate access to view your friends' status update, and a slightly quicker way to update your own status message. The same goes for poking a friend or commenting on their photos.
In addition, the app update removes some of the hassle in the previous version of getting to your pal's Wall. Instead of having to switch to the mobile site to view it in its glory, a click to your buddy's profile picture shows you their wall within the application itself. Facebook for BlackBerry 1.6 also shows photo albums in a modified slideshow ticker format. In the past, you needed to click on each thumbnail to see the image; now you can scroll.
The final change is added support for Thai, Indonesian and Portuguese (European) languages.
Get Facebook for BlackBerry 1.6 for free on your BlackBerry (running version 4.2 of the operating system or higher) by pointing the mobile or desktop browser to www.blackberry.com/facebook.
Nokia has announced that its N86 smartphone is now shipping globally. Announced in February, the N86 is a camera phone that features an 8 megapixel autofocus camera, variable aperture for low and bright light situations, and a mechanical shutter capable of shutter speeds as fast as 1/1000th second. It also features a dual LED flash.
Users can store photos and video on 8GB of internal storage or upload content to the Ovi portal or Flickr with one click. The device's 2.6-inch QVGA OLED display will display multimedia vividly with 16 million colors.
The N86 also includes a-GPS technology and an electronic compass that gives users navigation functionality and the ability to geotag photos as they are taken.
The N86 is expected to cost 375 EUR (US$525) after taxes and subsidies.
Microsoft Makes Windows 7 Even More Attractive to Netbook Users
Diposkan oleh WebMaster / Category: Microsoft, Netbook, Windows, Windows 7Microsoft has freed up its Windows 7 Starter operating system to enable users to do more with the software than the company initially allowed, such as run more than three applications simultaneously.
Microsoft has freed up its Windows 7 Starter edition operating system to enable users to do more with the software than the company initially allowed, such as run more than three applications simultaneously.
Windows 7 Starter edition is an attractive destination for netbook users, and Microsoft would like to tap that opportunity. However, the Starter version is not the only edition of Windows 7 that is effective on netbooks, the company said.
In a blog post on the issue, Brandon LeBlanc, a Windows communications manager at Microsoft, said that when Microsoft introduced Starter editions of Windows—first with Windows XP and then with Windows Vista—there were certain limitations imposed, "such as being able to run only 3 concurrent applications on a PC at a time (this excludes background processes such as anti-virus applications, wireless and Bluetooth, and system tools like Explorer and Control Panel)."
However, based on reactions from Microsoft partners and customers, the company has "decided to make some changes compared to previous Starter editions," LeBlanc said.
A new version of Sony's PlayStation Portable games console is expected to be launched at the E3 video games show.
Video and photos of the PSP Go have been leaked online, revealing a smaller, more lightweight console that has dropped the failed UMD disk format.
There have also been reports that Sony will announce a re-designed, slimmer PlayStation 3 but BBC News understands this will not be launched at E3.
The new PS3 model will be out later this year, BBC News understands.
Microsoft will kick start proceedings at E3 in Los Angeles with a press conference on Monday, at which the company is expected to showcase a raft of new features for its online games and content service, Xbox Live.
There have been reports that Microsoft will show off a new controller that uses many of the same features as Nintendo's Wiimote, as the company tries to broaden the appeal of its console to non-gamers.
Sony is expected to unveil the PSP Go on Tuesday, following a number of high-profile leaks of announcements to come out of the firm in the last few weeks.
The most recent, about the PSP Go, came after an official video showcasing the new device was mistakenly posted to a Sony website before being hurriedly pulled.
In the video, Sony's John Koller said: "It's a 3.8-inch screen, it's 43% lighter than the PSP-3000, 16 gigs flash memory, Bluetooth support and all digital content so the UMD drive goes away.
"So it's going to be something a lot of consumers like - download straight to a hard drive."
A spokesman for Sony would not confirm the launch of the PSP Go but said any announcements would be given on Tuesday.
Industry leader Nintendo is expected to focus on new software for its popular Wii console.
It is also likely to announce the availability of its Wii Motion Plus device, which adds greater sensitivity and control to its controllers, along with games that support the add-on.
Nintendo needs a big show after last year's announcements were criticised for being lack lustre, and recent evidence of a slow down in sales of its Wii console.
Analyst Mike Hickey, of Janco Partners, told the AFP news agency: "Nintendo needs something; everyone is saying that."
Google introduced a refreshed look logo line for its services and a new Labs feature in Gmail that allows users to preview their inbox messages while the webmail service is loading.
The new Google logos are being rolled out over the coming weeks and hope to improve consistency and freshen up the look of the company's services across its sites. While it might take a while until they appear on all Google sites, here's a preview of the new logos.
There's not a big difference between the old and the new logos. The product names appear in clean, simple blue lowercase type next to the Google logo, which is always a nice touch in comparison to the old logos that looked like they were slapped together in 5 minutes.
Do you hate or love the new Google logos? Sound off in the comments.
Another addition from Google in Gmail comes in handy for those with slow connections. The new Inbox Preview feature allows users to preview unread messages in their inbox while the AJAX interface is loading.
The simple, static interface previews the ten most recent messages and can be turned on from the Labs tab under Settings in Gmail. If you're on a trip to some remote place with a slow connection this new feature could just save you some time. Otherwise, users on speedy connections can skip Inbox Preview, as it's not likely to make much of a difference for them.
Gmail also added a functional translation feature this week. As the name of the feature suggests, with one click you can turn gibberish into some phrases that actually make sense - and that's including those foreign spam messages clogging your inbox.
Daniel Ionescu, PC Worldl (Twitter @danielionescu)