Mobile Phone Blog:

As is well documented, I rather like WebOS, the operating system dreamt up by Palm (now owned by HP). I liked it in the Palm Pre, I like the new version in the HP Pre 3 even more, and I still think it’s very possible the most user-friendly phone OS in the entire spacetime continuumuumuumuum. In short, I really rather like it.

What I haven’t really liked so far, though, have been the phones it’s appeared in, ‘cos they’ve looked a bit too cutesie, a bit too rounded, and a bit too pebbly-looking (not to mention a bit fat, ‘cos of the slide-out QWERTY keyboards they all had), for my tastes. That may be about to change, though, as PreCentral have uploaded a pic of what’s said to be the first keyboardless WebOS phone… (more…)

In a bit of news that should surprise absolutely no-one at all, HP have let slip that we may very well be seeing the first WebOS-powered tablet device very soon. And by “very soon”, I mean “February 9th”, ‘cos according to CNBC, that’s when they’ll be announcing something:

In fact, what HP’s Todd Bradley says in the interview, in reference to how they’ll differentiate from the iPad, is “You and I will talk about that on the 9th.” That doesn’t really leave much room for doubt that they’ll be showing something new and tablet-y off next month, does it…

I’m properly interested, here, because my current choice for most intriguing tablet is the Motorola Xoom (using Android 3.0), and I’m damnably intrigued as to what WebOS can do differently. So, have a gander at the interview, then let’s get our thinking caps on… (more…)

The Palm Pre 2 is reportedly going to be launched in the UK next Monday (15 November).

The smartphone, which is the first to be releases by Palm since it was taken over by HP, is promising.

Pocket-lint reports that the Palm Pre 2 is very similar to the Palm Pre Plus looks wise but “sleeker” with its 31.1-inch HVGA glass touchscreen that is said to be more responsive that the latter’s plastic display.

The phone’s processor is also more powerful than its predecessor at 1GHz; has the new webOS 2.0, or HP webOS, with its improved multitasking capabilities, file hosting service Dropbox and ability to synchronise with web apps; and Just Type functionality replacing universal search for speedier access to websites. (more…)

It’s believed HP may finally be releasing the Palm Pre 2 in the UK this year after a long wait.

Speculation is growing due the phone going on release in France and pre-ordering opening as early as next week in the US.

The US announcement, which went from promoting a specific November 8 date to ‘coming soon’, was made via its Facebook page set up for students, T3 reports.

The Palm Pre 2 is the first to run on the new webOS2.0 operating system, which promises to support a better processor, user interface, multitasking and performance. (more…)

It’s no secret that one of my favourite things in the mobile world is to see a new UI on display; I can remember going all goosebump-y over seeing WebOS on the Palm Pre, and Windows Phone 7 is threatening to make me all goosebump-y, again. So, you can take it as read that I went all goosebump-y when I saw the ‘Velvet’ Concept UI by TAT:

Ooh, not seen owt like that on mobile phones before! (more…)

Ooh, now here’s a refreshing bit of news! Y’know how, when it comes to the issue of unlocking or “jailbreaking” your phone, most manufacturers are curiously reticent to say it’s ok to do so? And y’know how, on the sliding scale of vehemence on the reaction scale, Apple are right up the other end, originally saying that jailbreaking your phone was illegal?

(Amusing side note, a judge has put Apple in their place: it’s NOT illegal to jailbreak your phone. Apple are still having a hissy fit, though, saying it breaks the warranty.)

Well, one company has come out on the side of the modders, and according to PreCentral, it’s Palm’s new owners, HP… (more…)

Right then, folks, not long now, until Apple take the stage for this press conference we’ve been hearing about, that everyone and their dog (and their builder, and their milkman) are expecting to be about the antenna issue. You know the one. I don’t even need to specify what the issue is any more, that’s how infamous it’s become. Well, we’ll see if that’s what it is in a few minutes.

We here at Mobileshop Towers will be doing a blog on the press conference, after it happens, and we’ve got something special planned. Yes, for the first time ever, both me and TechnoLiz are going to riffing on it in the same blog post.

The wonders of modern technology, eh! (more…)

I’ve spoken many times on this here blog about my love for the Snapdragon processor. While others may come along (like the Hummingbird chip in the Samsung Galaxy S) that are probably better, the Snapdragon gets my love for being the first 1GHz mobile phone chipset. However, there’s something I like to see just as much, and that’s other phones overclocked to run way past their normal limitations, and hit the magical 1000MHz mark. Like this Palm Pre:

Of course, there’s always the downside that if you overclock it that much, your battery will last but 3 minutes. And will probably catch fire. And explode. (more…)

Hohoho, here’s a good one. I read this story, and nearly did a spit-take when I first saw it: apparently, the CEO of HP, Mark Hurd, has said that they didn’t buy Palm to get into the smartphone business, which is an unusual statement to come from someone who’s just spent a billion of dollars buying, y’know, a smartphone manufacturer.

If ever there was a statement that could be interpreted in multiple ways, it’s that one, eh? But is it correct to think that those words, said in an interview with ZDNet, were an outright diss to the mobile world? And if so, can we expect a disgruntled mobile phone impresario to pop a cap in Hurd in a drive-by (how’s that for a weird mental image, then)? (more…)

Hoooooo boy, I love it when that happens! You may recall how, with some recent phones, us Brits have been quite low in the pecking order. You know the two I’m thinking of: the Motorola Milestone and the Palm Pre, both of which were available in the USA for ages before we go our paws on them. After all, what do Americans know about mobile phones (not including Motorola, obviously, because they know really quite a lot about mobile phones)?

So imagine my unmitigated joy when I saw the press release saying that with one of the upcoming phones I’m most excited about, the Dell Streak, us Brits are back where we should be, right at the top of the pecking order. (more…)