by Savan Thongvanh
March 14, 2011
There’s been a good amount of talk lately about what will be included in the iPhone 5. Just as much talk about that has been going on as there has about whether the iPhone 5 is even going to be released this year. Based on Apple’s other iPhone releases, it will. One of the most talked about features is near field communications or NFC.
What is NFC you ask? Well it’s actually a pretty cool way for radios to communicate with each other with electromagnetic fields. Since these fields have some energy they can transmit they can wake up another NFC radio just by being next to it. Pretty cool eh? The radio doing the transmitting is said to be the active and the other is the passive radio. Both can be active but I think the active/passive model is the cooler one because it means one of the devices can run with lower power.
Great, one radio can wake another radio up. Why do I care about that you might ask. Well, ever since phones started to do more than make calls people have been using the term “convergence device” to describe them. Meaning that many every day functions done with different devices or on paper have converged on the phone. Calendar, contacts, calculator, radio…you get the idea. This is just another step in that direction. Some uses that have been prototyped are payment systems, social networking applications, medical monitoring devices, electronic ticketing, and more. Imagine checking in at the airport and checking in by just waiving your phone over the kiosk, AMEN!
The jury is still out on whether NFC will be included in the iPhone5 and only time will tell. However there are some devices that already have it. Unfortunately until there’s a big push of implementations of payment systems, kiosks, or ANYTHING it’s basically vaporware.
Hopefully we’ll see some cool stuff soon tho! What cool ideas have you seen for NFC?
by Savan Thongvanh
May 17, 2010
On May 14th Google announced that the Nexus One will soon not be available for purchase via Google.
In a post on the Google blog they basically said oops, although Android has done better than we thought, we realize now that people like to play with phones when they’re buying them.
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by Savan Thongvanh
March 24, 2010
Sprint has announced that this summer it will be releasing the HTC Evo, a 4G Android phone. It seems like people have given up on an “iPhone killer” but this is quite a powerful phone.
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by Savan Thongvanh
March 17, 2010
Today HTC Fired off a statement rebuking Apples lawsuits and pointing out all the ways in the last ten years that they’ve brought innovation to the mobile arena. Here’s the statement from HTC.
Seattle – March 17, 2010 – HTC Corporation today outlined its disagreement with Apple’s legal actions and reiterated its commitment to creating a portfolio of innovative smartphones that gives consumers a variety of choices. Founded in 1997 with a passion for innovation and a vision for how smartphones would change people’s lives, HTC has continually driven this vision by consistently introducing award-winning smartphones with U.S. mobile operators.
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by Savan Thongvanh
Nexus One(TM) is planned for the Sprint Mobile Broadband Network with twice the network coverage of AT&T and ten times the network coverage of T-Mobile, both by square miles; Expands Sprint’s Android(TM) portfolio
OVERLAND PARK, Kan., Mar 17, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Nexus One, the first wireless phone sold through Google(TM)’s web store, is planned for Sprint’s 3G Mobile Broadband Network. Sprint (NYSE:S) will announce pricing and an exact availability date soon. Nexus One will benefit from Sprint’s 3G network with twice the coverage of AT&T and 10 times the coverage of T-Mobile, both based on square miles.(1)
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by Savan Thongvanh
SANTA CLARA, Calif., March 16, 2010 – Intel Corporation today commended FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and the FCC broadband team for delivering a meaningful and ambitious plan for U.S. leadership in broadband. The National Broadband Plan, released today, has the potential to help create jobs and spur economic growth, unleash new waves of innovation and investment, improve education and health care, and enhance the vibrancy of our democracy.
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by Savan Thongvanh
March 4, 2010
Between now and March 9th AT&T customers can win a free trip to the Final Four. Customers can win the trip by texting the keyword for the participating school to 51234. Pitt and OSU fans will use 94253.
Your text will enter you in the contest and sign you up for scores an updates for the respective team. Not all schools are participating. See the table below from the AT&T announcement for keywords and text the keyword to 51234 or for Pitt and OSU fans text it to 94253.
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by Savan Thongvanh
March 1, 2010
Call for Entries: Third Annual AT&T Big Mobile on Campus Challenge SM
Submit Your Most Innovative Mobile E-Learning Application for a Chance to Win a $10,000 Scholarship
Dallas, Texas, March 1, 2010
AT&T* today launched its 2010 AT&T Big Mobile on Campus ChallengeSM, a national higher education contest that invites students to design the next generation e-learning mobile application. The contest provides students with the opportunity to create an innovative application that will enhance the educational process, garner their school national recognition, and make its way into multiple mobile devices operating across multiple platforms.
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by Savan Thongvanh
February 11, 2010
Square Inc’s aptly named device, the Square allows anybody to take credit card payments. And I mean anybody. Twitter founder Jack Dorsey as come up with a solution great for everyplace from a individually owned boutique to the farmer’s market.
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by Savan Thongvanh
February 7, 2010
With this weeks announcement of the Apple iPad they now say they have a new category of device. Some say that the new category is just a bigger version of everything else they have. We’ll let the tale of the tape tell the story.
I’ll give you a hint, if you squint a little at the spec comparisons you won’t be able to tell iPad from iPhone from iTouch.
Let’s check out the specs Apples to Apples (to Apples).
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