When it comes to getting the latest news and finding the right one that we are interested in, that would not be the consistent case. With so much to report about what is going on in the world today, you are bound to get some news clippings that you may not even be interested at all.

However, the Smiling App news aims to put some order to this area. The new app is a powerful and fully functional news reader and can act as a go-to source of standard news. It is available on the Apple App Store for $0.99.

Features:

• Four different positivity levels (from neutral to high)
• Easy-to-use one-tap emoticon interface
• 16 popular news sources, sorted by category, including: Yahoo! News, Google News, AP, New York Times, CNN, MSNBC, Fox, CBS, ABC, USA Today, NPR, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, LA Times, Time Magazine, Newsweek
• An expansive and informative positive news category from the Smile News Mix
• View one OR multiple news sources at the same time
• Assign specific news sources to specific news categories
• The ability to enter feeds of your choice (via RSS)
• Landscape mode for easy reading - just tilt your device and double-tap on the article text

Smile News Network is a software company founded by young veterans of the tech world who seek to apply technology for the social good.

(Source) Press

Tags: abc usa, app news, Apple, article text, chicago tribune, cnn, double tap, Google, iPhone, la times, landscape mode, Mobile Software, msnbc, New York Times, news clippings, news reader, popular news, positive news, standard news, time magazine, usa today, washington post, world today

Vodafone customers can now look forward to better service and availability with the new team up with Carphone Warehouse starting this July 7. Now they can get new pay monthly contracts and mobile broadband connections. Vodafone UK has also extended its partnership with Phones4U who will continue to sell pay as you go and contract packages to customers upgrading and joining Vodafone, for both mobile phone and mobile broadband connections.

“Carphone Warehouse has developed a formidable retail presence on the high street and we’re very pleased to offer our customers even more choice,” says Ian Shepherd, Consumer Director, Vodafone UK. “We’re also delighted with Phones4U’s performance so we’ve extended our partnership into a multi year agreement.”

From this month, a combination of over 1650 Vodafone, Carphone Warehouse and Phones4U stores will provide customers with excellent face to face help and service where and when they need it on the high street.

(Source) Press

Tags: broadband connections, Business, Cell Phones, contract packages, contracts, distribution network, Mobile News, mobile phone, partnership, phones4u, retail presence, Vodafone, vodafone customers, vodafone uk

Get the records straight. iPorn and the controversial “The Hottest Girls” app are two different applications. This was the explanation that iPorn developers wanted to make straight. Some people have misconceived the two, assuming that the app was one and the same. iPorn is still on the web despite the Apple announcement that they are banning adult content from the app store.

“It was widely reported that Apple stated that the developers of ‘The Hottest Girls’ iPhone application added x-rated content directly from their server after the application had been approved and distributed through the iTunes App Store,” stated a representative of iPorn. “In contrast, the makers of the iPorn web application never sought to deceive Apple. Instead iPorn was developed as a web application that can be obtained by users over the age of 18 through their iPhone web browser for free without having to purchase it through Apple’s iTunes App store and bypasses Apple’s ability to censor content from the iPhone.”

So in summary, iPorn is more of an entertainment sate with a saner intent over the pornographic nature that The Hottest Girls carried. iPorn provides its adult users with social networking capabilities similar to those found in YouTube, MySpace and Facebook.

(Source) Press

Tags: adult content, adult users, Apple, apple announcement, bypasses, developers, iPhone, iPhone, iporn, iTunes, Mobile Software, MySpace, networking capabilities, pornographic nature, sate, social networking, web application, web browser

One thing about buying a mobile phone, they differ in features. The more the features a phone has, the more confusing it guests. Regardless, this will not stop people from buying a mobile phone despite the complicated technology that most of them come with. In fact, a recent survey by Best Buy Mobile found that this barely matters as a large number of Americans still plan on getting a smartphone in the next 12 months.

Another factor is that of the decision to buy the right device for them. With so many phones available, driving factors such as price, features and of course handiness come into mind. It is sort of like saying that there are a lot of fish in the sea.

“Customers will find the best deals on the internet at Low Cost Cells,” said President Nate Schmidt. “We work with our carriers to offer the most reasonable prices and make the buying process easy to understand.”

So in the end, it looks like price may change all the confusion. With the hard times we are in, people will prefer the cheaper devices available in the market. But then again, there are other drivers such as perhaps features which logically justify the pricing structure of most smartphones in the market today.

(Source) Press

Tags: 12 months, best buy, best deals on the internet, Business, Cell Phones, cells, confusion, fish in the sea, Mobile News, mobile phone, price features, smartphone, smartphones

Golfers need all the help they can get when they are on the tee and now they can use the iPhone to improve their game and make accurate calculations when it comes to strokes in their games.

The new app is the Golfshot: Golf GPS rangefinder for the iPhone 3G and 3G S. Among the features of this new app is the TruePoint positioning which allows golfers to touch any point on a golf hole to receive distances to and from that point.

Features:

• Aerial images of golf courses worldwide
• Exclusive TruePoint positioning to view distances to and from any point on the course
• Accurate distances to greens, bunkers, water hazards, layups, and more
• Customized layup distances tailored to a golfer’s ideal clubs and distances

The Golfshot app for the iPhone is now available at the Apple App Store for $29.99

(Source) Press

Tags: 3G, accurate calculations, accurate distances, aerial images, Apple, game, games, golf courses, golf hole, golfers, greens, iPhone, iPhone, Mobile Software, rangefinder, strokes, water hazards

All Nokia N97 owners should know that Nokia has rolled out a new firmware update. Version 11.0.021 is available and you can get it over the air or through Nokia’s Software Updater. The new firmware brings on quite a few changes and fixes:

• USB detection error fix
• PC does not detect N97 or USB charging connection not detected
• Widget
• Home screen online/offline widget crash fix
• Fix for “Alphabetical and Number input are mixed in facebook until end key is pressed
• Widget UI improvement - New facebook widget fixes a problem of Home Screen background visible on soft-key area
• Browser fixes to improve widgets stability.
• MfE related fixes
• Partial fix for Messaging/calendar entry lost
• Mail for exchange calendar entry synchronization error fix
• UI transition error fixes (Portrait <-> landscape transition, there is a home screen corruption.)
• UI transition (Slowness and bad effects)
• Slow Touch UI response
• Picture of the device lock appears half of the screen when transitioning the UI sometimes
• Landscape: in some cases the soft buttons on touch (right hand) show the Home Screen in background (install maps.google.com)
• Photos thumbnail performance and stability improvements
• Device performance deteriorates when lots of content in the device - especially photos
• Partial fix no display backlight illumination when unlocking lock-key - CAP Genius reported already
• New version of Accueweather to improve the “Connection error” situation
• Device reset when browsing with high speed packet access (for Malaysia)
• “Browser soft key UI doesn’t work after putting Chinese character with qwerty keyboard”
• Java fixes (TCK, Pre-install app disappearing, *#7370#*)
• Operator fixes (CMCC, Hutchson and Telefonica, Vodafone)
• Ovi store client now embedded in the core image
What say you folks? Enough changes for you?

Tags: firmware, Mobile News, N97, Nokia, Nokia, Portable Devices, Update

Verizon will launch a new Samsung handset soon, the Glyde 2. The phone hasn’t been officially unveiled yet but someone managed to snatch a picture of the Glyde 2 with Verizon’s logo all over it. We’re looking forward for some leaked specs too as we don’t have any idea what this Glyde 2 has to offer. According to rumors we can expect the phone to have an impressive AMOLED screen, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and Samsung’s TouchWiz UI. What do you say Samsung? Verizon? Anyone willing to tell us more?

via howardforums

Tags: AMOLED, Glyde 2, Mobile News, qwerty, Samsung, Samsung, Verizon, Verizon

Google Voice is not here yet for the masses so while we’re waiting for access we might as well talk about it. It looks like a new feature is now available to anyone currently using Google Voice and I don’t mean that rumored number porting. Google Voice will let you change your number if you choose to do so.

Simply go to the Phones menu under Settings and change your number for a one-time fee of $10. The best part of it is that Google is offering you a number picker tool that will help you match words with numbers and check for their availability. The old number will be available for an extra 90 days so you’ll have plenty of time to get used to your new phone. What do you say? Ready to make a change?

via Google Voice

Tags: Google, Google, Google Voice, Mobile News, Mobile Software, Number Porting, numbers

What carrier is going to be the first one to launch a 3G femtocell in the USA? Any bets? AT&T will say that its MicroCell solution will be available to customers before the end of the year. Sprint on the other hand is saying that its model will be the first 3G femtocell in the USA.

Mathew Oommen, Sprint’s VP of device and technology development apparently promised that Sprint will in fact be the first carrier to have a 3G femtocell device:

Just like Sprint was the first with 2G, we’ll definitely be the first in the 3G space as well. We’re not talking about trials; we’re talking about full commercial service.

Said device will offer extended EV-DO Rev. A coverage for all those Sprint 3G gadgets in your home. No specific details have been revealed so far and we have no prices details just yet. We’ll be back with all the specs once Sprint makes them available.

via Unstrung

Tags: 3G, At&T, At&T, CDMA, Coverage, EV-DO Rev A, femtocell, Mobile News, Sprint, Sprint

Besides cars Land Rover is able to manufacture cell phones too. And the company seems to follow the same concepts when building phones as they do when making cars. Land Rover phones are very durable and you can expect them to withstand some harsh conditions.

The S1 is so tough that it could actually stand being run over by an actual car. The phone can resist temperatures of up to 300 degrees, it can be immersed in water or any other liquids and it will surely work nicely in colder environments.

Unfortunately this S1 phone is not a smartphone. It offers features like a 2.0 megapixel camera, a battery capable of 1,500 hours of life and a loud ringtone which you’ll never miss. The phone is currently available in the UK for £25 per month with an Orange contract or for £249.99 from Tesco.

via telegraph

Tags: durability, land rover, Mobile News, Orange, Other Brands, S1, Tesco

It seems a user by the name of vofffka got their hands on what they are calling a prototype version of an iPhone 3GS. How do they know it’s a prototype? Well, when they connect it to iTunes it says “iPhone can not be restored, because software for this iPhone is not available yet”.

Not only that but it also has E10633 engraved on the front. Before you go and place a bid, this phone doesn’t work and the eBay user has doubts it will ever work.

However, if you’re a nifty iPhone hacker maybe you can pull a few strings and get yourself a cheap iPhone 3GS?

Read (eBay)

Tags: Apple, bricked, Cell Phones, ebay, iPhone, iPhone 3GS, Mobile News, prototype

Despite being released in Canada only recently, Rogers Wireless has announced that they will be lowering the prices of both the HTC Dream and HTC Magic to $99.99.

Of course, you’ll have to opt for a 3-year contract before you get the lowered price but $99.99 for an Android phone? Count me in.

Hell, after seeing that a hacker got HTC’s Sense UI running on one of these phones makes the deal even more enticing.

Read (Rogers)

Tags: Android, Canada, Cell Phones, Google, HTC, HTC Dream, HTC Magic, Mobile News, price cut, rogers wireless, Sense UI

Apple’s been known for some crazy patents in the back but I think this one tops the cake. Their recent patent filing is for something they are calling ‘active packaging’.

Essentially, ‘active packaging’ is a retail package that charges the device inside while also transmitting data to and from it. For instance, if an iPhone had this kind of packaging the device would not only be fully charged but would have the latest firmware even if it was released after the phone was packaged.

Sure this is cool and all, but how much is it going to cost us just to get this new kind of packaging? If it costs more money, I’ll settle for the normal cardboard box.

Read (PhoneArena)

Tags: active packaging, Apple, Cell Phones, charger, data, iPhone, Mobile News, patent

Facebook has recently announced that they are gearing up to launch version 3.0 of their iPhone app. If you are waiting for Facebook push notifications a la iPhone OS 3.0, you’re going to be disappointed, because it doesn’t add it.

However, there are 15 features that have been added such as Events and the ability to create photoalbums with the full list included below:

1. The “new” News Feed
2. Like
3. Events (including the ability to RSVP)
4. Notes
5. Pages
6. Create new photo albums
7. Upload photos to any album
8. Zoom into photos
9. Easier photo tagging
10. Profile Pictures albums
11. A new home screen for easy access to all your stuff, search, and notifications
12. Add your favorite profiles and pages to the home screen
13. Better Notifications (they link to the comments so you can reply)
14. Quickly call or text people right from the Friends page
15. Messages you are typing will be restored if you quit or are interrupted by a phone call

The announcement says that the Facebook 3.0 iPhone app is about 98% done with no real release date announced. They also added that users should expect a 3.1 update before the end of this summer that will add the much sought after Push Notifications.

Read (Facebook)

Tags: 3.0, app, App Store, Apple, Cell Phones, Facebook, iPhone, Mobile News, Mobile Software, Update

Normally, an iPhone jailbreak doesn’t hit the scene until the Dev Team deems it appropriate. They even went so far as to delay the release of an iPhone 3GS jailbreak due to fear that Apple would discover and fix the hole they used. Well, it seems that an iPhone hacker by the name of GeoHot got sick of waiting for the Dev Team to release it and went ahead and released what he is calling ‘purplera1n’:

Normally I don’t make tools for the general public, and rather wait for the dev team to do it. But guys, whats up with waiting until 3.1? That isn’t how the game is played. We release, Apple fixes, we find new holes. It isn’t worth waiting because you might have the “last” hole in the iPhone. What last hole…this isn’t golf. I’ll find a new one next week.

GeoHot says that all you need to do is download the purplera1n file at www.purplera1n.com on a Windows (not 7) PC, run the file, connect your iPhone to iTunes, click “make it ra1n”, then “on bootup, run Freeze, the purplera1n installer app”.

Of course, this jailbreak is in its beta form so make sure you backup everything and do all of this at your own risk.

Read

Tags: Apple, Cell Phones, geohot, iPhone, iPhone 3GS, iphone dev team, jailbreak, Mobile News, Mobile Software, purplera1n

The Eclipse AVN726E is a powerful tool that features well designed maps that come with elevation data as well as 3D buildings. The company has added some nice features to this product as well, including USB and iPod integration (though you do have to purchase a cable to do this) and DVD/DivX playback. It also features Bluetooth hands free calling, a feature becoming more popularly sought.

On the downside, if you hope to add traffic data to the device for navigation needs, it will require the Sirius satellite radio to be used. Still, this device is a nice, hands free calling tool that tells you where to go using audio and visual elements.

Tags: Auto, bluetooth, DVD/DivX playback, Eclipse AVN726E, GPS, ipod

Many people worried when they noticed that Apple was talking about heat and the new iPhone 3GS. People thought the company was admitting that the phone had heat issues and that potentially it could overheat or be otherwise dangerous to users.

This is not true. Apple simply updated the previously published tech note about safe operating temperatures for the iPhone 3GS. The company regularly does this as part of their practices for giving consumers information they should have. The note simply advises individuals using the phone not to leave the device in a hot car. It also states that the device should not be placed in direct sunlight for an extended amount of time. There is no risk to the user.

Tags: Apple, Apple, iPhone, iPhone 3GS