July 3rd, 2008
The mobile video broadcasting space is home to a pretty interesting fight right now. Ok, maybe fight isn’t the best choice of words, or perhaps it is. There are a few big boys when it comes to live interactive video feeds streaming from a mobile handset and they are continuously trying to outdo each other. Qik has the buzz generated by many high-profile celwebrity users, Kyte is the new kid on the block entering the space with an already-substantial user base from their existing web service, and Flixwagon is the well-funded video quality leader with an exciting feature set. With the latter, things just got a whole lot more interesting as Flixwagon has just announced a new client version that brings with it a host of functionality that its competitors will surely be interested in. Take a look:
* Share on Twitter and YouTube directly from phone: you can share individual videos on twitter and YouTube directly from your device, as well as customize the message or titles. All you need to do is add your Twitter or YouTube account details on Flixwagon.com, and then you can customize posts directly from your phone.
* Detailed sharing from device: on your device you can now easily choose which specific groups (friends, family, etc.) can access your video. Make sure you set up your contacts, groups, and alerts first on flixwagon.com and you can start sharing flix with them on the fly.
* Digital zoom-in and zoom-out.
* Post messages back to chat. You can send IM messages back to the video chat room, making chats around your video 2-way. This is especially useful when you want to respond to your viewers’ comments without interrupting the video or audio in the broadcast.
* Change title: you can now change the video title directly from the phone while broadcasting. This is great when the ‘right’ headline comes to you while you broadcast (and can help more viewers discover your broadcast while you’re still broadcasting live).
* Choose between delay or video quality: in the preferences section you can determine whether your broadcasts will be optimized for the shortest delay, or highest video quality.
Whew! The two things of particular interest to us are digital zoom and the ability to chat while broadcasting. There are plenty of times while streaming event coverage, observation etc where typing a response to an on-screen comment is much more appropriate than speaking a response. Flixwagon also announced a few tweaks to the website such as RSS feeds that help round off this round of improvements. Definitely worth looking into.
Leave Comment » | Posted in News, Symbian
July 3rd, 2008
Fired up to capitalize on some of the hype Sprint has managed to drum up for the Instinct down in the States, Samsung’s taking its iPhone fighter north of the border for a promised intro later this summer. Bell Mobility is the lucky partner (seriously, Telus, you probably should’ve hustled Samsung a little harder for this one), launching at price points ranging from $149.95 up to $449.95 for a three-year contract all the way down to zero commitment. Features and software look like they’re all carrying over from their stateside cousin, although the UI’s looking just a little bit less Sprint-ified (read: no yellow tinge). Nice.
Leave Comment » | Posted in News, Samsung
July 3rd, 2008
If you were concerned that you didn’t look crazy enough screaming into your phone at business associates, family members, and the guy who does your landscaping, Google has added a feature to Maps for RIM devices which should confirm that yes: you’re a total maniac. Available right now for a handful of BlackBerry phones (8110, 8120, US version of the 8130) you can grab Google Maps with voice search, which enables you to find what you’re looking for by pressing the left-side button and speaking the name of a business (or location, we assume). Sure it sounds convenient, but think twice before searching for hookers or cocaine out loud — stock brokers, you have been warned.
Leave Comment » | Posted in News, BlackBerry, Google phone
July 3rd, 2008
Indians are among the very first lucky denizens of the world to get a crack at Nokia’s 6220 classic, one of the high-end handsets introduced at Mobile World Congress back in February. Though it doesn’t get slapped with an Nseries label, it probably should on account of a 5 megapixel camera with xenon flash, AGPS, TV-out, and HSDPA, all underpinned by S60 — so why isn’t it an N something-or-other, then? Our only guess is that it takes a moderately different, more conservative styling direction than the modern Nseries line, because we’d argue the local asking price of 19,959 rupees (about $464) is more than enough to push it into “multimedia computer” category.
Leave Comment » | Posted in News, Nokia
July 3rd, 2008
Google’s released a new version of its Google Talk web app that’s optimized for the iPhone and iPod touch — that’s right, web app, meaning that they’ve stayed true to Stevie’s original vision of keeping everything within the Safari sandbox. No firmware 2.0, no App Store, and certainly no iPhone 3G needed to take advantage of this one, just a plain ol’ iPhone Classique and a willingness to keep Safari open for however long you wish to be available to your Google Talkin’ comrades.
Leave Comment » | Posted in News, Apple, iPhone, 3G
July 2nd, 2008
Rumors persist that RIM has another BlackBerry planned for Nextel’s iDEN network — a network that’s aging rapidly, no question, but it still has gobs of relevance in the business world where RIM just happens to keep its bread and butter. Last we’d heard there would be a WiFi-compatible Nextel BlackBerry by the end of the year, and it looks like that window is still basically on track — though it may slip to early 2009 — and when it does finally launch, it’ll take the form of a Curve with model number 8350. Don’t get us wrong, the Curve is a great device by 2007 and early 2008 standards, but if it really does launch early next year, it’ll be staring down the barrel of at least one entirely new stablemate, the Bold, and possibly several others as well. ‘Course, there are probably plenty of faithful push-to-talkers out there that are thankful just to have any reasonably recent BlackBerry in the pipeline, so three cheers for that, we suppose.
Leave Comment » | Posted in News, BlackBerry
July 2nd, 2008
Wednesday means that your week is just about half over, but here at BGR, our work is never done. Our ninjas know that that they can never rest, and hump day is no exception. So what do we have here: how about a little Best Buy info for your viewing pleasure? One of our anonymous buddies has uncovered some info that all you Danger and RIM fans might enjoy - like a few new handsets coming your way this month from Best Buy. First, the Sidekick Gecco and limited edition Sidekick LX Tony Hawk will both be making their way to the retail giant later this month, both on T-Mobile. Inventory will be received on Sunday July 27 to be exact. On the same day, Best Buy will also be receiving what is labeled as the BlackBerry Curve Sunset; a new color of Curve for those of you you like to be a bit different. The carrier for the new Curve isn’t clear but T-Mobile is likely a safe guess. Hit the jump for more pics and a clearer view of some more stock that Best Buy will be receiving at the end of the month.
Leave Comment » | Posted in News, BlackBerry, T-Mobile, RIM
July 2nd, 2008
Well what do we have here? A few upcoming Eee PCs were recently uncovered as images made the rounds earlier this week but here we have something completely new from Asus. So what is it exactly? To be completely honest, we’re not really sure. The unit is reportedly called the Eee Monitor and it had been discussed briefly at Computex earlier this year but the Taiwanese computer company made sure to sit on many key details. Well say hello to our little friend. Several shots of the Eee Monitor are now swimming around the internet and it looks like a gem. As was the case before, details are still a bit scarce but a quick look at the display, the logo in the bottom right corner on the face of the unit and the ports on the back of the unit lead to some pretty probable speculation. How about a self-contained PC with built in Denon audio hardware, a 19″ display and a rumored integrated TV tuner? We’ll take two, thanks. Word on the street is that there will be a 19″ and 21″ model and the price point will start at… Ready? $500.
Leave Comment » | Posted in News, Asus
July 2nd, 2008
Quick: name a Linux-based Motorola touchscreen phone that isn’t widely distributed in North America. Oh, wait, that’s all of them! In this case, “all of them” includes the little A810, a phone that’s been kicking around the rumor mill since way, way back in February of this year. EDGE data and a 2 megapixel camera should help keep this one priced somewhere in the midrange, and while not necessarily attractive, it’s definitely interesting to look at. Come on, you’ve got to give it that. Click through to the gallery if you don’t believe us.
Leave Comment » | Posted in News, Linux, Motorola
July 2nd, 2008
The Verizon version of the Treo 755p from Palm is the latest of the world’s 755p’s to be graced with a firmware update — or as Palm describes it, a “tune-up.” There’s very little detail to go on here, with the support page for the new binary simply saying that it “improves the phone application, stability and device usability.” Hey, that’s good enough for us — and if you own an affected device, it’s probably good enough for you, too.
Leave Comment » | Posted in News, Treo, Verizon