mobile 2.0

Happy Friday all. Thought I’d share a little BlackBerry theme love with you folks this fine morning. Earlier today my good bud Hedone Hawker dropped me a note to let me know of his latest theme, of which he has just released. Called ‘Retnio’, the theme brings an old school radio feel to your BlackBerry, and as always… this theme is quality. Really top notch.Right away you’ll notice the attention to detail built-in to this one. Notice the radio dials, and the retro look… I love it. When you dive into the theme a bit more, it doesn’t dissapoint. The retro vibe flows clean through this one, with a smattering of wood grain here and there, old-school fonts, and a lot of tan and brown tones to drive home that old school radio theme. In addition, Hedone has enabled Double Function Keyboard functionality within the theme, opening up a whole new world of keyboard shortcuts for you. Not only does the theme look great, but it can increase your productivity as well!Compatibility? Retnio should work just fine on the following BlackBerry devices on OS 4.6 and up: the 8500, 8900, 8950, 9000, 9100, 9500, 9600, 9650 and 9700.For more information be sure to hit up the download link below.Retnio BlackBerry Theme ($6.99) [HedoneDesign link] Related News from IntoMobile:BlackBerry Theme Friday: Vault Theme from HedoneDesignFootball BlackBerry Theme from HedoneDesignTheme of the Day: Biston BlackBerry Theme from HedoneDesignBlackBerry Theme of the Day: ‘Quelos’ from HedoneDesign‘Explicit’ Premium BlackBerry Theme from Hedone DesignCopyright © 2005-2010 IntoMobile. All rights reserved. Use of this feed is limited to personal use. Portions of this feed may be used with attributions, however, publishing of this feed in its entirety for public or commercial use and/or misrepresentation by a third party is not allowed. p9jxMDO3f0KB

Well looky here. It’s been awhile since I’ve posted any official BlackBerry OS releases, but I’ve got one for you right now. Looks as though Hutchinson has officially released OS 5.0.0.822 for the BlackBerry Curve 8900 and Bold 9000.Both builds are very official, so they should run just fine and dandy if you have an 8900 or 9000 on your hip. As always however, be sure to backup your device and take all necessary precautions before you install this, or any other OS update.Download OS 5.0.0.822 for the BlackBerry Curve 8900 via Hutchinson >Download OS 5.0.0.822 for the BlackBerry Bold 9000 via Hutchinson >If you download and install one of these, be sure to let us know if you notice any marked changes or improvements! Happy OS updating![Via: The BerryFix] Related News from IntoMobile:None FoundCopyright © 2005-2010 IntoMobile. All rights reserved. Use of this feed is limited to personal use. Portions of this feed may be used with attributions, however, publishing of this feed in its entirety for public or commercial use and/or misrepresentation by a third party is not allowed. p9jxMDO3f0KB

At this point, we're starting to think that Motorola is intentionally (and cruelly) teasing us with its Droid successor. Today we can add to the parade of leaks preceding the Droid 2's debut in the form of the above hard case, which has just landed in Best Buy's storerooms. Before you go off on some conspiracy theory comparing this to the iPhone's Bumper and questioning whether this Droid might need a jacket, you should be aware that Rocketfish does similar paraphernalia for the Droid Incredible, marking this out as an entirely unremarkable run-of-the-mill accessory. Which might be the best news of all, we figure -- if the unexciting peripherals are already being shipped, the handset itself shouldn't be too far behind.

[Thanks, Justin]Continue reading Droid 2 cases arrive at Best Buy, Droid 2s soon to follow?Droid 2 cases arrive at Best Buy, Droid 2s soon to follow? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 02:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

If you’ve been thinking about getting yourself a new Verizon phone is either considered a “3G Smartphone” or a “3G Multimedia” device, which pretty much covers any phone you are likely to want from Big Red, you’ll be happy to hear that you can get a $30 credit for each 3G handset you buy.Our Verizon source is telling us that, starting tomorrow, July 30th, the No. 1 wireless carrier in the US (by subscriber count) will entice customers to “rule the air” with this little cash-back incentive program.The $30 credit applies to 3G enabled phones in Verizon’s “Smartphone” or “Multimedia” stable, which includes some of this summer’s hottest Android smartphones. So, if you’ve got your eye on the Motorola Droid X or the HTC Droid Incredible, or one of the carrier’s other compelling handsets, you can save yourself a good chunk of change by pulling the trigger on a purchase in the near future.It’s not like Verizon needs this promotion to help them move superphones like the Droid X or the Incredible, seeing as how those devices are selling out just fine on their own. But, for all those other 3G devices that aren’t showing ship dates in August, you can earn yourself a $30 credit for each mobile phone you buy.Just remember, you have to take advantage of this offer by August 8th. After that, we can’t say when Verizon will offer this cashback incentive again.Oh, and if you still haven’t seen our Verizon Motorola Droid X review, check it out here. You might also want to check out our Verizon HTC Droid Incredible review here. While you’re at it, you might as well check out our Superphone Shootout to see how this summer’s smartphones compare with eachother. REVIEW: Verizon Motorola Droid X – Is this the Droid you’re looking for? REVIEW: Verizon HTC Droid Incredible – Is it really Incredible or just another Droid? SHOOTOUT: IntoMobile’s Summer Superphone Shootout – Galaxy S, Droid Incredible, iPhone 4, EVO 4G Related News from IntoMobile:HTC Droid Incredible units not shipping until next monthDroid Incredible sold out online already.Verizon, Motorola introducing new Droid next weekHTC Evo rumored to be priced at $200?Live: Launching Verizon’s New Motorola Droid lineup – The ‘Next Generation Of Does’Copyright © 2005-2010 IntoMobile. All rights reserved. Use of this feed is limited to personal use. Portions of this feed may be used with attributions, however, publishing of this feed in its entirety for public or commercial use and/or misrepresentation by a third party is not allowed. p9jxMDO3f0KB

Who needs Jeeves when you have Facebook! Facebook just launched a new question and answer application that will allow you to pose questions to its sea of over 500 million users. As Facebook explains, “With this new application, you can get a broader set of answers and learn valuable information from people knowledgeable on a range of topics.” You can pose questions about potential vacation spots, future gadget recommendations, or pretty much anything you want. Facebook does warn: “Keep in mind that all questions and answers posted using the Questions application are public and visible to everyone on the Internet. If you only want to ask a question to your friends or a specific group of people, you can still pose it as a status update on your profile targeted to those people.” There you have it. Thoughts?Read

We first caught wind of the SCH-R900 after MetroPCS announced that it would be first to carry the Samsung handset when its fledgling LTE network lights up in select markets sometime after the summer. Now the FCC has been kind enough to bless a preproduction R900 with its approval. Not much is known about the dual-mode CDMA / LTE device other than what we can glean off the broad-shouldered image above and certifications for Bluetooth, 802.11b/g WiFi, dual-band 1700 / 1900 LTE and EvDO data. The future: it's what's for breakfast.Samsung SCH-R900 approved by FCC: first US LTE phone is go originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 01:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

This post is part of Mashable’s Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.Name: slydialQuick Pitch: slydial is a free voice messaging service which connects you directly to someone’s mobile voicemail.Genius Idea: If you’ve ever dreaded making a phone call and anxiously wished for a voicemail greeting as you dialed, you know exactly why this app is a genius idea. It strips away the awkwardness of a voice-to-voice call while still letting you claim to have attempted direct communication.How perfectly passive-aggressive! We can imagine this app going over well for:Breakups,Firings,The-morning-after apologies,Stalling on or avoiding a meetup,Making excuses to a boss,“Duty” calls to chatty friends and relatives,“Just touching base” reminder/nagging calls,3 a.m. calls that don’t need to be wake-up calls, as well,And ever so much more.Essentially, the app “creates the illusion of communication” without making you actually have to listen to other people, play politics or hear someone else’s side of an argument. In theory, it works just as well for the incurable narcissist as for the cripplingly antisocial.Before you protest, it’s true that slydial isn’t the Ghandi of applications. But it plays into a powerful part of the human psyche: Our desire to avoid conflict. The makers of slydial have paved the path of least resistance beautifully, and we can imagine that quite a few people will be traipsing down that path in the months to come.To use slydial, which is free and audio-add supported, just dial 267-SLYDIAL (267-759-3425) and enter the mobile number of the person you want to leave a voicemail. You can also try slydial’s mobile apps, which include offerings for iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile.We gave slydial a try, and it worked just as promised; the other person’s phone didn’t so much as twitch while slydial connected me to the voicemail box in question.What do you think of this app? It is something you’d use when you don’t have the personal fortitude or wherewithal to make voice-to-voice contact?[img credit: djou]Sponsored by Microsoft BizSparkBizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.Entrepreneurs can take advantage of the Azure Services platform for their website hosting and storage needs. Microsoft recently announced the “new CloudApp()” contest – use the Azure Services Platform for hosting your .NET or PHP app, and you could be the lucky winner of a USD 5000* (please see website for official rules and guidelines).”More About: App, Mobile 2.0, slydial, voicemailFor more Mobile coverage:Follow Mashable Mobile on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Mobile channelDownload our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Reuters is reporting that retail giant Best Buy has signed a partnership deal with WiMax network operator Clearwire. Beginning in 2011, Best Buy will be offering wireless 4G data plans, on Clearwire’s WiMax network, under their Best Buy Connect service offering. No details on pricing, availability, or hardware have been announced. Currently Clearwire’s 4G network covers 43 major cities around the U.S. More on this as it develops…
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This is kind of a strange rumor, and if it ends up being true, the Peel will be a strange device. Essentially, Sprint is developing another variation on the wifi hotspot – which is good – but this particular product works directly with the iPod Touch.
Now assuming you can control you wifi hotspot with the iPod, and that it provides a data connection for said iPod, I like it. The interface (assuming Apple approves it – ha ha) would certainly be more convenient than the USB port controlled version we used last CES. I’d consider this rumor to be a strong possibility, since it’s based of an FCC filing, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’ll ever make it to market. I hope it does – I’ve found myself in quite a few situations where it would have been nice to have this type of technology attached to my iPod Touch.
[via TUAW]

If you’ve ever been snickering over the latest YouTube viral video on your smartphone in the evening and ended up frustrated by slow load times and a congested network, you’re not alone — and that’s exactly the problem.New research from mobile web optimization firm Bytemobile shows that more and more of us are making demands of our devices, our mobile carriers, and video-hosting sites such as YouTube by consuming large amounts of video content on our phones. Our video consumption tends to peak around 10 p.m., at which point bandwidth takes a nosedive and stalling cripples our viewing experience.In other words, we get the worst possible experience exactly when we want most to have a good experience.This viewing experience is even worse when videos aren’t optimized for mobile devices. In these cases, for a 60-second video, the average viewer on a 3G network connection would have to deal with around 10 seconds of stalling.Video optimization, the report said, can reduce stalling to almost zero seconds per minute of video.End users have been dealing with stalling by choosing to view lower-quality videos in exchange for faster load times. Around 95% of mobile video viewers watch at resolutions between 176×144 and 640×480. Less than half a percent of mobile video viewers are watching what could be considered high-quality videos.According to these findings, Flash is by far the most popular mobile video format, accounting for a full 90% of total video traffic. That’s one strike against Apple’s no-Flash marching orders. Another is the stats on adult content; four of the top 10 video sites accessed from mobile phones contain only adult content. So much for “freedom from porn.”However, even when you include adult content sites, YouTube is the most popular video content site, accounting for 36% of mobile views. A distant second is Google Video, which grabs just 6% of mobile video views.If you watch videos on your phone, do these finding match up with your viewing experiences?[img credit: larskflem]More About: Mobile 2.0, mobile video, report, stats, videoFor more Mobile coverage:Follow Mashable Mobile on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Mobile channelDownload our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Y Combinator put on a tour de force Thursday. After five impressive years’ worth of molding fresh batches of startups, it packed 150-odd people with money into a room and schooled them in the art of giving its companies funding. The incubator’s second Angelconf, held at its headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. today, packed the room with people with an interest in breaking into the frothy angel investing space — a mix of people from recently successful tech startups as well as those from outside the industry.

Y Combinator founder Paul Graham

In the Y Combinator world, as formulated by co-founder Paul Graham, the young, visionary, technical startup founder is king. And after YC graduates’ oversubscribed funding rounds, promising products, and increasingly frequent acquisitions by Google and Facebook, Silicon Valley seems eager to remake itself in Y Combinator’s image.

Archangel Ron Conway, who said he’s put money into 500 companies over the last 12 years, kicked off the day with an optimistic and generous recruiting speech: He said he believes every “entrepreneur who has the guts to start a company” should get funding, and added “I believe the more angels we have in Silicon Valley the better.”

Conway, along with well-known angels such as Ariel Poler, Mitch Kapor and Naval Ravikant, spoke of the joy of enabling smart and passionate founders to build great things. “You listen to those people tell you what it’s going to be like in the future,” said Conway, speaking of early meetings with the founders of Google, Facebook and Twitter. “I’m completely addicted to it.”

Be All You Can Be

The angels’ testimonials depicted a world of investing that anyone could break into with the right mix of smarts, humility and luck. Five years ago, “I was a washed up enterprise software guy from Austin, Texas,” said Mike Maples of Floodgate, now one of the most active and influential “superangels.” After he moved to Silicon Valley and spent 90 days sharing meals with the smartest people he could get meetings with, Maples landed his first investment in Odeo, the company that eventually gave birth to Twitter. And it all flowed from there.

Even Greg McAdoo, of the legendary VC firm Sequoia Capital (which is closely affiliated with Y Combinator) fluffed the egos of would-be angels, saying two-thirds of his firm’s early stage investments include angels. He encouraged angel investors to contact him, take him out for coffee, and talk about the industry or potential deals early on in the process. (While McAdoo said he would pick up the tab for this hypothetical coffee date, he wasn’t quite so generous as to give out his email address, instead inviting those present to get introduced to him by a Sequoia portfolio company founder.)

Engineering a New Kind of Funding

Graham took the session in a practical direction, proposing that the seed funding deal of the future would take on a new structure to better suit startup founders. “The way of the future,” Graham said of funding rounds, “is no fixed amount, no fixed closing date, and no lead.” He said the best Y Combinator companies are already taking funding on a rolling basis, because it requires less reliance on a lead investor, takes less time out of product development, and gives investors less room to drag things along or collude.

“The meta-trend is founders are going to be more powerful than investors,” said Graham. “If you want to know what the future of investing is going to be like, think what would the founders want it to be like.”

Startup lawyer John Bautista, a partner at Orrick who works on many Y Combinator deals, attested that he’s already seeing many startups closing rolling funding rounds, and that these convertible debt deals are structured favorably to angels, giving them the right to earn a return on their shares if the company is sold or update their terms if more money is raised later.

Are Talent Acquisitions Evil?

Thankfully, Y Combinator is not a cult, and it brought in Michael Arrington of TechCrunch as a counterpoint early in its program to rant about “dipsh*t” Y Combinator companies that sell out early, denying the world and investors the chance to be true game-changers. For good measure, he called out superangels for being complacent with their small successes and making companies like Facebook stronger through talent acquisitions.

But Arrington left shortly after his talk, giving 10 more angel investing believers such as Maples and Aydin Senkut the chance to convert the wannabe angels gathered. Paul Buchheit, the creator of Gmail who himself was brought to Facebook with its talent acquisition of his company FriendFeed, said in response to Arrington’s critique, “Talent acquisitions are very controversial, but all of [the ones I've invested in] got a 2, 3 4 or even 5x return. I can live with that.” Besides, acquisitions of young companies tend to be better for everyone involved, as compared to later-stage deals, said Geoff Ralston, who recently sold Lala to Apple. Integrations of billion-dollar companies almost never work, he said.

Loopt CEO Sam Altman, speaking on behalf of his Y Combinator peers, got the last word. He warned the angels-in-training: “It’s important that you pick the winners, but it’s absolutely necessary that the winners pick you.”

We’ll be honest, seeing a shiny new gadget get taken down to the screws puts a huge smile on our faces… and why shouldn’t it? Two days after the Magic Trackpad was released by Apple, the gang over at ifixit has done a proper teardown of the device. Spoiler Alert: there were no magical gnomes or elves hiding inside the trackpad. If you still want to know more hit up the read link to see the trackpad takedown.
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