The Great Resources of Computer, Internet & Technology

Is Japanese wireless carrier SoftBank planning for a new version of the Apple iPhone, or are sales just a bit slow? Who knows, but from Friday through the end of May, anyone can sign up for an 8GB Apple iPhone 3G in Japan for 100% free.

AppleInsider and CrunchGear report that starting Friday, SoftBank’s new “iPhone for Everyone” campaign (read translated webpage) will offer the 8GB Apple iPhone for free, as long as you sign up for a new 2-year contract. The promotion will runs through May 31.

In the meantime, SoftBank will sell the 16GB Apple iPhone for a bit discounted price—just 11,520 yen (about USD $119), and you can even pay for the smartphone in monthly payments, which come out to less than $5 a month during the 2-year agreement.

SoftBank subscribers will still have to pay monthly voice and data charges, of course, although as AppleInsider notes, the carrier is chopping its standard data plan (about USD $62 per month) by more than 25%.
Read the rest of this entry »

Ok, now we continue to the second part of T-Mobile G1-Google Phone Full Reviews. If you missed the first part, you can still read it here. Apart from before, the call quality was awesome on the G1-Google Phone (some callers couldn’t detect that we’re on a cellular phone), the G1-Google Phone’s speakerphone was loud & clear, and the dialer app is efficient and user friendly (T-Mobile’s myFaves feature is now supported).

Messaging options on the G1-Google Phone are abundant—just about all that’s missing is full-on Exchange support, which will come once an enterprising developer fills the void. Alright, but how’s G1-Google Phone 3G reception? If you’re in New York, you probably had no trouble getting a 3G signal, both in Manhattan and Brooklyn—indeed, 3G reception on the G1-Google Phone was better than on Apple iPhone 3G. Remember that T-Mobile only recently launched its own 3G network, and it’ll only be live in about 21 cities by the end of the month. The G1-Google Phone will work on EDGE technologies-Beside that, you can always having a connectivity to the internet via Wi-Fi (wireless networks).
Read the rest of this entry »

Got password protection enabled on your Apple iPhone? Recently we’ve discovered there’s a real easy way for attackers to skip the password prompt screen and get access to your contacts, browse the Internet, read all your e-mails, and even make a calls. Luckily, there’s a fix/patch released for that security hole.

According to Ars Technica, posters on the MacRumors forums discovered the security hole, and it’s a pretty big one.
Read the rest of this entry »

Some news sources are reporting that T-Mobile will launch the touchscreen version of G1 (Google Android Phone)— this ultimate Google Android expected this year for the U.S. market—as early as next month, is this the Apple iPhone killer, anyone?

You can found more detailed stories about the G1 on Wired News, this G1 (Google Android Phone) described as a touchscreen phone with a full slide-out, full-QWERTY keypad, a roomy 5′x3′-inch display, a nice 3MegaPix camera, and access to T-Mobile’s nascent 3G network which, for now only run in New York included Las Vegas.
Read the rest of this entry »

It seems we have to get up soon to buy the new Apple iPhone. For your information, the new Apple iPhone is “coming soon”.

The first and mostly: The new Apple iPhone 3G will go on market at 8 a.m. next Friday at AT&T retail stores and Apple phone stores. So, do planning on lining up? To be the first one to get it? You’d better be ready well before the sunrise going up. Beside that, AT&T also has finally clarified Apple iPhone pricing for current AT&T subscribers who want the Apple iPhone 3G.

In a nutshell, if you’re -upgrade eligible- (by log into your AT&T account to see if you are), you will be able to buy the new Apple iPhone for the cheap discounted price of $199:8GB version or $299:16GB model. AT&T is somewhat vague about the eligibility criteria, although your credit history plus the time remaining on your contract are the main factors. As additional, you will also have to pay a small fee of $18 as “upgrade fee.”
Read the rest of this entry »

The LG Voyager is not a larger version of the LG enV, though the two are both side-opening QWERTY clamshell phones. Instead, think of the Voyager as the phone the LG should have been, or would be for an extra $200, give or take. While we complained about the tiny external screen and lack of features on the enV, we’ll have no such complaints about the Voyager. The face is dominated by a large touch screen. We don’t have specific measurements, but upwards of 2.5-inches or more would be our best guess. The interface relies heavily on the touch screen, and includes plenty of icon-based menus and shortcuts to help navigate without having to open the clam.

[eminimall type="" products="smartphones,lg voyager"]

Like the interface on the LG Venus, every aspect of the Verizon Wireless interface gets an upgrade to utilize the touch screen on the LG Voyager. We were especially pleased to find included functionality in the music player, as the simplistic controls and navigation on the V Cast player always bugged us. The phone gets the full host of V Cast services, including music, V Cast videos, VZ Navigator, and even V Cast Mobile TV. The TV service relies on a tiny, thin external antenna, a very dainty twig of metal that made us nervous even as our rep withdrew it from its slot on the side of the phone. We didn’t get to see the service in action, as the beta version of the phone wasn’t active on the MediaFLO network.

We like this phone’s design, and can definitely see a market for it. Perhaps a slider keyboard would have made more sense, and cut down the number of non-touch screens on the phone, but the familial relationship to the LG enV might encourage some customers to swap up, once they’ve compared the two. On the inside, with the clamshell open, the Voyager is still a nice phone, though it isn’t nearly as interesting.

What we like best about this phone, and the LG Venus, for that matter, is the improvements LG has made to Verizon Wireless’ interface. Verizon Wireless believes, at least from what our reps told us, that users like to learn an interface and then find it useful on the next phone they buy. We don’t buy it. Phones are improving too fast, with too many new features every season, and users want a phone that makes sense. Maybe it made sense to bury the touted HTML browser under the “Get It Now: News and Info” submenu in the past, but now, that’s the last place we’d look.

Read the rest@ Here