iPhone 3G in chocolate?
Apple might not have any plans to add a brown model to its impending iPhone 3G lineup (black or white), but you can still get the iPhone 3G in chocolate…literally!
USBfever is now accepting pre-orders for its ‘IPhone Chocolate Style Silicone case.’ This novel case turns big A’s mobile into a bar of chocolate - providing both protection (for the plastic back of the device) and almost certain mockery from any person lucky enough to catch you using this ridiculous tasty accessory.
(via Gearlog)
Mobile is halfway there
According to the International Telecommunications Union, 49% of the world’s population (3.3 billion people) use mobile phones as of the end of 2007. In contrast, only 20% of the globe has access to traditional landlines.
It’s time to mobilize
With more and more people accessing the Net via mobile devices, it has become more important than ever to make websites compatible with mobile browsers. Thanks to MoFuse, creating a .mobi site has become a snap.
It’s as simple as signing up for a free account, inputting some info about your site, and pointing readers to your new mobile address. MoFuse generates both generic mobile browser formatting as well as iPhone/iPod Touch friendly versions of your site (i.e. mobile boilr | iboilr).
The free account provides some customization, but limits your mobile URL to their domain: yoursite.mofuse.mobi. However, if you upgrade to their Pro account, you can then specify the domain of your choice.
Ultimately, MoFuse offers an extremely useful and user-friendly service for both amateur and professional web developers alike.
(via TechCrunch)
All for one(Connect), and one(Connect) for all!
Yahoo! announced an upcoming mobile app today at the Mobile World Congress in Spain - oneConnect. The major appeal of this application is its ability to consolidate just about every IM and social network into one place.
Users will be able to send messages to contacts across a wide variety of sites including Facebook and Myspace as well as IM clients, including AIM and gTalk. Most importantly, oneConnet will save text and IM messages as a single thread, regardless of which site or program each person is communicating through.
This is extremely useful in that it allows friends, colleagues, or whoever to keep track of conversations that would normally be spread across multiple sources in one, easy to keep track of application. Not only will communication be consolidated, but the mobile app will also converge updates from all of these individual services.
As a user of Facebook, LinkedIn, AIM, gTalk, and sometimes other social and communications tools, oneConnect sounds like a (mobile) dream come true.
(via TechCrunch)
Good Times, Bad Times
T-Mobile has just rolled out a new service: HotSpot @Home. This service allows their customers’ cellphones to automatically switch from the T-Mobile cellular network onto their specially configured home wi-fi network seamlessly.
What’s the big deal you ask? Well for one thing, once you have jumped onto your (or any other authorized) wi-fi network, the company stops deducting usage, saving you money and minutes. More importantly, for many people this will effectively create a much “stronger” connection in areas of low to no cellular service because of the strong signal of their local wi-fi network.
Why am I writing about this? Basically, as a tech/gadget enthusiast, it can be frustrating to watch the U.S. sit on the sidelines watching other countries (T-Mobile is based in Germany) embrace and take advantage of really incredible technologies such as the one discussed here. This same service was offered in the UK over six months ago (read). Not to mention, phones that can take advantage of these technologies (generally referred to as UMA - Unlicensed Mobile Access) have been in the world marketplace since at least 2005 (also here).
The good = the technology is finally here; the bad = the U.S. continues to fall behind Asia and Europe in adopting new, useful consumer technologies.
(sources: Engadget, CNET News)
