Mobile News
Best iPhone Game to Date: Fieldrunners - Sun, 23 Nov 2008
Fieldrunners, by SubAtomic, is by far and away my favorite iPhone game thus far. And, I'm going to go out on a limb and declare this the best 'mobile' game I have ever played. The graphics are perfect, the game controls and pace are excellent, and game play will keep you glued to your phone for hours. No bullshit, this game kicks ass.
This game is a variation of the tower defense game (Wikipedia entry for Tower Defense). I would argue that playing it on the iPhone is better than any other version, especially ones on the PC. Since you can touch everything, you are able to manipulate the game play much faster than a mouse can.
Basically, there is a set playing field and characters stream from one side to other. Your objective is to not let any of these characters succeed in crossing the playfield. You thus set up all types of weapons that eradicate the 'runners' as they cross the playfield, most often in a gauntlet.
The game can be played at three different levels:
1. Easy
2. Medium
3. Hard
The Easy level is just that: easy. It wont take long to master the game at this level, and clearing the level at Round 100 should be accomplished within the first day of playing. You will come to understand the different weapons you can deploy (gatling towers, goo towers, missile towers, and tesla towers). Each weapon can be upgraded twice, where obviously the upgraded version do more damage.
The gatling tower is for close range hits, and this is the weapon of choice for building out your gauntlet (er, maze). The goo towers will shoot goo that slows down and destroys the runners. The missile tower has the ability to 'splash' kill anything in the vicinity. The goo and rockets work well together. Finally, the Tesla Towers shoot electrical charges that have massive damage. They are far more expensive to purchase, but are needed to kill all the helicopters.
The medium level is far more challenging, and after a full day or two, you should be able to beat the level. Be sure to create 2 parallel mazes, and run the 'runners' back and forth between them for optimal game play. You can do this by deleting and adding one gatling tower at the beginning and end of the field.
I must admit, I still cannot finish the Hard Level. I peter out around Round 60 right now...
This is by far the best $4.99 game available.
Tip: every time you REMOVE a weapon tower, you lose points.
CellPhone Shopping? - Go to BillShrink First - Fri, 21 Nov 2008
The Blackberry Storm arrives tomorrow from Verizon Wireless. It is the world's first touch screen Blackberry and is getting a lot of press as a true iPhone competitor. You can read engadget's review here.
If you are considering buying an iPhone or a Storm you may want to take a little time and head on over to BillShrink.com.
BillShrink launched today a Blackberry Storm vs. iPhone 3G Comparison Site where consumers can view and calculate the real cost of each device and plan, features and related service head to head.
BillShrink helps consumers find the right phone and plan given their personalized usage patterns, e.g., how many texts you send, how many minutes you use, etc. In today’s tight economy, they claim they're helping consumers save an average of $340 annually on their cell phone bills.
Headquartered in beautiful Redwood City, CA, BillShrink is a free, personalized savings service for everyday services like wireless and credit cards. Not only will Billshrink find the best wireless plans and credit cards for you today, but they can automatically repeat the analysis for you on a regular basis to keep you optimized as your usage changes, better product offers come to market, etc.
They do this by using sophisticated computer algorithms that scan millions of data points, constantly re-calculating your usage and needs against the millions of possible product combinations. And they do all of this for free. (They make money by referring consumers to merchants.)
Pretty cool idea and certainly a great service these days. Give it a shot and let us know what you think.
Mplayit.com Mobile Games Portal Launched - Thu, 20 Nov 2008
Mpowerplayer this week announced the launch of Mplayit.com, a new Web portal catering to online consumers interested in finding out more about mobile games. Mplayit features free mobile game demos, including popular titles such as Spore and Guitar Hero, along with the ability to learn about games and publishers, read reviews, purchase games and to add and share the Mplayit widget anywhere online.
"With the rapid adoption of App Stores fueling interest in mobile gaming, Mplayit provides consumers a place to discover, play and share the games they love, and then send them to their phones," said Michael Powers, CEO of Mpowerplayer.
Consumers who visit Mplayit can play games on their PC to get a feel for the games. If you want to purchase you are currently directed to different merchant sites for fulfillment. There are about 60 games today with more coming soon.
We love to see new mobile game portals emerge because there still isn't a great, comprehensive, portal to discover and buy mobile games, regardless of your specific device. Maybe Mplayit will take a leadership role here?
Amazon Launches Text Alerts - Thu, 13 Nov 2008
Amazon.com is trying to help consumers during the economic downturn by launching a new service that will alert consumers by text message about low-priced items of the day.
Customers can now sign up for a daily text alert at www.amazon.com/gp/anywhere/sms/goldbox or simply text 'GB' to '262966' (AMAZON) which will feature the popular Amazon.com Deal of the Day, sent directly to their mobile phone. Customers can then reply-to-buy with the text command "buygb" or follow the link in the text message to the Amazon mobile Web site to view the full details of the deal and shop other deals in the Gold Box directly from the mobile phone.
"Customers come to Amazon.com for low prices," said Eva Manolis, vice president of Retail Customer Experience at Amazon.com. "We are obsessed with lowering prices and we work hard every day to make it even easier to find and buy the best deals on the site. We're excited to offer customers new features like Amazon's Daily Deal Text Alerts in time for holiday shopping."
Mobile Startup Spotlight: Tatango - Wed, 12 Nov 2008
Recently I was introduced to an exciting new mobile startup based in Bellingham, Washington called Tatango ( http://tatango.com). I had the opportunity to chat with their CEO and Founder, Derek Johnson, last week to learn more about the company and hear about their future plans.
The company was started just over a year ago under the name NetworkText, and recently re-branded under the name Tatango. (According to a video on their website there is no meaning behind the company name.)
What exactly does Tatango do?
Tatango provides a simple to use service that allows you to send a text or voice message directly from your computer or mobile phone to a group, keeping them connected anytime, anywhere. For example, lets say you had a group of people you wanted to communicate with in a more time sensitive, mobile way than through email. You could certainly grind your way through sending individual text messages or, by signing up to Tatango, you can message everyone with a single effort. Tatango allows any group to collect, manage and mobile message all of their group members both from a computer and mobile phone. And the great thing is that it doesn’t require any special phone and users don’t need to download any software to use the service. As long as you have text messaging, you can use Tatango.
I gave the service a test drive and it is dead simple to use. They have done a great job with the User Interface and even a non-technical Hockey-Mom could figure it out. You set up a group, invite your members and once they join your group, you are able to message them. (This prevents against the dreaded mobile-spam issue.)
It is free to sign up and the basic service is free to use. Tatango makes money by placing 30 character text ads at the bottom of group text messages and 7 second advertisements within voice messages. They also offer a premium version that is $4.95 per month which provides additional features such as the ability to add keywords. Today the service works across all major US wireless carriers (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile) and Derek tells me that they will be adding International support early next year as well.
The company is doing great – they raised an undisclosed amount of funding from The Bellingham Angel Group earlier this year which allowed them to beef up their technology infrastructure, move into some office space, re-design the website and hire a few folks. They now have 6 employees and have had over 5000 groups sign up to use the service. The average group size is 40 and Tatango is now sending about 4 million messages per month across these 5000 groups.
Talking to Derek was very refreshing. He is a young guy (23) and although he admitted some people (guys with $$) have expressed concern about his lack of experience, he is passionate about his company and loves what he is doing. As Derek explained, he didn’t start the company with any grand vision – he was simply trying to create a more efficient way to communicate with his friends through text messages. Derek and a few buddies spent about 4 months building a prototype and guess what, next thing they knew they had lots of other folks who wanted to use the service as well.
I asked Derek what the next 6 months had in store for him and along with looking for additional capital to stay ahead of the growth, his focus is pretty simple:
1. Get more groups signed up to use the service.
2. Fine-tune his business model so he can get profitable.
3. Continue to add features and functionality to make Tatango even better to use.
Personally I would have loved to use this service lat spring when I was coaching my 6 year old's Tee-Ball team. We had one game during the week and one game every Saturday. If you’re at all familiar with Seattle weather in April and May, you know that it is completely unpredictable. There were at least 4 games when I had to make last minute decisions on whether or not the games were on, and then figure out how I communicate that to 11 other parents. Tatango would have been a perfect solution and I’m sure I’ll find other uses for it as time goes on.
I encourage you to check it out at tatango.com. It will be fun watching these guys grow.
Opera Mini 4.2 Now Available - Tue, 11 Nov 2008
Opera today released a preview of Opera Mini 4.2, the newest version of the world's most popular mobile Web browser that works on almost every mobile phone. With this beta release, Opera celebrates Opera Mini being the browser of choice for more than 20 million unique monthly users worldwide. As part of the celebration, Opera Mini users in the United States and Asia-Pacific region can now experience faster browsing speeds, due to the addition of an Opera Mini server park in the United States.
Information on Opera Mini is available at http://www.operamini.com/beta/ or simply point your phone’s browser to mini.opera.com/beta to download the beta version.
"The number of people using Opera Mini worldwide proves that there is a true revolution going on: people want to access all their favorite Web sites on the mobile phone they have today," says Jon von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera. "We constantly focus on developing a faster and more personal browsing experience. Opera Mini 4.2 beta is an update that takes mobile Web browsing to the next level."
Opera Mini 4.2 beta provides a more personalized experience with its colorful selection of new skins, improved support for YouTube and other mobile video services on a wider selection of mobile phones. Improvements in Opera Link allow users to share notes between their mobile phones and PCs, in addition to their bookmarks and recently-visited URLs.
"Opera Mini is a mobile application to be reckoned with," says John Jackson, Vice President, Yankee Group. "We have witnessed a 10% average growth in the number of Opera Mini users worldwide every month, with every indication that the trend will continue. As the browser keeps improving in speed and functionality and end-user awareness expands, Opera Mini's popularity to users worldwide should continue to grow."
Samsung Takes Top Spot in the US - Mon, 10 Nov 2008
According to research firm Strategy Analytics, Samsung Electronics surpassed Motorola in the third quarter to became the largest mobile phone vendor in the United States. Samsung's broad device portfolio across multiple carriers, technologies and segments were the key reasons behind its growth.
South Korean vendors, Samsung and LG Electronics, both gained marketshare, controlling 22.4% and 20.5% respectively. At the same time Motorola, who has been the top vendor in the US since 2004, saw market share falling to 21.1% from 32.7% a year before. Nokia saw its market share falling from a year ago to 8.4%.
The research firm said overall handset sales in the United States defied the economic gloom and grew 6.2% from a year ago to 47.4 million phones in the quarter.
AT&T to Acquire Centennial - Mon, 10 Nov 2008
The consolidation in the wireless industry continues. Fresh off the news that Verizon's acquisition of Alltel is likely to go through, AT&T is also acquiring a smaller player.
According to the AP and Mercury News, AT&T has agreed to acquire Centennial Communications (NASDAQ: CYCL) for a cash deal of $944 million. The deal will add approximately 1.1 million customers to its subscriber base. Centennial has operations in rural areas of the Midwest and Southeast United States, along with Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
AT&T hopes the deal will close by the second quarter of 2009.
Snocator - Cool iPhone App for Skiiers - Fri, 07 Nov 2008
Winter is coming and the skiers are getting excited. Just in time for the first snowfall of the year, Useful Networks has launched a new iPhone app which combines all the tools skiers and snowboarders need, both on and off the mountain.
The Snocator application uses interactive GPS trail maps to show users exactly where they are on the mountain. Users can also check snow reports, mountain cams and weather forecasts to get up-to-date information on their favorite resorts as they plan their next ski vacation, or just their afternoon on the slopes.
Built for snow sports addicts by snow sports addicts, Snocator is the only iPhone application to use location-enabled ski maps to show snow sports enthusiasts where they are on the mountain, with all nearby lifts, runs, lodges, terrain parks and more pictured in detail.
The mapping feature is available at most ski resorts in the U.S. and Canada. Snow reports, mountain cams, and weather info are available for most ski resorts worldwide.
"Snocator is the ultimate guide for skiers and snowboarders, whether they are beginners or seasoned pros," said Useful Networks CEO Brian Levin. "With Snocator, anyone can find their exact location on the mountain on a detailed map showing lifts, runs and lodges."
Snocator is available at major ski resorts in the U.S. and Canada and works anywhere users have a data signal or Wi-Fi connection with the iPhone. It is currently selling for $5.99 and you can check out more info, read reviews and buy it for your iphone by clicking here.
Sears Launches Sears2Go - Fri, 07 Nov 2008
Not convinced Mobile Commerce is hitting the mainstream? Well check this out- Sears.com today announced the launch of Sears2go - a mobile commerce Web site which enables customers to find and buy select Sears.com merchandise from their mobile phone.
"In Sears' continued effort to innovate and serve our customers as they adopt new technologies, Sears2go makes it easier than ever to cut out the holiday shopping hassles and shop from the convenience of your mobile phone," said Ravi Acharya, Director of eCommerce at Sears Holdings. "More and more customers are using their mobile phones to shop online and Sears2go is completely geared for mobile devices with an emphasis on speed, usability and security. So, whether you're stuck on the commuter train or waiting for your child's holiday concert to begin, you can get your shopping done - ultimately leaving more time for you!"
Sears2go lets customers select products from a wide variety of categories, including apparel, electronics and computers, fitness and sports, jewelry, tools, toys and games with home delivery or in store pickup. After purchasing an item on Sears2go, shoppers picking up their order in store will receive a text message alert when their merchandise is ready for pick-up.
Many of the same features available on Sears.com will be available through Sears2go, providing a streamlined, consistent experience. Functional features, such as product search/browsing, shopping cart and checkout, gifts, product reviews, store locator, special offers and order status make mobile shopping just as easy as shopping online.
The site is powered by Usablenet, a NY based mobile partner for leading brands.
"We're proud to be working with Sears to deliver the convenience of mobile browsing and purchasing to its customers," said Nick Taylor, President of Usablenet. Usablenet Mobile is a fully managed service that leverages the features and functionality of a company's existing Web site and extends it to all mobile devices worldwide in less than six weeks, requiring no client IT or Web design resources.
Text SHOP to 73277 or visit Sears2go.com on your mobile phone. Standard text messaging rates may apply.
AOL Offers Syncing Tool for Windows Mobile - Fri, 21 Nov 2008
AOL has made new software available for Windows Mobile devices that will sync AOL contacts, task and calendar information with the phone wirelessly. The over-the-air syncing does not include AOL email, however. The software can be set up to ...
(follow link to read)
Apple Adds More Features to the iPhone - Fri, 21 Nov 2008
Today Apple released firmware version 2.2 for the iPhone. The updated software brings several new features to Google Maps, including Street Views; Public Transit and walking directions; the ability to see the address of dropped pins; and the ability ...
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Clearwire Shareholders Approve Sprint Merger - Thu, 20 Nov 2008
The shareholders of Clearwire have approved the merger of its WiMax business with Sprint's Xohm Wimax business. The merger has already been approved by the FCC. Sprint and Clearwire expect to close the deal by year's end.
HTC TouchPRO For Sale at Alltel - Thu, 20 Nov 2008
Alltel's online store has begun selling the HTC TouchPRO for $280 with contract after discounts.
Alltel Adds Mobile Coupon Service - Thu, 20 Nov 2008
Alltel is introducing a new service called Alltel Perks. Perks acts like a widget and delivers content, advertisements, coupons and other offers directly to a user's home screen. For example, a user might receive a coupon for $2 off ...
(follow link to read)
Nokia Adds Lotus Notes Support to S60 Phones - Thu, 20 Nov 2008
Today Nokia and IBM announced that the S60 platform will now support IBM's Lotus Notes email program. This means that S60 3rd Edition phones can connect to corporate email accounts via Lotus Domino Server software, called Lotus Notes Traveler. ...
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Google Adds Contacts Sync to BlackBerries - Thu, 20 Nov 2008
Google has recently added some features to its Google Sync for BlackBerry product. One new feature is the ability for BlackBerry users to automatically sync their Google contacts over-the-air with their BlackBerry. It offers two-way synchronization between your BlackBerry's ...
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T-Mobile Launches Web2Go, Overhauls Data Plans - Thu, 20 Nov 2008
T-Mobile is re-launching its T-Zones Web portal as web2go. The new portal is completely redesigned and meant to provide a better mobile Web experience to feature phones. Web2go will let users create their own customized home page with links ...
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Review: BlackBerry Storm - Thu, 20 Nov 2008
RIM's first touch-screen BlackBerry finally hits the market. Find out if RIM's sexy Storm lives up to the hype.
(follow link to read)
Review: Samsung Behold - Wed, 19 Nov 2008
Samsung delivers a 5 megapixel shooter with touch input for T-Mobile. The TouchWiz user interface works well. Find out if the other features do, too.
(follow link to read)
