01 [Google to unveil its own phone by next year] Popular search engine major Google is hoping to launch a mobile phone by early next year that will allows users to surf the internet on the move. According to the Telegraph, the company hopes that its "GPhone" will be as popular as the Apple iPhone which was launched in the United States in June. Google services, such as its search engine, e-mail and interactive maps, will be loaded on to the phone. It is thought Google will derive its revenue from the lucrative mobile advertising market. Eric Schmidt, Google`s CEO, was quoted by the paper as saying recently that mobile phone adverts are "twice as profitable or more than non-mobile phone ads because they are more personal". Research a telecoms analyst; forecast that the market for mobile advertising will be worth more than $5.4 billion a year by 2011. 02 [Google developing search tool for mobile content] Google Inc. is developing a new search tool for cell phones that will allow users to find and purchase mobile content, including ring tones and games, according to a published report. Google has been working for months with content providers such as "large entertainment companies and smaller mobile-media aggregators" to make their material available through a mobile search, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday, citing people familiar with the matter. In an e-mail to Computerworld, a Google spokesman said the company doesn`t comment on market rumor or speculation. According to the Journal, mobile users would go to Google to search for content, such as a particular ring tone and would be provided with links to providers where the ring tone could be purchased. Eventually, the Journal said, Google would charge companies for "high placement in the search results." Google is also looking at including a social-networking piece that would let users of its e-mail service, called Gmail, exchange content, according to the Journal. However, the project has been hampered by a number or technical glitches, the newspaper said. Analysts were mixed on whether Google would succeed in such a venture. "Google is biting off a lot in developing a search tool for mobile content, but it`s a meal they know, and I`d bet on them to succeed," said Kathy Sharpe, CEO of Sharpe Partners, a New York marketing and consulting firm. "It`s when they get into the commerce arena where they`ve been less successful, where problems will hit." Sharpe said it`s not clear how Google will partner or compete with the telecommunications companies. "This is another example of Google stretching out beyond the world of search, even beyond their stated mission of `organizing all the information in the world,` and this time, it`s into a high-stakes, complicated commerce arena where nobody wants to give an inch. It will be interesting," Sharpe said. Jack Gold, principal analyst at J. Gold Associates in Northboro, Mass., said, "Given that Google wants to be the New Age media giant of the world, it needs to move toward mobile devices, since in sheer numbers, the market will be massive -- translated as, `substantial revenue opportunity for the right engine.`" However, Gold said he`s not so sure that ring tones and media is the way to go. In the longer term, he said, Google wants to be the mobile commerce engine for a host of features. Searching for something on a cell phone is currently a frustrating experience when compared with searching on a PC with a broadband hookup, so a good search engine designed for the smaller screens, relatively slow speeds and access methods of cell phones is imperative, he said. "[Google] is starting with ring tones and media because that is fairly well understood, and there is a market for it," Gold said. "Long term, why couldn`t I use Google to buy theater tickets or make dinner reservations?" Ken Dulaney, an analyst at Gartner Inc. in Stamford, Conn., said search on a small device is "problematic." "Ask yourself why when WAP [Wireless Application Protocol] browsing and SMS [Short Messaging Service] started some 10 or more years ago, SMS won and WAP browsing went nowhere," Dulaney said. "Sure it`s better today, but we should have seen some movement. What is a better approach is to alert users of important things by e-mail with an embedded URL and then let them browse." He added that if Google plans a mobile portal, it would be better than the offerings from mobile operators. "Just as Apple has circumvented the operator, others like Google will too. And that`s a good thing. The mobile operators just don`t do a good job," Dulaney said. 03 [iPhone spurs mobile development renaissance] I wish I could have peppered my iPhone review with phrases like ¡°at present,¡± ¡°initially,¡± or ¡°for the time being.¡± But Apple doesn¡¯t work that way. If I could be confident that Apple would address the major shortcomings that I saw in iPhone, like the absence of programmability and the lack of access to even a sandboxed portion of the device¡¯s file system, I¡¯d have given the device a thumbs-up for its platform potential alone. Instead, I had to evaluate iPhone as it is -- for the technology, policies and message that Apple and AT&T are selling today. With that in mind, I judged it to be no match for BlackBerry, Treo, Windows Mobile and Symbian devices, all of which do what business needs, are programmable, are expandable, can be purchased from multiple wireless operators (at discounts), are offered with data-only and voice-only plans, have replaceable batteries, and also have very nice media players. I¡¯m glad that iPhone is waking so many people up to the potential of professional mobile devices. I urge people who are looking at iPhone to spend an equal amount of time ogling alternatives, because once you get above $200, it¡¯s easy to find handsets with displays and media players that rival iPhone¡¯s and which also deliver the kinds of serious features that benefit professional users. Take your newfound mobile enthusiasm shopping. If you¡¯re jazzed about creating iPhone-friendly Web apps, spread the love -- there are lots of mobile handset users equipped with full browsers capable of running interactive sites. Make your apps mobile-friendly. It doesn¡¯t take much effort. Non-iPhones can support ¡°iPhone apps¡± with little or no modification. As long as sites avoid using the non-standard Canvas tag, apps written for iPhone usually just work on other devices. I encourage iPhone Web app/site developers to test their sites and applications on at least one non-iPhone mobile device. The native iPhone look and feel, with the exception of gestures and the on-screen keyboard, is being reproduced in CSS and vanilla JavaScript by the people who attended the successful iPhoneDevCamp in early July. Check in on the iPhoneWebDev Google Groups site to join in the discussion. What you¡¯ll find at iPhoneWebDev doesn¡¯t turn a random smart phone into an iPhone clone; that¡¯s not the point of cross-platform mobile DHTML development, or at least it shouldn¡¯t be. But the iPhone look and feel promises to bring some good taste and common sense to sites that target mobile browsers, and with luck, it will spur Web developers to finally recognize that 1024 by 768 is not a global standard. That¡¯s lazy design and lazy coding. Make your site mobile-friendly, if you haven¡¯t already. If it takes iPhone to motivate you to make that happen, then go buy some and pass them out to your development team. Don¡¯t forget that practically everything except iPhone gives developers the ability to store, upload, and download data using its internal file system and to save Web pages for offline viewing. Right now, iPhone only allows you to persist files and documents as attachments to e-mail, but I recommend adding a ¡°mail this to me¡± option for Web sites and documents that you format for mobile use. If you¡¯re bored with your smart phone, PDA, or ¡°superphone,¡± that¡¯s your fault. The iPhone craze should get a lot of mobile professionals exploring their devices, and the massive libraries of downloadable third-party software. Don¡¯t forget to include MIDP (mobile information device profile) Java apps when you go looking for software for your phone, because they tend to run just about anywhere. iPhone¡¯s great, but if you paid more than about $200 for a mobile device, chances are high that your handset can do what iPhone does, or can be taught to do it with the help of some third-party apps.

01 [Review: Samsung BlackJack II PDA phone] Samsung makes a good PDA phone a little better, with subtle changes in design and components Samsung took almost everything about the first BlackJack and turned it up a notch, making a good PDA phone a little better. Though the BlackJack II doesn`t look drastically different from the original and still leaves room for improvement, the subtle changes in design and components are a nice upgrade. For example, the BlackJack II is noticeably faster than the older model. Toggling between and opening applications generally felt snappier, and moving around the Windows Mobile 6 interface was a fairly smooth endeavor with the new scroll wheel in the center. The center wheel also functions as a five-way navigation button, and it replaces the thumb wheel that was located on the side panel of the original BlackJack. Unfortunately, rotating the new wheel won`t let you select menu items on the same row, such as the top row of recently used apps on the home screen; you must press the left or right side of the wheel, essentially using the arrow keys. If you use or have seen the original BlackJack, you probably noticed the potentially confusing layout of the alphanumeric keys: A column of alphabet-and-symbol keys sits between them. Thankfully, Samsung fixed the issue on this model by placing the alphanumeric keys directly next to one another. Other keyboard-related enhancements are in the bottom row, where you get a dedicated key for the silent mode and a dedicated key for the camera. Samsung also changed a couple of the bottom-row keys to accommodate shortcuts to AT&T`s Cellular Video service and its home page. Samsung added built-in GPS to the BlackJack II. If you download and subscribe to TeleNav`s GPS Navigator, you`ll receive voice-guided, turn-by-turn directions; but if all you need is a map, we recommend downloading the free Google Maps for Mobile application instead. On the software side, the Windows Mobile 6 OS comes with a couple of enhancements, including push e-mail support (messages automatically download in the background as opposed to your manually retrieving them) and a slightly better Internet Explorer browser. It`s worth noting that, instead of the Picsel Viewer app used in the original BlackJack for viewing and editing Office documents, the BlackJack II runs Microsoft Office Mobile with Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Though Picsel Viewer and Office Mobile work similarly, I miss the pan-and-zoom capability that the Picsel software offers. Call quality on the BlackJack II was just as good as on the older model, thanks in part to its 3G antenna. Though the speaker was loud enough to hear clearly, it sounded too tinny for our taste. As for missing pieces, the phone conspicuously lacks Wi-Fi, a touch screen, and a standard headphone jack (it uses a proprietary port). We would have liked the existing screen to be better, too: Graphics and text on the 2.4-in., 320-by-240-resolution LCD tended to look grainy and a little blurry. The plastic shell feels a little cheap, as well, and the glossy paint job tends to be a fingerprint magnet. The microSD slot supports up to 4GB add-on cards, though some smart phones can handle up to 8GB or larger. Overall, though, the BlackJack II is still a good deal. For $250 with a two-year AT&T contract (as of Dec. 21., 2007), you`ll have a slim and good-performing smart phone that can handle your calling, messaging and mobile entertainment needs. 02 [Google Buys Maker of Mobile Social Network] Finnish firm Jaiku markets a social-networking service similar to Twitter. Nancy Gohring, IDG News Service Google Inc. continued its acquisition spree with the purchase of Jaiku Ltd., a Finnish company that offers a social-networking service similar to Twitter. Jaiku describes the service as one that lets users share their "activity streams," which it defines as "a log of everyday things as they happen." An activity stream can include recommendations, details of events the user is attending, photos and questions. Users can post new items online, via instant message and on mobile phones using text message. The companies did not disclose terms of the acquisition, which is closed. With the announcement, Jaiku closed new user registration but will still allow existing users to invite friends to join. Current users can sign up for an invitation to participate in the testing of new services to come, Jaiku said on its Web site. Jaiku also offers a mobile feature that allows users to view items posted by friends in the list of contacts on their phones. Mobile users can also opt to share availability status, location and calendar items with anyone else or with selected contacts. The capabilities are available to owners of Nokia Corp. phones running Series 60 software. In a blog posting, Google wrote that it is interested in Jaiku because the application can help busy people stay in touch with other people, whether they`re at a computer or on a mobile phone. Jaiku was founded early last year and the service launched in July 2006. The company is based in Helsinki. Google has made many acquisitions, large and small, over the past years. Some recent buys include Postini, Panoramio and YouTube. Just two weeks ago, Google bought mobile social-networking company Zingku Inc. amid rumors that the search giant may be developing a mobile phone. 03 [Pda Phones: Palm Tx Pda or Palm Z22 Pda or Hp Ipaq Hx2490 Pocket] PDA phones are in demand in the market. People are buying like potatoes. They have fallen in love with it. Of many models from different manufacturers here are some that is of importance. Palm TX PDA : Introducing the Palm?TX handheld. With built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth?technology, this is the wireless device you`ve been waiting for. Browse the web and check email from your office, campus, or a home Wi-Fi network뾞nd places like airports, cafes, and hotels1. Carry your Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files2 and get more done anywhere. Web pages, presentations, spreadsheets, photos, and videos come to life on a large colour screen that rotates from landscape to portrait mode. Have time to unwind? The Palm TX handheld even lets you listen to MP3s3 and read eBooks. It`s anything but business as usual. Palm Z22 PDA : If you`re still using a paper planner, maybe it`s time to catch up with technology and upgrade to the affordable and easy-to-use Palm Z22 handheld PDA Phones . It enables you to keep your entire day-to-day schedule and contact information at hand and in your pocket--no more flipping through multiple pages, looking for scraps of paper or keeping track of to-do lists. And you won`t have to enter the same thing twice--once on the computer and once in your planner, as you can easily make updates on your computer and synchronize data to the Palm Z22 in just a minute or two. HP iPAQ hx2490 Pocket PC: The hx2490 includes Integrated Wi-Fi (802.11b), Integrated Bluetooth?wireless technology for wireless communication with other Bluetooth?devices, Serial IR provides you with an easy method of exchangign data between Serial IR enabled devices. It also includes enhanced security protection with HP ProtectTools software secured by Credent Technologies.