MobiPro » Manufacturer

Travel Bag That Charges Phones

admin — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 14:54:45 +0000

It always seems that a couple of times each week I am in a situation where I am running out of battery power. Between Google Maps, Skyfire, and SlingPlayer Mobile I frequently run out of juice. If only my back pack or travel bag that I carry with me everyday could function as a charger. Well today I was happy to learn from Afrigadget.com that one will be available soon. It will be called the FLAP Bag. FLAP stands for Flexible Light And Power.
Afrigadget will be distributing solar powered bags that function as a light and a charger. The solar panel will be on the flap of the bag, and wil have a USB extension and a LED light. You can see the unboxing video below. The bags will be distributed in Ghana, Uganda, and Kenya as a trial project (FLAP Bag Project). You can follow the progress of this project at afrigadget.com or on twitter @whiteafrican.

The FLAP bags start to arrive from WhiteAfrican on Vimeo.

Attack of the Androids

admin — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 05:42:17 +0000

Beware, an Android device will be attacking a cell phone store near you. Last year we came to know and respect the G1. Most analysts found the phone to be exciting and adequate for a first try for Google, however many experts insisted that at the time there was nothing game changing about the G1. Over the course of this year Google has aggressively worked to provide updates to their devices and introduced many cool application such as Google Latitude (an LBS location based service). They have wisely made their apps available to non Google phone customers. This strategy has worked well as a method to pluck away windows mobile and iPhone users.

Google’s newest North American Phone, My Touch 3G will widely be available here in the US this week. Early reviews of the phone have been positive, however I dont see this as a game changing device. It’s just more evidence that Google is taking another huge step in the right direction.

The HTC Hero is the latest Android device that is making a lot of noise in Europe. The Hero is rumored to be headed to Sprint sometime in the late fall. Every week that goes by another new Android device rumor is appearing. Sources have recently revealed that 18 new Android devices may be released this year. HTC has also revealed that it expects to potentially have 50% of their product line be Android based phones next year. Google is also branching out from HTC and planning on working with Motorola, Acer, and Samsung. Microsoft and Apple just keep hearing the Android footsteps coming. The real question is; are they diversifying their product line too much and too fast? Only time will tell. Here are a few other Android Headlines.

Android Netbooks coming from Acer this year after all.

Android to challenge Rim for Enterprise Users

Motorola’s Sholes Smartphone headed to Verizon

Touch Pro 2 Release dates???

admin — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 04:57:14 +0000

As the clock ticks by I keep getting updates and rumors on when the Touch Pro 2 is going to be released. The rumors keep flying June, July, August. The strongest rumor seems to be August 12 on TMobile’s network (originally it was suppose to be today July 22). This is somewhat surprising, considering ATT has been the carrier who often takes the lead on HTC’s high end phones. TMobile is aggressively keeping their name out there as the carrier who will release the phone first.

While I am eagerly waiting for the release, I wont be shocked if the release doesn’t happen till closer to Thanksgiving. I know this would be very disappointing to many including me. Unless HTC is changing things, I have usually seen about a 6 month waiting period from the European release versus US based release of their Windows mobile phones. At least as far as ATT is concerned, Thanksgiving has been the time when they have historically had big splashes. Carriers could also be waiting for Windows Mobile 6.5, so that devices can ship directly with this build. Consumers have been complaining about windows 6.1.

Lets hope I am dead wrong and we all have our 3G Touch Pro 2 phones by August 12.

Sony Ericsson fails again

admin — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:49:36 +0000

Is it just me or has Sony Ericsson failed at successfully entering the mainstream US smartphone market. Its unclear to me as to why Sony Ericcson hasn’t been competing in the US with HTC, Samsung, RIM and Apple. Not too many people would say that SE makes poor quality phones. They certainly dont suffer from lack of technology. So it is rather strange that several of their phones were never properly introduced to the US market.
The P900, 910, 990 and 1. are good examples of very sophisticated smartphones but no US carriers backing them. Additionally SE was was not very disciplined with their release dates. I recall several delays on the P990. This actually drove me to HTC. Last summer I was convinced that the SE Xperia designed by HTC for SE wotj Windows Mobile’s OS on it would definitely be their arrival in this space.

The much hyped Xperia X1 never was picked up by a US carrier and never really hit the US market. All these SE phones were only available if you were able to pay the premium for a non branded unlocked phone. SE did however aggressively market their walkman type phones in the US.
SE has just announced that they will be introducing an 8.1 Megapixel camera called the Cyber Shot C905A to AT&T this month and another Walkman phone. The C905a was announced over a year ago and released about 7 months ago in other markets. I also recently did read that SE was planning to expand their Xperia series of phones this month. The phones are again heavily loaded and 1 of them is rumored to be an Android Phone. Will SE finally join the mainstream US smartphone market or is this another episode that we have seen before? The US market remains small and soft for unlocked phones. Only about 5 percent of the phones sold each year are unlocked and available from somewhere other than a carrier, SE needs to step up their strategy.

Just Blame the iPhone

admin — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:29:09 +0000

The iPhone is to blame for the growing smartphone frenzy.

It was only about 3 years ago when the average US based cell phone user didn’t know what an app or a sim card was, then along came the iPhone. Most US based users felt they simply wanted a phone to talk and occasionally text. A phone with too many features was too complicated for the average user to figure out. Phones like the Palm Treo were for power smartphone users and left every day users simply perplexed. Unlocked smartphones like the Nokia Communicator series were far too complicated for people to figure out . Not to mention the $500 plus price tag seemed ridiculous. Many users who attempted to tackle these phones ended up frustrated and unable to fully utilize them.

The iPhone simply put these matters to rest. An out of the box, app friendly, high-end phone. Today average users are asking for more apps and features. They are not afraid of the hefty price tag and see their phone as more than just a means to text or make phone calls. The iPhone deserves a lot of credit for the growth in popularity of US based smartphone users. The iPhone put the competition on notice. They either had to make their phones fun and user friendly or else!! Some companies still haven’t got it and are losing market share. For example if you put a phone with Windows Mobile 6.1 in someones hands versus giving someone an iPhone, you will get a lot more overall interest from the iPhone, meanwhile the Windows Mobile phone may actually suit that individual better and have more features. Some of the latest updates to the iPhone 3Gs were features that existed on other phones for the past 3 years however that did not slow sales down one bit. As of January this year iPhone sales were up 88%. The iPhone keeps winning new users every day.

While the competition has to hate the iPhone, they also must thank them at the same time for bringing more users to the smartphone market.

HTC gives into the pressure

admin — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 04:44:12 +0000

For years now HTC has been making their phones with just a mini USB port. This basically meant it was a major pain if you wanted to use your normal 3.5 mm headphone. I have bought and lost so many mini USB to 3.5mm audio adapter over the past 3 years. This doesn’t include the many times the adapter was left at home or in a friends car leaving you without headphone use for the day.

HTC has now committed to including 3.5 mm audio jacks on future devices that are not already road mapped. This change comes after years of crying from many dedicated HTC customers. A recent youtube video shows the a version of the new Touch Pro 2 with the 3.5mm audio jack.