Android 2.2 (Froyo) is fast and includes some great features

The other day, I had the chance to play around with an Android smartphone loaded with Android 2.2 (Froyo). As reported by other bloggers, Android 2.2 is faster, it includes some nice new features (like support for Adobe Flash 10.1) and:

• New Home screen tips widget
• Exchange support
• Portable Wi-Fi hotspot
• Multiple keyboard languages
• Improved browser performance
• faster app switching
• smoother performance on memory-constrained devices
• Voice dialing over Bluetooth
• and more.

So, are you an early adopter? You can search the XDA-Developers forums to see if someone is cooking up an Android 2.2 ROM for your smartphone. Most of the newer Android devices will probably receive the update to Froyo, but if your phone isn't on the list, then maybe it's time to load a custom ROM so that you're not left behind.

Adobe Flash 10.1 for Android 2.2

Here's a short video showing you Adobe Flash 10.1 on an Android smartphone:

Reviving a dead BlackBerry Curve 3300

The other day, I had the opportunity to revive a dead BlackBerry Curve 3300. The device simply didn't turn on. Removing the battery and reinserting it did nothing. When I connected it to my PC, the device was recognized, so I used BlackBerry Desktop Software and I tried to reinstall the OS (flash the ROM). That didn't work, but when I went to flash an older ROM, the device woke up and it started working.

Why didn't the device turn on? Was it stuck? Did the ROM get corrupted? I have no idea. I also don't know how long the device will continue to work, so I encouraged my coworker to get a new smartphone ASAP.

Android 2.2 Froyo includes Adobe Flash 10.1 support

Good news for all you Android users: Android 2.2 (also know as Froyo) includes Adobe Flash 10.1 support. Just when Verizon HTC Droid Eris users got their upgrades to 2.1, Google announced that Android 2.2 will be coming soon. You'll get a faster web browser, tethering, the ability to install apps to your storage card, and more. Tethering won't be limited to USB cable tethering. You can convert your Wi-Fi enabled Android smartphone into a Wi-Fi hotspot.

32GB microSD cards announced by Samsung

Right now, the largest microSD card you can buy is 16GB. That's quite a bit of storage space!

Well, Samsung has announced the development of 32GB microSD cards and you can expect to see them fairly soon. It's hard to know how much these will cost.

What's the limit on a microSD card? How "big" will these tiny memory cards get? Will we see these tiny flash cards holding over 100GB? How about 500GB?  1TB?

Read more at Engadget.

iPhone 4G rumors

There are growing rumors regarding the next generation iPhone. I will not be surprised if it's called the Apple iPhone 4G. By then, we may be using a different system and the distinction between CDMA vs. GSM may not be relevant. Let's wait to see how networks transition from 3G to 4G and UMTS.

So, here are some of the rumors floating around:

• 64 GB or storage space (not surprising, considering the iPod touch already comes with 64 GB)
• 5 MP camera. Wow! Let's hope we see an LED flash.
• Smaller screen? Really? Instead of a 3.5" screen, we may see a 2.8" screen. I think that makes sense. 
• Available on Verizon Wireless. Well, we had been hearing about that for a while, but let's hope it's available on multiple networks. Why limit yourself to a single carrier? That simply doesn't make sense and I think Android will move ahead because of the way it's currently positioned.

I guess Apple must not have any plans to release a thicker version of an "iPhone Pro" and include a hardware slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Personally, I think that would attract many business users who rely on buttons for typing. Apple should offer both an iPhone 4G and an iPhone "Pro" 4G. Then again, maybe by the time the 4G comes out, we'll be so accustomed to on-screen typing that we won't want to go back to a hardware keyboard.

Smartphones of the future

10 years ago, if you would have told someone that you could squeeze 16 GB of flash memory on something the size of a microSD card, people would have laughed. Think about the type of storage technology we had 10 years ago. In 1999, we were living in the era of Windows 98 (Windows XP was released in 2001). Did you have a PC running Windows 98? Do you even remember the specs on that PC? I had an analog Motorola StarTac cell phone in 1999. I remember paying quite a premium to have that phone.

If we could move forward 10 years, what will smartphones be like? I don't think anyone will debate that mobile phones will be capable of very high data transfer speeds. They will have very fast processors. They will come with a large amount of internal flash RAM. Hopefully they will have much better battery life.

I wonder if the majority of future smartphones will be designed with touch-screen navigation or buttons. Will we still have phones with a hardware QWERTY keyboard? Or, will everything be driven by voice recognition and touch navigation? It's a bit difficult to imagine, isn't it? 10 years can go by so quickly, yet so many technology advances can occur over 10 years.

Will we have flexible LCD displays? Will phones be thinner than they are today? Will they be capable of 3D holographic projections? Will everything be video phone calls?

As we prepare for 2010, I'm reminded of the type of technology I used in 1999. As we prepared for the Y2K bug 10 years ago, life seemed slower and simpler back then. Today, we have access to information everywhere and I'm always connected to the Web (thanks to my smartphone).

I'm saving some of my relics so that I can show them to my kids. I plan to build a little gadget museum in my house so they can appreciate how technology has changed over time.

Smartphone capabilities in 5 years

I'm not a fortune teller, but I can tell you fairly confidently that smartphones will have some incredible capabilities in 5 years. Here are my predictions:

• Much larger internal storage capacity that exceeds current Flash memory cards. I think we'll see many smartphones that have over 100 GB of storage space. They will rival current laptops in terms of storage.
  
• Much faster processors that are fuel-efficient. (battery fuel). Current smartphones are still running in the MHz range. We'll see smartphones that rival current notebook processor speeds in the GHz range.
• WiMax instead of Wi-Fi. Forget coffeshop hotspots. The entire city will be a hotspot.
  
• Much faster data connections. 3G speed will be like 14.4 K modem speeds compared to modern broadband speeds.
  
• Large touch screens. All of them will have touch screens. Smartphones that lack a touch screens will be considered "antiques."
• Built-in GPS. They will all have internal GPS chips. This is becoming quite standard right now, but in 5 years, we'll see this as the norm.
• Superior voice command and voice recognition. Who needs a keyboard if you can "say it?"
  

In essence, future smartphones will have the capabilities of current laptops (not the fastest laptop, but an "average" laptop). They won't have spinning hard drives, but they will be much more capable of multimedia and high-speed data connections. Just follow the history of the Apple iPod to see changes in Flash storage space, processor speed, battery life, and more. I believe Apple will continue to set the trend that others will follow. Samsung, HTC, RIM, Sony, Motorola, Palm, Nokia, and all the others will follow Apple's lead.

Early Android adopters

Were you an early Google Android adopter? If you have a T-Mobile G1 running Google Android, you may be sad to know that additional updates beyond Android 1.5 may not "fit" on your device. The G1 doesn't have enough internal flash memory for an updated operating system. That's not to say that people may not develop custom ROMs that may fit, but you should not expect any type of official release from T-Mobile or HTC.

Now that we have several new phones running Google Android, why keep the G1? Upgrade to a newer, faster phone. Then, you can repeat that upgrading process in 1-2 years. And repeat it again, and again, and again... (how many smartphones have you had in the last 2-3 years?)

Verizon XV6900 smartphone for $9.99

If you're on Verizon Wireless and you're looking for a small touch-screen smartphone running Windows Mobile, then you may want to consider the XV6900 that's only $9.99. It's certainly not the latest or greatest, but it could be a practical option if you're on a tight budget (medical students, did you catch that?). Besides, if you enroll in the "new every two" plan, then you will qualify for an upgrade in two years and smartphones will certainly be much better in two years. Why spend $100-200 for a phone that's probably only going to last 2 years when you can spend $10, right?

You're not going to find the XV6900 in stores. It's only available online (while supplies last). This phone is actually made by HTC and is also known as the HTC Touch, HTC Vogue, or HTC Elf.

Verizon has disabled the built-in GPS on the XV6900, but there are ways you can get around that if you're daring and tech-savvy enough to flash the ROM on your device. You'll even find developers working on custom ROMs running Windows Mobile 6.5.

Here's one other interesting fact about the XV6900 - I believe it's the last smartphone on Verizon Wireless running Windows Mobile that does NOT require a data plan (technically, you sign up for the pay-as-you-go option and that's $0 per month as long as you never use it). If you want to get any other smartphone on Verizon Wireless, you'll have to spend at least $30/month for the data plan alone.

HTC Hero will run Google's Android

The HTC Hero is another phone that will be running Google's Android. However, it will run a new user interface called HTC Sense. Here's a quote from Brighthand: "HTC Sense is a distinct experience created to make HTC phones more simple for people to use, leaving them saying, it just makes sense," said Peter Chou, CEO, HTC Corporation. The HTC Hero will be the first Android phone with Adobe Flash support. My prediction is that most phones will eventually support Flash. The big question is: when will that "someday" arrive?

Skyfire is No Longer Beta

Skyfire for Windows Mobile is no longer in beta mode. You can get version 1.0 of this powerful browser by pointing your mobile browser to: get.skyfire.com

Skyfire is currently my "default" browser on my Windows Mobile smartphone. It is capable of displaying Flash content (including video) and has some great zooming capabilities. I had no problems viewing this video using my smartphone: MIT: The Future of Science Journalism

Upgrade Your Treo 700wx to Windows Mobile 6.1

You may have heard that some developers have gotten their hands on Windows Mobile 6.1 for the Palm Treo 700wx. If you want to learn more, then take a look at this forum on XDA-Developers:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=397134

Flashing a phone's ROM is not for beginners. This is true especially when you're loading a custom ROM. If you make a mistake, then your phone may turn into a permanent brick that you can use as a paperweight. I always advise people to ask for assistance or to hand the phone over to an expert who can do the flashing correctly.

In my opinion, there are significant advantages to running Windows Mobile 6.1 over Windows Mobile 6.0. That change from ".0" to ".1" at the end of 6 makes a big difference. Now we have Windows Mobile 6.5 but that's not available for the Treo (at least not now). Not sure about the version differences? Take a look at this chart that provides an overview of Windows Mobile 5.0, 6.0, and 6.1:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/en-us/meet/version-compare.mspx