(Reuters) - Mozilla, developer of open-source Web browser Firefox, said on Wednesday it set a new Guinness World Record for the largest number of software downloads in 24 hours.

… may be much cheaper thanks to this service so consider using it. You also get local Spanish number !

To begin, it must be noted the author is an iPhone addict, and duly biased. And, this review will pit the G1 vs. the iPhone in many regards. The photo shown here was taken with the iPhone (yes, the crappy iPhone camera).

Getting up and running was simple and fast: add the SIM card, power on, and configure the GMAIL account you want associated with your phone.

First catch: make sure the GMAIL account you are using is the one you REALLY want to use. After you add the account, there is currently no way to change it other than resetting the phone to factory settings. See the manual on how to do this.

After you have the GMAIL set, you are off and running. And playing. There are many features to check out, and the input methods are numerous: touch screen, track ball, full QWERTY keyboard and few tactile buttons to boot.

After some time cruising around the device, some initial thoughts came to mind:

• If you don't like the idea of being forced to have a GMAIL account, don't get one. Or hack it!
• Its much bulkier and heavier than I thought it would be; much more than the iPhone.
• The applications available in the 'Marketplace' are very average, and seem out of date
• Getting on WiFi is easy, but unlike the iPhone it doesnt pro actively ask you to join one
• touch screen is fine, appears very responsive
• adding additional email accounts is straight forward, no harder/easier than iPhone mail application
• Feels much more like windows mobile than I would have thought.
  
• Awkard holding it in landscape position (for your right hand) and using keyboard, not as nice as Sidekick, as the device gets in the way of itself
• trackball might be overkill for everything but games. but I love it for games, and this is an important part
• Camera is pretty solid, though not sure on exact method to snap shot (see photo on right)
  

Overall, good first effort. its apparent that the HW and SW is from different firms as its not totally tight. Its a PC, not a Mac :)

If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if you took the Motorola ZN5, made it a slider rather than a candybar phone, and added 3G, you now have an answer: the Motorola VE66. Also, stop thinking about stuff like that, weirdo.

It’s not quite that simple, but it’s pretty close. Like the ZN5, it’s got a QVGA screen (albeit .2″ smaller, at 2.2″), 5 megapixel camera (though with LED flash, rather than Xenon), Stereo Bluetooth, a microSD slot, and WiFi.

While the official announcement fails to mention it, GSMArena reports that there will be two models of the VE66: One with quad-band GSM/EDGE and no 3G (headed to China), and one with UMTS and HSDPA 3G. No word yet on availability beyond “Q4 of 2008″.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

The Gadget: The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 is the new flagship smartphone for the electronics giant. Packing the new "Panels" interface, a full QWERTY keyboard, 3G data and 800x480 touchscreen in a full metal body, is the Xperia X1 poised to challenge the top smartphones?

Price: $800 (no carrier or contract required)
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Verdict: The Xperia X1 is kind of a mixed bag. For every good thing the phone does, there seems to be something detracting from it as well. From a hardware standpoint, this is a well built phone that feels extremely solid in the hand. But at the same time, it's not exactly the lightest or slimmest phone available (even for a slider). The 528MHz Processor and 256MB RAM also give the X1 enough horsepower to run smoothly...most of the time.

The 800x400 VGA screen is beautiful, considering all that resolution is tightly packed into a 2.8-inch screen. Videos and images are bright, vibrant and sharp. The fact that it uses resistive touch techonology, however, is not so great. But my favorite hardware aspect of this phone is the keyboard. The keys are well spaced, responsive and I rarely have typos in my texts; this lets me worry about what I'm saying instead of whether or not I'm typing gibberish. The phone also has an optical sensor stuck in the middle of the four-way directional pad that lets you flick your thumb over its surface, and it will scroll up and down, side to side. It's an interesting use of tech, but feels slightly awkward, a bit gimmicky since there's already a touchscreen and a d-pad make the sensor somewhat unnecessary.

On the software side, the big sell for the Xperia are its custom panel interfaces, which range from different types of homescreens, a media player interface, and even a Google-oriented screen. While selected, these panels serve as the default screen for your phone and all navigation tracks back to the panels. In theory, this is a good idea. But when you're in a panel that isn't built around a today-style screen, and you quickly want to check any missed calls or text messages you may have, this interface becomes a bit of a nuisance.

But the one panel that does stand out is the Media Player. Sony Ericsson took their design cues from the PSP and PS3 and created an interface that is equally appealing as it is functional. Clean and streamlined, the media player features large icons and buttons that work well without a stylus. From the screen, you can watch movies, listen to music, view photos or even bring up your contacts list to make a quick call. Aside from the keyboard, this is probably my favorite feature of the Xperia X1.

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In terms of calls, signal strength and call clarity were generally good in the parts of the Bay Area I tested in, but phone screens could be better designed. When you hit the call button from your home screen, it brings up your keypad with a list of recent calls. A series of icons for call logs, favorites, and contacts sit above the keypad. In the call log subscreen, it's a bit tough to tell what are missed calls, dialed calls, and received calls at first glance.

Battery life is great, as I can make calls, browse the internet, and watch videos at a moderate level for two or three days without charging it. The 3.2 MP camera has a pretty good sensor that takes crystal clear photos, and uses your touchscreen taps to autofocus on a specific object. But a slow shutter—especially in low light—detracts from the camera experience. Other than that, the software experience on the Xperia is pretty standard WinMo fare.

Overall, the custom software upgrades Sony Ericsson added to WinMo 6.1 are good, but feel tacked on; ths ranges from random 6.1 elements popping up over the custom UI when you get a call or text, text messages and missed calls that go unreported or the frozen screens that occur when you try to transition to another panel/app. It feels like Sony Ericsson chose WinMo by default, not because it's the mobile OS they really wanted.

To be blunt, the Xperia X1 isn't quite up to snuff with the top smartphones in the market from an overall standpoint. Whether you're talking about its $800 price tag, stylus-based resistive touchscreen or 3.2 MP camera, this is a phone that would have fared better amongst early adopters a year or two ago. This is not to say the Xperia X1 is a bad phone—on the contrary, it's a very respectable piece of hardware. It's just not good enough to justify the cost when better, cheaper phones are available. [Xperia on Giz]

Image © AT&TExactly one month ago, I published a compilation guide of all Sprint cell phone plans currently on the market and analyzed them against one other. That compilation guide,...

After more than a decade of watching the entertainment industry (mainly the RIAA and the MPAA), one thing I've learned is that the organization never gives up in pushing its legislative agenda. If there's a setback in one area, you can be sure that others from the organization are eagerly pushing the exact same rules through some other angle. The typical MO is that they try to get federal legislation passed in their favor. However, if that fails, they switch to the fallback plans which involve international treaties and state laws. Both of these are great because they tend to get a lot less scrutiny. State laws are a bit of a pain, because you have to get a few of them approved to create the "groundswell" that makes other states jump on board, but changes to state laws can often pass through under the radar.

That appears to be what's happening in the effort to force universities to install filters monitoring their networks for any unauthorized transmissions. You may recall that the RIAA pushed strongly to get Congress to pass laws requiring filters. Basically, the entertainment industry first flat-out lied (yes, lied) about how big a problem file sharing on campus was, and that got some Congressional Reps (with plenty of campaign contributions from the entertainment industry) to introduce legislation punishing universities if they didn't filter their networks. Widespread outcry against that legislation helped water it down, but it appears the industry just moved on to state legislatures.

The RIAA is now celebrating the fact that Tennessee has passed legislation that requires universities to install filters if they've received at least 50 DMCA requests. Considering the massive number of DMCA notices that the RIAA has been known to file, this is hardly a large hurdle. The law will cost Tennessee taxpayers nearly $10 million in the first year, and another $1.5 million each year -- based on the state's own estimates. And for what? To put in filters that won't work, just to try to prop up an obsolete business model from legacy players in an industry that needs to learn how to adapt to the market?

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Take the ringtone personality test, hear your 5 best free ringtones and download them for free.

I enjoyed these visual movie reviews, especially There Will Be Blood ("this is just pretentious afterbirth") and The Darjeeling Limited.

(link)

Admob just published their October metrics report. First, I should say - congratulations to Admob. They are at nearly SIX BILLION (5.8 billion to be exact) ad requests per month. That's a huge number compared to where they were a year ago. And, they don't represent the entire market.

There's a lot more mobile web browsing going on than they see. And what is crazy - or not so crazy - is that the majority of it is still on your basic feature phone. An astonishing four percent IS on iPhones. You have to go down to #10 on the list to get to another mid-sized device with a larger than average screen. The RAZR ranks #2. This creates an interesting development dilemma for content providers, but more on that later.

Page three of the report is dedicated to the impact of the iPhone on the market. It's definitely worth a read. I won't steal their thunder by listing all the highlights here. Topline - they had nearly 150 million requests from iPhones in the US alone. The requests about doubled between end of September and end of October. (Can't wait to see Apple/AT&T's Q4 earnings ... how many of these devices are you guys selling?)

How about 17 percent of ad requests coming out of Mexico coming from the iPhone? Can't remember which carrier Apple launched with there. T-Mobile won't tell me how much they are pricing iPhone data plans at in the US. (Kidding)

Admob and this industry are just getting started. Apple announced 200 million downloads a couple of weeks back. They haven't said what percentage are paid and what percentage are free. Let's assume the majority are free (I'll use myself and go with a sample size of n=1). There is a tremendous audience there that will likely be served ads in the future to support the free download model. Admob has some cool ad formats they've developed for the iPhone that we're just starting to see. Their report sites 400 iPhone apps and sites currently being served. I expect to see the traffic from iPhones continue to increase as more applications use their product.

The Safari browser on the iPhone is great, etc., but I only use it as a last resort if there isn't a widget or app that will get me what I need.

This is getting to be pretty exciting. Stay tuned.

Gemei is one of the more known pmp manufactures in China, employing over a thousand people and winning several awards at tech shows in Asia has a new player with GPS capabilities. With all the common features and good codec support, you will also be able to get all voice directions, address quicksearch and route [...]

The Sony DR-BT160AS Bluetooth Active Style Headphones popped up on Giz a few months back, and they looked promising if a bit odd, streaming stereo A2DP audio while packing a rechargeable lithium ion battery and a microphone for calls. But we had no pricing or availability information. Now, through the magic of press releases, we know that the headphones are available now for "approximately $130." That's not the most reassuring pricing announcement we've ever seen, but we'll take what we can get. [Sony]

Slashdot has a post drawing the conclusion that podcasting is now on the "Net Sidelines". I must say that from everything I am seeing here on the Zune team; working on podcast content and its distribution; it is alive and doing very well.

Sure podcasting may have declined in the hype of it and the techno-elite have moved on to Twittering areas now, but podcasts or downloadable portable media is still growing and doing very well. I do believe though that the technology of podcasting will eventually disappear from user view as better user interfaces make it easier to find and connect with this media on many always connected data platforms.

I am also hoping that this xml based revolution will transform and bring efficiency to the music, television and film industries around digital download distribution.

If you can stomach more than 30 seconds of it, here's Snoop Dogg on Martha Stewart making cognac mashed potatoes. Here's part 2, in which Snoop and Martha compare posses -- bodyguards in Snoop's case and personal assistants for Martha. One of commenters on YouTube correctly notes that Stewart has spent more time in jail than Snoop.

(link)

Filed under: Robots

var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gadgets/Polymorph_Robot_Mimics_Human_Joints_And_Muscles'; Using polymorph plastic, some curtain rods, electric screwdrivers, motors, and a whole lot of mad-scientist creativity, an Xrobots hobbyist created this organic-looking robot base. By using wooden sockets and curtain rings as hip joints, the designer is clearly going for a human-like creature of doom here. Knee joints are kept moving with four motors each while a network of bungee cords and strings will act as muscles and tendons. Meanwhile, electric screwdrivers provide power for rotation. The legs measure 26-inches tall alone, so it looks like he's on his way to a real beast here. Hit the read link to see all the raw materials and sit in awe at this monster in the making.

[Via Hacked Gadgets]

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Vringo offers discovery channel video ringtones PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung), Austria - Jan 11, 2008 For accessing more services in Phone Video Sharing, video phone, free cell phone video, video sharing community, mobile video sharing, visit www.vringo.com.

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One of those days where it’s a sick day for me watching Eureka seasons one and two and my NCIS..all because it’s a sick day for me. Well, now I have over a few sites to rework, and well, Richie asked a question to me just earlier on of how to get a stable connection over at Shah Alam as many are cussing and swearing of even having a decent phone line connection, be it streamyx, or Celcom or any other cellular communications as it’s a black out area thanks to the military base nearby, and the lack of permissions or planning rights by Sime Darby for transmitter. This is a little break from me modifying my CHAT.NU Community Blog (it’s a multi site blog) and sort out those bugs in the system.I appreciate the break from my brain picking.

This is the actual transponder used by mobile companies for their Basic 2.5G systems and maybe the basic 3G (not UMTS 2100/WCDMA) which actually looks like someone connected the aircon piping over, and if you open it up…well …


It is basically a small little 2 inch thingy…which I dared not pry open the insides as I fear for the radiation that is still may be left in there. Notoriously, for your information, transponders and smoke detectors carries Curie (discovered by Marie Curie whom died of radiation sickness) which is an active radiation element. Unlike Plutonium or Uranium, it’s not that likely to kill unless it’s electrically charged up. These photos are CLASSIFIED in some places and if you ever touch those conducting cables in underground or above ground car parks like Queensbay Mall Penang or KLCC, you will get a quick headache within 20 seconds and 10 minutes to death as the amount of radiation , though may be only 50Watts is the equivalent of having your head inside a microwave oven set at 5000W! Ref point, 50W can transmit the same as over 7000 mobile phones.

In the end…you end up like this…(graphic images, not suitable for some)

Which is a a sad thing to see…death of kids and the more heart breaking… of the images of their grave yard. I was trying hard to focus on the windmill but kept on getting the blurr images all round. Spooky…maybe..just it is a grim reminder that some parents have to face, to bury their kids, way before their time.

Some take life for granted..and try to get rid of their own children, through abortion or what means, whilst some..actually love and wanted to have their own. It was thing I can’t get it out of my head. Someone’s Prince and Some mommy’s princess. In the end, in the age of technology, only memories goes by. I lost 3 brothers….and through unmarked graves. I lost mine too. And in turn, we carry on living like a living dead…waiting for us at the other side.Little Angels waiting for their parents to bring them forward. It’s a thing. I seriously can’t get a clear decent shot. All images, how mounted my tripod were….well, it’s something to remember.

In remembrance of those who left before us, Al-Fateha.God Bless their souls.

Seriously..I really need to get rid of these bugs!

Filed under: Handsets, Samsung, ATT, Windows Mobile, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA

The Samsung Epix, as it's known on AT&T, recently joined the herd of others cluttering up the carrier's shelves after being known elsewhere for the longest time as the SGH-i907. For those teetering on a purchase, the cats at Pocketnow have some valuable insight you should probably chew on first. For starters, they found the screen to be stout and the optical joystick to be "fantastic," though the dearth of in-box amenities was a bit of a letdown. On a very positive note, the reviewer never once had to initiate a soft reboot, and the ginormous 1800mAh battery got him through a solid 1.5 days of heavy usage before calling it quits. Unfortunately, the lackluster software suite was the Achilles' heel; critics found that Samsung's Windows Mobile overlays and additions were ho hum at best, and the complete omission of a soft reset hole was just unacceptable. The bottom line? You should probably give this one a handle in-store before buying blind -- as lovely as some aspects are, you don't want to buy into a device that's frustrating to use.

Samsung Epix SGH-i907 gets reviewed: it's a mixed bag originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 28 Oct 2008 08:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I would personally prefer a cheaper TV without a built-in PC or blu-ray player, but it’s still really interesting to see all these new machines hitting the market in a rapid pace. The Allio PCTV comes with a built-in home theater PC including a blu-ray drive. The flagship model is $2799…

Allio 42-inch HDTV with PC and Blu-ray Player [hothardware.com]

Nine Ohio higher education institutions combined expertise to implement an interinstitutional, competency-based undergraduate minor curriculum in computational science. The program, which began in Autumn 2007, is part of an National Science Foundation Cyberinfrastructure Team Award and the new, statewide virtual Ralph Regula School of Computational Science. Key program elements include the definition of the program's interdisciplinary competency requirements, sharable instructional modules, and interinstitutional agreements for cross registration. Many courses are offered remotely, so students can access computational science instruction likely unavailable at their home institutions. The program is a model for interdisciplinary, interinstitutional activities that provide the expertise required to advance the application of computational methods to new discoveries in science and engineering.