Go2’s “What to do” – Local Search and Events

Go2.com is one of the mobile web’s oldest destinations. The URL has hosted a mobile site since 1999.  The original Go2 was a WML based  local search site that was remarkably powerful for its time. Go2 pioneered features like mobile driving directions and the “what’s nearby” search.  In 2002, Go2 and AT&T collaborated to launch one of the world’s first location based mobile web services.  It used cell tower triangulation to find a user’s location and show nearby restaurants and stores. … Continue reading

Nokia E7 Review

I sent my Nokia E7 loaner back to WOMWorld/Nokia last week and I was sad to see it go. The E7 is not perfect but my overall experience with it was very good. The E7 is the successor to Nokia’s successful Communicator series (image of 1998 9110 Comunicator below) which were clam-shell devices featuring a large screen and spacious QWERTY keyboard.   The Communicators were pocket-able devices that provided a near-laptop experience and were popular with professionals who wanted to be … Continue reading

Video: T-Mobile Nokia Astound Run Over By A Bus!

Last week at CTIA WOMWorld/Nokia‘s Tom Messett came up with a crazy idea. He wanted to run over a brand new T-Mobile Astound (Nokia C7) with the four ton, 15 passenger Ovi Maps Bus! I told Tom he was crazy, the phone would surely be smashed, but there was no dissuading him. The results surprised me, the Astound not only survived and but it still worked and looked great. See for yourself in this HD video that I shot on … Continue reading

Browser Test: Opera Mini 6 and Opera Mini 4.3

Click images to view full size Last week at CTIA, Opera Software released three new mobile browsers, Opera Mobile 11, Opera Mini 6 and Opera Mini 4.3.  I covered Opera Mobile 11 a couple of days ago.  Here’s my take on the new Opera Mini versions. Opera Mini 6 and 4.3 can be downloaded from m.opera.com using your phone or from opera.com/mobile/download/ with a PC. The Android version is also available from the Android Market. Opera Mini 6 is latest … Continue reading

Browser Test: Opera Mobile 11 For Symbian and Android

Opera Software released a trio of new browsers last week at CTIA. They are: Opera Mobile 11 for Android 1.6 and later and Symbian 3rd Ed and later. There are also experimental “labs” releases of Opera Mobile 11 for Maemo, MeeGo and Windows (for Windows 7 tablets). Opera Mini 6 for Android, Symbian 2nd Ed and later and BlackBerry OS 4.2.1 and later. iPhone and iPad releases will be available soon. Opera Mini 4.3 for Java ME and BlackBerry. The … Continue reading

New Symbian Browser: JavaScript Benchmarks and HTML5 Test Results

I’m pretty happy with the new “pre-PR 2.0” Symbian browser on the T-Mobile Astound version of the C7. Not only is the user interface nicer and the feature set improved but browsing seems a lot faster than the E7/N8 browser. To get an idea of the HTML5 support in the new browser I ran the HTML5TEST.com and W3C HTML5 test suites in the old and new Symbian browsers as well as in Opera Mobile 11 (on the Astound) and in … Continue reading

CTIA is Wild This Year and it Hasn’t Even Started Yet.

I’m at the big CTIA Wireless trade show in Orlando this week as the guest of WOMWorld/Nokia.  The event doesn’t start until tomorrow but, thanks to a couple of huge pre-show announcements, it’s already shaping up as an especially interesting show this year. Yesterday, AT&T announced that it is acquiring  T-Mobile USA.  The match-up, if it passes regulatory review, would make AT&T the largest US operator. As a long time satisfied T-Mobile customer who also briefly used AT&T a few years … Continue reading

CTIA: Opera’s Jon von Tetzchner on Mobile Advertising and Adobe Flash

I spoke with Opera Software co-founder Jon von Tetzchner at CTIA today. Yesterday Opera announced that it had joined Adobe’s Open Screen Project, which aims to increase the use of Flash on all devices including mobiles.  I asked Jon what the alliance with Adobe would mean for Opera Users. He pointed out that Opera had long supported Flash in its desktop browsers, the Nintendo Wii browser and with Opera Mobile on Windows Mobile. He said that  Open Screen Project membership … Continue reading