11 posts tagged “nokia”

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I'm moderating two panels and chairing the morning sessions of the Mobile Application Developer Garage on Monday February 16, 2009 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona (Hall 5, Auditorium 3).  This is a first of its kind event at Mobile World Congress, and it should be a great day. 

To get a 15% discount to the Mobile World Congress, including the Mobile Application Developer Garage, please use this code: APPAB when you register.

If you're going to the show, please stop by after the morning session and introduce yourself (or email me).  If you're not going to the show, but you'd like to ask a question to Panel 1 or 2, please add a comment below or email me.  Here are the event details:

9:30am: Update 2/11/09: There was a change in Keynote speakers.  Dr. Tero Ojanperä, Executive Vice President, Services, at Nokia will now be delivering the Keynote, replacing Jim Balsillie, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Research in Motion (RIM).  This announcement is particularly exciting because the Keynote happens just before a scheduled Nokia press conference at 10am. I'm crossing fingers that he'll be announcing some news for developers during this keynote.

10:00am - 11:15am: Panel 1: Cross Platform Development

• Mobile app developers have a number of different platforms to choose from, with various pros and cons associated with each. This discussion will examine what the pitfalls are and how they can be avoided, the best strategies to exploit synergies between the different platforms and how those who do develop for a range of platforms maximize their efficiency
• Panelists:
• Nick Allott, CTO, OMTP
• Sanj Matharu, Global Relations Manager, Samsung
• Alex Linde, Global Programme Manager, Blueprint, Yahoo!
• Christopher David, Head of Developer and Partner Engagement, Sony Ericsson
• Moderator: Lisa Whelan (me)
  

10:45 - 11:15am: Live Coding Tutorial: - Code Less. Create More. Deploy Everywhere

• Tutorial with:
  
• Henrik Hartz, Qt Product Manager, Nokia
  
• Alessandro Portale, Qt Product Manager, Nokia

11:15 - 11:45am: Refreshments and demo pod visit

11:45am - 12:30pm: Panel 2: “The future of the application environment”

• As a mobile app developer, where should you be looking in the future to ensure you stay at the cutting edge? What direction are app dev environments taking? What new skill sets will be essential going forward?
• Panelists:
• Mark Doherty, Platform Evangelist - Mobile and Devices, Adobe
• Erik Jacobson, Symbian Senior Product Manager, Nokia
• UPDATE! Param Singh, Senior Director for Java Marketing at Sun will now be on the panel, replacing Nachi Periakaruppan, Senior Group Product Marketing Manager, JavaFX.
• James Pimentel-Pinto, CEO and Co-founder, Agency Mobile
  
• Bill Huang, General Manager, China Mobile Research Institute
  
• Moderator: Lisa Whelan (me)

12:30 - 1pm: Live Coding Tutorial 2:  Joint Innovation Lab mobile widgets platform

• Tutorial with:
• Paul Kenny, Head, Joint Innovation Lab

1 - 2:15pm: Lunch and demo pod visit
 

I took a blogging break for Turkey, so this social media and mobile round-up includes the most interesting news in mobile and social media since November 21:

Apple:

• Apple is changing the App store to show a broader range of top apps in each category and separated free from paid apps.  Hopefully this will discourage developers from arbitrarily lowering prices of their apps to make them turn up closer to the top of the listings. 
  
• Apple gives developers the ability to deliver promo codes for their iPhone apps.
  
• iTunes App store results, 5 months in.
  

AOL:

• Bebo launched “Social Inbox” on December 10.  It “combines e-mail, social networking and media recommendations in one easy-to-use interface. “ 
  

Facebook:

• Facebook is reportedly running A/B tests on its sign-up process. I think this is great. Testing is a very important part of improving customer experience, and more companies should test UI regularly. Here’s more on the test.
  
• Facebook announced the 5 grand prize recipients of its fbFund of $225,000 each: GroupCard, Kontagent, Mousehunt, by HitGrab, WedSnap created the Weddingbook application, and  Wildfire
  
• TechCrunch interviewed Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg here.
  
• Facebook Connect is now generally available.  TechCrunch reports “Now any third party website that wants to pull personal data about visitors from Facebook - and send back activity reports to their news feeds - can do so by first filling out a self-service application.”
  
• Good article from NY Times. Facebook Connect attempts 2 turn around dismal performance of social media ads.
• Oodle will power the Facebook Market (classifieds)
  

FIM:

• MySpace launched its new MySpace Toolbar for Firefox and Internet Explorer.  It enables: auto login, alerts, updates, Myspace Search by Google, quick links and user links from your browser.
  
• MySpace announced DataPortability Project  with new data portability standards.
  
• MySpace launches streaming mobile video.
  

Google:

• Mobile / Android:
• The Open Handset Alliance announced that the following 14 companies joined the Alliance: AKM Semiconductor Inc., ARM, ASUSTek Computer Inc., Atheros Communications, Borqs, Ericsson, Garmin International Inc., Huawei Technologies, Omron Software Co. Ltd, Softbank Mobile Corporation, Sony Ericsson, Teleca AB, Toshiba Corporation and Vodafone. 
  
• “Google's Android Open Handset Alliance Project unveiled the Android Dev Phone 1. The Android Dev Phone 1 is hardware and sim unlocked G1 in black with a special skin aimed at developers.  The Android Dev Phone 1 sells for $399 in 18 international markets. “
  
• The Phandroid blog speculates that Google will soon introduce Ringtones and Wallpapers to the Android Market.
  
• Google advertisers can now “show [their] desktop text and image ads on the iPhone, the T-Mobile G1, and other mobile devices with full (HTML) Internet browsers.”
  
• The Kogan Agora is the latest Android phone. It’s now available for pre-order and will be released Jan 29, 2009.
  
• Here’s an interesting summary of Android Market performance from MediaLets.
• HTC raised G1 sales forecasts for 2008 to 1 million devices.
  
• Chrome:
• Google’s new browser, Chrome, exited beta on December 11.
  
• Gmail:
• Gmail adds to-do list management (“tasks”) to its list of features.
  
• You can now SMS through Gmail’s new task manager. You can activate it here.
  
• Search:
• Google released zeitgeist 2008, a summary of the “big events, memorable moments and emerging trends that captivated us in 2008”.  The fastest rising global search terms? That’s right folks, it’s the ever frightening, “Sarah Palin” at #1 and “Jonas Brothers” at #10.  Obama falls in at #6.  In the UK, Google reports: “From BBC's iPlayer to Facebook to YouTube, many of the top searches in Britain this year have been for our favourite websites. We also see three web-savvy politicians come tops in searches”.  Check out all the stats here.  Very cool stuff.
  
• FriendConnect is now open for all websites.  As TechCrunch reports “Google Friend Connect is OpenSocial’s answer to Facebook Connect. It lets other websites accept a member’s OpenSocial OpenID username and password to log into their sites. More importantly, it also lets websites access users’ social data, which includes friend lists, profile information, feed messages, reviews, ratings and the like.”
  
• YouTube:
• YouTube launched an enhanced abuse and safety page.
  
• YouTube is tightening its standards on content.
  

Microsoft:

• CrunchGear speculates that Microsoft may announce a Zune Phone at CES 2009.
  

Motorola:

• MOTODEV’s Widget Developer Challenge underway. Be one of the first 100 unique submissions received by December 18, 2008, and win a $250 gift card to Amazon.com.  Click here to learn more.
• Motorola introduces Rokr EM35 with WebUI widgets & Windows Media support & music player with virtual surround sound.
  

Nokia:

• Nokia announced the N97, which looks like a very cool phone.
  
• Nokia announces “Point and Find” mobile image recognition technology. It allows users to point their camera phones at poster or billboard and get more information on what’s being advertised on their phones. I’ve seen technology like this before from companies like Pongr and Kooaba.  It’s great to see a big mobile OEM embrace it.  Check out a demo of Point and Find here.
  
• Nokia released a new email platform for Ovi. Check out the beta here.
  

Yahoo:

• Flickr launched a new mobile site, which allows video streaming.

Misc:

• Recent Layoffs:
• CBS Interactive: CBS Interactive laid off workers at LastFM, but rumor has it that CBS Interactive isn’t reporting the extent of layoffs across CBS Interactive.  CBS isn’t confirming the extent of the layoffs, but TechCrunch is speculating: “According to a source inside Cnet, the buzz is that the total number of employees asked to leave today was “275-ish.” A CBS spokesperson wouldn’t confirm that number. So take it as a rough estimate.”
  
•  Microblogging platform, Pownce, closes doors & founders including Digg's Kevin Rose join Six Apart

• Industry News:

• Mobile ad rates drop as inventory increases. Experts say mobile CPMs are ~$15 compared w/ ~$23 earlier this year.
• Blogging platform, Tumblr received $4.5M in series B investment from its Series A investors in a new round of funding this week.  They also announced that they’ll be releasing premium services. 
  
• VC firm, Accel Partners, announced two funds worth $1Billion.
  
• Industry Events:
• LeWeb08 took place in Paris December 9-10.  
• While I couldn’t make it to Paris, I enjoyed watching some of it on UStream.  
• The interview with Marissa Mayer, Google’s Vice President of Search Product, was particularly good.
• In particular, the closing session on the main stage with the Gillmor Gang was entertaining.  I don’t see it up on the Gillmor Gang site yet, but fingers crossed they’ll post it when they’re back from Europe.   
• Seesmic founder and organizer of Le Web, Loic LeMeur apologizes for “organizational issues” at LeWeb08.
  
• Technology announcements:
• Hi5: Announced virtual gifts on December 10.
• Opera: The alpha of the Opera 10 browser is now available for free download.
  
• TechCrunch reports that “Netvibes Founder Building iPhone-Like Operating System For Netbooks” called Joliweb.
  
• TechCrunch reports that UStream is entering the race to dominate the live mobile broadcasting market (other players include Qik, Kyte, and FlixWagon).  See a video and analysis here.
  
• New Start-up, “Give Real” encourages people to forget about giving virtual gifts in favor of giving “real drinks redeemable at any bar or restaurant.”  Check it out here and as an app on Facebook.
• Misc.
• Itsmy released a mobile social networking study of 15,000 active users. Results here.
  
• In her November 21 BoomTown blog Kara Swisher summarized the Astia Awards Dinner, which celebrated venture capital firms that support women-led companies. I’m not a fan of awards dinners so I wouldn’t normally mention one, except that for this one, Venture Capitalist, Tim Draper, who couldn’t make it to the event in person, sent in a very funny video of himself taking off a piece of clothing for every woman-led company he’s invested in.
  
• Vodafone buys European mobile location and navigation services company, Wayfinder.
  
• Sling.com, which, like Hulu, allows you to watch TV shows online, launched in beta.
  

• Apple
• Apple is now the #2 smartphone manufacturer. Nokia remains #1, RIM is now#3, and Motorola is #4. More here.
  
• The iPhone surpassed the Motorola Razr as the top selling consumer phone.
  
• Facebook
• TechCrunch reports that Facebook violated its own privacy policy to give Microsoft access to user emails: “Microsoft’s Invite2Messenger appears to violate that policy. Messenger users are asked to log in to Facebook, and then the names and email addresses of all that user’s Facebook friends are then sent to Microsoft and displayed in clear text on a page they control (Facebook itself only shows friend’s emails as images to prevent scraping). You check off which friends you want to invite to use Messenger, and then Microsoft sends each of them an email to install the client and become friends with you. Screenshots of the process (with emails removed) are below.“
  
• Facebook launched an app that allows users to vote for their favorite FBFund apps.  There are 25 finalists, five of which will receive $225,000 FBfund grants. Add the app here.
  
• Google
• YouTube launched a “new advertising program that enables all video creators -- from the everyday user to a Fortune 500 advertiser -- to reach people who are interested in their content, products, or services, with relevant videos.” 
  
• Motorola
• Interesting article on the perception of Motorola’s recent announcements regarding changes to the org: “Motorola's Turnaround Plans Meet with Skepticism”
  
• Nokia
• Nokia cut its 4th quarter outlook on handset sales from the 1.26 billion it forecast in October to 1.24 billion handsets. It also forecast a decrease in the global market for fixed and mobile network infrastructure. More here.
  
• Sony Ericsson
• Sony Ericsson ranks highest among customer satisfaction for the 3rd time in a row.
  
• Mobility Today is calling the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 the “ultimate Windows Mobile phone anyone can ask for”:
  
• Twitter
• Twitter surpassed its 1 Billionth tweet this week.
  

• Misc:
• Recent Layoffs:
• TechCrunch reports 58,709 tech layoffs over the past two and a half months. Check out the TechCrunch Layoff Tracker to see the latest Layoff news.
  
• Technology announcements:
• Loopt:
• Loopt has become more popular than the MySpace and Facebook mobile apps on iPhone.
• Loopt has reportedly hired Allen&Co to represent them in a financing transaction or sale
• To cut costs, Loopt is partnering with a Qualcomm subsidiary, SnapTrack, which provides GPS data for a monthly fee.
  

• OpenSocial celebrates its one-year anniversary. You can see the presentation from the press and developer event here.
  

• Soocial launched its public beta.  They say that they “aim to link all currently disconnected address books to each other. A change in one of these address books will result in a change in all your connected devices.”  It’s getting good reviews. Check it out.
• European events search engine Happener just launched after a year in development. Check it out.
  
• You can now make your own customized guide book at Offbeatguides.com, which was founded by Technorati founder Dave Sifry.
  

• AOL:

• AOL announced its earnings this week.  The most interesting part of the report: “Revenues decreased 17% ($207 million) to $1.0 billion, due to a 26% decline ($165 million) in Subscription revenues and a 6% decrease ($33 million) in Advertising revenues. The decline in Subscription revenues reflects mainly a decrease in domestic AOL brand subscribers, related primarily to AOL’s strategy to offer its e-mail and other products free of charge to Internet consumers. Driving the decrease in Advertising revenues were declines in display advertising on AOL Network sites and sales of advertising on third-party Internet sites, offset partially by an increase in paid-search advertising.” 
  

• Apple:
• According to a recent report by SquareTrade, The iPhone is more reliable than Blackberry and Treo after one year of ownership.  This doesn’t surprise me since there are less externally moving parts on the iPhone than a Blackberry or Treo.  The study is summarized by MobileCrunch here.
• Facebook:
• Rumor has it… Will Facebook buy Twitter? 
• Google:
• Google ends it’s Advertising Agreement with Yahoo because “government regulators and some advertisers continue to have concerns about the agreement” 
• According to CrunchGear, Steve Ballmer says Google is behind the competition and is questioning Android’s financial strategy.
• Google patched the
  
• LinkedIn:
• According to an Anderson Analytics’ study, LinkedIn users are high income.  You can see a good summary of the review here.  Among the findings: LinkedIn users that make between $200,000 and $350,000 were around seven times to have more than 150 LinkedIn connections than those who made less money. 66% of LinkedIn users are identified as “decision makers”.
• TechCrunch reports that LinkedIn cut 10% of its staff, some of which will be re-assigned to other roles:
• MySpace:
• MySpace launched with Auditude, an online video tracking platform.  Auditude fingerprints user posted videos to determine who the “content owner” is. It then inserts advertising into the video and tells the user whose content they’re watching.
• TechCrunch reports that  less than 1 month after it’s launch, MySpace MyAds is making a load of money: “Demand for the product was immediate and significant, we’ve heard from multiple sources close to the company. Average daily revenue, say our sources, is $140,000 - $180,000, which means MyAds is at least a $50 million/year business for MySpace already.” 
• Nokia: 
• Nokia laid off around 600 workers in “follow-up” to its earlier 2008 layoffs.  Nokia Research Center is also going to “sharpen its focus on fewer but stronger research areas.” You can read the announcement here.
• Nokia launched the beta of “FriendView”, “a location and micro-blogging service that helps you stay in touch with your close friends. It let’s you share where you are and how you feel from home, work, or on the go. With Friend View it is easy to meet up at only a moment’s notice. “   
• RIM:
• CrunchGear reviewed the Blackberry Bold saying, “The Bold is unequivocally the best piece of hardware that RIM has ever put out.”
• Samsung:
• Samsung reportedly surpassed Motorola in US Mobile market.
• Twitter:
• Twitter is contemplating corporate accounts as a way to make money.
• Twitter is now hiring a Director of Strategic Partnerships. This is the company's first business development hire... At last, the answer to "How do those guys plan to make money?!" question will likely soon be answered.
• TechCrunch reports that “Digital Garage, Twitter’s partner with Twitter Japan, launched Twicco, a site that lets Twitter users create groups and then subscribe to them.” 
• <Repeated from above> Rumors are swirling… Will Facebook buy Twitter? 
• Yahoo:
  
• Flickr: The 3 Billionth photo was uploaded to Flickr this week.  
• Misc:
• Rumor has it…
• <repeat from above> Rumors are swirling... Will Facebook buy Twitter? 
• Recent Layoffs:
• <repeat from above> LinkedIn 10% layoff
• M&A:
• Wink & Reunion.com are merging and will launch a new site next year: “Through this merger, we're redefining the people search space by bridging existing social networks and providing consumers with the tools they need to find, be found, and stay connected," said Michael Tanne, chief executive officer of Wink. "We're aiming to create an entirely new online experience that simplifies people's lives by making it easy to find and keep up with everyone they know. There will be exciting developments in the coming months as we integrate our strengths and push our business forward." 
• Technology announcements:
• PerfSpot: Perfspot will be rolling out “Friendvouch” to its 25M members in 3 million member segments over the coming months.  Friendvouch enables users to sign up for advertising offers, which they can send to heir friends.  When those friends indicate interest, Perfspot then sells those details back to advertisers and rewards the referring user.   Here’s how the Friendvouch website describes it: “Make great recommendations and earn cash with friendvouch. friendvouch is a community of people created to connect you directly to your favorite brands. Become a brand ambassador while earning money in the process.”  
• Barak Obama & Joe Biden: The office of the President Elect launched a transition website, where people can learn about what they’re planning. There’s a blog, newsroom, job application submission, agenda information, and more. Citizens are encouraged to submit their ideas to the future administration on all agenda items including technology. 
• MobileCrunch did a nice summary of the “Mobile Market View” study by The Kelsey Group.  The most interesting point from my perspective: “18.9% of mobile consumers in the United States are now toting smartphones, with 49.2% planning to pick one up within the next two years.”  
• Though not released this week, I learned about the Pico Pocket Projector by Optoma, which is one of the coolest things I've seen in a while.  For all of you mobile geeks, this pocket-sized projector seems to solve the problem of needing an Elmo to showcase the latest and greatest app on your phone AND makes it easy to project the videos you store on your ipod or mobile phone on a wall... Very cool.
  

A colleague at Forum Nokia recently introduced me to a great mobile search product called "Boopsie."  Until now, I've used Google search on my Windows Mobile phone to find the things I'm looking for.  Last week, I started using Boopsie, and I plan to continue. 

Google searching on my mobile is still great for doing local searches, settling pub quiz debates, etc., but Boopsie is great for helping me find mobile content that I wouldn't necessarily search for.  From social networking (Facebook, Plaxo,  Yelp,  Wikipedia), to google services (gmail, calendar, etc.), to store finders (Starbucks, Jamba Juice, CitySearch), to news and entertainment (Major League Baseball, eHowto, Fandango, etc.).  Boopsie aggregates channels of mobile content (including those outlined above) and makes them easy to find.  Think of it as a catalog for mobile content.   A native Boopsie application is available for download to your Windows Mobile, PalmOS, or Blackberry mobile phone by clicking here on your mobile browser. 

Today, Nokia announced its acquisition of a small social media and media sharing platform company called Twango, which was founded by former Microsofters.  While expensive (sources report the cost of nearly $100 Million), the acquisition has the potential to be a monumental game changer for Nokia. Regardless, it is a step in the right direction for the mobile industry.

Twango lets users seamlessly and easily share media across devices and software platforms.  Twango provides a good explanation on its website:

Imagine sending a photo to Twango, then having it appear on your blog or Web site in moments and notifying your viewers—automatically. Imagine a group of friends traveling together and creating a shared media experience for those back home with nothing more than their camera phones. We also imagined that, and now those are features on our site. But this is only the tip of the iceberg.

Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Multimedia, Nokia sees the acquisition as furthering Nokia's mission of connecting people:

The Twango acquisition is a concrete step towards our Internet services vision of providing seamless access to information, entertainment, and social networks - at anytime, anywhere, from any connected device, in any way that you choose. We have the most complete suite of connected multimedia experiences including music, navigation, games, and - with the Twango acquisition - photos, videos, and a variety of document types.  When you combine a Nokia Nseries multimedia computer that is always on, always connected, and always with you together with a rich media sharing destination like Twango, people will have exciting new ways to create and enjoy rich media experiences in real time.

Mobile OEMs are looking for innovative ways to integrate mobile handheld and PC experiences, leverage web technologies on the handset, increase wireless data consumption, and improve connections between mobile users.  With 2.5 G and early 3G phones, email was one of the most effective ways to do all of these things, but today, email on mobile phones is ubiquitous, and tech-savvy consumers are and will continue looking for more.  Seamless sharing of media and social networking on phones and PCs is the next frontier. 

I suspect that just like the key OEM acquisitions of email technologies earlier this year and in late 2006 (i.e. Nokia's acquisition of Intellisync, Motorola's acquisition of Good), there it won't be long before we see more acquisitions in this space.  By way of example, Sharpcast seems like one of the next likely acquisition targets.  It lacks a social networking facility, but with all of the other mobile and PC-based social networking options out there, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Polaris Venture Partners general partner Simeon Simeonov is the latest to suggest that Google is working on a mobile Phone. In his blog, Simeonov divulges that Andy Rubin (who founded Danger and later, Asteroid, which was ultimately sold to Google) is working with a team of about 100 people on a Google phone.   He also sites other Google acquisitions as evidence of a forthcoming Google Phone: mobile applications company, Reqwireless and Skia, who makes a portable graphics engine. 

Simenov's blog is definitely worth a read. It is not the only evidence that a "gPhone" (as I've now taken to calling it) is in the works.  Back in December, UK paper, The Observer, reported that Google was in talks with Orange:

[Google's] plans centre on a branded Google phone, which would probably also carry Orange's logo. The device would not be revolutionary: manufactured by HTC, a Taiwanese firm specialising in smart phones and Personal Data Assistants (PDAs), it might have a screen similar to a video iPod. But it would have built-in Google software which would dramatically improve on the slow and cumbersome experience of surfing the web from a mobile handset.

In the last year (plus), Google has proven that it wants to be a key player in mobile by innovating in the mobile applications marketplace and making key acquisitions (including Dodgeball, which Simeonov didn't mention in his blog).  It is easy to see the business reasons why Google is making an investment in mobile.  The mobile marketplace presents an opportunity for Google to expand its search and advertising empire.  According to Ovum Ltd., mobile advertising will become a $1.26 billion market by 2009 (a big jump from the $45 million market it was in 2005).  With the social media markets exploding and the lines between social media and targeted advertising becoming increasingly blury, I'm particularly interested in seeing what sort of social media featuers the gPhone incorporates. I'd love to see Google put out a mobile phone with built in GPS and suped-up Dodgeball built-in.  If that happens, it would likely shake-up the mobile industry by encouraging innovation and possibly spelling the death of comanies like Helio and Amp'd. 

Even if as the Observer suggests, the gPhone hardware isn't "revolutionary," my hope is that the software will be extraordinary.  Having worked for 18 months as a full-time consultant on Palm Inc.'s Business Development/ Developer Relations team, I can tell you that a phone (hardware) is only as good as the software that runs on it.  Palm's Treo is popular in large part because of the 3rd party software applications available for the device.  Palm isn't the only company that appreciates the value that software brings to mobile hardware.  Motorola and Nokia both have impressive 3rd party alliance programs (MotoDev and Forum Nokia).  If Google puts out a phone, I suspect that it's strategic advantage will be in the availability of as yet, unreleased, proprietary social and productivity-related software.  I hope that that the gPhone comes fully loaded with social features that help advance the mobile ecosystem and that any on-phone advertising is both tasteful and non-invasive.

I know, I know, this blog is meant to be about social media and social networking, but I couldn't resist writing about another piece of new technology that I know well - the Treo 750, one of the newest GSM Windows Mobile phones on the market.  On January 5th, Palm, Inc. announced the launch of the Treo 750 on Cingular.  This is the second major release from Palm in the last couple of months.

I've been using the Treo 750 as my primary phone for the past seven months (I was a business development, developer relations, and marketing consultant at Palm, Inc., so I got early access to the device**).  The Treo 750v has the same hardware as the Treo 750 but the two devices are branded differently because they're on different carriers (Treo 750v on Vodafone, Treo 750 on Cingular).  Despite having spent significant time working at Palm, I believe that the following review unbiased and fair.  In my opinion, as a power-user of mobile phones, the Treo 750v is the best smartphone on the market, but as with every product, there is always room for improvement.

Before I review the Treo 750, I feel compelled to point out something that many consumers don't realize - There are two current versions of the Windows Mobile 5 Operating System (OS).  There are important differences between these two versions, and most consumers don't know the differences. Here's an overview, which I hope will help:

• "Windows Mobile 5 - Pocket PC Phone Edition"
• Used by all Windows Mobile-based Treos (Treo 750, Treo 750v, Treo 700w, Treo 700wx) and phones from other OEMs.
• Comes with mobile versions of all Microsoft Office applications (Word Mobile, Excel Mobile, and PowerPoint Mobile)
  
• Touch Screen Enabled.  Users can use a stylus, touching the phone's screen to navigate through the user interface and make menu selections.  With some phones, including the Treo 750, it is also possible to navigate through most of the user interface using 5-way button navigation and soft-keys
• Phones using this operating system are often more sophisticated than the phones that use "Windows Mobile Smartphone Edition". They typically have larger screens/form factor and increased computing capacity.
  
• "Windows Mobile 5 - Smartphone Edition"
• Used by Motorola Q, Samsung Blackjack, T-Mobile Dash/ HTC Excalibur and other slim-style phones.
• The name of this OS is a bit of a misnomer because plenty of phones that use other OSes - including Pocket PC Phone Edition are marketed by OEMs and mobile operators as "Smartphones".  The Treo 750 is considered a Smartphone by Palm, as is the Treo 680, which runs on the PalmOS.
  
• Not as feature-rich as "Pocket PC Phone Edition":
• No Microsoft Office Mobile, so no viewing/editing of documents.
  
• No Touch Screen capability.  Users must use 5-way navigation and soft keys to navigate through the user interface.

I think that Pocket PC Phone Edition is the easier of the two Windows Mobile 5 OSes to use - especially because of the touch screen capability. This puts the Treo 750 at a distinct advantage over competitors like the Moto Q that use "Smartphone Edition".

And now, the Treo 750 review...

The Treo 750 on Cingular costs $399 with a 2 year contract.  If the thought of paying that much for a mobile phone makes your heart race, it may help to know that the Treo 750 is not your average mobile phone. Think of it as a hand held computer and phone - all in one.  Having used the phone extensively, I feel it is well worth the price - especially if you're a power-user of mobile phones.  If you're not interested in getting 3G data speeds or having the Treo ease of use with the benefits of Windows Mobile, you may want to check out the Treo 680 (a lower-end GSM Treo,  that uses the Palm OS - recently released on Cingular and also available "unlocked").

Out of the box, the Treo 750v works very well with PCs.  Using MissingSync by Mark/Space (sold separately), the Treo 750 also works great with Macs as well.  The Treo 750 is easy to navigate if you're familiar with using a PC, but don't worry if you use a Mac.  You'll figure it out quickly.  I use a Mac and found Windows Mobile easy to use with a little practice.

Overall, the Treo 750 rocks.  My favorite parts include:

• It integrates easily and almost seamlesly with Microsoft-based PCs and back-end systems.
• It is fast - very fast.  It downloads data quickly on 3G networks, making email and web browsing a breeze. 
  
• It includes MSFP, so it is push-email enabled.  It is easy to check e-mail - both corporate/ work email (Push or Pull) and consumer email like Gmail, AOL, and Yahoo (POP3 or IMAP).  Blackberry Connect (sold separately) is also supported on Vodafone, though I noticed it has not been released on Cingular.  I use gmail's mobile web-based email and find it exceptionally easy to use on the Treo750.
  
• Mobile web browsing is easy and quick.  You can do a Google search from the "Today" screen (that's what the main screen is called on Windows Mobile phones).  Most websites render very well... including popular social networking and web 2.0 sites like: Yelp. The only improvement I'd like to see on web browsing is the incorporation of Adobe FlashLite (as seen in the Nokia E60 and E62), as flash-based websites like YouTube don't render on the device.
• There is no external antenna like the earlier Treo 700w, Treo 700wx, Treo 700p, Treo 650, and Treo 600, and it is slimmer and lighter than these other models.
  
• Lots of memory - more than any other Treo.
• It is stable
  
• It is durable - I've dropped it... a lot. It takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'. By far the most durable Treo design thus far.
  
• Mini-SD expansion slot supports up to 2GB cards.
  
• Streaming music and videos on-line using Windows Media Player
  
• Dial by name, number or picture. You can set up speed dials on your Today screen.  I've got pictures of five friends on my Today screen, and when I tap a particular picture, it automatically dials the preferred number I've set up for that friend.
• The ability to use the Treo 750 as a modem with a PC.
  
• There is a TON of third-party software available (make sure to ensure that the software you buy supports Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC edition and screen independence/ is compatable with a 240x240 screen). 
  
• The following sites are great sources for software Astraware (especially for games), Palm's Software Connection (Palm's store), Handango, Motricity, Mark/Space (sells Mac synchronization software and other popular titles), and Handmark. 
  
• I enjoy the following software on my Treo 750** (It is important to note that data rates may apply.  Make sure you chose a data plan with your carrier if you plan to purchase any software that accesses content wirelessly. I pay "all you can eat" data plan from Cingular that allows me to download as much data as I want on a monthly location for a fixed price.):
  
• Astraware -  mobile games
  
• ScanR Whiteboards - Take pictures of a white board using your Treo in lieu of taking notes at your next meeting. Use the ScanR Whiteboards application for Treo 750 to send any whiteboard picture to ScanR's image servers, which will cleanse that image, remove vectoring, glare, etc. and send it out in .pdf format to whomever you designate.
  
• Windows Live for Mobile (Live.com, Live Search, and Live Messenger) - So many great tools to try. Get traffic, directions, restaurant recommendations, IM with friends, create a custom mobile web page with gadgets, and more.
  
• Tube 2 maps and Rough Guides (travel guides) from VisualIT - Make sure you know where you're going with the latest transport and city maps and guide books on your mobile phone
  
• Vox for Windows Mobile - Blog on the go
  
• MobiTV - Watch streaming TV from your treo. Available through Cingular.
  
• TeleNav- GPS mapping from the Treo 750... no need to mess around swapping and loading miniSD cards or suffer through outdated maps. Telenav gives you a GPS puck which communicates with your Treo via Bluetooth and downloads maps over the wireless networks as you drive. So, your maps are always up-to-date.
  

There are a few downsides with the Treo 750, but given the upsides (and when compared to the competition), they're fairly minor:

• Certain parts of Windows Mobile 5 are frustrating - namely small, fidgety things, which are easier on PalmOS devices (like cutting/pasting items between calendar, contacts, the internet, tasks and email). 
• I don't like the way that call waiting and voice mail notification work.  When you're on a call and call waiting informs you of another call, the phone vibrates/buzzes very loudly while the ringer switch is on "silent."   If the ringer switch is on, the phone dings very loudly. Either way, the caller on the other end can hear what's the noise, which is irritating.  If you chose to ignore the call waiting by pressing the "ignore call" button and the ignored caller leaves a voice mail message, a similar loud ding or buzz can be heard when the message arrives - even if you're still on the original call.  It is frustrating to ignore a call when you're busy only to be interrupted for a second time when a voice mail is left.
• No FlashLite: Flash websites don't render on the Treo 750.  I'd like to see FlashLite included in Rom like it is on the Nokia E62.
• No Wi-Fi.
• No built-in GPS.
  
• A 1.3 Megapicsel camera. If the Treo 750v had a 2.0 Megapicsel camera or higher, it could be used as a document scanner, business card scanner, and Fax machine using ScanR.
  

For those of you who are considering getting a GSM Treo but aren't sure which one to buy - the Treo 750 or the Treo 680 (recently released as well),  the following may help you compare features**:

• Price
• Treo 750 - Starts at $399 in the US with a 2 year subscription to Cingular. (on Vodafone in the UK from free to £212.77. Pricing on Vodafone outside the UK varies by country/ Vodafone operating company.)
  

• Treo 680 - Starting at $199 (with a 2 year subscription to Cingular).

• Size
• Treo 750 - 4.44" H x 2.3" W x 0.8" D. Weight = 5.4 ounces
  

• Treo 680 - 4.4" H x 2.3" W x 0.8" D.  Weight = 5.5 ounces

• Speed
• Treo 750 - 3G Phone: GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS.  It is able to take advantage of 3rd generation mobile network speeds where available, resulting in faster downloads of data

• Treo 680 - 2.5 Generation phone. It is not capable of achieving 3G UMTS speeds from 3G networks. It downloads data at slower speeds than a 3G phone like the Treo 750.
  

• Processor
• Treo 750 - 300MHz Samsung processor
• Treo 680 - Intel® PXA270 312 MHz processor
• Operating System
• Treo 750 - Uses Windows Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition 5.2.  This is a multi-threaded operating system. (Note: Palm Inc's Treo comparison website says that it uses Windows Mobile 5.0, but the Treo 750 actually uses 5.2, which allows for push email).
  

• Treo 680 uses the Palm OS (5.4.9) and is a single-thredded operating system, which means with few exceptions, users cannot multitask with applications.  Users must close down one application before starting another.

• Memory
• Treo 750 - 128MB / 60MB persistent user storage
  
• Treo 680 - 64MB non-volatile flash memory available for user storage
• Expansion Slot
• Treo 750 -  miniSD card slot
• Treo 680 - MultiMediaCard, SD, and SD I/O cards 

• Camera

• Treo 750 - 1.3 megapixel with 2x digital zoom. Automatic light balance. Integrated self-portrait mirror. Video capture support.
• Treo 680 - Has a less-sophisticated camera than the Treo 750  - a VGA camera with 2x digital zoom.
• Email: Push vs. Pull ("Push email" means that when an email arrives at the server it is automatically pushed down to the phone.  With "Pull email," a users must 'ask' the server whether email has arrived. Email doesn't automatically "push" to the phone when it reaches the server. Users can do this manually or set up alerts for the phone to check with the server after the desired number of minutes or hours have passed.)
  
• Treo 750 - Windows Mobile 5.2 (with MSFP) included: push-email comes standard for those accessing email systems that use Microsoft Exchange Servers on the back end.  This means that unlike RIM, which charges users a monthly service fee to get "push" email and requires their eterprise customers to purchase a separate Blackberry server to get 'push' email on their Blackberry mobiel phones, Treo 750 users who work at companies that have a Microsoft Exchange Server can get 'push' email for free with no additional hardware costs.  Those users who do not have a Microsoft Exchange Server on their back-end can still 'pull' down email or check it over the web using Internet Explorer Mobile.
  
• Treo 680 - Without purchasing additional 3rd party software (like Good, Visto, etc.), users must "pull" down email from their network or check email using the Blazer browser. 
  
• Network Availability
  
• Treo 750 on Cingular
  
• Treo 680 - Available locked or unlocked to the Cingular Network.  When you buy the unlocked version, you pay more because the cost of the phone is unsubsidized.  When you buy the version that is locked to Cingular's network, Cingular subsidizes the cost of the phone because you must also sign up for a service contract.
• Battery & Talk Time
  

• Treo 750 - Removable 1200 mAH Lithium-ion battery. Talk time: up to 4 hours. Standby time: Up to 250 hours. Data preserved by persistent file system.
• Treo 680 - Removable, rechargeable lithium-ion battery. Talk time: up to 4 hours. Standby time: up to 300 hours.

• Screen Resolution

• Treo 750 - 240 x 240 color TFT touchscreen
  
• Treo 680 - 320 x 320 pixel TFT touchscreen

• Accessories
  

• Treo 750 - Includes stereo headset
  
• Treo 680 - No headset
  

• Colors
• Treo 750 - only available in 1 color (depending on carrier)
• Treo 680 - available in 4 colors
  
• Comparison of primary in-box software: *may vary depending on carrier. List shown includes some trial versions.
• Similar software: Treo 750 (WM) vs. Treo 680 (POS):
  
• Similar but different Clocks and Alarm Clocks
• Similar but different integration between Outlook Calendar and Contacts on a PC and the calendar and contacts software on Treos. (In my opinion, Windows Mobile offers better calendar integration than PalmOS, but the features are very similar).
• Similar but different Calculators
• Similar but different search capability
• Similar but different Solitaire game
• Similar but different voice command capabilities
• Similar but different Word document, Native PDF, Excel spreadsheet and PowerPoint presentation capabilities:
•  Microsoft Office Mobile Suite and also Picsel PDF viewer (WM) vs. Documents To Go® 8.0 (POS)
• Syncing with PC:
• ActiveSync® (WM) vs. HotSync® Manager (POS)
• Internet Browser:
• Internet Explorer Mobile (WM) vs. Blazer® Web Browser (POS)
• Electronic Book Reading Capability
• eReader vs. eBook Reader
• Remote File Access
• Handmark Express
• The ability to listen to cached or streaming digital music: Windows Mobile Media Player vs. PocketTunes™
• SMS / MMS Messaging with chat view
• Audible®
• Adobe® Acrobat® Reader
• Xpress Mail

• Software features available on Treo 750 not available on Treo 680:

• Games:
• Bubble Breaker
• Dynomite!™ by Astraware
• Similarity to Windows PC Operating Systems and seamless integration with many Microsoft back-end systems.
  

• Microsoft® Office Outlook® Mobile (The Treo 680 offers similar features, but in my opinion, the integration isn't as seamless to Outlook on the PC as with the Treo 750)
  

•  Email
  
• Calendar
  
• Contacts
  
• Tasks
  
• Notes
• Good Mobile Messaging stub application
• Pocket MSN
• Windows Media Player Mobile (allows users to play audio and video)
  
• Outlook 2002 for desktop
• Spritesoft backup and restore
  

• Software features available on Treo 680 not available on Treo 750
• Game: Bejeweled 1.0 by Astraware
  
• Pictures and Videos
• Tasks (similar to 750 but syncs to different program on Palm Desktop on PC)
  
• VersaMail®*
• Voice Memo
• Traffic for Treo™ smartphones (Microsoft offers a similar program via Microsoft Life Search Beta)

Do you own a Treo 750 or have thoughts/feedback on this review? If so, post a comment. If you are a non VOXer, feel free to email your comments to me, and I'll post them manually: socialmediablog@gmail.com.

**Note: I am not, nor have I ever been a Palm employee (I was an independent contractor). The facts contained in this blog are in the public domain.  The views expressed in this blog are my own opinions and are not endorsed by Palm, Inc., Microsoft, Cingular, or Vodafone.  While I attempted to verify the accuracy of product specifications prior to writing this blog, I cannot guarantee ongoing accuracy of this information.  Before purchasing a mobile phone, software, or wireless plan, confirm all specifications and product compatibility with the provider/ seller.  Please consult your mobile operator and  your mobile contract/user agreement before downloading 3rd party software to your phone to confirm that the software you use is permissible on your network and to confirm the cost of data charges.  Data charges may apply when using certain in-box and 3rd party software. Data speeds and related charges will vary, depending on your carrier and service plan. Consult your wireless carrier to pick the wireless data and voice plan that is right for you.