Thursday, March 31, 2011

MobileCrunch

MobileCrunch

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Contest: Want To Win A Mophie Juice Pack Air iPhone Case? Here’s how.

Posted: 30 Mar 2011 05:38 PM PDT

As promised yesterday, we’ve got a bit of a giveaway goin’ on over at our brand new Facebook page. Two lucky MobileCrunch fans are gonna be walkin’ away with a brand new Mophie Juice Pack Air iPhone case. Part protective case, part external battery, this thing should keep your iPhone safe and juiced up.

So, how do you enter to win? It’s crazy easy:

  • Head over to our new Facebook page and hit the LIKE button. Liking won’t automatically enter you, but you’ve gotta Like the page to qualify to win.
  • Find the secret passphrase. It’s not hidden or anything — just look for our wall post about this contest. Hell, here’s the link.
  • E-mail the secret passphrase to greg+FBContest@crunchgear.com (that’s a plus sign there in the first bit. Don’t worry — it’ll work.) Make sure you send it from an e-mail address I can respond to. )

We’ll pick 2 winners at random from those who followed the steps above on Thursday 3/31/2011 at 11:59 PM Pacific. Winners will be alerted via e-mail by Friday. Good luck!

Video: Kyocera Echo Unboxed Over 2 Weeks Early

Posted: 30 Mar 2011 01:40 PM PDT

Look, Wirefly: I’m going to be candid here. If your goal is to make friends with the blogging world so that everyone will share these videos you’ve taken to making lately, unboxing every handset that comes through your stock room weeks before release isn’t the way to do it.

When you start doing these videos, you’ve entered into a different realm — one where we battle to convince reps to send us handsets early, live as close to shipping hubs as possible, wake up at the crack of dawn to meet the UPS guy at his truck, then blast out videos at a breakneck pace in hopes of being the first to get one online. When you’re shooting videos with handsets you’ve got early because you’re supposed to sell them, you’re cheating.

With that said, here’s Wirefly’s unboxing of the Kyocera Echo. It’ll likely be the last of their unboxings we post.

webOS 3.0 SDK Beta Now Available To Select Developers

Posted: 30 Mar 2011 01:11 PM PDT

Palm’s HP’s shiny new tablet, the TouchPad, still doesn’t have an official launch date — but whenever it does come, it’s going to be the first device runnin’ webOS 3.0.

Lookin’ to give third-party app developers a chance to get their goods prepped in time (and, unofficially, to give the webOS crowd a chance to play with webOS 3.0 in an emulator), HP has just released a Beta build of the webOS 3.0 SDK. There’s one catch, though: if you want access, you’ll need to be a part of Palm’s Early Access Developer program. Getting into that private club isn’t exactly like breaking into Fort Knox, but you’ll need to shoot an e-mail to Palm’s dev marketing team and convince them you’re up to snuff. Once you’re in, you’ll have access to just about everything you need to get building.

Kin Studio To Be Reborn As Windows Phone Mobile Studio?

Posted: 30 Mar 2011 12:35 PM PDT

Back when the Kin kicked the bucket almost immediately after it launched, we were pretty bummed. Not because either of the Kin-branded phones were particularly good, mind you — but because there was just one feature that we really, really wanted to see succeed: Kin Studio.

For those who didn’t pay attention to the Kin (don’t worry, you’re not alone. Obviously.) Kin Studio was a constantly synced, browser-based cloud service that stored backups of all of your videos, pictures, and text messages. Need a photo off your handset, but can’t find the cable? Don’t feel like going all the way across the room to grab your phone to view that video you recorded last night? Just pop into Kin Studio, plug in your credentials, and it’ll all be their waiting.

Alas: when the Kin died, so did Kin Studio. But according to the ol’ Rumor Mill, Microsoft might just be bringin’ it back for Windows Phone 7.

There’s not a whole lot to go on right now, but Windows Phone blog WP7AP spotted this job listing over at the Microsoft Careers center talking up a previously unannounced “Mobile Studio” project. ZDNet’s Mary-Jo Foley — who generally has her ear pretty low to the ground on these things — took the detail and ran with it, theorizing that it may very well be Kin Studio reincarnated for Windows Phone 7.

Sure, we’re all grasping at straws here, but with good reason: Kin Studio was pretty great. If Microsoft isn’t working on bringin’ it to Windows Phone 7, that’s a mistake on their part.


The Droid X Gingerbread Update Brings A Little But Welcome Fix To The Dock Clock Mode

Posted: 30 Mar 2011 08:22 AM PDT


Huzzah! I loaded the leaked Gingerbread release on my Droid X last night and have fantastic news to report. The stupid colon doesn’t blink when the phone is docked now. Gingerbread as a whole is a tasty update, but this single change makes me a happy little boy. Before the colon would blink as quick as a strobe light. It was major distraction as the dock rests right between my two monitors and the damn colon would always grab my attention inadvertently.

I wasn’t alone in my annoyance, either. It was a common complaint and there are tons of forum posts of users seeking to modify the dock clock mode. By the way, the Droid X dock is only $23 on Amazon and is totally worth it especially thanks to this update.

Japan’s SoftBank To Offer Free Phones, Waive All Communication Fees For Quake Orphans

Posted: 30 Mar 2011 08:06 AM PDT

Japan’s telecommunications juggernaut SoftBank, the third largest mobile carrier of the country, had to register quite a lot of damage after the big earthquake that hit Japan on March 11. 3,800 of SoftBank’s base stations were knocked out, meaning no customer in the affected areas could make or receive calls via cell phones (the situation was similar with other carriers).

But it turned out that this damage wasn’t the main concern of SoftBank’s president and founder Masayoshi Son (pictured above). After visiting Fukushima Governor Yuhei Sato in his prefecture on March 22 and seeing the real damage done, Son promised his company will offer free cell phones to all children who became orphans due to the earthquake.

Son said that as SoftBank’s leader, it makes him feel uncomfortable to hear that disaster victims and their friends and relatives have trouble in connecting and obtaining information. And while he was at it, he also promised that the orphans won’t be charged any communication fees until they reach the age of 18.

Son (who is well-known in Japan as a big fan of Twitter) later tweeted out the details of SoftBank’s initiative to his close to 1 million followers, at the same time asking for more ideas how his company could help the disaster victims.

And it worked: after follower KitWin proposed to replace iPhones (SoftBank is the sole iPhone provider in Japan) damaged due to the quake for free, Son replied just hours later that his company will not only replace damaged devices, but also give out new iPhones for those lost for whatever reason in the course of the disaster.

I wouldn’t be too surprised to see other phone companies in Japan following up with similar initiatives.

Via Engadget
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