Finally, after several months of testing, Nokia has finally opened its Ovi Store. And we don’t have to tell you that this online app store is a direct competitor to the very successful iPhone Apps Store. The question is, does it have what it takes to beat Apple’s iPhone apps store? [Read more…] about Nokia Ovi App Store is Now Ready to Battle iPhone App Store
Originally posted on May 26, 2009 @ 10:30 am
What else could probably come as an iPhone application? It’s a gaming platform, an e-book reader, a flashlight, a virtual beer, and now the iPhone has just become a free dictionary as well with the release of Dictionary.com’s iPhone app. So , now you have a handy dictionary minus the bulky form of a pocket dictionary that we use to know. [Read more…] about Dictionary.com Comes as a Free iPhone App
Originally posted on April 8, 2009 @ 1:41 pm
If newspapers that are planning to put their operations online rather than closing them down would take note of a new comScore report, it would tell them how to perhaps drive more readers to their publication. According to a comScore report released today, the number of people using their mobile phones to access news has more than double from January 2008 to January of this year.
Of the 63.2 million people who used their mobile phones to access news and information in January 2009, 35% or 22.4 million of them have done it on a daily basis. This is twice the number of people who did the same thing in 2009.
Aside from accessing news, the report also revealed that these people use their mobile phones to do their social networking activities, financial-related transactions, accessed business directories and entertainment news.
All these point out to one thing – that mobile phone usage is becoming part of people’s daily lives. Not only are mobile phones now being used only for calling or texting but also for other online activities.
And like I said, newspaper publishers must take note of this fact. Redirecting their publications online while stopping the printed media can be more successful if they will make their publications more mobile phone-friendly, regardless of mobile platform.
A good example of this is the way websites are optimizing for the iPhone. There are more and more iPhone optimized websites being created since the iPhone came out. These iPhone optimized websites tailor fit the design, usability and navigation of their sites on the iPhone’s display capability. Hence, providing users with an almost exact replica of the website on the iPhone.
Originally posted on March 16, 2009 @ 2:05 pm
It was only a few days ago when the whole tech land was disturbed by the release of Amazon’s second generation e-book reader – the Kindle 2. Some of us may still be getting over the buzz created by the Kindle 2 and here comes Amazon again announcing the new Kindle for iPhone application.
The Kindle for the iPhone application tries to mimic what the Kindle does. By installing the application on your iPhone, you can practically purchase kindle electronic files (books, magazines, and newspapers) from the Amazon Kindle Store and have it directly sent to your iPhone. But that is not without any limitation. The process works only if you are within the coverage area of the Kindle’s Whispernet.
Now, that may be appalling for some especially since the iPhone unlike the Kindle is available worldwide. But of course, there is always a walk around. Like if you own a Kindle but you’re outside the Whispernet coverage area, you can always purchase Kindle materials from Amazon and have it downloaded to your PC. This issue is true only for those outside the Whispernet area. But for those within the coverage area, the beauty of the Kindle for the iPhone application is the fact that if you subscribe to a blogs or newspapers, updates and new contents can be automatically push to your iPhone. I don’t know about you, but for me that is absolutely awesome, right?
But the reason for the question in this post’s title has nothing to do with the coverage area but rather on a larger perspective. Is there really a need for a Kindle application for the iPhone? Have Amazon thought about this? What would be the implication of the Kindle iPhone application to the sales of the Amazon Kindle? What is Amazon really promoting, it’s catalog of paid electronic publications or the Kindle.
Certainly, those who are contemplating about getting a Kindle to use it for reading e-books might be having second thoughts now. I mean, what’s the use of getting a Kindle if you can read Kindle books, magazines and other materials on your iPhone?
Originally posted on March 4, 2009 @ 2:07 pm
One of the most exciting announcements made at the ongoing Mobile Web Congress happening in Barcelona was Nokia’s new mobile content application service called Ovi Store. According to Nokia, the Ovi Store will integrate all its current mobile content services, Download, MOSH and WidSets into the Ovi Store. And to make things more interesting the Nokia is also opening the Ovi Store’s door to third-party mobile phone applications developer through revenue sharing similar to Apple’s policy with its Apps Store.
From the looks of it, the Nokia Ovi Store is a promising endeavour for Nokia and if carried out properly, Nokia may have something good in the offing for their mobile product offerings. Nokia mobile phones continue to be the most widely used mobile phone devices worldwide despite having less clout in the American market. Elsewhere, Nokia still dominates the mobile phone market, especially in Asian countries.
So, if Nokia could come up with a mobile content and applications store as good as Apple’s iTunes Apps Store, you can just imagine how big its consumers will be. Nokia mobile phones market share is still bigger than the iPhone despite the huge success that Apple’s mobile device has gained since it was launched. And if Nokia’s Ovi Store could offer something as robust as the iTunes Apps Store plus other mobile stuff, then it could very well give the iTunes Apps Store a run for its money.
Can Nokia’s Ovi Store compete with iTunes Apps Store? Probably yes. But could third party application developers come up with good applications for Nokia’s mobile phones, or could Nokia phones handle sophisticated mobile applications? Those are the proper question to ask. And the answers are yet to be ascertained.
Originally posted on February 17, 2009 @ 11:04 am
When Google Docs mobile was launched last year, I was pretty much excited to try it out using my iPhone. Unfortunately, the service didn’t have too much to offer since it was a browse-only service. I stopped using it since then. Perhaps realizing the shortcomings of its mobile Google Docs service, Google has finally introduced some sort of “editing” features to Google Docs, but only for spreadsheets.
Actually the new feature was the addition of a List View which facilitates viewing, editing, sorting, and filtering of your spreadsheets on your iPhone and other supported mobile devices including the G1 Android Phone, iPod devices and Nokia S60 devices.
This is certainly a nice feature especially if you are sharing and collaborating on spreadsheet files. Now, you can easily edit a spreadsheet file anywhere you are, using your mobile phone. Even better is the fact that your friend or colleague who are sitting in front of their PCs at home or in the office will immediately see the edits you’ve made.
Hopefully, we get the same feature on Google document files as well.
Originally posted on February 16, 2009 @ 11:04 pm
