Amy Eichelberg

It appears that Apple has found a useful way to alert Japanese iOS users of an impending earthquake with a new notification feature included right into iOS 5.  Apple’s newest mobile operating system, set to launch in the fall, will have a built-in earthquake notification which will be located at the bottom of the new notification center. The earthquake notification will receive information from the country’s official earthquake center, providing a person up to two minutes to prepare for a potential earthquake. While two minutes doesn’t seem like a lot, it could make all the difference in the wake of a natural disaster. The built-in feature is expected to […]

Skype announced today it will be adding Groupme to its social portfolio in an attempt to break further into the mobile market. Groupme is a mobile group messaging service that made a significant impression at Google’s I/O. While details of the acquisition remain discreet, we do know Skype hopes to leverage the messaging service to provide a “multi-platform communications” experience for its loyal users and potential users alike. Skype’s CEO Tony Bates, explained to TechCrunch that if the company ever wants to reach 1 Billion users, they will have to invade the mobile market. Skype sees the new addition of

Sony Ericsson revealed its latest Android handset today, dubbed Live with Walkman. The Gingerbread enabled device sports a 1GHz processor, a 3.2 capacitive touchscreen, a 5 megapixel camera capable of 8x zoom, and a front facing VGA camera for HD video shooting in 720p. Other internal specs include 320MB of RAM, up to 32GB of microSD storage, and either tri-band 3G support (HSPA+) at 850, 1900 and 2100MHZ, or dual-band 3G at 900 and 2100MHz, depending on the model. As the name suggests, Sony Ericsson played up the handset’s music capabilities with an instant access to music button, enhanced audio, and Qriocity

As the world gasped in surprise at the unexpected discontinuation of HP’s WebOS line, it appears that even key HP executives were just as shocked. According to a recent report by All Things D, Jon Rubinstein and Todd Bradley, the head of HP’s Personal Systems Group, knew nothing of the TouchPad or WebOS’s demise until last Sunday. Bradley was mostly responsible for the Palm and HP deal last summer, while Rubinstein was largely the force that drove WebOS, so it comes as a shock to hear they were kept in the dark about the bold move. It also appears the two executive’s future with

Tomorrow marks a big day for Blackberry uses, as Research In Motion is expected to unveil their revamped Blackberry App World 3.0. The redesign is expected to be a highly modified upgrade boasting faster app, game, and theme browsing. Another new feature users can look forward to is the My World storage folder. The feature will maintain all of the user’s downloads on the home screen and provides the ability to wirelessly reinstall a file if it is accidentally deleted or the user upgrades to another device. Here’s what sources close to N4BB had to say about the scheduled release, Please be advised that App World 3.0 is

It’s August 21st and the day some Sprint users have been patiently waiting for as the Samsung Conquer 4G is now available for purchase on the Now Network. Priced at $100 with a two year contract, the handset is available both online and in Sprint retail stores. The Conquer 4G marks Sprint’s first 4G smartphone to launch at the $100 price point. In case you’ve missed any of the Conquer 4G pre-launch hype, the Android 2.3.4 enabled handset houses a 1GHz CPU with 512MB of RAM all underneath a 3.5-inch HVGA display. Additional highlights include 3G/4G hotspot capability, dual cameras, and a virtual SWYPE

In the aftermath of the unfortunate demise of HP’s WebOS devices, an ironic buying frenzy ensued as retailers suddenly slashed prices on their leftover HP TouchPad inventory. Consumers turned into scavengers looking to snatch up any of the ridiculously low priced tablets which we reported to be priced at $99. So while others are relishing in their bargain deal of the century, what about all of the people who listened to Russell Brand and actually bought the device when the going was good? Well, fear not as it appears HP is doing the right thing by offering a full refund or paying

While most wireless companies are constantly looking to stay ahead of the competition, Research In Motion (Blackberry) hopes to do exactly that with its upcoming music service. According to All Things D, Blackberry’s music service will be appropriately titled ‘Blackberry Music’ and will allow users to share tunes with other Blackberry music subscribers. The music service is speculated to give users access to 50 songs for just $5 a month. We’re not sure if Blackberry users will be able to port their music to any additional devices, outside of the Blackberry Playbook, as these details currently remain unclear. Research In Motion is speculated

With only two short weeks until September arrives, we have yet another reason to mark our calendars for the first of the month. It appears Samsung has mysterious plans as they released two teaser videos that promise “something big” will be making a debut at the IFA trade show in Berlin. The IFA trade show festivities are scheduled to start September 1st. It’s hard to tell exactly what to expect from Samsung as the videos are vague at best. One video shows images from the ocean (displayed above), while the other promo video displays happy people walking around with lights

Running ahead of schedule is not something we here everyday in our line of work. However, Microsoft has surprised us all by confirming that they are in fact done with their next product, Windows Phone 7 Mango. Peter Wissinger, Microsoft’s director of Mobile Business in the Nordic countries, released an official statement today on Mango’s status, “Now it’s up to our manufacturing partners to release Mango to our customers. Microsoft has delivered complete Mango earlier than planned to the manufacturers. Feels good now.” Great, Microsoft has their act together so when exactly can we expect to see the first Mango device? It’s

It’s been less than two weeks and Apple has already pushed out iOS 5 beta 6 out into the wild. The new build is available as a 144MB over-the-air (OTA) update for developers with iOS 5 beta 3 or higher installed on their iPhone, iPads or iPod touch devices. Apple does not recommend wiping your device prior to installing this build like it did with the previous build (beta 5). Apple released updated builds of iTunes (10.5 beta 6) and Xcode (4.2 preview 3) alongside this iOS 5 beta 6. For anyone wondering what’s different in beta 6 from the last build, we included

It seems as though HTC has something up their sleeve, as they announced an upcoming public meetup event to be hosted in London on September 1st. The company posted the event details on their Facebook page stating, “It’s been awhile since we last met, so we thought that we’d invite you to come party and more importantly see what’s next.” While the event details do not confirm any new device launches, the last time HTC held a public meetup the company decided to unveil their HTC Sensation. The September 1st timeline would support recent rumors of the expected launches of

The next Samsung Nexus device dubbed the Nexus Prime should be making its official debut in October, according to a recent report in Korea’s Electronic Times. What’s more exciting is that this device is speculated to be Samsung’s first Ice Cream Sandwich handset. The Nexus Prime is also expected to sport a 4.5-inch HD AMOLED display and a 1.5GHz dual core processor, which we can add to our list of ‘reasons to look forward to October’, right next to trick-or-treating. While this all remains under speculation, we’ll keep our eyes peeled for an official announcement. In the meantime we’ll just have to wait patiently

While it might seem a bit odd to think of Yahoo and Google both playing nice in the search engine sandbox, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that Yahoo wants a piece of the Android pie. Yahoo announced that they will be bringing their first Android Gingerbread powered smartphone to Japan fully equipped with Yahoo home, Yahoo Auction, and various other Yahoo features. While pricing has yet to be confirmed, we do know the the device will be a variant of Sharp’s AQUOS 009SH. The Yahoo handset will be hitting Japanese markets next month, and will look to

Nearly two years after ThinkFlood released their RedEye remote control for iOS, they are finally launching the popular universal remote for Android users. The application will allow Android users the ability to not only control their home theater, but their lighting and air conditioning too- all from the comfort of either their Android smartphone, tablet, or laptop. The new version (2.7.0) which is compatible with Android devices running 1.6 and higher, also provides various graphics and layouts for anyone looking to add some pizzazz to their user experience. The free app sports a handy built-in TV program guide that ensures you won’t miss any upcoming episodes of