mobile Archive

This Saturday, January 28, 2012, the LoneStar PhoneGap group will hold their first meetup. PhoneGap is a mobile platform that helps you easily create mobile applications and more importantly helps you distribute one set of code to all of the major phone OS systems (Apple iOS, Google Android, Blackberry, WebOS, Windows Phone 7, Symbian and Bada). Nitobi, the parent company of PhoneGap, was acquired by Adobe last October.

I think it is awesome that a group is meeting on a Saturday afternoon! The meetup will be held at a public library just west of the university area. Free pizza and drinks will be served.

Here’s the event description, “Lets kickstart the first PhoneGap meetup in Austin. Come to learn about PhoneGap, network with other PhoneGappers in Austin, and discuss best coding practices. On the program is a 15 minute coding session where we will develop a simple PhoneGap application demonstrating some of the key features and coding style. You are wlecome to bring your laptop and code along with us.”

Google has apparently released a brand new smartphone called the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. This device has the new Android 4.0 software on it which is codenamed Ice Cream Sandwich. It runs on the Verizon network and has the ability to use the LTE network which is the fastest I’ve heard. I would have been interested in reviewing the Galaxy Nexus as most of you know that I am still using my Samsung Ace Windows Mobile Phone version 6 but alas I was told back at Google IO that I am not on Google’s press list. No worries and my Ace is still happy to be warming my pocket.

For decades now I’ve always liked Samsung’s build quality and design and assume this phone continues this pattern. There are lots of reviews out there for the device in which all seem to indicate it’s awesome. I am guessing over the next few days we will see lots of photos on Google Plus of the devices as people receive them around the country.

You can buy the phone direct from Verizon for $299 with a two-year contract (Greg notes in the comments that an upgrade is $249). But you know that I won’t allow that – so here are some other options for ordering the Galaxy Nexus smartphone while saving some money to buy apps and music to use on your new device.

LetsTalk – this appears to be the best price out there – the deal will start at midnight Pacific time and will be offered for $155 for a new line of service or $175 for an upgrade on an existing contract. You will need to enter the code ‘$75VZN’ to get the special pricing.

UPDATE! As I expected, Amazon has dropped the price of the Nexus to $149 for new line and $249 for an upgrade. It shows backordered but you should still assume it will ship soon.

Amazon – currently Amazon shows the smartphone at $199 for a new line of service and $249 for an upgrade. The phone is listed with an 8-day backorder but this may change tomorrow. There is chatter that Amazon may actually reduce their price for the device as they have been heavily price matching this holiday season.

You should always read all of the terms of the contract carefully when you purchase a smartphone as each merchant may have special restrictions. Now I am off to play solitaire on my Ace.

My best advice is if you want one of these phones, you wait a few days before ordering as I am sure we will see more deals on Sunday for the device. I will continue to update this post as I find more deals for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphone.
Continue reading “Best Prices for the Google Galaxy Nexus Smartphone” »

Based on a number of conversations on the deal boards and confirmed by PreCentral, it appears that beginning tomorrow you will be able to purchase a HP Touchpad for $99 for the 16GB model and $149 for the 32GB model.

I have read a good number of blog posts about HP’s decision to discontinue their newly launched TouchPad and so far I haven’t found any posts that discuss what HP will offer to early adopters who ran out and bought the device during its short retail run. In fact, it’s not just early adopters — I watched several presentations on QVC pumping the HP TouchPad as a much better device than those “pad devices” because you could run multiple apps, etc.

Several years ago Apple offered a store credit for the early adopters who paid a higher price for their iPhones – and those devices weren’t canceled! HP really needs to do something here for those customers who ran out and purchased their “better tablet” — and they probably should have announced an offering before deciding to liquidate all HP Touchpad inventory.

I am not a mobile OS expert by any means but I wonder if there is a way to get Android to run on the HP Touchpad. The device apparently has the needed hardware and chipset to run Android. Frankly HP should hire a team to quickly make a utility to do the conversion. I asked on Twitter if it was possible to convert the software but didn’t receive any responses.

Maybe there is a golden quick flip business opportunity here for a mobile hacker – offer a conversion utility to make Android run on the HP Touchpad and charge $50 for it – so for $150 you get a great hardware offering running a mobile OS that isn’t going to discontinue operations tomorrow.

Something tells me that if you want one of these HP Touchpad devices for $100 – you better be quick because many will hedge their bets that eventually Android will run on the device and it will be a big win over spending an average of $400 for a current top-tier Android device.

When I visited Berlin for the first time, it was shocking just how much graffiti was all around the city. On buildings, on trains, everywhere – reminded me of the 1980s on the NYC subway. While I can’t say I am a fan, some of my friends have searched out graffiti installations in cities as they travel. Today a new mobile app is launching that will help make those searches easier.

Art.mapped is a mobile app for the Apple iPhone (coming soon to Android) that maps out street art, graffiti, public art and architecture. Founder Michael Stearne notes regarding Art.mapped, “(we) catalog(s) the locations of great graffiti, street art, public art, architecture and design. Great graffiti and street art goes away and art.mapped would like to help keep a record of these works and their locations over time.”

It’s a pretty neat idea to help you find art outside a typical museum – especially as you visit new cities. And you can help the app grow by sharing art that you find in your travels. I wonder how you report where you find subway graffiti since it’s a moving target.

The app is free and you can download Art.mapped in the Apple iTunes App Store.
Continue reading “Art.Mapped Helps You Find Street Art, Graffiti, Public Art and Architecture” »

Back in December, Walmart offered the Apple iPhone 4 for $147 which included a $50 gift card.  Today Walmart has announced they are bringing back the Apple iPhone 4 special for $147 with no gift card required. The sale model is a 16GB version available for both AT&T and Verizon as your carrier choice. And you can select from the black version or the new OMG OMG OMG white version. The deal is available in Walmart stores that have a mobile department.

This is a $50 savings over the Apple store price — you still need to sign a two-year contract. There are still refurb deals on the iPhone 3GS direct from AT&T for $49 and $99 however now I would steer you towards spending the extra $100 for the latest Apple iPhone model. Of course there is talk of a new iPhone arriving later this summer.

Last week I wrote about a deal on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7″ for $280 — it was the WiFi only version. Today I’ve learned about a new weekend-only deal through AT&T on the Galaxy Tab 3G AT&T version.

The deal through AT&T is for a refurbished 7″ Galaxy Tab for $200 after a $150 instant “social media credit” (WTF!).  You need to signup for a data plan for one month – the 2GB plan can be added to your shopping cart for no cost. Just make sure to cancel the plan inside of the first month so you aren’t charged for additional months. The device has no contract outside of this initial one-month data plan requirement.

During my time at Google IO this week, I received a 10″ Galaxy Tab tablet. So far it seems like a very well built device that I can see using all the time although the 7″ seems like it might be a bit more portable.

If you are new to the Galaxy Tab, check out Louis Gray’s in-depth review.

Back in January, Sprint announced a price reduction for the 7″ Samsung Galaxy Tab Android tablet to $299 with a two-year contract. And now T-Mobile offers the Galaxy Tab for $199 with a two-year contract.

Meritline is offering a refurbished Sprint-branded 3G Galaxy Tab for $310. Meritline lists the device specs as, “ARM Cortex A8 1GHz, 16GB, 7 inch TFT LCD, 3G, BT 3.0, Android 2.2″. There’s no contract required on this refurbished model although you will need a Sprint mobile plan to use the 3G service. You can use the device in the WiFi only mode — no Sprint plan is required for WiFi only mode.

Update: If you decide to purchase from Meritline, here’s a coupon code that brings the price down to $280 – MLC5HVNRPK6NL

If you are looking for a WiFi only Galaxy Tab, Amazon appears to have the best price at $349.

You should note that a 10″ Galaxy Tab with Android 3.0 Honeycomb appears to be on the way.

If you are new to the Galaxy Tab, check out Louis Gray’s in-depth review.