Mobile Industry News 11/5/09
Quattro Wireless' daily take on interesting and important news for the mobile industry. See something today that we missed? Post it in the comments or send it our way on twitter @intheq
Pictures and specs: Verizon's Droid Eris, Samsung Convoy, BlackBerry Curve 8530 and LG Chocolate Touch
from FierceWireless
A day ahead of the release of Verizon Wireless' Droid phone from Motorola, the carrier announced a bevy of new gadgets just in time for the holiday shopping season, including its second Android phone, an LG touchscreen phone and a new BlackBerry. Check out pictures and specifications for each of Verizon's newest handsets.
Verizon Offers Prepaid Data Plans With a Pretty Big Catch
from GigaOM
Amid the slew of exciting, new phone announcements (the HTC Hero turned Droid Eris!!!) Verizon Wireless said it would offer prepaid data plans, something we’ve been saying the industry should do for a while. The company is offering folks the chance to pick up data on an as-needed basis, instead of having to buy it as part of a monthly contract. That’s mighty fine of them, and should net the carrier some extra dollars, especially since the convenience charge for the prepaid data is pretty darn high.
Fear of Flying? There's an App for That
from Advertising Age - MediaWorks
People who are afraid of your product or service aren't usually a brand's core target, but that is not stopping Virgin from creating an app to help people overcome their fear of flying. For a more in-depth look at this Idea of the Week and other case studies, visit Ad Age and CMDglobal's Inspiration site.
#### returns as id Software’s John Carmack builds Doom Classic for the iPhone
from VentureBeat
John Carmack is the programming wiz at id Software, the Mesquite, Texas-based company that pioneered the first-person shooter game genre that has generated billions of dollars in the game industry since 1993. Now Carmack has returned to the game that started it all: Doom. He has taken the original game and ported the code to run on the iPhone, his favorite new game platform. Although he is working on big console and PC game projects for id (and its new owner ZeniMax) such as Doom 4 and Rage, Carmack stole time to create the iPhone game, Doom Classic. With 36 levels, this shooting game is a repeat of the original title where you play a space marine who has to wade knee deep in the dead and hold off an onslaught demons after a mining colony on Mars accidentally opens a portal into ####. Doom Classic is now available on the iPhone. Here’s our interview with Carmack about how he made it.
Mossberg On The Droid: The Best Verizon Has To Offer
from Silicon Alley Insider
Walt Mossberg, the Journal's gadget guru, weighs in with his review of the Motorola Droid.
The Verdict: If you're married to Verizon, this is as good as it gets. If you want the best phone on the market, the iPhone is still the way to go.
Mobile ads three-to-five times more effective than online: analyst
from Mobile Marketer Homepage Feed
NEW YORK – Mobile advertising is three-to-five times more effective than online advertising, according to an ad:tech panelist.
US Users Take to Touchscreen Phones, says comScore
from Mobile Marketing Magazine
comScore has published a study of touchscreen mobile phone adoption in the US, which shows a growth rate of 159% during the past year, to 23.8 million users in August 2009. According to comScore, the growth in touchscreen device adoption substantially outpaced the already strong 63% growth in US adoption of Smartphones overall.
The New New Carrier Deck
from GigaOM
There are no longer any doubts that T-Mobile has hitched its smartphone bandwagon to Google’s Android operating system. The company today said that it will be selling four Android-powered handsets to its (current and potential) customers during the vital holiday season. It is clear T-Mobile is hoping to sell a lot of smartphones. As part of its push, the company is making some plans regarding applications and application discovery. Here are some excerpts from their email pitch sent earlier today:
New tools use social data to find iPhone apps
from VentureBeat
Apple’s big news today is the historic accomplishment of over100,000 applications in their App Store. With those numbers, it’s no surprise that the evolution of the iPhone user and how they find and use iPhone apps have progressively changed. Most recently, users have found that a simple search just doesn’t cut it anymore. There are just too many apps!
To solve this, companies have begun to get smart about helping users figure out which iPhone apps are right for them through what we are calling social data. Notably, Chorus, an iPhone app that launched yesterday from envIO, seems to have the answer. Chorus is a free app that enables you and your friends to review apps and share your opinions. Ultimately, Chorus lets your friends do the searching for you. Based on the principal that friends have similar likes and dislikes, you’ll arrive on a set of apps that you may find interesting and want to download.
LG Is Targeting Apple With Decision To Invest In Smartphones
from mocoNews
LG Electronics (SEO: 066570) CEO Yong Nam said going forward as the third-largest handset maker invests more heavily in smartphones it will no longer see Nokia and Sony Ericsson as its main competition, but rather Apple (NSDQ: AAPL), Research In Motion and Palm (NSDQ: PALM). The CEO made the statements at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, reports Reuters.
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