Are you tired of ordering the same old drink when you go out? Well that's about to change with "Drinkspiration" by Absolut, the manufacturer of various liquors. Drinkspiration is a free iPhone app that provides instant drink recommendations. The app includes 400 drinks based on rum, vodka, gin, brandy, whisky and tequila.
Drinkspiration will make drink recommendations based on location, popular, taste, color, sound volume, time of day and much more. Once you pick your drink criteria, the app will make suggestions that you mix or even ask your bartender to mix. The app even allows you to post your drink on Facebook and Twitter. You can also see what drinks are being tried by other users all over the world.
According to the study conducted by Frost & Sullivan amongst European and Russian consumers, Nokia is the number one choice for mobile navigation over other leading handset manufacturers.
The primary aim of the study was to evaluate the perceptions, understanding, expectations and motivations of European and Russian consumers towards navigation and location-based services. The key objectives of the study were to analyse consumers' awareness of, and level of satisfaction with different types of navigation systems (e.g. PND, mobile phones), the different features available (e.g. navigation, 3D imagery, voice guidance, touch screen), location-based services (e.g. car and pedestrian navigation, traffic information, social networking) and other telematics features.
Bling Nation, a mobile payments provider, announced today it has secured $8 million in Series A funding with $6.3 million coming from lead investor Lightspeed Venture Partners. The remaining $1.7 million was raised primarily from Meck, Ltd., which invested an initial $5.3 million in Bling Nation, and CampVentures.
Founded in 2007, Bling Nation transforms mobile phones into intelligent and versatile wallets. The company enables consumers to pay merchants with the tap of a mobile phone instead of using a credit card or cash. In addition to consumer convenience, merchants reduce interchange fees, and banks increase income.
After tapping the phone at the merchant point-of-sale, the consumer receives an instant text message with the transaction information, an updated account balance and rewards balance.
NTT DOCOMO, INC. has announced a new service that will enable an individual subscriber to use their DOCOMO mobile phone to easily and quickly remit money to another DOCOMO user, beginning on July 21.
Customers of DOCOMO's i-mode mobile Internet service on the FOMA 3G network will be able to remit up to 20,000 yen (about 208 U.S. dollars) per transfer, basically just by inputting the payee's mobile phone number. The payee receives a mail notification via their DOCOMO mobile phone and is given the option of depositing the money in a domestic bank account or having the amount credited to their monthly DOCOMO phone bill. The payee can receive remittances totaling up to 200,000 yen (about 2,080 U.S. dollars) per month.
Nokia announced today that the latest version of Ovi Maps application for your device is enhanced through additional features and services:
High resolution satellite and terrain maps in 2D and 3D views
3D landmarks for over 200 cities
Rotation, tilting, night view
Fly-overs and fly-throughs
Ovi Maps on the device offers also enriched POI information by Lonely Planet, Michelin and Wcities, as well as a weather service that provides 24 hour and 5-day forecasts. Walk from one place to another using WALK, our pedestrian navigation with routing optimized for those on foot, providing better orientation in a city or outdoors. Or use DRIVE, our fully fledged car navigation with enhanced safety and real-time traffic information such as safety cameras and speed limits, lane assistance and localized road information like signposts, providing the largest service coverage in the world.
According to analyst firm Strategy Analytics, Comcast’s announcement of its “High-Speed 2go” service, which bundles Clearwire’s WiMax service with its own broadband products, will put new pressure on competitors AT&T and Verizon. The service, set to launch in Portland, OR, offers 4G mobile broadband and high-speed home Internet for $50 a month. Neither AT&T nor Verizon is currently marketing a similar bundle.
Comcast's success, however, will hinge largely on its ability to market the service and gain traction with customers before the top two wireless companies come back with similar offerings and the weight of their combined mobile customer base, which numbers around 165 million subscribers. A key step for Comcast will be to offer compelling services, on top of the WiMAX platform, that really build on its position providing video entertainment in the home, according to Strategy Analytics.
AT&T today announced the BlueAnt Q1 Voice Controlled Bluetooth Headset with Multipoint will be available in AT&T stores and online at www.wireless.att.comon July 19 for $129.99. The BlueAnt Q1 is a premium noise-cancelling headset that allows users to control functions with their voice.
A little communication goes a long way with the BlueAnt Q1 headset. Just push a button and say, “What can I say?” and the headset will cycle through a menu of voice commands. This ability to manage the device entirely with one’s voice eliminates the need to memorize button combinations.
In addition, BlueAnt’s Voice Isolation Technology software provides clear call quality by distinguishing the user’s voice from other sounds. The result is outstanding environmental noise reduction, echo cancellation and wind noise protection. The headset also allows users to manage calls from two phones at the same time with true multipoint technology. The sleek, gunmetal headset was designed to fit all ear shapes and sizes and be comfortable enough for all-day wear.
TerreStar Networks Inc. announced today the successful launch of TerreStar-1, the world's largest, most advanced commercial communications satellite that will deliver voice, data and video services on an all IP next-generation mobile broadband network anywhere in the United States and Canada. The TerreStar-1 satellite will be an all-IP core network that will operate with the latest in smartphone technology.
TerreStar's network will operate in two 10-Mhz blocks of contiguous MSS spectrum in the 2 GHz band throughout the United States and Canada - with a spectrum footprint that covers a population of nearly 330 million.
Prior to the launch of TerreStar-1, the Company, with its partner EB (Elektrobit), introduced the world's first quad-band GSM and tri-band WCDMA/HSPA smartphone with integrated all-IP satellite-terrestrial voice and data capabilities. Similar in size to today's mainstream mobile devices, TerreStar's dual-mode smartphone will allow users to seamlessly and securely stay connected to TerreStar's satellite and terrestrial network.
Google has been working hard to offer universal search results to more devices in more countries around the world. Back in March, Google expanded the availability of the new iPhone and Android format to over 20 countries. Today Google announced that Google Search results pages on your mobile phone is now available in just about anywhere in the world.
The new improved universal Google Search includes:
When available, News, Images, Blog, Video and Product Search results are blended right into your result page.
Many of your favorite Google Search features now appear in the first result to provide direct answers to your searches.
Google continues to optimize specific results for mobile, so local listings for restaurants in London, for example, provide easy-to-select phone number links.
Visit Google.com in your mobile browser and test it out!
While music stores and online sites were overloaded with fans seeking Michael Jackson songs after his death last week, the Sprint Music Store was able to seamlessly offer customers a quick and easy route to download the late singer’s most popular hits.
Friday saw the Sprint Music Store post its biggest single day ever, with 25 percent of the tracks sold belonging to Jackson. Sprint Music Store sales have increased 21 percent on average since news of Jackson’s death Thursday. Through it all, Sprint’s 3G network – America’s most dependable1 – stood firm and strong.
The week before his death, Jackson ranked 80th in Sprint Music Store sales. Since he died, he’s catapulted to No. 1. The most popular downloaded tracks are “Billie Jean” and “Thriller,” both from the 1982 blockbuster album “Thriller.” In addition, Jackson ringtones constituted 28 percent of total sales on Friday. Top three ringtones are “Thriller,” “P.Y.T.” and “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough.”
A multi-country study released today by Lightspeed Research, an online market research company, shows the increasingly prominent role mobile phones are taking in our lives. With ownership of mobile phones so high and so many different functions now available on them, it is increasingly important to understand how people are using their mobile phones and what future opportunities there might be for new mobile applications.
Of the four countries surveyed (the US, France, Germany and the UK) it was Americans (49%) and Britons (30%) who were most likely to agree that their mobile phone was now an essential part of their daily life and they’d be lost without it. By comparison, only 13% of French and 12% of German respondents agreed, with the vast majority in both countries saying their mobile was a useful tool they carried with them most of the time. In fact, 56% of respondents in the US leave their phone on 24 hours a day.
Best Buy Mobile commissioned a survey revealing that a large portion of adults in America plan to buy a smartphone in the next 12 months. However, many barriers stand in their way, including confusion about the technology, the shopping experience and price. The poll of 1,000 Americans, half men and half women all over the age of 18, was conducted by telephone May 29-31 by GfK Roper, a division of GfK Custom Research North America, to obtain a snapshot of current habits, preferences and purchase intentions among today’s mobile phone users.
The category of smartphones – mobile devices with computer functionality - has become a cornerstone for Best Buy Mobile, now in 1,067 U.S. locations both within traditional Best Buy stores as well as in standalone units. The GfK survey demonstrates many of the drivers and barriers to Americans’ smartphone purchases.
According to a new report from telecom consultants Juniper Research, the number of Smartphones shipped with open source operating systems (OS) will increase from 106 million this year to 223 million by 2014.
The Open Source OS research found that operating systems and the applications are playing an increasingly important role in the differentiation of new smartphones and a key factor in the choice of which handset to choose from by users.
The last three years has seen a revolution in the OS market with market leader Symbian moving to open source and Apple leading the way in the distribution of Applications through their innovative, but now widely copied, AppStore approach.
