storms

iPhone will continue to beckon BlackBerry owners

A recent survey stated what should be obvious: In 2010, three years after the iPhone was announced, many BlackBerry owners continue to covet the iPhone.

For me, a longtime BlackBerry user, that survey result was poignant: it came just as I was grappling with BlackBerry Storm 2 problems. While the survey does show that most BlackBerry owners plan to keep their phones, the salient point is that the loyalty rate is much lower for BlackBerry owners compared to their iPhone counterparts.

Here's a statement from Crowd Science, the organization behind the survey. "These results show that the restlessness … Read more

BlackBerry Storm 2 has issues too

The first version of the BlackBerry Storm was widely panned for its shortcomings, but the Storm 2 has its own set of flaws, based on my extended use of the phone.

The updated Storm was announced back in October of last year so the phone has been out there for a while. And long enough for me to realize that it has a couple of fairly serious issues--at least the particular phone that I use does.

Let me be clear, I am a longtime user of both the original Storm and now the Storm 2. And I actually had fewer complaints about the original, frequently criticized Storm than the relatively well-received Storm 2.

Buttons: What's my beef? The most persistent problem is with the four buttons at the base of the screen (see photo). Simply put, sometimes the buttons don't work. This can be an annoying problem because these buttons must be used constantly.

As one example, the buttons used to make and end a call often don't work. Only after poking repeatedly on a precise location on the button (or tapping on the main screen, then tapping the button) can I make or end a call.

Again, that's only one of the more pesky problems but there are more examples of other buttons not working. And, in my experience, the problem is only fixed temporarily by rebooting the phone. That is not an acceptable solution for me since… Read more

Driving in "Snowmageddon" 2010

As we all know by now, over the past week (or so) the East Coast has recently suffered one of the worst winter storms ever. In fact, some have referred to this blizzard as "Snowmageddon" due to the turbulent, unforgiving nature of this regional weather system. Despite the hazardous conditions, many antsy, adventurous drivers have documented their attempts to brave the elements and drive around in these icy and snowy conditions with the end result being a video on YouTube. Because of their valiant efforts, parts of the world that are not having to endure this commuting nightmare … Read more

iPhone vs. BlackBerry in the California outback

On a recent trip to the California desert, with access to both a BlackBerry Storm and an iPhone 3GS, I had a chance to test Verizon's vaunted claims about better coverage.

Anza Borrego Desert State Park, about two hours south of Palm Springs by car, is California's largest state park and covers roughly 1,000 square miles of desert. In other words, it's mostly raw, but stunningly beautiful, wilderness. Over the years, I have often made day trips (alone or with friends/family) to boulder up washes (aka arroyos) in the surrounding mountains (see photo).

The largest town in the area, Borrego Springs (the 2000 census put the population at about 2,500), is famous for having rock-solid 2G (and increasingly 3G) coverage for most major carriers. In fact, in the spot shown in the photo (embedded in this post), which was taken after an hour of bouldering up a wash just west of Borrego Springs, there is no hiccup in service.

But Borrego Springs, surrounded by a desert (figuratively) of dead zones, is the exception. Outside of town, in places like the outback of Coyote Canyon or in the desert east of the Shelter Valley area (part of Julian, Calif.), it's very hit or miss.… Read more

iPhone, BlackBerry Storm offer contrast in browsers

The quality and speed of the browser is an essential feature for smartphones these days. And it's here that the BlackBerry Storm 2 has some catching up to do vis-a-vis rivals such as the iPhone 3GS.

The Storm 2 is an underrated smartphone in many respects. The interface is clean and easy to navigate, the standard software feature set competitive, and the ability to integrate all email accounts into one screen convenient.

But unbelievably--to me, at least--RIM failed to improve the browser on the Storm 2. Or let me put it this way: RIM failed to make perceptible improvements. (See RIM statement below.)

This is no small oversight. The key reason why the Motorola Droid has been a hit is because it couples a big screen with a high-quality, fast browser--making it the only premium smartphone to date in the U.S. to approach the status of the iPhone.

Which brings us to the gold standard of smartphone browsers: the Safari browser on the iPhone 3GS. This is nothing short of phenomenal. It's the closest a smartphone user can get to the full-fledged browsing on a laptop.

And the browser will only become more important as the smartphone screen size creep continues, from the 3.5-inch diagonal screen on the iPhone 3GS to the 3.7-inch screen on the Droid to the 4.1-inch display on the Toshiba TG01 (sold in Europe).

So, what was RIM thinking? The Storm 2's browser (like its predecessor's--which I had previously been using) can be glacially slow when loading Web sites. So slow that many Storm users opt for downloading the Opera Mini or Bolt browsers. But these browsers have shortcomings of their own, so they don't necessarily serve as satisfactory replacements for the Storm's built-in browser. (The Bolt browser does not zoom and Opera Mini--though blazingly fast--has trouble rendering some Web sites.)

As shown in the embedded videos, which demonstrate the load times for the CNET News page and the zoom features of the two phones, respectively, the iPhone 3GS (bottom) beats the Storm handily.

It is important to note that the Storm 2's built-in browser will speed up significantly if you turn off (uncheck) "Support javascript" in the "Browser Configuration" settings. And in the side-by-side page load-time comparisons with the iPhone 3GS (embedded videos), support for javascript is turned off.

But RIM needs to hurry up and match the competition. A fast, high-quality browser is… Read more

Verizon launches V Cast Media Manager

Verizon Wireless released new desktop software on Monday to help its customers better manage the media between their cell phones and computers.

Based on Smith Micro's QuickLink Media Software, V Cast Media Manager is available as a free download and lets you transfer photos, videos, and music from your phone to your PC via USB cable and provides you with tools for organizing, editing, and viewing the content. With the software, you can do such things as touch up photos, create slideshows, and rip and burn CDs. In addition, V Cast Media Manager can help you sync your multimedia … Read more

Chip designer ARM leads Android alliance

ARM on Tuesday announced the launch an alliance of 35 tech companies to support development of Android-based products using its widely used chips.

ARM-based chips power the world's most popular smartphones, including--in the U.S.--the Apple iPhone, Blackberry Storm, Palm Pre, and Motorola Droid.

The Solution Center for Android alliance will serve as a resource for designers and developers of ARM technology-based products running on the Android operating system, which is the software on the popular Motorola Droid smartphone and Acer Liquid.

In addition to smartphones, Android powers digital picture frames and smartbooks--what the Windows-Intel camp prefers to … Read more

Verizon pushing Bing app to BlackBerry Storm

Just days after Microsoft cranked out a touch-optimized Bing search page for touch screen phones comes another announcement for mobile searchers. Microsoft on Monday reported that Verizon will roll out the first Bing mobile app to BlackBerry Storm 1 users. The Bing mobile app already comes preloaded on the BlackBerry Storm 2.

After Verizon pushes Bing for mobile, Storm owners should be able to click the icon in the program list to get started.

In addition to search are features carried over from a former incarnation of Microsoft's search app, Windows Live for mobile, such as voice search, and … Read more

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captures incredible Martian storm

The HiRISE camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took this incredible image of dust churned up by wind vortices, or dust devils, on the Martian surface.

The 404 454: Where this is not really an Asian podcast

Kenley Bradstreet and Mark Licea join the show today because Justin Yu is still battling with SARS. We wish him a speedy recovery, but in the mean time, we welcome the presence of two beautiful people. Plus, it's just fun to watch Kenley rock out to today's Audio Draft pick.

On today's show, we recant what we said about Sony yesterday. The company managed to botch up a feature that would have leveled the playing field with the Xbox 360. For those of you who didn't listen, Sony and Netflix announced the arrival of streaming on the console. Sounds great? Not so fast. Apparently, you'll need to plug in a BD-Live disc every time you want to watch Netflix. We know it's only temporary, but come on! It's accessible from the dashboard on the Xbox 360, and you don't need no stinkin' disc.

It's Jeff's pick today for the Audio Draft, and while traditionally we usually pick smaller bands or unknown acts, Jeff has decided to go the other way and picked Rancid. They've been around for a while, and released a couple of albums. According to Mr. Bakalar, their latest is turning heads. We play "The Bravest Kids" and "L.A. River" from their latest album. Stay tuned for the last Audio Draft pick of the month on Friday from Wilson! It won't be country music this time.

To round out the show, we talk talk a little bit about Droid from Verizon, the company's first Google Android phone. Wilson still thinks the phone is a pretty ugly design, but that it may change the market around considering it's the first non-BlackBerry-Storm smartphone on the network. Still, Apple seems to be the one still innovating in the smart phone market.

In other news today, Kenley tells us that it's the 15th anniversary of the birth of Internet advertising. That's right on October 27th, 1994, Hot Wired ran the world's first banner ad, and surprisingly, it was pretty effective! Mark gets excited about the Tekken 6, while Wilson can't really tell the difference between Tekken 5 or Tekken 6. Jeff adds snidely, "Tekken 4." Think it's hot that Kenley likes to watch guys play videogames? Well send her a message as usual through voice mail at 1-866-404-CNET (2638).

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