Google released a new version of their Mobile Gmail client for all Java phones as well as Blackberry devices. The new client brings offline email so you can read and compose your emails when you have no access to the Web. It also supports multiple account access and a few new shortcuts to access its menu.
I have used this app many times and as convenient as it was to have Gmail on my phone, it always struck me as a little primitive. After reading about the enhancements of the second generation Mobile Gmail, my opinion has not changed. In the 3 years since the original app came out, all Google could come up with is offline access? Didn’t Outlook do that like 10 years ago? OK, granted Outlook is on a PC and this is on a cellphone, but still, I expected much greater enhancements, like maybe the ability to have it run in the background and notify you of new mail.
Maybe Google should stop spending money on fighter jets (yes, Google bought a fighter jet) and pay their developers more money to actually make useful products.
On Friday, before I left the states I canceled my AT&T plan, which I signed up for to get an iPhone. I called customer support and told them I was leaving the country and I no longer needed the plan. I was told that since I was within 30 days of activation that I did not need to pay the early termination fee of $175, which I was pleasantly surprised to hear. I then went ahead and paid my bill and I was done. There was no mention of returning the phone or paying a fee. Pretty sweet deal.
Over the last few days, things seemed to have slowed down a little in the cellular world. I really did not come across any huge industry news when going through my daily blog routine, which by the way includes the following blogs/sites:
Only two pieces of news struck me as blog worthy, one because of its beauty and innovation, while the other, for the exact opposite reason.
Let’s start with the new Intel Mobile Internet Device (MID). It does not have a real keyboard and its specs are too weak for it to be a laptop. However, it is not small enough to be a phone, it seems to be in a category of its own, the category of MIDs.
This device looks pretty cool to me, kinda like a stretched out iPhone. There are not that many specs available, but the video of the thing definitely does a good job marketing the concept.
On the flip side of things, Motorola (wait, who?) is trying to get into the touch screen game. Except they are not doing a very good job, in my opinion. I don’t know what happened to the cellular giant of the first few years of the 21st century, but it seems that after the Razr (I do not mean that with any sort of sarcasm, I remember the first time I laid hands on a Razr, I was wowed!), they disappeared completely. Yea, they make an announcement here and there, but it is not for no reason, that I have not mentioned the word Motorola on this blog until now.
Anyway, Motorola announced their new handset, what they call the Crave. Seems like a cool name for a phone, right? Well maybe the name is cool, but the phone is far from it.
Besides its obvious ugliness, the specs are outright boring. 2.8 inch touchscreen (not quite there), 2 MP camera with no flash (I am falling asleep writing this), 138 MB internal memory (didn’t Bill Gates once say a few MBs will be enough?), and, are you ready for the big feature? Bluetooth! OK, I am exaggerating a little, it also has GPS, but all in all this phone does nothing for me.
I am sure Motorola will sell a few of these devices, but I have one major question about this phone. OK, so it is a little on the boring side, and not the most attractive of handsets, fine, I can handle that. The only thing I really don’t get here is, why would Motorola cover the touch screen display with an external plastic cover? Isn’t the point of a full touch screen the ease of accessibility? Why would one want to have to lift a piece of plastic every time one wants to access the very feature that is supposed to make the phone somewhat modern? Anyone, anyone?
If you are still reading this post, maybe you are a lover of Motorola, then you can watch the video of the crave below.
To sum things up, I would have expected the Intel MID and the Motorola Crave to have been announced in different times (the MID in 2020 and the Crave in 1999), with at least a 20 year gap between them, and not in the same week. Seems like Motorola is going to have to work just a little harder.
Oh, and while I am giving Motorola some advice, I have 3 words for them: STOP MAKING RAZRS. I don’t care that they still sell, it has been too long to continue selling a phone that’s only appeal is the fact that it is slim, too long!
The new LED display: A very nice and bright display with no start-up time.
The design: I don’t see an added benefit of having a body made of one piece of aluminum. OK it’s a little thinner and it looks hot. The computer is also lighter. OK, maybe there are some advantages.
The hardware: Not much has changed, which is a big disappointment, except of course the graphics card, which will make some people happy.
The enhanced mouse pad: Deletion of the mouse button and the glass touch pad with added gestures is a nice, interesting addition. Let’s see how the market takes it.
2 things that interested me in the Keynote:
1. Their time spent on describing the environmental features and how the new notebooks contain none of that bad stuff. I guess Apple really does care!
2. It is the first time ever that they have kept an old item in inventory once releasing a new one. You can still buy the plastic MacBook for $999. Very interesting change in the Apple Marketing Machine.
Once again, Apple’s marketing team has managed to amaze me. The only question I have is, why don’t other companies, like say Microsoft, learn from Apple’s marketing strategies? They really are nothing short of brilliant.
Now I know this is Aryeh’s area of expertise, and I know nothing about marketing, except of course as an average consumer I know when marketing achieves its goals, i.e when I want to buy the product that is being marketed, but besides that, not much. However, after watching Apple’s video presentations, that they always post on their site right after a product is announced, I somehow always want to buy their product.
For example, 5 minutes ago, I was not interested in buying a new Macbook, nor did I know what the new Macbook offered that the old ones did not. I innocently surfed to Apple.com, maybe to check out some trailers, maybe to look at one of their innovative products. But before I could get to my destination, I clicked on a video presentation of the new Macbook, and guess what? I want one! I have officially been transformed from a PC to a MAC, in 5 minutes!
Isn’t that what marketing is all about?
This is not to mention Jobs’ brilliant keynotes, or any of their other marketing strategies, I already talked about those here. This is just a simple combination of caring enough to post a video presentation on the site, and making it just great enough, that after watching it, I know what I want for my birthday.
There really is no way to post about all the new handsets that are released on a daily basis. The trick is to pick the ones that generate the most hype or offer the most innovation. Well, the Sony Xperia is definitely bringing a lot of hype, but is it justified? Does the Xperia do anything that the iPhone, Omnia, HD, or Innov8 doesn’t?
Well, to be honest, I do not have an opinion, YET! I am not wowed by the phone, but then again, I might not have given it the attention it deserves, I was kinda busy looking at new phones like the Tube and the HD.
I am not generally a huge fan of Sony Ericsson’s phones, but I could be wrong, it has happened once or twice before. Just because my old Sony Ericsson K610 was a pretty boring and unimpressive phone, doesn’t mean they all are.
In fact, the specs on the Xperia are quite impressive. It offers a 3 inch wide VGA (800 x 480) touchscreen display, 3.2 megapixel camera (with photo light), A2DP Bluetooth, aGPS, WiFi, and microSD, just 400MB on board. Navigation is accomplished via touch, arc-sliding QWERTY, 4-way key and optical joystick.
I will study this phone and read people’s reviews more carefully before I express my opinion (wow, my wife would be so impressed, I am actually thinking before talking), but in the meantime, check out these videos:
-Hillel
Aryeh recently told me that short posts are the way to go, so here is one for him. He asked what digital camera to buy, to which I say, CANON ONLY!!
OK, fine, I will be a little more specific, get this camera (did I read those specs right? 15 Megapixels?), or this, or this (something about those stunning 3″ screens get me every time). Whatever you do Aryeh, get Canon. They are, and always have been the best cameras.
OK, at this point, you are probably wondering, “this is not such a short post, there have been shorter posts on this blog before, so what’s the deal?”. Let me explain, my original intention was for this post to say two words “GET CANON”, but as many people have told me, I have a big mouth and do not know when to shut up. I tend to ramble on about topics, when there is no need.
Anyway, before I knew it, this was actually a pretty long post. Then came the dilemma, do I change the title? Maybe just leave the title, and people won’t notice…Oh man, people are so right about me.
OK, so back to my original point, GET A CANON CAMERA!
