Firefox goes Mobile all the way

Mozilla Firefox. Now, I don't really know what that name means to you, but to me, it means something very important: freedom. I remember discovering Firefox back in 2004, freeing me from the claws of Microsoft's Internet Explorer, and giving me the choice of using a browser I liked as well as delivering an awesome experience in my old PIII clocked at 600Mhz. Before Firefox, my favorite browser was Netscape, maybe because of its looks, or maybe not, but the fact is, it was the biggest competitor to Microsoft's Internet browser back in the day. Fast forward to the present day, and the browser wars is currently being held between four major competitors: Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Apple's Safari, Google's Chrome and Mozilla's Firefox. But, the browser wars is actually old news, isn't it? We're here for the mobile browser wars.

BlackBerry renews itself

A couple of months ago, a video was made official by Research In Motion (RIM), maker of the BlackBerry line of smartphones, teasing the release of its latest smartphone Operating System, BlackBerry 6. Now, in the last couple of years, we've seen BlackBerry moving from OS 4.7 to 5.0, and now from 5.0 to 6. The interesting tidbit here is that the OS did not look different when OS 5 debuted, and clearly, BlackBerry devices were being left behind as iOS, Android and webOS brought innovation to the consumer market. Like Symbian and Windows Mobile, BlackBerry OS belonged to an old era, and OS 5 was supposed to bring RIM's most important product back into the fight. But it didn't. Now the question is, what is BlackBerry 6? Is it just another makeover with a new number to make it feel new? Or did RIM really put in an effort to make its mobile Operating System worth our time? Let's find out.

The spirit of hacking

A couple days ago I stumbled upon a post regarding the HTC HD2 on Engadget. Although it wasn't the first post on that particular subject, the attached video got me really thinking. Here it is:

Android and the “F-word”

This has been a debate ever since last fall, when Android 1.6 (codenamed "Donut") started hitting devices like the G1/Dream and the MyTouch 3G/Magic while other devices like the Hero or Moment were left behind with Android 1.5. Since then, this situation has been commonly described as "Android fragmentation". Now, we don't know who used this word for the first time, but we do know who's trying to use it for the last time: Google. It all began at last month's Google I/O, when Google gave their view (for the first time) on this matter, and now, it's time for some reflection.

 

Our Google I/O 2010

We told you we would be there, and we were. We haven't picked up on what happened at Google's most important event of the year, and in light of recent events (WWDC 2010), we thought it was about time we gave our views on this year's Google I/O. If you want to jump back in time, and live Google's largest developer event from within our eyes, we suggest you hit the link underneath, and jump back in time.

Motorola Droid X officially teased; the war on smartphone screens has begun

This week has been really incredible. You see, we don't like to post about rumors, even though we actually stay tuned to them, listen to them, and pray for some of them to become true. We've been weeks, if not months, being teased with pictures of a brand new Motorola device. At first, it was believed to be only one, and a successor to the Droid launched last November, but as more and more material got leaked throughout the web, the rumor spun off in two distinct devices. Well this week, after being rumors, at least one of them has become more than real. Find out what's going on after the break.

The road to Google I/O 2010 (Part II)

Here we are, less than 48 hours way of the opening keynote of Google's most important developer event of the year. What awaits us, good or bad, we don't know yet. There are rumors about a new home TV system made by Google, with Intel and Sony, which are getting stronger by the hour. Rumors are also pointing at a revamped Android Market, due to the recent changes in the webpage. 

However, what we're most interested in, is in the latest and greatest release of Android, which we're expecting to see on Wednesday's opening keynote; it might not be the star of the show, but we just can't wait. If FroYo is nowhere to be seen in Wednesday, then we can expect it to be the star of Thursday's keynote, like Google Wave was last year. Smart Mobile World will be reporting from San Francisco to bring you the news and our thoughts on the matter. Until then, here's the ending of this two part series on what we've covered with Android so far.

The road to Google I/O 2010 (Part I)

 Yup, we know it's been quite some time, but we're here. And to celebrate the fact that Smart Mobile World will be at Google's most important developer event, Google I/O, we want to remember the history of Android, the road that's brought us here, dreaming about what's coming our way in the next couple of days when, if everything goes right, Google will show the next version of Android, FroYo.

For now, let's look back and remember how Android, was born.

On icons and the iPhone's consumer awareness (Part Two)

Here we ago again. The Apple iPhone, unveiled on January 9th, 2007, represents Apple's present. Since 2001, Apple changed completely and took the world with it to introduce a new culture, Apple's culture; and all of this, began thanks to the iPod. From 2001 to 2006, Apple sold over 70 million iPods, and was ready to show the world it's new invention... the iPhone.

On icons and Apple's consumer awareness (Part One)

Apple? Yes, Apple, that big corporation which is today known to everyone, has played possibly the most important role inside the tech industry over the past decade, putting everything we love & need in our pocket.

Let's think about it. Before Apple's iPod, we wouldn't dare to think about the number of songs we could take with us, we had to pick a single cd to put in our music player, and that was it. And then, we got the iPhone, which revolutioned and changed the smartphone market forever, and brought us the standard by which most smartphones  live and attempt to improve. But Apple wasn't always Apple, so please join us after the break as we try to understand the iPod and its impact in Apple's history from our perspective.

Thinking about Nokia and the N900

Last evening we were surprised with an awesome review of the Nokia N900 by Engadget, and were left thinking about Nokia's current situation. We have some interesting posts in the pipeline, but surely, Nokia's position in the smartphone market deserves some time, too. What exactly is the N900? Does it replace the N97? Let's have a look...