Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Mobile  It sounds like something out of a horror movie. Everyone who gets a certain cell phone numbers dies an ugly death. Total fiction, right? Not according to Bulgarian cell provider Mobitel. The company’s CEO chose 0888-888-888 as his cell phone number and died not long after of cancer. The next person who got the number met a grisly end when he was murdered.The third person to get the number was also murdered. After the third death the company has suspended the number and refuses to give it out again, feeling it would be too risky.
Perhaps, but then again the second man who died was a Mafia operative and the third, a drug trafficker. Perhaps the bad luck belongs to the company rather than the number itself. Ironically, the Chinese consider the number 8 to hold extreme luck and symbolize success and prosperity. Read [CNet] Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Apple  Both Time Warner and Universal are refusing to give into iPad craze, saying they have no plans to make their substantial but Flash based TV and movie libraries compatible with the red hot tablet. The studios said they simply don’t feel its worth the time or expense. This may give the upcoming tablets that are Flash friendly at least a small edge over the iPad, although with the increasing popularity of HTML5 Time Warner and Universal may end up having little choice but to convert their libraries in the future. For now though, iPad users will have to be content with the offerings from Disney, CBS, CNN, and Fox News, all which offer some iPad friendly content What do you think of the studios’ decision? Will it come back to haunt them?
Read [CNet] Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Web, Web 2.0 / Social Networking  We have all been wanting to know the inside scoop of the new Digg, a project that Kevin Rose and the team at Digg have been working on for months.
Well thanks to some snooping from TechCrunch, Digg has released a video to introduce “influencers” to some of the new features of Digg. Check it out:  Some of the new features to take note of: - The new personalized home page titled “My News” will only show storied Dugg by your friends.
- On your first entry into the new Digg, you will be prompted to connect all of your places on the internet (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, and custom URLs).
- There will be a features for publishers to automatically Digg their stories via their RSS feed.
- To get large amounts of traffic to your site, you don’t have to make it to the home page. But rather have a small amount of people Digg it, in which their followers Digg it, and so on. This chain reaction can creates huge amounts of traffic to your site or blog.
For more information read the full breakdown at TechCrunch. Read [TechCrunch] Full Story » | Written by Hunter Clarke for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Computers, Mobile Computers, Netbooks  At CES this year, we covered the Lenovo U1 Hybrid computer. It made quite a splash at CES because of its ability to transform from a Windows 7 laptop to a tablet running Lenovo’s own Skylight OS. But it has been a while since we have heard any news about this odd device, but now we know why. It seems that Lenovo realized that their own Linux-based Skylight OS wasn’t quite up to snuff. At least compared to the OS’s that they could use (i.e. Android). In a formal statement, Lenovo has declared the Skylight dead (“shelved”) and the U1 simply a concept and will be focusing on releasing Android devices later in Q4 of this year: “After careful consideration of market conditions and user feedback, Lenovo has decided to focus its resources on building a family of next-generation mobile internet devices based upon open technologies such as (but not limited to) the Android kernel, similar to the Lenovo smartphone, which is available for sale in China now. As a result of Lenovo’s strategic shift towards open standards such as an Android kernel based environment, the Company has shelved its plans to release the initial version of the Skylight smartbook that featured a proprietary Linux-based OS. Lenovo remains committed to working with our strategic partners to deliver innovative products in the growing mobile internet space, including the aforementioned smartphones and smartbooks, as well as exploring innovative new concepts that continue to “push-the-envelope” like the U1 hybrid PC.”
I really hope that the U1 will live on in some way. It was one of the few things at CES that I personally was looking forward to seeing on the market. Via [Engadget] Full Story » | Written by Hunter Clarke for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Gadgets / Other, ebooks  Rounding out a nice selection of ebook reader information today we have news rumors of a new version of the Kindle. According to the details, which are coming courtesy of Bloombgerg;
“Amazon.com Inc., the world's largest online retailer, plans to introduce the next version of its Kindle electronic-book reader in August, according to two people familiar with its plans.”
Other details suggest that the new Kindle will be thinner and offer a screen that is more responsive and offering a sharper display. Still, that does not mean the sharper looking display will be in color. In fact, the source was quick to point out that the Kindle is not going color or touchscreen. Read [Bloomberg] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Mobile  Welcome to the past. At New York City conference Verizon’s CEO revealed that the company hopes to get rid of unlimited data plans when its 4G network debuts and instead offer customers buckets of megs like the data plans of old. It’s not known why the company wants to take a step back, but some speculate it’s either because of concern over bandwidth constraints or it could just be plain old greed. Verizon as you may recall, recently jacked up its EFT to a whopping $350 saying it has a right to demand the steep fee to make up for lost revenue when a customer leaves. AT&T has followed suit, jacking theirs up to $325. So far neither T-Mobile nor Sprint seem to have any plans to do the same.
Read [PCWorld] Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Gadgets / Other, ebooks Yet another ebook reader is about to make its debut, however, this one is the more-than-slightly-interesting Pandigital Novel and in a little bit of good news it has recently made its FCC appearance. Unfortunately, the FCC listing did not offer much in terms of any new details, but still we already know that it will feature a 7 inch color touchscreen LCD with an 800 x 600 pixel resolution and be running Android. Honestly this seems almost more like a tablet than a standard ereader. One interesting detail here is that the device shown in the FCC image is black, which goes against the white one that was shown in the images when it was officially announced a few days back. Also, the Novel is expected to come priced at $199.99 with availability in June. Oh, and it will also have 1GB of internal storage, Wi-Fi, an SD card slot and come touting support for the Barnes & Noble eBookstore. Read [FCC] Via [Engadget] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile  RIM has announced a $100 million joint venture with two Chinese telecommunication companies, China Mobile and China Telecom. The money goes into an investment fund called Blackberry Partners Fund China and will be used to invest in mobile cloud and internet technologies in China.
“This is the right time to invest in mobile cloud and mobile Internet technology and the fund aims to tap into increasing network sophistication and 3G development in the world’s most populous country,” said Gregory Shea, corporate vice president and managing director of RIM China.
The fund will also be used to support local app developments and could lead to the eventual release of Blackberry App World in China although it’s likely the government will demand control over what apps citizens are given access to. The country is well known for the communist government’s strict censorship of what its citizens can read and view. Read [PCWorld] Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Gadgets / Other, ebooks It would appear as if the Nook is going to lose some of its connectivity in an upcoming version. A new model was recently spotted in an FCC listing that is showing off a Wi-Fi only Barnes & Noble Nook. In other words, it has lost the built-in 3G. The newly discovered listing is showing off the BNRV100, which is described as “EBOOK, WLAN, AND USB PORTS WITHOUT WWAN.” Of course, this is very similar to the BNRZ100 model number which is what the original Nook with WWAN goes by. Of course, in the end this does fit in with some previous rumors about a Wi-Fi only Nook. Now it looks like we are going to have to sit back and wait for something to come from Barnes & Noble. You know, in terms of pricing and a release date. Any guesses on price, lets hope to see something lower than $200, and I am not thinking $199. Read [FCC] Via [Engadget] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Email / IM, Smartphones, Mobile 
This simple question has been bugging me for months: did Verizon pick the wrong Droid? Marketing, as they say, is everything (except for Mel Brooks as Yogurt, who said merchandising is everything) and in choosing a persona behind the Droid lines of phones, Verizon made an interesting choice. The choice between Google’s cute and lovable mascot and the cold, hard synthetic Droid Verizon conjured up. Mascots? Your taking about mascots? Yup. It boils down to this, would Android be more popular on Verizon if they pushed the fun, lovable, R2-D2 esque Google Droid mascot instead of their current push that features a Droid, one I am actually a little afraid of. That red gleaming eye, the “Droid” that is spoken on start up. It’s all a bit un-nerving. Every Verizon commercial for the Droid features no one holding a phone, the exact opposite of an iPhone commercial. A robotic finger approximation is the only thing to interact with the device. The impression we are meant to take away is futuristic and high-tech. I am left feeling cold, overly synthetic and unemotional. If Verizon pushed the plush Google mascot used on the phones, would the device be more popular? I believe it would and I am not alone. May Chua, blogger for Tech Talk has this to say, ” I'm in love with the Android mascot. And it's one of my main motivations for getting an Android phone.”
Sure, she goes on to point out that it’s an irrational feeling for her but how we feel about a product is intertwined with how the brand is presented. Verizon’s choice for a Terminator-like Droid instead of a cute sidekick is an interesting choice that I wonder if they’ll look back on fondly. What do you think? Could Verizon be doing a better job at making Android smartphones more friendly with a different mascot or is this just Verizon trying to differentiate their Android phones from the competition? Let us know in the comments. Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
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