CLICK HERE to download the file and listen directly.

HOSTS: James Kendrick (Houston), Matthew Miller (Seattle) and Kevin C. Tofel (Philadelphia)

TOPICS:

Matt’s back from möbius with a handset rundown
Maybe Pocket PC isn’t such a bad name, after all
Hands on with the HTC HD2
Kevin has a 3.5G wireless broadband secret he’s been holding out on
Google’s Chrome OS explained

CONTACT US: Email us or leave us a voicemail on our SkypeLine!

SUBSCRIBE: Use this RSS feed with your favorite podcatcher or click this link to add us to iTunes!

TomTom for iPhone gets voicevoice (TomTom) — $99 for an iPhone navigation app is a bit steep for me, but there are some new features to help justify the cost. New are the iPod player controls for music use,  text-to-speech functionality, and advanced lane guidance. Sounds good, but all the lanes by me are single lanes.

Motorola Motus takes a fuzzy picture (AndroidGuys) — I’m not talking about the camera of the phone — the picture of the actual handset is fuzzy. It looks like a Motorola CLIQ with a foldout, flat keyboard to me. Rumored specs show support for both T-Mobile’s and AT&T’s 3G frequency, but it’s way too early to make that determination.

Google News refreshed for mobiles (Google) — iPhone, Android, and Palm Pre devices get a new edition of Google News. The update includes a new, customizable “Jump To” menu, making it easier to get at the news you want. First take my iPhone? I like it — it’s snappy and I can get at what I want in fewer clicks.

This week saw the rollout of webOS 1.3.1, and it was largely a rollup of fixes and minor tweaks. One of the most significant changes in the new release, to me anyway, is the inclusion of browser cookies in the backup. That means your browsing information survives a rebuild and restore, which is great news. Yahoo! users will now love the synchronization with webOS as it was added to the mix. The change in webOS 1.3.1 most discussed is the one that isn’t there, Palm apparently decided to throw in the towel in the wrestling match with Apple over iTunes compatibility. This update is the first by Palm that didn’t reverse the most recent iTunes update to block webOS phones from syncing with iTunes.

In happier news for Palm, the Pre was named by Consumer Reports as one of the top products of the year. The Pre placed eighth on the CR list of top smartphones, behind the iPhones (3GS and 3G) and the BlackBerry Bold.

The Verizon Droid is soon to be returned to the kind folks there who sent me this evaluation phone so it’s time for a video look at the phone. The Droid is the Android 2.0 slider that is thin and light, and sports an industrial design bent. In the video I show the responsiveness of the Droid, the hardware and give a feel for the web browsing experience. I also show the camera function, including how long it takes to focus and shoot.

I have been impressed with the Droid, and will be sad to see it go. It is a very capable smartphone compared to the many I have tried. I find it is easily the best phone on the Verizon network currently.

Google’s real phone is yet to come? (TechCrunch) — That’s the alleged inside scoop from yesterday, although today the rumor was softened a bit to include VoIP and data only. All in all, the truth is likely somewhere in the middle. After developing Android for the past two years and working with partners on over a dozen handset, Google isn’t likely to tick them all off by creating their own handset. They’re actually in the same boat as Microsoft with Windows Mobile licensing at this point and it would be difficult to reverse course.

Sprint’s Hero is more super now (BGR) — The Android totin’ Hero on Sprint’s network has new firmware ready for delivery. It’s not a major update, but word on the street says there’s better battery efficiency due to an SMS fix. The new version is 1.56.651.2, so check for it — it’s an over-the-air update, so it could hit at any time for Sprint customers.

Palm’s Pixi costs less than five lattes (Engadget) — Amazon might be the best place to pick up a Pixi right now — $25 with a new plan and this skinny webOS handset it yours. At this point, it might as well be free. The question is: even at these prices, will it be a hit for Palm? Early reviews generally agreed that the phone was a little sluggish — both due to the processor and the variability of Sprint’s EVDO, since there’s no Wi-Fi radio. At this price, even with those niggles, the Pixi could still be a good first smartphone. It’s like the webOS Centro, no?

While I’ve been honing my Jedi skills, the rumor mills have ripened with news of an expected Concierge application for iPhone and iPod Touch devices. AppleInsider explains that the Apple-created software will assist with scheduling appointments at the Genius Bar or for Apple’s One on One training services. Normally, most folks would use the phone to call for an appointment, but a few button presses might be quicker and give us more training time in our X-Wings.

My training got a boost this morning, but not in my fighter — my knowledge of what’s really in the iPhone App Store. Sure, we all know that there’s a 100,000 applications, but I read this morning that 1 in 5 apps added to the store last month was actually a book. If that’s the case, does Apple really need to enter the e-book market as some have said? I’m not sure they do because they’re already earning revenue from the phone as well as the e-book applications. What’s to be gained?

1. Intuitive new interface Opera has thrown out the clutter and is keeping it simple in terms of aesthetics. Less is more when it comes to mobile browsing.
2. Speed Dial Speed Dial serves as your personal table of contents for the Web. Your favorite sites welcome you upon launching Opera, and in one click, you are there.
3. Tabbed browsing Open new links in multiple tabs to bounce between sites easily.
4. Password manager Save those annoying passwords with Opera’s password manager, or if you are feeling vulnerable, simply and swiftly delete all.
5. Touchscreen or keypad navigation Whether your Windows Mobile smartphone is touchscreen or keypad-based, Opera Mobile 10 beta is customized for your navigation style.
6. Save images Select and save your friends’ Facebook pictures to your phone for offline viewing later.
7. Opera Turbo Offload your page rendering to one of Opera’s servers, and reduce your data costs.
8. Advanced compatibility Since Opera Mobile 10 beta is based on Opera’s browser for desktop computers, it maintains advanced Web-site compatibility and ensures that nearly any site is accessible from a mobile phone.
9. Smooth surfing Pan, zoom and smoothly scroll your way through the Web.
10. It is free! Opera Mobile 10 beta for Windows Mobile is available as a free download at www.opera.com/mobile/ or m.opera.com/mobile/ (for phone download).

The best part — aside from the Turbo function, which I still love — is that like older versions of Opera, the new beta supports Windows Mobile 5 handsets on up. Pity that I just shipped off my old Dash for a little holiday cash…

The news makes sense in several way, though. By comparison, the S60 user interface is looking older than that Mayan calendar as each day goes on. And Nokia left the door open for this very scenario back in August when Om asked the company about a potential dumping of Symbian. Here are quotes back then from a Nokia representative, emphasis mine:

“[t]here is logically not just one software environment that fits all consumer and market needs,”

“In addition, as we’ve stated before, we also continue to explore opportunities around a new class of devices that we see as the next segment of high performance mobile devices.”

Those opportunities are surely Maemo at this point, with the N900 currently starting to ship. “Consumer and market needs” are indeed changing as well — and Nokia must change with them, or else become irrelevant. The bulk of the company’s handsets are low-end, low-margin feature phones, and the rising trend of smartphone sales tells Nokia where the near future is. For Nokia to regain lost market share and earn more profit per handset, it needs to reinvent its smartphone line. Maemo looks to be it, while I’d wager that S60 moves down the line to become the “new” feature phone-plus for Nokia.

T-Mobile’s Boldly adds another UMA phone (BGR) — The BlackBerry Bold gets an update in the 9700 and it landed at T-Mobile this very day. $199 is the going rate, although you can spread that out over 20 months. This newer bold uses an optical trackpad in lieu of a trackball and adds seamless Wi-Fi calling to save on those minutes. Of course, it has 3G and all of the other nice features of the original Bold — including that 480 x 320 display.

Nokia’s E72 arrives (Nokia) — Did you like the E71? Then chances are, you’ll like the E72 because the form factor is pretty darn similar. New to this model is a bit of revamping to the email and other messaging apps, a 5 megapixel camera, and the latest version of Ovi Maps.

San Francisco getting an AT&T upgrade — or did it already get it? (AT&T) — The Bay Area is probably the worst gap in AT&T’s network due to the large number of iPhones per square block. The company dropped $65 million into the area over the past year, with most of the upgraded 850 MHz spectrum deployed this past quarter. I haven’t heard customers there say things are better, but AT&T is throwing a bone — San Francisco will see the 7.2 HSPA deployment in 2010. No firmer timeframe is mentioned, but if there’s one place AT&T needs to beef things up, it’s the Bay Area.

There’s also the issue of slow adoption rates by carriers to get femtocells in front of potential consumers, and that may have hurt sales this year. Geek.com caught an ABI Research note that suggests sales aren’t as good as expected this year. How bad are the numbers? ABI is slashing its femtocell forecast in 2009 by 55% of what it was. Earlier forecasts predicted 790,000 femto deployments, but new expectations peg that number around 350,000. And it doesn’t take a crystal ball to forsee 2009 sales when we’re already halfway through November, so I gather that these numbers are spot-on. 2010 doesn’t look much better — ABI is cutting sales estimates for next year by 40% as well. What reasons do they give?

“[t]he general economic malaise, which makes the $150 pricetag of an unsubsidized femtocell harder to swallow; the time operators need to get their systems and networks ready for a femtocell deployment and to devise innovative pricing plans; a fear in some quarters that a rapid increase in femtocell numbers would cause interference in the macro network.”

In my chat with the Femto Forum, I specifically called out the price challenge, but not because of the economy. Instead, my thought is a reluctance for consumers to pay the carrier when the femtocell decreases demand for the carrier’s network by producing supply using the customer’s backhaul — the extra network coverage gained requires traffic to be routed over the home broadband network you’re already paying for. I suppose that folks who can’t get cellular service in the home, the price will be well worth it, but are there enough of those consumers out there?

ShopSavvy, one of 10 winners in the original Google Challenge contest last year, arrives today on the iPhone. With ShopSavvy, you scan a product barcode with your phone’s camera and the application does a price check, both online and at retail locations. This one was a long time coming and actually isn’t appearing for me on my iPhone’s App Store at the time of this writing. However, the Big In Japan blog offers a direct link to the app in iTunes, and it works just fine. I’ve installed the free application and it looks stellar, although the app is struggling on some bar codes. This may have to do with the iPhone 3GS auto-focus feature, but I’m not sure. The developers say

“Once you know how to scan with ShopSavvy for the iPhone it works great, but until you do it is a little hard.  Our beta testers (thanks for your help) came up with a bunch of ideas that will make it MUCH easier to scan and we should implement those in the next couple of weeks.  Look for an update every two weeks (I know this is annoying, but we promise the updates will be worth it). “

I’ve been running around the house scanning things, which is sort of silly since I already own these items, but what can I say: it’s fun. Well, it’s fun until you look at current prices — $29.99 for Beatles: RockBand? Ugh!

ShopSavvy for iPhone integrates Google Maps for the locations of retail stores nearby that sell the scanned item. You can also add items to a wishlist, create lists, and get price alerts. All in all, it looks just as functional as the Android counterpart and there’s no need to shop around for it — it’s free!

One of the top Twitter apps for the ‘Berry has been TwitterBerry, according to Twitter stats. The program has stagnated and not been updated in a while, and it turns out the developer was changing things a bit. The program is now dubbed OpenBeak, and it is deemed the result of an evolution of TwitterBerry. It has a lot of features, and is donation-ware so if you like it, pay something.

Not exactly news, but a major event at home has crossed into the BlackBerry world. My spouse bought her first smartphone this week and she chose the BlackBerry Curve on Verizon. She was as excited as can be when she brought the Curve home and started learning all the “cool things” it can do. Unfortunately, she brought it home during the BIS outage and couldn’t use any web apps to really test it out. It will be fun to watch her become a Crackberry with her new Curve. I should point out that she has seen many smartphones come through the office here, yet she chose the Curve after trying it in the store.

I can say that the Droid I am evaluating has started working flawlessly, with no action on my part. The auto-focus works well every single time now, where before it was a seldom seen thing. I have not reset the Droid, nor seen any evidence from Verizon nor Motorola that a fix has been pushed to the phone. Based on my own experience, and that being reported by Droid owners, I am confident that a fix has been pushed OTA.

Here are two photos shot in a simple “point and click” mode, using auto-focus. You can see the difference easily.

Also getting the update treatment are the data layers like photos, Wikipedia articles and various other points of interest. In the prior version, I had to be very precise when tapping an icon or I had to waste time zooming in farther. Tapping a spot close to multiple data layer icons now opens up a menu of the various data points, making it easier to choose. Google also added support for another 18 languages, bringing the total to 31. Here’s a full rundown of the supported ones:

English (U.S), English (UK), French (France), German, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Korean, Japanese, Russian, Polish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Arabic, Thai, Czech, Greek, Hebrew, Indonesian, Malaysian, Romanian, Slovak, and Croatian.

I’m also finding performance to be a little more snappy in general, but that could just be hopeful observation. It seems to me that panning and zooming is improved, but I’m not a frequent world traveller in Google Earth — just a frequent traveller to WaWa.

I’m not representative of your mainstream consumer, but I can’t remember the last time — or even the first time — that I looked for software in the iTunes store on a computer. I don’t think a desktop app store alone is the answer, but it wouldn’t hurt — instead, Google needs to continue revamping its mobile Android Marketplace to make it easier to find apps. I’m not against Jason’s suggestion to revamp the existing Google Android Marketplace website with a “buy here and push to phone” software store. While that would be useful, I don’t see much value added — the best mobile solution is to have customers find what they need for their handset right on their handset, not in front of a computer. Google can start by making better use of screen real estate in the Market — I find that the large “Update” and “Install” buttons are too big and there’s too much scrolling in general when look at an application’s details. Is it just me?

While we ponder and debate Android software approaches, let’s not forget that some new hardware is due out this week. The Samsung Behold II arrives for T-Mobile customers on Wednesday. That price of admission nets you a 3.2″ AMOLED touchscreen display, Samsung’s TouchWIZ interface riding atop Android 1.6, a 2 GB microSD card, Wi-Fi, 3G and 5 megapixel camera. I’ve read two different price tags for the Behold II — $199 and $229 — and Samsung’s official press release does nothing to clarify a price. I’m thinking $199 is the cost later this week because we’re starting to see real competition to get good smartphones under the $199 barrier after subsidy.