Over at last100[RWW’s Digital Lifestyle blog] we’ve been focused a lot on mobile lately. We reviewed two touch screen phones: HTC’s Touch Diamond and Samsung’s Tocco (in case you’re wondering, they’re no iPhone killers). We also looked at the whole Netbook craze, including a review of the very capable MSI Wind.
In Android-related coverage, we put the case of why Google should have developed a GPhone of its own, and we also looked at the implications of Android’s pending Marketplace for third-party applications. Lastly, on the trends front we examined why the mobile browser maybe more important than any one mobile operating system.
Note: last100 is a media sponsor of GigaOm’s Mobilize conference 08, which takes place next week on Sept 18th. ReadWriteWeb and last100 readers qualify for a 10% discount.
“It’s hard not to look at HTC’s new flagship smartphone, the Touch Diamond, through iPhone-tinted glasses. Featuring a touch screen interface that’s been designed, on the surface at least, to be operated using a finger rather than a stylus, like Cupertino’s own crown jewel, the Touch Diamond is marketed as a device that makes accessing the Web on the go just as easy as making a phone call. It’s also HTC’s latest attempt to put a consumer face on the business oriented Windows Mobile operating system. No mean feat in itself.”
See also: Review: Samsung Tocco SGH-F480
I’ve jumped on the Netbook bandwagon (MSI Wind U100 / Advent 4211 review)
Steve O’Hear: “Ever since Asus debuted its first Eee PC, I’ve been fascinated by this new category of mobile device, dubbed the Netbook by chip maker Intel. The form-factor is a notebook but these devices are purposely cut-down in terms of price – the Eee PC 701 sells for under $300 – as well as size and weight, and to some extent features. While designed primarily as a way of accessing the Internet on-the-go, Netbooks don’t have any pretensions of putting the Internet in your pocket, and instead look to keep the screen size and keyboard small enough to still be extremely portable, yet large enough to be that bit more productive.”
See also: Don’t buy a Netbook pleads PC industry
Why Google should have developed its own Gphone
Dan Langendorf: “Whether the Google phone comes out in September, or later this year, or sometime in early 2009, it really doesn’t matter. All this bickering over supposed hardware delays, software issues, and hurt developer feelings has me wondering how Google would have fared if it had taken a different path and developed the Gphone on its own.”
See also: What’s in a name? Google’s announces the Android Market, not the Android Store
Mobile browser more important than operating system
“In light of the move towards cloud computing, the Web browser is fast becoming the most important application on any mobile platform, whether it be the Nokia-led Symbian OS, Apple’s iPhone, Windows Mobile, Blackberry, LiMo or any other. An argument I made recently in relation to Android and fears that native third-party applications running on different versions of the Google-developed OS could face compatibility problems.”
ReadWriteWeb and last100 readers qualify for a 10% discount on tickets for next week’s Mobilize conference 08 from GigaOm.
