Mobiles

ShoZu, a leading provider of mobile social media services that connect mobile consumers with their online social networks announced today that they have added 8 more destinations to their service: Photobucket, Dailymotion, Friendster, Twitter, Twitpic, Cellfish, Seesmic and Ipernity.

With these 8 new integrations, ShoZu now enables mobile users to interact with their choice of 36 social networks from a single screen on their handsets — reducing the time, effort and money required to upload images, update social profiles and check friends’ latest posts from the phone.

Previous ShoZu-supported sites include Facebook; photo/video communities YouTube, Flickr, Google Picasa, Buzznet, Hyves Kodak EasyShare Gallery, Webshots, Windows Live Spaces, Moblog.uk, Dada.net, Pikeo, Netlog Samsung Fun Club, HotSMS and blip.tv; personal blogging sites Google Blogger, LiveJournal, TypePad, Vox, WordPress and MetaWeblog; online storage site Box.net and Qipit; citizen-contributed news desks at CNN, the BBC, ITV and Scoopt; and any email and FTP addresses — all from one ShoZu interface.

If you are not familiar with Shozu but you are an active user of any of these online services, it's certainly worth a look.

ShoZu’s service extends today’s burgeoning social media movement from the Web to the mobile world where users spend the majority of their time. Users can send photos or videos to their favorite community with a click, or mass-publish any photo or video to multiple communities and/or email addresses simultaneously, without opening a mobile browser, creating for multiple messages, and paying multiple data upload fees from their wireless carrier.

The service is very well done and I use it to upload pictures and other stuff to my Facebook account.

To check out some of the key features, click here. Among other things, you'll learn about one-click uploading of camera phone videos and pictures.

“People today often belong to more than one online social media site including social networking sites, personal blogs and media storage and sharing sites. In addition, different social media sites are popular in different parts of the world,” said Mark Bole, ShoZu CEO. “Our goal is to provide mobile access to the broadest possible range of communities from the ShoZu service so that users need only one tool to stay connected on the go. This latest batch of additional sites to our service gives users more choice than ever before. Also, be on the look out for another batch of new destinations added in the upcoming weeks.”

ShoZu’s free mobile client is currently pre-installed on newer Motorola and Samsung phones and downloadable to nearly 340 additional handset models. A complete list of compatible phones can be found here, or to download it to your phone, click here.

RealNetworks announced today during their quarterly report that it plans to spin of its games business into a separate company, with the possibility of an initial public offering.

RealNetworks is a leader in the casual games industry worldwide, with a vertically integrated development, publishing, licensing, distribution and retail business. Their games business started on the PC but over the years has expanded into mobile as well, where they are now a top 10 mobile game publisher in the US.

In the first quarter of 2008, RealNetworks' (NASDAQ:RNWK) games business revenue rose 33% from the first quarter of 2007 to $31.8 million. For 2007, games revenue was $108.5 million, up 26% over 2006.

"RealNetworks was a pioneer and has been a leader in the casual games industry since we introduced RealArcade in 2001," said RealNetworks Chief Executive Rob Glaser in a news release. "We believe that spinning off our casual games business will give it the best opportunity to continue to flourish and lead."

The company anticipates that spinning off its casual games business will result in two more flexible and focused companies. In addition, the separation will provide the games business an "industry-specific currency" for future acquisitions and enhance its ability to attract and retain the best talent in the industry.

The lovely Technology Editor Sarah Meyer of NotebookReview.com took time to review the Mobile Edge BEF Signature Tote. To read the full review click on the link listed below.

By Sarah Meyer
Mobile Edge is giving back to two great causes through their Caring Case Collection. They give 10 percent of the retail sales from any case in the collection to either the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation or the Boomer Esiason Foundation to fight Cystic Fibrosis.
I reviewed the Komen Paris Backpack in December and now I have the chance to review the BEF Signature Tote. And while the BEF Signature Tote is connected with a great cause (and a good football player, Go Bengals!); I’m still testing this tote to make sure it is worth your money.

Design and Aesthetics
The Mobile Edge BEF Signature Tote comes in black with silver accents and hardware with the stitching all in white. The front of the tote has two silver buckles and a small BEF logo in blue at the top. On both sides of the tote there are smaller silver buckles and on the right hand side of the bag, a detachable phone pocket.
The BEF tote does zip shut at the top and the straps are flattened at the top to keep the bag from slipping off your shoulder. The inside of the bag is lined in a soft tan, suede-like material as is the outside of the accessory pouch.
The tote is fairly open but is spilt into two “sections” separate in the middle by the notebook compartment. The section closest to the front of the bag -where the BEF logo is located - has two large open pockets. These would be perfect for large wallets/billfolds, a power brick, wireless mouse or other medium to large sized accessories. There is also an enough room to fit one thick textbook, binder, paper notebook or similar item along with the laptop without the tote getting too bulky.
The second section consists of three pockets and four pen/marker holders. The largest pocket is a zippered one at the top of the tote. It could be used for keys, a digital camera, a MP3 or other small accessories that you want to keep in a slightly more secure pocket or just want to keep handy.
Below this pocket is a Velcro closing pocket lined with Mobile Edge’s Wireless Security Shield. It is suppose to be used to store cell phones or PDA’s and keeps them safe from hackers.
The third pocket is just an open pocket with a business card holder attached to the outside. It’s great for small office supplies like post it notes or a small calculator.
The notebook compartment is in the middle of the two sections and can fit up to a 15.4″ computer. The bottom of the compartment is lined with Mobile Edge’s SafetyCell Computer Protection and the sides are expandable for extra thick notebooks. There is an elastic Velcro strap that can be tightened or loosened depending on the size of your notebook.
Also inside the bag is a small removable accessory pouch that is perfect for make-up or other items you are afraid might leak since it’s lined with nylon.
The bottom of the bag is hard and seems to be made from leather. There are four small silver feet to keep the bag from dragging the ground constantly.

Using the bag
The BEF tote is stylish without screaming, “Look at me!” I liked the simple design and understated black and silver color choices. The only label on the entire bag is the small half inch BEF logo and it’s barely noticeable.
How comfortable I was carrying this tote was a nice surprise. I got sunburn on my shoulders the weekend before I started carrying this, so I was sure I was in for some pain with this tote. The flattened straps took some weight off and stayed in place, and while I did have some discomfort (this tote isn’t made out of air) I was pleased nonetheless.

To read the rest of the review, click here.

Verizon Wireless is set to start offering the Motorola Q 9c to its customers tomorrow. Like the model currently being offered by Sprint, the Verizon Q 9c runs the Windows Mobile 6 Standard operating system and sports a full QWERTY keyboard.
Read the full story here.

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A number of teachers are adding cell phone features to their online classes. Today's cell phones can do more than store numbers and play games. Many students receive online class updates via programs like Twitter. Here are a few other ways the Teach 42 blog suggests phones can be used:

"1) Check the spelling/definition of a word
2) Research a topic
3) Look up reference images
4) Pull up maps (even with satellite imagery)
5) Document a science lab with built in digital camera/video
6) Fact check on the fly
7) Mail questions to the teacher that they might be embarrassed to ask"

Phones don't have to be a distraction - if used wisely they can actually be a learning tool. Take a look at the full post for other ways today's students are using their cell phones. Crossposted from The Online Universities Weblog See full article.

Related Entries:

Damn Dirty Apes Steal Cell Phones - 10 April 2006

Cell Phones Sans Batteries - 07 August 2007

Cell Phones and customers... - 10 November 2007

Cell Phones as a Learning Tool - 07 May 2008

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36 Communities Now Reachable from One ShoZu Screen on User's Mobile Device
Read the full story here.

T-Mobile USA has released its Q1 2008 results, showing nearly 1 million net new customers and a total customer count of 30.8 million, a 200% increase over 6 years. The carrier also posted increased revenues and decreased churn rates.
Read the full story here.

Back in April, Sprint announced they would be selling one of the first iPhone killers - the Samsung Instinct. The device is supposed to hit the market in June and it looks like Sprint is taking the gloves off and going to head to head against AT&T and the iPhone with their marketing campaign.

Click here to go to www.nowisgood.com and you can watch 5 videos that show how the Instinct performs better than the iPhone for GPS, Live TV, downloading music, surfing the Internet and shooting video.

"Finally, an amazing touch screen phone with a network to back it up"

This week at the 2008 JavaOne Conference, Mpowerplayer received the Duke's Choice Award from Sun Microsystems in the mobile gaming category.

Using Java technology, Mpowerplayer expands the audience for mobile games to include casual online gamers, letting them easily find, try, and buy mobile games and applications. Consumers discover and sample a wide range of content on their PC and then transfer their purchases to their mobile phone.

"Mpowerplayer is honored to receive this award and to be recognized as a leader in innovation for the mobile games industry," said Michael Powers, CEO of Mpowerplayer. "Our technology platform continues to expand with new features and solutions designed to convert online consumers into mobile gamers."

The Duke's Choice Awards program recognizes the year's most influential Java technology-based applications submitted by developers and companies around the world. Winners are selected by Java inventor James Gosling and Sun's Java technology leadership team with judging based on the innovation and creativity of the Java technology-based applications and service.

Congrats to Michael and the rest of the Mpowerplayer team for winning this award!

Motorola's extensive Bluetooth accessory range tested for compatibility and pairing with many of the UK's top selling mobiles & devices
Read the full story here.