Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Orange had to suspend their sale of the Blackberry Bold, listing their reason as “software issues” in an internal memo to employees.  It seems that AT&T wasn’t the only company having issues with this one.  At least they chose to hold off and try to sort things out instead of rushing a release date. 

In the meantime, RIM is attempting fix the situation.  This came as a result of issues starting in the UK, where the Bold was pulled off the shelves. As a result, shipments in the US have been repeatedly delayed and it now looks like we know why.

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A couple of weeks have passed since the T-Mobile/Google event and my uneasy silence hasn’t dissipated.  Sure, I am impressed that beloved Google is involved, the apps are cool and don’t even get me started about compass mode in maps.  Very cool stuff.  But it doesn’t matter.  Here are the top 7 reasons Android will fail.

Headed to Vegas?  Don’t bet on the G1 just yet.

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Firefox Mobile Concept Video from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.

Rumored to be “soon” or even next week, Firefox Mobile Alpha will be released onto the Nokia N810 internet tablet.  Sure to be the first of many releases, the new web browser designed for mobile devices is sure to mix things up a bit.

One major difference is controls.  Unlike the minimalist Safari for the iPhone and iPod touch, Firefox for Mobile uses the extreme edges for access to special menus.  Just a swipe of the finger off the page to port or starboard brings up controls that were previously hidden.  It is a neat way to get at controls.  Just my opinion?  No, Mozilla calls this the “awesome bar” which I thought existed only in Times Square, NY.

See more interesting features in the alpha version.  Click more to follow.

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While most likely not their only game plan, Intel ponied up to the netbook game by buying netbook.com.  By combining the grim economic outlook with one part of tech that continues to boom, Intel is hedging their bets that netbooks will continue to thrive, perhaps even more so in the run up to the holidays.

But what’s a netbook?

Find out by clicking more

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Asus has scored an industry first with its recently announced G71V notebook.  The 17-inch notebook will be the first true mobile quad-core gaming notebook to be released in the market.  While others may have quad-core processors in their machines, the fact that the Asus G71V got it in a mobile computing machine gives the company some bragging rights. 

For those who are fond of overclocking their notebook to achieve maximum performance, they will be glad to know that despite the G71V’s stock Core 2 Extreme chip running at 2.53GHz, Asus didn’t put any hardware restriction on the G71V notebook.  Hence, users can pretty much push the notebook’s performance to rival desktop PCs.  More details after the break.

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Having converted to smartphones with a candy bar form factor years ago, I was certain I couldn’t be swayed by this cute, light, small Pantech C610.  That was until Pantech sent me one.  Not only does the phone feel great in hand, its list of features would make my smartphone drool.

Check out this smart flip phone - hit the jump for follow.

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In an effort to expand its device business beyond the borders of just the corporate crowd, The Wall Street Journal just announced that Hewlett Packard is getting ready to release a new smart phone that is also going to be marketed to the “average joe consumer.” It will be sold by a (yet un-named) mobile carrier in retail stores and will debut in Europe.

The new smartphone will be the latest in the line of HP’s iPaq devices.  The most recent iPaq smartphone, which was geared toward the business crowd, was launched this past June.  The company began selling iPaq-branded devices in 2002, when it acquired Compaq Computer Corp; although earlier iPaqs focused more on businesses and weren’t usually sold in retail stores.  So, they are obviously trying to make a leap into a broader market.

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I’ve a confession: I notice people’s phones.  It seems to be a condition I’ve developed after writing about phones for a year.  I note what kind of phone, the user, and what they are doing with it. 

So when riding a bus from a country fair (don’t ask), back to my car, I noted the older woman in front of me texting her friends.  Or at least trying to.  It was all I could do not to say, “Hey, I’ve been watching you and your phone and all you need to do to send that text is...”, but I didn’t because that is waaay too stalker-like, even for me.

See just how much we text more than call.  Hit the jump.

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This is where we call out by names the actions and companies that seem odd, out of touch or just plain straight up smokin crack.  Technology is an odd realm where PR speak doesn’t hold a lot of water if the 1s and 0s don’t line up.  This week sees posturing, positioning and flat out insanity.  Here is what caught my eye this week:

Hit the jump to see bonehead moves from Apple, Google, T-Mobile, SanDisk and Motorola…

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Sprint announced yesterday MyMoneyManager, an all-in-one application for their customers’ mobile phone.  This application allows users to send payments through Paypal and quickly access their bank accounts all from their mobile phone.  Is it the economic times that prompted this inspired thinking? 

Show me the money

Sprint calls it an industry first: Paypal payments transacted via your phone.  Hit the jump to see if your bank is included, if the app is secure and what does Sprint have in the works for the future.

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