Motorola Ruby V13 Passes Bluetooth SIG

A new Motorola handset has been spotted at the Bluetooth SIG here and it’s actually the Ruby that could get launched as the Motorola V13. Although it did make its rounds in press photo circles after that, The Motorola Ruby clamshell was thought of to be canceled.

The specs listed by the Bluetooth SIG includ : 2.2 inch QVGA internal display, 2 inch QVGA external touchscreen display, CDMA/Ev-Do connectivity, Bluetooth and 5MP camera with autofocus and flash.Sadly, there is no info on a release date concerning that phone as of now.

Nokia's 6350 handset coming to AT&T on October 4th

Nokia on Thursday launched the 6350, a flip phone specific to AT&T. The simple handset will be available in red and graphite and carry dedicated external music keys. Data over 3G and a 2-megapixel camera put it closer to the mid-range.

The higher-speed access gives it support for e-mail, one-way video sharing and the web, as well as a boost for AT&T's subscription mapping service. Talk time is rated at four hours. The Nokia 6350 will be available from AT&T online starting on October 4th and should cost just $30 with a two-year AT&T contract and after a mail-in rebate.

Windows Mobile to reach 15% of smartphones in 2013?

In spite of common perception, Windows Mobile could take second place in the smartphone market in as little as four years, an iSuppli study predicted today. Analysts estimate that the phones shipped will triple from 27.7 million by the end of this year to 67.9 million in 2013, or enough to give it 15.3 percent of the industry behind Nokia's predicted 47.6 percent. Microsoft is expected to slip to third this year but to recover over time.

The return to form is founded in a belief that Microsoft has the "major cards" needed to have a successful mobile platform. Windows Mobile is already well established with carrier support and a substantial app library, while it now also has an app store (Windows Marketplace for Mobile).

Its age is considered a problem, as its interface is harder to use than an iPhone's and doesn't support the capacitive touchscreens needed for multi-touch and other more intuitive finger input. However, senior analyst Tina Teng believes the launch of Windows Mobile 7 in 2010 will render Microsoft "much more competitive" precisely because it should solve both of these problems. She also dismisses the losses of Motorola and Palm as clients for Windows Mobile, saying that neither were significant enough to make an impact while the recent addition of LG will be much more important. Windows Mobile has more licenses than anyone with 14 versus Symbian's 10.

The study doesn't address Nokia's own falling market share or outside factors, such as the maturation of younger platforms like Android and iPhone. Android has often been cited as the most direct competitor to Windows Mobile as it can be licensed by nearly any developer but is significantly less expensive to license and develop than Windows Mobile.

Mark/Space intros Missing Sync for Android

Developer Mark/Space has announced The Missing Sync for Android, expanding the company's phone support. The new program allows users to sync with a phone based on Google's Android platform, such as the HTC Hero. Version 1.0 supports syncing contacts with Address Book and Entourage, as well as copying over music, photos, podcasts, ringtonesand/or videos, primarily from an iTunes or iPhoto library.

Users can also sync PDF, Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. The app cannot sync DRM-restricted content however, and features such as calendar, note and bookmark sync will not be introduced until later v1.x releases. Options like Wi-Fi sync and the ability to save call and SMS histories are also planned. Public previews of Missing Sync for Android are scheduled to become available next week, followed by an official v1.0 launch "later" in October.

Moto Sholes to reveal as the Droid

Motorola's Sholes has received a new name, and details of when it should be unveiled, through a new slip of information. Unnamed contacts for BGR have claimed it will simply be called the Droid when it ships and that it should be unveiled for Verizon in two weeks. They add that, unlike the Cliq, the phone should be a full "with Google" device and will run a regular version of Android instead of Motorola's social network-heavy MOTOBLUR.

The news follows posts of several photos of the Droid from the user of a pre-release example that confirm the look of the device as well as that it should be running at least Android 1.6, which supports the new-look Android Market. Google's Latitude friend service has also been spotted running in the map utility.

Electronista has been able to independently confirm additional rumors as to the shipping timeframe of the Droid. People familiar with Verizon's plans expect the 5-megapixel touchscreen slider to ship in early December.

Samsung Giorgio Armani SPH-W8200 poses for the camera

Images and specs of the Samsung Armani W8200 have finally been spotted online, some five months after it was first promised. What has been gleaned is that the device sports a 3.1-inch AMOLED touchscreen along with a slide-out hardware keypad. The device will support high-speed HSDPA data networks.

Otherwise, there is a DMB TV tuner, Bluetooth and a 5-megapixel camera. Storage will be expandable through a micro SD memory card slot, but it's unknown how much internal memory is retained. Unlike what was previously expected, however, it appears the device won't ship with Windows Mobile but rather a proprietary Samsung OS.

Despite the leak, shipping dates or pricing for the Samsung Armani handset are unknown. Judging from the source of the images, it's likely the device will launch in Korea first.

Palm Pixi to ship October 20?

Palm's Pixi may already be in stores in less than three weeks' time if a leak proves true. A new but seemingly realistic source for BGR claims that the phone will be in stores on October 20th. The release would be complete and include not just Sprint's own stores but Best Buy and other third-party chains as well.

The cost of the phone or its customizable shells wasn't mentioned. Unofficially, however, the Pixi is believed to come in at $100 or less as it will take the Centro's former place at Sprint. Palm has already dropped the price of the Pre down to $150 despite its having a better camera, a larger screen and Wi-Fi.

iPhone Game - Orbital

Orbital is based on the online game “Gimme Friction Baby” but makes the gameplay much more exciting . This game plays exactly like a brick breaker game except that instead of destroying bricks, you must destroy orbs. Each orb has the number “3″ in it which indicates the number of times that the orb must be hit in order to be destroyed. After 3 hits, the orb explodes into a colorful barrage of star dust and you are awarded with 1 point.

However, the game does come with a twist. Each time you fire your weapon at one of the orbs, the projectile you launched becomes an orb itself that must be destroyed like the rest. The game also adds extra points if you get double or triple hits by destroying more than one orb at the same time.

The higher your score, the better, as you can enter yourself into the global high score lists. The high score lists also include two standings which are high score in a 24 hour period and all-time high score. You can also compare your score with your friends through the in-app FaceBook integration.

The great thing about Orbital, and these game types in general, is the game is seemingly endless. The only obstacle that you must watch out for is the “death line”. If your orb that you shoot touches this line, the game is over. You only get one life, so use it wisely! However it is this one life mechanic that I really do not like about the game. Then again, it is probably because I keep dieing. BTW Orbital delivers a great multiplayer experience in which the game orients itself between player turns so that the active player always views the gameplay area in the correct direction.

Rivals Dogpile on Amazon

Jeff Bezos named his company after the longest and largest river in the world. So it's appropriate that the past week has shown just how influential Amazon has become in both the online and offline retail spaces, as competitors and the Seattle-based e-commerce giant threw a series of punches and counter-punches.

Try to keep up with the opponents' jabs :

• On Friday, real-world retail behemoth Wal-Mart announced price cuts to as low as US$10, and free shipping, for some forthcoming titles by Sarah Palin, John Grisham and Stephen King when pre-ordered on its Web site. The retailer is also cutting prices on books now available in its stores as Wal-Mart attempts a combined bricks-and-mortar/online attack on Amazon's bookselling dominance.
• Google announced that next year it will offer Google Editions, the search company's strategy for online bookstores that will enable consumers to read e-books on any device with a Web browser.
• Earlier in the week, Gizmodo posted some leaked images of what may be a Barnes & Noble-branded e-reader with touchscreen capabilities. The photos spread throughout the blogosphere, with some headlines actually employing the phrase "Kindle-killer."

Independence Is Dangerous : Microsoft

"Danger's platform was unique, and the migration would have to be done without disrupting the current user base," Enderle explained. Danger may have stopped doing full backups before Microsoft acquired it and perhaps did not reinstitute the practice.

That could have caused the delay in restoring data. "When the problem occurred, the redundant backup was not initially available, and Microsoft had to rebuild the database," Enderle said.

"Generally, unless the storage medium has been destroyed, there are a number of ways, all expensive, to recover from something like this, and it appears they were successful," he explained.

"The problem was the result of bad practices meeting bad circumstances," Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT, "but it does call into question what consumers can and should expect from a hosted services provider."

Microsoft had probably not fully audited Danger's IT procedures, according to Enderle.

"That's not an uncommon mistake in an acquisition, but one that can be avoided if the acquisition team doing the review is experienced," he said. "Mistakes can happen, and this was a big one."