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iPhone: Great Device, Lousy Telephone?

By Fei on August 26, 2010

By Mark Sullivan

August 26, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO – If you have an iPhone, this experience may be familiar: Your phone shows only a bar or two, and either you can’t make a call or the call you do make is so scratchy and garbled that the person you’re calling can’t understand what you’re saying. Meanwhile, right next to you, someone on a different AT&T phone connects without a hitch and chats away happily. I decided to informally test whether there’s a solid basis for that common gripe. My findings: The two iPhones I tested had lower rates of connecting successfully and had poorer voice quality in AT&T low-signal areas than did two non-Apple AT&T phones that I tested under the same conditions.

I tested four phones on AT&T service in two cities over three days. I drove around San Francisco and Los Angeles comparing the performance of the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 3GS against the performance of the RIM BlackBerry Bold 9000 and the Pantech Impact in voice calls placed at roughly the same time from areas where coverage from the AT&T network is less than optimal.

What I found was surprising. Calls on the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS failed to connect or dropped in midcall far more often than did calls on the other two phones, and the iPhone calls that connected successfully sounded marginally worse than calls placed with the BlackBerry and Pantech phones.

My testing is not meant to be scientific or definitive, but the results raise real questions about the world’s favorite smartphone: Is the iPhone a great personal computing device but a bad phone? Please click the chart below to see average call quality scores (on a 1-5 scale) for all test calls made in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Testing Methodology

I made test calls from seven medium- to low-signal locations in San Francisco; then I validated my results with a second round of testing at the same locations two days later. Finally, I performed similar tests from five locations in Los Angeles. I tested from various locations, including a parking garage, a forest, a train station, a library basement, and a moving bus. I noted each dropped or failed call, and scored each successful call that I made using the five-point Mean Opinion Score (MOS), a scale developed by Bell Labs to quantify call quality. (Please see the “Mean Opinion Scoring Guide”–the rightmost column in the accompanying chart–for definitions of the possible call quality scores, 1 through 5.)

At locations where my first call on a given phone dropped, I noted the drop and then placed an additional call, applying a MOS number to the second call if it completed successfully. Obviously, I couldn’t give a voice quality score to a phone if it failed in both attempts to complete a call at a certain location.

The Dropped-Call Champions

The data point that sticks out in my results is the number of dropped or failed calls placed by iPhones during my tests, especially in the San Francisco tests. In total, the iPhone 4 dumped or couldn’t connect in half of test calls — 14 out of 28 — in low-signal areas. The iPhone 3GS did even worse, connecting only 12 calls in 30 attempts, for a success rate of 40 percent.

Meanwhile the iPhones’ competition in our tests proved far more reliable in dealing with less-than-ideal signal strength. The least expensive phone in our tests–the Pantech Impact–had zero failed or dropped calls in the 19 test calls I placed on it, despite poor cell conditions. The BlackBerry Bold 9000 was also far more reliable than the iPhones, connecting on 18 out of 21 test calls in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Call Quality

I also evaluated the voice quality on calls that connected successfully. In my conversations with a colleague in the PC World office, I listened for things like drop-outs, static, thin or fading voice, delay, and garble, and I gave each call a MOS score based on the cumulative disruption caused by these imperfections over the course of the call.

Here, the results were more favorable to the iPhone, and much closer across the four phones I tested. All four phones earned average MOS score of between 3 and 4 (that is, between “annoying” and “fair”), a range that is said to be typical of calls placed on cell phones.

On average, the iPhone 3GS scored the worst of the four phones in call quality. The 12 calls (out of 30 total) that the 3GS managed to connect and hold received an average MOS score of 3.16 (out of a possible 5). The iPhone 4, with its improved antenna (provided you hold it just so), fared a little better than its predecessor did in my call quality tests. The 14 (out of 28) successful test calls placed on the iPhone 4 averaged a mark of 3.27, also between “annoying” and “fair” on the MOS scale, though again, like the iPhone 3GS’s score, closer to “annoying.”

The BlackBerry Bold 9000 produced the highest-quality voice calls overall in my tests. Calls made with the Bold 9000 had an average MOS score of 3.77 across 18 test calls, putting it near the upper end of the range between “annoying” and “fair.” The Pantech Impact also outperformed the iPhones in call quality, with an average MOS score of 3.61 for its 19 test calls.

Conclusions

The iPhone’s poor performance in my tests could have been caused by myriad things, from the tuning of the iPhone antenna to the amount of network resources AT&T allocates to voice calls placed by iPhones specifically.

Neither AT&T nor Apple offered any sort of explanation. In response to a request for comment, an AT&T spokesperson said merely: “We recommend you reach out to the device manufacturers.” Apple did not return our calls requesting comment.

The iPhone is undeniably a superb device for browsing the Web, playing games, and watching videos. Further, the iPhone 4 clearly improved on its predecessor in microphone quality, speaker quality, and noise cancellation effectiveness, all of which help make voice calls sound great–when cell service is strong.

But at least for now, weak cell-signal zones are a fact of life for just about everybody, whether you encounter them on the road, in your office, or in your living room. Cell signals also tend to degrade when making their way through the walls of our homes, necessitating an amplifier–or in AT&T’s case, a Microcell–that, more often than not, you have to pay for. And wireless operators usually invest in additional cell towers and in radio improvement only when increased traffic levels (which translate into average revenue) are likely to be high enough to justify the capital expense.
While we don’t have the resources to do our testing nationwide, the data I collected in San Francisco and Los Angeles, combined with the anecdotal evidence, is enough to indicate that iPhones may well have more difficulty than other phones placing calls in areas of less-than-optimal wireless service.

If you’re considering buying an iPhone, and phone calls are important to you, it’s wise to take the time to test the phone for as long as laws in your state allow to understand how well the device works in the low-signal areas you frequent.

iPads to overtake netbooks by 2012

By Fei on July 27, 2010

By Lexton Snol
July 27, 2010

LONDON – With its iPad capturing 6 percent of the portable PC segment in the second quarter of 2010 Apple will continue lead the media tablet market through at least 2011 largely because of the lack of innovation in the netbook market.

Canalys today released its quarterly worldwide PC market data, highlighting Apple’s jump into the top five PC vendors. The iPad captured approximately 6 percent of the portable PC segment in Q2 2010, with over 3 million units shipped during the device’s first few months on the market.

“Apart from the ‘Apple effect’, the iPad owes its success to a lack of advancement in other portable computing segments, such as netbooks,” said Canalys Vice President and Principal Analyst Chris Jones.

“To capture share moving forward, PC makers will have to take the netbook to the next level or go after new customer segments with their own pads.”

Many manufacturers have announced the launch of pads for later this year, and Canalys expects pads to overtake netbooks by 2012.

Canalys expects the pad PC market to reach 12.5 million units in 2010, growing to 66 million by the end of 2014.

Due to its first-to-market advantage, Canalys anticipates that Apple will continue lead the market through at least 2011. As more vendors enter the market, however, there will be a period of experimentation with a range of various models aimed at both consumer and enterprise customers.

“The key to creating a great user experience on a connected mobile device is ensuring that the hardware and software work together in harmony,’ said Jones.

“Platforms such as Android, iOS, webOS and possibly BlackBerry, as well as Chrome, MeeGo and Windows, are likely to battle it out in the pad market over the next three years.”

“As the number of consumers with multiple devices increases, it will also be important for pads to seamlessly integrate with existing equipment,” said Canalys Senior Analyst Natalie Spitz.

“In addition to synchronization capabilities, vendors should be prepared to take a strategic look at content – all-important, but often overlooked.”

Though some overlap will be inevitable, Canalys forecasts that pads and netbooks will continue to coexist in the portable PC market for some time.

As the pad represents an additional luxury purchase to a certain extent, customers may eventually choose between the two devices, causing the netbook market to soften as vendors develop their pad offerings.

Microsoft: Solid Today, Shaky Tomorrow

By Fei on July 26, 2010

By Jeff Bertolucci
July 26, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO – Microsoft‘s quarterly earnings announcement on Thursday painted a rosy picture of a healthy and vibrant tech company. Revenue from Windows sales jumped 28 percent versus the same quarter a year ago.

And there’s little doubt that Windows 7 is a hit. More than 10 percent of all PCs worldwide run Windows 7, which is the fastest-selling operating system in history, Redmond claims. And while Microsoft’s third-quarter revenue of $14.5 billion rose a modest 6 percent over the same period a year earlier, profits shot up an impressive 35 percent.
So what’s not to like?

Well, for starters, Microsoft’s position in the emerging mobile computing market is questionable at best. For large enterprises, Research in Motion’s BlackBerry phones still rule, while Apple’s iPhone and Google Android-based devices continue to make inroads.

Redmond has stumbled badly in the cell phone arena. Its Windows Mobile 6.x platform is essentially moribund. Know anyone who uses a Windows phone anymore? (Yes, I know they’re out there, but their numbers are dwindling fast.) The company recently scrapped its social media-oriented Kin device, which arrived on the mobile scene at least a year too late. And while Microsoft’s upcoming Windows Phone 7 software does look promising, devices that run it won’t debut for a few more months.

Meanwhile, Microsoft continues to milk its Windows PC cash cow for all its worth. When it comes to the desktop and laptop market (both business and consumer), Redmond rules with its series of dominant products, including Windows 7 and the latest versions of Office, Exchange, and SharePoint.

But that could quickly change if low-cost laptop and tablet devices running one of Google’s mobile operating systems–Android or the upcoming Chrome OS–prove popular for businesses.

Microsoft’s PC-centric ways should be a cause for alarm in Redmond. It’s no surprise that the company’s biggest revenue growth is in its Windows and Windows Live division, while its Online Services and Entertainment and Devices divisions are relatively flat. Microsoft sees its Bing search, Xbox Live, and budding cloud services as areas of growth–but they’re not there yet.

Redmond’s revenue stream is too desktop-centric for its own good. Despite its Windows-oriented success, the company is a big question mark moving forward.

Stay on top of a to-do list

By Fei on July 14, 2010

By Adam Pash
July 14, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO – Your life is busy, and you have got enough on your plate without needing to remember to move your car every week, pay oddly timed bills, or show up for one-time weekend appointments. Luckily, a finely tuned calendaring system can help.

Take a service like Google Calendar. With the right setup (which we’ll detail below), you can access it from any Web browser, plug it into your favorite desktop calendar, and manage it from your phone so you can quickly add any item to your schedule no matter where you are.

Of course, scheduling is just one half of the picture. Remembering your appointments is the other. And that’s the best part of this system: You’ll receive alerts reminding you of all your scheduled events, no matter where you are or what you’re doing.

The Setup

In this article, we detail a three-tiered approach to managing your schedule from the Web, from your desktop, and from your phone, so you’ll have a bulletproof system for keeping on top of your schedule. The glue that holds this system together is Google’s free calendaring application, Google Calendar. If you don’t already have a Google account, you’ll need to sign up for one before you can use Google Calendar.

First, let’s take a minute to get familiar with Google Calendar and some of its handier features.

Use Quick Add to Translate Your To-Do List

No matter how streamlined a calendar is, you won’t want to add events through the normal steps, which require you to give your event a title, hunt for the right date and time, and set up notifications to remind you of the event.

Rather than go through this time-consuming process every time, do yourself a favor and get comfortable using GCal’s Quick Add feature. Type any plain-language appointment-related text–such as “Pick up dry cleaning from A1 at 1pm next Tuesday”–into this box, and Google Calendar will translate that notation into an event on your calendar, with the proper date and time.

Next, to ensure that you don’t forget, you could manually edit the event and set a custom notification to remind you when the event is approaching. But suppose that you’re prone to forgetfulness–or just have too many things going on every day–and you want to have some type of default reminder set up for every event of your calendar.

Go to Google Calendar; click Settings, Calendar Settings, Calendars; find the calendar you want to adjust default notifications for; and click Notifications. Once there, you can set up one or more default reminders for any new event that you subsequently add to your calendar.

For most events on my calendar, I like to get a reminder a day ahead of time, just to make certain that an appointment is on my radar; then I like to receive another reminder an hour before the scheduled event time.

Likewise, you can set up your own defaults to suit your preferences. Bear in mind that you can override the defaults if you prefer a different sort of notification (you may want more advanced warning to make sure you move your car in time, for example) or if you decide that you don’t want any reminder at all.

Use Calendar in Your Other Google Apps

If you’re an avid user of Gmail, Google’s e-mail program, Google Calendar can save you even more time. Gmail automatically recognizes when the text of an e-mail suggests an event or appointment and provides you with a Quick Add link that you can click to automatically populate a new Google Calendar event with may of the event’s details–the what, where, and when–already filled out.

Similarly, if you’re a fan of Google’s relatively new to-do list, Google Tasks, you’ll appreciateTasks recently added integration with Google Calendar. Now, when you set a due date on a to-do item in Tasks, it will automatically show up as an event in Google Calendar. (If you don’t see your Tasks in Gmail already, make sure that you’ve clicked the Tasks calendar under the My Calendars sidebar.)

Remember Recurring Events

Whether it be a birthday, monthly rent payments, bimonthly bills, quarterly taxes, or even meet-ups on the third Tuesday of every month, Google Calendar can help you quickly and easily create recurring-event notifications so you’ll never forget another repeat appointment.

To set up a recurring event in GCal, either add a note

about the recurring activity to your quick-add text (e.g., “Move car every Tuesday at 8am”) or click the Create Event button in Google Calendar and set your recurring schedule in the Repeats section.

Stay Synced With Outlook

Google Calendar by itself is fine and dandy if you’re comfortable living your life in your browser, but if you prefer to keep your data local and accessible when you’re offline, you can take advantage of most of the great things Google Calendar has to offer without giving up your desktop calendar.

If you use Microsoft Outlook, just download Google Calendar Sync. Enter your Google Calendar username and password, and it will take care of syncing your calendar data back and forth between Google Calendar and Outlook.
The nice thing about syncing your calendar between Google Calendar and Outlook is that you get the best of both worlds. If you’re away from your main PC, you can access your calendar from any Web browser, on any computer through Google Calendar; if you’re on your main computer, you can stick to scheduling with the Outlook you know and love, whether you have an active Internet connection or not.

Connect Your Calendar to Your Cell Phone

Since you’re not always sitting in front of a computer, being able to access your calendar only when you’re at a computer isn’t all that useful. Imagine that you parked your car in the morning, but you have to move it by 5 p.m. to make way for street cleaning or you’ll get a ticket. It’s easy to forget to add an item like “Move my car by 5pm” to your calendar if you have to wait until you get to a computer to add it. The solution to this problem: Hook your phone into your calendar.

There are several ways to do this, whether you own a cutting-edge smartphone or a bare-bones (but functional) “dumb” phone. Let’s start with the smartphones and work our way down.

Sync With Smartphones

If you use an Android phone, this is a no-brainer. Android works seamlessly with Google Calendar (both are Google products, after all); you merely log in to your Google account on your Android device, and it will automatically set up your phone’s calendar to sync with GCal. Any events you add from your phone will automatically sync with Google Calendar wirelessly.

If you have an iPhone, BlackBerry, Nokia S60, or Windows Mobile phone, syncing your phone’s calendar with GCal is similarly easy when you use the free Google Mobile Sync tool for your particular phone. Head over to the Google Sync page and follow the setup instructions for your device.

Check Your Calendar and Add Events Via SMS

Don’t have a fancy smartphone? No problem. You can still receive event notifications, check your calendar, and even add events to your calendar from any phone that supports SMS messages.

First, head into your Google Calendar settings and associate your cellphone with Google Calendar. (To do so, select Settings, Calendar Settings, Mobile Setup, and follow Google’s instructions for validating your phone.) Once you’ve validated your phone number, Google Calendar can send you event notifications via e-mail or SMS.

You can even add an SMS reminder as one of your default notification methods, in which case you’ll always receive notifications for upcoming events, regardless of where you are, as long as you have your phone on hand.

Now for the really cool part: After you’ve associated your cell phone’s number with your Google Calendar account, you can check your itinerary and create new events by sending text messages to Google Calendar’s GVENT (48368) number. Want today’s schedule? Just text “day” to GVENT.

Even better: You can create new events by texting GVENT, and it supports the same plain-language input that GCal’s Quick Add button does. So if you text GVENT “Move my car at 4:30pm,” GCal will translate that into a new event on your calendar. For complete details on GVENT commands, check out this Google Calendar help page.

Conclusion

The system described above isn’t the only calendaring method possible under the silicon sun, but Google Calendar is the best free way to create a fast-syncing schedule minder that you can access from virtually anywhere. And with all your reminders correctly set up, you’ll never forget to move your car or pay a bill again.

Huge growth forecast in mobile app market

By Carlo on July 9, 2010

MELBOURNE – The dominance of Apple’s iPhone in the mobile app download market will be eroded over the coming years as rivals Android, Symbian and BlackBerry make inroads, according to the latest forecast from Ovum.

Ovum’s Mobile Application Download Forecast 2009-2015, a new report by the independent telecoms analyst, states that mobile application downloads generated by non-operator application stores will grow by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 41% globally over the next five years, with total downloads almost reaching 21.3 billion by 2015. That’s up from 2.69 billion in 2009.

According to Ovum estimates, Apple generated a massive 67% of all smartphone app downloads in 2009, despite claiming just 14% of the overall smartphone installed base. Symbian, conversely, commanded a 49% share of the smartphone installed base but only generated an estimated 9% of the total applications downloads market.

The report says in 2015 Apple will generate a relatively modest 22% of app downloads, compared to 19% for Symbian.

“The iPhone generates the lion’s share of smartphone app downloads but over the period we will see the share of application downloads becoming more equally distributed,” Michele Mackenzie, principal analyst at Ovum and report co-author, said. “Over the forecast period, other smartphone platforms will gain ground and by 2015 the landscape looks very different in terms of market share.”

Between 2009 and 2015, Ovum expects Google’s Android to increase its smartphone base from 5% to 18% penetration and its mobile application download share from 14% to 26%.

While BlackBerry looks set to lose smartphone share over the forecast period as newer players like Android move in aggressively, it will more than triple its share of the app download market from 5% to 17%. Similarly, Microsoft is forecast to lose smartphone share but will double its mobile application download share.

Adam Leach, Ovum principal analyst and report co-author, said that while North America will continue to dominate, its share of the smartphone mobile app downloads market will decrease from 57% in 2009 to 31% in 2015.

Ovum expects Asia Pacific to experience the highest growth, with its share of the global market set to quadruple from 5% in the early phase to 20% by 2015. This growth will be driven by growing penetration of smartphones in the region coupled with the increased availability of applications with local relevance.

What RIM’s new BlackBerry needs to succeed

By Fei on June 17, 2010

By JR Raphael
June 17, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO – Research in Motion may have something big up its sleeves.

The company best known as RIM is said to be working on a revamped version of its BlackBerry smartphone. The device, reports suggest, will boast a touchscreen, a slide-out keyboard, and a brand new operating system that immediately brings the iPhone to mind.

The apparent similarity is no coincidence: RIM’s new device, The Wall Street Journal reports, is being built specifically to better complete with Apple’s prized device. The iPhone, combined with the growing number of Android-based handsets, has been chipping away at RIM’s share of the mobile market for too long — and now, RIM seems ready to do something about it.

RIM’s New BlackBerry: The Touchscreen Competitor

According to the latest blog-driven rumors, RIM’s updated BlackBerry will be called the Torch 9800 and will debut on AT&T sometime this summer. If the various “people familiar with the device” are to be believed, the BlackBerry Torch 9800 will feature swipe-style controls, a universal search bar, and home screens with support for user-selected icons.

Other suspected specs for the new BlackBerry smartphone include 4GB of internal storage and a 5-megapixel camera. The device would likely use RIM’s upcoming BlackBerry 6 OS, which features an improved Webkit browser and built-in social networking integration.
That’s all fine and dandy, and no doubt a step up from RIM’s previous efforts — but the one thing RIM’s new BlackBerry really needs to compete is something that can’t be listed on a spec sheet. What the phone needs is sexiness.

Mind you, I’m not talking about the kind of sexiness someone like Scarlett Johansson has (though that certainly couldn’t hurt). No, what RIM needs is the kind of sexiness products like the iPhone and the HTC EVO 4G possess. It’s a certain difficult-to-define quality: a sleekness, an allure, a je ne sais quoi that grabs your attention and evokes your desire. Again, not in the same way that Scarlett does — I hope.

RIM’s BlackBerry Challenge

Here’s RIM’s problem: While BlackBerry is still the dominant mobile operating system in America, its numbers are steadily slipping. At the same time, the position of Apple’s iPhone and phones running Google’s Android operating system are steadily climbing. All combined, it doesn’t add up to a good equation for the folks at RIM.
While businesses love the BlackBerry, it’s never had that “X-factor” — that sexiness that makes it exciting and alluring. When most people envision the smartphone battle of the future, they think of a fight between Apple and Android. Each platform has its own style of rabid fanboy, and each platform is regularly coming out with a hot new handset that becomes an event both online and off.

BlackBerry, on the other hand, is reliable. It’s secure. But it isn’t sexy. As my colleague Tony Bradley articulated, RIM’s previous BlackBerry releases have been “like consolation prize[s] for business professionals tied to BlackBerry who wished they could have an iPhone.” Put simply, they weren’t the phones people walked into a store wanting to try out.
The smartphone market is changing. Apple has its new iPhone 4; Google has its Android 2.2 upgrade and more new devices than you can count without an abacus. The competition’s fierce. And unless RIM’s bold new BlackBerry manages to wow the crowds and draw new users in, the company risks losing its spot as a relevant contender.
So crank up the J. Timberlake, RIM: It’s time for you to bring the sexy back. As JT himself might say, go ahead — be gone with it.

Google Maps for BlackBerry gets a boost

By Fei on June 4, 2010

By JR Raphael
June 4, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO – Got a BlackBerry for your business? Getting around is about to get a lot easier.

Google has just announced a new version of its Google Maps BlackBerry app, Google Maps 4.2 for BlackBerry. The update adds a host of features, including a mobile sharing option that’s sure to come in handy for enterprise users.

Google Maps: Mobile Sharing

With Google Maps 4.2, results-browsing becomes photo-friendly. The app now offers what Google calls a “simplified search results page.” This gives you images along with one-touch access to directions, phone dialing, and other users’ ratings for the location you’re trying to find.

Perhaps more noteworthy, though, is the link you’ll now see entitled “Share This Place.” After finding a destination, you can simply tap that link to fire off a packet of info — the building’s address, phone number, even a photo of its exterior — to your friends or colleagues. You can choose to use either e-mail or text messaging.

Just think: Larry from accounting will never have an excuse for getting lost on his way to lunch again.

Google Maps: Biking Directions

The new Google Maps for BlackBerry packs some extra punch for bikers, too (bicyclists, that is — sorry, Harley). Like its Web-based cousin, the app now offers customized directions for bicycling routes all across America, whether you’re out on the roads or deep in the trails.

Once you input an address, Google Maps 4.2 will let you select from dedicated bike-only trails, roads that have been deemed safe for biking, and roads with bicycle lanes. The Maps app uses a series of special layers to differentiate the options; you can see them all on the same screen or opt to highlight one particular path.

Getting the New Google Maps

The new Google Maps app is available free to all BlackBerry users today. Just head over to m.google.com/maps from your phone’s browser and select the option to install the update. Google promises it’s fixed an old issue that previously caused upgrade problems, so this transition should be trouble-free.

Kindle for Android Coming Soon

By Fei on May 19, 2010

By James Mulroy
May 19, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO – Android-using book lovers rejoice! Amazon has announced that Kindle will soon come to Android phones in the Kindle for Android app.

Currently, Amazon features Kindle apps for Windows, Mac OS X, and a limited number of mobile devices, but this app is the first for Android. The new app will allow users to some of the features of the Kindle without paying for an actual Kindle. According to Amazon, the Kindle for Android, like all Kindle apps, includes “Whispersync technology, which automatically synchronizes your last page read, bookmarks, notes and highlights across your Kindle and Kindle-compatible devices including PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, and BlackBerry.” You will also be able to browse books, access their other Kindle books without a Kindle, add bookmarks, read in portrait or landscape mode, as well as other features.

The Kindle for Android requires Android OS 1.6 or greater, an SD card, and supports Droid Incredible, Google Nexus One, HTC MyTouch, Motorola CLIQ, Motorola Droid, and many more Android phones.
[Via Amazon.com]

14 Ways to Supercharge Your Smartphone

By Fei on May 14, 2010

By Ian Paul
May 14, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO – Are you using your smartphone to its fullest? Probably not–smartphone owners typically push their devices up to only about half their potential. Here are 14 smartphone apps to help your Android handset, BlackBerry, or iPhone become all that it can be.

For more ways to enhance your phone, see “13 Sites and Services to Supercharge Any Phone” and “13 Tips to Supercharge Your ‘Dumb’ Phone.”

Get Free Turn-by-Turn GPS on an iPhone

When Google brought free turn-by-turn GPS functionality to Android, many iPhone users were envious. In March, however, iPhone users gained their own free GPS app with turn-by-turn capabilities, courtesy of MapQuest.
Recently MapQuest added voice-guided directions to its free iPhone app, called MapQuest 4 Mobile. Reviews of MapQuest 4 Mobile for iPhone are mixed, however, with some critics pointing out that the app is not as full-featured as TomTom U.S.A. ($60). The big gripe concerns MapQuest’s rerouting feature, which is not automatic (as TomTom’s is) and requires you to restart your navigation manually if you stray from MapQuest’s planned route. Nevertheless, if you want to try a free voice-guided navigation app for the iPhone, MapQuest 4 Mobile is worth a look.

Turn Apps Into a Social Activity

App-obsessed Android users will love AppBrain. Want to show off all your apps to your friends? Interested in how other Android users rate the apps they have downloaded? AppBrain is the service for you.

AppBrain also creates a personal app catalog that you can share with other AppBrain users. You can peruse the apps of your AppBrain friends and other users, as well. Wondering what Lifehacker founding editor Gina Trapani has on her Android phone, for instance? You can check it out on AppBrain.

Never fear, Apple lovers: Similar services exist for the iPhone, too. Download AppsFire or Appfinder from the iTunes App Store to start sharing your favorite apps.

Communicate With Everyone via Fring

A unifying social networking platform for your mobile phone, Fring allows you to use one app to communicate across multiple social networking platforms, including AIM, GoogleTalk, ICQ, Skype, Twitter, and Yahoo Messenger. Fring eliminates the need to download specialized apps for each social network or communication tool–now you only have to worry about which friends you want to reach. Fring is available for iPhone, Android, and Nokia devices.

Make Your Android Phone Location-Aware

The smartphone app Locale for Android lets you set automatic preferences for your phone based on your location. If, say, you tend to forget to turn your ringer off when you reach the office, just customize your phone using Locale to switch your ringer to vibrate whenever you get to work. Or have it go to silent mode whenever you’re at the neighborhood movie theater. It’s simple, but clever.

Get Around Town

Hopstop is one of the best ways to plan bus and subway routes in cities with massive (and often confusing) transit systems. Hopstop is available in 16 U.S. cities, including Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.
The Hopstop service is available as a mobile Web application compatible with any smartphone that has a browser. For Apple handset users, the Hopstop iPhone app includes phone numbers for taxi services. An SMS version is available for directions, as well.

New Yorkers might want to check out the CabSense app (for Android and iPhone), which helps you find the best location to get a taxi based on the time of day, location, and day of the week.

Find Wi-Fi in Your Area

Apple may have cut Wi-Fi stumblers out of the App Store, but you can still turn to Wi-Fi directories such as JiWire’s Wi-Fi Finder to discover over 280,000 hotspots in 140 countries worldwide. JiWire also has an app for Android.
A similar service, WeFi, can also help you find a nearby Wi-Fi hotspot; in fact, Fring recently released a WeFi add-on.

Master Automated Menus

Dial Zero is a service that promises to deliver the best phone number or strategy for getting a human being on the phone when you’re calling a company’s toll-free number. Just as Fonolo.com allows you to skip automated menu services for big companies, so does Dial Zero. The major difference is that Fonolo.com automates the process, limiting the number of companies it works with. Dial Zero, in contrast, offers instructions and tricks on how you can reach a real person. You can also read user comments (sometimes vulgar) about specific frustrations, as well as tales of success in dealing with phone menus.

Dial Zero is a free application for Android, BlackBerry, and iPhone.
Next: Compare Prices With ShopSavvy

Compare Prices With ShopSavvy

You can find many applications out there that turn your smartphone into a bar-code reader, but the best one I’ve found is ShopSavvy. This app quickly scans any product bar code to do price-comparison shopping online and at local stores. You can also create wish lists or set up price alerts based on your scanned items. ShopSavvy is available for Android, iPhone, and Nokia devices.

Browse Android Apps Easily

If you’re thinking of switching to an Android device but you need more information about the Android Market catalog than you can find on Google’s official site, head to DoubleTwist’s Android app site. It will help you find virtually any Android application available in the Market.

Use Your iPhone as a Mouse

For iPhone users, Logitech offers a handy free app called TouchMouse that turns your iPhone into a wireless mouse by way of your Wi-Fi network. This could be great if you wanted to sit back on the couch and control a laptop hooked up to a TV, for instance. All you need is the iPhone app and the desktop software for Windows or Mac.
Tip: If you find TouchMouse difficult to control, adjust the ‘Scrolling Speed’ option under Settings on the iPhone app.

Slip Away With Fake-A-Call

Sometimes the only way out of an awkward in-person encounter is to get a well-timed phone call. Now you don’t have to pray for a phone call to come in–just make it happen with the help of Fake-A-Call. This free application for Android, iPhone, and BlackBerry devices lets you schedule an interruption or create a phony phone call on the fly. Grab this tool to save yourself from any sticky situation you end up in.

Control a Jailbroken iPhone With a PC or Mac

Veency allows you to view and control a jailbroken iPhone via a Mac or PC using a Wi-Fi connection. The tool is an interesting application to try out if you want to control your iPhone’s iTunes interface while it’s connected to a set of speakers across the room, for example. Or how about typing notes into your device through the Notes app from a full keyboard? Not bad at all.

iPhoneHacks.com has a nice tutorial on how to install the software and run it for both Macs and PCs. You can find a number of VNC clients, such as TightVNC and UltraVNC for PCs and Chicken of the VNC for Macs.

Get a Personal Trainer

The huge range of smartphone fitness apps has made it easier than ever to track your exercise habits. I use RunKeeper on my iPhone to track my weekly jogs, including my speed, distance, and routes; I can even share my workouts via Facebook or Twitter. I also use Lose It to track my daily calorie intake, and for fun I use the GymFu apps to guide my push-ups, crunches, and pull-ups. Check out your smartphone’s app catalog to see what’s available for your device.
Don’t Pay for Ringtones

Android users can use Ringdroid to create their own ringtones, but iPhone users can easily create their own ringtones simply by using iTunes. For more, check out PCWorld’s step-by-step instructions on how to turn any MP3 into an iPhone ringtone.

Tip: This method also works for non-DRM-protected iTunes downloads in AAC format.

New BlackBerrys Leak Online Ahead of Launch

By Fei on April 27, 2010

By Ian Paul
April 27, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO – Rumors about two new BlackBerry devices, the Bold 9650 and Pearl 3G, leaked online early Monday just hours before the new devices were believed to debut. BlackBerry maker Research in Motion was expected to unveil the new handsets during the company’s keynote address at the Wireless Enterprise Symposium in Orlando, Florida. It appears, however, the financial Website The Street has beat RIM to the punch with a limited report on new specs for the two new devices.
Despite the leak, the new handsets come as no surprise, since both the BlackBerry 9650 and Pearl 3G have been making the rounds on gadget rumor blogs for several months. Then, on Sunday, Al Sacco from CIO.com (a sister publication of PCWorld) released a photo via Twitpcic of a Sprint advertisement from the WES 2010 promo notebook that included the Bold 9650.

Here’s the specs we know so far:

BlackBerry Bold 9650

The successor to the BlackBerry Tour 9630, the Bold 9650 will reportedly have a 3.2 megapixel camera, GPS, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, and will come with quad-band GSM and dualband CDMA/EV-DO capability. The new handset is also said to have a high-resolution screen, but there’s no word on what the actual display specs might be.

BlackBerry Pearl 3G

Like the Bold 9650, the Pearl 3G will also come with a 3.2-megapixel camera and a high-resolution screen, but the Pearl 3G will be exclusively a quad-band GSM phone with no CDMA capabilities–typical of most Pearl devices. The Pearl 3G will also have slightly better Wi-Fi connectivity than the Bold, using the newer 802.11n standard as well as backwards compatibility with b and g networks.

Both devices will use the new Blackberry trackpad in place of the old trackball.

As mentioned above, it appears the Bold 9650 will launch with Sprint in the United States, but there’s no word on a U.S. carrier for the Pearl 3G. Pricing details and availability were not released.

The Street’s report contradicts Bold 9650 rumors from earlier this month from the blog Crackberry, which claimed the Bold 9650 would be launching on Verizon on May 27 . Another popular Bold 9650 rumor said Sprint would be getting a version of the device without a camera , but it’s not clear if that rumor will be proven false or not.

RIM is famous for its inability to keep its upcoming device’s locked down , as photos and screenshots of products in development frequently leak online. Earlier this month, Boy Genius Report posted purported screenshots of the next iteration of the Blackberry OS and a new flip phone called the Blackberry 9670 .

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