We’ve all been reading and watching intently the latest iPhone rumours, all with different perspectives on the issue.

Marc, one of our user interface designers is most interested in the size of the device (you know men, always got size on their mind…):

“I find the current iPhone model just a little too cumbersome, so I love the idea of a slender iPhone that I can stick in my jeans pocket and just forget about, as covered by Jeremy Horwitz on iLounge. Sure, the upcoming smaller 2.8″-screen model is just a rumour at this point, but it would be a sensible move from Apple - the iPhone can’t be all things to all users. A product family makes complete sense to me.

If you’re an existing iPhone user you may have spotted a new version of our interface we just released into wild. It was our mission to create a rich, usable experience that is complementary to the iPhone’s native UI. We couldn’t help ourselves from sprinkling in some fancy Apple-style widgets in there. Just go to taptu.com on your iPhone to check it out.”

Meanwhile, I’m most excited about the faster 3G connection (assuming O2 doesn’t mess customers around). I unfortunately live in the middle of nowhere, where EDGE generally isn’t available, which means that I often find myself following a link on Twitter, which leads to a YouTube video, just to get a pop-up telling me that I must be on EDGE or wi-fi to be able to watch it.

On wi-fi, the iPhone’s a total gem, a great browsing device. Not so great on the input, even with my small hands, so the thought of an even smaller iPhone doesn’t appeal to me. On EDGE, it’s quite acceptable, but unleashing full HSDPA speeds in that device would make it even better. I don’t think I’ll be swapping my 6-months old iPhone for the 3G one purely on the speed factor, but if new features which I can’t get through software updates appear, you may find out I’m first in line for the new one.

Are you at all interested in the next iPhone release? Sick of the rumours already? Got your own theory on what’s coming up next?

Yesterday, I came across an article on BBC News on the topic of mobile cyber-crime. (By “came across”, I really mean that a dozen people emailed, IM’ed or Twittered the link to me. Thanks everyone… I think?) It’s therefore my duty to write (or pontificate) on the topic.

Among viruses for mobiles what has been growing are trojans that exploit mobile payment systems such as premium rate SMS. One instructive instance of such a malicious program is known as Viver. This was discovered in May 2007 and hides its malicious code inside three fake applications. Installing any one of those bogus applications on a Symbian phone starts that handset sending costly premium rate SMS messages to an international number. Each SMS message costs about $7 (£3.50).

Now, I have a rather unforgiving attitude when I hear things like this; In the same way I rarely consider it “bad luck” when someone ends up with a computer virus, I feel it’s the device owner’s responsibility to make an educated decision on whether or not to download an application. Most people can’t be bothered to use mobile apps, so take-up of apps is low to start off with.

Secondly, it’s probably the only context where I’ll say this, but thankfully the mobile world is so fragmented that there is no one-size-fits-all virus which will infect all phone types in the same way and cause a worldwide outbreak.

To the best of my knowledge, operators use complex fraud detection systems to flag up unusual mobile use, so I’d like to think that, God forbid, there should be an epidemic of mobile viruses, these could be nipped in the bud by the operator’s watchful eye. Unfortunately, I’m not so convinced that when the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing, and entire departments have their collective foot firmly inserted into the mouth, I should trust operators to react swiftly to the problem.

So I suppose it makes this post a plea to all mobile users to be smart about their phone use. The mobile web is an infinitely safer place than the desktop web as far as likelihood of picking up something nasty, but a little bit of common sense goes a long way no matter where you are. You wouldn’t eat an apple if it looked rotten, so why grab an application for your phone from a dodgy-looking mobile website?

[Source: Basic Instructions - Thanks Gustaf!]

Over the course of the past few days, something has really hit me when chatting with other mobile addicts and watching visitors walk over to our stand, while I’m perched on a bar stool at our stand: Very few of the people at this conference are using a single device to answer all their needs. The iPhone for web browsing, the N95 for video shoots, the E61 to get that quick blog post done. Pockets bulging with shiny gadgets.

Unquestionably, Mobile World Congress is not a reflection of normality or the average mobile user, and most people don’t have the money, the need or the interest to have multiple devices, but as mobile geeks, we can’t seem to find a single device that ticks every box.

I’m not sure we’ll ever reach a point where a phone does everything we want to to do without being the size of a briefcase or some crazy “Go go Gadget phone”, and if there is such a device, it certainly isn’t being unveiled here this year. Simplicity is compromised by cramming too many options in a menu, portability is hindered by screen or keypad size, and so on…

What would your dream device have and not have?

Whether we’ve visited Japan or not (I haven’t, truly hope I do some day!), we’re all aware that a large share of the wildest and most wonderful technologically advanced gadgets are born there. As a result, mobile phones are available with a range of features and plans that could send even the geekiest Westerner’s head spinning!

To help the masses select their next device, “Japan is to start licensing cellphone “sommeliers” to guide consumers through complicated functions as mobile telephones become ever more advanced, an official said Monday.”

According to the information provided, these trained specialists would be independent from operators or manufacturers, serving as genuine advisers rather than glorified sales people, exempt from the usual targets which cause sales people to pressure buyers into picking the highest margin mobile phone and plan.

Whether this philanthropic goal will remain free from bias towards certain operators or manufacturers remain to be seen, but the idea of providing the masses with guidance is a great one.

[Via Emily at Textually.org]

The always-useful Nokia N95 blog publishes a list of 25 of the most useful Nokia N95 apps available at the moment. Definitely worth a look, my ultimate favourite in the list is Qik.com, a live video broadcast service, which I’ve tried in the past few weeks and have found astoundingly speedy, if at the expense of some image quality.

It’s services like Qik that remind me what an exciting time it is to be working in the mobile web world right now!

For years, I pedantically said that my only New Year’s resolution was to not take any resolutions, since it was the easiest one to keep. This year, I’ve set myself a few goals which I’d like to achieve, such as learning to use my Digital SLR camera beyond its most basic features.

In the spirit of trying new things, here are 8 great ways to show your mobile phone a bit of love in 2008. It may be a ubiquitous necessity in our lives, but it’s also a really fun device that can brighten up your day in all sorts of ways!

1. Free your photos

   If you’re anything like I used to be, you take occasional photos on your mobile, but they rarely see the light of day after the event.

   The odd one might be sent by MMS to a friend, but that’s about it. Make a resolution to post your pics to a blog, moblog or a service like Flickr, which is accessible from your mobile.

   With cameras improving, not only can you take candid shots, but you can have a bit of fun with artistic photography - Entire groups are dedicated to mobile photography!

2. Backup your address book

   Close your eyes for a moment and imagine the worst - your phone’s been stolen, it’s given up the ghost or you’ve dropped it in the toilet. Whatever the scenario, what would you do if you lost all the information contained on your phone?

   Now, avoid getting that horrible sinking feeling from becoming reality by regularly backing up your address book and, if necessary, your SMS inbox, your photos, etc. Usually a quick look at the user manual or search online will tell you the best way to backup your data whatever device you own.

3. Stay organised

   You know that little calendar or organiser on your phone that you’ve barely ever looked at? Set it up to sync correctly with your computer and benefit from having access to your calendar while on the go.

4. Get back in touch

   Look through your address book. Are there some people you know you should be getting in touch with, either for professional or personal reasons? Use the beginning of the new year as an excuse to reconnect. Whether you ring them for a long catch up chat or arrange to meet over coffee by SMS, get back in touch with the important people you may have neglected recently.

5. Do a Spring cleaning

   While looking through your address book, why not clear out the numbers and names who aren’t relevant anymore? That guy you met at the pub one night out on the razz or your sister’s old mobile number from 6 years ago, just get rid of them.

   If you’re paranoid about deleting numbers that could one day come in handy, back up your address book to your computer. You’ll be able to refer to that list if that day comes.

6. Reduce, reuse, recycle

   If you’re a chronic mobile upgrader, you’ll most likely have a spare phone or two sitting in your drawer gathering dust. Consider donating it to a charity that will either give it a new lease of life or recycle it in an environmentally friendly way.

   The NCH Children’s Charity in the UK will gratefully accept mobiles, and so will a number o recycling centres in the US.

7. Try one new feature

   When we shop for a new phone, we often look for the shiniest one with all the bells and whistle. But when it comes down to it, few of us actually use any of the features beyond the basic calling, SMS and camera functionality.

   Take five minutes this week and try something new on your phone. Never sent an MMS? Surprise your kids by showing them you’re cool enough to figure out how to send one. Not familiar with the barcode scanner on your N95? See what happens when you scan that curious QR code advert you’ve been seeing every morning on your way to work.

   The rule of thumb is that you shouldn’t worry too much about breaking something by trying something new! If you’re worried you’ll lose data in the process, see #2.

8. Take time offline

   This might seem to be an odd one to add to a list like this one, but in this age of 24/7 availability and connectedness, it’s healthy to unplug sometimes.

   Take a day a week, if you can, where you leave your mobile turned off and go for a long walk in the countryside. Or go do some crowd watching in Covent Garden if greenery and fresh air isn’t your thing. Just disconnect for a while and you’ll love your mobile more when you get back to it.

   You might be surprised to see that the world doesn’t spin off its axis even if you sever the connection for 24 hours.

In the past two decades, our lives have become increasingly digital and portable with office work, kids’ homework, entertainment and shopping coming into the household in bits and bytes. We’re faced with more information than ever before, and more ways than ever to access it.

In most aspects, we’re happy with the digitisation of our lives, but have kept a few bastions of the analog world unmodified for centuries, one of which is the book. Unquestionably, the production process is easier than it was in Gutenberg’s days, but we still print with ink onto paper and bind it together with a thick cover.

In the past twenty years, a lot of written word’s moved to the computer screen, but leisure reading is one of those things that’s remained firmly printed on paper. There have been many attempts to create electronic readers that “feel like reading print”, but they’ve all fallen by the wayside without ever getting to critical mass.

Yet, on Monday, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos announced the launch of the Kindle Reader, a new twist on the ebook reader that failed time and time again. Brave move or naive pipedream?

I won’t go into the detailed technical specs since the Machinist does it so well but want to understand how and where this could be useful in today’s world.

Pros:

• Lightweight way to carry a lot of information, this could be a lifesaver on the train, tube, in crowded spaces and on long journeys.
• Easy way - in theory - to acquire new books without having to physically visit a bookshop or wait for an order to arrive. Less sure of it in practice if you’re outside of urban America, since wireless is provided by Sprint’s EVDO network.
• As a fellow blogger says, “I have on my bookshelf The Great war For Civilization: the Conquest of the Middle East […] written pre-Gulf War 2. Wouldn’t it be absolutely marvelous if the book updated itself for a modest fee on publication of a second edition? Or if my Wrox ASP.Net 2.0 magically jumped versions to 3.0 0r 3.5? that would be great.”
• A mother and non-geek says “Finally, a tech toy that isn’t meant for techies!!! I couldn’t be happier to read about the Kindle. I was wondering what to get my daughter for Christmas and now I know. She’s a third year law student and lugs A MOUNTAIN of heavy books to school, which is a 90 minute commute. With all those textbooks, it’s really hard for her to take casual reading material with her, too. This will be perfect! I think all you geeks are wrong on this one.”

Cons:

• DRM around all Kindle books: Forget lending a book to a friend, moving it to another device, buying it as a present for someone else
• Device not particularly open to other formats: The lack of PDF support kills it for me, since I’d expect to, at the very least, be able to read whitepapers and reports on it without having to bend over backwards.
• Reading on screen still not the same as on paper, the feel, the smell and the ability to scribble or annotate.
• The web browser and RSS reader seem unnecessary: The browser is limited at best, as Russell reports, and RSS feeds are paid for. Paid for?! Seriously, what were they smoking when they decided that people would be willing to pay a monthly fee to read RSS feeds which one can read for free on a desktop, laptop, mobile phone, iPod touch. I doubt a Kindle buyer wouldn’t already have one of these devices already…

I’m a total bookworm, especially on holiday yet, somehow, I can’t picture myself laying on a deck chair on my next holiday and pulling out my Kindle to read a few lines of The Devil Wears Prada, really.

Now, a device open to other formats, with no wireless, on which content can purely be transferred via USB, without audio or web browser, sold for far less, I would probably consider. It would save me printing so many work documents, and I’d definitely be up for technical books where an update is available when technologies evolve. Imagine how many trees we could save!

I’ll reserve final judgement for the day I get my hands on one of them - If a kind soul wants to lend me one, I’m willing! - but until then, I think it’s an interesting addition to the world of handhelds but not one I’d currently be likely to buy, even as a hopeless gadget addict.

For more reading on the Kindle:

• Dive Into Mark’s “The Future of Reading (A Play in Six Acts)” draws some interesting parallels between Amazon’s own words from the past, some classic 1984 quotes and the current Kindle announcement.
• Mike’s review shows he’s not totally sold on the idea either…
• Diego’s second review
• Of course, Scoble’s also got an opinion on this…

[tags]Amazon, Kindle, eBooks, wireless, Taptu, mobile, technology[/tags]

One hundred Carnivals. One hundred weeks of insightful posts and sharp reviews.

Russell Buckley and Carlo Longino of MobHappy who started it all back in Oct 2005. Along with Rudy De Waele they were original the visionaries. Finally Judy Breck and Troy Norcross for keeping the carnival going, week after week.

This milestone Carnival is hosted by Abhishek Tiwari in Santa Cruz, and covers topics from Google Android’s implications for the mobile world to the evolution of 3.5G HSDPA, amongst others.

Here’s a cheer to 100 more Carnivals!

Several people asked me about the implications of Google’s launch of Android this week. Here’s my take on it.

• Google is finding it hard to replicate its successful desktop search model in the mobile world.
• One of the big barriers, as Google see it, is the continued presence of walled gardens erected by the mobile operators which interfere with Google’s ability to reach out to consumers directly with an optimised search experience.
• Another key barrier Google sees is a lack of understanding by handset manufacturers of what it takes to truly turn the handset into a useful mobile internet device.
• Google see a more capable mobile browser across the widest possible range of handsets as a key enabler for better mobile search. Not just on high end devices like the iPhone and N95, but right across the handset market.
• Android is an initiative that if successful would break down a number of these barriers in one fell swoop.

Will Android be successful? I wouldn’t completely rule it out, but I remain cautious…

Not very much has been said about exactly what Android contains and what it doesn’t contain. Does it have a complete user interface layer? Does it integrate a full set of phone applications (SMS, MMS, IM etc)? Does it include a 3G protocol stack? The lack of a complete solution would make it very expensive to bring an Android handset to market compared to Symbian and Microsoft.

From a technical perspective Google’s platform reminds me of Savaje (US-based mobile OS startup, now defunct) and the operator-led Open Mobile Terminal Platform Alliance (Java-based OS, initially implemented on HTC devices).

With the OMTP Alliance, the operators wanted to weaken the grip of Nokia and Microsoft on the phone OS, and get control over the user experience. Google’s Open Handset Alliance is an attempt to build similar industry support, but has notably fewer operators participating.

Getting a new OS into significant volume i.e. 10s of millions of new handsets is a massive engineering undertaking. Are Google resourced to deliver this? They have plenty of software engineers, but not too many mobile software engineers.

Android is an initiative without a business model. In my experience, these kinds of strategic initiatives don’t get sustained unless the business model is clearly defined.