If there was one technical spec. that always confuses me, it is the description of screen types.  LED, OLED, AMOLED.  I am pretty sure there is more to it than just stringing letters together like an abbreviated game of Scrabble.  Well, here is Samsung VP Omar Khan to explain it all to you.

For the record:

• LED means Light Emitting Diode
• OLED means Organic Light Emitting Diode
• AMOLED (which is the best screen available) means Active-Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode

Thanks, Omar Khan for providing this explanation .

[via WMExperts]

I have absolutely no idea how to answer this question.  Ever since Dell announced the end of the Axim (still the best Windows Mobile device I have ever used) rumors have persisted that Dell would be making a new converged device.  The more Dell denied these rumors, the stronger they became.

Now, I am not one to give too much credence to rumors, but I will say that this is one which I really hope will turn out to be true.  Especially if Dell puts as much care into the development and design as they did with Axim line.  Heck, this could almost convince me to switch over to the Android Operating System.

What is really interesting about today’s news is not that a blurry photograph of a relatively unremarkable device showed up on the Internet, or that the source claimed it was the new Dell smartphone.  What I found to be truly remarkable was that two completely different photos showed up on unrelated sites and from unrelated sources, at roughly the same time.

The photo at the top of the post came from the Boy Genius Reports.  Meanwhile, the photo immediately above came from the Chinese forum, PDAFans (via Slashgear).  No other specs were available.

So, what do you think?  Are one or both of these the upcoming Dell Android phone?  Or is this a case of two clever hoaxes coincidentally showing up at the same time?  I suppose we will just call this cautious optimism and wait for additional information.

There have been reports floating around the Internet this week of a new mandate from Microsoft.  Essentially, Microsoft will no longer pay for its employees’ Blackberry and iPhone plans.  In fact, they will only reimburse employees for plans on Windows Mobile phones.

Reports around the Internet range from outrage (how dare they mandate which phones employees can use) to dejection (it is a sign of the economic times). 

Personally, I think this whole story is a bunch of bunk.  Anyone who has worked for a private company knows that you are generally expected to use your company’s products.  Using another company’s competing products would be, among other things, short sighted and bad for the company.

So, why does so much of the Internet think Microsoft should be any different?  They make one of the largest mobile operating systems in the world.  Windows Mobile is found on dozens of handsets, with new models coming out on a regular basis.  So, why would anyone thing Microsoft would pay for its employees to use a competitive phone or operating system?

What do you think?  Is Microsoft being unreasonable by only reimbursing its employees using Windows Mobile phones?  Or do you think Microsoft should reward its employees for their support of a competitive brand?

Nitrogen

Think about Windows Media Player on your Windows Mobile phone or handheld.  Think about trying to control it with the tap of your finger.  Now try it… go ahead, give it a try!  Were you successful in controlling every aspect with your finger?  I didn’t think so…

Enter Nitrogen, a finger friendly MP3 / OGG music player.  I’ve been watching it’s development for quite some time, but now that it has finally matured to version 1.0 status, I decided the time was right to give it a try.  In short…

I love it!

To be honest with you, I’ve never been someone that craves finger friendly apps… in fact I don’t even like touching my screen.  I use the stylus or hard buttons at every opportunity, but the implementation of finger-friendly touch controls in Nitrogen is simply perfect.  All of the features are laid out on the default skin in a logical, intuitive manner.  Of these features, I really appreciate the direct link to the media browser and the “off” button, which can be configured in Nitrogen’s preferences to either completely quit the app or just turn off the screen, leaving Nitrogen playing your favorite music.

In terms of resources, Nitrogen is also a blessing.  On my WinMo 6 Wizard, with it’s limited specs, Nitrogen performed great!  The CAB, weighing in at less than 1 MB, installed onto my microSD card without feeling the need to install any junk to internal memory (read:  today plugins, help files, etc).  While running in the background, SKTools indicates that Nitrogen only used about 1 MB of RAM and 22-23% of the processor.  This should be great for anyone with a device that has limited performance capabilities!

If you haven’t already run over to FreewarePPC to download Nitrogen, here’s the direct link!

Finally, if you find that the default skin doesn’t do it for you, you can find more in various threads in the Development & Hacking forum at XDA-Developers.

I wouldn’t want to be the hapless Nokia employee who pulled the trigger on loading this promo of the new E72 to YouTube. Even though it’s premature, is this the fix for the E71?  Engadget says

Upgrades include a five megapixel camera, a relocated headphone jack, and what looks to be an optical mouse instead of a D-pad

Obviously, someone in Finland made a Boo Boo, and this tantalising tidbit, is enough to get a lot of people in a dither. Even though the phone visually present as smoothly, it’s a lot more boxy than the E71. I would hope that added size holds some hardware improvements.
Have a look at the Promo below, and give thanks that Into Mobile actually caught it before it was taken down.

Nokia E72 leaks out in promo video form