Question of the Day:  Is Your Smartphone Business or Pleasure?

I read so many times about various smartphone users, with an exceptional amount being Blackberry owners, that have their devices provided to them by work.  I’m sure others are users who buy their phone for personal reasons, wanting the power and convenience of such a device.  Where do you fit in?

My Touch Pro, along with my other phones and gadgets, are mine.  My iPod Touch was a bonus from a job, and I use it for software testing for the job, but it’s mine… I checked.

What is your situation; is your phone business provided or for your own pleasure?  Let us know via the comments below.

Barnes and Noble sure is excited about their new Nook eBook reader.  And they want you to be excited as well.  So, they are giving awat five free books this summer to Nook users…or the B&N ereader app.  Here is what you need to do to get your free books:

1. Download the free B&N eBook Reader app to your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad (still no word on the arrival of the iPad optimized ereader app)  Or skip the download and grab your Nook.
2. Visit your local Barnes & Noble store and wave your Nook or B&N ereader app like a madman until one of the clerks acknowledges you and rewards your efforts with a voucher.
3. Head on over to the Barnes & Noble website to redeem your voucher.

Come in between now and May 23, and you will receive a free copy of Alexander McCall Smith’s The Number 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.  Keep coming back as the book selection changes every few weeks.

It was only a week ago (maybe two) that I finally gave up on my HTC Hero.  I was having a lot of battery problems and memory issues with it.  The result of this was an awful lot of missed calls as the phone would lock up whenever it rang.  not cool.  Rumor was that Android 2.1 would fix a lot of these problems, but I never had the chance to find out.  after numerous rumors which failed to pan out, Sprint finally released their Android 2.1 for upgrade for the HTC Hero today.  You HTC Hero owners can head over to either HTC or Sprint to download the update.  Be warned though, in a move which should be familiar to Windows Mobile users, upgrading the firmware will wipe out your phone’s storage memory, causing you to lose any apps, files, and other data you may have saved on the phone. 

SBSH has a long track record of making some of the best mobile apps this side of the iPhone.  Case in point is their fantastic RSS feed reader, GoNews.  To be honest, it was probably the best RSS reader I used on Windows Mobile.  I keep hoping that SBSH will bring this one to my iPad, but no such luck.  Still, this is a big day for those of you on Android, as SBSH announced today the release of GoNews for Android.  The best part of this one is that it is a FREE download from the Android Market.  Too bad I recently traded in my HTC Hero.  Maybe if all of you ask very nicely, then Heather will check this one out on her new Incredible.  In the meantime, check out the full press release, below.

Following GoNews for Windows Mobile success, SBSH is excited to announce the availability of GoNews for Android! Announcing GoNews 1.0 for Android release, available for free download!
SBSH GoNews for Android aggregates news from across the web, and allows you to effortlessly browse and read your selected news items wherever you go, even when offline! Just sit back and enjoy your daily news, organized and optimized for your mobile device. GoNews supports articles with images, reading color schemes, RSS and full text articles and much more, and it is positively, absolutely free!

SBSH GoNews Highlights

• Channels List – The first thing you see when launching GoNews. Lists all the websites you’ve chosen for GoNews to track. Each Channel represents a website, and is accompanied with the site’s logo.
• Articles List – All articles appearing on a single channel, with separate attributes for read and unread articles for easy browsing. Just click to read!
• Reading Display – Enjoy the best reading experience ever with a full screen article display!
• Adding Channels – Customize your news feed to your personal interests!
• Categories – Got too many channels to follow? Divide them into categories for easier, more efficient reading.

Click here to read the release note from our development team and find out more about the new SBSH GoNews for Android release

Pricing and Availability
SBSH GoNews is absolutely free!
SBSH GoNews for Android can be downloaded via the Android Market. Scan the following QR Code using your Android phone to locate GoNews at the Android Market.

I have been a fan of Astraware for as long as I have been using mobile devices.  In fact, their Sudoku app was one of the first apps I ever reviewed here at JAMM.  A while back, they released a fantastic Casino package, with a whopping eleven games.  I originally reviewed it on Windows Mobile, and gave it some pretty high praise.  They soon released an iPhone version, which pretty well mirrored the gameplay in the Windows Mobile version.  Today, I received an email from Astraware announcing an upgrade to their Casino package for iPhone.  The biggest new features are OpenFeint and…an iPad version.  This is a universal app, which means if you had the iPhone version then the iPad version will be a free upgrade!  For the rest of you, you will have some catching up to do.  But don’t worry, it will only cost you $0.99 to get up to speed.

Here’s the link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/astraware-casino-11-games/id323824368?mt=8