If you have not heard, Google Latitude is a great application that allows you and your friends/relatives to help know where you are. All you need is your Google account (like you don’t have one) and you can use the web based app on your iGoogle page to pin point your location at any given moment. On a regular PC it uses your IP address and ISP information to get a general location, but on a GPS enabled phone.. it can pinpoint it as good as anything can. It’s already been out for Blackberry and Android (obviously) for months now, but just recently it finally came out for the iPhone. Unfortunately, it’s not really an iPhone “app” per say, it’s a web app. Why? because Apple knows their users easily shell out the  $400 cash 3x for every new iPhone, so they have to be too slow to realize the difference between Google Latitude and the MAPS app…

The real reason it’s an issue is because iPhone’s can’t multitask. It can’t run in the background like on Android or Blackberries, or even the Palm Pre if they make an app for that. So what can you do? You can make a new maps app that incorporates Latitude, since Google maps controls the map functionality of the iPhone, or you can make a separate app entirely, or finally you can make it a web app and call it a day. According to Gizmodo, they decided that the best course of action was to not confuse users, and just make a web app. I’m guessing the rebuilt maps app was out of the question because Mr Jobs didn’t want to push wide-scale update app to everyone, but that’s just my own guess.

No matter how bland this move is, Latitude is still a great app. It can actually help you trace a stolen phone if you’re feeling dangerous, and it also cuts down on worrying for parents not sure where their kids are… If anything I’d install it on their phone without them knowing and let it run! *cough*check your phones kids*cough*. Really,  it’s like everyone running around with Boost Mobile, only without the stupid rappers or armpit-hair-draggin’ hippies. Where you at?!

Thanks Gizmodo

Anyone who has ever seen the 1993 Clint Eastwood movie “In the Line of Fire” knows exactly what that little anagram means.  If you haven’t seen the movie, well I’m about to spoil a little piece of it for you.  But hey, it came out 16 years ago.  It’s about time you learned the secret.

The “SW” and “LA” are just what you’d think – “SouthWest” and “Los Angeles”.  But the SKELLUM represents a seven digit phone number – an anagram to remember the numbers without actually remembering the numbers.  See, I didn’t spoil it all that much…

Sixteen years ago, this would have worked perfectly from any phone – push button or even rotary.  Ten years ago, this would still have worked with just about any cell phone.  But what about today?

I ran into a man at a poker table a couple weeks ago who was unable to make a phone call from his BlackBerry8800 (pictured above).  The phone number he was given used an anagram to make the numbers easier to remember.  The trouble is, not all BlackBerry’s have standard phone keypads – in fact, today many of them have QWERTY keyboards to make them more like mini-laptops and less like phones.

Well, when a phone number is converted to an anagram, it is done using the normal phone layout – #1 is blank, #2 is “ABC”, #3 is “DEF” and so on.  But if you try to dial an anagram using a QWERTY keyboard, you might end up with A falling on #4, B on #8 and C on #7.  In the case of the 8800, the “A” isn’t even on a number, it’s on a question mark.  Since phones are dialed by number and not letter or punctuation, this is a serious problem.

We may have seen the last of the anagram phone number.  With more and more people switching to smartphones as their primary means of communication, the old “ABC/DEF/GHI” phone layouts are starting to go away.  Some phones, like the BlackBerry Storm for example, have a visual layout of their phone pad which represents standard number/letter settings.

I’d recommend always getting a phone number by using the actual numbers anyway.  Let’s face it – it’s not hard to write down a phone number or punch it into your cell phone, call and immediately hang up, then just search the call history when you need to find it.

A few months back, I brought you the news of Engadget’s team reviewing the Blackberry Storm. Well, now I have my very own, and I can give you my secondary review of the equipment, with direct responses to Engadget’s pros and cons…

Drool-inducing…

Design

Yep. It’s pretty damned gorgeous. Unfortunately, mine arrived in the mail with a fairly large scratch on the screen, but a call to Verizon cleared that up pretty fast. I’m awaiting the silicone case to protect the outside edges (they’re high-gloss plastic with a metal-looking plastic band) and keep the phone from getting scratched with all the junk I keep in my pockets on a daily basis.

Touchscreen & Keyboard

Since this is the biggest new feature of this particular Blackberry, I was very interested to see how it would work. The screen takes a little getting used to, especially in web browsing. The touchscreen actually is a little funky – you tap the area that you want to select, then press the screen relatively hard in order to actually select.

Same goes for the keyboard. Tapping the screen highlights the key to type, then pressing down actually types. Once you get used to the keyboard though, quick-typing is not hard to do. And the intuitive typing tools that can correct for Fat Finger Syndrome (FFS) do come in handy. As long as you’re in the general vicinity of the word you’re shooting for, you usually get at least a word or two to choose from, and often times the word is auto-corrected for you.  I use the keyboard pretty constantly, and it’s only taken me a week to adjust to it and get back to my normal speed typing.  I might not send 14,000 text messages a month, but between my average of 400 monthly texts and a couple thousand e-mails, I have a feeling I’ll be wearing out the fake keys in no time.

The one thing I miss sorely from this keyboard is any type of “arrow” key – something to move between the text I’ve just typed without having to touch a specific spot or deleting everything I’ve just typed. The touchscreen isn’t horribly accurate for selecting test, and there is no click and drag feature that I’ve found to highlight multiple words for editing. Seems like this would be kind of important for an office tool, especially for word processing on the go.

Sorry, you can’t have my e-mail addresses…

Software

This is my first Blackberry. I’ve always stayed away because, let’s face it, I can occasionally get attached to gadgets and can definitely get addicted to something like this. For me, the software is plenty robust enough and fairly intuitive to use. I have yet to find the Owner’s Manual since unboxing it, and haven’t had any trouble using any of the features I need on a day to day basis.

Personally, I currently have three e-mail addresses pushing messages to the Storm everyday, and a fourth to be added next week. It is very nice to be able to access many different accounts, and even nicer that the Storm gives me the option to sort messages by account.

The Web Browser is kind of a clod, but it gets the job done. Pages open pretty smoothly, and I’ve been able to do everything from manually check e-mails to update Facebook, read ESPN and CNN headlines and articles, run Google searches for work, update my Netflix queue and place an order on Amazon. That’s pretty much everything I need.

The camera seems to work pretty well – the few photos I’ve taken so far have all come out pretty crisp and clear. The 3.2 Megapixel lens is protected by a solid piece of glass, which is nice for not allowing dust and pocket lint to clog up the lens. I’ve yet to use the media player – I still love my little iPod video. Can’t comment on that yet.

Phone/PDA

Oh, right. It’s a cell phone too. And a PDA. So far, I’ve had nothing but good results from the PDA for Calendar & notes. The phone has been useful, but in all honesty hasn’t had quite the quality that I expect from Verizon. I haven’t had any calls drop, but I’ve had trouble staying connected at full or even good signal strength whereas my old Verizon Smartphone had no connection issues of any kind in this area. The Bluetooth capacity is wonderful – I’ve had a lot of problems with my little Jabra earpiece in the past, but haven’t encountered any connection or sound problems to date. The biggest detractor is the lack of a Wi-fi antenna, but I’m certain that will be added in a future release.

Overall Impressions

Love it. Worth the money I spent on it (got it for $199 with a 2-year contract). If there was one thing I’d change, I’d probably amend the keyboard a little and definitely add Wi-Fi capabilities. Still, it’s a winner in my book.

Engadget review team, you’re my heroes.  They got their hands on a new Blackberry Storm by Verizon for a full scale review.  And boy, did they goto town.  Hit the jump for the highlights of the review…

Engadget covered everything from the color scheme of the phone to the new clickable keyboard that is expected to be all the rage with kids and business professionals alike. They gave particular consideration to the “clickable” touchscreen, since that is the aspect of the phone that Blackberry is hyping to the nines in all of their advertisements. Engadget found that while interesting and useful, ultimately the onscreen keyboard is slow to react and ultimately not a huge upgrade.

The lack of third party software for the software is also a problem. Not to say that phone makers don’t provide users with the best applications for their products, but developers have proven that they can usually come up with new and interesting ways to use your mobile device that the manufacturers don’t always think of.

As a phone, the reviews are all positive – the Blackberry/Verizon combination appears to be ready to jump back to the head of the class when it comes to smartphones & convergence devices. The biggest omission was the lack of any Wi-Fi connectivity (something that won’t be a big deal as long as you’re inside Verizon’s coverage zone) and the fact that the 3.2 mega-pixel camera takes eons to load, focus and snap a photo.

The overall review from Engadget gave Blackberry the proper chiding for RIM’s shortcomings in the design and software, but also is quick to mention that with a handful of software updates and the next hardware revision, the Storm could be at the top of the ever-expanding cell phone heap.

It’s almost here since Verizon has pumped up the commercials on TV. But the one thing we really haven’t heard yet is the price. This touchscreen marvel rivals Apple/AT&T’s iPhone 3G but for those people who truly want a phone that works with their company’s Enterprise system, look no further.

But again, the price… You can pre-order the Storm from Best Buy for $50 but as to the actual price, it should be anywhere from $199 to $299. Sounds great right? Well it should as RIM and Verizon need to keep up with Apple and AT&T’s competitive prices with the iPhone. But there are other speculations that the phone’s retail value is $549 and that the price would be a bit higher than $299 at worse.

To create a rumor of my own: The price will be $199 with a 2 year contract. They need to keep up with the competition and they need more users. But I don’t think that will be a problem. And as for discounts for people with Verizon’s “Every Two,” if AT&T didn’t do it, I wouldn’t expect Verizon to do the same. With a bad economy, they need to make every buck they can.

And in other news, Circuit City has just filed for Chapter 11 (bankruptcy). We’ll see what happens to the huge franchise. I think they should stay as Best Buy needs competition. And don’t forget, competition means lower prices!

UPDATE (11/11/08): Pricing has come out for the Storm and it is listed at $219 with a 2-year contract. Not a bad deal! Check out the picture below: Thanks to HowardForums via Engadget

GO VOTE TOMORROW!

Intel’s core i7 benchmarked: makes gamers wet – Engadget
Read all 249 pages of the BlackBerry Storm manual here – CrackBerry via Engadget
Speaking of BB Storm, how about a price under $100? – CrunchGear
New MacBook trackpads not clicking well – CrunchGear
iPhone costumes (lol) – CrunchGear
New MacBooks can support 6GB RAM, not just 4GB – CrunchGear
Circuit City to close 155 stores since their stock is under $0.50/share – Gizmodo
Western Digital cheap HD media streamer supports USB – Gizmodo

A lot happened this weekend so here is the list (in no particular order) to keep you all caught up!

• BlackBerry Bold for AT&T launch date set for October 27th… at least that’s the rumor… – Gizmodo
• Speaking of AT&T, they want to make sure you are always connected to the internet with their new “internet-connected gadgets division” – Gizmodo
• And while we are on the topic of cell phones, if you’ve gotten a ticket for driving while on your cell phone without a headset, headsets.com will be giving free headsets for the first 734 claims – CrunchGear
• The SlingCatcher is out! The device lets you watch anything connected to it from any TV – Engadget (see SlingBox for more info)
• Panasonic is working on new fuel cells to power your portable electronic devices using highly concentrated methanol – Engadget
• Windows Vista SP2 Beta invites are out (but only if you are special) – Gizmodo
• Dell Inspiron 9s have some problems with their hard drives – Gizmodo
• MacBook Pros have less battery power than the previous version – Gizmodo
• New MacBooks use new video processing power for HD video instead of CPU – Gizmodo
• New iMacs in a few weeks? Rumors are flying out! – Gizmodo
• And finally for the geek in you (especially in me since I was in a league), Star Wars bowling balls! If I was still bowling in my league, I’d totally get one! – Gizmodo

So you’ve heard about the BlackBerry Storm. But that is only for Verizon customers… what do the rest get? Out comes the BlackBerry Storm/Bold combo.

It has a touchscreen like the Storm, but has a full keyboard like the bold. For now, its just a rumor, but I’m really liking the rumor… too bad Verizon won’t have this phone… Its expected release? 3rd or 4th quarter 2009! Thanks to Gizmodo via BGR

Weekend recap time! Lots to cover in no particular order!

• The purpose of Brainball game is to not use your brain! – CrunchGear
• The netbook ASUS N10 can play video games? Probably not that well… – Engadget
• The netbook MSI Wind can run Mac OSX – Slashdot
• BlackBerry Bold coming to BestBuy October 26th – Gizmodo
• Pictures of the BlackBerry Storm – CrunchGear
• Needle-free painless injections?! – Gizmodo
• AppleTV changes? Why not just get a TiVo? – Gizmodo
• Mac Pro cases are toxic? What isn’t now a days?! – Gizmodo
• T-Mobile’s G1 (Google Phone) is sold out of pre-orders! – Gizmodo
• 16GB DDR3 RAM sticks!!! That folks, is a LOT of RAM – Guru3D

Told you there was a lot to cover!

As Kurt posted in the Weekend Recap, the Blackberry Storm (formerly codenamed the Blackberry Thunder in my previous posts), is set to be released exclusively on Verizon very very soon. The is sad news for me, who is forced to use Sprint (who also can’t even get a Pearl Flip, thank you T-Mobile), but for all you Verizon users: Time to Celebrate!

The new phone was first leaked via a PDF sent out to Verizon employees last week, but just this week Crackberry.com got their hands on an exclusive video of the Minute with Mike Show for Verizon employees giving the 411 on the new phone. Crackberry also got their hands on a Q&A PDF which really doesn’t go over anything new, but it’s more fuel for the fire burning in the loins of Blackberry aficionados.

The new Phone, which is Blackberry’s First Touchscreen, uses a new concept; a click-touch screen that I’m guessing John McCain also created. The technology has been somewhat controversial so far for the hype of it, but it is still to early to tell if it in innovative as in good, or innovative like betamax was. It also comes equipped with a 3.2 Megapixel camera, Visual voice mail, a full internet browser and much much more.

If you’re on the Verizon network, you can visit http://estore.vzwshop.com/storm/ to sign up for e-mail alerts on the Blackberry Storm and it’s availability. Maybe you can score one, since I can’t.. dammit.