Your Smartphone isn’t just a cell phone any more. Starting next month you can start using HBO for streaming videos to your iOS and Android devices. Following Netflix and Time Warner Cable, HBO will start the new HBO Go for mobile devices next month. Available with subscription will be all your favorite HBO shows, including all the past seasons, as well as feature films. The new service will no doubt be especially popular with tablet users.

HBO Go has been available since 2009. It wasn’t really catching on all that well. Now with the new mobile app available for Android and iOS platforms, HBO is hoping it will gain some ground on Netflix. HBO snubbed Netflix by not allowing any of its content to be available on Netflix. Netflix already has free Android and IOS apps available. HBO is now taking on the mighty Netflix giant with 1400 choices, and more promised. According to an article posted by Don Reisinger, The Digital Home, In January, HBO senior vice president of corporate affairs, Jeff Cusson, told The Hollywood Reporter that his company “believes in content exclusivity, especially for high-value content.” He said that HBO “has no intention of making its content available for streaming on Netflix.”

An HBO video was posted last week on YouTube. According to the video, HBO Go is scheduled to be released May 2nd to Android and iOS devices. “Get every episode of every season of your favorite HBO shows, plus hit movies and much more,” the video’s voiceover states. “All free to HBO subscribers and all streaming on your iPad, laptop, or Smartphone wherever you are.” They aren’t specific about whether it will work on 3G, but since they are touting “Wherever you are,” I am assuming it will also work on 3G.

DirectTV won’t be streaming HBO Go through mobile apps. According to Richard Lawler, Engadget, a “mis-tweet” by the DirectTV Twitter account originally stated it would be including the HBO Go mobile apps. Corrected, it now stands that DirectTV won’t be adding HBO Go access through their own apps and DirecTV customers will have to use the native HBO Go app just like everyone else.

Are you anxious to watch HBO shows on your Smartphone? I think even with my Droid X’s 4.3 inch screen, I would rather watch shops on a tablet. Of course until I get a tablet (hint for Mother’s Day), I will probably try it out on the Droid X. What about you?

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Battle-ready Smartphones are going to war in 2013. The US Army has announced that it will be issuing open Android Dev kits to its soldiers in July. This will allow apps to be written for use by soldiers on a variety of combat handsets and devices. According to an article written by Lewis Page, The A Register, the military Droid framework is known as Mobile/Handheld Computing Environment (CE).

US Army to Deploy Droid Dev Kit

“Using the Mobile /Handheld CE Product Developers Kit, we’re going to allow the third-party developers to actually develop capabilities that aren’t stovepiped,” says Lt-Col Mark Daniels. Daniels is in charge of the Joint Battle Command-Platform (JBC-P) handheld device, which is essentially a military Droid phone: it is expected to be issued to US Army and Marine ground units from 2013.

Blue Force Tracking will let the soldiers see where “friendly” units are located. Hopefully this will prevent “friendly fire” incidents. In addition to the Blue Force Tracking, the Smartphones come with other apps that the Army is developing. These include mapping, TIGR map-marking and messaging. According to Daniels there will also be an address book and OpenOffice for document viewing.

The new software will work on a variety of Android platforms and phone models. It will have a “ruggedized tactical sleeve or case”. According to Page’s article “Networking will be provided by any of a variety of existing military radios: specifically named are the Joint Tactical Radio System, JTRS Soldier Radio Waveform, Netted Iridium, and the PRC 117G and PRC 152A used by the Marines. The system and its baseline apps are expected to tie in with existing vehicle-mounted and headquarters kit provided under previous command-and-control/blue-force-tracking projects.”

“That’s going to allow us to be interoperable across the entire family of systems, which would include the platforms, the aviation, the logistics community, the tanks, the Bradleys, the handhelds,” Daniels says.

It was only a matter of time before Smartphones were used for war. It just begs the question however, that if the software locates “friendly units,” does it also locate enemy units? And will the enemy also be deploying Smartphones in battle, thereby tapping into our guys’ information and location? It’s beginning to sound like a video game. What’s your take on it?

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AT&T is the last of the cell phone service providers to offer a Droid Smartphone in their pre-paid lineup. Beginning April 17th, AT&T is offering the LG Thrive for $180. The Thrive is a mid-range Droid, running on the Android OS 2.2 (Froyo). It only has a 3.2 megapixel camera and 160 MB of memory, although it can be expanded to 32 GB with a MicroSD card. The customers will have to pay pretty dearly for using this phone however. Customers can choose the “Smartphone 10 cents per minute” plan or “Smartphone $2 USD per day for unlimited talk and text” plan. Their choices for data plans range from $5 for 10 MB to $25 for 500 MB. There is no contract, which is probably a good thing since customers may dump AT&T once they find out how poor the service coverage areas are.

AT&T Finally Gets On Board

Verizon has a whole bevy of Droid pre-paid Smartphones available. They include the Motorola Original Droid, Motorola DEVOUR, Motorola Droid X, Motorola Droid 2, HTC Droid Eris, HTC Droid Incredible, LG Ally, BlackBerry Curve 8330, BlackBerry Curve 8530, BlackBerry Storm 9530, BlackBerry Storm 9550, BlackBerry Tour 9630, BlackBerry Bold 9650, Palm Pre Plys, and Palm Pixi. Rumor has it that Verizon’s unlimited talk, text AND data plan will run about $80 per month. And Verizon certainly has better service coverage than AT&T. Of course this is just a rumor so far.

US Cellular is also in the game with the LG Optimus U and the LG Apex as their prepaid Android phones. The Optimus U features a 3.2mp camera, Android OS 2.2, 3.2″ display, and 140 MB of storage. The LG Apex runs on Android 2.1, features a 3mp camera, 3.2″ screen, and has 256 MB or Storage. The Prepaid Plans include: $70-Unlimited Talk & Text with 2GB of data, $60-450 minutes, unlimited text, and 2GB of data, $50-Unlimited Talk & Text, $50-2GB of data.

Sprint’s BoostMobile offers Droid and BlackBerry Smartphones. With the best deal in town, they offer a plan with unlimited talk, text and data for as little as $45 per month once you have paid your bill on time for 6 months. With $18 months of payments on time, your plan drops to $35 per month.

AT&T’s announcement of offering Droid Smartphones on a pre-paid plan just isn’t all that exciting. But they have to do something to stay in the game. They are losing customers and not signing up new ones. If they are able to buy T-Mobile, it may breathe some life into the company, but for now, they come in last on my list.

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A $500 AMEX card is up for grabs in the new RIM BlackBerry Retail Reps Theme Contest. Five winners will receive an AMEX gift card for $500 USD. The top winner’s theme will be developed as a BlackBerry theme and upon release, made exclusively available for 3 months to authorized retail salespeople. After 3 months, the winning theme will be made available on a non-exclusive basis in BlackBerry App World. Pretty sweet deal, or so it seems. However, royalties and income from the sales of the theme don’t actually go to the person submitting the theme idea. Hmmm…. Maybe not so sweet a deal.

RIM BlackBerry: Retail Rep Contest

The BlackBerry PlayBook is available in stores April 19th. Staples has the PlayBook available for pre-order for $499 for the 16 GB version. Unlike other BlackBerry products, you do not have to go through your wireless service provider to get your BlackBerry PlayBook. It will be available through retail outlets like Staples, Best Buy, Office Depot and other stores. There hasn’t been much advertising done other than the ads put out by the stores themselves. Here is the list released last month by RIM of the retail locations where the PlayBook will be on sale:
United States: AT&T, Best Buy, Cbeyond, Cellular South, Cincinnati Bell, Office Depot, RadioShack, ShopBlackBerry.com, Staples, Sprint, Verizon, and BlackBerry from Wireless Giant.
Canada: Bell, Best Buy, Chapters / Indigo, Costco, Future Shop, Mobilicity, MTS Allstream, Rogers, Sasktel, Sears, ShopBlackBerry.com, Staples, Telus, Tbooth Wireless, The Source, Videotron, Walmart, WIND Mobile, WIRELESS etc., and WIRELESSWAVE.

BlackBerry PlayBook Specifications (according to RIM’s Press Release)
• 7″ 1024×600 WSVGA capacitive LCD touch screen
• Ultra-portable at less than a pound, less than 1/2 inch thick: 0.9 lbs (425g), 5.1″ x 7.6″ x 0.4″ (130mm x 194mm x 10mm)
• 1 GHz dual-core processor
• BlackBerry® Tablet OS with support for symmetric multiprocessing
• MP3, AAC and WMA audio playback
• Support for high resolution video playback (H.264, MPEG4, WMV)
• 1080p HDMI output
• Dual 1080p HD cameras for video conferencing and video capture (3MP front and 5MP rear)
• 1 GB RAM memory
• Up to 64 GB internal storage (16, 32 and 64 GB models)
• GPS, Orientation Sensor (Accelerometer), 6-Axis Motion Sensor (Gyroscope), Digital Compass (Magnetometer)
• Stereo speakers and stereo microphones
• Wi-Fi® (802.11 a/b/g/n) connectivity
• Bluetooth® 2.1+EDR support

The PlayBook will be running on operating system called QNX. One of the downsides to the PlayBook is that is to get your music on the PlayBook you have to drag and drop the files from your computer to your PlayBook. The tablet comes with a wild, wireless Bluetooth connection feature called BlackBerry Bridge, enabling the tablet to view your BlackBerry phone on the tablet screen. Unfortunately this is the only way you can access the email, calendar, address book and BlackBerry Messenger on the tablet.

It sounds like the BlackBerry PlayBook is not ready to compete with the tablet “Big Boys.” What’s your take on it?

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BlackBerry should be renamed LeakBerry. Photos, videos and technical specifications have been “leaked” over and over in the past few weeks. Rumors are flying. There are now stories of four new RIM Smartphones (BlackBerry Bold Touch, Torch 2, Orlando, and Touch), all of which have new capacitive touch screens. Mostly they seem to be “re-made” versions of the Curve and Torch, although there is a touch only phone as well.

BlackBerry Enters the World of Touch

The BlackBerry Orlando is mostly a Curve Sedona with a touch screen. It is supposed to ship with the new OS 6.1, have a physical keyboard and a trackpad. With the touch screen and the keyboard, it is kind of a “mini-Bold Torch.”

The new touch screen only BlackBerry is called the “Touch” or the CDMA version, the Monaco Touch. It appears to be more like an Android or iPhone device, using capacitive technology. It is reported to be coming with a 3.7 inch screen, 800×480 pixel resolution, 1.2 GHz processor, 768 MB of RAM, a MicrosSD slot, and a 5 megapixel camera.

The Bold Touch has some nice new features, including a new battery type. It’s a GSM device with a 5MP camera, 4GB of internal storage, 768MB or RAM, a 2.8-inch screen (640×480), and according to an article written by Jeffrey Van Camp, DigitalTrends, it has built in NFC technology. Since Apple has decided not to include the NFC yet, this will be a bonus for RIM. NFC is “near field communication” which allows your Smartphone to communicate with terminals like cash registers, helping you to avoid long lines in restaurants and such.

“The unit itself is extremely solid and the touchscreen is very responsive,” said BGR (Boy Genius Reports). “And who could forget that great and spacious BlackBerry keyboard? The BlackBerry Bold Touch also uses a new battery from RIM, so hopefully the addition of a touchscreen to this famous BlackBerry form factor won’t have too much of a negative impact on battery life.”

The Storm 3 Touch is also known as Blackberry Touch 9860. Here’s a short video preview of the new Storm 3:

BlackBerry has die-hard fans. If you are one of those BlackBerry users and like the BlackBerry keyboard, you will probably want to upgrade to the new Smartphones with both the touch screen and the keyboard. If you are new to BlackBerry and have been an iPhone user or an Android user, you will probably want to try the new BlackBerry Touch Smartphones. Will the new efforts by BlackBerry to stay in the market be enough to keep up with the Androids and iPhones? Google reports that there are currently 350,000 new device activations per day, and 3 billion apps overall have been installed. iPhone is trying to keep up. Will BlackBerry succeed? Let us know what you think.

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This last weekend, Jenni “JWoww” Farley lost her BlackBerry. Jenni was apparently shopping at a Lowe’s hardware store in Toms River, New Jersey with boyfriend Roger when she lost the cell phone. Jenni reported the missing BlackBerry to the police, claiming the phone is worth $100,000. Why is Jenni Farley’s BlackBerry worth $100,000? Is Jenni’s BlackBerry made of Platinum? Jenni claims it’s because of her fame. “Because of all my contacts,” she told Toms River police. According to an article written by Fabiana Santana, Actress Archives, “It’s those contacts - all stored in her Blackberry - she is worried will wind up in the wrong hands.”

Jennifer “JWoww” Farley Loses Her $100K BlackBerry

Jenni is reported to be earning $100K per episode to star on season 4 of Jersey Shore on MTV. She will soon start filming a new reality show with Jersey Shore house mate Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi. Meanwhile Jenni is seen hanging out with celebrities in both Las Vegas and Los Angeles, when she isn’t with her boyfriend Roger Williams. The couple reportedly spends a lot of time in South Jersey. “She has a house here with Roger,” a source said. “They split their time between here and Long Island where her family is. For the most part they are pretty low key. But she was very upset she lost her phone.”

A Blackberry is just a cell phone, right? So why is Jenni so obsessed about losing it, and putting such a high value on it? Perhaps it is all the candid photos that are probably on it. Should we expect a nude photo scandal about Jenni coming to the tabloids soon? This may be a little too much of a reality for the reality show starlet.

What are your thoughts on this? Should Jenni just buy a new BlackBerry and stop creating sensational headlines? Do you think Jenni’s phone is worth $100K? Is this just a ploy for attention and tabloid space? Does anyone really care about her BlackBerry? Does anyone really care about Jenni “JWoww” Farley and her reality show, now running an incredible 4 seasons? Let us know.

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Do you hate fighting traffic? There’s an app for that, especially if you are a BlackBerry user. Just released this week, BlackBerry Traffic version 2.0.0.1749 adds new features and a completely revised UI. It has new icons, a new color scheme, the ability to select from multiple routes, and the addition of pre-set destinations directly from BlackBerry’s native contacts app. It is compatible with any GPS enabled BlackBerry Smartphone operating on OS 4.6 and up in North America.

New BlackBerry Traffic App with Route Choices

BlackBerry Traffic predicts the future traffic. It can be accessed by selecting an ETA on the route selection screen or by flipping through the different views when a route is selected. One of the best feature is that it gives you the best time to leave for a destination based upon real time traffic data. Considering that traffic data is constantly being updated, this is a huge deal for commuters. The app has turn by turn directions in LARGE font size. There’s nothing worse than not being able to see your directions. But best of all is that it’s FREE.

In a nutshell, here are the improvements listed on the BlackBerry App site:
•A new route selection screen displays two route choices to a destination.
•A new future traffic view can be accessed by selecting an ETA on the route selection screen.
•A revised simple drive view displays the next maneuver with corresponding icon in a large font.
•Frequent search terms are now available on the search screen.
•Updated keyboard shortcuts are listed under the help menu.

Are you running a bit behind schedule? BlackBerry Traffic 2.0 gives users the option to share estimated arrival times via SMS, email, or PIN (BBM). Now you can be considerate and let people know when you’re running late. (Of course you can’t text and drive…. Very dangerous!)

Are you a BlackBerry user? Do you spend a lot of time on the road? This BlackBerry Traffic App may be just the thing for you then. It sounds like the improvements really are improvements. So many times the upgrades are just blasé. This new version seems to be pretty neat. If I were a BlackBerry user I would definitely download it and use it. As it is, being a Droid X user, my Google Navigation is pretty cool as well.

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Today it’s official! Twitter for BlackBerry v1.1 is finally released. A select few were using the beta version, but the real McCoy was released today. According to a post by Kristy C., Inside BlackBerry, they have “made several changes to enhance the Twitter for BlackBerry Smartphone experience, like updated graphics that reflect the new look of the Twitter brand and a streamlined layout of the Add Photo and Add Location icons on the Home screen. The next time you Retweet something, it will appear in your Home timeline as ‘Retweeted by You’, to quickly alert you that your Retweet was sent successfully.”

New Twitter for BlackBerry v1.1 Debuts Today

The official BlackBerry App Store had this to say about the new Twitter:

“Doing the things you love on Twitter® are made quick and easy using your BlackBerry® Smartphone. With Twitter for BlackBerry Smartphones, you receive a notification as soon as a Message or @Mention arrives – no matter which application you’re using. And because you’re using a BlackBerry Smartphone, you not only receive a notification, the message itself is delivered directly to your inbox making it even easier to stay on top of what’s important to you. It even works with your BlackBerry Browser and BlackBerry Smartphone camera, so it only takes a moment to post a link or upload a picture directly to Twitter. Plus, you can follow friends, search for a topic of interest, edit re-tweets, and find users quickly by typing @usernames. Easily stay connected to the information and news you care about—all from your BlackBerry Smartphone.”

Key New Features in Twitter for BlackBerry Smartphones v1.1.0.21

•Add locations to your Tweets (adds your geographical location to Tweets and allows others to see where you were when you tweeted)
•Receive immediate notifications of @Mentions (when you’re mentioned on Twitter, you get a notification)
•View your Messages in a chat-style layout
•Select previously used hash tagged words with #Topic Autocomplete (pops up a suggested word list)

Are you a BlackBerry user? Will you try this new Twitter? Seems like a win-win situation to me. You get to have that cool BlackBerry and use Twitter as well.

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RIM BlackBerry scored the worst in GoodGuide’s list of green cell phone manufacturers. According to an article by Wendy Koch, USA Today, BlackBerry only earned a 3.3 rating, mostly for the company’s environmental record. Nokia took top honors, with Samsung coming in second. Apple’s iPhone also scored in the lower half of the manufacturers, again not because the material in the iPhone is toxic, but because Apple itself has problems with its “ethical policies and performance.” Nokia scored as the top green manufacturer. 26 of 30 of the top cell phones scored were made by Nokia, each scoring 7.7 or 7.6 out of a possible 10 points. Nokia C6 scored best overall. This is pretty impressive.

Did Your Cell Phone Make the Green List?

“Our highest-rated cellphones have energy-efficient chargers and are made of environmentally preferable materials,” says a scorecard of 596 cellphones from 16 manufacturers by Good Guide, a company that rates products for their health, environmental and social impacts. The ranking says the top scorers are made by companies “implementing green production practices and takeback recycling programs.”

IDC (International Data Corporation) has its own list of good and bad manufacturers. The IDC study analyzes the sustainability efforts of 10 manufacturers. It ranks these manufacturers by their overall sustainability strategy, packaging, materials, energy, and end-of-life programs.

“Mobile operators play an important role in handset sustainability,” says Stephen Drake, program VP, Mobility and Telecom. “While they do not produce mobile phones, they are instrumental in driving the design, packaging, and materials used in handsets and are in the forefront in device lifecycle management from procurement to takeback. As the connection to the end customers, they can also influence end-user purchasing and are therefore critical players in the sustainable handset ecosystem.” IDC had this to say about the top 5 manufacturers on their list (alphabetically):

AT&T, for its broad focus on trying to pick sustainable handsets
Deutsche Telekom, for is focus on the raw materials in the mobile phones on its network
Sprint Nextel, for its efforts to develop eco-criteria that have been used to develop a specific line of green mobile phones
Telefonica, which has developed an eco-rating system for handset being sold in the United Kingdom
Vodafone, which is focused on materials sourcing for mobile phones on its network

How important is it to you that you support “green” manufacturers? Do you recycle your old cell phones? According IDC, only 10% of cell phones are recycled. In a world that is filling up with e-waste, it is important to consider alternatives. See my blog Give Your Gadgets a Green Burial. Perhaps you will decide to donate your cell phone to a charitable cause. Working together, we can make a difference.

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Federal prosecutors in New Jersey are investigating mobile app companies. The Wall Street Journal reported that popular applications on the iPhone and Android mobile phones, including Pandora, transmit information about the phones, their users and their locations to outsiders, including advertising networks. Have you ever wondered how the ads on your mobile apps seem to know exactly what to target? Here’s the clue. The app companies are sharing your information.

Pandora’s Box—Mobile Apps Under Investigation

Pandora’s Box is opened. According to an article written by the Daily Mail Reporter, dailymail.co.uk, “Pandora along with other major Smartphone application developers are under federal investigation for illegally obtaining and transmitting user information without consent.” Pandora Media, Inc. said it received a subpoena that involved a federal grand jury investigation of information sharing practices of Smartphone application developers. The investigation comes after federal investigators in New Jersey found violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, a law passed in 1986 intended to reduce cracking of computers and to address computer-related offenses. According to the Wall Street Journal, “Makers of apps could also face complaints of unfair and deceptive trade practices from the Federal Trade Commission. Such complaints can be aimed at companies that fail to tell customers how they are collecting information. “Anthony Campiti, creator of the Pumpkin Maker iPhone application, told the Wall Street Journal that he also received a subpoena.

“They’re just doing information-gathering to get a better understanding”, Campiti said. “We’re not doing anything wrong and neither is anyone else doing anything wrong.”

Apple and Google have been asked to provide information. Both Apple and Google are supposed to be monitoring the application developers who list their apps in the Apple and Google app stores. Both companies have refused to comment about the investigation. In a study conducted by the Wall Street Journal on 101 Smartphone applications, 56 transmitted the phone’s unique device identifier to outside companies and firms. Apparently these 56 companies did so without the consent of the users. Uh oh!

Are you concerned about your privacy? Do you feel mobile app companies have the right to share your information? What about the information shared on your computer? Have you ever noticed that when you are shopping online that ads appear on web pages that seem specifically targeted to you? This is also done by sharing your information. If you shop for a new pair of running shoes, ads will pop up suggesting those same shoes, or perhaps running gear or sports clothes. Target marketing is not new. Mobile apps have just joined the fray.

Let’s keep an eye on the federal investigation.