theregoesdave

At one point the Danger Sidekick was quite possibly the best mobile communications device available. In addition to being a smartphone, it had excellent texting and instant messaging applications in a unique and usable form factor.

Last year Danger was acquired by Microsoft and in those few short months, the division is ready to implode. Microsoft lost gobs of customer data including their contacts, calendars and photos. To make matters worse, the company didn’t have any backups of their data. Oh and now there are rumors that the next generation Sidekick may never see the light of day.

So what possible silver lining could there be for T-Mobile?

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It hasn’t been made official yet, but there’s a rumor that Barnes & Noble’s e-reader will run on the Android mobile OS. That means unprecedented capability and hackability over Amazon’s Kindle.

Not only does Android allow Barnes & Noble to rapidly deploy a Kindle competitor, it also means that users will find a way to get any and every application from the Android Market onto their reader. This openness could give B&N just the edge it needs to take market share from Amazon.

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Tufte offers a good map as an excellent example of how to display a rich array of information. Artists also take inspiration from maps and sometimes base their work around them.

Author Katherine Harmon’s new book The Map as Art showcases 360 pieces of work where the artist drew from maps in some way. The artists then use those maps as a platform for enriching their story, also giving a distinct context for each piece.

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If you snagged an HTC Pure this weekend, you may have notices that the Windows Mobile Marketplace is up and running on your phone. The Pure is the first phone to launch with Windows Mobile 6.5 out of the box.

Microsoft may have borrowed the Marketplace idea from Apple’s App Store, but then again, so has everyone else. I’m just wondering if Windows Mobile 6.5 applications will break when 7 comes out next year.

Here’s a quick screenshot of the ODROID gaming device that’s slated to come out this winter. It’s running a Super-NES emulator so you can play just about any old-school Nintendo game you can imagine.

The ODROID also shows the potential for Android devices to catch up with proprietary device platforms. On top of that, Android gives users the power to use a device however they want.

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The LG Pop not only has the now-standard 3-inch touchscreen in a slim form factor, it also has optional solar panels to cut down on energy consumption. It’s set to come out in Europe later this month before being released in other countries.

The Pop’s sole button turns green or red for call or end functions as needed. That’s about it as far as hardware keyboards, with everything else unnecessary having been stripped out.

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One iPhone user in the Big Apple took his iPhone to the Genius Bar after experiencing a lot of dropped calls. After a diagnosis and conversation with the employee, he was told that his rate of 22 percent dropped calls was excellent compared to other users.

Apparently AT&T’s network in New York is so bogged down that iPhone users see about 30 percent of their calls dropped. That’s a level of service is downright unacceptable for the amount of money iPhone users pay per month.

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