MOBODOJO

Stupid name (but better than the previous MyNumo which makes no sense at all. I guess its just as stupid as Mobodojo…), but its nice to see that someone is already paying attention to the Short Attention Span needs of new Palm Pre owners. PlayScreen has ponied up a whopping 25 free Flash-based games for Preophites. Just head over here and tally up the fun for no dough! I tried playing a few games like Bowling, Golf Driving Range, Political Punch Out, and Snowboard Alley on my MacBook Pro and they were way too fast. PlayScreen also has additional titles with creepy names like Peeptin, Bomb A Bubble, Pigs A Pop’n, and iWhack which appears to star Steve Ballmer in a whack-a-mole thingy. There’s also a bunch of gambling games, as usual.

RIM has joined the fray with their new BlackBerry App World application for BlackBerry devices. Much like the already available mobile application stores for Apple’s iPhone and T-Mobile’s G1 Android handset, the BB App World application offers users the ability to look for, purchase, and download programs for their BlackBerry. Right now App World only supports handsets with version 4.2 of the BlackBerry software and it must have a trackball or SurePress touchscreen (ala Storm), but its free and already has a ton of apps available, including (sadly) a fart sounds app. Nicely, the App World application uses PayPal for processing purchases, and its fully integrated. I’ll be reviewing software from the App World store as soon as I lay my hands on some.

In case there weren’t enough free web browsers available for Mac OS X now (right now there’s Safari, Firefox, Camino, Opera, Shiira, and Flock, and if your want to go all out there’s ELinks, Lynx, and Lynxlet for your CLI folks) OmniGroup has announced that they are making four of their previously commercial apps free, including the fantastic OmniWeb browser. OmniWeb and iCab were the last real commercial web browser holdouts on the market, especially after Google “helped” Opera make its browser free (Hint: it involved money).

Its interesting timing, mind you, considering that Apple just made version 4.0 of its Safari browser available in beta form. OmniWeb remains, however, one of the more unique and powerful browsers to be based on Apple’s WebKit. Instead of tabs, OmniWeb uses a sidebar which holds thumbnail shots of the pages you have open. Its also good to have on hand in case you’re testing the Safari 4 beta, since it continues to use WebKit 3.x which doesn’t have the issues WebKit 4 does. The other apps Omnigroup has released for free are OmniDazzle, a mouse pointer toy, OmniDiskSweeper, a drive cleaning tool which is very nice, and OmniObjectMeter, a tool for developers.

You may or may not have heard of Zink. For a while there, Zink was considered to be an easy addition to the list of top vaporware companies. Well, you can put away your betting cards as Dell has just popped out with their new Zink-powered Wasabi PZ310 photo printer. Zink technology is inkless, meaning that it prints using special paper and a patented process. Right now the prints are quite small, about 1/3rd smaller than standard sized prints, but it won’t be long before prints get larger. Prices are also rather nice. You can get your Wasabi in black, blue, or pink for US$119 (after savings of US$30). Paper runs US$11.99 for 24 sheets, US$19.99 for 48, and the unit holds 12 sheets. Reviews on the Dell site are already all over the board with one owner noting that it doesn’t work with a range of mobile phones, including the iPhone. It’ll be interesting to see where this goes.

Several States in the US have laws requiring that drivers use hands-free systems in order to use mobile phones while operating vehicles. Unexpectedly, lots of companies who make Bluetooth headsets have been profiting from these laws, but now a bevy of Bluetooth speakerphone systems have started hitting the streets. SonyEricsson has jumped into this market with their sweet new AB900. Its a slick little device. Not only does it support standard speakerphone operations through its built-in speaker, but it also supports A2DP and can pass that stereo data through to your car stereo. When a call comes in, it pauses the music and lets you take the call. When the call ends, the music starts up again. Now, it seems to require a music-oriented handset, like SonyEricsson’s Walkman line, but it will likely work with Apple’s iPhone, as well. While there’s no pricing details just yet, the older HCB-150 device recently dropped US$50 to US$149, so I’m betting we can expect a tag of US$199. The SonyEricsson AB900 should hit store shelves in a couple more months.

Amazon made a splash with its Kindle ebook reader. Its hit feature was its ability to leverage Amazon’s extensive publisher relationships to provide a seamless, wireless ebook store, and that feature gets an upgrade to EVDO in the Kindle 2. Overall, the new Kindle 2 gets upgrades in the looks, size, and speed departments. Its very thin, has a better display, has more storage, and has “20% faster page turns”, whatever that means. Its available starting February 24th for US$359. Interestingly enough, Amazon promises to automatically upgrade your order from a Kindle 1 to a Kindle 2 if you haven’t already received your previously ordered Kindle 1. Take a look…

If you are just dying for more dirt on the upcoming Palm Pre featuring Palm’s sweet new webOS, PreCentral has a new video showing off some previously unseen features. Two indicated features are Palm’s take on the Unlock Swipe. Its kind of hard to catch as its right in the beginning of the video, but just watch and you’ll see it. Apparently, you can also snap a photo by pressing the spacebar, though I’m not sure thats really a feature as opposed to something most people would just expect. Lets hope the Pre comes sooner rather than later, though word is that it will drop at the very end of the quarter.