TalkingMobile » Opera

Tjat Signs Bug Deal with Qualcomm

David Shamah — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:35:28 +0000

How do you get your e-mail on your cellphone? You probably don’t, because moving e-mail onto phones is a hassle.
Gmail has a client for most phones, but what if you want to use a POP account? And what about instant messaging, and all the rest of the communication tools we use today? The sad truth is that most non-voice communication on cellphones take the form of SMS messages, and we know how expensive those can be.

One of the smoothest solutions to all-around phone communications comes from Israeli company Tjat, which has phone client solutions for the full range of traditional PC-style communications – e-mail, instant messaging, and social networking.
Most of Tjat’s services are for operators, but you can check out their take on IM on your phone at wap.tjat.com, or by installing Opera Mobile for Windows Mobile and Series 60 phones.

And while there are other applications you can use on most platforms to access IM and and social networking, Tjat’s is tops – evidenced by the fact that the company has signed a deal with Qualcomm, with the company installing Tjat IM widgets for its Plaza Mobile Internet platform. The blessed event took place Wednesday at GSMA.

“Our solution is turning into the standard in the world market in providing text solutions for leading edge users,” said Dr. Oleg Golobrodsky, executive vice president of Tjat Systems.
“The deal with Qualcomm, in addition to our deal with Opera, will allow us to provide services to users around the world and open doors to enable us to reach cellphone operators who can provide our solutions to hundreds of millions of customers.”
Tjat is hot stuff!

The Gphone Is More Google Than A Phone

Harel Shattenstein — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 22:41:25 +0000

Thats it, on Tuesday the expectation ended and the long awaited mobile phone the so-called Gphone was officially announced.
I can’t remember such anticipation for a mobile device rather than the iPhone, of course.
The G1 is a product of HTC, T-Mobile and Google, 4 executives set down and explained why the G1 will be such a hit, However it seemed that Google was not so enthusiastic, go ask Sergey Brin and Larry Page that came to say hello and roll out.
Do not get me wrong, That is Google’s first mobile phone, but for them unlike T-Mobile and HTC, it is just the beginning, The beginning of a new era.

The iPhone for example changed the mobile industry and for the first time the hardware was not the issue.
It does not matter how much megapixel the camera is and if there are stereo speakers or not.
Until the iPhone came hardware was the issue, than apple made it all about software and more important user interface.
So which era has began now that the first Android phone is out?! It is the mobile OS era.
I am sorry to disappoint you but I do not think that Apple thought at first to release the OSX SDK for developers.
Jobes, thinking as a centralist as always, wanted to alter the mobile industry like he did with the iPod, nothing less.
He did not notice the MAIN issue in mobile consumption which is the content and that the quality of experience is influenced by the variety of possibilities.
After the iPhone hit the market, it was noticed that the beautiful “box” itself isn’t enough and that Apple is not a services development company.
Back to the Android and the OS era, Google want to be on any mobile phone, where is it an Android based phone or even an iPhone.

This fact brings me to my main point, Google does not want to create full web experience mobile phones, there are already enablers that do just that, take a look at Opera, Skyfire and yes again at the iPhone.
Google just want to build a mobile OS, It have all the services to do that like mail, maps, IM etc and the rest will fall into the developers hands.
Google’s Android comparison to the iPhone is really like comparing Symbian to J2ME.
Google tries to enable others to create services but still, Google still think as the player that came after the iPhone and try to clone the AppStore’s business model.
Only in the case that Google removes all restrictions and barriers and attract the operators and the users, they will be able to take control over the mobile OS market and operate as the Microsoft of the mobile world.
If Apple continues with the same attitude, they will be the Apple of the mobile OS market, nice, shaped, with no significant market share.
So enough with my analysis what do you think?

Skyfire S60 Review

Harel Shattenstein — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 01:18:02 +0000

Opera is the current “rising star” and the most downloaded mobile web browser.
On June Opera reported on more than 14.5 million users, referring to the Opera Mini browser.
The massive penetration of the Opera Mini has to do with several reasons but mainly it has to do with the browser itself, it enables any mobile phone to surf the web as easy as it is on the PC.
Ok, almost, but it is the best and more impotent free solution for mobile phone with Netfront based browser that can not deal with full HTML browsing.
Opera Mini gradually increases its market share by cooperating with mobile manufacturers like Nokia, Sony Ericsson and recently also Micromax, an Indian manufacturer.
A smaller market share are the Samrtphones but regarding to Mobile browsing it is a “hot” issue.
Apple Safari browser on the iPhone enables full web browsing with the known problems with flash, Skyfire a new mobile web browsing is trying to bring an upgraded iPhone “web surfing experience” to the mass market of smartphones.
The review won’t be on Skyfire WM smartphones which enjoy also the Opera mobile 9.5, it will take place on a Symbian S60 device or in my case my trusted nokia E61.

User Interface

The best user interface for mobile browser is still a mystery, One thing is sure a bad UI is frustrating.
Don’t get me wrong the Skyfire has a good UI but it is those small things that annoy the most.
There isn’t any URL Auto-Completion and it take some hard maneuvers to set the text right so you can actually read something.
On the other hand there are some great stuff on the Skyfire, the “scroll bar” that informs your location on the site, and the shortcuts.

Video

Isn’t it the reason we are all here?! The Flash and JavaScript support?!
The Skyfire is one of the few mobile web browsers that can display embedded videos, in my case (Nokia E61) it is the only one.
Video looks great on the Skyfire, finally I can read a post and watch the embedded video. I can also search for videos straight from google which for me is a great plus.
It feels like I am browsing on my PC.
The browser auto-focuses on the video and displays it on full screen mode, you can also lower and increase the volume.

speed

the results are with Wi-Fi connection.
CNN- 8.3 Seconds
Facebook- 8.8 Seconds
Google- 2.2 Seconds

Conclusion

Overall the Skyfire is a great browser.
It has some problems and flaws but hey, Skyfire is still in a really early beta.
You should consider it as early “labor pains”, I am sure that the next versions will only get better.
So if you can’t wait for the Flash support to come Skyfire is for you, otherwise wait a bit as time will only do better for the new player in town- Skyfire.