Opera Mobile 9.5 Beta — July 15th!

If you’re like me, you don’t favor hate the standard Pocket Internet Explorer that comes pre-loaded onto your Windows Mobile 6 device, so you search for alternatives. Opera has been around forever in the mobile browsing industry with small Java versions for most Java enabled handsets and stronger, more intensive and feature based versions for Windows Mobile phones. At long last, here comes version 9.5!

While some early versions of phones, such as the HTC Diamond are already coming shipped with Opera 9.5, the release has not been made official. For those wondering why, Opera explains it all:

Some versions of Opera Mobile 9.5 are already shipping on great phones like the HTC Touch Diamond, and some of you have asked why we wouldn’t be able to release it publically yet. As you probably know, releasing a version that works on a large variety of phones is more complex than making it work on one specific phone. You should also expect a few differences between the versions that are pre-installed on phones and the public version of Opera Mobile 9.5.

Mark your calendars folks, it’s just over two weeks away!

[Via Opera Blog]

Samsung i900 is I-Want-It Worthy

There have been a lot of phone rumors dropping where, with one look of the phone, you think, “I want it.” The Samsung i900 definitely fits into that category. Scroll down for pictures.

Speculation on Specifications (say it 10 times):

Not too shabby, eh? Not at all… and those pics you’ve been waiting for:

[Via NaviGadget]

Microsoft Launches a… BlackBerry App?

As we all know, Microsoft’s Windows Mobile and BlackBerry are fierce competitors in the smart phone OS market. But then why was Microsoft’s best ever application, the recently released “TellMe”, launched for BlackBerry and not Windows Mobile? Because BlackBerry’s are better and even Macrohard knows it…

Just kidding. There is actually a more logical response. Microsoft purchase a company called TellMe which was midway into development of the application already. A Windows Mobile version of the app is surely forthcoming.

Okay, logistics aside, this little application is pretty kickbutt. Use your BlackBerry to navigate to http://m.tellme.com and download the little App. You’ll be able to speak locations into your phone such as, “Coffee” and it will show you the closest coffee shops or “Nordstrom’s” and it will show you the closest Nordstrom’s.

This is a pretty handy tool that we’ll look for Windows Mobile to take full advantage of in their next release… which might not be for ages unfortunately. Hey Mr. CEO Mike McCue… could we get an Android version please? Thank you!