Opera Mini 5 Beta Out Now: Tabbed Browsing, Speed Dial Bookmarks

Unlike Opera Mobile, Opera Mini crunches pages on a server for viewing on your Java phone or BlackBerry. The beta has a snappier interface geared for touch or keypad control, and adds tabbed browsing, speed dial, and a password manager. More »

Vizio Unveils a Whopping 31 New HDTVs

Vizio's been awfully busy since we last heard from them, updating three product lines with a total of 31 new HDTVs. The XVT series are more high-end, the M series is more about style, and the E is eco-friendly. More »

Mac OS X Vulnerable to Critical Java Flaw, Windows Users' Snide Remarks

Mac users are still exposed to a Java vulnerability that's been public for 6 months after Apple neglected to patch it in the recent honking 10.5.7 update. Okay Windows guys, point and laugh. But if you want to be super safe, you should turn off Java in your browser, no matter what platform you're on. [cr0 blog via Slashdot]

Why Oracle Bought Sun Microsystems for $7.4 Billion

Why did Oracle pay $7.4 billion for Sun Microsystems after the IBM pulled out before pulling the trigger? Two things says Oracle CEO Larry Ellison: Java and the Solaris operating system. [Computerworld]

Opera Mini For Android Leaves Beta, Fixes Nagging Bugs

Opera Mini's final release addresses most of the problems we found in our beta test, and is available now in the 'Communications' category of the Android Market. More »

Java-based Bolt Joining the Mobile Browser Wars, Doesn't Look Horrible

Bitstream is working on a mobile browser called Bolt, based on WebKit and compatible with pretty much any J2ME-compatible handset (read: almost everything). CrackBerry ran it through its paces, and it looks promising. More »

Mobile Millennium Project is a Poor Man's Traffic-Relaying GPS

On Monday Nokia, NAVTEQ and UC Berkeley will launch the Mobile Millennium project which will use GPS data from thousands of cell phones to gather traffic information in the San Francisco Bay Area. By having users relay and access the information, it will enable them to find and avoid traffic congestion, similar to the Dash Express GPS system. I'd participate, but I wonder how much researchers would benefit from my daily commute from bed to kitchen table. More »

Mobile Gmail 2.0 Lets You Read and Write Email Offline, Is More Betterer

Gmail for mobile 2.0 is now available for BlackBerry and J2ME phones, and it's definitely worth upgrading if you've got the old one, if only for the serious offline functionality. You can now read email and compose multiple messages offline (like in an underground brothel with no reception) and it'll automatically send them as a background process when you get a signal. You can also sign in to multiple Gmail accounts at once (like regular and hosted for work), and switch between them instantly. And it's zippier, too. [Google Mobile]

Skype Makes Java Client For Sony Ericssons, Samsungs, Nokias and Moto RAZRs

Mobile Skype was previously only available on Smartphones like Windows Mobile, but they've just ported a Java version for all kinds of non-smart phones. Be aware that this isn't like the previous iterations and even Skype to Skype calls cost money (or use up your minutes), so there's no huge reason in using this to call someone you can easily call already. What it is useful for is calling overseas, since you use up regular minutes but only get charged SkypeOut rates instead of your exhorbitant cellphone international call rates. [Skype via Crunchgear]

Sun to Bring Java to the iPhone via the SDK

Apple gave Sun kind of the cold shoulder, not giving them the opportunity to put Java on the iPhone for Java apps. Now that the SDK is out, Sun's decided to just take matters into their own hands and prep a Java Virtual Machine for the device that'll allow Java applets to run on it. The JVM for iPhone will be based on Java Micro Edition, allowing apps like games and enterprise applications. You know, uh, all the stuff we've been clamoring for. I guess. Well, I'm sure at least a couple of interesting programs will come out of this, right? We'll see how Apple handles Sun sneaking Java onto the iPhone this way. [Infoworld via Slashdot]

Anti-Social College Kids Build Autonomous Foosball Table

Four engineering students from Georgia Tech have built an Autonomous Foosball Table, quite possibly the key to my never-ending quest to replace the humans in my life with robots. The funny thing is, this thing isn't just a gimmick; it may soon become a decent foosball opponent. The table system cost about $500 to build, and combines a webcam, an 800MHz Pentium PC and servo-controlled paddles to move, twist, and kick. Here's how it works: More »

Sun Scrapping Mobile Java, Moving Devices to Standard Java

Sun's starting to phase out mobile Java (Java Micro Edition) that's been the standard on cellphones and other small devices in favor of their standard edition, which are made for PCs everywhere. Sun VP James Gosling's reasoning for shifting everyone over to Java Standard Edition is because "cellphones and TV set-top boxes are growing up," meaning they're getting enough processing power to handle all the demands of full-featured Java. What this means to you is desktop-level apps on your mobile devices, and less incompatibility problems on devices due to current mobile Java fragmentation—but cellphones using the old Java ME will be on the market for at least another decade. [News.com]

Windows Live Search for Mobile Goes Final, Still Great

Remember that Windows Live Search for Windows Mobile and Java phones we took a look at a while back? Well, it's gone final. We loved the beta for its local business search, maps, directions, and overall great usability, and this final version builds on that with some bugfixed and new features. More »

Windows Live Search For Mobile vs. Google Maps Mobile

Microsoft's Windows Live Search for Mobiles just went live last night, and we took it for a spin, comparing it to Google Maps for Mobile, which has traffic, maps local business searches and directions as well. More »

GMail Mobile Rushes E-mail to Your Phone

Google's recent updates to GMail Mobile are making it easier and faster to check your GMail from your cell phone. The app (which can be downloaded from Google for free) pre-fetches your e-mail automatically and lets you view attachments like PDFs, images, and Word files from your cell phone. The folks at MobileCrunch gave it a whirl and were mostly impressed by the app's speed. Sprint already has plans for pre-installing the app on some of its new phones, otherwise you'll need a Java-enabled phone to run the app. – Louis Ramirez More »

Jasper S20 Cellphone Rocks The Java OS, People Flee in Fear

Lots of people hate Java for being both slow and a memory hog, so what better place to put it than on a cellphone? The Jasper S20 is the first guinea pig cellphone to meet the JSR-209 specifications on the Java Platform Micro Edition. Translated into English, all it means is that the Jasper S20 is the first jawn to run the latest (and greatest?) version of the Java mobile OS. It allows developers to pump out prettier 2D graphics, among other things. More »

Opera Releases Mini 2.0

Owners of non-smartphones were out of luck in the browser department until Opera released their Mini. Regular Opera functionality, compatible with J2ME phones, allows lower end phones to browse standard websites in condensed form. Now with Opera Mini 2.0, users can download mp3s, pictures and videos directly onto their phones. This feature, along with buying content via sms automatically were missing from 1.0. More »

Mologogo DIY Cellphone GPS Tracking

In honor of the Maker Faire going on this weekend in nearby San Mateo, here's a DIY project to track someone from an ordinary cellphone. Using the $100 kit from Mologogo and a $6 a month data plan, a java enabled phone will upload its GPS coordinates to the Mologogo server every few minutes. You can then view the up to 100 of the last reported spots the victim has been on a google map. There's a review up from Phillip Torrone detailing how well it performed around Seattle. More »