The last time I checked, the internet was full of custom ROM para-mercenaries thinking they’re getting away with murder by developing and distributing these codes of sweetness without “permission” and so many users thinking they’re getting away with murder for using the custom ROM’s.

A ROM (Read Only Memory) is the programming of any cell phone (yes, any, and not just smart phones) that tells the phone how to operate. The ROM, or firmware, contains everything you need to crank the phone up and use it, which includes the operating system (i.e. Windows, iOS – iPhone, WEBOS – Palm, Android, Symbian, and Blackberry OS), carrier-added applications, and drivers, which is software that tells the hardware how to operate. When you turn any phone on, for the first time out of the box, the ROM is what you will see. Then you start adding on your own applications, email accounts, etc.

A sprawling section of the forum world on the internet has hosted a harbor for custom ROM developers. These are people dedicated to altering the factory ROM to meet certain needs. Some of these needs include writing in capabilities that were not intended by the carrier, such as tethering, and some just want less “junk-ware” or other carrier-added applications so that there is more available memory. Even though this may sound like a little clandestine group of super-geekers who are just getting their hacking hormones out of their system, there is actually a “big show” goal for the more ambitious ones.

Most of the custom ROM writers will provide a path to “donate” to their efforts with a PayPal link or some other payment portal and they may be able to compile enough change to satisfy their coffee shop tab. Some, however, get the attention of enterprise level forum stalkers.

So what happens? This is the really cool part. These brainiacs who have been working for peanuts (aka: PayPal donations) have now made it to the big show. The big companies have a Microsoft, Android, Blackberry, or iOS – Authorized ROM written by these lucky people and they have all of their standard mobile device apps written into the ROM. This, of course, usually includes a remote assistance app, maybe the company’s sales app (also custom written), and possibly a GPS tracking app. After the ROM is complete, the writers will get the go ahead from the OS and OEM hardware manufacturers, then somebody makes a deal for the device and carrier and, a few hundred thousand bucks later, employees are issued their custom designed mobile device.

That’s how it goes. So don’t think these folks have nowhere to go. It’s a race to the big show for them. Not a whole lot make it in, but the ones who do benefit greatly. It’s kind of like actors. So many aspire, and so few make it big.

- Matt Allgood

As a Nokia user (and N8 owner) I have a little higher standard for my mobile camera than most smartphone users.  I fully expect my phone to double as my point and shot at a moments notice.  Sadly I find this not to be true on the Nokia N9 and have found others having the same complaint with the Lumia 800.

Don’t get me wrong if you never have owned a Nokia N8 before the Lumia’s camera will be one of the best camera phones you have ever owned.  But for those of you who have ever gleamed the N8 you will be disappointed.

If you are like me you will need an introduction to all the settings for your Windows Phone camera and how to use them to their full potential. I found that exact thing for you in this post and I highly recommend you check it out.  This will help you start to get the most out of your Windows Phone camera.

This post covers all the settings:

• “Restore default settings”
• “Scenes”
• Auto
• Backlight
• Beach
• Candlelight
• Macro
• Landscape
• Night
  
• Portrait
• Snow
• Sports
  
• Sunset
• “White Balance”

I could go on and on but you get the point. Not only is there an explanation of all these features but there is even a few pictures of these showing the settings in action.

Check it out here…hopefully this post will help you get the most out of your Windows Phone camera.

VIA

Alright all you Nokia-heads, CES is underway and it’s time to get excited for Nokia’s press event today at 3 PM Pacific Time. After the exciting releases of the Lumia 800 and 710 this year, big things are expected from this event.

The main expectation is that the Nokia Lumia 900 will be announced for AT&T’s network in the US. If that announcement is made, this phone will be the first Windows OS to run on an LTE 4G network, which is pretty exciting.

If you don’t want to just speculate on what will be announced, you can stream it live here in just over 5 hours! I hope you’re all as excited as I am.

To find out what time 3 PM Pacific is in your city, click on the link below:

Time Zone Calculator 

Enjoy!

[VIA]

The fact that Engadget, a popular US tech blog, has given the Nokia Lumia 710 a positive review is a big deal on a couple os levels. First, they’ve never really been a fan of the Nokia smart phones in the past, generally giving them less than stellar reviews, so this positive feedback means that it truly is a great phone. 

Second, because Engadget has this hostility towards Nokia, them liking the 710 means that there is a very good chance that the American public will like it as well. This doesn’t necessarily mean that Nokia will start eating up massive amounts of market share from giants like Apple and Android, but it’s definitely a start. Engadget did say however, that this phone has, by far, the most bang for your buck of any single core phone on the market right now. Hopefully, there is a chance for the highly anticipated Lumia 900 to pick up from here, and have a real impact on the US smartphone market when it is released later this year. I know I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed!

[VIA]

The Samsung Omnia II features a 3.7″ AMOLED display running Windows Mobile OS 6.5. The Samsung Omnia II puts the 3.7″ AMOLED screen to good use particularly, when it comes to using the phone in direct sunlight. The clarity of colours, images and the screen are perfect.

The top of the display screen features a notification bar which also includes the windows ‘Start’ icon, which takes you to the main menu. At the bottom of the screen are shortcuts for ‘phone’ and ‘phonebook’. In addition there is a dedicated left call key and a right end key. The middle key takes you to the menu options.

The Omnia provides you with several ways to access your choices via the Today bar (which is hidden offscreen) allowing you to litter your display with widgets or a particular wallpaper. You can add and remove widgets on the Today bar and on any of your three display screens to your own specification. You can also search and add new widgets. You will already know from my previous reviews that I find three display screens the ideal number.

The Omnia II has a great deal of pre-installed applications to get any individual started from beginner to expert. Those essential apps include Facebook, internet explorer, marketplace, weather, youtube, radio, and of course windows media. Music played was loud enough for the most ardent music afficianado. Video’s were a delight to watch with the AMOLED really coming into its own with viewing the ultra-vivid colours on the display. However, youtube clips were disappointing with reduced quality videos.

The inclusion of opera in addition to internet explorer was welcome and both browsers proved fast in use and loading of websites.
Diary, email and contacts were a simple method to set up and the phone proved a pleasure to use both for media, browsing and the camera. The onscreen keyboard was easy to use in landscape but rather narrow in portrait mode.

The 5 megapixel auto-focus camera did well in taking quick images and the fast processing was a pleasant surprise. The optional album view of a 3D arc is one of the favourites here.

There is nearly an endless list of options to personalise your Omnia II from using the Samsung Touch Wiz UI to changing the theme, wallpapers, and apps to viewing icons in ‘cube’ mode.

The Omnia II proved a delight to use but with today’s option of windows phone 7, android and iOS the ‘old fashioned’ ‘start’ page and ‘today’ tab appears to confuse tasks that could be laid out in an easier manner.

The Omnia II has an internal memory of 2GB but it is also available in 8GB and 16GB memory along with the additional option of expansion via a memory card up to 32GB. Thank you to Samsung for providing the device.

Samsung Omnia 7 – The Ultimate Smartphone

Samsung Wave II – The Ideal Candidate

Here’s another video of the Nokia Lumia 719 in action.  In addition to seeing it work, we get a glimpse of some of the accessories to be made available for the device.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=eVZ_9Y8haso

[VIA]

Microsoft wants to be in control of the little voice in your ear, the photos and videos on your data device and everywhere in between. Check out the video. Convinced? Motion graphics are very cool indeed.

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Check out the voice recognition features, very similar to the recent introduced Siri of iOS, demoed on the Windows Phone running the 7.5 Mango OS version.

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SurfCube Browser is an alternative browser for WP7 phones and it’s about the be updated for the Mango version.  The guys at WMPoweruser had got their hands on the Beta 2 and made a quick review.  Check the video after the break.

You can buy this app at the MarketPlace or try it for Free.

[Via]

Microsoft has been humming and hawing around the idea of making an HD version to compete with last versions of the iPod. But, in a recent move they have decided to kill off the Zune line entirely to focus on future windows phone products.

[VIA]