Recently in Mobile tech Category

It's tragic how fate is treating RIM. Blackberry was the standard bearer for mobile computing and now these difficulties threaten to destroy RIM.

Even distinguished figures such as Piers Morgan are taking to Twitter to condemn the service. All we need now are some harsh words from Jordan and Chris Huhne and I fear RIM is done for.

We cannot let this happen.

Come on, all you spin doctors, reputation managers, profile raisers, game changers and just plain old public relations gurus. Surely we can put recent events in a positive light.

Any suggestions?

Do you want to hear my ideas? [Oh go on then - Ed]

Maybe we should look at the positives. Surely, a bit of downtime is good for you. Can't we talk about the health benefits of weaning people off their crackberries? Would it kill us to have a few days when we're not hunched over a gadget? Maybe RIM is helping us all to re-evaluate our lives, in which case we should thank them.

What about blaming a nameless foe? I don't know about you, but only one name came to mind when I heard about Blackberry's problems. Yeah. You know who I mean don't you? Would it be a good idea to circulate a rumour that the hidden hand of You Know Who was behind all this?

No on second thoughts, that's rubbish.

Surely you've got some good ideas you can share.

Gather round the water cooler, you guys. It's time for a thought shower.

Keep quiet about this - it's an industry secret - but some IT companies can be a bit dull to work for. But how do you move up the ladder?

If your current job leaves you creatively unfulfilled, and you want something impressive to put on your Linkedin profile, why not create a mobile app? You'll never get rich, but it'll impress future headhunters or clients.

We asked Oli Christie (left with comic Dom Joly), CEO of mobile games studio Neon Play for his 10 top tips on creating your own successful mobile game. As a quid pro quo, I should mention that, with over 23 million downloads and seven UK number 1 games, Neon Play is the top independent mobile games studio in the UK. Neon also developed a game for Dom Joly. 

1.  Have a cracking, unique idea. Everyone always says they have a "great idea for a game", but there are 500,000 apps to compete with, so it's not that easy to find one that's never been done before.

2.  Keep it simple. Games like Doodle Jump are very easy to play, but a challenge to master. That is the mantra you should follow for a successful game. 

3.  Do your research. Chances are that your amazing game idea has already been done, so have a look at the App Store and see if there's something similar. If there is, go back to the drawing board or find an interesting different angle.

4.  Don't quit your day job. Only a tiny percentage of apps make a profit. You will not be the next Angry Birds, so manage your expectations. If it succeeds, then quit. Focus on Apple first and Android later.

5.  Talent required. You need a designer and a developer as a bare minimum. If that's not you, ask your mates, go online, but find the best you can afford. Maybe do a rev share. Or programs like Game Salad make it possible to make your own game.

6.  Test, learn and refine. Get as many friends and family to play the game. Don't say a word and watch them play it and see if they get it and which bits they don't. Don't take feedback personally, but change the game where necessary. Playability and fun is key.

7.  Set your price. Do you charge a flat rate 69p for your game? Or go free with advertising? Or the most profitable way is "freemium", which is a free game with features in the game that players buy to enhance their gaming experience. Kerching.

8.  Standing out from the crowd. With hundreds of new apps being released every day, you need to get promotion for your app. So find an interesting news angle, get some PR, use Facebook and Twitter, plus do a promo video for YouTube. Every little helps.

9.  Review sites. Send your game to all the major app review sites and journalists. You get 50 free promo codes from Apple (so they can play the game without paying for it). Good reviews and a high star rating help sales.

10. Listen and learn. Get feedback, fix bugs, do updates. As your fan base grows and you earn more revenue, do a bit more research into other ways to earn money. There is huge potential to earn big bucks, but do not underestimate that it is very, very hard.

In a survey conducted last week, this column uncovered the truth about iPhone users; they make the worst drivers.

The survey was conducted on two separate occasions on the same stretch of road.

Cycling against the traffic, from Chobham to Kingston in Surrey, researchers counted the number of motorists who were driving while consulting their mobile phones.

80 per cent of those who took their eyes off the road to look at their smartphone were iPhone owners.

The other one (20 per cent) looked like a Blackberry user. You know the type.

The results didn't surprise me, who conducted the bicycle based research. 

"IPhone users are a menace on the road, and should pay extra road tax," I said, before calling on the government to act. "I call on the government to act," I said.

I told the world about SpinVox but no-one listened. Then along came the BBC's glamorous Rory Cellan-Jones, and they all listened. I can't imagine why no one took me seriously! 

(Here I am, left, in a kimono)

About the time when the News of the World stealing private moments from anyone with a saleable personal life, I was experiencing my own hacking crisis.

In my case, my privacy was invaded because I was a journalist. I'd been hired as a writer by a multi-millionaire to write some case studies about a telecoms dealer. They liked my work so much that they posted the articles, word for word, on their web site (as was established, when the case finally came to Coventry County Court where I eventually won a pyrrhic court battle).

But as soon as they discovered I was a journalist (boo! hiss!) they decided they hated me. Not only should no good deed go unpunished, they also decided - on receiving the court summons - to embark on a follow up hate campaign involving attempts to access all my phone conversations.

Like an idiot savant, I mounted a brilliant defence against this thuggery, without even realizing what I was doing.

I appointed a man in India to listen in to intercept all my mobile phone messages, type them out and text them to me. I didn't know I was doing this at the time, as the company that offered me the service, SpinVox, assured me it was all done by voice-recognition technology.

If the translations were really achieved by their machines (and I was personally shown them by the CEO, Christine Domecq) they would have been running voice-recognition algorithms 50 years ahead of their time.

I wasn't really bothered either way; I'd rather they were creating jobs for a man in India than for a machine in Marlow.

The point is, the low-techness of the arrangement stopped my calls from being hacked. All my lost phone messages were immediately removed from my inbox, recorded and emailed out to India, where a man hunched over a keyboard with a pair of headphones on typed them out and his broken English was then texted to me.

Funnily enough, the News of the World weren't interested when I told them about SpinVox's smoke and mirrors act. Only the Daily Telegraph took my story, but they stuck it on the City Diary page.

Years later (years!) the BBC and The Guardian picked up on my revelation and SpinVox eventually got in trouble for misleading investors, went into a downward spiral and got bought out.

In its heyday it was Britain's fastest growing telecoms services company and hailed by everyone from government spin doctors to the Sunday Times Top 100 Business list. International telcos and mobile operators were queuing up to buy the service.

I still think the service was (and is) brilliant. If only they'd been honest about it.

Surely, given our new-found insecurities over phone hacking, it's high time someone revived SpinVox. I'd sign up for it.

I told the world about SpinVox but no-one listened. Then along came the BBC's glamorous Rory Cellan-Jones, and they all listened. I can't imagine why no one took me seriously! 

(Here I am, left, in a kimono)

About the time when the News of the World stealing private moments from anyone with a saleable personal life, I was experiencing my own hacking crisis.

In my case, my privacy was invaded because I was a journalist. I'd been hired as a writer by a multi-millionaire to write some case studies about a telecoms dealer. They liked my work so much that they posted the articles, word for word, on their web site (as was established, when the case finally came to Coventry County Court where I eventually won a pyrrhic court battle).

But as soon as they discovered I was a journalist (boo! hiss!) they decided they hated me. Not only should no good deed go unpunished, they also decided - on receiving the court summons - to embark on a follow up hate campaign involving attempts to access all my phone conversations.

Like an idiot savant, I mounted a brilliant defence against this thuggery, without even realizing what I was doing.

I appointed a man in India to listen in to intercept all my mobile phone messages, type them out and text them to me. I didn't know I was doing this at the time, as the company that offered me the service, SpinVox, assured me it was all done by voice-recognition technology.

If the translations were really achieved by their machines (and I was personally shown them by the CEO, Christine Domecq) they would have been running voice-recognition algorithms 50 years ahead of their time.

I wasn't really bothered either way; I'd rather they were creating jobs for a man in India than for a machine in Marlow.

The point is, the low-techness of the arrangement stopped my calls from being hacked. All my lost phone messages were immediately removed from my inbox, recorded and emailed out to India, where a man hunched over a keyboard with a pair of headphones on typed them out and his broken English was then texted to me.

Funnily enough, the News of the World weren't interested when I told them about SpinVox's smoke and mirrors act. Only the Daily Telegraph took my story, but they stuck it on the City Diary page.

Years later (years!) the BBC and The Guardian picked up on my revelation and SpinVox eventually got in trouble for misleading investors, went into a downward spiral and got bought out.

In its heyday it was Britain's fastest growing telecoms services company and hailed by everyone from government spin doctors to the Sunday Times Top 100 Business list. International telcos and mobile operators were queuing up to buy the service.

I still think the service was (and is) brilliant. If only they'd been honest about it.

Surely, given our new-found insecurities over phone hacking, it's high time someone revived SpinVox. I'd sign up for it.

I don't know about you, but I hate wearing headsets and those ghastly ear things. There must be a nice way to be handsfree.

Gigaset has just released the latest handsfree home phone, the Gigaset L410.

Unlike an ungainly headset, the L410 does not attach to the ear but is simply clipped to clothing and, weighing just 30 grams, is hardly noticeable, meaning you no longer have to compromise on style.

They could have made it a bit more stylish though. Why not make them in nicer colours? Or in the shape of a brooch or something. Surely a nice pink flower brooch style handsfree gadget would accessorise any outfit!

The end result is that users are able to take care of other tasks in the kitchen whilst simultaneously making a call - whether that's loading the dishwasher, making a coffee or simply cooking.

There's one marketing agency I know of whose offices are like a library, normally.

But, when a client visits, the old codger running the agency puts gangster rap on the sound system, in an attempt to convince the client they are young and funky.

It works, too. When I was there, they won the Citrix account!

There are less desperate ways to give your office a hip, contemporary feel. Surely. I'm buggered if I know what they are. But here's a suggestion.

The POP handset is a bright and funky accessory that offers mobile phone users the convenience and comfort of a traditional telephone with all the functionality of today's most popular devices.

Available in pink, yellow, purple, blue and green soft touch finish, has a fun feel that combines a contemporary edge and a compelling health proposition - the POP phone reduces the users exposure to potentially harmful radiation exposure by up to 96%.

Using a 3.5mm jack (adaptors are available) users can connect the POP phone to a mobile phone, iPad or PC for Skype calls, and are able to enjoy the full functionality of the device whilst making calls. You could be checking your diary, reading emails or dancing like dad at a wedding.