Weekly Mobile News Roundup

• On Thursday the 1st AT&T let us know that Sunday, the 4th, is the official launch date of their MediaFLO service.  MediaFLO, which has been available to VZW customers for around 2 years. 
  The pricing structure strikes me as a little weird -   $13/ month for 4 channels, $15/month for access to TV (not, presumably the PIX movie channel) and $30/month for all of the channels plus unlimited MEdiaNet (wireless web) access.  I think that if they could have found a way to get at least one tier into that golden $9.99 price point that the service would be much more appealing.  Especially because of the caliber of phone required to use it.
  

Here is the full press release from AT&T.

• Also on Thursday, and also from AT&T, iPhone users rejoiced (maybe) at the news that they now have free Wi-Fi at Starbucks.  Starbucks' Wi-Fi hot spots switched over from T-Mobile to AT&T.  Giving iPhoners free Wi-Fi at Starbucks is probably a move designed to increase usage of the iTunes tie in at certain locations.  Basically, at certain Starbucks you can scan the music currently playing and purchase it from iTunes.  Much as I'd like to believe that AT&T jsut decided to be super duper nice and give away Wi-Fi, I'd be shocked to learn that it wasn't a ploy to up Starbucks iTunes (starTunes?) sales.
  Still, pretty neat if you have an iPhone and want faster internet access than EDGE can provide.

Details at PC World.

• Thursday, in its bid to become the week's most important day, was also when Adobe announced that it will icense Flash for mobile phones.  For free.  It's a move backed by a slough of handset and chip manufacturers alike.  A more robust Flash offering for mobile phones will allow for a much fuller web experience, especially when it comes to good old video.
  YouTube on the go?  Here I come!

Once again, details at Yahoo! from the Associated Press.

• On Wednesday, April 30th, Sony Ericsson (am I the only one who finds the double "S" in "Ericsson" a little weird?") told the world that they have designed a new technology to combine Jave ME and Flash Lite.  When it comes to mobile phone applications, Java ME is pretty much king of the hill.  Java's ability to access phone functions (like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS) makes it the gold standard for applications like on-board GPS navigation.  Flash Lite is king when it comes to presentation.  The GUI that you can design with Flash will blow away anything that you can do with Java.
  Sony ericsson's new development will allow th two technologies to be combined so that you can developers can put a gorgeous, user-friendly front on their applications while still retaining the Java backbone that gives the app its ultimate usability.
  Sony also said that any of these hybrid applications that come out will be treated as standard Java apps, which is fantastic news for carriers who already have long-established methods and procedures regarding Java apps (Nextel phones have an entire menu dedicated soley to Java apps).
  Very cool.  This is something that could give mobile apps a much more polished feel and give a more similar user experience to what you might find on your PC (or Mac).
  

Details at PC World.  Right.  Here.

• On Monday Tessera Technologies, Inc announced that its new OptiML Zoom technology is available for licensing.  The Technology will allow camera phones to capture pictures with up to a 3x optical zoom.  Without any moving parts.
  Camera phones, for the most part, rely on digital zoom because the moving parts to allow for optical zoom are to big and/or expensive.  Tessrea's new technology uses a combination of an ultra-advanced lens design and a new set of algoritms which combine to offer optical zoom without being an larger than a digital zoom module.
  

"Tessera's OptiML Zoom technology addresses many of the issues that have plagued camera phones since day one," said Tony Henning, senior analyst at Future Image, Inc. "We're optimistic about the adoption of Tessera's non-mechanical zoom capabilities by handset OEMs and module manufacturers, and the subsequent widespread availability of higher quality camera phones in the near future."

OptiML Zoom seems pretty cool, especially, I think, for dads.  See, moms who want to snap decent pictures of their kids have it pretty easy.  There are a metric ton of decent, cheap, small digital cameras that they can throw in the purse and break out when the kiddo does something cute.  Dads, for the most part, rely on divying up valuable pocket real estate for things like keys, change, wallet, cell phone, etc.  Being able to double up and have a camera phone helps.  Having a camera phone that can actually compete, from a quality standpoint, with a dedicated camera?  Awesome.

Details at Tessera.

• Boy Genius Report has a blurb (and pictures) of the BlackBerry Kickstart.  It's a BlackBerry clamshell that appears to be based on the Pearl series.  From the pictures it looks like, when closed, it has about the same footprint as the Pearl.  The advantage being that a) the flip design will protect the main LCD and the buttons and b) when opened it will allow for a much larger main LCD than the current Pearl series.  It looks really neat.  Except for the keypad.  It uses SureType (2 letters per key) which is to allow for a narrower keyboard.  I've never been a fan, but there is a reason behind it.  This let's the BB have a more phone-like profile.  The slimmer keypad was first introduced with the 7100 series and carried over into the 8100 (Pearl) series for folks who want their BB to be a phone first.  Exciting, but clamshell smartphones don't really seem to catch on.  When's the last time you saw someone with a Samsung i500?

Details here.