Back in July, we announced the availability of our fun music trivia game called Music Cube.

Since then, thousand of people have downloaded Music Cube from the App Store and enjoyed the addictive game that tests their knowledge of music and artists in a fun visual puzzle game.

To help spread the love and put Music Cube into the hands of more people, we’ve made the App free.

So, if you were holding out,  fire up the App Store on your iPhone or iPod Touch and get to challenging your musical brain with a great puzzle game!

To grab Music Cube for yourself, use this link.

AT&T released its version of a femtocell this week, called an AT&T MicroCell.  What is a MicroCell?  Basically it is a little unit that plugs into your broadband router that acts as a mini-cell phone tower.  That is, a MicroCell is a repeater for the AT&T mobile network that utilizes your broadband Internet connection to channel mobile phone calls and mobile data connections.

So, in effect, by using a MicroCell, you are helping AT&T patch weak spots in their network by lending them bandwidth from your Internet connection.  The added irony in all this: if you’re an AT&T customer who opts to use a MicroCell, you pay either pay$150 for the device or get one for $100 (with a $450 rebate) and then pay an additional $20/month to your bill.

This equation simply does not make sense and  continues the backwards thinking that exists in US based mobile carriers.  To be fair, I must point out that AT&T isn’t alone in charging for their femtocell enhancement, Sprint charges $20/month for their device and Verizon Wireless has a similar box for $250.

In my opinion, as a cellular subscriber, if you can adequately demonstrate that your mobile network provider’s network is weak in your home or business, that mobile network operator should grant you a femtocell free of charge.  Not only would this promote loyalty and reduce churn of mobile customers, but would help out your surrounding neighbors as well, as femtocells work for quite a ways surrounding the repeater.

What are your thoughts – would you pay to host a mobile carrier’s signal on your Internet service that *you* pay for?

The Android mobile OS from the Open Handset Alliance represents a great promise  for the mobile world.  Like the insanely popular Symbian operating system, Android is an open source project that any handset maker can take and implement on their hardware stack, free of charge.

Android has been available for the better part of the year and the handsets that have come to market thus far have been from well-respected handset maker HTC.  The G1 came first and in the US we now have the MyTouch3G from T-Mobile USA.

By paying attention to recent announcements in the mobile handset world, it’s apparent that Android has garnered attention from a growing list of device manufacturers.  Just last week at the Mobilize Conference, which I attended along with Taptu CEO Steve Ives, Motorola announced the Cliq handset.

The Motorla Cliq is an attractive handset features full GSM/3G and Wi-Fi Internet connectivity, a 5 Megapizel camera, full QWERTY keyboard, and media playback, all running on the Android 1.5 (Cupcake) operating system.

Also at Mobilize I had the opportunity to sit down with Frank Meehan, the CEO of INQ Mobile.  He told me (and the rest of the Mobilize conference) that INQ will enhance their existing handset palette with the addition of Android based handsets.  The new line will INQ’s premium offering, leaving the BREW platform to power their low-cost models.

These developments, along with the addition of LG and Samsung embracing Android make me think that Android is finally come around and will soon be a force to recon with in the mobile world.  The iPhone is currently the darling of the mobile world, but I know of many who are looking for an another option.

Android, with its native web functionality, touch interface, and attractive user experience might be the alternative some are looking for.  Also, for app devleopers, the Android platform is attractive.  You see, in the Android Marketplace, there aren’t as many restrictive practices that limit the publication of applications, unlike the App Store from iTunes.

If you’re already an Android user – you should check out our Wapedia app for browsing Wikipedia content.  To find Wapedia – just search for us in the Marketplace.

Last September, thought leaders and industry analysts descended upon San Francisco, California for the first Mobilize Conference.  This year, the lineup of speakers is just as strong (stronger, I think) as the focus of Mobilize 2009 shifts to the mobile web.

I will be at Mobilize which takes place tomorrow, September 10th at the Mission Bay Conference Center in sunny San Francisco along with our CEO, Steve Ives.

We’ll be attending the conference and spreading the word about Taptu and our vision for search on the mobile web.  If you’re going to be at Mobilize – please seek us and out and say hi!

In the mobile phone world, the iPhone from Apple has definitely set the bar with regards to touch interfaces.  Apple, with their multi-touch capabilities, has set a new paradigm with regards to user interfaces and user experience on mobile handsets.  We have seen other players in the mobile industry try and replicate Apple’s success, but have come short.

Nokia has appeared to be a sleeping giant when it comes to touch interfaces.  Over the last year, we have seen the Nokia XpressMusic 5800 and the corresponding S60 5th Edition come to the market.  And now, the Nokia N97 is the flagship Nokia model with its large 3.5″ touch screen.

These two handsets have been modest entries into the touch market and it appears with recent announcements from the Finnish handset maker that they have finally embraced the touch user interface and are putting their engineering talent behind it.

The Nokia N900 Tablet

As discussed before, the Nokia N900 Tablet/Phone takes some of the best features of the Nokia N97 and marries them with the popular, yet niche, features of Nokia’s Internet Tablet line.  With the N900 we get the expendable Linux-based Maemo 5 operating system tied in with a 5Mp Camera with Carl Zeiss Lens, 3.5″ touch screen, 32GB of onboard storage and a slide-our keyboard.

If you watch the demo video provided by Nokia, you’ll see they’re featuring the touch interface front and center.  The N900 from Nokia is all about creating media and sharing it with those in your social circle online.

Nokia X6

The X6 is a brand new device category from Nokia.  This X6 device is made for media consumption with its 3.2″ screen.  It also features 32GB of onboard memory and a 5MP digital camera.

But, in a huge step for Nokia, the biggest news out of Nokia World (in my opinion), is the Nokia X6 features a capacitive touch screen.  Whereas the N97 and 5800 XpressMusic features a resistive touch screen that requires ample feedback to register a keystroke or tap, the X6 will be more user-friendly – like the iPhone which also features a capacitive screen.

With its advertised 35 hours of music playback and customizable homescreen, the X6 represents a new venture for Nokia in the touchscreen phone market.

What do you think? Do these new handsets excite you?  Or is Nokia just trying too hard and coming up short?

It is interesting to see all the changes that are occurring in the handset market.  The iPhone’s effect is starting to ripple and its time for other innovators to start showing us their stuff.  Does Nokia have any chops?  You tell me.

We have been working hard at Taptu to refine our application on the iPhone and iPod Touch platform.  We believe our app is a great addition to the touch web and brings all the highlights of touch-friendly content to your fingertips.

With that in mind, we’ve released a new version of the application into Apple iTunes App Store.  There are a few notable changes.

User Interface Improvements:

These include a few minor changes to make it easier to utilize all the functionality of the Taptu Search Application. The most notable change is that the “Orbital” function is now an actual button.  This feature was present in the last version of the application, but many users missed it because it wasn’t visibly noticeable as a click-able (tap-able) button.

Now, if you click on the button in the upper right – you can see the awesome functionality which lets you refine the scope of your search by just searching images, twitter, and so on.  Also, you can see related search terms based on what you enter.

Finally, we’ve implemented a new Settings tab in the App that lets you refine how the Taptu Search App behaves.  The new tab will allow you to set user preferences in the App, without having to go to the iPhone’s settings bar.

Other Changes

We have also made an effort to tidy up the Sharing options. As before, you can still share out your results via email and SMS, or on your favorite social network such as Facebook or Twitter.  We just cleaned up the interface a bit.

In another change, if you launch the App after having it closed – it will load up the last search you executed.  This change is a direct result from user feedback we’ve attained since the App debuted in July.

Please Give Us Feedback!

As you can see, this minor update addresses a few of the concerns our users have given us since the launch of our iPhone/iPod Touch application.  In fact, two of the changed items mentioned above came about because of feedback I’ve received from our user community.

So, the bottom line is – we’re here and we’re listening.  So please connect if you have issues, comments, or concerns about our application.  We’re always looking for ways to make our applications and service better!

To grab the latest version of the Taptu iPhone App, follow this link.

Get in touch with us by emailing me at jason <at> taptu <dot> com or via our Twitter account.

Jason

US Community Manager – Taptu