In case you missed this, CBS News’ 60 Minutes just aired a profile of Marty Cooper who, while working for Motorola in the 1970’s, was responsible for a wireless device which allowed him to make the world’s first cell phone call.

The Motorola handset he used was the size of a adult’s shoe and weighed more than two pounds.

This is a terrific piece about a clever guy who is still plugged into the mobile device world and has a lot to say about the past, present and future of on-the-go communicating.

(I apologize, in advance, for the promotional commercial that CBS adds before letting you watch their news story.)

Usually that’s a no-brainer.

It’s necessary this time of year here in the New York Metropolitan area – and especially during this very, very wet Spring.

I hate big, walking-stick style models preferring small, very portable umbrellas. Easy to slip in a shopping or computer bag.

I think I’ve tried them all. The $5-$10 dollar models you buy from street vendors – the slightly more expensive Totes (etc.) models you find in department stores and even some “high-end” designs sold overseas. I’d guess that I’ve spent hundreds on these little umbrellas over the years.

All those collapsible models have shared one major trait (aside from sometimes shielding me from the rain) – they all seem to have disintegrated after a few uses.

That’s why, when I discovered Davek NY’s line of super umbrellas, I had to share my find.

These are super-tooled, super-strong, heavy-duty designs which are made to protect you for as long as you own them. That means they come with an unlimited lifetime guarantee. Not the umbrella’s lifetime. YOUR lifetime.

According to Davek their umbrellas are “made to ensure satisfaction and service for the natural life of the product. If, during its lifetime, you find any defect in material or workmanship, or the umbrella should fail to function properly, we will gladly repair or replace it at no charge (except $9.50 for postage and handling).  All they ask if that you register your umbrella with them when you buy one.

These Daveks are built from a special, 190-thread count, micro-weave fabric with a waterproof coating on the outside and a special protective coating on the inside. The frame is crafted out of carbon polymer and fiberglass ligaments to stand-up to strong winds. The main shaft is made strong to resist bending and distorting.

You know you’re dealing with a quality product as soon as you hold it. They are heavier than they look, solidly built and project an air of confidence in bad weather. Even the huge leather closing strap screams “super-luxury”.  Plus, my test umbrella came in a red presentation gift box!

I got to test one of the smaller Daveks in their product line – the auto-open/auto-close Solo. It’s made to protect one person – and protect them well. It kept me dry during some recent downpours. After the soaking, the umbrella seemed to dry within minutes – and I was able to stow it back into it’s fabric case in no time. What more can you can from an umbrella?

All this superior craftsmanship does come at a price. The Solo I tested retails for $99. There’s also a slightly smaller, Traveler 2.0 model ($79), The Golf, with a full-sized canopy ($99) and The Duet, a compact model large enough for two people ($149). Davek offers discounts for multiple purchases: check out their Website.  Also see Davek’s site for a full list of retailers.

I can vouch for the quality of the Davek Solo. If the rest of the line is as good (and I’m guessing that it is) buying one could be the last time you have to buy a new umbrella.

That’s why, a few months ago ICANN — the organization which controls Internet names and addresses worldwide – announced that that would soon begin handing-out non-Latin-based URLs.

Soon begins now.

As of today, you can head to http://موقع.وزارة-الأتصالات.مصر and be among the first to visit this Website with an Arabic address.

For those not adept at typing Web addresses from right-to-left, this basically translates into http://xn--4gbrim.xn—-ymcbaaajlc6dj7bxne2c.xn--wgbh1c/ar/default.aspx which is just a tiny bit easier to understand.

The Website belongs to the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.  It can also be accessed in its English form at http://www.mcit.gov.eg/.

The Arabic-based URL opened with no problems for me in Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera and Google Chrome in Windows XP, Vista and 7 as well as Ubuntu Linux 10.04 LTS.

Remember, this is the first non-Latin based URL.  Expect many, many more.  Just think how many hundreds of thousands of additional Websites will be asking for native language addresses in China, India, Russia, Indonesia, Israel and lots more.

No longer will surfers around the world have to know a Latin character-based language (usually English) to get to a Website in their native tongue.

And, from now on, it’s the rest of us who may have to become adept at using URLs in someone else’s language.

First there was the Google Nexus One from T-Mobile.

Then there was supposed to be a Nexus One coming on Verizon.

Instead, now we know about an AT&T version as well as a Sprint Nexus One.

So what happened to Verizon’s copy?  I’ll tell you what happened – Verizon went straight to HTC (the maker of Nexus Ones and many other Androids) and asked for something better.  What they got was the HTC Incredible.

The Incredible is a 3G smartphone (CDMA/EV-DO) running the latest, greatest Google’s Android operating system: version 2.1. It has a 3.7-inch (WVGA – 300 by 480 pixels) AMOLED screen, runs on a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 8GB of storage plus a slot for miniSD cards, it does Wi-fi, Bluetooth and GPS. So far it sounds like I’m describing the Nexus One. Despite the Incredible being more squared-off around the edges even the physical dimensions are similar.

But then add an 8 megapixel camera/camcorder and HTC’s Sense screen interface and you start to realize that Verizon has ordered up a phone that is designed to one-up the competition. Verizon also specified the black color to match the Incredible’s older brother the Droid.

There is nothing to surprise any Android phone user. There are 5 sliding home screens, a pop-up view of all installed programs as well as a big, on-screen button to get to the phone. It’s an Android phone and if you’ve used one you’ll be able to figure out another quite quickly.

Unlike the Droid with its slide-out QWERTY keyboard, the Incredible has only an on-screen keyboard.  Keys are properly spaced and you can type very, very quickly with just a little practice.  I do, though, that both phones would also come with

Verizon has added some new software of their own including CityID (displays city and state of an incoming call), Desk Clock (to use your Incredible as an alarm clock), Footprints (famous landmarks and GPS directions to find them), an FM Radio (through headphones), Friend Stream (a social networking app), Peep (obviously, so you can tweet), Quickoffice (to open/read documents on your miniSD card) Stocks, Weather and more. Basically, it’s loaded.

After charging it up and playing with it for awhile, I gotta tell you – this is one very slick smartphone. Fit and finish are superb (even better than my Nexus One tester). Everything works smoothly, quickly. And exactly as promised I wish I could say that about any other devices on the market.

Set-up was a breeze. I clicked on the Gmail icon, added log-in information, and sixty second later all of my mail, my calendar/appointments and contact lists were all installed on the new device. Ready to go in a minute. Can’t beat that.

So, what’s wrong with the phone? Nothing that I can see so far. The only oddity at all is the back/battery compartment cover. On nearly every other phone on the planet the back cover is smooth. On the Incredible the back cover is rippled. It reminds me of a raised-relief map: weird ridges and shapes. It just looks strange. Thankfully, it feels fine in your hand and since it’s colored Droid Black, it doesn’t jump out at you right away.

The HTC Incredible officially goes on sale on April 29^th for $199.99 when you agree to a two-year service commitment. Actually, that was the same price that Verizon’s Droid started at last fall. I’m guessing that the original Droid’s price is about to be reduced a bit beginning on the 29^th.

The HTC Incredible instantly becomes the Android phone to own.  That’s right now.  Let’s see what comes next (including the 4G device from Sprint).  Plus Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 devices.  And, of course, the next iPhone.

The staff here has decided the time is now right to allow all of these pearls of wisdom to fly through the air so it can be read on your spiffy Kindle book reading devices.

Starting right now.

Our perfect prose will now be available for downloading along side of all the other greats pieces of literature available in the world today.

Just for the record, Amazon.com does not allow us to do this out of the goodness of their little hearts. They charge for the privilege.

So, if you’d like to be able to read all of our timely missives miraculously and wirelessly delivered to your Kindle it’s gonna cost you $1.99 per month (a bargain at twice the price!)

And if you don’t have a Kindle (you don’t?) we’ll still allow you to get your fix via the Internet.

Copyright Apple 2010

Apple has a problem. It’s a problem they’ve created for themselves.  They wanted full control over all the content on their portable devices – and now they have it – warts and all.

They’ve decided to ban “some” apps from their iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad App Store and leave “some” other, similar ones there for everyone to purchase.  We’re talking about programs that show women in various states of undress – mostly shots of women wearing bathing suits or underwear.

The catch here is that key word “some”. It seems that if small companies make “interactive” apps that allow the user to, say, wipe clean a dirty window only to reveal a woman in a skimpy bikini – then that app has been removed from Apple’s App Store.  Same for the app that lets the user unscramble a jumbled photo of a similarly clothed actress.

On the other hand, if a large corporation produces an app for the annual Sports Illustrated “Swimsuit Issue” showing women in various poses wearing skimpy bikinis – then those kinds of apps stay.

Apple might be able to say that the banned app is slightly “interactive”  in other words you have to do something to actually see the semi-naked lady while all you have to do with the Sports Illustrated app is “turn some pages” to see many semi-naked women. 

You get the point?   They don’t want to offend Time Inc!

The man in charge of this or, at least, the guy taking the heat is Phil Schiller, Apple’s Worldwide Product Manager – one of the names that always pop-up when there’s a discussion of Apple execs who would be in-line to take over if and when Steve Jobs steps down.

The New York Times quotes Mr. Schiller in saying that Apple now believes a small number of app developers have submitted work with “objectionable content.”  He said Apple was getting an increasing number of customer complaints from women and parents.

The NY Times also quotes Schiller as saying that the Sports Illustrated app was different because it comes from a “well known company, was previously published material available broadly in a well-accepted format.”  Not sure I would have taken that tact or used the term “broadly”.

This is a dangerous tightrope that Apple now has to navigate.  I understand they have to make their App Store products “friendly” for everyone but, at the same time, not exclude large portions of the app buying public.

This is the same Apple which, through their iTunes store, sells TV and gazillions of movies and videos to watch on their devices. Some of those offerings include late-night cable shows such as “Californication”, “Tell Me You Love Me” and lots more.   Then again, how about some of that “music” Apple sells which could never be played over the radio?  How does Apple justify that when they’re banning some apps with pictures of women in swimsuits?

Apple says they have parental controls in place that should keep youngsters from being able to buy and download any App Store content deems inappropriate.  And, if that system doesn’t work Apple should fix it now.  All of these apps in question, including those like the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit app, could all be restricted to buyers of an appropriate age.

But, I also want to know what about the parents’ role in all of this?  If they’ve given their youngsters an iPhone or iPod Touch or plan to give them an iPad then they have a responsibility to know what their kids are doing with those devices. They should not be able to put all the blame on Apple.  If you wouldn’t let your child buy inappropriate items from a local store then why would you let them do so online?

If women or anyone else, for that matter, finds these apps offensive they shouldn’t buy them either.

Google seems to be taking a slightly different approach with their applications “Market” apps. At least, at this point, Google is taking a “hands-off” approach with developers. Google doesn’t screen apps beforehand but will remove offenders if they violate corporate policies. It’s a similar system to YouTube’s.

It should be very interesting to see how Apple continues to handle their ambiguous app policy – and customer feedback – going forward.

Today, industry giant Microsoft announced a top-to-bottom revision of their cellular phone operating system now being called Windows Phone.

The new Version 7 was announced by Microsoft Chief Steve Ballmer in his keynote speech at the Mobile World Congress confab in Barcelona, Spain.

From all the coverage I’ve seen Microsoft seems to have done wonders. As legend has it, Windows Phone 7 is a complete re-write of previous (and now woefully outdated versions of the OS. It looks great. And if you can believe the fan-boys blogging from the show it’s pretty amazing as well.

WinPho7 looks a lot like the logical extension of their current Zune music player operating system. That’s a good thing. Current Zunes have big block lettering, bold graphics and an easy to master touch-screen, on-screen directory system. WinPho 7 adds big block icons on the home screen.  The picture shows that it looks like no other smartphone OS. That’s a good thing.

The Windows Phone 7 manufacturing rules are a giant departure for Microsoft. In the past Microsoft produced a mobile OS and then handset manufacturers were allowed to build phones that loosely incorporated older WinMo features. Now, with version 7 Microsoft has laid down the law, Apple-style. “Here is the OS. You may now produce phones that run it exactly as we say.”

That’s currently one of the most annoying problems with Android phones. There’s an OS (actually there are a bunch of current versions in use) and manufacturers can (and do) ask Google for help in making each different phone do things differently from other Android phones. Some even change the way Android looks and operates. You’ll never see that with iPhones, BlackBerries, Palm WebOS devices and now Windows Phones.

As with previous versions, these Windows mobile phone devices are going to be warmly embraced by users who need access to their corporate Microsoft Exchange e-mail servers.

Windows Mobile phones always worked best with Exchange servers just like RIM BlackBerry phones worked best with BlackBerry Enterprise e-mail systems. Add to that Apple who want you to use mac.com features and Google’s g-mail which syncs and works best with Android phones. Those lines are blurring slightly these days but, for the most part those are facts of life for smartphone users.

With the advent of WinPho7, these new mobile devices will also have access to Xbox Live. Gaming – especially live, multi-user competition, is one area where Microsoft has a giant leg up on the competition. This level of gaming integration should appeal to the legions of Xbox junkies. It’s a good selling point for Microsoft if handled correctly.

Taking all of this into consideration, WinPho7 devices are probably going to have their work cut out for them. They’re years behind iPhones and Androids. Months behind new Palm smartphones. I’m not sure being fourth in with work for Microsoft – no matter how innovative this new OS really turns out to be.

We’ll see. Actually, we’ll have to wait and see. Manufacturer HTC says their first WinPhoi7 smartphone will be ready in the fourth quarter of 2010. That’s at least eight months away. And a few months after the fourth generation iPhone hits the market. 

A few days ago I received an email from Research in Motion.

RIM is pleased to invite you to participate in a limited preview of an upcoming application for BlackBerry smartphones. We’re offering you and a few other select BlackBerry and Twitter fans the chance to be the first to try a beta version of Twitter for BlackBerry smartphones.

You’ll have about a month to play with the app and share your thoughts on the BlackBerry Support Forums and in BlackBerry App World before it’s available to everyone else.

The application requires activation with data plan with Internet service browsing capabilities, a BlackBerry smartphone with at least 64-MB of built in memory (with at least 750KB available) and BlackBerry Device Software v4.5 or higher.

As you might expect I jumped at the chance.

Once I received the instructions and the secret password download and installation on my Storm2 test handset was a snap. I was up and running within two minutes.

After putting this beta software through its paces, my first impressions are very, very positive. I couldn’t wait to share my thoughts with you.

I know you can access Twitter on any browser – but this new BlackBerry app integrates Twitter into the smartphone’s entire operating system. That means if you’re inside your BlackBerry’s e-mail you now have the option to send a Twitter Tweet or Direct Message from your e-mail queue. That’s in addition to being able to IM or send a post to your Facebook account from your handset’s e-mail software.

Also, in addition to application’s large, blue “t” icon (which you can move onto your home screen) there’s also a tiny, little Twitter logo at the top of the screen telling you how many new tweets have arrived in your Twitter account since you last checked.

The BlackBerry Twitter app allows you to do many of the groovy things you’re able to do in your computer’s Web browser. According to RIM you can reply to tweets and also re-tweet, post a link from your BlackBerry Browser, take a funny picture and upload it (serious pictures too) and, of course, follow friends and search for popular topics.

This new app makes my Storm2 a very worthy tweeting platform and could broaden the appeal of BlackBerries for the general cell phone buying public. This new Twitter interface is clean, clear and easy to master. Integration with other BlackBerry messaging functions is a major plus.

The only fault I could find is the overall speed of the program. Not that any Blackberry software title is as speedy as similar titles on many other phones (especially devices – like the Google Nexus One – which boast Snapdragon processors inside).

This is not especially a fault of the Twitter software per se. I’ll bet that if and when RIM begins using more modern processors capable of super-speeds that their apps will benefit from the overall boost in speed.

Then again, BlackBerries are the favorite communications tool of big business, Wall Street and even the President of the United States for one reason: secure e-mail.

I’m pretty sure those power users won’t be standing around measuring the ultimate speed of their tweets. They do care about getting e-mail quickly and safely.  That’s really what made BlackBerry a major force in mobile devices. in the first place

(Not that they’re biased, or anything like that…)

Nokia just announced a very big deal.

Actually, the big deal was really announced awhile back when Nokia told the world that they had purchased a company called Navteq who, in their own words, are “a world leader in premium-quality digital map data and content.” They boast that their mapping data can be found inside most in-vehicle navigation systems sold in North America and Europe.

Nokia’s been pretty quiet about their plans for Navteq up until this morning when they announced that Navteq maps would now come free with Nokia’s GPS-enabled phones.

Available as immediate downloads for ten Symbian OS phones (access for additional phones is coming soon), the new Ovi Maps application promises turn-by-turn travel (driving and walking) instructions for free for the life of your Nokia phone.

OK, you say. Other phones also have GPS inside. True, but not as complete as this. The new, free, Ovi Maps app can get you where you want to go in 70 countries. It also offers free map updates plus free Michelin, Lonely Planet and events guides as well as providing up-to-the-minute weather forecasts.

Did I mention it’s free? This cannot be good news for the Garmins and TomToms of this world.

I had to try it for myself to see how it works. I “navigated” to the proper Website on my N97 Mini test unit (http://www.nokia.mobi/mas/download), selected my phone – downloaded the installer and let the phone do it’s thing. The entire process took something like two minutes.

I started the newly installed Ovi Maps program – pressed the “My position” button on the screen and within 1 second the phone told me exactly where I was standing. I’m not exaggerating – it was that fast.

That’s important because Nokia/Navteq’s new Ovi Maps system is completely loaded inside your phone. Pinpointing your position on a map is nearly instantaneous. The current Google/Android map solution, while very good, has to constantly download new map information to your device slowing down the process in the process.

In very early tests, the Nokia mapping system is accurate and fast. I’ll take it out on the road this weekend to see how annoying the voices helping with directions can become (a problem with nearly all GPS systems).

Free GPS maps could just be the boost Nokia needs to have some of their newest phones subsidized and sold by U.S. cellular companies. Even if that’s not the case, having super-speedy GPS in your smartphone at no extra cost could make the price of unlocked Nokia devices a lot easier to swallow.