Simfy is a new free music streaming service for web users in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. When connected to the web, registered PC users can listen to music and create playlists without buying or downloading songs. The Simfy music streaming service offers a basic membership that is free of charge and a premium membership for € 9.99 per month. Premium members can use the music streaming service ad-free, can listen to the music when being on-line or off-line and download the desktop and the mobile applications for the Apple iPhone or Android smartphones. Premium members pay via direct debit (with German banking account) or via credit card. Social networking features like the integration of Facebook Connect have also been added: Signing up for this service allows registered Facebook users to use their profiles on Simfy.

Apps expand the range of functions of smartphones: They run on the Internet or on the phone and deliver news, weather or status updates of social networking contacts, offer direct access to web pages and online services, open documents and email attachments or help in another way. Such applications can be downloaded from web portals to the mobile for free or at cost. The most well-known app store is the App Store service for the iPhone, the iPod Touch and the iPad which is part of the Apple iTunes Store. Here users can find applications developed with the iPhone Software Developer Kit (SDK). But there are several other app stores by different operators around. The problem with all these different download and mobile device platforms is: They are not fully compatible. In fact, most systems are rather walled gardens with apps especially developed for their mobile systems and with specific download platforms pegged to.

While movie fans have traveled to Berlin this week, the mobile industry met in Barcelona. At the Mobile World Congress 2010 show manufacturers, providers and network suppliers presented latest devices and upcoming trends. Some of it – like eye-controlled earphones by Japanese operator NTT Docomo – seems weird, other things like higher data transmission rates over 4G networks or efforts to introduce standards to the world of smartphone apps sound rather promising. And, of course, handset manufacturers showed lots of new devices with new features. Here is a short wrap up of the most interesting phones and platforms of the show.

The Samsung B7620 Giorgio Armani is the third fashion cell phone made by the Korean manufacturer. Supposedly, it is designed by Giorgio Armani himself. True or not, at least the smartphone bears the fashion designer’s name in big letters on the front. With the Fashion Weeks in Milan, Berlin and Paris in mind, I have been taking a closer look at the Samsung B7620 Giorgio Armani. My conclusion: This is definitely not a phone for a bag of bones on the catwalk, but rather for a techie or a show-off who likes to spend his money before it burns holes in his pocket. The Samsung B7620 Giorgio Armani is almost as expensive as the Apple iPhone 3G S – and it is even more powerful.

When I had the chance to take a first glimpse at the new Samsung smartphone Omnia II I8000, I was excited about the phone: It offered all up-to-date functions, had a well responsive touchscreen and was easy on the eyes. Now that I had the opportunity to take a closer look at the Omnia II I8000 and after having found several weaknesses of the phone, I have to revise my first opinion. Please read this review in order to get to know more about the strong and the weak points of the new Samsung smartphone.

“Apologize” parody by OneRepublic feat. Timbaland. Now really new, but just now found at YouTube: