I've been testing out the HulloMail Blackberry application for a little while now and I am thoroughly, thoroughly delighted.

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I am no longer scowling as I walk by the Orange Shop on any given High Street here in the UK. They now have a pretty spiffing range of devices (like this Samsung i8910 handset pictured). I no longer feel the need to physically restrain normobs I see about to enter the shop. And I can't wait 'til the Motorola DEXT hits the shelves.

I know that Posterous typically struggles with line breaks (I usually have to add my own html to emails I write) so the output might look weird.

Back to the release. It looks to me as though oMbiel have sewn up a super segment in the Universities. It's not just iPhone either. Have a read...

 ------Original Message------
From: PR Newswire for Journalists
To: em@smstextnews.com
Subject: oMbiel Announces campusM(TM) Mobile Application for Universities
Sent: 16 Sep 2009 14:18

 oMbiel Announces campusM(TM) Mobile Application for Universities
BIRMINGHAM, England, September 16/PRNewswire/ -- oMbiel a leading provider in mobile technology today announced the availability of campusM(TM) a mobile application with an integrated suite of university services brought together on a mobile device. campusM(TM) provides busy students, open day visitors, staff and conference delegates with an easy to use, uniquely branded application to help them better connect and enhance their university experience.
The visionary new campusM(TM) application is being rolled out to a group of universities in the UK and Eire with the first university to launch the service in October.
The application features campus maps where users can identify exact campus locations using GPS to search for buildings by name or address and a friend locator to help them meet up with other students. Users will be able to look up faculty, staff members or student contacts from the University directory and to add them directly to the phone's address book, view a pocket guide, prospectus and also receive the latest news and events.
"Our integrated mobile application available on the iPhone, iPod touch and other leading mobile devices, provides users with one-click access to perform a variety of functions when on the move," said Hugh Griffiths, CEO of oMbiel, "campusM(TM) integrates with university systems, which enables personal information such as their timetable, library records and financial accounts to become accessible on their mobile device."
"oMbiel is committed to providing users with an easy to use, robust and feature-rich application," said Hugh Griffiths, "Working closely with universities and combined with our entrepreneurial, innovative and technological leadership, oMbiel is able to deliver a seamless user experience to the increasingly mobile-orientated education sector."
Availability
campusM(TM) for Students, oMbiel's first integrated mobile application designed to generate mass-market adoption among UK universities is available immediately, and can be used on the revolutionary iPhone and iPod touch as well as on many other devices including those from BlackBerry, HTC, LG, Motorola, Nokia, Palm, Samsung, Sanyo and Sony Ericsson. Further integrated applications including campusM(TM) for Open Days, Conferences and Visitors will subsequently be rolled out during Autumn 2009.
About oMbiel
oMbiel delivers innovative mobile solutions to empower the mobile user. It develops bespoke mobile applications across diverse sectors for a broad range of mobile devices including the iPhone, iPod touch as well as many other devices including those from BlackBerry, HTC, LG, Motorola, Nokia, Palm, Samsung, Sanyo and Sony Ericsson. oMbiel also offers enterprise mobile integration services for capturing data from back-end sources allowing functionality to be incorporated quickly and easily into applications. oMbiel was established in 2008 and is headquartered in Birmingham, UK. For more information, visit http://www.ombiel.com or email enquiries@ombiel.com.
Notes for Editors:
iPhone and iPod touch are registered trademarks of Apple Inc.
Contact oMbiel: Tel: +44(0)121-616-0440 Email: enquiries@ombiel.com Web: http://www.ombiel.com Source: oMbiel
Contact oMbiel: Tel: +44(0)121-616-0440, Email: enquiries@ombiel.com
Profile: SMS Text News

What better use for mobile technology than to watch Top Gun on your iPhone surrounded by crowds on a packed tube. Can any eagle-eyed Top Gun fans spot the scene I captured in the shot above? Double points if you can supply a related and obligatory 'your ego's writing cheques your body can't cash' quote from the movie.
 - Taken at 6:29 PM on September 14, 2009 - uploaded by ShoZu

This is a small part of the MIR test pile - the gadgets and services awaiting video hands-on reviews. Bluetooth headset, phone, mobile charger, speaker. Not shown: the Vodafone 'vag' - all the voda employees know what I mean - and a rather sweet iPhone navigation app. The first video should be up tomorrow.
 - Taken at 5:40 PM on September 14, 2009 - uploaded by ShoZu

Talking to Nokia's EVP of Services, Niklas Savander - I will bring you the video shortly.

There are more users on Facebook via mobile than the population of the UK!

An interesting perspective on the implications of mobile.

125 million (50% of the total) login daily!

5 billion minutes are spent on Facebook daily.

Goodness me.

Niklas Savander, EVP of Services at Nokia, is on stage at Nokia World talking about how they have totally 'got the message' that developing web runtime applications and services is (or was) a total arse.

Ovi's SDK is a web based toolbox using standard web technologies (html, css, javascript).

The experience, Niklas reckons, is fantastic. He showed a video demonstrating just how simple their partners are finding the API to integrate with via Ovi Maps. It all sounds good. I'm going to have a look at the offering and see how it stacks up.

I've just filmed the ubiquitous Rafe Blandford from All About Symbian doing a hands-on with the Nokia N900 Maemo device. Goodness me it's good. It really is like a mini desktop. It's fast, sleek, and thoroughly capable. I can see a lot of the global mobile nomads adopting this device as their default choice. It even has an X-terminal application!