pocketnow.com

Got a Ticket? Get $20 off Your Jawbone!

Ray Doan — 2008-07-04 10:46:51

As we all know, talking on your phone while driving is a potentially dangerous situation. In fact some states have enacted handsfree driving laws (CT, NY, NJ, DC, CA, WA, we're talking about you!!). If you are caught driving with a cellphone in hand, you will be slapped with a ticket.

The good folks at Aliph, the manufacturer of the Jawbone, are offering to help you. If you have a received a ticket for talking on your cellphone in these states, they will give you $20 off the purchase of a new Jawbone. Now of course, there are some restrictions to this deal and it is only running from July 1, 2008 through August 31, 2008. For more information, visit their website and reduce your risk of future tickets!

Review: Dashwire v2.0

Neal Stublen — 2008-07-04 00:00:09

A beta version of Dashwire was reviewed back in April, but in the world of mobile application development, a few months can be an incredibly long time. The initial version of Dashwire offered online backup and sharing by syncing the data on your mobile phone with your account on the Dashwire web site. Version 2.0, still free of cost, has added functionality to the mobile client, bringing some of the website features directly to your phone. Read on to see what Dashwire v2.0 can do for you!

Overall Rating:

The Good

Still free

Easily keep contacts, photos, and videos backed up

Integration with social networks, such as Facebook and Flickr

The Bad

Lacks sufficient support for business contacts

E-mail and other files are not synced

Lacks integration with YouTube and other online video services

Samsung's Mid-Range Smartphone: i740

Chuong Nguyen — 2008-07-03 09:32:47

While we tend to focus a lot on the high-end smartphones, there are users that don't want to pay the extra bucks to get high speed net access on their device and would be quite content with EDGE speeds for the mobile net. For those users, the Samsung Omnia would not be the right device. As such, according to Unwired View, Samsung will be releasing the i740 Windows Mobile Professional phone for those who are comfortable browsing using 2.5G data speeds.

The device does pack in some punch with a fast processor, GPS, and built-in FM radio. According to the Unwired View, the specs are:

-Quadband GSM (850/900/1800/1900) GPRS/EDGE connectivity
-Windows Mobile professional 6.1
-Monahan LV 624 MHz CPU
-2.8 QVGA 320�240px touchscreen with VibeTonz haptics feedback
-3 megapixel camera with business card reader
-Built-in GPS
-FM Radio
-microSD memory card slot (up to 4GB)
-Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, USB 2.0
-Dimensions: 107�59x13.8mm

WiFi is not available and neither is a keyboard. No word on pricing or release yet.

The form factor resembles a Samsung BlackJack, except it doesn't have a keyboard and has a large touchscreen.

RIM's Corporate iPhone Clone

Chuong Nguyen — 2008-07-03 05:19:46

According to Unwired View, Research in Motion will be releasing its version of the iClone exclusively on Vodafone and Verizon Wireless. The device codenamed the BlackBerry Thunder will be released as the BlackBerry 9500. The iClone from RIM will utilize high speed internet networks; I am not sure whether this means that there will be a truly global phone withbot EVDO and HSPA technology for fast internet globally, or if two different versions will be created.

The Thunder/BlackBerry 9500 will be a compelling device for Research in Motion and Verizon Wireless. Apple has recently announced enterprise compatibility with its Exchange ActiveSync licensing. For those corporate users familiar with the BlackBerry operating system and push email capabilities, this may mean a better choice and higher compatibility with existing servers.

If you are not on Vodafone or Verizon Wireless, don't expect the BlackBerry 9500 to appear on your preferred carrier. Both Verizon Wireless and Vodafone have lifetime exclusivity on this device.

Touch Pro Needs a Diet

Chuong Nguyen — 2008-07-02 14:10:12

According to WMExperts, the Touch Pro got a slimmer waistline in that it is narrower than the TyTN II and has the same thickness as the Mogul and the TyTN II. Essentially, the narrower design makes the unit look thick and clunky.

Hopefully, the girth means that a strong, large capacity battery will keep the unit going longer. Unfortunately, being bigger doesn't make the unit a true global phone. According to PDAdb.net, the Touch Pro still lacks AT&T's GSM 850 and HSDPA bands to make it work here in the States.

Keyboard Sliding iPhone to Come to Blue Suits

Chuong Nguyen — 2008-07-02 12:57:12

This is a rumor for now, but it is interesting that Gizmodo is reporting that a corporate version of the iPhone may be coming out of Cupertino that has a sliding keyboard, not unlike the TyTN II and the Touch Pro. According to the reports obtained by Giz, the reason for this may be that Apple wants to make inroads with enterprise sales.

This seems not too likely as Cupertino likes simple and clean industrial design and builds its products mostly for the consumer and productions market. Would a sliding physical keyboard give enough reason to make you reconsider purchasing the Apple flagship phone?

Jawbone 2 is a Performer

Chuong Nguyen — 2008-07-02 11:48:03

If you loved the original Jawbone headset for its active noise cancellation technology, the Jawbone 2 takes it up a notch with increased performance in a smaller form factor. WMExperts received a unit for review and they like it.

The new model takes the price of the old model when it first launched at around $130. It retains the same form and feature, just in half the size of the original. The touch sensitive buttons are still there whether you love them or hate them. The charger, however, was updated to using a magnetic system, similar to how the chargers on Apple's MacBook and MacBook Pro.

Overall, although pricey, the unit performs well and the noise cancellation technology works for those who need it.

Running Full Windows on the Touch Diamond

Adam Z Lein — 2008-07-02 06:20:06

While we have mentioned this before, and you've seen some screen shots in our Touch Diamond Review, now we've got a video of the Remote Desktop Mobile client in action.

With a VGA screen, the Diamond can act as a thin client for running full Windows operating systems and applications. You can essentially run anything that supports 16bit color as well as the 640 x 480 pixel dimensions of the Touch Diamond.

The speed of accessing a Windows Operating system through the Remote Desktop Client greatly depends on your network resources. Naturally, WiFi on an internal network would be the best choice, but it's still usable on slower networks if you have patience. The video above was done through a WiFi internet connection. If I connect to my Vista Business workstation from the office, the screen refresh is much faster.

As you can see below, I have access to all my work applications, terrabytes of storage, and quadcore processing power all within my tiny Touch Diamond phone.

EDIT: Unfortunately the Tablet PC features of my Vista workstation do not show up when connected through remote desktop.

Blast From The Past

Steve Mueller — 2008-07-02 05:24:59

I have Google News alerts set up for "Pocket PC" and "Windows Mobile". Tonight I started getting some hits on the Pocket PC alert from Newsweek that were fairly old. I thought you might get a kick out of this one from May 1, 2000, discussing the upcoming Pocket PC release.

I especially loved references to the BlackBerry pager and comparisons to the Palm.

For more fun, here's a group of stories from Newsweek in March 2001 including the original Stinger Smartphone and the Agate Q Drive USB key chain hard disk -- in massive 16-, 32- and 64-MB capacities.

What do you think?

How to Download Touch Diamond Skin for Smartphone

Brandon Miniman — 2008-07-01 23:15:29

As posted over at AllShadow.com, you can skin your non-touchscreen Windows Mobile phone to look like the Touch Diamond in some aspects (like the clock). I've been using the skin for a few days and I really like the quick access to weather, favorite people, and messaging. Here are the steps to get it running:

1. First download this CAB and send it to your phone in the My Documents directory (or some other directory you'll remember). Run the CAB. This is for the original HTC Home plugin for Standard/Smartphone that you'll need before you can apply the Diamond theme.
2. Then download this CAB and send it to your phone in the My Documents directory. This CAB is for the Diamond skin.
3. Go Start > Settings > Home screen, then select "HTC 2".

Enjoy! =D

BlackJack 3, Pantech Duo 2, and Tilt 2: Coming to AT&T

Brandon Miniman — 2008-07-01 20:08:54

Time for a lot of WinMo love for those in the US. Gear Diary is reporting that all three devices listed in the headline are due out from AT&T soon. Here's what you can expect:

BlackJack 3: Likely to be the Samsung i788, known as the i780 in Europe.

- 320x320 Touchscreen
- Windows Mobile SP 6.1 Professional
- Tri-band HSDPA
- 528 MHz processor
- 128MB RAM/256MB ROM
- AGPS
- WiFi

Pantech Duo 2: Likely to retain the same dual-sliding form factor unique to the original Duo. Hopefully they increase build quality on the new one.

- Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard
- 240x320 screen
- Tri-band HSDPA
- 528 MHz Processor
- 128MB RAM/256MB ROM
- GPS

Tilt 2: This is speculated to be the HTC Touch Pro based on the purported specs.

- Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
- 480x640 screen
- Tri-band HSDPA (3.6); Quad-band EDGE
- Qualcomm 528 MHz processor
- 256MB ROM/128MB RAM
- 3.0 MP camera
- WiFi
- AGPS

According to the source, the Moto Q9h Global, BlackJack 2, and current AT&T Tilt are expected to see a WM 6.1 update in July. Nice. We've been waiting.

It's clear that AT&T has seen much success from the latest wave of Windows Mobile phones, showing us that the new devices are really catching on with business users and consumers.

Is Google Entering the GPS Arena?

Chuong Nguyen — 2008-07-01 15:00:07

the::unwired is reporting that Google and TeleAtlas has entered into a five-year agreement whereby Google will have access to TeleAtlas Maps. Google already deelops mapping products in the form of Google Maps, Google Earth, and Google Maps for Mobile. In addition, Google Maps is the application of choice on Apple's iPhone.

In addition, the::unwired is speculating that Google may be entering the voice-guided GPS arena with turn-by-turn spoken directions. Google Maps for Mobile already offers users route guidance with text and visual maps and directions.

AT&T Gets Its Own iClone

Chuong Nguyen — 2008-07-01 13:42:40

As if being the exclusive carrier in the US for Apple's iPhone wasn't enough, Engadget Mobile is reporting that AT&T will be rolling out its very own iClone in the form of the Samsung Omnia. Sprint's competitively piced iClone was a hit and AT&T will be joining the foray of carriers launching alternatives to the iPhone that will have the black slab, chrome bezel look.

The Omnia seems to be a good handset and Samsung has experience with Windows Mobile. However, I am not so sure about the screen resolution. The extended/wide QVGA (WQVGA) is an odd resolution and I am not sure why AT&T's iClone can't come with VGA.

The positive thing about the Samsung/AT&T device is that it is a full-featured smartphone, unlike other iClones on the market. One can even argue that it has more features than the iPhone and allows for more advanced customizations. The Omnia runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional with Samsung customizations to make it a better consumer user experience.

Perhaps even better than the iPhone, the Omnia will come in 8 GB and 16 GB variety with an additional micro SD expansion slot for added storage.

HP iPAQ 910c Gets Handled

Chuong Nguyen — 2008-07-01 12:20:04

After long delays, HP has finally released the HP iPAQ 910c/900 and GottaBeMobile has just done a brief review of the device. The HP iPAQ 900 series does bear the candybar QWERTY form factor that was popularized by the Palm Treo. Unlike the Treo, however, the iPAQ 900 comes with a landscape oriented QVGA screen rather than a square screen.

Verizon/Sprint Touch Pro Ensuing?

Chuong Nguyen — 2008-06-30 23:02:09

If you're on Sprint or Verizon Wireless and are itching for the Touch Diamond, you're in luck. The Touch Pro is essentially the Touch Diamond that was reviewed at pocketnow.com, but with a keyboard, similar to the TyTN II that it is to replace.

According to Engadget Mobile, the device is going through FCC certification for use in the US. The model name is RAPH800.

The model that is going through FCC approval will be using CDMA technology with EVDO for high speed internet access. If AT&T or T-Mobile decide to adopt this model or the keyboard-less Touch Diamond, a separate FCC filing would need to be made for the approved GSM frequencies needed.

YouTubePlay: Free Web-Enabled FLV Player

Adam Z Lein — 2008-06-30 07:23:45

Speaking of the need for better web-enabled applications, there's actually a free YouTube video player application available on XDA-developers. It can search the entire YouTube library and plays the videos in FLV format.

Unlike the YouTube application included with the Touch Diamond, YouTubePlay does not have an option for loading the high-quality versions of YouTube videos (yet), however it does seem to be much more stable than that official YouTube player included with the Touch Diamond, and you can load off-line FLV video files stored in your device's memory!

New Domain Names May Cause Net Confusion

Chuong Nguyen — 2008-06-30 05:59:19

According to USA Today, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the group that is responsible for managing domain names and addresses on the internet, is ready to open up domain registry for all domain names. Instead of having a limit for what addresses can be named with .net, .com, .org, etc, you can name things anything you want including .pocketnow. In the future, perhaps there will be a www.reviews.pocketnow instead of just www.pocketnow.com. Essentially, a company can use its name to replace .com at the end of an address.

What this means is that there will be more domain names available. However, there may be more confusion in light of competition. Before, if you were looking up a product, like Pepsi, you can just assume it's Pepsi.com. However, with open domain names, there may be www.diet.pepsi or www.lowcarb.pepsi.

However, there may not really be that much confusion. These days, many people don't really remember domain names. Instead, people go to Google.com or Yahoo.com and search for their products and companies.

Do you try and type in companyabc.com first or are you the type to use Google to search for the exact domain name? Are you ready for www.reviews.pocketnow or is pocketnow.com easier to remember?

In light of new domain names, I can see internet search companies like giant Google be even more valuable, especially as consumers begin using the mobile internet on their phones more to search for information on the go quickly.

Is BlackBerry Finally Catching Up to Windows Mobile?

Chuong Nguyen — 2008-06-30 00:57:52

Although the BlackBerry devices made by Research in Motion have long been held one of the best email and messaging devices with some of the best keyboards in the industry, it had limitations. Research in Motion is upgrading the consumer BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) to 2.5, and along with the ROM upgrade to 4.5 in September, consumers should be able to start enjoying features long held by Windows Mobile users.

According to The Boy Genius Report, those features include:

-You can save attachments including audio and video formats.
-Full list of supported downloadable attachments are: .doc, .ppt., .xls, .wpd, .txt, .html, .pdf, .zip, and the aforementioned audio / video formats.
-File size of attachments is limited to 3MB.
-The 4.5 OS will be �available for all BlackBerry�s in September.� This includes the 8100, 8800, 8820, 8300, 8310, 8120, and the 8110. No 8320 love?
-�If a BlackBerry launches before September, it will have 4.5 software.�
-Addition of push AOL email and Hotmail/MSN accounts.

It's amazing that a push email device didn't support the native downloading of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files until this recent upgrade. The new service will roll out on June 29th, but OS compatibility is required, and that may not be until September.

Review: Toshiba Portege G810

Brandon Miniman — 2008-06-30 00:00:53

Brandon writes, "On 24 June 2008, Spb Software House, a well-respected company in the Windows Mobile software world, released a press release stating that the upcoming Toshiba Portege G810 would be the result of a collaboration between Toshiba and Spb to deliver "the ultimate mobile device experience." I applaud both companies for taking a new approach to delivering a Windows Mobile device, one that we have yet to see. But does it make sense? Or is this just Toshiba hardware with some Spb software? We've got the answer in this review." Read on for more!

Overall Rating:

The Good

Excellent Spb software included

Snappy performance

Fantastic camera

The Bad

Horrendous battery life

Hardware buttons are impossible to feel for

No good keyboard option included

Toshiba Portege G810 Hardware and Features

Brandon Miniman — 2008-06-28 10:24:38

In this video, I cover the hardware of the device. The hardware buttons are completely flat and thus difficult to feel for. The stylus is not only awkwardly placed, but feels cheap and unconventional.

I was a bit surprised to find that the microSD slot had no covering, which could make it susceptible to accumulating dust and debris when no card is present.

After having more time with the Spb Software House Enhancements, I'm much more excited about the software end of the device. The flick scrolling (which comes from Pocket Plus) is the best I've seen on a Windows Mobile device. And the animations used in Mobile Shell are smooth and fun to use.

Oh, and that full screen keyboard. It's horrendous. I much prefer using a keyboard like TouchPal, which has the choice of a T9 pad, SureType pad, and regular keyboard with large buttons.
See also:
Special Enhancements of the Toshiba Portege G810
Toshiba Portege G810 Unboxing Video
Detailed specs