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Gizmodo: Skyfire 1.5 brings more speed, LESS ugly!

CodeBubba — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:42:59 +0000

For those of you that use the Skyfire web browser on your WM device … well now is the time to update it. The browser has been given a major facelift.

Full VGA Support. Skyfire now provides native support for the VGA and wVGA resolutions as seen on many recent Windows Mobile phones.
Smooth Scrolling. Kinetic scrolling has been added to Skyfire. Flick and you will see that scrolling has become very smooth.
Finger friendly UI. There are many UI updates to enable finger friendliness, increase the ease of use and add a bit of fun to the Skyfire experience. We updated as well the start page to be simpler-to-use with high-resolution devices.
Full screen mode. For touch screens we have a mode that will completely remove all UI elements from the screen to provide maximum visibility onto the page. Tap the bottom right corner to bring back the toolbar.
Auto-Move text entry. This keeps any text entry box visible when the virtual keyboard is used. This convenient feature assures that web site forms are easy to use, in case the SIP (i.e., virtual keyboard) covers it.
Latest versions of Flash 10 and Silverlight. 1.5 has been updated to the newest and most stable versions of both rich-media formats.
Performance enhancements. Both Skyfire’s client and servers have been upgraded for faster, more responsive browsing.

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Delta Airline’s GoGo Inflight WiFi

Rich Bilancia — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:22:29 +0000

On a trip from Atlanta to Denver yesterday, I got a chance to use Delta’s GoGo Inflight WiFi service on a Boeing 757.

I was impressed with the speed and ease of reconnection (I suspect that the system remembers and records your MAC address), but the process to sign up for the first time was slow, tedious and very cumbersome.

The initial signup process must have taken me close to a full 10 minutes. The process involves creating a user ID and password along with providing a ton of personal information including setting up security challenges. Even after creating the account, it took several minutes longer to enter credit card information, and deal with the ever-present challenge of reading, deciphering and entering those annoying random code response entries.

Once I was setup, connection was easy and reconnections were automatic. Everything I tried (e-mail, youtube videos, and general web browsing) not only worked, it worked fast and well!

Next time you’re on a Delta flight with GoGo, you may want to give it a try. For a limited time, first time users can access the system free if you enter the coupon code “DeltaTryGoGo”

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Google Goggles. Silly Name, Interesting Idea…

Chris Leckness — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 01:38:24 +0000

Today, Google announced “Google Goggles”, a visual search tool. Check out the video after the break for a demonstration on how it’s supposed to work. What I can say on 1st glances is that it uses the camera from a phone to capture an image and bounces the image off the Google servers to come up with the best suggestion for the object. Another cool thing is that it integrates with the compass and/or GPS to know where you are and uses this data to know what you are facing to give more info. Check out the video to see what I mean. It’s a really neat concept, but a couple reports on Twitter today say it’s not really ready for primetime yet. Of course, we know everything Google does is in Beta for 3-4 years initially anyhow. Right? hehe…

When you connect your phone’s camera to datacenters in the cloud, it becomes an eye to see and search with. It sees the world like you do, but it simultaneously taps the world’s info in ways that you can’t. And this makes it a perfect answering machine for your visual questions.

Perhaps you’re vacationing in a foreign country, and you want to learn more about the monument in your field of view. Maybe you’re visiting a modern art museum, and you want to know who painted the work in front of you. Or maybe you want wine tasting notes for the Cabernet sitting on the dinner table. In every example, the query you care about isn’t a text string, or a location — it’s whatever you’re looking at. And today we’re announcing a Labs product for Android 1.6+ devices that lets users search by sight: Google Goggles.

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Walking and Talking on your Cell Phone can KILL you!

CodeBubba — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 22:37:50 +0000

According to this article in today’s ComputerWorld you can get yourself whacked if you walk and talk on your cell phone at the same time! (Me … I can get killed walking and chewing gum so maybe this is the case!). Evidently the distraction posed by Cell Phone-In-Ear disease can be fatal when crossing a busy street.

As a private pilot I will support this view. It takes training to multitask in a cockpit and conduct radio communications (which is extremely similar to mobile phone use). It is a major distraction, particularly when you are first learning to control the airplane. Even after you have trained a loss of situational awareness can easily occur when communicating over the radio. This is why driving and talking (let alone texting) on a cell phone is a bad idea. Your number one job when driving, flying and yes even walking (especially when crossing a street) should be navigation and collision avoidance.

Read the article by clicking here or on the logo above.

-CB

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Windows Mobile Kiosks Popping up at malls…

Chris Leckness — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 23:31:11 +0000

Looks like Microsoft is finally pushing Windows Phone some. There are kiosks popping up at malls. My guess is that HTC or one of the carriers are pushing it though. I wouldn’t expect Microsoft to do this. Have you seen this in your area? Besides this one, I saw Chuong Nguyen post on Twitter about seeing one recently too.

Source: 1800PocketPC

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Schiller’s favorite apps

Dan H. — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 23:15:48 +0000

Ever wonder what apps Apple employees use on the iPhone? Here is some of Phil Schiller’s favorite iPhone apps:

Shazam (Free) “There’s just something so amazing about being anywhere, and some music starts playing and you just hold up your phone and can find out what it is,” Schiller said. “You never again have to say ‘That’s a great song! Who is it by?”
CNN Mobile ($1.99) "It’s really cool to have the news in your pocket."
Facebook (Free) "He likes Facebook for iPhone to stay connected"
MLB.com at Bar (Free)
NBA Game Time ($9.99)
ESPN Score Center (Free)
Eliminate (Free)
geoDefense ($1.99)
Best Camera ($2.99)

I use some of these applications myself, I also find them really good. What are some of your favorite apps?

(New York Times)

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BlackBerry Equivalent of Lose It!

Sam Hobson — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 01:50:55 +0000

A few weeks ago, I posted about a good diet app for iPhone called Lose It!, which basically allowed you to track food and exercise for each day in calories. It helped you set a limit of calories for each day and designed a weight loss plan based on height, weight, and sex.

Having switched back to BlackBerry in recent weeks, I was put on a search for a good diet app. After testing and trying, I came up with 2 good apps for counting calories and tracking exercise: Livestrong Calorie Tracker and Calorie Counter by FatSecret. More after the break.

(...) Read the rest of BlackBerry Equivalent of Lose It! (272 words)

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Dell creates communications division- Chris will be Happy

Stephen Borders — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 01:46:12 +0000

I just noticed this on Engadget. Since the days of the Axim many hoped that Dell would get back in the fray. Hears hoping they offer the value that they had with the Axims. Any way here is what Engadget had to say.

Turns out Mini 3i is only the beginning. Dell has announced plans to create a new Communications Group with a focus on mobile phones and similar portable devices. Current consumer division head and former Motorola exec Ron Garriques will take the helm. Not much else to say at this point, but make no mistake, Dell is now officially in the phone business for the long haul.

Our illustrious leader Chris Leckness will probably throw a party.

Via Engadget

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How to fix the keyboard crisis

CodeBubba — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 23:07:38 +0000

Most active mobile professionals own a netbook, carry a smartphone and have other small mobile devices with keyboards, such as e-book readers. Yet on just about every major device on the market in all these categories, the keyboards are hard to use and slow. The worst offender by far is Apple, with its iPhone.

This is the main problem with mobile devices these days. They have great screens, faster processors and can slice, dice and puree’ your data but the keyboards by-and-large simply are not up to the task. Mike Elgin gets into this in the article.

-CB

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7 Smartphone Predictions for 2010

CodeBubba — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:24:48 +0000

Here’s some new prognostication about the future of the Smartphone. Will they completely replace your desktop and laptop computers? I wouldn’t bet on it. I dunno about anyone else but I like a full-sized keyboard and screen for a lot of things. Still … Smartphones do make it less necessary to have all that with you all the time. Read more here. You can also click the Computerworld logo for the story.

Smartphones will grab an even bigger share of the overall mobile phone market
AT&T will lose its exclusive rights to sell the iPhone
The Android mobile operating system will take off
Mobile application stores will continue to balloon
Location-based services will get their due on smartphones
The FCC will compromise with wireless carriers on Net neutrality
More types of devices, like tablets, will emerge

-CB

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TabletPc2.com 2009 Holiday Gift Guide

ctitanic — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 01:20:41 +0000

Linda Epstein has published her Holiday Gift Guide for this Christmas. You may find many other guides but I’m sure that none of them will have the artistic touch that Linda gives to her. Check this picture:

This year’s list includes more than 100 products from over 35 vendors. Tablet PCs, Netbook’s, Laptops, All-In-One PCs, Entertainment, Accessories, iPhone, Digital Cameras, Storage Solutions and more…………

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Panoramic moTweets Updated

Chris Leckness — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 02:31:57 +0000

I just decided to download moTweets earlier today since Twikini was disappointing me. Not 1 hour later, I got an email from the devs letting us know there is a new version. Weird. Anyhow, I like it.

Changes with this release:

Auto-refresh Popup notification will no longer come up
Removed message to ask to go online, no longer required
NEW: Now has the option to play system sounds
NEW: Picture services twitpic.com, yfrog.com, twipl.net
NEW: Initial implimentation of Twitter Lists, can view the lists
NEW: Added Italian and Korean translations
NEW: Translate Tweets option
NEW: Block user
NEW: Report as Spam
Fixed issue with loading and uploading larger images

The latest version can be downloaded here.

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A Pre-Release Review of IliumSoft eWallet 7.0

CodeBubba — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 01:07:57 +0000

Ilium Software, maker of software for both Windows and the PPC has crafted a new version of their popular program eWallet. Being a user of eWallet 6.x for a good six months I was interested to see what an upgrade to this handy utility might look like. Here’s what I found out about this neat application.

For a long time I have kept all of my personal information (passwords, account numbers and other information) all together in one place using the Contact List section of Microsoft Outlook. I did this for years and it was really pretty workable. By using Outlook I could keep everything in one place and even synchronize it with my PPC and/or phone and have it handy there too.

(...) Read the rest of A Pre-Release Review of IliumSoft eWallet 7.0 (773 words)

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Resco Photo Manager – making your device even better!

Jack Cook — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:11:25 +0000

There are just some programs that are “must have” programs for your device. For me, every device I have has a variety of programs I use all the time. Two being RESCO File Explorer and RESCO Photo Viewer Pro. But now it is time for me to retire one … because there is a NEW and updated program called RESCO Photo Manager that goes well beyond what you would expect.

Besides becoming a favorite photo viewing program, you now have complete image management that is very simple to use. It has some great effects as well as many slideshow and additional features that will improve your experience.

So what are the features that will make it a great experience? Check this list out:

Touch Optimized Interface with Handy Gestures; The overall concept of the application has been changed. Now you operate in 3 main interfaces (browser, viewer, slideshow). Handling becomes easier and more comfortable with zoom, rotation and move gestures.

Quick Image Access; Browser’s home screen offers 4 main image databases (My Documents, Camera Roll, Favorites, My Albums). Camera Roll shows only images captured by built-in camera. The rest 3 databases are obvious.

Footprint Support for Devices with GPS Module; Enables adding GPS position to any of the images and make diary of the trip. Such geo-tagged image can be located on a map (using Google Maps application). If the application is not present, online Google Maps are used instead.

Upload Images to Flickr, Facebook, Picasa or Twitter; Capture images and send them straight to the net. Along with Flickr, the biggest internet image database, you can choose among other three popular social networks (Facebook, Picasa or Twitter) to upload your photos to.

Interactive Work with Slideshow; You will get ability to move forward, backward or set parameters during the slideshow itself. Change the direction, speed (3 levels) and choose among 9 slideshow effects.

You can get Resco Photo Manager for Windows Mobile here so give it a shot and enjoy the photos you take with your device even more. There is a 7 day trial, my guess is that it will become a favorite of yours!

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E-Readers declared “hot” by the Wall Street Journal

Rich Bilancia — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:09:49 +0000

In this morning’s Wall Street Journal, there is an extensive discussion and review of nine different e-Readers. It’s a good article that addresses both the popularity of the devices as well as their limitations and potential drawbacks. The article starts with:

“Books are having their iPod moment this holiday season. But buyer beware: It could also turn out to be an eight-track moment.”

I’m still looking for a way to get eight-track music that I bought in the 70s converted to MP3. I certainly don’t want to have to do something similar with e-books that I buy! That’s the primary reason that I read my e-books on my Tablet PC.

The list of the e-Readers compared in the article includes:

Amazon Kindle
Amazon Kindle DX
Barnes & Noble Nook
Cooler Reader
Irex DR 800SSG
Plastic Logic Que
Sony Reader Pocket Edition
Sony Reader Touch Edition
Sony Reader Daily Edition

The article cites many anecdotal facts including,

“Many people seem perfectly happy reading books on their PCs: Reading Web site Scribd.com, which offers millions of amateur and professional works, is attracting 50 million readers each month. LibreDigital Inc., a distributor of e-books for publishers, says the overwhelming majority of e-book buyers are women who read e-books on an ordinary computer screen, mostly between 4 p.m. and 11 p.m. A growing number of readers are also perusing books on cellphones.”

The article can be found here or here for a cached copy. The comparison graphic can be found here.

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