Pocket PC Thoughts - Daily News, Views, Rants and Raves

Friday, May 16, 2008

Data From Hubble To Earth Cheaper Than Texting Your Friend

Posted by Ed Hansberry in "Thoughts Media Off Topic" @ 02:00 PM

• Discuss this story [1 reply]
• Permalink

Asus P560 Coming Soon

Posted by Nurhisham Hussein in "Pocket PC Hardware" @ 11:30 AM

http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/...-many-acronyms/

"HSDPA, WiFi, 3.2 megapixel autofocus cam, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, GPS, microSDHC slot, 256MB of ROM, 128MB of RAM, and Microsoft's freshest build of Windows Mobile Professional -- 6.1, that is -- all have managed to find their way into the P560's unassuming shell. Not bad, though the €500 (about $772) price tag could scare a few folks away when it launches next month."



The first thing that struck me was - boy, is this thing loaded. The second thought that struck me was, pace EngadgetMobile that price is actually pretty reasonable. You'd only call it expensive if you're comparing against subsidised, SIM-locked phones - the P560 would actually come in quite a bit cheaper than the TyTN II (at least in my locale). It looks like Asus is following other manufacturers in overlaying the Today screen with their own UI, though if this a sample, it looks rather pedestrian. The hardware design doesn't stand out either, at least to me, yet the hardware specs scream premium device. Anybody else have thoughts on this?

• Discuss this story
• Permalink

Elecont Pocket PC and Smartphone Manager

Posted by Nurhisham Hussein in "Pocket PC Software" @ 09:00 AM

http://software.pocketpcthoughts.co...cket-PC-manager

"Each of us collided with necessity to close the program for clearing memory for other programs or quickly switch between programs or see the started programs. Windows Mobile does not have convenient means which can help us with this. Elecont Pocket PC and Smartphone manager will give to you a fast and convenient way of management of your device. You can control your device only in two clicks -- open programs, close all except this or close all. In addition you'll always have the main indicators like overall memory usage and battery and memory usage for each program."



Yet another task manager? This one though is a little different - rather than just messing around with the close button, Elecont has elected to approach the problem by using a today/home screen plugin. I really like the idea of an exclusion list - if you had for example a program you want running all the time (Pocket Hack Master springs to mind), this is a life-saver. Another plus point is the app supports all versions of Windows Mobile from WM2003 to WM6.1. Elecont Manager is available for $9.99 through our affiliate links - click here for the Professional version, and here for the Standard version.

• Discuss this story [1 reply]
• Permalink

E-TEN Preparing Dual-SIM Glofiish DX900?

Posted by Darius Wey in "Pocket PC Hardware" @ 06:20 AM

http://smartmania.mobilmania.cz/ind...single&ide=1024

Dual-SIM Windows Mobile devices are few and far between, so SmartMania.cz's latest report (translated version) naturally caught our attention. The Czech site is reporting that E-TEN has a dual-SIM, HSDPA-capable Glofiish up its sleeve and before you ask - it's not the upcoming V900. Instead, this one's dubbed the DX900 and features Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, a Samsung S3C6400 533MHz processor, 128MB RAM, 256MB ROM, a 2.8" VGA touchscreen, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, an FM tuner, a 3.0-megapixel camera, a G-sensor (accelerometer?), and a microSDHC slot. No details yet on price and availability, let alone whether this device actually exists, although next month's Computex might clue us in.

• Discuss this story [2 replies]
• Permalink

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Winners of the SpaceTime 3.0 Contest

Posted by Darius Wey in "Pocket PC Events" @ 05:00 AM

http://www.spacetime.us/platforms.p...etpcthoughts484

For those of you who answered "1" in last week's SpaceTime 3.0 contest, congratulations on answering correctly! But an even bigger congratulations to the winners of the contest. If your username appears in the list below, expect a message in your forums inbox within the next 24 hours.

• All-platforms license: knightk
• Platform-specific license: maskology, jbtaylor

But the rest of you don't leave empty-handed. Thanks to the generosity of SpaceTime Mathematics, we have a discount code for you to save big on SpaceTime, especially the all-platforms version. Click for details.

• Discuss this story [1 reply]
• Permalink

Philips Back In Pocket PC Market With X800 and X-Connect

Posted by Ed Hansberry in "Pocket PC Hardware" @ 04:00 AM

http://www.gsmarena.com/philips_x80...h-news-502.php#

Philips was one of the first in the Windows Mobile market, then called Windows CE, Some of you will remember, or may have even owned, the Philips Velo or Philips Nino. Unfortunately, Philips jumped ship when the name change to Pocket PC happened and has ben absent ever since. Now they are making their way back with two new devices, the X800 and X-Connect.


Philips X-800

Specs for the X-800 include:

• tri-band GSM/GPRS (so not likely destined for the US market. )
• 2.9" display with 240x400 resolution
• Touch interface
• 2megapixel Camera

Pricing and release date are not known. They also have a device called the X-Connect which has few details, other than a 3 inch screen and it will lack WiFi - which is an odd thing to lack in a device with the word "connect" in its name.

• Discuss this story [7 replies]
• Permalink

Vertical Keyboard, Anyone?

Posted by Nurhisham Hussein in "Pocket PC Software" @ 03:00 AM

http://www.empowermobility.com/

One of the things that bugs me about software input panels is that when you're using a device in landscape mode, the panel shoves everything else off the screen to the point where you can't see what you're doing. Even in portrait mode, the popup panel can be a little annoying, and I can just imagine the angst with square screens. Tom Jaros at Empower Mobility thinks he has a potential answer to this problem - make a vertical keyboard (see pic above). The mockup displayed has the SIP coming out of the left or right, or alternatively split in two. As the owner of a fairly large device (ok, it's a brick), this idea is pretty attractive and I'd love to see something like this developed. But before that can happen, Tom wants some feedback from the community about what you'd like to see, and whether you'd use an app like this - bear in mind that the picture displayed is a mockup, and will definitely be refined. Thumb/finger friendly keys is one area of improvement, and layouts that would help increase data entry is another. If anybody has any thoughts on this you can drop in on the Empower Mobility website and take the survey, or just post your comments right here. So, what do you guys think?

• Discuss this story [1 reply]
• Permalink

Battle of the Touches: HTC Touch Diamond vs. iPhone

Posted by Darius Wey in "Pocket PC Hardware" @ 02:00 AM

http://chinese.engadget.com/2008/05...s-apple-iphone/

"Our brethren over at Engadget Chinese had the chance to size-up HTC's new Windows Mobile 6.1 Touch Diamond with Apple's iPhone this morning in Taiwan. We have to admit, HTC's CEO was dead-on when he claimed that the Diamond's "not too big, not too small" after seeing it side-by-side with Microsoft's left-coast nemesis."



You've all seen the Touch Diamond (which, by the way, has now received the FCC's tick of approval) in renderings. Now, see it in the flesh. Here it is next to the iPhone. The Touch Diamond is quite a bit smaller, although fortunately, not too small that you can't hold it without losing it. How will it compare with the next-generation iPhone? I guess we'll find out in the weeks ahead.

• Discuss this story [3 replies]
• Permalink

3 in 10 Get All or Most Calls on Cell Phones

Posted by Pete Paxton in "Smartphone News" @ 01:00 AM

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080514...BhfUcn11ghI2ocA

For nearly three in 10 households, don't even bother trying to call them on a landline phone. They either only have a cell phone or seldom if ever take calls on their traditional phone. The federal figures, released Wednesday, showed that reliance on cells is continuing to rise at the expense of wired telephones. In the second half of last year, 16 percent of households only had cell phones, while 13 percent also had landlines but got all or nearly all their calls on their cells.



I shouldn't be shocked by this. I knew this was happening but I didn't realize that three out of ten households perhaps don't even have a landline. We have both at my my place. We do use our landline but that's because I can't get reception in this little pocket neighborhood I live in. How about you? Has a cell phone replaced your landline all together? If not, why? If you do strictly use a cell phone, do you ever miss a landline or is mobile the way to go?

• Discuss this story [11 replies]
• Permalink

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Put Windows Live on Your Windows Mobile Phone

Posted by Rocco Augusto in "Smartphone News" @ 11:08 PM

http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/w...bile-phone.aspx

"Windows Live for Windows Mobile is now available to download for your Windows Mobile phone. Windows Live for Windows Mobile lets Windows Mobile users sync their email from Windows Live Hotmail as well as their Windows Live Contacts. Just download the .cab file for the version of Windows Mobile you are running (Standard or Professional). Windows Live for Windows Mobile works on phones running both Windows Mobile and Windows Mobile 6 (and 6.1)."



It seems like just yesterday we were reporting on the Beta version being available for download, huh? Well Windows Live is now available and ready for download in final version form. While Windows Live isn't exactly on my must have software list - mostly due to the incredibly annoying integration of my Exchange contacts with my Windows Live contacts - the program did serve to be pretty handy the few times that I did use it. According to Neowin and Windows Live Messenger has been removed as to not interfere with revenue that the carrier would normally make off SMS... which I find utterly ridiculous because the same argument could be made for email and Microsoft chose to leave Hotmail integration in with this software package. Oh well. You can download the latest version of Windows Live for Windows Mobile Smartphones and Pocket PCs here.

• Discuss this story [13 replies]
• Permalink
• Source: Neowin.net