Smartphone Thoughts.com

Win 1 of 3 iZel Device Holders

Jason Dunn — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:00:00 GMT

Remember the iZel review that I published a few weeks back? Well, the makers of the iZel have offered us three to give away to lucky Thoughts Media readers! This contest is open to anyone in the US or Canada (sorry rest-of-world). Entering the contest is really easy: all you have to do is post a message in this discussion thread telling me what kind of device(s) you'd want to use with the iZel. That's it! I'll randomly select three entries and each person will win an iZel. Nice and easy! The contest is open until the 16th of July, at 12pm (GMT -7). Enter now!

UPDATE: Only one entry per person, and if it's your first post, please allow up to 48 hours for it to show up.

HTC Finally Gets It: 3.5mm Plugs to Become Standard

Jason Dunn — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:30:00 GMT

http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2009/07...kes-the-switch/

"The vast majority of devices we launch after Hero will have a 3.5mm jack. Devices that we have already announced butthat still come out after Hero will not necessarily be a part of this change."

That's a quote from an HTC represenative on the question of why there aren't more HTC devices with 3.5mm headphone jacks on them. This is an issue that I bring up time and time again, and I'm glad to see that HTC finally gets it. No one wants to carry an adaptor with them - it's just a hassle and one more thing to misplace or forget to pack. As long as headphones are standarized around the 3.5mm plug, devices should have a matching plug. It seems that HTC have finally heard the cries of customers who want the 3.5mm jack on their HTC devices, and HTC is going to include 3.5mm jacks on many future devices. Sounds like good news to me!

Does Windows Mobile Still Have a Market Left?

Jason Dunn — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:08:00 GMT

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mi...ns?pagenumber=1

"As computing goes mobile thanks to the emergence of more powerful devices, Microsoft Corp. is finding itself increasingly threatened by new rivals -- and some old ones, too. The company's mobile technology has suffered in comparison to both the iPhone, from traditional foe Apple Inc., and Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry. Meanwhile device makers who have normally been big supporters of Microsoft's mobile operating system software, such as Motorola Corp. and Palm Inc., have been moving toward the use of different technology."

We've already had an interesting discussion about this topic, but as people look at the mobile market it's going to come up again and again: Microsoft has really dropped the ball in terms of competing in this space. In some ways, this echoes what they did with Windows XP: it was a good product when it launched, but they took their eye off the ball and got lazy - and Vista shipped years late, and missing many of the features it was supposed to have. Similarly, Windows Mobile was a great mobile operating system back in the day - but Microsoft focused on the wrong things, year after year, and now have ended up at the bottom of the marketshare heap. They can do better - and they will do better - but for now, they're going to take some lumps.

Free Screen Capture From Ilium Software

Ed Hansberry — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 02:00:00 GMT

http://blog.iliumsoft.com/2009/07/0...date-available/

Ilium Software has just released an update to their Screen Capture utility for Windows Mobile devices. I haven't downloaded it yet but I think this saves files in PNG format, which is quite a bit smaller than the old BMP format the previous version used. It is available for WinMo 5 and 6.x devices, both Professional and Standard. If you are still using WinMo 2003SE or earlier, you'll need to continue using the older version.

Just like the previous version, this one is free.

Microsoft Branded WM Phone?

Nurhisham Hussein — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:00:00 GMT

http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2009/...rosoft-branded/

"ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley says her best understanding of "Pink" is now that it's a Microsoft-branded phone running a custom UI on top of Windows Mobile 7, developed by what's left of the Danger team and targeted at the Sidekick market. Yep, Microsoft-branded -- as in, the exact thing Microsoft has been denying for ages now."

The current Windows Mobile ecosystem is similar to the way Microsoft has treated the PC world - an MS based operating system riding on hardware made by others. First Xbox, then Zune, demonstrated Microsoft's willingness to break away from that hugely successful paradigm, because it didn't translate well to other markets. Are we going to see the same thing in the Windows Mobile world? Apple showed one way to build a market based on a closed eco-system - but then Microsoft didn't exactly have a blazing success emulating this model with the Zune. Windows Mobile has in its own understated way been a success because it met the needs of the enterprise market. Now that smartphones for consumers are all the rage, this (along with WM7) looks like the MS response. Good idea? Bad idea? Thoughts wanted!

NVidia's Tegra Coming From a Top 5

Jon Westfall — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:30:00 GMT

http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2009/...facturer-befor/

"If you want to get HD in your handheld, NVIDIA's Tegra processor is the hot way to do it at the moment, and we've got reasonably concrete sounding rumors from disparate sources that a handset containing one of the chips is currently under development by a "top five" smartphone builder (we're guessing it's not Apple)"

What really is a "top 5" manufacturer? Is this sorted alphabetically? If so then I really need to get my "AAAdvantage Manufacturing" subsidary up and running... All kidding aside, NVidia's Tegra may be an interesting addition with Windows Mobile rumors swimming around it.

Skype 3.0 Goes Gold

Darius Wey — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:25:00 GMT

http://www.skype.com/download/skype/windowsmobile/

"It's better than ever before - the Gold version of Skype 3.0 for Windows Phones is now available for download. It includes two cool new features: SMS and file transfer. Sending SMSs using Skype is a great way to reach friends and family instantly anywhere in the world - Skype's low rates mean that you won't have to break the bank to do it. And file transfer lets you send files quickly when you're on the move. We've ironed out the remaining wrinkles since the Beta release, and it's ready to go."

Skype 3.0 for Windows Mobile has gone gold. Aside from the usual bug fixes, it packs support for SMS and file transfers. Go get it.

Windows Mobile Design Concepts

Nurhisham Hussein — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:00:00 GMT

http://www.istartedsomething.com/20...uve-never-seen/

"Chinese Microsoft enthusiast blog LiveSino.net today posted a bunch of links to some interesting portfolios by a handful of Chinese designers who works at the Microsoft Advanced Technology Center (ATC) Studios in Beijing. What many people don't know is that the ATC has been largely responsible for the user experience design of Windows Mobile. This however is no longer the case as WM 6.5 was their last project, but up and until now, they've been busy conceptualizing the future of Windows Mobile. Most of those concepts have never surface in public before, until now."

Cool stuff. Shame most of them won't ever hit store shelves (phones or UI), but maybe somebody else might pick up on these design ideas (pace IP rights), and incorporate them into future Windows mobile devices.

Acer Aspire One for $199 from Expansys

Jason Dunn — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:04:00 GMT

http://www.expansys-usa.com/d.aspx?...rtner=pthoughts

This is a bit off topic for some sites in our network, but a good deal is a good deal: our hardware affiliate partner Expansys is selling the Linux-based version of the Acer Aspire One for $199, which is an excellent deal. This version of the Aspire One has an 8.9 inch screen, 1 GB of RAM, a 120 GB hard drive, and uses the 1.6 Ghz Intel Atom CPU. Combine that netbook with a $49 copy of Windows 7, and you've got yourself a nice little piece of mobile computing technology (just be sure to also have an external USB-based optical drive). I haven't installed Windows 7 on an Acer Aspire One, but I suspect it would work just fine - Windows 7 identified all the important hardware on my MSI Wind and HP Mini 1000 netbooks without a problem. At the time of this writing, Expansys only has 58 left in stock, so don't delay.

AT&T and Rogers Communications Ticking Off Customers Again

Ed Hansberry — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMT

http://www.canada.com/MythBuster+us...1348/story.html

Just in case you missed it, AT&T tried to charge MythBusters star Adam Savage $11,000 for a recent trip to Canada for roaming. It had to do with the wording in their contract that says roaming data will be charged at ".015 cents, or a penny and a half, per kb" AT&T seems to have gone to the same school of math that Verizon did a few years ago where in their strange carrier world, .015 cents = a penny and a half.

In other related user ticking-off news, Rogers Communications in Canada is going to start charging users 15 cents for incoming text messages, though if you have a text plan, you probably won't be hit by that charge.

Exchange 2010 and Windows Mobile 6.5 Features Demoed

Pete Paxton — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:30:00 GMT

http://wmpoweruser.com/?p=5267

"In these two videos Adam Glick from Microsoft demonstrates the newest Exchange 2010 features for Windows Mobile 6.1/6.5. Features like conversation view, ignore/move conversation, voice mail preview, voice to text, get free/busy, the new allow/block/quarantine phone list and reporting built in to Exchange 2010 are shown."

Exchange 2010 is looking cooler by the minute. WM Poweruser has a couple of videos showing off the features for our 6.1/6.5 devices. Many of the tools seem much more comprehensive than what we're using now. The voice to text feature is especially cool. If you're an IT pro, there's a video for you too. So if you've wanted to see how the two interact and what the future holds, just follow the link.

Pre-Order Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade for $49.99, Limited Time Offer

Jason Dunn — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:37:00 GMT

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...ASIN=B002DHLUWK

You'll have to excuse the network-wide broadcast (well, except Apple Thoughts of course), but I thought this was something that everyone would want to know about: Microsoft is offering the forthcoming Windows 7 at a steep discount, but only for a limited time. Until July 11th, you can purchase Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade for $49.99 USD (that's an Amazon affiliate link, so your purchase helps support Thoughts Media). The normal price of Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade is $119.99 USD, so that's a very significant level of savings ($70 to be precise). You can also pick up Windows 7 Business Upgrade for $99 if you want that version. When Windows 7 is released on October 22nd, Amazon will ship you the software.

The Windows 7 upgrade will work on a computer with Windows Vista or Windows XP installed. If you have an older computer, you may want to run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor to make sure your computer is ready for Windows 7, but in general any computer built in the past four years should be able to run it just fine. Windows 7 is lighter on resources and works well across a broad spectrum of hardware.

Got a netbook? Then you'll want to take advantage of this offer as well - I'm running the Windows 7 Release Candidate on an MSI Wind, and an HP Mini 1000, and it works really well on both of them. I think Windows Vista is a fine operating system, but Windows 7 is even better - it addresses many of the concerns that people had with Windows Vista and adds a degree of polish that means everything is easier to use.

Unfortunately, this offer is only valid in the USA and Canada (Canadians can order from Amazon.ca, Future Shop, and Best Buy). as far as I can tell. Europe is getting a different version of Windows 7 due to the lawsuits Microsoft is undergoing there.

Verizon Launches HTC Ozone

Pete Paxton — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:00:00 GMT

http://www.mobileburn.com/review.jsp?Id=7345

"Verizon Wireless has launched the HTC Ozone, a QWERTY candybar smartphone that runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 and is based upon the HTC Snap. The Ozone features dual-connectivity to Verizon's CDMA network and to GSM networks around the world. The device features 3G and WiFi data connectivity, a high-capacity 1500mAh battery, Bluetooth with A2DP, and more for a handsome price."

Seems like everyone's getting in on the Snap like device. Verizon is the latest renaming the Snap to Ozone. You can read the specs above. I really like the 1500mAh battery. That could go a long way. Dual connectivity sounds cool too. If you love Windows Mobile and want a Bold, Jack, or Treo like device, this seems like a good choice. So are any of you Verizon customers going to jump on board with this one?

WinMo Creative Software And Design Contest

Ed Hansberry — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:00:00 GMT

http://www.windowsmobilecontest.com/en/?pid=1

"Windows Mobile handsets are becoming more and more popular. The industry is known to be the fastest growing segment in the smart phone market. The growing popularity of Windows Mobile triggers an increasing demand for more creative and entertaining applications. To foster greater creativity among different sectors of the community and encourage development of a greater variety of Windows Mobile applications, Microsoft recently joined hands with The Pocket PC Channel, a popular online media in Hong Kong, and also the Cyberport IncuTrain Centre, to launch the "Windows Mobile Software & Game Design Contest". Winning applications will be made available for users to download on Windows Mobile Marketplace, the latest service to be rolled-out along with the launch of Windows Mobile 6.5 later this year, bringing in new business opportunities for the creative industry at large."

If you are capable of writing apps and want a chance to win HKD150,000 (that is about $19,300 US at today's conversion rate) and are at least 16, you can enter the contest. More information is at their site.

Terrestrica Location Triggered Mobile Services

Ed Hansberry — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 20:00:00 GMT

http://www.terrestrica.com/

"Croatives Inc. today announced it is launching beta release of Terrestrica - Location Triggered service for Mobiles with GPS with a possibility of creating multimedia geolocation points and guides and interesting business model based on "On location Mobile Advertising" which allow users to make Revenue from their geo-content. Terrestrica is completely Free for use."

Well, I guess mobile location advertising is coming, and this seems to be the right way to do it - meaning it is voluntary, not thrust upon you by your carrier. (That is coming to I bet). This is totally free, and looks like it might be interesting to play around with.

MobileBurn Looks at the HTC Snap for Sprint

Jason Dunn — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:30:00 GMT

http://www.mobileburn.com/review.jsp?Id=7336

"The new HTC S511 Snap for Sprint is a QWERTY keyboard equipped smartphone that is meant to take on devices like the Samsung Jack that's available on AT&T and the many BlackBerry Curves and Bolds that are on the market. It isn't a device that is going to wow anybody with its specifications, but it knows its place in life, which is heavy messaging duties. We give it a go in this quick hands-on review."

Michael Oryl takes a look at the new HTC Snap from Sprint, and in general his conclusions echo my first impressions of the unit - though with Sprint telling HTC to put the caps button where the "A" key should be, I think this version is going to be just as typing error-prone as the European version that I looked at. It seems only T-Mobile got it right in terms of the placement of that key.

Is Windows Mobile in Danger of Becoming Software Plumbing?

Jason Dunn — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 09:33:00 GMT

Jump over to Engadget and watch the video they've posted of the newly-announced HTC Hero, an Android-based smartphone. Look at what HTC has done in terms of porting a version of TouchFlo from Windows Mobile over to Android - but also pay attention to the apps they've added and improved. Now picture those changes and improvements flowing back to future Windows Mobile devices. Between all of the customs apps that HTC has slowly but surely built up (photo viewer, music player, skinned browser, weather app, etc.) and the UI of TouchFlo, Windows Mobile is becoming nothing more than plumbing....which should terrify Microsoft. If the OS is just plumbing, then HTC could switch to whatever OS the wish on a given device. HTC is Microsoft's biggest smartphone partner - so what does it mean to Microsoft when their biggest partner is working to undermine the user interface of their operating system?

I can't say that I blame HTC for going down this road - Microsoft kept the user interface of Windows Mobile stuck in a Han Solo carbonite freeze for several years, completely missing the fact that no one ever liked using a stylus. Windows Mobile 6.5 brings a bunch of touch-based improvements to the table, but it doesn't seem like we'll see a real UI overhaul until Windows Mobile 7, which isn't arriving until 2010 if the rumours are to believed. Equally bad was the way that Microsoft left many of their applications out to rot in the sun. Windows Media Player Mobile, Pictures & Videos, Internet Explorer Mobile - none of these applications received noteworthy improvements in years. It's only recently that we're seeing an improvement in Internet Explorer Mobile, and becoming the much-maligned (from a Web developer's point of view) IE6. Microsoft's failure to put any real effort into their applications outside of PIM improvements - and I think Windows Mobile has the best PIM apps out there today - added to the overall atrophy of Windows Mobile. So for HTC to forge ahead and create finger-friendly applications isn't surprising.

So looking at what HTC is doing with creating a unified experience, what do you think this will mean for Windows Mobile? Will you even know you're using a Windows Mobile phone by the end of 2009 if HTC has their way? Better yet, will you care?

Jason Dunn owns and operates Thoughts Media Inc., a company dedicated to creating the best in online communities. He enjoys photography, mobile devices, blogging, digital media content creation/editing, and pretty much all technology. He lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with his lovely wife, and his sometimes obedient dog. He's still searching for the ultimate netbook.

Do you enjoy using new hardware, software and accessories, then sharing your experience with others? Then join us on the Thoughts Media Review Team! We're looking for individuals who find it fun to test new gear and give their honest opinions about the experience. It's a volunteer role with some great perks. Interested? Then click here for more information.

The Moment I've Been Dreading Has Arrived: Office Teardown

Jason Dunn — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:00:00 GMT

This is off-topic for all the sites except Digital Home Thoughts, but I thought you all might enjoy this article. OK, yeah, I'm looking for some sympathy. ;-) Have a great weekend everyone!

I've been putting this off for at least two years now, but I finally had to bite the bullet and get it done: I had to tear-down my home office and move it in order to get my floor fixed. We moved into this house in 2001, and finished the basement later that year. We put down berber carpet, which at the time seemed like a good idea because basements tend to be cold. Then we got a little puppy named Keiko - and after a few months that berber carpet was covered in stains (house-training a puppy is a messy business). It was also problematic for me to not be able to roll my office chair from computer to computer - for a while I had a custom-cut piece of Plexiglas on the floor, but over time that cracked and broke.

Not wanting to pay another $500 to replace it, and realizing it was a bit demoralizing to be working surrounded by urine stains, it was time for a renovation to my home office. In 2006 I hired a carpenter, and he sub-contracted a flooring company (Underfoot Floors in Calgary), to re-do several key parts of my office. He built a custom set of shelves for me, and the flooring company ripped up the berber carpet and installed a hardwood laminate floor. For a while, everything was great - but then I started to notice that as I rolled my chair across the floor, it would seem to catch on the floor. Over the next year, I'd find little chips of broken hardwood laminate - bit by bit, I was destroying the floor. The entire point of going with the hardwood laminate was to get something tough enough to stand up to a rolling office chair. I brought in the carpenter and the flooring company, and there was a lot of shoulder shrugging and finger-pointing.

Figure 1: This is what the floor looked like after a couple of years worth of my chair rolling over it.

The problem was two-fold: the underlay that Underfoot Flooring used was quite thick. I had asked for a thick underlay in an attempt to plug up some of the awful insulation problems that Bay West Homes inflicted upon us when they built the house - on a cold day, my basement would be a good 15 degrees Celsius colder than the main floor. You could hold your hand along the baseboards and feel freezing cold air blowing in. Knowing nothing about flooring, I didn't realize that by having the thicker underlay would cause the floor to move up and down more. You'd think that the flooring professionals would have pointed this out to me, right? No such luck. The particular flooring that I selected - completely based on colour and design, because hey, what do I know about flooring - turned out to have a bevelled edge, meaning that the pieces didn't lock as tightly together as the indestructible Pergo flooring I had back in my condo. Again, I had no clue - Underfoot Flooring knew this was going in a home office, so I trusted their advice about the flooring options I had.

In early 2008 someone from Underfoot Flooring came in (after much griping on my part), examined the problem, and said the best thing to do was to replace the broken boards - which they'd send someone out to do at their cost - and find a surface to put under the chair so it wouldn't happen again. I was dreading ripping apart my office, so I put it off for months and months. I tried to get in touch with Underfoot Flooring again in late 2008, but struck out - no one was answering their phone, and eventually it was disconnected. I drove past their store front, and sure enough, it was abandoned. And not in the "we're going out of business slowly" kind of way - their store sign was still up, and inside there were still parts of their displays set up. This is a "we don't want to pay our lease and we took anything of value out of the store in the middle of the night" kind of scenario. Their Web site is still up, but the phone numbers no longer work.

So, with much grumbling and groaning, I tore down my office last night in order to make room for someone to come in and replace the broken floorboards. Here are a few photos of the process...

Figure 2: Just getting started with the tear-down...

Figure 3: All my technology...gone! OK, well, one computer remains, secure on a shelf.

Figure 4: And here I thought I kept my office fairly clean. Yuck!

Figure 5: So...much...technology.

Figure 6: Putting it all back is where the real nightmare begins!

Figure 7: Most of the problem was the very thick underlay the flooring company used - it had far too much “give” and the floor-boards would move as I rolled over them in my chair, catching and breaking.

Figure 8: All done! Everything is fixed.

And now I'm faced with the daunting task of re-assembling my whole office...it's hard to know where to start, there's so much work to be done. I still need to find something to go underneath my office chair - I've been looking at interlocking gym floor-type materials but I'm not sure how well they'll work, and they're expensive. I'm going to use this opportunity to simplify my office a bit - the Logitech 5.1 surround sound system will probably be replaced by a simple 2+1 speaker setup. And if Windows 7 were out now, I'd probably use this opportunity to tear down and re-build all my computer systems...but the timing isn't right for that. I have quite a lot of work ahead of me this weekend...

Mobility Minded Looks at the HTC Snap

Jason Dunn — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:32:00 GMT

http://www.mobilityminded.com/1734/...imate-messenger

"The specification list of the HTC Snap was already impressive with a super fast Qualcomm MSM 7225 processor, running at 528 MHz. With sufficient memory, and all possible types of connectivity onboard the HTC snap suits various purposes. Foremost the easy and fast device navigation with the Jog Ball and an excellent full QWERTY keyboard (with offset keys) make it simply fun to work with this device on the go. The hardware keyboard design and the offset keys reduce the risk of a typing error, fore [sick] my compliments HTC."

Remo Knops over at Mobility Minded has put together a detailed article about the HTC Snap - it's worth a read if you're considering this device. Knops shares some of my same concerns - the fact that the miniUSB port is on the upper-right side, and the lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack. He didn't seem to find it problematic that the "A" key is in a strange place, so he must have been able to adjust to it better than I could.

HTC Snap Will be T-Mobile Dash 3G

Pete Paxton — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:00:00 GMT

http://gizmodo.com/5295252/htc-snap...e-sometime-soon

"T-Mobile has finally confirmed what the FCC (and its own computers) already told us: the BlackBerry-Bold-inspired HTC Snap, a 3G, Windows Mobile 6.1 QWERTY+trackball followup to the original Dash, is arriving on T-Mobile as a successor to the original Dash."

No real surprise here eh? I have the original T-Mobile Dash and I must say this one looks like a winner. I'm not yet sure what I think about the orange key theme but overall a much improved design over the original. I would have preferred to see Windows Mobile 6.5 instead of 6.1, but hopefully T-Mobile will have planned for that when the time comes. I think this one will do well for T-Mobile. Kind of has the BB Bold and Samsung Jack look to it. So...is this your next phone?