Rick's Ramblings

Its Official... New Blog is Online

2006-02-17T22:15:00.001-06:00

Come on over to my new home on the net: rickmahn.com. I'll be keeping this blog open for awhile, but no new content will be added. So, come on over to the new site and check it out.

Spb Provides New PPC Backup!

2006-02-14T20:27:00.002-06:00

Today Spb Software House released Spb Backup, a new Pocket PC backup utility. A utility category for the Pocket PC that, until recently, has been a little light on products.

Spb Software House Releases Spb Backup - the Ultimate Tool for Saving Your Data
February 14, 2006 - Spb Software House, a leading Pocket PC software developer, releases Spb Backup - a new Pocket PC utility for backing up all of your Pocket PC content to a storage card.

Spb Backup is based on the proven technology used in Spb Clone. Thousands of enterprise users rely upon Spb Clone to create exact copies of their "master" PDA devices. This tested technology was used to create a backup program that would benefit Pocket PC consumers at all levels.

Spb Backup creates a self-restoring image file that can be restored with or without installing the main Spb Backup application. The backup file can be compressed and password protected with strong 128-bit AES algorithm. The scheduled backup features will help users to have regular, mistake-free backups.

Spb Backup features include:

Scheduled backups

Self restoring backup files

Options to separately backup PIM data, emails, "My Documents" folder, and system data

Backup file compression and encryption

Today plug-in with previous and next backup date notification

Desktop PC utility for extracting information from backup files

Pricing and Availability
Spb Backup is currently available in Czech, English, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, and Traditional Chinese. A free 5-backups limited trial can be downloaded, or Spb Backup can be purchased for $19.95 USD, from www.spbsoftwarehouse.com.

Spb Software House has produced many other great software products including Pocket Plus, GPRS Monitor, Full Screen Keyboard, Diary, Weather, and Finance.

brrreeeport buries web search!!

2006-02-14T17:16:00.002-06:00

Ok, so maybe it doesn't but Scoble's little experiment is quite interesting - don't you think?

Via:Scobleizer

HP iPaq hw6900 Announced...

2006-02-13T22:54:00.002-06:00

Another data-centric Windows Mobile 5 device is going to make its way into consumer's hands. The HP iPaq hw6900! Fun times.

I've seriously got to investigate what will be the best device to purchase. Since I'm a T-Mobile customer, the upcoming MDA will probably be my choice - of course that'll be dependent on pricing. Sometime soon!

Via: Geekzone

I'm almost happy... seriously

2006-02-13T21:59:00.002-06:00

Check out this post at Smartphone Thoughts, I'll wait...

Ok, are you back? The SDA is one-half of the pair of new Windows Mobile 5 devices that T-Mobile is launching this month. The MDA will be launched in a week or two and should be around $350 after rebate if all the rumors are to be believed. When the MDA is released, I'll be happy.

via: Smartphone Thoughts

Microsoft's Mobile Email - Moving Ahead

2006-02-13T13:01:00.001-06:00

CNET News.com is reporting that Microsoft is "pushing ahead" with its mobile email technology offereing. While brought to market later than RIM's powerful BlackBerry platform, it still see's a large viable market for their product offering.

Via: CNET News.com

International Data Plans comming online

2006-02-13T12:17:00.001-06:00

Cingular is planning on launching new data plans next month that will include different levels of roaming data coverage. Check out Phone Scoop's article for more details.

via: PhoneScoop.com

Looking for blogging nirvana

2006-02-12T12:08:00.001-06:00

Ok, so I think I'm turning into a blog nut... I've been looking at tools, utilities, plugins, etc... for a number of reasons, mostly 'cause its fun. I've finally come to the conclusion that I need to go "pro" at this - what I mean by that is to sign up with a hosting service, manage my own site with a professional blogging tool that I can customize to my needs and personal preferences.

So what I've found to date is that I'll be building this site over the next two weeks (and last two weeks - I've already started) and getting it off the ground. This weekend has been one of learning some neglected (by me) web language technologies (XHTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL, WordPress layouts, etc...) that are crucial to getting the site I really, really want to publish to the world.

My page layout and site design is mostly complete, I've got a site & domain name picked (I'll post about that later), a hosting service identified, at least a temporary theme picked out that I have customized somewhat (check out my WordPress blog for a taste). One thing that I would really like is to be able to design a theme that really fits what I want to display for "style". I'm not a graphic designer, or an artist - at least not skill-wise, I DO have opinions as most of us do.

One goal will be combine my two existing blogs (here at blogger, and my WordPress.com blog) into one. Though I will keep the two blogs I have, they will likely play a different roll which I can't think of at the moment. What I have learned from both these blogs are some interesting things, for one - they both are drop-dead simple to get started, which is excellent because that means more people can start a blog without needing to understand the underlying technologies. They are both also very powerful. Blogger at the moment is more customizable right away, WordPress.com has only been available to the public since I think Oct 2005 and is a bit more controlled at the moment making customization unavailable right away - though Matt Mullenweg is working on this for future options (Go Matt!).

Well, there is much to do even though its a good start. I'll post more information soon - maybe a few screen shots of things here and there as well.

Review of T-Mobile USA's new MDA

2006-02-10T17:46:00.001-06:00

There is a review of the new T-Mobile MDA over at infoSync World by Jørgen Sundgot. The new MDA is based on the HTC Wizard platform that is amazingly compact for how much functionality is built into the product.

Windows Mobile 5.0, a slide-out thumbboard, quad-band GSM, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and a 1.3 Megapixel camera, oh my: Jørgen Sundgot takes T-Mobile's MDA communicator for a spin.

via: infoSync World

Some Information on RIM's Plan

2006-02-09T19:33:00.001-06:00

RIM^* has announced details of it's plan for a software update designed to allow RIM, partners & customers to continue to use the BlackBerry service in case of a court-ordered injuction. A document on their web site indicates that this new software update called "BlackBerry Multi-Mode Edition" was designed for customers using BBs on converged voice/data networks in the US, with either BB Enterprise Server or BB Internet Service. Please check out the link below for more details and additional documentation.

via: RIM BlackBerry

First commercial bot-killer?

2006-02-09T19:06:00.001-06:00

McAfee has a new technology to help protect companies from the threat of bot-launched attacks. Check the link below for more information at MSFN.

via: MSFN

Vonage gets a new CEO

2006-02-09T18:35:00.001-06:00

Vonage, the inovative broadband phone provider announced the selection of Mike Snyder to become the next CEO, overseeing day-to-day operations of the company. Vonage founder Jeffrey A. Citron was promoted to Chairman and Chief Strategist, focusing on expanding the company's products.

Cingular 8125 Available

2006-02-07T20:20:00.001-06:00

Cingular's new 8125 Pocket PC Phone is now available on their website - ready for order. The 8125 is a varient of the HTC Wizard platform (similar to the Orange SPV, UTStarcom XV6700, iMate KJAM, T-Mobile MDA Vario, and O2 XDA Mini. I got a chance to work with the T-Mobile varient of this phone late last fall and was impressed by the device. This class of device is based on the Pocket PC varient of Microsoft Windows 5.0 and includes a slide-out keyboard, landscape/portrait QVGA display and many wireless connectivity options. Some of the specs/features include:

128MB RAM

64MB ROM

200MHz Processor

2.8 in. 62K color screen

weighs 5.3 ounces

GSM (voice) GSM, EDGE (both data) radio technologies

Quad Band "World Phone" (850, 900, 1800, 1900)

802.11b/g WiFi

Bluetooth 1.2

You can see a review of the T-Mobile MDA Vario at CoolSmartPhone.com.

via: CoolSmartPhone

Microsoft OneCare on track for June Release

2006-02-07T18:42:00.001-06:00

It looks like Microsoft Windows OneCare will be available in June for an annual subscription price of $49.95. Currently in both a private and an open beta test, OneCare is an all-in-one internet security product that includes Antivirus, Firewall, and Antispyware. In addition, automated backup and other system tuning tools are included to help keep Microsoft Windows PCs running at their best.

via: CNET News.com

VMware Server Beta Available...

2006-02-06T15:40:00.001-06:00

VMware Server is now available, bringing an entry level server virtualization platform to anyone interested for a very affordable cost - FREE!

Some of the capabilities:

Support for any standard x86 hardware

Support for a wide variety of Linux and Windows host operating systems, including 64-bit operating systems

Support for a wide variety of Linux, NetWare, Solaris x86 and Windows guest operating systems, including 64-bit operating systems

Support for Virtual SMP, enabling a single virtual machine to span multiple physical processors

Quick and easy, wizard-driven installation similar to any desktop software

Quick and easy virtual machine creation with a virtual machine wizard

Virtual machine monitoring and management with an intuitive, user friendly remote console

VMware Server is the first commercially available server virtualization product with support for 64-bit virtual machines and Intel Virtualization Technology, a set of Intel hardware platform enhancements specifically designed to enhance virtualization solutions.

via: MSFN

Problems with Shockwave Automated Install...

2006-02-06T13:55:00.001-06:00

I've been trying to build an automated install of Macromedia Shockwave Player 10 for the past week or so without the success I need. The ability to script the Windows Installer (MSI) version works, but when pushed through Microsoft's Systems Management Server 2003 (SMS), it fails. The failure is because the Shockwave MSI package requires a user profile to write some files to, and SMS uses the SYSTEM account to install distributed software - the SYSTEM account does not have a user profile, so the folders the Shockwave MSI package is looking for do not exist, and the install fails.

Perversly, Macromedia Flash Player 8 MSI package works fine through SMS, so its not like Macromedia doesn't know how to build the package correctly. There's even a thread on the Macromeda support forum which explicitly details the issue, but Macromedia has not responded to anyone (other than a forum moderator) to correc the problem.

Macromedia has great products, but need to support corporate customers better for mass automated deployments.

Russ going old-school

2006-02-05T18:02:00.001-06:00

Russell Beattie has gone "old school" as he puts it in his blog this weekend. He mentions how much time responding to comments takes up, and I'm sure it is a time-sink though I don't have as much experience with that sort of blogging traffic.

Russ, in case you've missed it, there is a new comment-tracking tool that is currently in limited beta called coComment, and may be of help to you as you deal with comment overload. Interesting timing actually, the anouncement of this tool and your decision to turn comments off on your blog. Well I hope it goes well for you, and you find that extra time you're looking for. In many ways, I don't blame you, but I'm sure that you'll get some feedback on the negative aspect as well. See ya round!

via: Russell Beattie Notebook

VMware GSX to be free?

2006-02-04T23:51:00.001-06:00

There's a story circulating (CNET, BetaNews, eWeek, Bink.nu) that VMware GSX Server will be re-released this coming week as a free product to combat Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 product which was reduced in price late last year.

New SBSH Software Updates...

2006-02-04T23:27:00.001-06:00

I'm a little slow this week - SBSH Software released updates to both PocketBreeze and ContactBreeze this week. Congratulations to Amit and the team at SBSH!
Download the updates below:

via: SBSH Forums

Too Good to be True?

2006-02-02T21:14:00.001-06:00

Apparently, Verizon Wireless is changing its policy on tethering laptops & PDAs to mobile phones for data connectivity! Users of high-end, high-speed data capable phones will be able to use their mobile phone as a modem for their laptop. This is good news for those on Verizon!

Kudos to Verizon for making this policy change - I would be surprised if they did not see an increase in subscribers of data plans. This is one of the reasons that I would never consider Verizon in the past, with this change Verizon is becoming a viable alternative if I leave T-Mobile.

Now we just need to work on their pricing! :)

via: PC Magazine

Sbp Diary 1.7 Released

2006-02-02T19:30:00.001-06:00

Today Spb Software House released Spb Diary 1.7:

February 2, 2006, Spb Software House announces the release of Spb Diary 1.7. Spb Diary is a feature-rich Today plug-in for your Calendar, Tasks, Contacts, Notes and Messages. It enhances Pocket Outlook by gathering all of your PIM information in one place. The new version introduces a bundle of new features like the Messages Tab, an auto-height adjustment feature, native birthdays support and integration with Spb Finance as well as improved speed, better usability in the Notes Tab and many other changes.

Personally I use SBSH Software's PocketBreeze which was on the market first, and has quite a long history. However, Spb is known for their quality software solutions and the integration between their products.

Fixed some things

2006-02-01T23:49:00.001-06:00

OK, I've fixed a few things here on my blog that were bothering me - just needed to take the time and find where to change the code in the template. I've updated the Permalink so it says "Permalink" instead of the time - thats bothered me for quite awhile. Next I changed the title so it always links to the permalink as well - call me something-retentive. Also, I added a small bit to place the any title link I add to the bottom of the post called "link". Finally, I added a link & logo for w.blogger, which I find to be a very nice tool for posting - even at work.

When I get a few minutes, I'm going to see if there is an easy way to add Technorati tags to the bottom of each post as well - or at least to the tech-releated posts.

June 29 set as wireless auction date for FCC

2006-02-01T23:03:00.001-06:00

Well, the FCC has set June 29th, 2006 as the wireless auction date to sell advanced wireless service licenses. Check out the article at RCR Wireless.

More on Clipmarks

2006-02-01T22:04:00.001-06:00

Been using Clipmarks now for about a week or so - clipped a lot of information, and I believe it to be a fantastic new tool to keep me organized! I've been able to go back to a number of articles that normally I would not be able to find after reading them. I'll recommend the service at this point with the knowledge that it really does work as advertised.

I've used the plugins for both Internet Explorer and FireFox with great success. I've been able to search the my clips from both browsers along with Opera as well. Go try it out and let me know if it works for you as it well as it does for me!

Windows Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2

2006-02-01T21:46:00.001-06:00

Now is your chance to see what all the fuss is and will be about. Microsoft released Beta 2 of Internet Explorer 7 on the world last night. While its not a final release product, I can tell you it is FAST, feature rich and has good support for RSS.

I'm not too delighted at the feed support as I could be - MS is only supporting RSS at this time, and if you notice on Blogger we have ATOM feeds. Doesn't work right now. Eventually, I may be able to uninstall Pluck which I have used for over a year as my main RSS/ATOM reader. That won't happen yet, but it could when the IE7 ships later this year - we'll see how much better the RSS support gets. That its built in and works rather well already is very promising.

Another irritating thing I've noticed since installing on XP (I've used IE7 on antoher OS...), when trying to create this post here at Blogger using IE7, the "Compose" mode when creating a post does not display text correctly - its white on white! Using the "Edit HTML" mode DOES show the text so you can see it.

Well, its a beta release and it is impressive in the changes and features MS has brought along so far. Also impressive is MS's interest in listening to the user community for feature and usability improvements in IE7. The laundry list from IE6 is long, and MS has worked very hard to build a modern browser.

Is it better than FireFox - probably not, especially in beta, but its a BIG step in the right direction and will continue to improve. Also, I have to admit here that I'm a dedicated IE user, so while I use FireFox (and Opera too!), IE is my main browser and will probably continue to be.

Well, more to come on this as the days roll on!

802.11g on HTC Wizard/Universal?

2006-01-31T17:01:00.000-06:00

Found this bit over at Pocket PC Addict:

Are you dying to get every last drop of speed from your device? Are you always looking for ways to unlock the full potential of your device? Well, if you have an HTC Wizard (Qtek 9100/i-mate K-JAM/T-Mobile MDA) or HTC Universal (Orange SPV M5000, i-mate JASJAR) then you are in luck.

Check out the full post...

Bleezer

2006-01-31T00:04:00.000-06:00

Trying out Bleezer - a open-source blogging client written in Java. This post was written using it - pretty neat, but I can't seem to get it to work with WordPress.

Technorati: Bleezer Blogging Client

More Excellent Web 2.0 Examples!

2006-01-29T21:28:00.000-06:00

These services below are a great example of how the Web 2.0 world will look and work. Fully online, no local client needed, multiple browser support, AJAX interfaces, innovative, and FAST. These are a great example of what the future of not just computing, consuming news, but an indication of what all services and interfaces will work.

I've been testing out the Clipmarks web service for the past week, and have found it very easy to clip & save web snippets of information. I've even had a chance to go back and look something up - it only took a few seconds, instead of looking for some incorrectly named Bookmark/Favorite, or re-searching Google trying to find the same informaton. Can't wait to see how it helps me find those technical articles for work as well!

Another service I just found today was launched a little over a month ago, called News Alloy. This service is an online, AJAX News Agregator for RSS & ATOM feeds. So far, it is quite interesting - and fast! I'll keep tabs on these to see how well they work out over time. Thanks to TechMemeorandum for the NewsAlloy link!

Reviews of Verizon XV6700 & Treo 700w

2006-01-27T12:54:00.000-06:00

Over at Pocket PC Thoughts, Janak Parekh has posted on reviews of these devices at Mobile TechReview. He gives his thoughts on the devices as well.

Check out the Verizon XV6700 review here!
Check out the Treo 700w review here!

ABCs of WPA2 Article

2006-01-27T12:49:00.000-06:00

Mobile Pipeline has an article covering "The ABCs of WPA2 Wireless LAN Security". Looks like a good read for understanding and using WP2.

HP Unofficially Confims hw6900?

2006-01-27T12:40:00.000-06:00

It may be true - Brighthand has an article about the elusive new HP iPaq phone! Lets hope this is true, as the iPaq 6500/6900 follows the form factor of the Palm Treo line of PDA Phones, including a very useful QWERTY keyboard below the screen and many data-centric items.

Corporate Blogging

2006-01-26T21:01:00.000-06:00

I was quite surprised today when an IT Mgmt staff member asked a few of us about blogging! This is really interesting, as there are many reasons for our company to set up both an external blogging presence, and an internal one as well. There are many simple Mgmt --> employee communications that could be done through a short blog post. There are many things employees can communicate to each other and different departments instead of mass emails that many don't read. Notifications from HR or IT could be done in this fasion as well for non-critical items. Blogging in general is simply one more way for people and companies to communicate. With the use of XML feed technologies such as RSS and ATOM, any user can have a constant stream of news being fed to their computer so they don't have to go surf the 'Net for it.

Can't wait to see if anything comes of this - its an interesting year at my company, lots of opportunity for new things.

T-Mobile MDA & SDA Pricing

2006-01-24T21:54:00.000-06:00

Well I'm looking forward to the release of the T-Mobile MDA & SDA in February. Just so everyone knows, Engadget has dug up pricing on the two new models and the scheduled release dates.

World Wide Release of Opera Mini!

2006-01-24T08:47:00.000-06:00

Check out the article at Geekzone on the release of Opera Mini! Mini is a Java based version of their excellent browser, designed for the small screen on your average mobile phone. All the phone needs to support Mini is to run Java applets. And the best part is - its free!

Visit the Opera Mini page here!

Investigating Blogging...

2006-01-22T10:49:00.000-06:00

Well now that Naked Conversations is available, I'm getting motivated to investigate WordPress a bit more. Its more powerful for blogging than just about any other blogging software that I'm aware of, but I'm not certain how it would benefit me over Blogger at this time.

I've moved from MSN Spaces, which I still think is interesting, to Blogger - but wonder if WordPress would allow me to create the blogging experience that I'm after. Blogger has captured most of it, but more flexibility would be nice.

Anyway, the book mentioned above is written by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel, and really is making a case for business blogging - check out the reviews at Amazon for more information on why people are thinking its important. I think I'll order the book, I've been reading Robert's blog for about a year and find it interesting. Congratulations to both on their latest achievement!

Opera Web Browser for Pocket PC!

2006-01-20T21:06:00.000-06:00

It seems Opera has made the beta version of their Opera 8.5 Browser available for download! Mobile Gadget News is reporting many details including support for Windows Mobile 2003 and 5.0!

T-Mobile MDA & SDA Pre-Registration!

2006-01-20T20:46:00.000-06:00

Smartphone Thoughts is reporting the availability to pre-register with T-Mobile on the MDA & SDA avaialability!

T-Mobile is finally going to release a modern Windows Mobile Smartphone and Pocket PC Phone! Hell has indeed frozen over.

Check out the registration page at T-Mobile

Long Week

2006-01-19T12:52:00.000-06:00

Its been a long week at work, I've been so busy that I have not even kept up on any news events since the weekend. Couple of projects and the workload to support them is taking up a LOT of my time this week. Along with needing to follow up on some work other people are doing that is vital to my project, it makes for little time to do anything else.

Hopefully I'll be able to catch up a bit tonight! We'll see.

Cingular Fights Sale Of Customer Records

2006-01-16T08:50:00.000-06:00

Mobile Burn has an article about Cingular's battle against people illegally obtaining their customer call records.

My issues with news like this is that Cingular should have systems in place to prevent the ability of these records from getting out in the first place. Fine, procecute the people who have crossed the law, but the carriers also need to be held accountable for the leak in the first place.

Home Network

2006-01-15T19:44:00.000-06:00

Well tonight I finally got down to the business of drawing out the overview of my current and future home network infrastructure. I've got plans for the obvious network attached storage, audio/video services, and wireless. Going into the future, I'm planning an offsite network with VPN connectivity to the home network. The offsite network would be used for backup purposes and remote access at that site.

I'd forgotten what other items I had planned for the network, but now I've got a nice Visio drawing of the basic architecture, and will supplement that with more detailed drawings as I rebuild each portion. The fun part will be the re-design with newer components that were not available when I first started my home network.

Anyway, there are so many new products out there, and new ways of doing things that I had to "invent" previously - it should be much simpler this time around!

SDIO TV Tuner Available

2006-01-15T11:35:00.000-06:00

Pocket PC Thoughts has a post on a new SDIO TV Tuner available for PDAs. It supports NTSC & PAL, and should be publicly available in March. It supports Windows Mobile versions from 2002 to 5.0, so it should be compatible with most PPCs. Looks kind of interesting!

Verizon Limiting Bluetooth Again

2006-01-13T20:51:00.000-06:00

An article over at Mobile Pipeline talks about Verizon not supporting bluetooth tethering of PDAs and Laptops to take advantage of EVDO in the new Palm Treo 700w. When will they learn?

Palm Treo 700w Review at InfoSync World

2006-01-13T09:07:00.000-06:00

InfoSync World has posted a review of the new Palm Treo 700w. Don't miss reading this one as their reviews are usually quite detailed.

Busy Week

2006-01-13T09:03:00.000-06:00

Its been a busy this week, and I've not been able to post as much as I'd like. There's been a small bit of news in the mobile industry - nothing like CES a week or so ago though, so I've not missed much. However, its dissapointing when a person can't keep up on their favorite topics. I'll be working to catch up today on some news and such though, and will be working on some more personal technical projects this weekend. Lots to do for a 'slow' January!

WISE Package Studio

2006-01-12T14:42:00.000-06:00

We purchased WISE Package Studio 6 at work last month and I'm finally getting a chance to install and use it. Big product, with lots of options and new things to learn but It'll be fun.

IT Meeting at Work

2006-01-12T13:05:00.000-06:00

Well,
We spent the 1st half of the day in a departmental meeting at work, brought all the remote staff in and went over the usual departmental items for the quarter. Boring. Sometimes I wonder if the information presented at meetings like this is worthwhile. At any rate, there goes 4 hours that I'll never get back.

Back at work

2006-01-10T08:48:00.000-06:00

Well, vacation is over and I'm back at work. We've lots to do, projects taking up a lot of time so I've not posted the last day or so. Hopefully I'll have a few minutes to go over some news and highlights before too long.

Price Cuts at WebIS now Permenant

2006-01-07T15:58:00.000-06:00

Pocket PC Thoughts is reporting that WebIS has permanently cut its product pricing. This is interesting news along with the recent purchase of the FlexWallet 2006 assets from Two Peaks. It seems WebIS is positioning itself to provide a full range of software enhancement products targeting Pocket PC and Smartphones.

PocketWeather 1.2.4 Now Available!

2006-01-07T14:57:00.000-06:00

SBSH Software has released PocketWeather 1.2.4 which is mainly a bug fix to all 1.2.x releases.

The list of fixes includes:

Removed "Display" tab from setup - moved location rotation to general setup tab
Corrected issue where today screen was not drawing/redrawing under certain conditions
Removed startup notification service which was causing errors on WM2005 devices when the OS was attempting to run pwcmstub.exe too early.
Added better shutdown handling so that in future, if installing while an updating process is taking place should cause the updater to terminate to avoid the "in-use" warning/error
Update/refresh process now handled by smaller pwupdater.exe
Corrected 1st January current condition bug
Added earthquake details
Corrected earthquake map calibration to better position reporting quakes
More translation work for setup pages

Verizon Wireless Introduces V CAST Music

2006-01-05T16:30:00.000-06:00

Today, Verizon Wireless announced it is launching the V CAST Music service. Described as "the world’s most comprehensive music service", V CAST will offer customers the ability to download music directly to their phones "over the air" using the Verizon network. On January 16th, Verizon will give customers immediate access to a wide range of popular titles. The new service will apparently be available as a one-month trial, with a subscription required after that. Below are two phones that will support V CAST Music right away, the LG VX8100 on the left and the Samsung a950 on the right.

Trio of Next-Gen Windows Portable Media Centers Unveiled

2006-01-05T15:50:00.000-06:00

InfoSync World has an article covering 3 new Windows Portable Media Center devices that were announced today at CES 2006. The Toshiba gigabeat S, LG PM70, and Tatung V620 are covered along with InfoSync World's always-fantastic hi-res pics to along with them - check it out!

Treo 700w - No MSFP!

2006-01-05T09:41:00.000-06:00

According to Jason Landridge, the Treo 700w does not include the Messaging and Security Feature Pack (aka AKU v2.0) in it's shipping form right now. The current configuration does however connect with Exchange Server for Always Up To Date (AUTD) synchronization. It also should support the original Exchange 2003 "push-mail" solution, where the Exchange server would send an SMS message to the device to trigger an AUTD sync that would pull any new email to the device.

Of course, since the device is Windows Mobile, Verizon could at any time release an AKU 2.0 update for the Treo 700w that would include the MSFP functionality.

FlexWallet Purchased by WebIS

2006-01-04T23:57:00.000-06:00

Wow - didn't see this one coming. Pocket PC Thoughts has scooped the story on this one! Check out the press release at WebIS as well.

CES 2006 & Microsoft

2006-01-04T23:49:00.000-06:00

Looks like there will be a number of extremely interesting product announcements coming out of CES 2006 this week. I've been watching the Bill Gates keynote, and there has already been a number of details that I had been unaware of a few hours ago. Neat stuff! More details to come during the next few days.

Intel Unveils New Brand Identity

2006-01-04T20:07:00.000-06:00

With the coming launch of new product brands, Intel is launching a new brand identity that they believe will better represent the company as they position themselves as a market-driven platform solutions company.

“‘Intel. Leap ahead.’ is a simple expression that declares who we are and what we do,” said Eric Kim, Intel senior vice president and general manager of the Sales and Marketing Group. “This is part of our heritage. Our mission at Intel has always been to find and drive the next leap ahead – in technology, in education, social responsibility, manufacturing and more – to continuously challenge the status quo. It’s about using Intel technology to make life better, richer and more convenient for everyone.”

There is also a "Brand Architecture" PDF as well, which details the new product brand lines coming up in the near future.

Verizon Announces the Pocket PC XV6700

2006-01-04T15:11:00.000-06:00

In another press release, Verizon Wireless is announcing the Pocket PC XV6700! This device is based off the HTC Apache reference design which supports EVDO, WiFi, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, Windows Mobile 5, Exchange 2003 connectivity, bluetooth, and a 416MHz Intel xScale processor.

It is similar in most ways to the HTC Wizard that most people will have read about, with the exception of CDMA/EVDO radios instead of GSM/GPRS/EDGE and the Intel chipset instead of the TI one.

I've seen a version of this device (also available on Sprint) in person and have to admit that the EVDO speeds bring an entirely new usefulness to the device.

The Pocket PC XV6700 will be available starting on January 19th, 2006 for $300 after $100 rebate, 2 year contract and qualifying data plan.

Official Verizon Info on Samsung SCH-i830

2006-01-04T14:54:00.000-06:00

Verizon today issued a press release about the new Samsung SCH-i830 Windows Mobile Smartphone! The device will be available to enterprise customers on January 10th with consumer availablility on January 24th.

The SCH-i830 Windows Mobile 5 based Smartphone combines a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, EVDO services, dual mode CDMA/GSM functionality, and many more unique features. The SCH-i830 will be exclusive to Verizon Wireless, and incorporates international support (i.e. GSM).

The SCH-i830 is based on the Pocket PC stack of the Windows Mobile operating system. Though the device lacks a camera, the EVDO network, international support via GSM, Windows Media Player 10, Wireless Sync, and new push-mail support will be big selling points to highly mobile professionals.

New Version of Papyrus for MS Smartphone!

2006-01-04T14:09:00.000-06:00

If you are a MS Smartphone user, head on over to SBSH Software and check out the latest release of their Papyrus product! This software is a full-function PIM replacement for the MS Smartphone platform. New features of Papyrus 1.2:

Windows Mobile 5 Support
QVGA (240x320) resolutions
Unlimited MyTexts fields support
New Tasks View redesign, and optional preview pane
Enahnced Scrolling on item view dialogs

I've been using SBSH products on my Pocket PC for the last 18 mos. now, and I have been extremely satisfied. SBSH has great support, and a fantastic relationship with its customers. Also check out their excellent forums where you can interact with other users of their software.

Highly recommended!

Samsung i830 Compared with Treo 700w

2006-01-04T11:30:00.000-06:00

While at CES this week, Gizmodo has an article comparing the Samsung i830 to the Treo 700w. Both devices are due out on the Verizon network 1Q of this year, both leverage EVDO, both have a QWERTY keyboard, good amount of RAM, decent processor, etc... It'll be interesting to see these devices in action! Read Gizmodo's article for a first-hand impression of the Samsung i830.

PhatWare Software Sale

2006-01-01T14:02:00.000-06:00

PhatWare is wishing everyone a Happy New Year with a sale on all their software products! You can pick up your product of choice for $12.95 each, the sales ends January 4th, 2006 at 12:01am (EST). This is a fantastic opportunity to pick up the software you've been putting off - CalliGrapher, PhatNotes, and PhatPad are just a few of the products you can get during this sale.

US Spectrum Auction in 2006

2006-01-01T11:55:00.000-06:00

An article over at Mobile Pipeline is reporting that there will be a 'large-scale auction of wireless spectrum' for the US mobile carriers to participate in. This will allow the carriers to expand both footprint, and bandwidth in thier ongoing "high-speed" data offerings. Personally, I believe this will prove to enhance the carriers ability to continue rolling out fast data services for reasonable prices.

Vote on the "Smartphone Of The Year"

2005-12-30T14:47:00.000-06:00

Head on over to Smartphone Thoughts where they are asking for your vote of the best smartphone of the year for 2005. I won't tell which one is leading at the moment, but there may be one or two that you have an opinion on. Check it out - good discussion as well.

New Cradle Available for HTC Wizard

2005-12-30T14:32:00.000-06:00

Here is one that I'll be making use of once the T-Mobile MDA (their US varient of the Wizard) is out! I've always thought a Pocket PC should have a cradle available for charging, syncing and simply somplace to set the device where you always know where its at. This one is made by Boxwave and can be found here. The cradle works with the following versions of the HTS Wizard: O2 XDA Mini, Orange SPV M3000, T-Mobile MDA Vario, Qtek 9100 and iMate KJAM.

Thanks to Cool Smart Phone for the tip!

iPass Acquires GoRemote

2005-12-29T00:58:00.000-06:00

According to an article at eWeek, iPass has purchased their rival GoRemote Internet Communications for $76.5 million in cash. Business must be good! Anyone interested in the details should check out the article linked above.

Agenda Fusion 7.62 Released...

2005-12-29T00:38:00.000-06:00

Pocket PC Thoughts has a post on the release of Agenda Fusion 7.62! Head on over and check it out.

Verizon Launching the "XV6700" on January 5th

2005-12-28T20:21:00.000-06:00

Check out Cool Smart Phone's post about Verizon's upgoming WM5 Pocket PC Phone based on the HTC Apache design.

Post-Christmas

2005-12-26T22:08:00.000-06:00

Well I've survived the holiday. Been busy, so I've not had a chance to post. Currently, I'm in northern Minnesota without any good Internet connection - so I'm connected via my mobile phone (GPRS) which is roughly equivalent to an analog dialup connection. I'll be back in range later in the week.

FlexWallet 2006 - Special Offer...

2005-12-23T20:25:00.000-06:00

Pocket PC Thoughts has a post about a special offer on TwoPeak's FlexWallet 2006. Check it out before it runs out on Dec. 26th!

HTC Coming to America

2005-12-23T20:17:00.000-06:00

HTC is setting up a corporate presence in the US (check out the official web site)! HTC is the largest OEM for Windows Mobile devices, working with many companies to bring devices to market around the world. From HP iPaqs, to Palm devices, to OEM devices supplied to mobile communications carriers (Orange, O2, T-Mobile, Cingular, Vodaphone, etc...), having a corporate presence in the US will further enhance the supportability and product growth in this country. Good news!

Orb

2005-12-23T18:46:00.000-06:00

I've been using Orb for about 6 months now, and finally have gotten around to posting about it here! I've been able to access my personal media from many remote systems including: at work through the corporate firewall, Pocket PC, and Smartphone! Great concept that is well executed. Check out their services - its free, so have fun! Also, with a compatible TV tuner you can actually control channel selection and viewing over the Internet using your favorite media player! Great Stuff!

Microsoft to Buy Opera - False!

2005-12-23T18:38:00.000-06:00

Steven Bink over at Bink.nu posted news that Opera is not being actively pursued by Microsoft or Google. This is good news from my point of view - Opera has always had a great browser, and the market needs another browsing point of view seperate from Internet Explorer and FireFox.

Scoble's Bluetoothing!

2005-12-23T18:31:00.000-06:00

He posted yesterday about his new setup.

Interesting Visto PR Tactic

2005-12-23T17:19:00.000-06:00

Check out this post over at Pocket PC Thoughts by Ed Hansberry. After reading the blog they've linked to, I believe it to be a simple PR tactic going into the extended Christmas holiday weekend. Make sure to read the comments, there are some good ones!

Windows Live

2005-12-23T17:07:00.000-06:00

I've been using Windows Live as my start page for some time now. The neet thing that keeps me there is quite simply how cool the site is, how it keeps expanding, growing and having more interesting tools & technology added. If you are looking for a customizable start page that has many, many add-in options, check out Windows Live at www.live.com!

Christmas Vacation...

2005-12-23T16:28:00.000-06:00

I've taken two weeks off for the Christmas & New Years holidays, starting today. Okay, that acutally adds up to 15 days out of the office, but who's counting ;-) ! Aside from celebrating, resting, relaxing and snowmobiling, I'm going to work on a number of ideas related to blogging. As strange as it may be for me, I'm finding this new medium (I know its been around awhile - I'm slow) interesting, with the possibilities of a great future.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Exclusive Preview of Opera Mini!

2005-12-22T20:51:00.000-06:00

Opera is offering an exclusive preview of their Opera Mini browser for mobile phones - note that this is not targeted just at smartphones, but at regular "cell" phones! I've tested the new mini-browser on a Nokia 6600 on the T-Mobile network, and it works great. To download the browser directly to your phone, point your existing browser to http://mini.opera.com.

PocketInformant for Smartphone?

2005-12-22T12:57:00.000-06:00

Smartphone Thoughts is reporting that WebIS has a version of PocketInformant in the works for Microsoft Smartphone platform! This should be good competition for SBSH Software's Papyrus product.

New Beta of Sprite Backup

2005-12-22T08:44:00.000-06:00

Pocket PC Thoughts has a post detailing the new beta of Sprite Backup 5.0. It is a public beta, so if you have a Windows Mobile 5 device, you may want to check it out!

Palm - 4 Smartphones in Store for 2006

2005-12-21T21:12:00.000-06:00

Geekzone has a post about Palm, Inc. planning 4 smartphone releases in 2006.

Technorati

2005-12-21T17:26:00.000-06:00

OK, I've "claimed" my blog over at Technorati, don't know if it will generate much traffic, but thought it may be interesting to do (I'm ranked 1,033,836th by the way). Interesting feature being able to search a blog directly from the Technorati site.

w.blogger

2005-12-20T23:45:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm trying out a blogging tool called w.blogger. It'll be interesting to see what kind of flexibility this brings to the posting process.

HTC Prophet...

2005-12-20T20:15:00.000-06:00

Jason Landridge has a link to more information on the upcoming HTC Prophet. This device is basically an updated HTC Magician device - also known as the iMate JAM and T-Mobile MDA Compact. With WM5, WiFi, a 2MP camera and many other updates, this could be the device for you!

T-Mobile Catching Up On 3G

2005-12-19T21:55:00.000-06:00

Techdirt Wireless has a post about how T-Mobile USA is now committing to 3G, hoping to launch 3G services by the end of 2006. They also mention that it may be to T-Mobile's benefit to be rolling out 3G later than their peers and that nobody has figured out how to market 3G yet.

I'll agree with this completely - T-Mobile can roll out a much more mature technology instead of spending billions implementing through trial & error. The result will be 3G services for less than the competition, and that is the key to 3G that all the carriers just don't get. There is no magic ticket for 3G except for a big fat wireless pipe for cheap, just like a home broadband connection.

The sooner carriers understand that they simply supply a connection and get away from the idea that they need to wall the customer in, or provide some 'hip' service like ringtones (LOL), the sooner they will be able to sign up the majority of their existing voice customers as data customers.

The business plan for 3G is simple if they will try it, and remains the same as many business models: Volume!

Gigabyte Releases G-Smart!

2005-12-19T21:24:00.000-06:00

The first Windows Mobile 5 device with the AKU2 update included ships! The AKU2 update includes the Messaging and Security Feature Pack for Windows Mobile 5. This update allows direct push email comparable to the Blackberry. More information over at Jason Landridge's WebLog.

New Version of Skype for PPC Available...

2005-12-19T17:51:00.000-06:00

A new version of Skype is available online for the Pocket PC! There are two versions, one that supports 400MHz and faster processors, and one that supports 312MHz and slower processors. Also, they've added support for Windows Mobile 5! Great news for all the HTC Wizard owners out there!

Check it out at: http://www.skype.com/products/skype/pocketpc/

RSS Icon in IE7 Selected...

2005-12-19T12:41:00.000-06:00

Microsoft has selected the icon to represent RSS feeds in Internet Explorer 7. More information about this decision is available on the RSS Team Blog over at MSDN Blogs.

Got Voice?

2005-12-19T10:52:00.000-06:00

Interesting new service available for Voice Mail. This company will forward your voicemail to any email account you specify, so you can manage your voice mail in email. They send the voice clip as an MP3, which will make archiving and manipulating voice mail much simpler.

Check them out at www.gotvoice.com

Weekend!

2005-12-16T20:30:00.000-06:00

Finally getting ready for the weekend, we're heading north for the next two days. Hopefully we'll get a few miles in the saddle (snowmobile) while there and see what the snow cover looks like. I'm hoping this will be a great year for sledding.

Also, I'll be taking Visual Studio 2005 for a spin to see some of the new features.

First Impressions of Motorola Q

2005-12-16T13:31:00.000-06:00

Brighthand's Ed Hardy gives his first impressions of the interesting Motorola Q:
http://brighthand.com/article/Motorola_Q_First_Impressions

Gmail Mobile

2005-12-16T09:49:00.000-06:00

Google now has support for Gmail on mobile devices. Check out the information on their "What's New" page: http://mail.google.com/mail/help/about_whatsnew.html

Visto's Attack on Microsoft...

2005-12-16T09:40:00.000-06:00

A post over at CoolSmartPhone provides links to several pieces of information about the Visto lawsuits filed against Microsoft and their new partnership with NTP.

Check it out here: http://www.coolsmartphone.com/news1989.html

Workin' for the weekend!

2005-12-15T22:24:00.000-06:00

Ugh, its been a week and there is still a day to go. Hope I can make it. Well we're actually investigating a mobile email system at work. What with RIM's troubles and the fact that its much easier to work with Microsoft Exchange for what we will want to do makes the decision easy.

It'll be pretty cool if we implement - our users will be able to choose their favorite carrier and we'll be able to provide much more than just access to email and calendar items. Well, I'm installing the VS05 Standard Edition that I got at the launch event yesterday. Should be fun.

I also see that some pissy little company is trying to sue Microsoft on the basis that they have infringed on "push-mail" patents the company holds - they've also teamed with NTP who is currently suing RIM for the same thing. Real original. Get a grip, why can't we get through a year without someone trying to litigate for profit? Here's an idea - try to win on your own merits, like making sure your product is THE solution - simple, inexpensive, and EASY to use for the average person? Of course, Microsoft's solution is not as easy as RIM's, so who knows where it will all end up.

Strange Behavior...

2005-12-14T22:26:00.000-06:00

I'm having some weird things happen on my work laptop - again! While connected to VPN, the network stack will lock up! The system will eventually hang and force a reboot. After rebooting, the system, I'm finding a number of things aren't working but their status in Computer Manager is "OK". This isn't a Windows issue either - it is a 3rd party issue whether driver or software and I've had the problem for most of this year! I've had this happen about 6 time now and each time I end up installing a backup image of the PC. There simply is no error logs, messages or other areas in the software and system to point me to a solution. Googling the web and following up on many forums has lead nowhere. Working with the vendors has simply ended in fingerpointing between them, and then usually finally at MS whose problem it isn't.

Frustrated beyond belief - guess I re-image...again.

VS05 Launch

2005-12-14T22:18:00.000-06:00

Typical Microsoft event, though larger than previous events in Minneapols. They supposedly had over 4000 people sign up for the event, though with the snowstorm that came through today it did make many people late. It was crowded, something I can't normally say for Minneapolis event for Microsoft.

Anyway, it was typical marketing fluff in the beginning followed by some semi-technical/executive overviews of the major benefits of Visual Studio 2005. I liked it and picked up the free version (Standard) at the end of the day. Nice day out of the office!

VisualStudio 2005 Launch - MPLS

2005-12-13T22:45:00.000-06:00

Well I'll be at the Microsoft VisualStudio 2005/SQL 2005 Launch event in Minneapolis, MN Tuesday. About 3-4 people from my office will be there, can't wait! While at the event, I'll be trying to blog, mainly just for the heck of it (everyone else does).

See ya!

Tweaking...

2005-12-13T22:26:00.000-06:00

I've finally got around to customizing my blog here at Blogger! Neat stuff, and good flexibility compared to MSN Spaces. That is not to knock Spaces at all, it is maturing quite quickly - the differences are substantial, and I hope to make use of both services as I go forward.

Open the floodgates!

2005-12-13T20:04:00.000-06:00

Well the tidal wave of new Windows Mobile 2005 devices is building. Here is the current state of device releases:

Cingular 2125 (Smartphone on Cingular - available now)
Cingular 8125 (PPC Phone on Cingular - scheduled Q1 2006 Release)[model # may be incorrect]
T-Mobile SDA II (Smartphone on T-Mobile - scheduled Q1 2006 Release)
T-Mobile MDA (PPC Phone on T-Mobile - scheduled Q1 2006 Release)
HP rw4500 (Smartphone similar to 2125/SDAII/SP5, see the::unwired - no further information)
Motorola Q (PPC Phone, previewed at Mobile Burn)
Sprint PPC 6700 (PPC Phone on Sprint - available now)
Palm Treo 700w (PPC Phone on Verizon - scheduled Q1 2006 Release)
iMate SP5/SP5m (Smartphone direct from iMate - Available now)
iMate K-JAM (PPC Phone direct from iMate - Available now)
iMate JASJAR (PPC Phone direct from iMate - Avaiable now)

Fantastic stuff! Many of these devices on are available direct on the internet from places like MadMonkeyBoy, Expansys, MobilePlanet and more. Watch the carriers for there releases over the next 2-3 months. Great time for Windows Mobile, especially if you are considering a change from RIM's Blackberry!

-Rick

Exchange SP2 "Push Mail" Solution

2005-12-09T07:45:00.000-06:00

I've been researching Microsoft's push-mail solution and have came to the conclusion that their solution is quite adequate for the task at hand. The differences when compared to the Blackberry solution are noticeable, but once up and running will be seamless to the user.

Microsoft's requirement for a HTTP request to remain open for x number of minutes and then re-issue the request if no change is returned obviously mandates an unlimited mobile data package added to a user's mobile phone plan.

This is a key difference, because the user needs to know what to request from their carrier to support the phone, unless the carrier is providing the email address and provisions the service specifically to support the new push solution.

Even though the system is technically not a "push" solution, the end result is indistinguishable from the Blackberry service, with more device options (more on that later).

Cool stuff.

Treo 700w on Verizon

2005-12-08T21:35:00.000-06:00

Verizon has a "coming soon" page up for the Palm Treo 700w which runs Windows Mobile 5. This device should be pretty nice, utilizing the Treo hardware design and leveraging the Windows Mobile platform.

Awesome!