05:48 AM by TadW in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

UK-based O2 has unveiled its XDA II mini PDA phone, described as the world's smallest (with a size of a deck of playing cards). Powered by Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 PocketPC Phone Edition Second Edition with a 416MHz Intel XScale PXA272 processor, the phone integrates tri-band GSM/GPRS, Bluetooth and a 1.3 megapixel camera. Wi-Fi is optionally available through a SDIO card slot.

Unlike most other smartphones, which run Microsoft Windows Mobile for Smartphones, the XDA II mini is a fully-functional Pocket PC with an integrated touchscreen, i.e. it functions as a fully working Pocket PC with mobile phone functionality.

In Europe, the same phone is sold rebranded as the T-Mobile MDA Compact.

10:56 AM by hacker in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

I just found this interesting article [palmsource.com] (emphasis mine):

PalmSource will continue to offer both Palm OS® Garnet and Palm OS® Cobalt to support a broad range of mobile devices including smartphones. PalmSource also plans to implement Palm OS on top of Linux, bringing the benefits of Palm OS to the Linux community, including the award winning user interface, software frameworks based on the best of Palm OS and BeOS®, a large base of professional and consumer applications, and an enthusiastic community of more than 25 million users and over 360,000 registered developers. PalmSource intends to work as a partner within the Linux community to help Linux grow rapidly in the consumer and enterprise mobile markets.

I wonder if they're going to consider the enormous amount of application on Linux that interface directly with their handhelds already (pilot-link, J-Pilot, Evolution, gnome-pilot, KPilot, PilotManager, ColdSync, jSyncManager, and others), and begin to leverage that, or just NIH it and create their own proprietary extensions instead of reusing what we've already created.

Interesting times ahead, to be sure.

06:08 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Portable Audio/Video

TheMacMind has details and images on the much rumored iPod Flash by Apple. The specs of this tiny MP3 player: 2.5" long, 1.5" wide, and just .5" thick. And it doesn't appear to have a screen (ok, don't ask me how to find a particular song if you have > 100 songs stored on this device).

If the report is correct, Apple is aiming to set another trend by having people wear their iPod Flash devices around the neck.

The report states that iPod Flash will be available with 256MB - 1GB storage space, starting at a price of US$99.

Don't take my word for it, but I think this is a fake. Somehow the depicted device doesn't look like a real Apple innovation to me. No screen? Give me a break.

05:52 AM by Colin Dunstan in More E-Book Readers | Fictionwise eBookwise

GEB eBook Librarian:

In the wake of Gemstar's recent announcement that they are withdrawing from the e-book market, the GEB eBook Librarian was created to allow users of the Gemstar e-book device (including the REB1100, REB1200, GEB1150 and GEB2150 models) to create documents (from DOC, RTF, HTML, RB and TXT files) and download personal content (in native .IMP and .RB file format) to their e-book devices directly from their PCs.

An evaluation copy is available; registration is USD $15.

The new V1.2 build 367 adds support for eBookwise 1150 devices and also improves formatting of plain text documents.

RebLibrarian:

RebLibrarian is a proxy/http server which allows you to put your own e-books on the Gemstar REB devices. As of version 2.10, it supports the REB-1200, GEB2150, GEB1150, GEB-2200 and the new ETI devices (ET1 and ET2 aka ebookwise1150). No special steps are needed for 'locked' firmwares.

An evaluation copy is available; registration is USD $12.

05:08 AM by Colin Dunstan in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

Last week we discussed a December promo at eReader.com offering a free e-book for download every day.

I know the saying goes 'don't look a gift-horse in the mouth', but let's still have a look at the e-books being offered as free by eReader.com:

Dec 01 J. Verne Around the World
Dec 02 F.H. Burnett A Little Princess
Dec 03 -- The 9/11 Commission Report
Dec 04 J. Conrad The Secret Agent
Dec 05 L.F. Baum The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Dec 06 A. Chekhov At Christmas Time
Dec 07 P. David Star Trek: New Frontier: Stone and Anvil
Dec 08 H.G. Wells The Time Machine
Dec 09 M. Twain The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Dec 10 C. Dickens Some Christmas Stories
Dec 11 M. Twain The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Dec 12 H.G. Wells Twelve Stories and a Dream

Except for one Star Trek novel that is also available for $5 at Amazon.com, all e-books offered are public domain and can be freely downloaded from various places such as Gutenberg.org.

This is not the first time eReader.com is trying to promote their webstore with out-of-copyright e-books. In fact, some of those e-books are exactly the same e-books that were offered by eReader.com as "free" almost half a year ago.

My advise: if you are looking for freebies, don't waste your time following those pseudo-promos (and handing out your credit card information), but go directly to Gutenberg.org.

04:21 PM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Canada-based DataWind Corporation promises to end web surfing pain for cell phone users with its PocketSurfer PDA, a 6in. by 3in. device dedicated to deliver real Internet experience to a cell phone user in a fast and economical solution.

The company claims that PocketSurfer is faster than any other wireless Web technology. Unlike a Smartphone or wireless PDA, it uses your cell phone as a wireless-modem. To use the service, you will need to have your bluetooth-ready cell phone enabled for wireless data from your wireless carrier.

And here is the fineprint: PocketSurfer doesn't connect to the Web directly. Instead, it connects through DataWind's proprietary Internet proxy aiming to optimize pages with graphical content. For this optimiziation, you are required to pay another $9.99 per month Internet service access fee, beside your regular cell phone data plan.

The PocketSufer is rolling out now and available in the U.S., Canada and Venezuela for $199.

03:48 PM by sUnShInE in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

We've all been there. With over 20k software titles available for the Palm OS, finding just the right application for your handheld or smartphone can often be a challenge. So palmOne has developed "Expert Guides", a directory of Palm OS applications, online resources, e-books and user testimonials to help give you recommendations.

The interesting thing is that the reviews are written by users, who claim to have "expertise" in the topics covered. From astronomy to blogging, each Expert Guide includes select software applications, references to relevant eBooks and Web sites and first-person user testimonials on the specific subject area.

While I applaud the efforts of palmOne to build an online community of 'just regular users' to evangelize for their hardware, some of the software recs seem to leave things out or pimp biasly for their own faves. Case in point: this eBooks guide, which leaves out iSilo. (gasp) Oddly, iSilo is in the web browser section, where they compare it to Avantgo... but don't recommend Avantgo.

On the bright side: PalmSource seems to be committed to the 'guide leading the blind' model, and are actively seeking experts. The downside? They're looking to influence their "economy", not their "community":

You will be our designated expert on your particular topic. You'll get private contact with PalmSource (to give us advice and ask questions), and as a thank-you you'll each receive $200 gift certificates to an online store that sells handheld gear. But most importantly, you'll get the recognition and gratitude of everyone in the Palm economy.

Click here to sign-up and promote your own interests and improve the Palm economy. They can obviously use your help.

Editor Note: I just realized, with a helpful email, that I incorrectly sourced palmOne for this instead of PalmSource. My apologies, I have corrected the post.

06:22 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

ATP Electronics announced that it has developed a 2GB Secure Digital card, which is now ready for mass production by OEMs.

The new cards will be the highest capacity SD cards on the market, doubling the current 1GB record, and offering a good performance of up to 10MB/s (that's fast, but not the fastest on the market).

ATP's 2GB SD cards will be priced at a MSRP of $249 (though the price might vary depending on the OEM).

I guess that means finally more room for my digital photos, medical records, MP3s, and Divx videos!