04:19 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Qualcomm announced in a press release that it plans to deploy and operate a nationwide "mediacast" network, delivering cabel and digital TV channels of high-quality video and audio programming to third-generation mobile phones at mass market prices:

The network will support 50-100 national and local content channels, including up to 15 live streaming channels and numerous clip-cast and audio channels. This content will be delivered in an easy-to-use and familiar format at quality levels that dramatically surpass current mobile multimedia offerings through the use of QVGA video at up to 30 frames per second and high-quality stereo audio.

03:18 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

BargainPDA brings a first-hand review of the T-Mobile Sidekick 2, aka Danger Hiptop 2, convergence device. The author's conclusion sounds promising:

The Sidekick 2 is a fun converged device with a lot to like. It's easy to use, has a great keyboard, the form factor is innovative and can keep you connected in various ways to your friends and family. It is not a good replacement for a PDA, unless all you demand of a PDA is the most basic of applications. At the price of $199.99 this device is actually a bargain for what you get. Compared to the Treo 650 or iPaq 6315 that cost well over $500, you get a device that performs the same core functions.

The bad: The operation system is neither PalmOS nor PocketPC, which means you can expect only a limited choice of available software.

03:05 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

South Korean Telecomskorea.com reports that according to a Korean study [KISDI, I haven't been able to find the link to the study, perhaps you could help us finding it?],

[W]ireless PDA's are gaining its share in the entire PDA market since 2002 and wireless connectivity is likely to make an essential part of the specification in the future.

If PDAs with wireless connectivity are taking hold in the global PDA market, and I have absolutely no doubt about it, then why on earth did palmOne decide to skip native WiFi support for its latest models (T5, Treo 650)?

02:57 AM by Colin Dunstan in E-Book General | News

RSA Security announced RSA BSAFE Mobile Rights Management, a new DRM solution that aims to provide a critical security component for consumer device manufacturers and service providers:

Converging technologies in the mobile device market have created new opportunities to deliver high-value digital content - music, video, games - to consumers over next-generation networks. To date, many solutions that protect content owners' rights have proven easy to circumvent or provide an unacceptable consumer experience due to limited device portability. RSA Security's solutions help solve these concerns through a security platform based on open industry standards, including the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) Digital Rights Management 2.0 standard and the Open Digital Rights Language (ODRL) v1.1.

The software will be available in January 2005. I hope they will find noone interested in buying it!

02:40 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Portable Audio/Video

Thanks to BoingBoing (love you guys!) for reporting how to do a small binary patch to enable iPod download again for iTunes 4.7:

It turns out that Apple's system for disabling the plugin uses a blacklist of disallowed iTunes additions in the iTunes binary. If you open the binary in a hexadecimal editor, like HexEdit, you can find the area where Apple has inserted the string "iPod Download" in its blacklist and simply replace the text with something else (in fact, I think you could probably just change one character) and your iTunes's original functionality will be restored.

The origin of the hack appears to be Hardmac.com.

02:29 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Thanks to Laurens for bringing some light into the confusion whether or not PalmSource plans to port PalmOS to PocketPC. C|Net reports:

PalmOne [PalmSource's biggest customer] representatives disputed the contents of the research note, from Needham & Co. The note said that PalmOne "tacitly admitted" it was working to make Microsoft's operating system available on the popular Treo line of phones...PalmOne representatives said the report was based on a misunderstanding, adding that the company is platform-agnostic. The representatives also said the company as a policy does not comment on products that may or may not be under development.

How interesting that PalmSource declines to commend on the report, and that palmOne is the one who tries to clean up the mess.

02:21 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

"Smart Moves" is this year's theme of the Nokia Mobility Conference in Monaco, where Nokia also unveiled its Nokia 7710 widescreen multimedia smartphone. Finally Nokia has stepped across the line and entered PDA territory with its new phone!

The 7710 is Nokia's first handset featuring a screen that lets users access functions with a stylus, pitting it against PDA rivals such as PalmOne. In addition, the handset can also function as a souped-up smart phone, featuring a digital camera, radio, Internet browser and music player, using the Symbian OS. Specs:

- 8x4 cm 65,536-color wide screen with pen input
- handwriting recognition
- HTML browser supports Flash 6
- up to 90 MB internal memory, 128 MB MMC card
- megapixel camera (1152x864 pixels)
- music player with stereo audio
- audio and video playback and streaming
- FM/Visual Radio

The 7710 will be available in Asia later this year and in Europe and Africa early in 2005, Nokia said. It's priced at €500 (US $638).

Sounds like a "smart move" to me, even though I haven't had experience with Symbian OS (yet).

11:03 AM by divajess in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

As some of you crazy writers might be aware, November is National Novel Writing Month. The goal? Write 50,000 words or more in just 30 days. At the end of the month, you submit your manuscript for an official word count (no cheating!) and if you hit the 50K mark, you win the satisfaction of a job well done. Oh, and a nifty little "winner" graphic to display proudly on your website. Neat, huh?

Last year I decided to sign up, but never got much past my first 1,000 words due to complications of the real life kind. This year I decided to give it another shot, and I am determined that I will finish. The key to my success? My Pocket PC.

I love writing by hand, but writing 50,000 words that way seemed like quite a daunting task. I also don't think that carrying around my 5 pound laptop is a very viable solution. I might have 50K by the end of the month, but I would also have huge back problems. But that's why we have PDAs, right? My beautiful new Dell Axim (with Calligrapher 7.0) plus my Targus IR keyboard is the perfect portable word processor. They both fit into my small handbag and I never leave home without carrying at least the Axim, if not also the keyboard.

Even just one day into NaNoWriMo my setup has proven its worth. I had lots of errands to run last night, including a trip to the emergency vet with my cat, but I was able to churn out about 500 words on my PPC instead of leafing through 10-month-old magazines. It was much better than reading old magazines!

Are any other writers out their using their PDAs as a mobile writing solution? Any fellow NaNo'ers? I want to hear from you!