07:15 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

BenQ is finishing touches on the Treo for PocketPC: the BenQ P50. With an integrated mini-QWERTY keyboard, a 240x320 display, and built-in WiFi & Bluetooth, this little gadget could become a true nightmare for palmOne!

Taiwan-based Mobile01 features some nice pictures of the new BenQ.

06:16 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Portable Audio/Video

According to "highly reliable sources" close to Think Secret, Apple is going to release a new 4th generation iPod within the next 30 to 60 days: the new iPod, which will sit at the top of Apple's fourth-generation line-up, will pack Toshiba's new 60GB 1.8-inch hard drive, a 2-inch color liquid crystal display, iPhoto synchronization, audio/video-out capabilities, and will sell for $499.

$499 is a hefty price tag for a MP3 player, don't you think? But then again, a 60Gb harddrive of that minimal size doesn't come cheap either. Perhaps I am just jealous because I only bought a "normal" 4G iPod.

05:01 AM by Colin Dunstan in Miscellaneous | Lounge

All over the place it was reported that Gmail now supports ATOM feed, a nice way to be alerted via an ATOM capable reader client of incoming mail.

Unfortunately, the link is only shown to a few selected accounts.

Here is how everyone can access his or her Gmail account via ATOM feed:

Use this link: https://gmail.google.com/gmail/feed/atom

You'll be prompted for your Gmail user name and password. That's all!

If you don't have your own Gmail account yet, make sure to visit Alex's thread for an invite!

Btw, does anyone know any Palm- or PPC-based readers supporting ATOM?

04:40 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Another video leaked depicting the T5. You can find it here at the Czech site PAjDA.cz:

http://www.pajda.cz/t5.avi

It shows (in its own words):
1. Tungsten T5 allows man to carry and use documents anywhere
2. Female uses Tungsten T5 to review PowerPoint and show presentation
3. Tungsten T5 and new wireless keyboard
4. Tungsten T5 product shots
5. palmOne product family
6. palmOne corporate headquaters
7. palmOne logo

Thanks to PDA247 and Pajda.cz for bringing the link.

04:29 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Firstloox reviews Acky’s XP Breakout, the first full VGA supporting PocketPC game out there.

I am not really an Arkanoid-clone fan, but simply for demonstrating the VGA capabilities this game rocks! Aren't you convinced yet to buy a VGA-PPC next?

02:04 AM by cbarnett in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

HP have finally released what looks like the final PPC from them for the year, the hx2000 series. The trend for providing different spec'd units at different prices within a product range seems to be continuing, with low, middle and high end models available. This series looks like it's being aimed at the business user, and should be another welcome addition to the ipaq range, hopefully. It's certainly the most different looking ipaq released so far.

Full specs from PDAGold are here

Craig.

02:59 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Symbian OS applications are the most successful smartphone applications on Handango: sales increased more than 100% compared to the first half of 2003. The average customer bought 18% more applications for Symbian OS mobile phones than the average customer for other leading mobile OSs.

"We are very pleased by the continued success of Symbian OS applications sales," said Marit Døving, EVP Marketing, Symbian. "The explosive growth and demand for third party applications based on Symbian OS is further validation of Symbian’s unique position to add value and create commercial opportunities for both the Symbian ecosystem and the wider mobile industry."

Source: Symbianone

02:47 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

When I read RT's comment "I Was Naive!" at PalmAddict this morning, I felt as if the author was speaking out of my mind. Long before Sony joined the PDA euphoria, palmOne (at that time still called Palm) had been the only big PDA player, and definitely the only one with PalmOS-based handhelds.

Do you remember the Palm V (and later Vx)? For how long had it been Palm's #1 model? I can tell you: for many years - until Sony entered the game! Sony came and slaughtered the market. And henceforth Palm was forced to actually invest some money in new hardware design. The m500/m505 came, and it didn't take long for the T-line to approach.

Then Sony left the spectacle again - and with it an overly disturbed PDA market with dozens of PalmOS-based handhelds called Clie. What a relief for palmOne. Its management probably took the entire research & development budget to spent 6 luxurious months lying on the beach of Virgin Gorda. Then it must have noticed that their wives were running out of money and so decided to refurnish the Tungsten E and call it Tungsten T5.

Competition is the whetstone of talent. When Sony left the PDA market, palmOne lost its talent.