This will be a regular feature looking at PDA industry news as a whole, we will include under the PA-TECH banner and will be edited by myself, Jennifer and Jason McLoughlin. You can contribute your own PDA & technology stories for our PA-TECH section by emailing us at sammymcloughlin@gmail.com and put TECH in your subject line.
iRex iLiad hands-on videos posted. E-book veteran Henrycat was so kind to make some hands-on videos of his iRex iLiad in action. You can download them packed in a RAR file from RapidShare, or directly from us (if RapidShare doesn't work for you).
GUI desktop emulates papers and books on physical desktop. The BumpTop desktop interface prototype is one of those technologies that makes you go "Wow!
Jazz up your MacBook Pro's backlit keyboard to dance according to the current tune being played by using an iTunes visualizer plug-in.
CEO Steve Jobs will headline a team of Apple executives — including Philip Schiller, Sr. VP of Worldwide Product Marketing; Bertrand Serlet, Sr. VP of Software Engineering; and Scott Forstall, VP of Platform Experience — to kick off the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) with a keynote preview of Mac OS X “Leopard” on Monday, August 7, 2006, beginning at 10:00 a.m. at San Francisco’s Moscone West. [Jun 26, 2006]
Let us introduce you to another Wrist PDA running Windows CE 5.0. The last time we saw this wrist-worn PC it was a mere concept, and a sketchy one at that. With some outlandish claims like 8 hours of battery life, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, SD card expansion and a QVGA 3.5-inch LCD, we just figured we'd let it sit until its creators managed to throw it together for reals. Well, it looks like they managed to do just that, and the new ZYPAD WL 1000 from Parvus has all those capabilities and more. An interesting supplement to the GPS function is a tilt sensor to recognize if the user is moving, providing an extra Big Brother factor for employers. The unit can run Windows CE 5.0 or a Linux OS.
[From Kevin T] This could be cool, Mobility Today reports. Press your finger on a cell-phone touch screen in 2007 and the screen could press right back. Immersion--a developer of tactile or haptic technologies--said today that it plans to license its new force-feedback technology to handset makers, to make virtual buttons on cell-phone screens.
From Gizmodo. As the saying goes, the rich get richer, and T-Mobile is more than happy to accommodate America's best and brightest with the launch of their highly anticipated Sidekick 3. Paris Hilton, even has a special, Swarovski Crystal-encrusted verion of T-Mobile's wunderphone.
In addition to Microsoft's Unified Communications product road map, which Microsoft unveiled today, Microsoft and Motorola today announced a multiyear joint marketing and development alliance to deliver unified communications solutions using Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 across Motorola mobile devices and network hardware. The collaboration is intended to enable enterprise customers to seamlessly connect and share information in real time regardless of location, network or device.
[From Hipster] Pierre Demesmaeker whacked me over a note about their new device, the RASPIE XD-1 which gives dual-gsm, dual working SIM capabilitiy (each tri-band - 900m/1800m/1900m).
HopStop.com launches Mobile Device-optimized version
The Motorola "Ming" A-1200 PDA Smart Phone is a fully integrated gadget that serves as a mobile phone, a PDA, a music player, a camera, a video recorder, a name card reader and a data storage device (up to 1GB). The phone is fashioned with a cool looking transparent cover as a protection for the 2.4" color touch-screen display.
Now showcasing the Mio P550 - a PDA with fully embedded GPS receiver, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The new Mio P550 is one of the most versatile navigation devices available, providing full PDA capability, internet access via built-in WiFi, and wireless connectivity with Bluetooth. And because the P550 is compatible with any Windows Mobile 5 software, you can use it for off road navigation. Just load the software you prefer - and go.
Microsoft have released the Device Security Manager which is a test tool for developers of Windows Mobile applications, which may be of interest to the developers amongst our community!
World record mobile phone throw - Believe it or not, the men's world record for throwing a mobile phone is 94.97 meters (more than 100 yards), set by Mikko Lampi from Vilppula, Finland during the 2005 Mobile Phone Throwing World Championships. The women's winner, Marke Krok, threw it a still impressive 41,42 meters.
[From Luis] Samsung rustles up thinnest phones ever! We can’t get enough of thinphones at T3 towers. Razor sharp looks and ever decreasing dimensions really float our boat - but Samsung’s taken it further than anyone with its new Ultra Editions – the thinnest phones we’ve ever seen!
MobileTechReview has posted a review of the Motorola Q. It’s all new; there’s not a scrap of history in the design. In the box is the phone, battery, charger, USB cable, belt-clip and CD. It doesn’t start all that well. The first job is to install the battery and the battery cover; the cover is a flimsy affair that doesn’t seat well and gives the unit a budget feel. That’s bad, so annoyed was I that I tried an old trick; stick four tiny pieces of white-tack on the corner of the battery and press the cover on slowly – transformation! The unit is now solid and chunky!
Sodiff announced last week that it would be releasing a new WiBro enabled handheld PC. Sodiff announced last week that it would be releasing a new WiBro enabled handheld PC. The device also has an SD memory card slot, audio/video playback, a built-in FM tuner, IPTV, and a 2 megapixel camera. there is also a Windows button on the device so it will likely be runing some sort of Windows OS.
SnoopSoft has released WebCalendar, a Today plug-in that delivers the power and flexibility of Google Calendar to Windows Mobile devices.
Kingston Technology, which recently introduced its largest capacity (2 GB) miniSD and MMCmobile memory cards for $80 each, has launched a new section of its Web site dedicated to mobile phones and smartphones.
Motorola employs fifth-generation technology for its H700 headset, and the extensive engineering clearly pays off. The headset is tiny and light; it functions like a dream, especially with Motorola's mobile phones; and it looks good enough to make the average "gadget head" drool.
The BlackBerry 7130e, which is available from Sprint for $199.99 with a two-year contract, delivers high-speed EVDO capabilities at a very attractive price. But anyone with intensive text-entry needs should seriously consider buying an EVDO-enabled device that offers an expanded Qwerty-style keypad.
The PT-200 looks like a relic from the digital watch era of the 80s. It is actually a personal tracking and communication device that comes in a bracelet form factor with the distinction of being the smallest and most powerful device in its class.
Despite the fact that the long-anticipated official launch date is fast approaching, the demand for Sidekick 3s appears to be as hot as ever, with one lucky/crazy individual scoring one of the suckers for over four grand on eBay -- and it wasn't even a pimped out one.
