PalmAddicts

The new Android SDK is out

I am loving the new screenshots of the the new Android SDK which is out today. "There are a couple of changes in m5-rc14 I'd like to highlight:

* New user interface - As I mentioned when we introduced the m3 version of the Android SDK, we're continuing to refine the UI that's available for Android. m5-rc14 replaces the previous placeholder with a new UI, but as before, work on it is still in-progress.
* Layout animations - Developers can now create layout animations for their applications using the capabilities introduced in the android.view.animation package. Check out the LayoutAnimation*.java files in the APIDemos sample code for examples of how this works.
* Geo-coding - android.location.Geocoder enables developers to forward and reverse geo-code (i.e. translate an address into a coordinate and vice-versa), and also search for businesses.
* New media codecs - The MediaPlayer class has added support for the OGG Vorbis, MIDI, XMF, iMelody, RTTL/RTX, and OTA audio file formats.
* Updated Eclipse plug-in - A new version of ADT is available and"

The Gizmodo also has some good pictures of the new interface and it looks sweet.

Handheld Devices Sink 53.2% During Fourth Quarter But Protracted Decline Appears to Be Slowing, Says IDC

[From Eric Mann] The handheld device market, already in the throes of unit decline, failed to post a seasonal sequential increase in shipments during the fourth quarter. According to IDC's Worldwide Handheld QView, vendors shipped a total of 683,004 units in the fourth quarter, marking a 53.2% decrease from the same quarter a year ago and a 6.0% decrease from the previous quarter. For the full year, vendors shipped a total of 3.0 million units worldwide, down 44.3% from the 5.5 million units shipped during all of 2006.

"In most mature markets, the fourth quarter typically brings an increase in shipments to meet holiday demand, but this was not the case for the handheld device market," said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team. "User interest has shifted away from handheld devices to others that can perform the same tasks, but include features that better meet user demand. The best example of this is the converged mobile device, or smartphone, that can do personal information management and other handheld device functions, but can also make phone calls, making it a better alternative for most consumers."

With the handheld device market posting its sixteenth consecutive quarter of year-on-year decline, Llamas does not believe that the market will disappear altogether. "If you look at each quarter during 2007, some of the leading vendors have seen their shipment volumes start to level off. This gives some hope that the market may be finding a sustainable level. Plus, vendors are still introducing new models and reaching first time users. If the market was about to disappear, then neither of these trends would be taking place today."

Top Five Handheld Device Vendors

Palm has had the same models, including the TX, Z22, and Tungsten E2, on the market for more than two years, but not even the lack of a new device has kept the company from the No. 1 position worldwide. Throughout 2007, Palm has steadily increased its quarterly shipments, but shipment volumes remain below 2006 levels.

HP was the clear No. 2 vendor in the handheld device market, and introduced two new devices to its product portfolio: the 211 Enterprise Handheld and 111 Classic Handheld. Despite the heady decline from a year ago, shipments during each quarter of 2007 remained relatively stable from one quarter to the next.

Mio continued to slide throughout the year and, after closing the gap to as little as 60,000 units in the first quarter, the company now trails No. 2 vendor HP by more than 130,000 units. Navigation has become a standard feature on all of Mio's handheld devices, but this pits its handhelds up against the company's competing line of personal navigation devices.

Fujitsu-Siemens was the only vendor among the top five to post positive year-on-year growth, although the improvement was the result of shipping approximately one thousand more units over the previous year. Rather than take a multi-regional approach like other vendors, the company focused solely within EMEA with its Pocket LOOX devices.

Sharp posted the largest year-on-year decline among the leading vendors, but shipped enough of its Zaurus-branded units into Japan to retain the No. 5 slot worldwide and the No. 1 slot in Japan. Within its home region, Sharp accounted for more than half of all handheld device shipments, but as in the rest of the world, shipments of handheld devices there have dropped precipitously.

Notes:
* Vendor shipments are branded shipments and exclude ODM sales for all vendors.
* Handheld devices are pocket-sized, either pen or keypad-centric, and are capable of synchronizing with desktop or laptop computers. Handheld devices are designed to access and manage data including office documents, multimedia, and games.
* Handheld devices do not include telephony but may include wireless capabilities (like Bluetooth and WiFi) that enable Internet access and text communication. These devices feature evolved operating systems or applications environments such as the Palm OS, Windows Mobile Pocket PC, Linux, or other proprietary platforms with the ability to download, run applications, and store user data beyond PIM capabilities.

IDC's Worldwide Handheld QView provides device vendors, software developers, service providers, and component suppliers with timely and accurate information on the worldwide handheld market. The program provides quarterly measurements of worldwide unit shipments and vendor market shares.
http://idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS21083408

MemMaid

If you have a windows mobile phone then you know it can run slow sometimes. Even if you end all applications it still isn’t as fast as when you purchased it. That’s because it’s the little things we cant really see that slow it down. Weird things like cache and dead registry sound like you would have to dissect your phone to clean out. Never fear MemMaid is here. That’s right now with the click of a button you can clean out old unused files internet cache and dead registry. Use the free trial to see for yourself. Some things I like Easy to use Customizable Made my treo run 3 times faster Shows how much data you clean Ability to soft reset with quick button Ability to clean on schedule Some things I would like to see or have improved Faster cleaning Overall this is a must have for windows mobile device. From now on every time I get a new device it must have two things. Threaded messages and MemMaid.

PalmAddict Podcast 102

[From Tyler Faux] The PalmAddict Podcast 102 (13 February 2008) Show Notes:
-Mystery 755p Sprint Update
-Palm Centro hits Europe
-All iPhones Now Unlockable
-Full MacBook Air Review

[MP3] Download Palm Addict in the usual mp3 format or just listen through streaming normal.

[RSS] You can subscribe to the Official Palm Addict Podcast RSS feed here and have the Podcast delivered to you in your RSS aggregator.

[SUBSCRIBE:] Remember you can subscribe via i-Tunes and never miss an episode.

Why Are Cell Phones So Badly Designed?

Interesting article over at Infoworld:  Why Do Cell Phones Suck So Much? hits it right  on the nail.  Maybe if they start to make it more user friendly and it doesn't take millions of taps to get to do one task, it may improve sales and better customer satisfication.

On a recent Saturday night my wife and I went out shopping for cell phones. (I know, I know, doesn't sound like much of a date.) I'm going to replace my Treo 650 and my wife wants to replace her Motorola RAZR with something that's easier for texting.

We stopped by the local AT&T store to see what's on offer. (Although my wife's on Verizon.) Lots of choices but still pretty frustrating. There are phones that have 3G GSM and Wifi (but weigh too much) there are phones that have a great user interface (but no keyboard) there are phones that have a camera (but no wifi or vice verse) and phones that have all the right features but you'd never be able to figure them out.

I got to wondering a very basic question: why do cell phones suck so much? My thesis is that they suck because they've been designed by committees.

Read on at Infoworld

eReader site down pending revamped look

[From Eric Mann] Eric lets me know that eReader is offline but JK On The Run are stating that the site is being revamped so it will be interesting to see how this turns out.

Omnifone To Deliver Unlimited Mobile Music Downloads To UK Consumers

[From Hans] This could turn out to be quite an interesting move and be interesting to see if they move to other platforms such as Win Mob and Palm in the future. "Free unlimited music downloads. That idea was made a very public possibility by an ambitious service called QTrax. That service, as many of you now know, wasn’t meant to be. Infamy has now befallen the venture. Of course, QTrax had one fatal flaw: All record companies that were reportedly on board with the effort had not signed deals with the venture. Maybe Omnifone (UK) will have better luck with its own music download service. CNET’s Crave UK blog reports that the London-based company is planning the debut of MusicStation Max, an initiative, like QTrax, also said to be “free” and “unlimited,” in the first half of 2008. Omnifone has signed LG to manufacture the first handsets to function with the service." Mashable.com for the full deets.

Julie at The Gadgeteer's review of the i705 back in 2002

Talking about the i705 my favourite review, and indeed my favourite review of any Palm device was Julie's review over at The Gadgeteer and if you read it you will see, that back in 2002, this was one heck of a brilliant device [obviously there are some drawbacks such as the lack of color and the data charge in place at the time] and you get a feel of what Julie was getting up to with her device.

"The AOL Instant Messenger application is something I didn't think I'd be all that wowed by, but I was wrong. Being able to hold a real time conversation with a device in the palm of your hand while sitting in a car in a parking lot waiting for your friend to finish shopping is just too cool! Setting up AIM is simple. You just enter your screen name, password and it pulls down your buddy list. You can easily see who is online to send an IM to."
Take a step back to 2002 and read Julie's review of the i705.

The i705 on ebay, and why this was always the Palm device that I wanted

I was searching the internet and found this bargain. Now to be fair the i705 I guess can now only be used as a PDA but this was always the device that I wanted and I got to play with it when I was at a Palm event at TECHEXPO in NYC a couple of years ago. I loved the fact that I was able to retrieve my email throughy theis device and chat away on instant messenger and browse the net at the same time. I only wish the device would have been made available in the UK because I would have purchased it straight away. Anyway the bidding is at $15.50 and ends in a day so if you want a Palm relic then here is the ebay link and as with all ebay sales most are fine but always be prudent.

Thye Morning Paper - Where in the world is Windows Mobile 6.1?

My RSS feed just alerted me to this editorial at the Morning Paper which I found to be interesting entitled Where in the world is Windows Mobile 6.1? "Inquiring minds want to know. And the questions are only going to get louder. Where in the world is Windows Mobile 6.1? Here we are on day two of the WDC in Barcelona and not one peep, iota, sliver of news from Microsoft on the (needlessly) ultra-secret, NDA bound, rumored and leaked upgrade to Windows Mobile." An in-depth editorial which you can read after the jump.

Groove Mobile Signs with Indie Mobile to Expand

[From Michelle Rudolph, mPRm Public Relations] Groove Mobile, the world’s leading mobile music service provider, announced a worldwide licensing deal with Indie Mobile at The Mobile World Congress 2008 that will extend Groove Mobile’s independent music library to include multiple mobile content rights including full music tracks, videos and realtones from an extensive catalog of 70,000 songs. Artists under the new arrangement include Armand Van Helden, Felix Da Housecat, The Editors, The Pigeon Detectives, Bob Sinclair, Laurent Garnier, Royksopp and Shaggy. The deal will increase Groove Mobile’s catalog and provide these additional independent labels and artists with instant access to the mobile phones of music fans across the globe.

“Groove Mobile’s dynamic platform will have a tremendous impact on our global reach,” said Seth Jackson, managing director of Indie Mobile. “We will be able to market full tracks directly to consumers as well as significantly enhance the work we do with bands at live events. We look forward to launching groundbreaking initiatives together in 2008.” Groove Mobile will work closely with Indie to explore myriad direct-to-consumer opportunities at concerts and other live events, such as full track, off-portal downloads. Recently Groove Mobile enabled a free text trigger download during CTIA, powering the first-ever full track, off-portal download available to consumers across multiple U.S. carriers.

“Indie Mobile works with an extensive group of influential artists that mobile music fans are demanding to hear,” said Adam Sexton, chief marketing officer for Groove Mobile. “At Groove Mobile, we have always been focused on the music, and this new agreement with Indie Mobile will bring some of the leading independent artists to our wireless carrier partners around the world.”

With 60 million transactions completed since launching the service in 2004, Groove Mobile has continued to strengthen its command of the marketplace through recent distribution deals with Bell Canada, Vodafone, 3 UK, Universal Music Group and Sony BMG. A pioneer in the mobile music industry, Groove Mobile sold 400,000 audio singles in its first year alone and in July of last year enabled nearly three million downloads in a single month. In addition to this latest deal with Indie, Groove Mobile provides music fans access to the content of other leading independents including, The Orchard, Beggars Group, Redeye Distribution, IRIS Distribution, INgrooves, GrooveSource, IODA, Artspage and Phonofile.

About Groove Mobile
Groove Mobile is the world's leading mobile music service. Groove Mobile's Complete Music Gateway includes Full Track Mobile Downloads, Peer-to-Peer Sharing and Personalized Music Recommendations, in addition to providing Personalized and Programmed Streaming Radio, Music Subscriptions, and more. Groove Mobile powers 3UK, the UK’s top rated mobile music service and the Sprint Music Store, the first over-the- air song-download service in the U.S. Groove Mobile launched the world's first secure peer-to-peer distribution in the mobile space, with its pioneering Tell-a-Friend feature. Groove Mobile's direct download service is available in the US, Canada, the UK, Europe, and Australasia and provides access to music from all the major labels and the top independent labels and distributors.
www.groovemobile.com.

Rory Cellan-Jones from the BBC reports from Barcelona on the trend for putting video on your mobile

Take a watch of this BBC news video from Rory Cellan-Jones in Barcelona on the trend for putting video on your mobile.

Voice on the Go® Now Available on the Motricity’s PocketGear.com

[From Faye Cameron] Voice on the Go Inc., a leading worldwide provider of mobile voice solutions today announced that Voice on the Go® is available on Motricity’s PocketGear.com website that offers applications direct to consumers for their mobile devices. Motricity is a leading provider of mobile content services and solutions to some of the largest and most popular mobile content storefronts on the Web today. With Voice on the Go, mobile users can conveniently dial in and listen to, compose, reply, and delete their email, access their calendar, search contacts by name or company and place calls – ALL BY VOICE. Voice on the Go, is essential for “People on the Go” and provides safe, hands-free and eyes-free access while driving, or any other time. Voice on the Go works on any mobile phone, BlackBerry® smartphone, Apple® iPhoneTM, Palm® TreoTM, Symbian, and Windows Mobile® devices. “Email is now a critical part of daily life and we are excited to offer access to email by voice on any phone through our PocketGear website” said Alex Bloom, VP/GM of Smartphone. “Voice on the Go is an industry-leading, innovative voice service that satisfies a huge global demand for voice access to email and other content. We’re ecstatic that now, through Motricity’s award-winning platform, it is available to hundreds of millions of subscribers worldwide,” said Simon Arnison, Chief Executive Officer of Voice on the Go. Voice on the Go can be activated quickly with no voice training, no special hardware or software to download. Voice on the Go works on any phone, on any carrier network and supports most popular email services. Voice on the Go is available immediately on Motricity’s network of Web sites, including Pocketgear.com and Smartphone.net, that offer applications direct to consumers for their mobile devices. Visit us at GSMA Mobile World Congress at Stand 2D59 in Hall 2 to see a Voice on the Go demo and to learn more. Voice on the Go® Now Available on the Motricity’s PocketGear.com Storefront

About Voice on the Go

Voice on the Go, one of the fastest growing mobile voice applications worldwide, provides consumers with access to email, contacts, calendar and other content BY VOICE at any time, on any mobile phone, BlackBerry® smartphone, Apple® iPhoneTM or other PDA. Voice on the Go enables subscribers to listen to, compose, reply and forward their email all by voice – hands-free and eyes-free safely while driving, or any other time. The company has global headquarters in Toronto, Canada and is experiencing explosive growth through an addressable market of more than two billion mobile subscribers worldwide1. Currently, 50 countries in the world have legislation that strictly prohibits usage of mobile phones or texting while driving unless usage is “hands-free”. In the United States: California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Utah and Washington, DC have passed similar legislation while other states have partial bans and bills pending. Voice on the Go is available to consumer and enterprise customers, as well as telecommunications carriers and resellers worldwide in a number of languages including English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Dutch. For more information, visit www.voiceonthego.com.

Palm CEO Says Centro Sales Exceeding Expectations and Palm is reaching for a different market

[From Antonio] Ed Colligan in a interview with MarketWatch says the Centro is doing well and Palm is going for a total different market with it's recent new handheld. "With its Centro entry-level smart phone, Palm Inc. believes it finally has the product it needs to penetrate the consumer market and conquer Europe, Chief Executive Ed Colligan told MarketWatch in an interview on Wednesday. Palm (PALM) launched the device, equipped with a full Qwerty keyboard and running the Palm operating system, in the U.S. last October. It is available with Sprint (US-S) for $99 with a contract. Palm expects to announce more U.S. carriers shortly and is taking the device to Europe in March. It has yet to announce partners there. U.S. shipments have been very encouraging, Colligan said, and early data suggests it may help Palm reach a new category of consumers. "It's exceeding our expectations," he said in an interview on the sidelines of Mobile World Congress, the telecom industry's largest annual gathering. "We started going after a very different market with this device. An early survey of buyers shows that 72% of people who bought the Centro previously had a traditional handset and not a smart phone," he said. Twice as many women are buying the Centro than the last Treo phone Palm rolled out. It also appeals to younger customers. He downplayed the risk of going after the consumer segment just when the economic outlook is worsening and customers show signs of curbing spending. Colligan believes the very aggressive pricing of the device will help. He is also convinced that consumers are likely to cut on other purchase before their phone. "One of the last things you will pry out of people's hands is their phone. Many other things will go first," he said. The success of the Centro, however, has had an impact on margins. Gross margin for the third quarter fell to 29.9% from 35.6% a year ago. But Colligan believes it is more important for the moment to woo new customers. "We felt it was more important to gain new dedicated Palm users. We are sacrificing a little bit of margin. It is driving the mix a little differently," he said." Read in full at the CNN Money website.

Could you live without your mobile device?

[From Nick] Could you live without your mobile device for a week? I remember when we first posted this video a year or so ago but if you haven't seen it then you must. Thanks to Nick for the reminder. You can get more deets on this story at Lifehacker.

Remember the MacBook Air Contest is on at the moment

Remember that I have the MacBook Air giveaway at the moment. As I mentioned I may close this tonight, tomorrow or next week I am not sure so if you wish to be entered then rules are pretty much the same as always for my random giveaway's and as always they are in the top sticky post at the top of the page or here, so get writing my friends.

How I keep two device connected, PIM wise

As part of my job, I have to know multiple OSes for mobile phones.  I was given a Samsung Blackjack, which I have upgraded to Windows Mobile 6 (instructions are here for those that haven't done it yet), and I have a Treo 680.  I love to use both, because both have things that I like and dislike.  I mostly use my Blackjack for moblogging and my 680 for day-to-day usage.

The hardest part of using 2,3,4 or more phones is "How do I keep all my PIM information current?"

After years of wrangling this, with Windows PCs (a Mac with The Missing Sync will do the job, as well), I decided that I have to give up hope of using other e-mail software and I got a copy of Office with Outlook.

Outlook is the great equalizer in the mobile world, because I don't know of a smartphone product that doesn't sync with the ubiquitous MS PIM software, iPhone included.

I made sure that the data on the PC was correct, then installed ActiveSync 4.5 and synced my Blackjack.  It backed up my contacts, calendar, and IE favorites.  Then I installed the new Palm Desktop update, and synced my 680, working fine.

I just make a habit now of syncing both phones before going to bed, and it works just fine for me.

Some Wednesday Thoughts from my iPhone

So I am sat in my local Coffee Bar, Drip here in Manchester doing some PR work, updating the site [moblogging] and thought, geez I have not written a diary entry for a week or so and that's due to how busy I am. So have been getting along nicely with the iPhone, in fact its been great. I like it because it's an ideal travel device, I love those times when you see a picture opportunity and you just want to snap it, well the camera on the iPhone is just ideal. I love the email, it's the first thing that I check in the morning, I get to read all of the emails sent from the US and reply pretty much straight away.

The screen size on the device is great and allows me to be able to see the full screen rather than just a couple of lines. I have found a good IM chat application for the iPhone which just works nicely and allows me to chat to IM chat buddies on AIM and it doesn't matter if I am in a wifi are or not I can just log on, chat away, retrieve my emails, catch the latest RSS feeds on Google's great iPhone RSS website and I am pretty much covered. The call quality is also proving to be good. I don't use my phone whilst driving, not even on hands free, I find it too much of a distraction and I want my concentration on the road, not on a telephone call. I did mention a day or so ago that I did drop it the once but it was fine no evident scratches which is fine but I will make sure that I don't make the same mistake again. And the use I have for my iPhone is that it allows me to work away from the office, I can work on deadlines and email them straight over to whomever I need to or back to the office and I can do that, pretty much like how I am typing this from my favourite Coffee Bar. I hope that you are all well and having a great Wednesday. [moblogging from my iPhone]

Treo 500 unbox video

[From Tam Hanna] Palm’s first Windows Mobile Smartphone(the 500v for Vodafone) has been reviewed all over the internet. However, the company has recently released an unlocked version of the device called Treo 500 - and TamsWMS is proud to be the first news service to present you the beginning of a Treo 500 review…by unpacking the box. In case you wish to give your readers a look at the unlocked version, feel free to link to our article here:
http://tamswms.tamoggemon.com/2008/02/13/treo-500-review-package-content s-unboxing-video/

Hands-on Video of Opera Mobile 9.5 on Windows Mobile Professional

[From Hans] Arne at the Unwired recently got some hands on time with the Opera Mobile 9.5 and there is even a video to go with it. "Tonight I had my first 15 minutes with the recently announced but not yet released Opera Mobile 9.5 web browser on a Windows Mobile 6 Professional smartphone. As Opera confirmed, we will see a release of this browser later this year - most likely in Spring (even if the Opera Software spokesman mentioned that Spring is coming later to Oslo). He also confirmed that Opera Mobile 9, which was announced on last year's 3GSM World Congress was never released for Windows Mobile but the PC development kept Opera that busy that it was postponed to Opera Mobile 9.5. Nevertheless, Opera 9 for PC and Opera Mobile 9.5 now shares the identical code base." So go make the jump.

PalmDiscovery states that the Blackberry outage that has affected many parts in the last couple of days was due to faulty upgrade

The Blackberry outage that has affected many parts in the last couple of days was due to faulty upgrade according to May at PalmDiscovery. "This is apparently the SECOND major outage or disruption in the past 12 months. Just like like last time, rather than come clean with the problem, they instead, decide on blaming it on "faulty upgrades". I understand that there's a lot going on and it's hard to diagnose what's causing the problem but then not being upfront about it doesn't make a shareholder or clients feel very confident about the reliability of this product." PalmDiscovery for the full read on this one.

USB Fever new launches in last week

[From Thomas at USBFever] Hi Sammy, Just back from holidays (Lunar New Year), Althouh there are just 2 ~ 3 working days in last week, we still have some new launches Here are our new launches in last week, please let us know if you have any comments.

iPhone Crystal Case - Bruce Lee
http://www.usbfever.com/index_eproduct_view.php?products_id=603

iPod Touch Crystal Case - Bruce LEE
http://www.usbfever.com/index_eproduct_view.php?products_id=604

Athlete USB 4-Port Hub
http://www.usbfever.com/index_eproduct_view.php?products_id=599

Wrist Pad Mouse
http://www.usbfever.com/index_eproduct_view.php?products_id=600

USB 2.0 EasyCAP 4 CHANNEL DVR Video Recorder
http://www.usbfever.com/index_eproduct_view.php?products_id=601

King-Sized PDA / GPS Car Windshield Mount
http://www.usbfever.com/index_eproduct_view.php?products_id=499

Audio Technica ATH-AD300 Open-air Dynamic Headphones
http://www.usbfever.com/index_eproduct_view.php?products_id=564

Audio Technica ATH-AD400 Open-air Dynamic Headphones
http://www.usbfever.com/index_eproduct_view.php?products_id=565

Audio Technica ATH-AD700 Open-air Dynamic Headphones
http://www.usbfever.com/index_eproduct_view.php?products_id=567

Audio Technica ATH-AD900 Professional Monitor Headphones
http://www.usbfever.com/index_eproduct_view.php?products_id=568

Audio Technica ATH-AD1000 Open-air Dynamic Headphones
http://www.usbfever.com/index_eproduct_view.php?products_id=569

Audio Technica ATH-AD2000 Open-air Dynamic Headphones
http://www.usbfever.com/index_eproduct_view.php?products_id=570

Are there too many mobile Phone operating systems? Well according to Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin there is

Are there too many mobile Phone operating systems? Well according to Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin there is "At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona today, Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin said too many mobile phone operating systems hinders the growth of cool mobile applications. Sarin, whose company owns a 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless, also said that "Apple has raised the bar with the iPhone, and we all now know how important user interfaces are," he said. "We as an industry will have to raise our game to provide the kind of user interface that our customers are now becoming accustomed to."" Read in full at redeyechicago.com/iphoneblog

Keeping track of your finances on the go

[From Eric Mann] Eric Mann dropped me a quick line, he spotted a good editorial on how to track your finances on the go, covering Palm OS and Windows Mobile programs amongst other platforms and well worth reading. "If you’re like many small business owners, it’s a challenge to keep track of your money and budgets. Especially when you’re on the road—wooing clients, visiting supply partners or attending trade shows. One way to track money on the go is with smart phone software. Low-cost applications let you use your Treo, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry or iPhone to enter new expenditures, view current account balances, generate spending reports and more. Many programs synchronize your desktop financial applications, such as Quicken or QuickBooks, with your handheld financial software. " Read in full.

i-mate launches Ultimate 9502 and 8502

i-mate are out with more new gadgets, "i-mate has unveiled the latest devices in its "Ultimate" range, the Ultimate 9502 and the Ultimate 8502 at Mobile World Congress. The Ultimate 9502 is the new flagship model of the Ultimate range and delivers an "all in one" Windows Mobile device. Powered by 3.5G (HSDPA & HUSDPA), and with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, the Ultimate 9502 has a VGA display and integrated GPS functionality for navigation. With dedicated shortcut keys the 9502 includes integrated support for Direct Video Out capabilities, providing you with the option to connect it to monitors or projectors and watch videos off it or even use Windows Mobile on a larger screen."

Firefox 3 Beta 3 released

[From Michael Sutcliffe] Firefox 3 Beta 3 is now available for download. This is the eleventh developer milestone focused on testing the core functionality provided by many new features and changes to the platform scheduled for Firefox 3. Ongoing planning for Firefox 3 can be followed at the Firefox 3 Planning Center, as well as in mozilla.dev.planning and on irc.mozilla.org in #granparadiso.

New features and changes in this milestone that require feedback include:
* Improved security features such as: better presentation of website identity and security including support for Extended Validation (EV) SSL certificates, malware protection, stricter SSL error pages, anti-virus integration in the download manager.
* Improved ease of use through: easier add-on discovery and installation, improved download manager search and progress indication in the status bar, resumable downloading, full page zoom, and better integration with Windows Vista, Mac OS X and Linux.
* Richer personalization through: one-click bookmarking, smart bookmark folders, location bar that uses an algorithm based on site visit recency and frequency (called “frecency”) to provide better matches against your history and bookmarks for URLs and page titles, ability to register web applications as protocol handlers, and better customization of download actions for file types.
* Improved platform features such as: new graphics and font rendering architecture, JavaScript 1.8, major changes to the HTML rendering engine to provide better CSS, float-, and table layout support, native web page form controls, colour profile management, and offline application support.
* Performance improvements such as: better data reliability for user profiles, architectural improvements to speed up page rendering, over 350 memory leak fixes, a new XPCOM cycle collector to reduce entire classes of leaks, and reductions in the memory footprint.

(You can find out more about all of these features in the “What’s New” section of the release notes.)

Testers can download Firefox 3 Beta 3 builds for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux in over 30 different languages. Please be sure to read the full release notes before using this preview release. Developers should look at the Firefox 3 for Developers article on the Mozilla Developer Center.

mywaves Named Best Mobile Video Service at 13th Annual Global Mobile Awards Ceremony

[From mywaves Inc] mywaves, the largest mobile video destination, today announced that its free mobile video service was selected as the best mobile video service by the GSMA Mobile World Congress. In winning the award, mywaves beat out mobile media powerhouses including MTV International, Sony Pictures Television International, Telestra Corporation and Vodafone. The award was given at the Global Mobile Awards Gala Dinner during the GSMA Mobile World Congress (previously 3GSM), one of the world's largest communications conferences.

"mywaves is extremely honored to be named the winner of this prestigious award," said Rajeev Raman, CEO, mywaves. "This win is a testament to the importance we place on delivering an unparalleled mobile entertainment experience to our loyal global audience of consumers-on-the-go."

As the most broadly distributed, fastest-growing mobile video provider, mywaves drives nearly 5 million monthly views through more than 400,000 channels dedicated to content from the world's leading media companies, user-generated video, and everything in between. Since its consumer launch one year ago, mywaves has amassed users in over 175 countries.

"Entries to the Global Mobile Awards this year demonstrate the social, business and economic impact that mobile communications is having in every corner of the world," said Rob Conway, GSMA CEO. "Being nominated by our independent judging panel is no mean feat given the caliber of experts it comprises, and the quality and quantity of submissions received," noted Rob Conway, CEO of GSM Association, in a recent press release.

mywaves is the largest mobile video destination for consumers, attracting over 5 million unique visitors monthly to its free mobile video service. Consumers can browse through nearly 400,000 channels of premium, private and user-generated videos and have their favorites automatically updated and delivered to their phones. Most users tune in to watch mywaves video weekly with average viewing times of 24 minutes per session. The service works globally across all 3G, EDGE, BREW and EV-DO carriers as well as most video-capable mobile phones, including Palm, Windows Mobile, Symbian and RIM based phones. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., mywaves is led by a team from Yahoo!, Napster, Danger, Palm and TiVo. The company is funded by venture capital firm, Menlo Ventures. For more information or to sign up for mywaves, go to http://www.mywaves.com or from a mobile browser: http://www.mywaves.com/m.

Double Trouble…Proporta Dual Skin Silicone Cases

[From Hannah at Proporta] Proporta are certainly the ones who know how to give your device the protection it truly deserves, but offering protection and style at the same time can sometimes be a little trickier. Proporta hit the nail on the head with their Dual Skin Silicone Cases - offering your iPod even more protection than it could ever wish for, and making it funkier than ever before.

Two tough protective skins make up the Proporta Dual Skin Silicone Case and protect your device from scratching and impact damage, as well as complimenting it in a wide variety of colours.

Both silicone layers have all the necessary cut aways enabling access to all ports and controls so that your iPod can still be used when it’s inside the two layers. The upper layer also offers cut outs along the side of your iPod for anti-slip confidence, and a little bit of extra style.

Proporta’s Dual Skin Silicone Cases are available for all the newer members of the Apple iPod family, including the iPhone, iPod touch, iPod classic 80GB / 160GB and 3G iPod nano.

P.S. Charge your iPod and other devices with the Mobile Device Charger – Micro. Exceptionally portable – the perfect travelling companion :0)

Tim Beyers at the Motley Fool says goodbye to his Treo

[From Hans] Tim Beyers at the Motley Fool says goodbye to his Treo but has nothing but good words to say about his Treo. "Count me among the bandwagon bunch. As of today, I'm an iPhone user. The Treo I've relied upon for four years is no longer, finally falling victim to my ham-handedness. Goodbye, Palm (Nasdaq: PALM). Hello, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL). But you knew this was coming, right? I announced my plan to buy an iPhone months ago. (Here, in fact.) Now that I have one, I can say ... yeah, it's sweet. The interface is a breeze. Setup was simple. And while I'd rather be forced to listen to nails on a chalkboard than browse the Web with my old Treo, on the iPhone, it's at worst tolerable and often pretty good. In short: I'm a happy customer. So far. And yet, I'll not grave-dance. My Treo was outstanding, a symbol of how great Palm once was and could be again." Read in full.

Novarra Raises the Bar for Mobile Internet Experience With Vision(TM) Platform Version 7.0

[From Hotwire PR] Novarra, the Internet Mobility(TM) company, announces commercial availability of the latest version of its Vision(TM) mobile web and multi-media platform. This new release brings the experience of accessing the internet on handsets even closer to that of the desktop and includes advanced support for advertising. Version 7.0 includes significant enhancements to both server and micro-clients comprising desktop-like content and viewing capabilities, comprehensive Web 2.0 content support (such as video streaming) and user interface breakthroughs in speed and navigation. Version 7.0 is shaped by extensive consumer usage data from Novarra's commercial deployments as well as the demand from operators and content providers to drive revenues and consumer uptake. 3 Hong Kong has upgraded to Version 7.0 server and micro-clients for its groundbreaking 3Xplorer mobile internet and video service, and Turkcell has deployed the Version 7.0 server to deliver mobile internet to more than 22 million consumers.
http://www.novarra.com/Company.htm

Yahoo! to Reinvent Mobile Communications with Yahoo! oneConnect(TM)

[From Nicole Leverich] Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO), a leader in developing mobile-first experiences, is driving the industry towards the future of mobile communications with Yahoo! oneConnect(TM). In 2007, Yahoo! revolutionized mobile search with Yahoo! oneSearch(TM), an optimized search experience designed for the mobile device. Today the company will unveil a plan for similarly reinventing mobile communications by demonstrating its upcoming Yahoo! oneConnect service. Yahoo! oneConnect is expected to become available in the award-winning Yahoo! Go 3.0 and Yahoo!'s new mobile home page in Q2 2008.

"Last year we set out to reinvent mobile search with Yahoo! oneSearch, and today with 29 operator partnerships around the world covering more than 600 million subscribers, we believe we have certainly succeeded," said Marco Boerries, executive vice president, Connected Life, Yahoo!. "Now, we intend to reinvent mobile communications through Yahoo! oneConnect, a revolutionary new mobile communications service that will combine integrated mobile messaging with a socially-connected address book."

Yahoo! oneConnect will be the first mobile product with an open architecture that aggregates communications tools - email, instant messaging (IM), text messaging (SMS), and social networks - for a new level of convenience in mobile communications.

Yahoo! oneConnect is designed to include the following features, which will:

-- Socially-connected address book - Provide users the capability to integrate activity from popular social networks, professional networks, and communities into their address book, keeping it always in sync. Consumers will be able to view status updates, photo uploads, and the recent activity ("pulse") of contacts across all their networks.

-- Integrated mobile messaging - Offer seamless integration of IM and SMS, including threaded conversations. Any messaging service will be able to use Yahoo! oneConnect's open APIs to plug into the application's messaging feature - enabling consumers to access a wide range of popular services, such as Yahoo! Messenger, Google(R) Talk, AOL(R) Instant Messenger and MSN(TM) Messenger.

-- Status - Give consumers the capability to view their contacts by their most recent status updates on popular social networks, as well as update their own status on their favorite social networks - in one easy step - and automatically broadcast it to their friends.

-- Pulse - Provide consumers the functionality to see a dynamic overview of what friends are up to, including recent photos, their status, profile updates, and recommendations based on their most recent actions on popular social networks.

-- Favorites - Keep the people consumers interact with most at their fingertips. Users will be able to set up messaging shortcuts to make reaching out as quick as possible.

-- Social contact card - Allow users to aggregate the most relevant information on any given contact, including archives of past communications, detailed pulse history, and one-click ways to initiate communication.

-- Innovative location-sensing technology - Provide new ways to locate, chat with, and exchange contact information with nearby Yahoo! oneConnect users. Proximity alerts will notify consumers when a contact enters their vicinity.

-- An open communications platform - Give users the functionality to communicate via multiple communications tools - such as IM, SMS, and social networks. Widgets will provide users the capability to access their email across major email providers, such as Yahoo! Mail, MSN Hotmail(R), Gmail(R), and AOL(R) Mail. Additionally, Yahoo! is in discussions with DataViz(R), a company that allows mobile users to access their corporate Microsoft Exchange(TM) email accounts and Microsoft Office(TM), documents, to work together on widget versions of its industry-acclaimed RoadSynch(R) and Documents To Go(R) applications.

After its release, Yahoo! oneConnect is expected to become available across hundreds of devices and mobile browsers around the world.

Visit the Yahoo! booth at Mobile World Congress to see Yahoo! oneConnect - 7B26, Hall 7. For more information on Yahoo! oneConnect, go to http://mobile.yahoo.com/oneconnect.

TAKEphONE 7.55 (017) update available in beta

[From Eric Mann] TAKEphONE 7.55 (017) update is in beta and it has the following changes
* Notes: enable capturing numbers from within notes
* Notes: Scroll line-by-line.
* Redial: SPACE performs a contact lookup (on Treos).
* Redial: added menu option to delete a single entry.
* General: increased field editing limit from 40 to 80.
* i-500: display fixes.

Look for a beta of TealBackup

[From Eric Mann] Look for new beta of TealBackup with added support for backing up and restoring files with invalid record sizes (0 or >64k). Fixed file verification to work with records larger than available application working memory and mproved auto-timeout dialogs to keep device open to keep short auto-sleep times from kicking in during auto backup

New GSM Palm Centro photos

[From José Julio Ruiz] Today we have another article at PDAExpertos.com about the Mobile World Congress: a lot of exclusive photos of the new GSM Palm Centro: By the way, the Palm Centro is the first Palm smartphone -from the Treo 650- that has the same name to both CDMA and GSM versions! PDAExpertos.com [in Spanish]

Freescale’s MXC Cellular Platform Now Supports Windows Mobile - Unique Single Core Modem Architecture Enables Smartphone Capabilities at Feature-Phone Prices

[From Stephanie Sobotik] Freescale today announced the integration of the Microsoft Windows Mobile operating system with Freescale’s Mobile eXtreme Convergence (MXC) cellular platforms, allowing carriers the opportunity to deliver desktop familiarity on handheld devices.

“We are pleased to add the integrated support of Windows Mobile to our cellular platforms,” said David Patterson, director of product management for Freescale’s Cellular Products Group. “Integrating our MXC architecture makes it easy for carriers to get products to market. We are absolutely committed to improving performance while reducing cost, power consumption and size.”

Optimized for flexible operating systems like Windows Mobile, Freescale’s cellular platforms are based on the unique MXC architecture, which isolates communications functionality on the DSP from the applications environment on an ARM® core. By running the entire protocol stack on the DSP, Freescale gives OEMs the freedom to develop features and functionality most desired by the consumer. The result is a low bill of materials, few components, simplicity, low power consumption and a low overall cost of development.

“We provide a flexible, powerful platform so our partners can develop technologies to extend the possibilities for mobility,” said David Turner, director, Mobile Communications Business at Microsoft Corp. “We support Freescale’s efforts to reduce OEM development costs, which can lower costs for consumers.”

Freescale will demonstrate Windows Mobile on the MXC architecture by making live 3G calls at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, 11 - 14 February. Visit Freescale in Hall 8, Booth 8B91.
http://www.freescale.com/

Palm Blog on why risk a network outage?

[From Eric Mann] MarkC, Senior Manager, Enterprise Solutions at the Palm Blog has written up a good editorial looking at the network problems that RIM have suffered recently and what can be done about it. "We believe that the best solution is to eliminate third-party email servers, hassles, and costs, while maintaining simplicity and control. For instance, Microsoft Exchange Server provides a reliable foundation for a smart wireless deployment that leverages an organization's existing infrastructure - no middleware or third-party servers. Simply add a Palm smartphone and you have a voice and email solution that will keep you in touch and productive, without the NOC hassles - or the NOC outages." Read in full.

Mark at The Gadgeteer has done a very good review of Triv: Palm OS Game

Mark at The Gadgeteer has done a very good review of Triv: Palm OS Game. "Suit of the suicide king in a standard deck? Body of water where the Republic of the Maldives is located? Don'cha love trivia? I love trivia. I played Trivial Pursuit when it came out in the early 80's and routinely beat the pants off so many people that no one would play with me anymore. In hindsight, I am not sure if it was their humiliating defeats, or my winner's dance that they objected to the most, but I digress. I have tried many trivia games for the Palm, and I find that they tend to either be rather ugly and clunky- but with cool questions (like the freeware Quizzler), or slick and pretty but rather simplistic (like the $20 Trivial Pursuit for Palm). Triv from Robert Jen is clearly an ugly, clunky program with a lot of cool features and question sets. (Why do so many great programs look like they are designed for a grade school market?)"

Microsoft and Telefónica Extend Reach of Windows Live Services Across Latin America

[From Hans] Continuing their mutual commitment to provide customers with a convenient way to stay in touch with people and information, Microsoft Corp. and Telefónica SA, one of the leading integrated operators in the world, today announced that Telefónica has agreed to adopt Windows Live services for mobile phones for all of Telefónica’s Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)-based handsets in 12 countries in Latin America, specifically those in which Telefónica operates its cellular services under the brand Telefónica movistar. Customers of Telefónica movistar throughout Latin America will have access to Windows Live Hotmail, Windows Live Messenger and Windows Live Spaces from their phone, enjoying one of the leading instant message, Web mail and communications services worldwide.

Initial Windows Live Services are already available for Telefónica cellular customers in Argentina and Chile, and for Vivo customers in Brazil, and will soon be launched in a phased approach across the rest of the countries. The 12 countries that benefit from this relationship are Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.

“Microsoft’s alliance with Telefónica will enable a much broader group of consumers to experience the benefits that Windows Live has to offer, providing easy access from virtually anywhere,” said Matt Champagne, director of product management of the Mobile Communications Business for Microsoft. “Our partnership allows us to extend the value of our key services to customers in Latin America, opening new avenues for increased productivity and seamless connectivity.”

“Our collaboration allows both Microsoft and Telefónica to expand the depth and breadth of the services we bring to our mutual customers, driving up mobile usage and facilitating increased connectivity to real-time communications capabilities,” said Luis Miguel Gilpérez, director, Mobile Business at Telefónica Internacional.

GoodWin - iPhony launcher for Windows Mobile updated!

[From VITO Technology] VITO Technology releases new version of task manager GoodWin. New GoodWin features Today plug-in and also fully supports FunContact and SMS-Chat. New GoodWin also features some minor improvements like quicker start-up and instant switching between favorites, installed programs and settings. Finger-friendly interface with animated menus is very appealing, once seen never forgotten, and once tried always used. Manage your Windows Mobile device with a flick of a finger!

The main advantage of GoodWin as a launcher and task manager is its scrollable finger-friendly interface. GoodWin presents on a single screen all important PIM info together with quick access to the list of favorite and running programs, installed applications, and settings! Apart from smooth finger scrolling you can also quickly jump from Favorites & Running to Programs, Settings or menu button by tapping transparent up and down arrows at the bottom of the screen.

A good piece of news for Today plug-ins fans. New GoodWin supports Today plug-in for quick access to GoodWin, Messaging, Tasks, e-mail, and call log. If you already use FunContact or SMS-Chat, you can benefit by using this software with GoodWin. The big text messaging icon in GoodWin takes you directly to SMS-Chat while the missed calls icon opens call log in FunContact. It's time to say farewell to the old-fashioned Windows Mobile interface!

Other changes include replacement of the big clock icon with a task icon that shows the number of current tasks. The clock has moved to the top bar. It provides quick access to time settings. Tapping cellular carrier icon now opens phone settings. Thanks to inexhaustible feedback from our customers VITO Technology never stops optimizing GoodWin. This version is just the beginning of changes that are still due to come.

GoodWin is available for $ 19.95 at http://iwindowsmobile.com. Current customers upgrade for free.

VITO Technology Inc. is known for its high-tech products in the field of Windows Mobile and Symbian software, GPS navigation and custom projects. Introduced in the present article GoodWin is a Windows Mobile launcher and task manager for Windows Mobile Pocket PC.

TamsPalm reviews UltimatePhone

[From Eric Mann] TamsPalm has done a review of UltimatePhone. "This review looked at DialByPhoto version 1.5007 on a Treo 680. The product needs about 3MB of RAM. It was exceptionally stable in the testing period, and the periodic slowdowns seen in DialByPhoto have also been reduced significantly. In the end, UltimatePhone is not an application that should be rated on its merit or usage value - that simply is not the point of the app. It is intended to give your Treo a fresh new look - if that’s what you want…get it for 20$ and sacrifice the 3MB…" TamsPalm for the full read.

Jataayu Provides MMS Client for Motorola's Windows Mobile Based Devices

[From Andrea Stone] Jataayu Software, a noted provider of mobile devices solutions, announced today that Motorola is leveraging Jataayu's MMS solution for its next generation of smart phones based on Windows Mobile. The popular MOTO Q mobile device and its variants already carry Jataayu's successful MMS Client.

Jataayu is a key player for multimedia messaging on Windows Mobile. The MMS Client effortlessly integrates on Windows Mobile giving Motorola the faster time-to-market advantage. Jataayu's MMS Client is a mature field proven solution which has undergone extensive interoperability testing at more than 50 operator network locations and has been shipped on millions of mobile devices worldwide.

jMMS is engineered to offer optimum performance and enhanced functionality to our customers. The highly compact and modular MMS Client offers a seamless user experience by allowing handset manufacturers and other customers to pick and choose features to optimize memory footprints.

"Jataayu has always believed in delivering value, high end functionality and cost effective solutions combined with our unrivaled support for working on open standards and newer platforms. We have been working with Motorola to deliver customized and feature rich Messaging Clients from the very initial Windows Mobile Devices over the years to the most recent successful MOTO Q range of Devices." said Raj Kesarimall, Head, Jataayu Software.

About Jataayu Software
mDevices - Jataayu Software, a division of Bharti Telesoft, is a leading provider of mobile messaging, browsing, synchronization and provisioning solutions. Jataayu offers a complete suite of applications which include WAP & HTML Browser, MMS, eMail, IMPS, SyncML, rendering engine, scripting engine and transport stack (WAP/HTML) to help ODMs, OEMs and reference design vendors design and build feature rich differentiated handsets quickly. Jataayu's products are pre-integrated on a wide range of platforms and are inter-operability tested across multiple operators worldwide. Jataayu is a member of OMA, W3C and a founder sponsor of The Mobile Web Initiative. For more information, please visit www.jataayusoft.com.

Mobile Phone Thief Stole the Wrong Phone - A would-be mobile phone thief chose the wrong phone to steal when he targeted the managing director of Blue Tree Services Ltd, a leading developer of location tracking devices.

[From Michiel Smuts] Mike Smuts was demonstrating how tracking devices work to the directors of ANT Telecom in Broadwater Park, Denham (near Uxbridge, Middlesex) His company offers a software download for suitable mobile phones, KoolTrax Mobile™, that allows the phone's location to be tracked with 4 metre accuracy.

After leaving the phone on a desk and moving to another room to install and run the tracking software, they could see on screen that their phone had started to move. Using an online map, they tracked it to the end of their road, where it stopped.

Daniel Locke of ANT Telecom ran after it, taking with him a BKoolTrax Ranger™ tracking device and his mobile phone. Speaking with Locke on the phone to provide directions, Smuts could see both the stolen phone, and Locke's location as he gave chase.

Locke couldn't see anyone. Smuts said "it's moving towards you now". "There's no-one here", said Locke. "It's passing you now", said Smuts, looking at his screen. "That", said Locke "is a Courier van".

They called the security gate but the van had already passed through, so both Locke and the security staff gave chase. Smuts could see onscreen when the van stopped, turned, and started to return.

"Have I forgotten a parcel?" asked the driver. "No, you've stolen our mobile phone" said security. "Well .. it was just sitting there", he said as he handed it over.

Blue Tree Services Ltd develops and markets GPS location products. KoolTrax Ranger™ is a device aimed at tracking the location of children and people who wander, for instance people with Alzheimers, saving much police time and family anxiety. KoolTrax Mobile™ is a software download for mobile phones that turns them into a tracking device. The phone must have GPS capability and run Windows Mobile 5 (software for other operating systems is being developed).

The location of both types of tracking device may be viewed on an Internet enabled PC running BlueMap™ software. The combination of products is also popular as a lone worker safety system.

More information can be found at :
www.bluetreeservices.co.uk
and
www.bluetreeservices.co.uk/mobileLocators.php

Streamezzo Unleashes Its Open Development Platform For The Mobile Ecosystem

[From Stephen Lewis] [SAMMY The Press Releases are still rolling in so if you can make use of them, make the relevant jumps.] Streamezzo, a pioneering software provider that is unifying the mobile ecosystem through its Universal Rich Media Platform™, today announced the general availability of Streamezzo Workbench™ SDK – Streamezzo’s open development environment. Today’s announcement empowers developers, system integrators and the rest of the mobile community to develop mobile applications once and run them in virtually any mobile environment, overcoming one of the industry’s greatest hurdles. In announcing the open availability of Streamezzo Workbench SDK, Streamezzo will spur innovation and accelerate the deployment of compelling, user-centric rich media mobile applications and services throughout the mobile Internet.

“Cellular data services, mobile Internet, and upcoming 4G technologies hold out the promise of Internet-like ubiquity for mobile applications, but the sheer complexity of porting code to dozens of platforms and hundreds of devices is delaying the market,” said Gerry Kaufhold, Principal Analyst with In-Stat. “Streamezzo’s solution presents a breakthrough that can jump start revenues for carriers, content providers and application developers.”

Streamezzo’s Universal Rich Media Platform overcomes the myriad technology issues and industry fragmentation that have thwarted mobile innovation and slowed the adoption of enhanced mobile services. Streamezzo solves these limitations with an innovative client/server architecture that operates at a layer above the chaos and complexities associated with operating systems and handsets. Streamezzo’s platform is certified on over 250 mobile devices and supports all major operating systems/platforms, including: Windows Mobile®, Symbian® , Brew® , Java®, Linux®, and most recently Android™.

“Content providers and application developers spend considerable time and effort creating and adapting rich content and services for the complexities of today’s mobile environment. Instead of adapting existing content, these resources could be better invested in the creation of new content, application innovation, and the marketing of existing titles, which would substantially enhance mobile content and services penetration,” said James Brehm, Senior Consultant, Mobile Communications Practice, Frost & Sullivan. “Frost & Sullivan believes that the Streamezzo platform is a breakthrough in solving one of the mobile industry’s great challenges.”

The open availability of Streamezzo Workbench SDK reinforces the company’s commitment to the widespread deployment and adoption of ubiquitous rich media services offering the ultimate user experience. Now, developers can dramatically reduce the time, cost and complexity of mobile application development by leveraging Streamezzo’s Universal Rich Media Platform to develop and deploy applications that are “write once - run anywhere.”

“We’ve spent the last 3 years creating and perfecting a software platform that solves our industry’s technical challenges, and our technology has been proven in deployments with some of the world’s largest operators and handset manufacturers,” said Alain Blancquart, CEO of Streamezzo. “The Android initiative claims to strive for similar goals, yet its approach does not solve the issues of fragmentation or competing mobile standards, and its ability to deliver an enhanced user experience remains to be seen.”

Members of Streamezzo’s open developer community can freely download the tools needed to build and deploy custom applications and plug-ins using Streamezzo’s Workbench SDK, which includes coding features to provide contextual assistance for streamlined coding and validation, along with an integrated emulator to further enhance developer productivity.

Availability:
The complete Streamezzo Workbench SDK, including documentation, code samples and APIs, can be freely accessed effective February 25, 2008 via Streamezzo’s website at www.streamezzo.com.

Android Touch Screen Phone Hands-on

[From Eric Mann] Eric sends the link to a SlashGear video demo'ing another Android OS example and it's good to see what you can achieve with this OS even though it's in it's early stages. SlashGear of course for the deets.

Blackberry outage shows that RIM learned nothing in 2007

[From Eric Mann] "As with RIM's April 2007 outage, the latest downtime has been officially blamed on a flawed software upgrade. According to RIM, the millions left without email can lift their kinked neck and point a crippled digit at an "internal data routing system within the BlackBerry service infrastructure that had been recently upgraded." This upgrade, like the one in 2007, was meant to boost capacity and speed message routing." Engadget Mobile has the full deets on this one.

Palm Follow up regarding ChangeWave Study

[From Paul Loeffler at Palm] I wanted to let you know that Palm is very committed to having high customer satisfaction and we have a number of teams that continually analyze everything from customer satisfaction surveys, to web searches to call center activity. In this recent period, two third-party research firms contracted by Palm (Satmetrix and Russell Research) conducted similar surveys to that done by ChangeWave, and both surveys found that our customer satisfaction is much higher than the ChangeWave study suggests. The Satmetrix survey found that 65% of respondents rated their overall satisfaction with Palm as an 8-10 out of 10. Also, the Russell Research study found that 56% of respondents were either “very satisfied” or “extremely satisfied” with their Palm smartphone device. As you can see, the results of two third-party research firms strongly demonstrate that are our customer satisfaction is much higher than the results distributed by ChangeWave in their report. We know that we need to continue driving on all fronts to keep customer satisfaction high, and we are working very hard on that.

rDA 56k Modem

[From Ray Ghazarian] Hi, Our company, ENR Technologies manufacturers a wireless IrDA 56k modem used in the data collection industry. It allows handheld devices such as Pocket PCs and Palm OS devices to transmit data via internet using a standard telephone line and it interfaces with the handheld device via the IrDA (infrared port). It works by simply aligning the IrDA ports together then you can wirelessly sync and connect to the internet to transmit or receive data to and from a server or central database.

One of the benefits of using the built in IrDA port (included on most PDAs) is that you do not need to install any drivers to use it with our IrDA 56k modem (called Pocket IR Modem). The Pocket IR Modem works by simply setting up your dial up account number and login information into the PDA and thats it, setup takes less than a minute and you are ready to go. Unlike SD/Compact Flash card modems, our modem does not contribute to the added wear and tear of addon cards. Furthermore our device doesn't drain the handhelds battery the way addon card modems or bluetooth modems do.

We have hundreds of units out in the field already and have received positive feedback from everyone so far. We do have some universitys using the Pocket IR Modem for their clinical trials using Palm handhelds. They like the idea of being able to send the data straight from the job site using a telephone line rather than having to go back to the office to use the cradle. We have also received feedback which suggested most companies will not allow access to their wireless network for security reasons so they are very pleased that they can just use their phone/fax line to transmit the data.

The Pocket IR Modem is built using the latest Conexant modem technology and is FCC certified for use in USA.

A product brief and pictures can be found here http://www.pocketirmodem.com http://www.enrtech.com/docs/PIR5600PB.pdf .Pricing for the modem starts at $80 for volume quantities. I was hoping you guys could write about it.

The Cost of Internet Anywhere

[From Russell Goy Caloundra – Sunshine Coast – Queensland - Australia] I just read the article saying how iPhone Safari has really stirred up the mobile browser scene, and that is is a really good thing. Mobile Internet Explorer has a lot to be desired. But it seems to me that although browsers have to get better, and will be useful for specific reasons, the internet applications that the iPhone has spawned are going to be of greater significance in the long run. And we see it now with weather, financial apps that run in the background but you are still connected to the internet.

While these are terrific it’s the Networks that will choke or allow these internet apps flourish, how so? I’m in Australia so we don’t have the iPhone yet but from what I can see the GPRS EDGE based networks it uses usually have an unlimited download (probably with fairplay restrictions) plans,and with GPRS EDGE speeds you can see why. But in Oz all carriers have forms of HSDPA 3G, my carrier Telstra with their NextG Network have a have theoretical top speed of 14.4mgps and it’s being upgraded to 21mgps this year.

Despite the increase in network speeds, users will be unable to take advantage of the top speeds straight away due to the lack of compatible devices -- most phones currently offer a downlink ceiling of 7.2Mbps. But still a he jump over GPRS EDGE.

However, at the moment you still pay though the nose for each megabyte, I think I’m paying approx $30AU for 80 meg allowance anything over 80 meg you pay $1 per meg.

I daily use a weather app and a bit of email but I still really have to watch the download amount, they add up really quickly. There are times when I would like to download a moderately sized file, but don’t risk extra download charges.

With rumours of a 3G iPhone coming this year it again test the mettle of Carriers as to how they charge for downloads. Hopefully we will see a substantial drop in rates even an unlimited plan that will see internet apps really take off.

The reason of RIM BlackBerry last system blackout

"A disruption of BlackBerry cellphones in North America for several hours Monday was caused by the failure of one of its recently upgraded systems, Research in Motion said Tuesday." (as quoted by Yahoo! News) So there you have it, you could stop keep sending emails and messages to friends & coworkers to asked them if they too have the same problem. The Canadian based company said they never had problem like this whenever they upgraded their system, they points to a problem with an internal data routing system within the BlackBerry service infrastructure that had been recently upgraded. Hopefully this incident won't happen again...

(blogged with my Treo 750v)

Match.com goes social networking

What made your head fell over the heel when you sees someone? Is it the face or the smile? If that's your answer, then you will certainly going to be excited to hear that Match.com is testing a Facebook app for social networking. Chief Executive Thomas Enraght-Moony told Reuters; "We're extending Match to wherever people are..", which give me a sudden chill on the back of my neck. I can't imagine how easy it'll become to do a search for your soul mate while social networking in the future, it's like killing two mosquitos with one clap of palms. And all in all you can do it on the go with your mobile phone, imagine this: you found the one you like by his/her smile when you're sitting on the subway train, but you actually sees the smile at your mobile phone's screen!

Afterwards that's when Match.com is planning to get in, you use it's service to hook you up with the one you see fit. Quick and easy, where you could say you're looking for friends instead of obviously asking for a date (chuckle). "People are unwilling to