The AnderNaut

Now you may be thinking Chicago, tech, mobile tech; what is going on here. Well for those that you haven’t figured it out I like mobile technology and gadgets. So a trip to Chicago will allow me to see what potentional Cingular’s (excuse me The New AT&T) mobile broadband of my 8525 (HTC - Hermies) really is. They are saying that Mobile Broadband, for at&t wireless, is coming this year here in little ol’ Iowa. Verizon and Sprint over the last couple of months have their’s up and running. Anyway, needless to say I am really looking forward to checking out highspeed data connection with my phone. I use it everyday, be it checking mail, listening to music, catching up on my news, surfing the web. I use it constantly. I knew I was going to like the 8525, but did not think it would cause me to rethink what I would need the way of computing technology.  Well enough of my babbling, I must get back to the daily grind.

 If any one out there is reading and would be able to help. I would like to try out the HTC Shift - specs, and the i-mate Ultimate 7150. Thanks in advance.

Is that a record? Probably not, but it is for me. It was a great a little device and diffidently worked great for what I needed it for. I will miss the JAMin very much as my first Windows Mobile phone device. It filled that niche for a device to transition from multiple devices, phone and PDA, to a converge device.

I still carried around my iPAQ hx4705, for it’s screen mostly, for surfing, e-mail and playing media files. I might just actually stop caring the iPAQ everywhere with my new device, a Cingular 8525. So far,and it’s only been a couple days, I am looking forward to the 8525.

Over at GPS Passion they have a sneak peak at the upcoming Crossbow Phone edition. They have some great screenshots revealing some very interesting new features to Windows Mobile (WM) Smartphone. WM Smartphone is getting Mobile Office and Voice Command look to be the biggest items, they also have a Live Search Today plug-in.

A lot of “convergence” has happened…, with PocketPCs having had GPS and GSM/CDMA modules grafted on and Smartphones acquiring more power and the higher resolution screens of the PocketPCs. Today, the main differences are the touchscreen that remains a PDA exclusive and a more limited number of applications running on Smartphones, notably Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and GPS related.

Reference:
Windows Mobile “Crossbow” Preview! - Smartphone Thoughts

Resource:
Windows… “Crossbow” on Smartphone - GPS Passion

Well as we patiently wait for the Zune launch happening today to see what Microsoft has up it’s sleeve enjoy the a links below.

Thoughts Media’s site Zune Thoughts has a very interesting write up about Microsoft Hardware designs and products. I must say I agree that Microsoft Hardware is quite a strong suite, having owned several gaming products and input devices. Besides the Xbox 360 and soon to be launched Zune, they have also recently released a line, if you will, of Webcams. Did any of you know that they had developed a cordless phone? Neither did I.

In preparation for today’s Zune launch they have finally updated the Coming Zune site. I must say that it is quite bizarre, but then again it’s much less disturbing than the previous segment they had up. Hopefully it’s an indication of what we will see today, a Phoenix of sorts.

Well… I would have only been 10 years old, when all this was going on. Yet, I still remember bits and pieces. All I can say is what a long way things have progressed. It is cool to think about those things and then realize just what was high-tech. I, myself, remember having a top loading VCR and our family Commodore 64 as a part of my 80’s. I would like to give Engadget a huge kudo for this little trip down memory lane.

Source: Engadget 1985 - Engadget.com

There appears to be a new Windows Mobile PDA/Phone on the horizon. The device has some decent specs, and looks similar to the O2 XDA and the HP iPAQ rw6828. The specs listed and the ones in the photos do not appear to match. (Pictures can be seen at MSMobileNews.com and msmobiles.com)

• OS: Windows Mobile/PP CPE (Magneto AKU3)
• Quad-band GPRS/EDGE class 10
• CPU: Intel Bulverde 524 MHz
• Radio BB : ADI
• 262k color 2.7″ QVGA
• Standby time : min. 250hrs
• Talk time : min. 6hrs
• Battery : Li-Polymer 1500mAh
• 2.0 M pixel CMOS camera W/LED torch
• Memory : 192MB Flash/64MB SDRAM
• Storage : External Mini-SD card supported
• MPEG4 Encode/Decode QVGA full screen
• KJAVA( CLDC 1.1/MIDP2.0) supported

Looks like a good starter device for those out there looking for a PocketPC Phone.

(Source: PocketPC Thoughts - ORSiO Pocket PC Phone…)

Engadget has spotted some updated (original) information on the HTC Trinity. HTC (High Tech Computer), the premier ODM (Original Device Manufacture) for Windows Mobile devices in the world at this time. It has some great specs, and would be a follow on to the HTC Prophet (the ODM of my i-mate JAMin). I’m sure going to be looking at it as a possible next smartphone device.

Specs (suspected)
Hardware:
64MB RAM
128MB ROM
2.8in QVGA display
microSD/TransFlash slot
VGA & 2.0 MP Cameras

Wireless:
GSP
Bluetooth
WiFi
EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution)
HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access)

So this is looking to be a very interesting and feature packed device, with the next release of Windows Mobile in the near future that could be a possible as well.

(Source: HTC Trinity - PocketPC Thoughts)

I got a new toy this week, an i-mate JAMin, I have been tormenting myself over this for quite a while now. I had also been looking at the i-mate JasJar, both of these and more can be found at Club i-mate. It took much contemplating, ok not much contemplating, just how I was going to get it. This is actually my second i-mate purchase, the first was a SP3i for my wife and is working out great for her. After reading the review, of the JAMin, over at Mobile Tech Review, courteous of PocketPC Thoughts it was over, i bought it.

I must say after only a day this little device rocks. I have been getting a good 116kb to 130kb when testing the speed over at BBReports Mobile Speed test thought out the day, quite respectable for EDGE data service (Cingular’s Network EDGE Map). The WiFi was quite easy to setup and use for my home setup. I wasn’t able to connect at Panera over Dinner, will have to work more with that later. I’ll be the giving the camera a try, probably have my wife do that, that’s her thing. I’ve even thought about getting a hosted Exchange account to get good use out of the ROM update with MSFP (Messaging and Security Feature Pack). MSFP allows for Microsoft’s new e-mail push technology, there answer to compete with RIM’s Blackberry devices. Anyway I’ll will be posting more as I use the JAMin. I have never really been fond of converged devices (combining phone and PDA technologies, in this case) as my sole device, so I’ll continue to use my iPAQ along with it.

Sources:
Mobile Tech Review - i-mate JAMin…
PocketPC Thoughts - …Tested at Mobile Tech Review

Here is a little survey that I got in a Dell e-mail. Which continues to peak my interest in exactly what Dell is going to be doing with their line of Windows Mobile devices.

HELP US TO BETTER UNDERSTAND YOUR TECHNOLOGY NEEDS BY ANSWERING THIS QUESTIONNAIRE.

Other than your PC, which device do you use to check e-mail?
Wireless handheld
Cell phone with Internet access
All of the above
None, I check e-mail only with my PC

There have been many rumors swirling around for the last few months with Dell. The first one I heard was about Dell switching over to phone devices as many other manufactures are doing or looking into. A indication of this trend is the announcement of HTC having a State side office. Then there is the flip-flop stance on the discontinuing of Axim line. After reading this article about a Dell UMPC device, it continues to make you wonder exactly what is going on over at Dell. I would like to hear your thoughts on this.

After having upgrading my iPAQ hx4705 to Windows Mobile 5 (WM5), Yes I did end up upgrading, I just could not resist. I thought I would have to give up my True VGA I had under PocketPC 2003SE with SE_VGA. I had searched high and low for several days for another utility besides SE_VGA, which would not even run under WM5. I had tried Oz_VGA, but when I had to soft reset my iPAQ the Keyboard SIP was not displayed correctly, well actually basically not at all. So I had to give it the ol' hard reset. OUCH! That really bit me hard I had moved over quite a few files and, well mostly programs, that I don't think I'll be getting back. At this point I am contemplating very hard about rolling back to PocketPC 2003 SE. I can not get true VGA working, love my screen realestate, which makes it so much more usable. I decided to tough it out and see if I could get it working or at least deal with it.

I was experencing some seriouse lag a good prtion of the time. Scouring for a reason for this lag I found some great information over at AximSite Forums about issues about devices that were upgraded from PocketPC 2003SE to Windows Mobile 5 about a little known issue with the 'Compaction Thread' (MS Blog). This can be saved for another post, another time.

Anyway back to the story, the hard reset is alright because it forced me to clear out all the old programs and re-verify the ones I could remember did work with WM5. I run quite a bit of SPB Software, WebIS Software, and PHM Software which I have found mostly to work or updated to work with Windows Mobile 5. So continuing on with my quest of being able to get True VGA working on my iPAQ I stumbled accross this great artical on 4WinMobile about a update to oZ_VGA that works with WM5. I would highly recommend this if you want more screen realistate for you VGA WM5 devices. As I did not do, make sure to turn off the Startup Password just in case the settings do not take the first time, or you will be doing a hard reset and rebuilding you device like I did.