Smartphone Themes
Wednesday 04.30.03 at 12:03 AM PST
Since I have been playing around with Smartphone, I have also been playing around with things like the Theme Generator. Simple little program, like the one for Pocket PC (probably a little better actually). I threw some pictures I had in my My Pictures directory into it and made some themes so spice up my Pocket PC. Probably my fave right now is of a sunset. Check them out below on SmartphoneThemes.com.
Sunset Theme | Convention Ctr. Theme | GTA3 Theme

PDA-Search Service
Tuesday 04.29.03 at 11:35 AM PST
New PDA Search Portal PDA-Search is now live, and is the only dedicated search engine for PDA related websites. The engine has spidered over 450,000 pages, and includes websites related to Pocket PC, Palm and Symbian. The site is also available in five languages. Of course there is a PDA compatible version of the site as well, for mobile searches.
Check Out PDA-Search

Pharos on MS Mobility Council
Tuesday 04.29.03 at 11:29 AM PST
Pharos has recently been recognized by Microsoft's Mobility Partner Advisory Council. The Council was formed to serve as a focused feedback mechanism for Microsoft mobility platform development and to provide new technical, marketing and business development support to companies making significant investments and inroads in the mobility space. Pharos is recognized for their GPS solutions related to Pocket PC and Windows Powered platforms.
Complete Press Release

Another Axim ROM Update
Monday 04.28.03 at 10:47 AM PST
Dell has posted another patch for the Axim X5 ROM. The update features: resolution to a Pocket Internet Explorer issue, improved notification of backup battery charge, improved time-out of the power button light to extend battery life, improved start-up time, added processor support and more. The update is available at the link below and will update your Axim's ROM to version A03.
Dell Axim ROM Update

Smartphone Coming From O2
Monday 04.28.03 at 10:20 AM PST
"The Smartphone is like no other mobile phone available today and therefore O2 Asia Pacific is ready to launch an Windows Powered 2002 Smartphone at least in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Australia." This device will become the third Smartphone based product, the second available to consumers. It is unclear what the new device is, though rumor is it is based on the Mitac reference design.
More Information

Dell to Team With Good Tech.
Thursday 04.24.03 at 12:16 PM PST
"Dell Computer and wireless start-up Good Technology are set to unveil a tie-up next week, but the companies did not disclose the details of the partnership. Among the possibilities is the notion that Dell might resell Good's devices and services, which compete with those from Research in Motion. Dell could also be incorporating Good's technology into wireless gear of its own or putting the Dell brand on Good's devices."
Complete Story @ CNet

A, B, G...N; The Next WiFi Standard
Wednesday 04.23.03 at 9:45 PM PST
"The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. (IEEE) is working on a revision to the 802.11 specification that will ramp up the speed of the wireless LAN networking standard to at least 108 Mbit/s, double the rate of today's 802.11a standard." The new revision would be called 802.11n, and would likely not be complete until 2005 or 2006. IEEE has been good about making standards compatible (like with 802.11b and 802.11g), though it is unclear if this standard will be compatible since its release completion date is still years away.
Complete Story

Interesting PPC/Smartphone Facts
Wednesday 04.23.03 at 2:27 PM PST
Microsoft noted some interesting facts in their recent month in review mailing to the press. I thought I would pass them along as they were rather interesting to me. -Pocket PC's are still the only PDAs to ship with full native support for Office. -More than 275,000 developers are currently building PPC applications, and the 7 million Windows developers can now more easily develop for PPC's with the compact framework in Visual Studio .NET 2003. -The Average Orange SPV Smartphone customers had an internet or WAP session 5 times per day.

CE .NET 4.2 to Released to Manufacturing
Wednesday 04.23.03 at 2:22 PM PST
At ESC, Microsoft today announced the release to manufacturing of Microsoft Windows CE .NET version 4.2. CE .NET 4.2 adds new features for creating innovative solutions in gateway, voice over IP (VoIP) and set-top box (STB) devices along with faster performance and greater application compatibility for the wide range of consumer and commercial embedded devices in which Windows CE is used today. (Remember, CE is only the basis for the Pocket PC platform.)
Complete Press Release

Palm Releases Tungsten C
Wednesday 04.23.03 at 10:17 AM PST
Palm has also released a new device in their Tungsten product line, the Tugsten C (another previously rumored device). The Tungsten C includes a 400MHz XScale processor (PXA255), 64MB of RAM, 320x320 16-bit color screen, 1500mAh battery, expansion slot, built-in 802.11b, and built-in thumb keyboard. The device is based on Palm OS version 5.2.1. This is by far Palm's most advanced handheld to date. The device retails for $499.
Hardware: Palm: Tungsten-C | More Information @ Palm

Palm Releases Zire 71
Wednesday 04.23.03 at 10:12 AM PST
Palm has officially released the Zire 71, a product that was previously rumored. The device is based on a 144MHz TI processor, 16MB of RAM, 320x320 16-bit color screen, 900mAh battery, SD/MMC slot, and includes a built in camera. The device runs Palm OS version 5.2.1 and includes the revised Graffiti 2 input method. The device retails for $299.
Hardware: Palm: Zire 71 | More Information @ Palm

MS Pocket PC Team Chat
Wednesday 04.23.03 at 12:30 AM PST
Microsoft is hosting an online chat with the Mobile Devices Pocket PC Team. There will have experts from all facets of the team there to answer any questions that you might have. The chat is April 23, 2003 @ 12:30 - 1:30 P.M. Pacific time, 3:30 - 4:30 P.M. Eastern time, 19:30 - 20:30 GMT, 20:30 - 21:30 BST. Use the link below to access the chat room.
Microsoft Chatroom

CF Memory Card Drive for CLIE's
Tuesday 04.22.03 at 12:51 AM PST
"The EruWare CompactFlash Storage Card Driver for the Sony Clie. This driver enables Clie models PEG-NX60, PEG-NX70V, and PEG-NZ90 to use the CompactFlash slot for standard CompactFlash memory. A utility program is provided with the driver that allows users to auto-mount cards. This utility also allows users to make the CompactFlash slot behave as though it were the MemoryStick slot on the Clie, thereby allowing access to selected built-in applications such as Audio Player and Movie Player." The driver costs $27.
More Information

Smartphone Dev Kit Price Drop
Monday 04.21.03 at 3:37 PM PST
Microsoft has reduced the price of their Smartphone Developer Kit! The kit with the pre-commercial red e Smartphone is now $499 (instead of $599). Microsoft is also still sponsoring all logo certification costs for Smartphone applications. Thanks Shira for letting me in on the dev kit price drop.
Dev Kit Pictures | Buy a Dev Kit

Honda Commercial for Pocket WMP
Monday 04.21.03 at 3:33 PM PST
By now many people have seen the new two minute Honda Commercial that is nothing less than amazing. So to put two amazing things together, I have re-encoded the origional file into a WMV format for Pocket Windows Media Player. The file plays great on both Pocket PC and Smartphone devices. Download it at the link below and show your friends this cool commercial as well as your cool mobile device.
Honda Commercial for PPC/Smartphone

iPAQ 2200 Release Delay
Monday 04.21.03 at 2:39 PM PST
"In late March, the FCC gave its approval for Hewlett Packard to begin offering a new line of Pocket PCs, (the H2200) at least one of which will have built-in Bluetooth wireless networking. A few days ago, High Tech Computer, the company making the device for HP, sent a message to the FCC asking that the approval documentation be taken down because the devices won't be available for some time...Obviously this isn't definite proof that the h2200 series will be released on May 30, but it is a strong indication"
HP iPAQ H2200 | Brighthand Article

No More Palm OS for HandEra
Friday 04.18.03 at 12:01 AM PST
HandEra really made a big splash with their HandEra 330 device which was the first Palm OS based device to include a CF slot. Handera's contract for the Palm OS will expire at the end of the month. It is unclear if Handera is considering picking up another contract with either Microsoft or possibly Symbian, or if they will just get out of handhelds completely.
Complete Story @ Brighthand

MobileBurn: Mobile Tech Site
Thursday 04.17.03 at 11:57 PM PST
As I surf more and more to learn about Smartphone and the future of the products (as well as the competitors to Smartphone 2002), I often find interesting and useful sites. One of the recent ones I came across which is just excellent is called MobileBurn. They have tons of cell phone stuff and cool pictures of new and future products. If you are interested in Smartphones or cell phones in general, check it out.
MobileBurn

1-Inch Hard Disk, Under $100
Wednesday 04.16.03 at 4:27 PM PST
Cornice has revealed a new 1-inch hard disk drive, that will be available to OEM's for less than $100. Though this is no the same as a Microdrive, the low cost drive could be used in future mobile products with out driving the price of the device up drastically. The drive is an interesting alternative to solid state memory, though it would require more battery life and more likely to experience problems because of its moving parts.
Complete Story

Handspring and Orange Team Up
Tuesday 04.15.03 at 4:38 PM PST
Handspring has announced a strategic alliance with Orange. Handspring is planning a customized version of their product for the Orange network. Though Handspring hasn't released any new products recently, they are planning a release a new phone based device in the next three months.

Toshiba e310 EUU3 Available
Tuesday 04.15.03 at 4:28 PM PST
Toshiba has finally released an EUU3 update for its e310 device. The update is at the same link as the e740 update and includes all the same features including Windows Media Player 8.5. Users of the e330/e335 or the e750/e755 need not apply this update as their devices already include it.
End User Update 3 @ Toshiba

Site: PPC Mag Forum Hot Site
Tuesday 04.15.03 at 2:51 PM PST
I just noticed some traffic coming in to the site from the new Pocket PC Magazine Forums. Matt Arant (forum admin @ PPC Mag) recently selected this site as a "Hot Web Site of the Week." Things like that only make me want to work harder and put more into the site. Drop by the PPC Mag forums and take a look, as well as at the magazine if you are a Pocket PC fan.
Hot Site @ PPC Mag Forums

Kinko's Offers WiFi Access
Tuesday 04.15.03 at 11:09 AM PST
Kinko's and T-Mobile today announced an agreement that will give Kinko's customers Wi-Fi (802.11b) wireless broadband Internet access through the T-Mobile HotSpot service. More than 1,000 Kinko's locations nationwide plan to offer the T-Mobile HotSpot service, with rollout starting in the fourth quarter of this year. The service will be similar to what T-Mobile is offering at many Starbucks and now Borders bookstores. T-Mobile also plans to outfit over 100 airport clubs with the service.
Complete Kinko's Press Release

Enfora Wireless Portfolio
Monday 04.14.03 at 3:45 PM PST
Wireless company Enfora hopes to soon have a new way to connect devices to 802.11b networks. The WP802b Wireless Portfolio connects directly to Palm's Universal connection port. The portfolio also includes its own battery to power the WiFi connection. No price has been set, but Enfora expects to ship the WP802b by July.
More Information

HP iPAQ 5600 Series
Monday 04.14.03 at 3:41 PM PST
Though it was originally thought HP would be releasing a GSM/GRPS as well as a CDMA iPAQ 5000 series device, chances of this happening are almost zero. HP instead may be looking releasing a Smartphone 2002 based device (a news story we posted last week). HP feels users would rather have multiple devices and be able to connect them via Bluetooth. No formal announcements have been made about a Smartphone release nor have any been made about no Phone Edition iPAQ.
Complete Article @ Brighthand

Wireless Infrared Access Point
Sunday 04.13.03 at 5:44 PM PST
Compex's Wireless Infrared Access Point has been available for some time, though users of devices that can't currently support WiFi may be interested in it. The Access Point provides connectivity of a LAN and infrared devices. It supports up to 4Mbps of throughput and includes and embedded HTTP Server. The iRE201 is available from Compex for $90 or other retailers for as low at $70.
More Info @ Compex

HP Considering Smartphone
Friday 04.11.03 at 1:32 AM PST
"Hewlett-Packard (HP) recently asked for smartphone price quotes from several Taiwanese contract manufacturers, according to sources. The companies are said to have included High Tech Computer (HTC), Compal Electronics, Mitac International, Asustek Computer, Inventec Appliances and Quanta Computer...It is unclear when HP would launch a smartphone or which Taiwanese makers would take its orders."
Complete Story @ DigiTimes

T-Mobile HotSpot @ Borders
Thursday 04.10.03 at 5:06 PM PST
Over 2000 Borders bookstores are now offering WiFi access for wireless enabled laptops or PDA's. The service is provided by T-Mobile, and is similar to that offered at Starbucks. T-Mobile is offered a free day pass for users to check it out. After that the service is $30/month for unlimited use, or $0.10 a minute (but with a required minimum usage per connection).
T-Mobile Hotspot @ Borders

WiFi in Win XP Security Upgrade
Wednesday 04.09.03 at 4:37 PM PST
"Trying to enhance the appeal of Windows XP among wireless users, Microsoft is making available a free upgrade to the operating system that supports the new Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) standard. The new software is meant to replace the Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) standard. It reportedly has more-robust methods of data encryption and network authentication, strengthening Windows XP users' security..."
Complete Story @ PC World

Dell Axim ROM Revision
Tuesday 04.08.03 at 7:49 PM PST
Dell has release a ROM update for their Axim X5 devices. The ROM update upgrades the ROM to version A02 (from A00) and includes improved backup battery status monitoring, improved start-up time, improved navigation button applet, improved Compact Flash modem interface driver, and support for C1 stepping of Intel XScale CPU. The download is 27mb and is available from Dell's Support site.
Dell Axim X5 ROM Revision

Intel Smartphone Design
Tuesday 04.08.03 at 11:22 AM PST
Intel has been developing a reference design for a Smartphone 2002 device. My fellow MVP Arne Hess of PPCW.Net recently had a chance to take some pictures of the device. Arne says the device looks smaller then the HTC Canary (Orange SPV), but isn't that much smaller. It includes a digital camera and a different kind of navigation button. No information on a release of a Smartphone based on this design, nor any specifications, though it is likely it uses an XScale processor.
Note: Don't be fooled by other sites that claim this as their story, Arne @ PPCW.Net is the originator and exclusive source for this story.
Complete Story & Pictures @ PPCW.Net

XScale Processor Swap
Tuesday 04.08.03 at 11:12 AM PST
Some power Pocket PC users may be interested in getting their PXA250 XScale chips switched to the new PXA255 XScale chips (which has a faster bus speed). Normally, my answer to if this is possible would be no, but an interesting revelation appeared recently on a Brighthand message board. Pocket PC upgrade company PPCTechs is actually working on an upgrade and says it does look like it is possible to do. No word on a release for such an upgrade nor on the price.
Brighthand Message Board Thread

Handspring Treo Price Drop
Monday 04.07.03 at 4:18 PM PST
Handspring is offering a $200 credit when you purchase and activate a Treo 300 on the Sprint PCS network. Your Sprint bill will be credited with the $200, so it is basically like a rebate. You have to purchase the Treo through Handsprings website, but after the savings, the Treo will cost you $300.
Special Offers @ Handspring

New Memory Sticks Available
Monday 04.07.03 at 4:02 PM PST
Sony's Memory Stick Pro cards are showing up online. The new cards come in three sizes, 256MB, 512MB, and 1GB with price tags of $110, $235 and $470 respectivly. Remember, these cards are only supported by new devices, not any Sony product with a memory stick.

A Slow Week, But Low Prices
Friday 04.04.03 at 12:33 AM PST
It has been a slow week for news, but maybe that just means more is on the way next week. I noticed some price drops not only on devices (including the Tungsten T and Sony TG50, iPAQ 1910 and 5450) as well as some great prices on memory. As usual, now is a good time to buy with many recent product releases under $300. If you already have a device, consider picking up some memory. A 128MB SD card will run you only $43 and 256MB is only $60. Trust me, the added space is great!

Acer n10 Pocket PC
Tuesday 04.01.03 at 11:20 PM PST
Acer Singapore has posted information on a new Pocket PC, the n10. Acer has not yet released a device in the US, though they have both Pocket PC and Palm OS based products on other world-wide markets. The n10 includes a XScale processor (300MHz PXA255), 64MB of RAM, SD Slot, CF Slot, 1500 mAh battery and more. It is an interestng product, though likely won't hit the US market.
More Information @ Acer.com.sg
 

Feel free to email me about your own PDA, questions, comments, articles, rumors, and reviews.  I can be reached at dave@davespda.com.