Windows Mobile Pocket PC & Symbian Smartphone software and freeware, reviews, tips & tricks

Jan 16 2006 Worldwide Newton Conference & the NewtonOS runs on Linux PDA
Found in:Mobile News, Linux,

The big news coming out of the 2006 Worldwide Newton Conference is that the NewtonOS runs on Linux PDA’s! You read that right, we’re one step closer to having a Newton running on non-Apple hardware.At the 2004 WWNC, Paul demoed Einstein, an emulator running on Mac OS X. He’s improved it over the past year, making the emulator seven times faster.

On my Quad PowerMac G5, it has a speed rating of 9400 iterations/second when running Frank Gruendel’s NewtTest. A stock 2100 has a rating of 11,000. An accelerated Newton clocks in at 13,000. So, we’re not there yet, but we’re getting closer to matching and breaking the speed barrier. The Linux version of the emulator is much, much slower. I don’t doubt, however, Paul’s ability to get the speed up to an acceptable number.



Apple has shown us that the soul of the Macintosh lies not in the choice of processor but in the software and user experience. At the 2006 Worldwide Newton Conference, we demonstrated that the soul of the Newton is not trapped within aging hardware. It’s ready to burst out and transfer its elegance and functionality into a new line of devices. The next year and a half are going to be exciting!



The Linux PDA port of Einstein has a ways to go before it is ready for primetime. Nevertheless, it’s available today! If you have a Linux-based PDA with X11 support, you can run NewtonOS!

The second day of the conference will be tomorrow. I’ll have more updates as they come!

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Jan 14 CF card adds 802.11g to Windows Mobile handhelds
Found in:Accessories,

Socket Communications has announced a CompactFlash Wireless LAN card for Windows Mobile 2003/SE & 5.0 Mobile based devices that supports the 54 Mbps 802.11g standard. The "Go Wi-Fi! P500" is a sibling of the 802.11b "Go Wi-Fi! E500"The P500 supports an automatic power saving mode that balances battery life and throughput speed, according to Socket. An LED on the card shows WLAN connection status. The device supports "enterprise class robust security" including AES, WPA2-Enterprise, and CCX v1/v2 (certification pending).

Socket points out the 802.11g standard is backward compatible to 802.11b, allowing an 802.11g card such as the P500 to talk to an 802.11b access point, and vice versa.

The P500 is supplied with Socket's Wi-Fi Companion software utility that enables users to connect to Wi-Fi networks with "three simple clicks," according to the company. Wi-Fi Companion finds available networks and performs advanced features such as network ping and trace route functions. An SDK is available to help third party developers create and integrate specialized Wi-Fi applications.

The Go Wi-Fi! P500 is expected to be available in early February 2006, priced around $100.

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Jan 14 Mobile Ranger for Pocket PC released by New West Technologies
Found in:Mobile News,

NEW WEST TECHNOLOGIES, PORTLAND, OR (PRWEB) January 12, 2006 -- New West Technologies, Inc. announced the release of a new mobility software application for retail point-of-sale (POS). Designed as a mobile credit card terminal, Mobile Ranger runs on any Pocket PC platform, including Personal Digital Assistants (PDA’s) and cell phones.

Mobility has become the popular trend for 2006 as giants like Google and Yahoo dive into the fray. Yet leveraging functionality for standard retail applications has previously been an inhibiting factor. Available products integrate hardware and software solutions that are costly and difficult to update. These all-in-one devices are bulky and cumbersome, defying the motivation for a mobile solution in the first place. This deficiency in the marketplace has created a need for tiny technology with dynamic customization capability, allowing a wide range of products to create modular solutions for every retailer’s needs. A renewed cry for mobile automation has increased demand for low cost, dynamic solutions accessible for retailers.

As a light mobile solution that combines the functionality of electronic cash register (ECR) and a credit card terminal, Mobile Ranger offers a variety of features designed to improve operational workflow across all retail vertical markets. Digital signature capture, receipt printing, shortcut keys, hospitality/tips, manual authorizations, and returns top the feature set of this software offering. Credit card authorizations are wirelessly transmitted through secure internet connections and payment processing is handled through eight major credit card processing platforms.

Mobile Ranger provides an elegant, easy-to-use solution for ranged credit card sales, specifically benefiting food delivery, stadium concessions, trade show sales, a traveling sales force, outdoor tent sales, or high traffic stores. The small footprint combined with the versatility of mobility creates an easy solution for many of the challenges retailers face in a rapidly developing environment.

Hardware requirements are simple. Mobile Ranger will run on any device with Pocket PC 2003+ and supports a wide range of wireless receipt printers, magnetic card swipes, and more. Mobile Ranger is fully functional with only a mobile device, either on a PDA or cell phone. However, magnetic card swipes and thermal receipt printers add speed and value to transactions by fully unleashing the capabilities of the solution.

With a complete POS solution costing less than $1,000 and a base system under $600, the low price point of Mobile Ranger makes it an easy choice for retailers.

Mobile Ranger can be purchased through New West Technologies. Information on pricing and additional information can be found at http://www.newestech.com

New West Technologies is a Portland, Oregon based Microsoft Gold Certified Partner with competencies in ISV Software Solutions, Microsoft Business Solutions, and Networking Infrastructure Solutions.

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Jan 14 Announcement of New Windows Mobile Portable Media Centers
Found in:Devices,

In his keynote address during the 2006 International CES, Microsoft Corp. Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates announced three new partners, Toshiba America Inc., Tatung Co. and LG Electronics, delivering Windows Mobile-based Portable Media Centers this year and highlighted a mobile version of Vongo, the new movie service from Starz Entertainment Group LLC.

With the addition of full-length, popular movies and other video selections such as extreme sports and concerts from Vongo, there are now more than 100 companies providing collections of entertainment choices for owners of Microsoft Windows Mobile-based devices. Customers can enjoy songs or videos on the go, selecting from news highlights and sporting events to music videos and audio books from top brands such as Audible.com, MSNBC, Comedy Central, Cookie Jar Entertainment Inc., FOX Sports, MTV Networks, Napster and TiVo Inc.

The Toshiba S Series gigabeat Portable Media Center includes an extended battery life for movies and a 2.4-inch high-resolution screen. The S Series will come in two varieties: The 30GB gigabeat S30 will have a suggested price of US$299, and the 60GB gigabeat S60 will have a suggested price of US$399. Both are scheduled to be available in March 2006.



The Tatung V620 Portable Media Center has a 20GB hard drive with a 3.5-inch QVGA (320x240) LCD screen for watching movies and television shows. Availability and pricing is scheduled to be announced in 2006.



The LG Electronics PM70 Portable Media Center has a 30GB hard drive that connects directly to a television to capture favorite music or shows immediately on the QVGA widescreen. Availability is scheduled for the first half of 2006.


Built on Windows Mobile software, the Portable Media Center platform is designed so that device-makers can choose the features and form factors that are best for their customers.

On the desktop, Windows Media Player 10 makes it simple to synchronize music, video and pictures from any Windows XP-based PC to Windows Mobile-based devices. Portable Media Centers also synchronize with PCs running Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005.

New Portable Media Centers are smaller and offer extensive battery life. They also extend the media formats supported, now including new popular codecs, including native file support for Windows Media Video (WMV), Windows Media Audio (WMA), WMA Lossless, MP3, JPEG, DivX, MPEG2 and others.

Portable Media Centers also provide connectivity with Xbox 360, allowing people to control and play back their favorite music while they compete with friends and against opponents.

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Jan 14 Watch TV on your Pocket PC with the SDIO tuner
Found in:Devices,

Eopstech is finally coming out with their Pocket PC SDIO TV tuner, two years after they first announced it. The tuner is NTSC and PAL compatible, and is designed to pick up terrestrial analog broadcasts. Of cource it's not HD or even cable. But if you just can't bear to miss the latest episod of "LOST" this could be just the thing for you ;-)
We've seen plenty of PMPs with displays smaller than those on most cellphones, it seems only logical that you might want to catch some TV on the larger display on most Windows Media PDAs.

Eopstech claimed that this is the "WORLD FIRST SDIO ANALOG TV TUNER FOR WINDOWS MOBILE DEVICES" and it is "UPCOMING (March 2006)" . We all hope so :)

System Requirements

4-bit SDIO expansion slot (SDIO NOW! Compatible).
Minimum 2MB free memory space in the Main Memory of the Pocket PC
Microsoft® Pocket PC 2002 / Windows MobileTM 2003 / Windows MobileTM 2003 Second Edition,
Microsoft® Windows MobileTM 5.0 [Please check Compatibility List]

Compatibility List of Pocket PCs
Pocket PCs not on the list may not be compatible.

Acer® n50
ASUS® MyPal A730 / A730W
DELL® AXIMTM X30, AXIMTM X50, AXIMTM X50v, AXIMTM X51, AXIMTM X51v
ETEN® M600
HP® iPAQTM h1940, h4150/ h4155, hx4700/ hx4705
Mitac® Mio 169
O2® Xda® II (Qtek® 2020)
O2® Xda® IIi (i-mate® PDA2, Qtek® 2020i)
O2® Xda® IIs (i-mate® PDA2K, Qtek® 9090)
O2® Xda® II mini (i-mate® JAM, MDA® Compact, Qtek® S100)
Dopod® 828 (Qtek® S110, Orange® SPV M500)
Dopod® 900 (i-mate® JASJAR, HTC® Universal)


NOTE: WILL NOT BE COMPATIBLE WITH: Acer® n10, ASUS® A620BT, ASUS® A716,
Fujitsu® Pocket LOOX 600, HP® iPAQTM h3800 / h3900 series, HP® iPAQTM h6300,
HP® iPAQTM hw6515, Toshiba® e740 / e750.


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Jan 11 WebIS FlexWallet 2006 Rev 1 Announced
Found in:Software,

FlexWallet enables you to securely store any type of information on your Windows Mobile™ Pocket PC device. Bank accounts, credit card information, emergency contact numbers, travel documents, software registration codes, online passwords, calling cards, gift ideas, clothing sizes, ATM Pins and dozens of other types of private records.

"We've made a few changes to FlexWallet 2006 for our first release. First off we've bundled the SmartPhone and Pocket PC versions together under one license. Second we've broken the desktop version out separately though there is a bundle of all 3 products for $29.95 (the original price EACH Pocket PC or SmartPhone). Next, we've added the password generator to the Pocket PC version and improved the ATM pin pad usage on the Pocket PC version as well." says Alex Kac from WebIS, Inc.





Major Features

Secure encryption of all your information using redundant 128-bit algorithms.
Professional, easy-to-master user interface consistent with Microsoft design guidelines. Organize your information into multiple level categories and sub-categories.
Use the built-in templates or create your own using the Template Editor to store almost any type of personal information.
Choose from over 110 attractive and consistently themed icons to identify your cards and categories. You can also use your own custom icons!
Built-in Password Generator utility.
Convenient ATM-style keypad for easily entering numeric passwords on Pocket PC devices.
Quickly access frequently used cards using the Favorites and Recently Used Cards lists.
Wallet Synchronization Wizard to easily setup synchronization between your desktop computer and Pocket PC or Smartphone device.
Easily search for text stored in any card.

FlexWallet 2006 is 100% compatible and optimized for the latest Windows Mobile 5.0 devices in landscape, square screen and VGA modes. Of course, it also works great on Windows Mobile 2003 devices.
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Jan 08 Motorola Q Smartphone Announcement pictures - 2006 International CES
Found in:Devices, Smartphone,

The world’s thinnest QWERTY, Q changes the playing field for mobile email devices by delivering a superior mobile office experience with no compromises. Combining quality voice, data, and multimedia in one amazing “RAZR-thin” package, Q helps make mobility = productivity.The Q runs the latest version of the Smartphone OS from Microsoft, Windows Mobile 5.0, which, in my mind, employs a user interface that is worlds better than that which we've seen from Microsoft in the past.This is Motorola Q - Now look at the pictures below :)

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Jan 07 T-Mobile MDA Vario ROM upgrade - first maintenance release
Found in:Mobile News, ROM upgrades,

It looks like T-Mobile (here: UK) is among those operators, that are releasing upgrades for their Windows Mobile phones promptly.Unfortunately this ROM upgrade doesn't contain yet AKU 2.0 (push e-mail and 2 profiles for stereo audio over Bluetooth) but it just shows that T-Mobile is committed and indicates indirectly that AKU 2.0 is coming in March 2006.

Please read the following before you begin upgrading.

* Before upgrading your MDA Vario, the battery must be fully charged.
* In order to save your personal data, you can either use a storage card or use Active Sync which will save your data from your device to your PC (note that Active Sync will only save data from Outlook such as contacts, tasks, appointments, files etc).
* All email settings will be lost and therefore they will need to be reconfigured - please make a note of these prior to running the upgrade.
* All personalised data including software applications, T-Mobile downloads, web favourites, any POP3 emails, SMS, MMS, and other settings would be erased during the upgrade process.
* The upgrade process takes about 20-30 minutes and must be conducted from the PC via a USB cable (please ensure you have downloaded the file to the PC first not directly to the MDA Vario device), please do not run the upgrade over the air or via Bluetooth. During this time please do not do anything else with your PC, such as start another application like Microsoft® Word or Excel because your MDA Vario may well crash.
* During the upgrade process do not allow the screen saver or power save mode to kick in, as this may also cause problems.
* Once the upgrade has been completed you will need to reload any applications - applications provided on the separate CD when the device was bought, but also separate applications that you have bought and loaded onto the device.

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Jan 06 New Windows Mobile Portable Media Center Devices
Found in:Mobile News,

In his keynote address at the 2006 International CES, Microsoft Corp. Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates announced three new partners delivering Windows Mobile-based Portable Media Center (PMC): Toshiba America Inc., Tatung Co. and LG Electronics.Bill Gates also highlighted a mobile version of Vongo, a new movie service from Starz Entertainment Group LLC that offers premium full-length movies and other video selections for playback on new Portable Media Centers. Initially more than 1,000 first-run movies and video selections will be available in the United States via a subscription service that provides unlimited access for US$9.99 per month, plus additional pay-per-view movies.

These next-generation devices are packed with features such as extended battery life, support for new higher-resolution displays and wide screens, direct audio/video recording, and direct connections to digital cameras; prices begin at US$299, and the company expects Vongo and these devices will be available in early 2006.

Microsoft says with the addition of full-length, popular movies and other video selections such as extreme sports and concerts from Vongo, there are now more than 100 companies providing a diverse collection of entertainment choices for owners of Microsoft Windows Mobile-based devices.

The Toshiba S Series gigabeat Portable Media Center includes an extended battery life for movies and a 2.4-inch high-resolution screen with more than 260,000 colors. The S Series will come in two varieties: The 30GB gigabeat S30 will have a suggested price of US$299, and the 60GB gigabeat S60 will have suggested price of US$399 (U.S.). Both are scheduled to be available in March 2006.

The Tatung V620 Portable Media Center has a 20GB hard drive with a 3.5-inch QVGA (320x240) LCD screen for watching up to five hours of movies and television shows. Availability and pricing is scheduled to be announced in 2006.

The LG Electronics PM70 Portable Media Center has a 30GB hard drive that connects directly to a television to capture favorite music or shows immediately on the QVGA widescreen. Availability is scheduled for the first half of 2006.

Built on Windows Mobile software, the Portable Media Center platform is designed so that device-makers can choose the features and form factors that are more interesting for their customers. Devices can synchronise music, images and video with PCs running Windows Media Player 10.

Portable Media Centers also synchronize with PCs running Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, software that accounted for more than 47 percent of PC sales in December 2005, according to Current Analysis.

Next-generation Portable Media Centers will also support a greater variety of formats, including popular codecs, including native file support for Windows Media Video (WMV), Windows Media Audio (WMA), WMA Lossless, MP3, JPEG, DivX, MPEG2 and others.

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Jan 05 Pocket PC Phone Samsung SCH-i830 unveiled
Found in:Devices, Smartphone, Samsung,

Samsung is expected to release its new SCH-i830 Pocket PC Phone Edition - which features both GSM 900 and 1800 and CDMA (800/1900MHz) at CES 2006. This dual-mode feature is unique for Pocket PCs and should porivdes business travelers best connection in the US and overseas.
Additionally it's sporting a 2.8" QVGA touchscreen, the typical slide-out QWERTY keyboard, EV-DO and Bluetooth but not W-LAN. With its 64 MB RAM and 128 MB ROM and support for SD memory cards it's well dimensioned.Samsung i830 has the same problem as Samsung i300: having fantastic features but being powered by outdated operating system (Windows Mobile 2003 instead of contemporary Windows Mobile 5.0)

For some people however this phone is truly "a dream come truth": the first smartphone that supports both CDMA-EVDO (USA) and GSM (pretty much the rest of the world). It has no built-in Wi-Fi but with SDIO Wi-Fi card Wi-Fi can be added.

The i830 is designed for business travelers who want to stay productive while on the road. Equipped with VZEmail including Wireless Sync as well as Windows MobileTM and Pocket PC applications, this wireless workhorse allows consumers to check and respond to email, develop, review and edit most document file types.

The full QWERTY keyboard, revealed by sliding the phone's screen, makes developing and maintaining critical documents a breeze. Additionally, Picsel Browser allows consumers to view full versions of PDFs, images and PowerPoint® files at any time.

"The i830 builds on Samsung's tradition of developing high-quality converged devices that allow busy consumers to remain connected and productive no matter where they travel. With a compact form factor, abundance of familiar Windows Mobile features and the power of Verizon Wireless's high- speed EV-DO network, the i830 is the ultimate productivity device on the market," said Peter Skarzynski, senior vice president, Samsung.

The device's Bluetooth® wireless technology, which supports certain profiles, as well as its built-in speakerphone, gives consumers the flexibility of hands-free communication. Additionally, the i830 features an SD I/O expansion slot for increasing the phone's memory, as well as stereo speakers for improved sound quality when viewing videos or listening to MP3 files via Windows Media® Player v10.

Conclusion: Samsung is paying much more attention to USA than to Europe and Samsung i830 is just another proof - until today Samsung has not released any Pocket PC phone in Europe yet (the Samsung i750 was supposed to be available "by the end of 2005" but never arrived to Europe). Samsung is also lagging behind with regard to UMTS and Windows Mobile 5.0 support, so all in all while Samsung's contributions to Windows Mobile phones are noteworthy, Samsung always is "one step" behind both in software and hardware ...

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