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Review: TeleNav Shotgun internet connected GPS device
TeleNav has been developing and supporting their navigation solutions on mobile phones for a couple of years and is now moving into the personal navigation device market. Their first generation... Continued »
Archive for: July, 2008
July 31st, 2008
Google adds transit directions to S60 and Windows Mobile clients
There are full navigation and routing programs available for S60 and Windows Mobile that I use for major trips, but for quick positioning and some trips I just fire up the Google Maps for Mobile application on these devices. Google just released an update that adds transit directions to these mobile operating systems. They previously launched support for BlackBerry and Java-based devices so this expands their mobile offerings, with just the iPhone and Palm OS left to upgrade.
The new transit directions functionality gives you routing for public transportation systems in select markets. I haven’t yet tried it out in the Seattle area, but we have a fairly new bus and rail system so I am not confident there will be much for our area and imagine support will be there for areas like Washington, D.C., L.A, New York, and other large metropolitan areas. Simply go to google.com/gmm in your mobile browser to download the latest Google Maps for Mobile client. Thanks to Nokia Conversations for the heads-up on this release.
UPDATE: I installed this on my Nokia E71-2 and it does support local bus routing here in downtown Seattle. The program even tells you (and shows you with an icon) that you need to walk to a specific bus stop to catch the bus, with departure and arrival times. It didn’t calculate a transit trip from Seattle to Tacoma though so I need to keep exploring how much is supported. There are Sounder trains and Sound Transit buses from Seattle to Tacoma and hopefully these will be added in the future. Still it is a nice feature to have downtown and pretty amazing that they integrated it all into a free client application.
Have you tried it yet on your device and if so, what are your experiences?
July 30th, 2008
Qwest now offering Verizon Wireless services
I began my wireless mobile data usage with a Qwest Qualcomm mobile phone tethered to my Palm with a cable back almost ten years ago and then moved onto a national carrier as I outgrew Qwest. In 2004, Qwest partnered with Sprint to offer nationwide services. Back in May of this year Qwest announced it was dropping Sprint and switching to Verizon Wireless. Today, Qwest Wireless announced that they are now offering Verizon Wireless service to new residential and business customers. Qwest will soon be contacting existing customers to help with the changeover.
Verizon Wireless is the largest U.S. carrier and this partnership will give Qwest Wireless customers access to this network with the latest and greatest mobile devices. One reason I used Qwest in the past was that you were able to get mult-service discounts so you could get home phone service and wireless service cheaper than individual services. This five year agreement with Verizon Wireless lets Qwest customers choose from their full line of calling plans and devices and if customers make the switch soon they will get some exclusive deals and experience no early contract termination fees. Check out the full migration FAQ site to help you as Qwest moves from Sprint to Verizon service.
July 29th, 2008
World Wide Web Consortium publishes updated mobile standards
I was reading jkOnTheRun this morning and found their article on the updated mobile web standards published today by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The W3C announced updated standards and published the Mobile Web Best Practices and XHTML Basic 1.1 guidelines for website designers.
I know many readers here have been browsing the web on our mobile devices for years, but with the iPhone really making the consumer more aware of the “mobile web” there are more and more people surfing on the go. It is good to have some basic standard guidelines to help make the mobile experience better and these standards were created with input from several different people involved in the mobile space. The W3C is also developing resources to help people create content that is also mobile optimized and accessible for those with disabilities. Check out the press release for more discussion on these updated standards.
July 29th, 2008
Palm announces that over 2 million Centros have now been sold
Almost every major carrier in the U.S. now has the Palm Centro device, including AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and Sprint (what’s up with you T-Mobile?). You can also buy a SIM-unlocked model if you want to use it with T-Mobile or another carrier around the world. I actually purchased a SIM-unlocked model to use with T-Mobile and AT&T and think the Centro is an excellent choice for many people that is priced very well at US$99 with a contract. Palm just announced that they have sold their two-millionth Palm Centro and it is a very successful device for them.
I have recommended the Centro to a few people, primarily those moving from a feature phone to a smartphone, and every single person that has bought one from my recommendation has been very happy with the device and is quite enthusiastic about getting email on the go, doing some basic surfing, and listening to music on their phone. I like the Centro because it is very small and the Palm OS is still the snappiest at switching between applications so it is refreshing for me to use it from time to time.
July 29th, 2008
First impressions of the MWg Zinc II Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional device
I first heard about MWg at the Mobius 2008 event back in May and had a chance to see their Zinc II device. An evaluation model just arrived at the end of last week and my first impressions can be viewed and read about in the video, image gallery, and in my thoughts below. The MWg Zinc II is a SIM-unlocked Windows Mobile Professional 6.1 device now available in the U.S. with a MSRP of US$749.95 US$599 from various online retailers. After spending a couple of days with the device, I think it is a decent entry in this market and do look forward to seeing what else MWg comes out with in the future. However, the price is too high for the specifications and I am not sure how popular the device is going to be when there are other devices available from carriers for much less (like the AT&T Tilt). The price may seem a bit high, but when you compare other tri-band HSDPA, quad-band GSM devices with slide-out QWERTY keyboards it is actually priced a bit lower than those devices (like the HTC TyTN II).
This may be the first time you heard of MWg (Mobile and Wireless Group) and this is the first device released here from this new company. MWg was previously known as O2 Asia and was purchased by a group that wanted to launch a new brand of Windows Mobile devices. MWg plans to launch three to five devices in 2008 with the Zinc II being the first branded by them. The Zinc II is a QWERTY slider Windows Mobile device, similar to the AT&T Tilt, but with a slimmer and more modern form factor. MWg packaged it extremely well and it is a device that is just about there, except for the 64MB of RAM and keyboard oddities. Some also don’t like the use of a mini USB port for a headset and while I don’t like this either HTC and others are doing the same thing too so it is tough to fault just MWg.
Specs: The MWg Zinc II is a Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional touch screen device that has mostly high level specifications, including:
In the box: The packaging is probably the most solid I have ever seen with a strong magnetic front flap the keeps the box secured. It attractively shows the MWg Zinc II in QWERTY mode in glossy finish with some MWg designs around the image. The box is very strong and rock solid. After opening the top flap Read the rest of this entry »
July 28th, 2008
What are your favorite road warrior tips, tricks, and tools?
I’ve been working with Andy Abramson for a few years now with the Nokia Nseries Blogger Relations program and enjoy reading his VoIP Watch blog. Since last October Andy has been working primarily on the go as he has some renovations made to his home and since the tagline of this blog is Work Where You Want To Be, then I think the readers here may enjoy a couple of Andy’s latest blog posts where he talks about the tools of the road warrior where you may discover some new tools to add to your mobile kit.
In Andy’s first The Tools of The Global Nomad post he talks about ways he stays connected, works with video, manages his phone bills, and conducts business on the go. He is similar to me in that he uses multiple mobile phones, like the Nokia E71, E90, and N95, along with the BlackBerry and an iPhone.
The second post about his tools discusses something I have heard a lot of people traveling doing lately and that is shipping items ahead instead of carrying it as baggage. Andy also talks about his favorite bags, including the wonderful Waterfield Designs bags I enjoy, getting voicemail as text messages, staying in touch with instant messaging, holding conference calls, finding places to stay, finding places to eat, and good ways to get around.
Andy has some very valuable information in these two posts and as someone who has been on the road quite a bit over the last year he speaks from personal experiences. Do you have more advice for the road warrior? Join in the conversation on Andy’s blog and share your tips and tricks as well.
July 25th, 2008
MobileTechRoundup show #141, jkOnTheRun is aquired, Sony Reader, battery life, and more
Listen here (MP3, 31.6 MB, 34:20 minutes)
Subscribe to the show with this link (RSS)
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I had a good time recording MobileTechRoundup show #141 with the two newest members of the Giga Om Media group, James Kendrick and Kevin Tofel. Don’t worry listeners and readers, you will still get the same content from those two and from me here on the podcast for the foreseeable future. We chatted a bit about the Sony Reader update, MWg Zinc II that James just received (one arrived at my house today too), and thoughts on battery life desires and needs. Kevin has been using Windows Live Mesh on his Mac and it looks to be working better than MobileMe right now. And how about that $200 web tablet?
If you enjoy listening to the MobileTechRoundup podcast, please vote for us at Podcast Alley. Also, please let me know if you have anything you would like us to cover and discuss on the show and I’ll try to work it into a future podcast.
July 24th, 2008
Samsung INNOV8 S60 mobile device with 8 megapixel camera revealed
The Nokia N96 was revealed back in January and should be hitting the streets in the next couple of months. I guess I haven’t been following the S60 rumors closely enough lately and was a bit caught off guard by the post that Ricky made regarding the Samsung i8510INNOV8 S60 device. He was at a local New York event last night and had the chance to see this upcoming device that has a groundbreaking 8 megapixel camera with QVGA video recording capability of up to 120 frames per second/VGA at 30 frames per second. The version shown at the event does not support US 3G bands, but maybe we’ll see it with that support some time in the future.
The camera also includes smile, face and blink detection, image stabilization, and panoramic photo support. The specs also include WiFi, integrated GPS reciever, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP support, 3.5mm audio jack, 16GB of internal storage, and microSD card slot. The pricing and availability has not yet been announced. Check out Ricky’s post for the full specs and more about the device. He has also posted hands-on photos over at MobileBurn.com.
July 24th, 2008
Sony Reader PRS-505 gets a major firmware upgrade
My Sony Reader is an excellent piece of hardware that I thoroughly enjoy using during my daily commute. I skipped the Amazon Kindle and bought the Sony Reader and have not been one bit sorry about this purchase I made last fall. I just saw on my favorite eBook site, MobileRead, that Sony is updating the Sony Reader PRS-505 with a firmware upgrade that adds some great functionality, including secure and non-secure support of EPUB and Adobe eBooks (including the capability for much better support of PDF documents). Check out the Sony press release where you will see the update should be online today, 24 July.
The update only works with the latest PRS-505 model and not the PRS-500 model that many people may still own. Also, the update is a Windows only update through the Sony software. New Sony Reader units will ship with the update pre-installed and there will be an exclusive red model available too.
I understand that the EPUB and Adobe Digital Edition formats are becoming more popular with publishers so it is encouraging to see support for these on the Sony Reader. This upgrade also gives us a bit of comfort that Sony plans to stay in the eBook game and continue to support our devices.
July 24th, 2008
HTC Touch Diamond ROM update adds 850 MHz support and much more
I’ve written a few posts about the HTC Touch Diamond and my last one discussed some of the issues I was seeing with the device. I like to visit the XDA Developers site for the tweaking they do to the HTC devices, but it is kind of gray area when they post ROM fixes and updates. However, this latest discussion on the HTC Touch Diamond ROM discusses a ROM fix posted on the HTC Hong Kong site so it seems legit to me. The major functionality that this brings to owners here in the U.S. is that it enables the 850 MHz GSM band so you can now use it more reliably with AT&T!
I should be getting my Touch Diamond back shortly from a buddy I loaned it to and plan to install the update before I reload the device with all of my applications. According to the XDA Developers site, the update also looks to fix a few of the other issues I was seeing and I am actually quite excited about the prospects for a more stable and functional device. The list of fixes includes:
I haven’t seen this ROM update posted on other HTC sites yet, but since it is up on the Hong Kong site there shouldn’t be much risk in upgrading your device. I’ll report back on my experiences after trying out the update myself.
Matthew Miller is an avid mobile device enthusiast who works during the day as a professional naval architect in Seattle. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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