SPB Mobile Shell Video

As you know i am a big fan of Spb Mobile Shell 3.5 .

Matthew Miller of ZD Net (Zed Dee for us, Zee Dee for my American friends) has produced a walk through video which you can see here.

I have a few days off so I'll load it up on the HD2

Now that's ridiculous

Blackberry down AGAIN !

Mind you it's only for 100% of all Americans - phew ! - I thought for a moment it was serious.

Don't worry , your emails are all held on a server in , well, Canada - good luck!

New Acers

My friend told me a month or two ago that Acer would be making a push into the Windows Phone space.

I now understand that there will be 3 or 4 Acer Windows phones introduced into the market in early 2010

Watch this space!

Oh, so it's a facial proximity sensor

I was impressed when the old Omnia 2 turned its display off when you put it to your ear and turned on again whn you looked at the screen. The HD2 does the same. I now understand that these devices have a facial proximity sensor - very cool.

By the way the battery life on these two devices continues to impress

Saw an article about RIM today

Can it keep up with Iphone & Android?

I don't think it can , but more to the point Windows Mobile is starting to get price traction in the Mobile email market

Of all those in the market I fear for RIM the most

Googlephone launching in the US

I see that a Googlephone is being released in the US. The Android powered device is manufactured by HTC and it seems to me that Google will get some traction in the consumer market based on its brand alone.

So, No Xperia X2 this year then

I was a big fan of the Xperia X1, still the best built device I have used. I was kind of holding out for an X2, even though I am quite impressed with the Omnia2 and the HD2 from Samsung and HTC respectively.

I hear though that our friends at Sony Ericsson have put the X2 release until January - something to do with software glitches. The good news is that the people at Sony Ericsson treat these things very seriously and will ensure that things are ironed out properly.

I'll look forward to having a play with the device in 2010 - this HTC HD2 keyboard is hard work !!

Omnia 2 Compass

So, there's a digital compass hidden away inside the Omnia 2

Have a look here - wonder what we might do with that ?

No more HTC HD2s at Voda

As some of you know I have my hands on an HTC HD2 at the moment thanks to a kindly distie. Cracking device - might be a bit big for me in the long run but we'll see (unless I can cook a ROM for the Omnia Pro)

I was surprised to see that it won't be sold by Vodafone any longer - perhaps they are too focused on the Iphone? (which the HD2 knocks ointo a cocked hat in many ways)

Cryptic

Here's a cryptic to make sure you're paying attention. Someone from M referred to a vnext that I'm not allowed to talk about

HTC Software fix

Whisper it, but I have my hands on an HTC HD2

I'll talk about it more once I have played around for a while, but I do know that there is a camera fix here (ROM 1.60 or lower, be careful now!) for the issue where the pictures taken by the camera display a Pink Spot

There's a ROM update here , although I'm not 100% happy that it applies to all devices

Remember a ROM update will flatten your device so Back Up!

Of course, I'll have to SPB the HD2 to get it to "Clint Class"

A PDA Database

I've found a really useful site that lists all (well I guess I haven't checked ALL) pdas/smartphones availabale on the market with their specs - very handy (it doesn't include the rugged devices).

Youu might have to be slightly careful with the specs as the site ius US focused, but it's certainly handy to have such a good point of reference

Oh yes, and the site is here

New Bing mobile

A new version og Bing is available for mobile devices

m.bing.com form your device or go here

So, paid-for Android arrives

I think that Android has the biggest opportunity for growth in the mobile space (subject to my concerns about distros) but I was very interested to see that Wind River (why is everyone on the West Coast except me) have released a commercial version of the platform

Relying entirely on Google is a slightly tricky strategy but it will be interesting to see if the market is actually willing to pay for the platform....

Bandwidth

I'm encouraged that some people are starting to question the idea of moving away from Exchange as their enterprise class messaging service. Firstly, all of those Exchange things that we know and love are simply not available in some of the more simple email systems (we have a checklist if you'd like one) but furthermore there are some infrastructure issues that impact organisations more than they initially consider.

Bandwidth is one such issue. If you have dozens or hundreds of people online, downloading stuff then your day to day functions like bandwidth need to be considered. Nothing worse than twiddling your thumbs waiting to log in to gmail. Like so many Microsoft things people look to change for changes sake and then realise that what they previously took for granted is actually quite cool and, well, seamless.

I have heard today that one organisation which has switched to Gmail and Google Apps is having to put in more internal servers to split the organisation into workgroups - surely that's the opposite of what the cloud evangelists say? Sure there's a place for cloud computing (we use it a lot) but we'll be keeping Exchange Server for a while yet.

More Good Stuff

Well, as you know, we are big Windows Mobile fans down here in the cellars, but we do act for Good Technology in the UK and our friends from Redwood City have just released Good for Android

I think that Android will take market share in the next year or two , most likely from RIM and Nokia, and it doesn't look a bad OS to me. Mind you, Linux is not a bad OS, the question is which Linux, which version and who controls the releases (and bugs)

If you're an enterprise user, we believe that Windows Mobile is still the only serious choice for custom apps and Microsoft connectivity but, if you're a consumer, Android is certainly on the radar

Off topic college football post

Hopefully you may have noticed that Alabama beat Florida at the weekend. The Crimson Tide go to the championship game against Texas!

HTC HD2

Now, my pal the Senior Developer has sent me this video review of the HTC HD2 from the bbc website

Now that is what I call a piece of equipment and it is nice to hear a reviewer praise a Windows Phone after reviewing it rather than the quite pathetic review I read in a commercial mag this week

The Satio is back

Pleased to see that Sony Ericsson have released a patch for their Satio smartphone which had a few , err, hiccups

We like Sony devices (excellent build/great cameras) and as some of you know I was a committed Xperia X1 user before the Omnia 2 arrived

The Satio is pretty pricy (dearer than an Iphone) and runs a Symbian offshoot OS (no wonder it had a few "issues" :-)

By the way I broke my record at BubbleBreaker on the train last night

Customer Service

Slightly off the topic of mobile but I heard a great report of an example of where bad customer service can cost an organisation more than one customer.

In 2008, Dave Carroll was flying United Airlines with his band Sons of Maxwell when a passenger sitting next to the window exclaimed that the baggage handlers were “throwing guitars out there.”

Carroll’s guitar was broken. He spent the next nine months in a service maze pursuing compensation. Eventually, customer service at United Airlines told him they were closing the incident and would not respond to any further emails.

Carroll vowed to write three songs about the experience and post them on YouTube, hoping to achieve a million views with all three combined. But he did much better. He hit one million on the first song within one week, and is at six and a half million views at last count. A media frenzy ensued and United’s market capitalization dropped $180 million over the next three weeks.

So, probably best to look after those customers!

Samsung on target

Crikey - our pals at Samsung have increased their focus on touchscreen devices dramatically. They've increased touch devices from 5% to 20 % of their sales (a big coup for Windows Mobile methinks)

Samsung also think they are going to beat their forecast of 200 million units for 2009 - which is pretty impressive

The new Omnias running Windows Mobile 6.5 are, of course, pretty nice devices

Good luck to our friend NF in his new endeavours

More Omni musings

I do like the Omnia 2 but I really am going to have to hack the registry or maybe flatten the firmware completely. There are quite a few things that the chaps at Samsung have done with the overlay that I don't like and even with SPB on board the device just does some odd things (and yes, I've disabled TouchWiz)

Note my Modaco post detailing how to get the Windows Mobile settings back. I'll shortly get onto using SKtools to effect some more changes and will update them here

As far as screen, camera and build is concerned I'm pretty happy (DO keep the screen protector on though as my chum has scratched his badly) but I have to say that these OEM mods need testing more before they go out.

Mobile signal boosted in office !

I wrote a while ago on Femtocells. We've had a Vodafone femto in the office for a while now and I have to say that after a few hiccups in the early days it is performing well. We're getting 3G pretty consistently in the cellars here (we're in the cellar oif an 18th Century tavern !) .

I happen to know that the people at Crimson Tide are offering a free Femto with all December connrctions - which is nice - so if you have a problem with getting a good mobile connection inside your office or home you can contact them here

I need a new name for Femtocells - it doesn't quite resonate with me but I'm generally impressed with the job that our one is doing.

Opera 10 Beta

I'm using the newly released beta of Opera on the Omnia 2. Frankly , Opera has been my de facto browser of choice on mobile dvices for quite some time and this new version does not disappoint

I haven't used all of the features yet (I wonder if I can get it to sync with my online favourites through X-Marks?) but speed dialling websites and the new panel seem like good ideas

more of a review in due course.....

O2 Base stations

Apparently the people at O2 are incresing or upgrading their base stations to meet Ofcom's 3G targets. Allegedly there will be another 1,500 bases stations to boost their 84% coverage

New Facebook App for WM 6.5

As a number of you know I am a fan of Facebook (there's a joke in there somewhere). From keeping up with my Motorbike-riding friend in the US to asking my daughter to bring the M&Ms (Halloween colours) from the playroom I find it very useful

You can download FB 1.1 for WM 6.5 from the Windows Mobile Marketplace - which is also available on your Wimdows Mobile device.

Another Overlay Problem - HTC TouchFlo

Those of you who use HTC devices with Touchflo may have noticed that there is no facility to "Snooze" reminders from the pop up screen. It is actually a specific Windows Mobile setting that has been changed by HTC. To change it:-

go start - settings (in Windows Mobile settings)
click sounds & notifications
click the notifications tab at the bottom
in the drop down menu select "reminders"
now check the box "display message on screen"
click ok in the top right

And you'll now get the ability to Snooze your reminders again
Cheers!

Nokia N series to run Linux by 2012

So, no more Symbian for the Finnish giant then. I must say I am confused with the Linux strategy. Red Hat, Ubuntu, Suse along with their various versions scare me, especially as my boy created a PC using Ubuntu and the whole thing was a bit shaky to say the least.

I'll stick with Windows Mobile thanks

Windows Mobile Marketplace - now on all Windows 6.x devices

My friends at Micrsoft have really big ambitions for Windows Mobile Marketplace and the client version is now available on Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1 devices

You can get MArkeplace here for your 6.0/6.1 device or, of course, the nice people at Crimson Tide could sell you a rather nice 6.5 Windows Phone. ;-) from their rather nice webstore.

Tech Tuesday

I've had my head down for a few hours with the Omnia 2 and found a few things to change in respect of the settings. The Samsung overlay inhibited me a little so I've made a few registry changes. Kudos to modaco for the assistance here. I have resized fonts, brought back the Windows Mobile settings and re-enabled SMS threading ;-). Note that a registry editor is required (I use SKTools) and these changes are NOT for civilians as you can literally kill your phone (that includes you Mr. Sales Director!)

Crimson Tech staffers can see me for a description/tutorial !

Mobile Backup

Of course Microsoft's Myphone is an essential tool these days but I was alerted the other day to SPB Mobile Backup. I am a big fan of the SPB Mobile Shell (much better than certain other overlays I could name) and SPB generally get a big thumbs up from me with their software

SPB Backup does full or partial backup and restores and allows you to select files by type . It has a scheduler and compression agent and lets you back up to desktop or storage card

Well worth 25 Bucks I think

SPB can be found here

Motorola MC9500

For customers who need to be at the "very rugged" end of mobile soolutions we can introduce the chunky Motorola MC9500.

Running Windows Mobile 6.1 the Motorola has a 3G Radio and 2d (with a 3D option) barcode scanner. It also has an accelorometer which during testing actually caused the device to "scream" if it were to be dropped. Regrettably this is removed from the production release.

The 9500 goes for "a couple of grand" so not for the faithearted although it IS available on subscription with your own bespoke application from those nice people at Crimson Tide.

HTC Snap

In a very Autumn Fruit way the HTC Snap fits into the small screen Qwerty bracket

I'm a touchscreen man myself but the Snap looks a good unit. The keyboard , I understand is excellent. Runs about £275 but should be free on a contract.

Frankly , we prefer the Treo Pro - a bit more expensive but definitely woth it for the touchscreen and all of those nice Palm styling things.

TouchFlo .....on an Omnia 2 ?!

A rather clever chappy from , I suggest, Eastern Europe has "TouchFlod" (for that is a new word) a Samsung Omnia 2. As you may know I drive an Omnia 2 at the moment but am not overly happy with the Samsung TouchWiz overlay. I'm an SPB man but the TouchFlo is rather nice........have a look here.

Nokia charger warning

Please see here for the Nokia charger return programme in respect of faulty chargers that MAY give an electric shock

Compare AMOLED screen to LCD

Thought you might be interested - AMOLED is used on the new Samsung Omnia 2

More Omnia news

My spies tell me a new firmware update may be on the cards so watch this space

Techies might find www.sktools.com interesting in the meantime...I use it to twek my device (not recommended for civilians !)

http://s-k-tools.com/index.html?sktools/m_feat.html

After a while......

I promise to keep the Blog up to date now - it is one of my 2009 Goals !

Starting with the new email campaign for the Samsung Omnia range at www.mobileprofessional.com - something here for everyone, full screen Omnia (with a dual processor) and AMOLED screens

I'm using the Omnia 2 - would quite like a firmware upgrade to fix a few issues with the overlay but, as many of you know I use the SPB shell even on top of WinMo 6.5

More this week - promise

New Asus Windows Mobile phones

Asus have released a new range of phones that seem strangely similar to HTC's range.

They are competing on price certainly with the F900 here and the M900 (which looks a lot like a TyTN II here

They are certainly loaded with features like the HTCs - Acer have a pretty good reputation in the laptop field - it'll be interesting to see if this new range improves their position in the smartphone market.

Toshiba TG01 Video Review

Coming soon, I understand, is the new Tosh TG01. I have seen a review here and the device looks a lot like an HTC Touch HD . It has a 4.1 inch screen, which is nice.

Street price could be around £600 although Toshiba say theu have used their TV technology for the screen so that could be a bargain . Thanks to Pocket PC Italia for the review.

3g Map of the United States

I thought this link was quite useful if you want to see where AT&T gives 850/1900 or 3G coverage in the US

I was very surprised about how poor AT&T coverage was in err.......Redmond

Touch Diamond 2

I was a very big admirer of the HTC Touch Diamond and very upset when mine was stolen at Dublin airport.

HTC have now brought the Touch Diamond 2 (codename Topaz) to market and there is a video here

The rather good news is that HTC have confirmed that there will be a free upgrade to Windows Mobile 6.5 when it arrives

Looks a pretty good device to me (all the connectivity you need and a 5mp camera) especially if you are a non-keyboard type

A laptop for your mobile (or indeed a desktop)

If you are "really" addicted to Windows Mobile, you can now view your WM device on a "mobile companion" which is a terminal that looks kind of like a laptop. I must say, it's not a scednarion I envisage using. Perhaps more useful (ish) is the ability to view your mobile on a desktop PC, in resolutions as high as 1024x768

Both solutions can be seen here if you are intrerested

Acer Dual SIM

This should be a popular device - we have a customer who uses a Dual Sim in Africa with a local PAYG SIM which works out considerably cheaper. It is Windows Mobile 6.1 and has dual standby as well as HSDPA, 3.5G and EDGE, GPS and WiFi. Retail is about £400

New Browser in WM 6.5

The upcoming release of Windows Mobile 6.5 will include a new browser experience. The browser will be faster and offer a truer desktop experience.

First image here looks good.

Oh dear - Fruit store apps hacked

Not sure that I am surprised but Wired today announces that 20% of Fruitstore's apps have been hacked by Pirates, one torrent site allegedly has one download with 808 Fruitstore apps, which is , officially, a large number of apps.

Sony Experia X1

Thanks to our friends at Sony Ericsson, I have been using the Experia for about a month now. Firstly, the build quality is rather special. The case and slide out keyboard are beautifully manufactured. The screen is excellent and showcases Videos (especially the James Bond trailer) rather well.

I like the panels that are customisable and am using the spb shell as one of them. The device "hiccups" occasionally but I am not sure whether this is a WM issue or not. As you'd expect the camera is 3.2Mp and the device has excellent picture quality

I'm impressed with the Experia. It has all the connectivity you need and is a ver professional unit. The weight is slightly more than I'd like but for a full Qwerty I'll live with that.

Palm Pro Push

Our friends at Palm are making a big marketing push on our favourite one-handed device, the Palm Treo Pro. The boys at Crimson Tide will be helping with the B2B sales and are looking forward to demo-ing this great device to enterpise customers.

Windows Marketplace for Mobile

As we wait patiently for Windows Mobile 6.5, note that every 6.5 device will have a little app called Windows Marketplace For Mobile. There will be a range of applications ranging from consumer to enterprise that will be downloaded to your shiny 6.5 device

I envisage a lot of the useful Windows Mobile apps will find a home hetre such as the rather nice Spb skins and my favourite Windows Mobile app ever, Pocket Informant

The boys at Crimson Tide have a few ideas to support Marketplace with some free trials and simple apps and we'll work on those over the summer.

Microsoft MyPhone

As announced in Barcelona, Microsoft are releasing an online back up utility for your Windows Mobile Phone. And it's free.

Details here

Toshiba Portege G710

For those of you who want a Windows Mobile device without touchscreen capability, The Toshiba may be for you. Coming in at around £180 retail, this device is very "BlackBerry" in terms of style.

EDGE and GPS on board with a 2MP camera - Toshiba have a good reputation for quality so this may be for you if that is your price point

Windows Mobile 6.5 announced

Mobile World Congress saw the announcement of Windows Mobile 6.5. With a new UI, the system has some preview around on the glorious HTC Touch Diamond 2, the device probably best to show off any UI. like this

Microsoft also announced a new Apps store plus cloud synchronisation for free.

More when we see it...

Palm Pre - so we're back to a Palm OS then

The Palm Pre has been released (well in the US anyway) with a Palm OS. Thos of us old enough to remember when the Treo 650 was the device of choice will have fond memories of this OS. What I would say is that the OS that I have seen a demo of is very "Iphone". There is even a Palm App store.

HTC Touch 3g

I am still using my Touch Dual but notice that HTC have brought out the Touch 3g. It is a very neat unit with 3MP camera, the screen is a touch too small for me but that is part of the nature of the smaller form factor all round.

I think the unit will suit those who like a slightly neater unit (the screen integration is very nice) that has all the functionality of Windows Mobile 6.1