Smartphone Fanatics

Verizon Motorola Droid in the House

2009-11-20T21:03:00.004-05:00

If you where following my Twitter feed (@spf360) earlier today you already know that I'm now walking around with a Google Android 2.0 powered Motorola Droid. (To be fair, I also go to play with a Palm Pixi today too!)

How did I come to have a Droid you ask? Simple; I'm taking it out for a test drive as a possible replacement for the fleet of aging Palm Treo 700p and 755p smartphones. I really love my job!

So I have this phone for about a week. During that time I'll be playing with it see how it will stand up to everyday use by corporate office workers. Keep in mind that I'm going to be focusing on what an office worker will be doing with the Droid. So high on the list of things to test out is the browser, camera, native Gmail and attachment support, some of the location based services like GPS driving directions and traffic updates, geotagged photos, voice dialing, and maybe some thing non-work related like news apps, Facebook, and a few games.

The good news is that I've taken Thanksgiving week off which will give me plenty of time to play with this new "business tool."

If you have something that you want me to try out while I have the phone, leave me a note in the comments section and I will do my best to try things out and report back.

HP iPAQ Handhelds Still Available

2009-11-19T20:29:00.003-05:00

I didn't realize this, but HP is still selling handheld PDAs. Why? If you are one of the classic PDA fanatics (hey, we're all fanatical around here anyway) HP has you covered with two devices to choose from.

First up is the HP iPAQ 110 Classic. This $300 PDA sports Windows Mobile 6.0 "Classic" and comes packed with a 624MHz processor, 64MB of RAM, 256MB of Flash, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, a touch screen, and a SDIO card slot.

Want a little more horse power?

HP is also still selling he iPAQ 210 Enterprise Handheld for a mer $400. The 21o comes with 126MB of RAM, 256MB of Flash, 1 CFHC and 1 SDHC card slots, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi with WPA2 security.

Go ahead, get your PDA geek on over at the HP online store.

Adobe: Flash Player Beta for Palm webOS Later This Year

2009-11-17T12:58:00.006-05:00

PreCentral has some good news for Flash Player junkies: Adobe will have a beta release of their mobile player out this year!

“A prerelease version of Flash Player 10.1 is now available for Windows, Macintosh and Linux operating systems. A beta is expected to be available for Palm webOS later this year.”

Check out PreCentral.net for the full article...

[Via PreCentral.net...]

BlackBerry Curve 8520 Coming to AT&T

2009-11-16T22:48:00.000-05:00

Earlier today, AT&T jumped on the BlackBerry Curve 8500-series bandwagon by announcing that the Curve 8520 was heading to AT&T's network "in the coming weeks" for $99.99 with a new or qualifying 2-year service agreement.

AT&T announced today it will introduce the best value in its BlackBerry smartphone portfolio with the addition of the BlackBerry®Curve™ 8520 from Research In Motion.

The BlackBerry Curve 8520 is a stylish, easy-to-use, compact smartphone offering the best value for consumer and business customers looking for BlackBerry service. The smartphone features a full QWERTY keyboard and touch-sensitive trackpad for easy typing and navigation, built-in Wi-Fi® and an advanced media player, plus dedicated media keys, smoothly integrated along the top of the handset, for a convenient way to control music and videos. The handset also provides global connectivity via phone, email, text, IM, picture messaging and social networking, with Facebook®and My Space applications preloaded.

The sleek, new device houses a high-resolution 320x240 display a 512 MHz processor, 256 MB of Flash memory, and a 2 megapixel camera equipped with video recording.

“AT&T was the first choice for BlackBerry in the U.S. and we continue to expand our offering of BlackBerry products to suit the different needs of business and personal users,” said Michael Woodward, vice president, Mobile Phone Portfolio, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. “The BlackBerry Curve 8520 offers the best value by combining the essential features of a BlackBerry smartphone with access to AT&T’s network, which includes best coverage worldwide, as well as the nation’s largest Wi-Fi network.”

AT&T users of the new BlackBerry Curve 8520 can enjoy access to the nation’s largest Wi-Fi network with more than 20,000 U.S. hotspots — including approximately 7,000 Starbucks locations. As with all other Wi-Fi enabled BlackBerry smartphones from AT&T, BlackBerry Curve 8520 users with a qualifying data plan, which includes all consumer BlackBerry unlimited data plans, get seamless and unlimited access to these domestic hotspots at no additional cost. When traveling outside the U.S., BlackBerry Curve 8520 users can enjoy the best coverage worldwide with wireless voice coverage in more than 215 countries and wireless data coverage in more than 185 countries.

Mobile users will enjoy great battery life, simultaneous voice and data capabilities when using Wi-Fi, and the ability to access up to 10 corporate and personal email accounts whether they are corporate or personal accounts. The BlackBerry Curve 8520 also affords users the ability to edit Microsoft® Word, Excel® and PowerPoint® files with DataViz®Documents to Go®suite.

"The new BlackBerry Curve 8520 is a great choice for first-time smartphone users and offers easy-to-use messaging, social networking and multimedia features with a full-QWERTY keyboard that makes typing fast and comfortable," said Carlo Chiarello, vice president, product management, Research In Motion.

The BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone will be available in the coming weeks for $99.99 after mail-in rebate. (Pay $199.99 and receive $100 AT&T Promotion Card. 2-year agreement on a min. $69.99 plan required.) AT&T smartphones require the purchase of a monthly data plan. Other monthly charges apply.

For more information, visit the AT&T website.

Rumor: Multiple Versions of the Apple "iTablet" On Tap

2009-11-16T21:27:00.002-05:00

AppleInsider has a new article up today talking about a new round of what I'm calling "iTablet silly season." According to AppleInsider, a number of tech stock analysts have received new information about Apple's unconfirmed tablet computer that is suppose to hit store shelves before the end of Q1, 2010.

"In a roundup of speculation on the still-unannounced device, CNNMoney.com spoke with a number of analysts about the forthcoming tablet, set to debut in the first quarter of 2010. Most analysts heaped praise on the mythical device, predicting that it will take on a number of markets and eliminate the need for numerous devices.

One analyst, Laura DiDio with ITIC, reportedly provided supposed specifics on the hardware. She said the device will sport a "high-end graphics card" that will offer picture at a "stunning resolution" greater than the iPhone and iPod touch. She also stated that the device will come in "several different models," suggesting that a 3G-enabled version would be tied to a contract with a wireless carrier such as AT&T."

You can read the full article on the AppleInsider website...

[Via AppleInsider.com]

Syncing Yahoo! Accounts With Palm Synergy

2009-11-15T22:28:00.007-05:00

Over the weekend, Palm released the Palm webOS 1.3.1 update for the Palm Pre and also launched the Palm Pixi on Sprint's wireless network.

One of the new features of Palm webOS is the ability to sync your Yahoo! account with Synergy, Palm's wireless technology for collecting all of your contact, calendar, and email data and displaying it to you in a single, synchronized place that fits in your pocket.

I wanted to test out the new Yahoo! Synergy sync on my Palm Pre with webOS 1.3.1 installed. My first attempt didn't go so well because I was trying to log in to my Yahoo! account with the wrong password. My second attempt didn't work either, even after I confirmed that I had the correct password. I kept getting a message popping up on my Pre that my account password was incorrect. What gives?

Turns out that before you can use Synergy to sync with your Yahoo! account, you need to do two things first:

1. Upgrade your Palm Pre or Palm Pixi to webOS 1.3.1 if you don't already have it installed
2. Upgrade your Yahoo! calendar to their new beta Calendar

You can upgrade the operating system on your Pre or Pixi by using the Updates application on your smart(er)phone. To upgrade your Yahoo! Calendar, you need to access an upgrade page on the the Yahoo! website. (I was already logged into my Yahoo! account before I went to the Calendar switch website.)

After you have upgraded your Yahoo! Calendar, you should be all set to add your Yahoo! email account to the Pre or Pixi Email application. Once the Synergy connection has been established, webOS will begin to sync your Yahoo! email, contacts, and calendar. Additionally, afterSynergy has done its thing, you will be able to access your Yahoo! instant messaging account from Messaging application.

If you want to learn more about how Palm webOS Synergy works, you can read more on the Palm support website.

Facebook for webOS Released, Updated for iPhone

2009-11-14T20:55:00.004-05:00

This has turned out to be a Facebook-tastic weekend! Earlier today, Facebook 1.0.0 for Palm webOS was released for the Pre and Pixi smartphones.

The new Facebook client, written by Palm, became available from Palm's App Catalog today and requires that Pre and Pixi customers upgrade their phones to webOS 1.3.1 or later before it can be installed. The Palm webOS 1.3.1 update was made available to Pre customers on Sprint and Bell Canada yesterday; and should be available in the next few days for customers who purchase the new Palm Pixi smartphone starting tomorrow.

And Apple iPhone and iPod touch customers also got a little Facebook love this week with a minor bump to Facebook version 3.03 which includes bug fixes and adds Japanese and Chinese localizations. The update is available via iTunes App Store (iTunes link) from a Mac or PC. If you have the app installed on your iPhone or iPod touch, you can download and install the update over the air (OTA) using the App Store application on your device.

Sprint, Bell Pre Customers Get Palm WebOS 1.3.1 Update

2009-11-14T14:14:00.005-05:00

On Friday evening, Palm released the Palm webOS 1.3.1 update for Sprint and Bell Canada Pre customers. The update arrives a few days earlier than expected. How every cool! Yahoo! users will be happy to learn that webOS 1.3.1 brings Synergy support for Yahoo! calendar and email.

Palm webOS 1.3.1 has the follow nuggets of goodness baked in:

Backup

Backup now includes browser cookies
Backup no longer saves online account passwords

Calendar

Yahoo! now appears as a Calendar synchronization account. Open Calendar > application menu > Preferences & Accounts > Add An Account > Yahoo!
All-day events that span more than one day now appear correctly in all Calendar views.
If you create a Google calendar event on the phone and the event location contains an apostrophe, the event now correctly synchronizes with Google online.

Camera

After taking a picture, if you tap the picture thumbnail in the lower-left corner of the camera screen, the picture now opens in full-screen view, not Thumbnails view. Making the back gesture returns you to the camera.

Contacts

Yahoo! now appears as a Contacts synchronization account. You can download contacts from Yahoo! online to the phone by opening Contacts > application menu > Preferences & Accounts > Add An Account > Yahoo!
Automatic contact linking based on name matches occurs only if the first and last name fields are populated with the same names. If either field is blank, the Contacts app no longer links the contacts. In addition, the Contacts app no longer automatically links contacts with the same name but with different suffixes (such as Jr. and Sr.).
If you set up Contacts to synchronize with a Google account, the account synchronizes only entries in Google's My Contacts, not all contacts.

Device Info

If you copy a music file to the phone and then delete it, Device Info now shows the correct amount of available memory after the deletion.

Forwarded and replied-to messages include improved formatting, such as the original sender's email address in forwarded messages and correct inline image display in replies.
The list of mail types available in manual setup now includes Google Apps (Hosted Google Domains) and Yahoo! Small Business Domain email accounts. Selecting one of these types automatically enters the correct settings for these accounts.

Messaging

Yahoo! IM is available as an instant messaging account.
You can select a unique ringtone for new message alerts: Open Messaging > application menu > Preferences & Accounts > Sound > Ringtone.
You can forward a text or multimedia message by tapping the message > Forward.
You can copy the text of a text or multimedia message by tapping the message > Copy Text.

Phone

If the you are on a call, calendar notifications no longer partially cover the End Call icon.

Screen & Lock

A new Secure Unlock preference allows you to set the time interval the phone is idle before the phone locks, requiring you to enter the PIN/password to unlock the phone. This can be the same as or different from the interval after which the screen turns off. To set the preference: Open Screen & Lock > Lock After.

Web

Backup now includes browser cookies, so that after a restart, for example, if you stored your username and password on a web-based email site, you can continue to access the site without needing to log in.
If you tap to play a YouTube video embedded on a web page, the YouTube application launches and the video plays in the app.

There are some other interesting changes in the Palm webOS operating system. The first is that you can now press and hold the Orange key and tap an application icon to pull up information about the application. Pressing and holding down the Power button now gives you more control over what the device does: turn Airplane mode on or off or Restart or Shutdown/Swap Battery.

To read the complete list of feature updates included in Palm webOS 1.3.1, visit the Palm website. The 1.3.1 update is reported to become available for Europen GSM Pre customers by the end of November.

Is the Time Right for a Palm webOS Foleo?

2009-11-02T00:21:00.002-05:00

I've been thinking a lot about Palm's discontinued Foleo mobile companion lately. It was two years ago, this past September, that Palm chose to discontinue the Foleo so that the company could focus their energy on the development of the Palm Pre and their new mobile operating system, Palm webOS. Looking forward, one has to wonder whether or not Palm will go back and redesign the Foleo for use with Palm webOS.

The Foleo was conceived by Jeff Hawkins, the father of the Palm Pilot. The Foleo was to be a "mobile companion" for Palm's Treo line of smartphones; specifically the Windows Mobile Treo 750 and the Palm OS Treo 755p. Palm had signaled that the Foleo could be opened up to support other smartphones, including the BlackBerry, at some later date after it's initial release. Unlike the Treo smartphones it was designed to work with, the Foleo was to run a completely new OS, simply called Foleo OS; meaning that Palm and their third-party developers would have to support three discrete mobile operating systems (Palm OS, Windows Mobile, Foleo OS). As you might have guessed, for such a small company, developing and maintaining three operating systems is not a position you would want to be in.

With the Foleo practically ancient history in the mobile computing field, why bring it up now? The answer is because Palm has made some changes to their mobile operating system line up. Palm has stated that they will no longer be releasing devices running Palm OS or Microsoft's Windows Mobile. That leaves Palm with only their latest software platform, Palm webOS, to be used with new products. Since Palm webOS is based on a Linux kernel, and uses web technologies for displaying the user interface, Palm's new platform could be used to drive a number of devices; not just smartphones.

From the beginning, I always thought that the Foleo's hardware was solid and well though out. I had a chance to play with the Foleo during one of Palm's sneak peek events. The hardware felt sturdy and up to to the challenges of day-to-day bumps and knocks. The Foleo had a bright 10-inch screen and a full size keyboard that I was able to touch type on. It also featured flash memory storage and a SDHC card slot for memory expansion. USB, video, and audio out ports rounded out the hardware. Comparing it to an Acer Eee PC or a Dell Mini 9, the Foleo's hardware just felt better. (To be fair, the Foleo was to be almost twice as expensive than the Eee PC. Cost drives the quality of build materials. Cost vs. function is one of the main reasons why Apple choses to not release a Mac OS X netbook.)

So that brings us back to software. In 2007, Foleo OS didn't make sense for a small company trying to contain their software development and support costs. In 2009, Palm has decided to focus their efforts around Palm webOS. A Palm netbook, powered by webOS, which has the ability to synchronize data and applications with Palm's other webOS devices, the Pre and Pixi smartphones, could be a much more powerful device than the original Foleo.

In conclusion, a new Palm Foleo would have several advantages to it. First is that it would run the same mobile operating system as Palm's smartphones. This would benefit both Palm and third-party developers since there would only be the one OS to write applications for. Secondly, in my opinion, the original Foleo hardware was well designed, and with some tweaks to the processor, memory, and video systems, would be up to the tasks expected of any of today’s netbooks. Lastly, the new management team at Palm is much better at product execution than the management team that was leading the company in 2007.

How about it Foleo Fanatics? With all the changes that have taken place at Palm since the fall of 2007, does it make sense for Palm to take another look at the Foleo? Leave your comments below.

Mobile Apps 360: BlueSwitch Solitaire Alley

2009-10-29T18:53:00.004-04:00

Mobile Apps 360 takes a look at great mobile software for your iPhone, iPod touch, BlackBerry, Palm webOS and Windows Mobile smartphones that will help keep your favorite mobile gear fresh with new software.

I just purchased a copy of BlueSwitch Solitaire Alley for my Palm Pre. Solitaire Alley is a basic no frills solitaire card game written for Palm webOS. To move cards around, you tap on the card or card stack you want to move and then tap on the pile you want to move to.

Solitaire Alley is available now from the Palm App Catalog for $0.99.

Motorola Droid Hits Verizon on November 6

2009-10-28T21:07:00.003-04:00

High-speed Web browsing, voice-activated search, customizable large screen, access to thousands of Android applications and hundreds of widgets and the best 3G mobile network in the country: DROID by Motorola arrives on Nov. 6.

Verizon Wireless, the company with the nation’s largest wireless 3G broadband network, and Motorola, a pioneer in the mobile industry, today unveiled DROID by Motorola, the first smartphone powered by Android™ 2.0. DROID by Motorola features the brainpower and breakneck speed of a modern smartphone, designed to outperform where other smartphones fall short.

“We’re proud to work with Verizon Wireless and Google™ on the first smartphone to feature Android 2.0,” said Sanjay Jha, co-chief executive officer of Motorola and chief executive officer of Motorola Mobile Devices. “DROID by Motorola delivers a rich consumer experience with warp-speed Web browsing, a mammoth screen, and Motorola’s expertise in design and voice quality. Combined with Android’s open, flexible graphical user interface and the power of Verizon Wireless’ 3G network, DROID is a smartphone that simply doesn’t compromise.”

“This is an exciting announcement for Verizon Wireless, as the DROID by Motorola is the first device that we are bringing to market under our ground-breaking strategic partnership with Google,” said John Stratton, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Verizon Wireless. “DROID by Motorola gives customers a lifestyle device with access to more than 12,000 applications that will help them stay in touch, up to date and entertained, using the best 3G network in the country.”

Pricing and Availability

DROID by Motorola will be available in the United States exclusively at Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online on Friday, Nov. 6, for $199.99 with a new two-year customer agreement after a $100 mail-in rebate.
To get the most from DROID by Motorola smartphone, customers will need to subscribe to a Nationwide voice plan and an Email and Web for Smartphone plan. Nationwide voice plans begin at $39.99 for monthly access for 450 minutes and an Email and Web for Smartphone plan is $29.99 for monthly access.

You can read the full press release on the Verizon Wireless website.

Documents To Go Premium for BlackBerry Released

2009-10-27T05:39:00.000-04:00

DataViz has announced the availability of Documents To Go® Premium Edition version 2.0 for BlackBerry® smartphones. Included in this latest version is an easy to use desktop application with support for bi-directional file synchronization, a robust update to PDF To Go®, support for password-protected Microsoft® Office 2007 files, and a new file browser for accessing and managing documents.

New Version 2.0 Features

Desktop Application with Bi-Directional File Synchronization Version 2.0 now includes a desktop application that provides Windows customers with the ability to easily transfer files from their computer to their BlackBerry smartphone via USB cable. With this application, users can select individual files or entire folders to synchronize and all updates made on either the computer or the smartphone will be automatically transferred to the other location. This eliminates the need to manually manage files and ensures that documents are always up-to-date. Throughout this process, all original file formatting will be maintained thanks to DataViz’s acclaimed InTact Technology™.

“The introduction of desktop file synchronization is the direct result of the very high number of customer requests we received for this feature,” said Kathleen McAneany, Business Manager, DataViz, Inc. “We believe that providing an easy way for users to transfer their important and frequently used files to and from their BlackBerry smartphones will increase the overall usage of Documents To Go and add greater value to our Premium Edition offer which already includes an extensive list of advanced features such as creating new files, spell check, advanced formatting and much more.”

Enhanced PDF To Go

Offered as a free bonus application for customers who purchase the Premium Edition, PDF To Go provides high-fidelity viewing of native Adobe® PDF files and attachments without any desktop or server conversion needed. With this new version customers will be able to take advantage of many new features including: find and copy text, save as, send file via email, bookmarks and more!

New ‘Documents To Go Files’ Application

A new application called ‘Documents To Go Files’ is also included with this Premium Edition upgrade. This file browser for BlackBerry smartphones provides customers with one centralized location where they can conveniently access and manage (delete, rename, copy and paste) all of their Microsoft Word, Excel®, PowerPoint®, Adobe PDF, and image files without having to navigate between programs.

Pricing and Availability

Documents To Go Premium Edition retails for $69.99 and is available to all BlackBerry smartphone users running Device Software 4.5 or higher, including those that received Documents To Go Standard Edition pre-installed on devices such as the BlackBerry Tour™ 9630, Curve™ 8900, Storm™ 9500/9530 , Bold™ 9000 as well as the upcoming Bold 9700 and Storm2™ 9550. Current Documents To Go Premium Edition customers can upgrade to version 2.0 for $29.99. This offer applies to all customers who own Premium Edition for BlackBerry, Palm OS®, Windows Mobile®, or Symbian OS™. Documents To Go Premium Edition is currently available in English. Support for French, German, Italian and Spanish will be available in the coming weeks. Additional language support will be available later this year. Volume licensing is available for 5 or more users with discounts starting at 10 users.

For more information, visit the DataViz website.

Palm Pixi Sprint Launch Date Announced

2009-10-26T20:00:00.001-04:00

Earlier today, Palm announced that their next webOS smartphone, the Palm Pixi, will go on sale at Sprint on November 15, 2009.

In a brief email to customers, Palm wrote:

"The new Palm® Pixi™ phone on the Palm webOS™ platform will be available November 15th, starting at $99.99 (after rebate and service agreement) exclusively on the Sprint network.1 Palm Pixi. Designed to communicate on your terms. Instantly. Intuitively. Personally."

The Sprint edition of the Palm Pixi will cost just $99.99 with a two-year service agreement, after a $50 instant rebate and $100 mail-in rebate. The Pixi will be available at Sprint stores, online at www.sprint.com, through telesales at 1-800-SPRINT1, and at Best Buy, RadioShack and select Wal-Mart stores.

“We are excited to offer the new Palm Pixi to our customers in time for the holiday season, and it’s a great addition to Sprint’s industry-leading device portfolio,” said Kevin Packingham, senior vice president – Product Development, Sprint. “Simply put, this phone is fun and easy to use; with its multi-touch screen and full QWERTY keyboard, it’s a great device for messaging and social networking at a price everyone can enjoy, and delivers so many of the great features people love about Palm Pre™ in a fantastic new form factor, making it a huge hit for consumers.”

Key Features

Palm webOS brings together the user’s most important information from their phone, at work or on the Web into one logical view. In addition to linking information from Google™, Facebook®, Microsoft® Exchange ActiveSync® and LinkedIn®, Palm Pixi adds Yahoo!® integration to Palm Synergy™3. Palm Synergy offers:

Linked contacts – A single view that links contacts from a variety of sources, so accessing them is easier than ever.
Layered calendars – Calendars can be seen on their own or layered together in a single view, combining work, family, friends, sports teams or other interests, and the user can toggle to look at one calendar at a time, or see them all at a glance.
Combined messaging – See all the conversations with the same person in a chat-style view, including MMS, even if it started in IM and switched to reply with text messaging.

To learn more about the Palm Pixi, please visit the Palm website.

BlackBerry Storm 2 Coming to Verizon

2009-10-26T18:36:00.004-04:00

Verizon Wireless today, along with Research In Motion, has started sending out emails to customers letting them know that the new BlackBerry Storm 2 will be going on sale at retail location, online, and through Verizon business sales channels on Wednesday, October 28, 2009. Starting today, BlackBerry Storm customers will be able to upgrade their handsets to BlackBerry OS 5.0 over the air, via the BlackBerry Desktop Manager, or as a download from the Verizon Wireless website.

The BlackBerry Storm2 with BlackBerry® OS 5.0 evolves the BlackBerry® touchscreen platform with hundreds of hardware and software enhancements – including new SurePress™ “clickable” display technology and built-in Wi-Fi® – delivering the exceptional multimedia experience and communications capabilities customers have come to expect from their BlackBerry smartphones.

Key Features:

Smooth design and premium finish with sloped edges, chrome accents, glass lens and stainless steel backplate
Large (3.25”), dazzling high-resolution 480 x 360 display
Capacitive touchscreen with integrated functions (Send, End, Menu, Escape) and new SurePress technology that makes clicking the display practically effortless
3G and global connectivity support for making phone calls in more than 220 countries and accessing data in more than 185 countries (with more than 80 destinations in 3G)
Network Connectivity: EV-DO Revision A; UMTS/HSPA (2100 MHz); and quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM networks
Supports Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g)
256 MB of Flash memory
2 GB of onboard media storage and a microSD™/SDHD memory card slot with a 16 GB card included

Pricing and Availability

The BlackBerry Storm2 smartphone is available beginning Oct. 28 for $179.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement on a voice plan with an Email and Web feature or an Email and Web for BlackBerry plan. Customers will receive the mail-in rebate in the form of a debit card. plans for the BlackBerry Storm2 smartphone begin at $29.99 when added to any Nationwide voice plan. Existing BlackBerry Storm customers will be able to update their handsets to the new BlackBerry OS 5.0 software via Web software load (www.blackberry.com/update), BlackBerry Desktop Manager, or from Verizon Wireless’ download site (www.verizonwireless.com/storm). The software update is available today.

You can read the full press release on the Verizon Wireless website.

Windows 7 and Windows Mobile Device Center

2009-10-26T13:50:00.000-04:00

You have read the hype about Microsoft's newest desktop operating system, Windows 7. You are getting ready to purchase or install the upgrade on your PC. But what about support for your Windows Mobile smartphone or PDA?

Microsoft has you covered. As with Windows Vista, Windows 7 users will need to download and install Windows Mobile Device Center 6.1 (WMDC). WMDC is a free download from the Microsoft website.

On the WMDC download page, Microsoft has some notes that you will want to be aware of before you get started.

You can use Windows Mobile Device Center 6.1 only with phones running Windows Mobile 2003 or later.
ActiveSync and Windows Mobile Device Center won’t work with Windows Embedded CE 4.2 or 5.0, Pocket PC 2002, or Smartphone 2002 devices.
To sync content to any of these devices, you must use a USB or serial cable and your computer’s Internet connection and File Explorer.
You must use Microsoft Outlook 2002, Outlook 2003, or Office Outlook 2007 to sync your e-mail, contacts, tasks, and notes from your computer.
You must use a USB cable to connect your phone to your computer the first time you use Windows Mobile Device Center to sync.

I've also seen some people mention on Microsoft Windows forums that if you have a partnership between your Windows Mobile phone and your Windows XP or Vista system that you should break the partnership before upgrading to Windows 7. Once the installation or upgrade has been completed, then install WMDC 6.1 and then pair up your phone to your PC.

To learn more about the Windows Mobile Device Center, visit the Microsoft website.

Palm webOS Tip: Restart to Correct Radio Issues

2009-10-26T05:29:00.001-04:00

On a recent Friday morning, I noticed that one of my Google Calendars, the one that I use to sync my work schedule with, was not syncing with Synergy on my Palm Pre smartphone. My Google calendar was up to date because I was looking at. But when I glanced over to my Pre, the calendar hadn't updated.

The Calendar application in Palm webOS can be synchronized at any time, regardless of the schedule you have setup, by taping the "Sync Now" button. (Calendar > Preferences & Accounts > Sync Now) In most cases, the on demand sync will catch up any changes that have not yet been synchronized. I had tried the Sync Now command without much success.

Rather than continuing to tap Sync Now the for the rest of the day, I decided to restart my Pre. Unlike previous Palm smartphones and PDAs, there is a specific procedure for restarting your Palm webOS phone.

To restart your phone, launch the Device Info application. It is found on the last (right most) page of the Palm application launcher. Scroll down to the bottom of the page, and tap the "Reset Options" button, and then tap the "Restart" button. When you restart your phone in this way, you are assured that the Linux operating system that Palm webOS is built on is restarted correctly and that there is no chance for file corruption to occur.

Thankfully, by the time I walked down the hall to the room where my first meeting was going to by, my Pre has rebooted and Synergy had updated my Calendar.

The restart option should be part of your troubleshooting steps. I've also used the Device Info Restart option to correct Wi-Fi and cellular communication issues. Restarting is a quick and easy way to get things working again on your smartphone.

SplashID 5.1 for iPhone OS Review

2009-10-25T10:50:00.003-04:00

SplashData’s SplashID is an application that enabled you to securely record usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, and other sensitive information in an encrypted database. SplashID works on the iPhone and iPod touch (OS 2.1 required, OS 3.0 is supported).

SplashID can be used as a standalone application on your iPhone or iPod touch (collectively referred to as an iPhone from here). You will, however, find SplashID becomes much more effective when you also purchase the desktop version of SplashID for Mac OS X or Windows machines.

SplashID on Your iPhone

When you launch SplashID on your iPhone for the first time, the Quick Start Guide is run. I really like this approach because it gives new users to a good overview of the application and what it can do without making the user read the 16 page user guide (unless they really want to). Sample records provided by SplashData help reinforce the concepts presented in the quick start guide. After spending a few minutes playing with the sample records for a few minutes, most people will probably delete them.

The List View screen, the default view for SplashID, has a pair of toolbars that you will want to familiarize yourself with it. Along the top of the screen, SplashData gives you a toolbar to manage your data: Search, filter by categories, and filter by record category. Along the bottom of the screen, are buttons for configuring SplashID, locking the application, and synchronizing the your iPhone with your computer over a Wi-Fi network.

I found that when I entered a small amount of records into SplashID, flicking my way down the list of records was OK. Later on, as I continued to use SplashID and add more records, I found that searching was a lot faster at finding my data.

When you tap on a record in List View, the data for that record will be displayed on the Record Info screen. By default, SplashID will display the data for your record with the contents of the Password field blocked out with star icons. SplashID also allows you to selectively turn on field content blocking, referred to as masking, for each of the other record detail fields. You would use this feature if you wanted to block out not only the contents of the Password field, but also the contents of the Username or any other field in the record. Tap a masked field to view it contents; tap the field again to mask it again.

Along side field masking in the Record Info screen, SplashID also allows you to apply your own custom field labels and password generation - a really nice feature if you work with a system the requires you to frequently generate secure passwords.

If you chose to purchase a copy of the SplashID desktop application, you will gain the ability to sync your iPhone with your PC. To synchronize your iPhone with SplashID on your computer, you must connect the machine to the same Wi-Fi network that your iPhone is connected to. Then you will be able to start up SlashID on the computer and the iPhone, pair them up, and then perform the sync. The pairing process only takes a few minutes to setup and the data synchronization is zippy. (There is no option to sync your iPhone to your computer with the iPhone data cable.)

Pricing and Availability

SplashID 5.1 for iPhone and iPod touch is available now for $9.99 from the Apple iTunes App Store. SplashID Desktop 5.1, $19.95, is available for direct purchase from the SplashData online store.

In addition to the iPhone edition of SplashID, SplashData also has versions available for BlackBerry, Palm OS, Windows Mobile, and Android smartphones. A version of SplashID is planned for Palm webOS with a free beta version available from the Palm App Catalog. There is also a corporate and government edition of SplashID available. For more information, visit the SplashData website.

[Photo courtesy of MobileAppleMe.net...]

Retail Editions of Windows 7 Go On Sale Today

2009-10-22T12:28:00.005-04:00

While the final version of Windows 7 has been available to select Microsoft customers and TechNet subscribers for some time now, October 22, 2009 will be remembered as the day that Windows Vista was finally replaced.

Starting today, Microsoft has started selling four of the six editions of Windows 7 online and at retail locations. (Windows 7 Starter edition and Windows 7 Enterprise edition are required to be purchased under special conditions that we wouldn't normally have access to. Think netbooks and large corporate account holders.)

So what does that mean for smartphone users? Probably not much. Microsoft has worked hard to ensure that any software package that works on Windows Vista will also work on Windows 7. I've been using Windows 7 Ultimate and Enterprise editions for the last few months now and I haven't run into any serious show stoppers.

Palm Pre, Pixi - Palm webOS devices

Palm Pre customers (and Palm Pixi customers shortly) won't have any sync problems out of the box because Palm webOS, unlike Palm OS, does not sync directly with a desktop computer. People using webOS phones and third-party sync solutions like Chapura PocketMirror for webOS and Chapura Echo will want to check for any updates that may be made available. At the time of this posting, I did not see any updates mentioned on Chapura's website.

Treo 755p, Centro, Palm OS Handhelds - Palm OS 5 Devices

Customers using Palm's older generation smartphones and PDA handhelds, including the Palm Treo 755p, Centro, and Palm TX handheld PDA, things can get a little bit sketchy. Most of the issues with Palm Desktop versions 4.x and 6.x will likely continue. You will still need to be a member of the Windows Administrators group to install the software and all manors of HotSync voodoo will likely be needed to perform successful HotSync operations. In my limited Palm Desktop 6.22 testing on my Windows 7 Ultimate machine, which was upgraded from Windows Vista Ultimate, I have been able to HotSync my Treo 755p. However, I will caution you that 3-5 HotSync operations is hardly conclusive.

Windows 7 also won't correct the USB driver issue. Neither Palm nor ACCESS (the company that owns the Palm OS 5 and Windows Palm Desktop source code) has released a 64-bit USB driver. In short, that means if you have a 64-bit edition of Windows XP/Vista/7, you can't sync your Palm OS 5 device with USB cable. You will need to turn to a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth solution to sync. I don't expect either company to release a 64-bit compatible Palm OS 5 driver at this late stage in the Palm OS life cycle since Palm OS 5 is no longer being used in new devices from Palm.

RIM BlackBerry Smartphones

I recently installed BlackBerry Device Manager 5.0 on my Windows 7 machine and was able to sync it with my BlackBerry Curve 8330. After installing Device Manager, I learned that there was an OS update for my Berry and I was able to apply the update without issue. The BlackBerry USB mass storage mode also worked without a hitch.

Windows Mobile 5, 6, 6.5

There really isn't much to report here. Microsoft's latest desktop software is expected to sync with their mobile operating systems. While I haven't tried to sync my Treo 750 (Windows Mobile Professional 6.0) with my Windows 7 machine yet, it did sync (mostly) error free with Windows Vista.

What about everything else?

While I don't have an Apple iPhone or Google Android phone, I am not anticipating any serious problems. The iPhones and the iPod touch sync with Apple's iTunes software, which is still listed as being compatible with Windows XP and Windows Vista should work fine under Windows 7. If an issue does come up, I'd expect Apple to have a fix out shortly since there are so many people walking around with both devices at this point.

You can learn more about the various Windows 7 editions on the Microsoft website.

Palm Pre Launch Event in Spain

2009-10-20T15:07:00.000-04:00

You are kidding, right? I'm happy to hear that Palm fans in Spain can now get their hands on the Palm Pre smartphone, but, I don't know, I think the "Ladies in Black" is a bit over the top.

You can check out this, and other photos from the Palm Pre Spain launch event over at the Palm blog.

PreCentral: It's Time To Fix Calendar

2009-10-20T12:47:00.002-04:00

Derek Kessler, over at PreCentral.net, has a good article posted about the improvements he would like to see Palm add to the webOS Calendar application.

The first issue that should be addressed, according to the article, should be the performance of the Calendar application. Mr. Kessler writes:

"What do I mean by too slow? When I swipe to a new day, it can take seconds for the gray loading overlay to disappear. That wouldn’t be so bad if I could still swipe to another day, but I have to wait for that day to load before I can move to the next. When I move to a day that has several events scheduled it takes even longer to load, which leads me to suspect that the calendar is checking for changes of for each event before letting me interact with or move on from that day."

Another issue that is tabled in the article is that the Palm webOS Calendar should have feature parity with Palm OS 5 that is still used today in millions of Palm handheld devices as well as in Treo and Centro smartphones. The Palm OS 5 Calendar application has features such as pop-up description windows when you tap an event in week view and the agenda view. Summerizing the missing features between the Calendar application in Palm OS 5 and webOS 1.2.1, Mr. Kessler writes: "There is little reason for the webOS calendar to lose functionality from the aged Palm OS calendar."

I agree. I was surprised that once I got home from my local Sprint store, after having waited in line for hours to be the first one to get a Pre, to learn that Palm's flagship smartphone, in certain applications, had less features than my Treo 755p! Now I'm a little bit more tolerant of the missing features since the Pre is running a version 1.x operating system. The good news is that Palm has been repsonsive, much more so than in the past, to correcting bugs and adding new features. Buy the time we get to webOS 1.5, and certainly by 2.0, I would expect that Palm would have added many of the PIM application refinements to webOS.

You can read the full article on PreCentral.net...

[Via PreCentral.net]

Acceleroto Air Hockey - My First App Catalog Purchase

2009-10-19T21:30:00.000-04:00

I just purchased a copy of Acceleroto's Air Hockey for Palm webOS, which includes the Palm Pre and the upcoming Palm Pixi.

Before I tried to purchase anything from Palm's App Catalog, I chose to enter my credit card information by linking App Catalog with my Palm profile and then entering the card information. Once that was set up, I was ready to purchase my first application. You will be happy to learn that your credit card information is not actually stored on your webOS smartphone. It is stored on a secure server; just like your account information is stored in your Apple iTunes Store account. If you regularly purchase application on your iPhone or iPod touch, you will be at home with purchases from App Catalog on your Pre.

The purchase process was quick and easy and the game was installed on my phone without any trouble. Acceleroto Air Hockey can be purchased from the Palm App Catalog for $1.99. For more information, visit the Acceleroto blog.

Sprint BlackBerry OS 4.5.0.175 for Curve Released

2009-10-19T18:36:00.003-04:00

Over the weekend, I activated a second smartphone on my Sprint account, a BlackBerry Curve 8330. (For those keeping score, I was using a Curve 8330 as my primary phone between December, 2008 - June 6, 2009; the day that the Palm Pre was released.) While configuring BlackBerry Device Manager 5.0 on my PC, I noticed that there was an OS upgrade for my new Sprint BlackBerry.

Sprint customers who use the BlackBerry Curve 8330 can upgrade from BlackBerry OS 4.5.0.131 to BlackBerry 4.5.0.175. As far as I can tell, the .175 build of BlackBerry OS 4.5 is largely a maintenance release as all of the BlackBerry applications in the package build are still listed as version 4.5.

Facebook for BlackBerry Updated

2009-10-18T18:40:00.007-04:00

In case you missed it, the native Facebook client for BlackBerry smartphones was upgraded to version 1.7 over the weekend. Facebook v1.7 is now available for download as a download from BlackBerry App World or via the Check for Upgrade option found in the Facebook application (BlackBerry key > Options).

Facebook v1.7 for BlackBerry introduces the following new features:

News Feed Support - The ability to set the News Feed as the landing page
News Feed Filters - The ability to toggle between 'News Feed, Status Updates, Photos & Links'
Caching Improvements - The application uses the device memory more efficiently.
Feed Pre-fetching - The user will not be required to wait while their Facebook Feeds are updated
View Profile Menu Option - Clients may easily view their own profile by selecting 'View my Profile' from the menu. "

[Via Crackberry.com...]

NotifyLink Client for Palm webOS Released

2009-10-14T20:32:00.004-04:00

Earlier this week, NotifyCorp released a Palm webOS client for their onsite and hosted NotifyLink wireless email server.

"Notify Technology is proud to announce support for the Palm PreTM using either the NotifyLink On-Premise or On-Demand solutions. Corporate IT wants an effective way to provide their increasingly mobile workforce secure wireless access and management of their email, calendar, contacts and tasks. Most organizations and businesses are seeking a mobility solution that will offer them support for their Palm Pre wireless device on cellular and voice data networks (at this time only on the Sprint and Bell Canada networks) and any 802.11x wireless network.

The NotifyLink On-Premise and On-Demand mobility solution provides secure, real-time synchronization of email, calendar, contacts and tasks to and from the Palm Pre wireless device. With NotifyLink, users have the ability to compose, reply, forward, or delete their email while mobile, as well as open a variety of email attachment formats. Support for accepting or declining meeting invitations and remote access to their Global Address Book is also provided."

NotifyLink is a perfect solution for small and medium sized businesses that want to bring wireless email support to their employees. I have been managing a 30 person onsite NotifyLink server for just about two years now and I have been really happy with NotifyLink. The software runs itself and NotifyLink has become a "set it and forget it" application.

If you are looking to add webOS support to your NotifyLink solution, be ready to upgrade to the latest release of the NotifyLink Enterprise Server as you will need to be on release 4.6 or later to be able to the Palm Pre into the mix.

For more details about the NotifyLink solution, visit the NotifyCorp website. NotifyCorp has also posted a NotfiyLink for Palm webOS datasheet on their site.

4.1 Billion Text Messages A Day

2009-10-12T21:30:00.000-04:00

Oh my God, people! Do we really need to send 4.1 billion (yes, that is billion with a "B") text messages a day?! Don't we have more important things we could be doing?

[Via All Things Digital: Digital Daily...]