Smartphone Thoughts - Daily News, Views, Rants and Raves

Saturday, May 17, 2008

AT&T to Offer 20Mbps Wireless Data By 2009

Posted by Rocco Augusto in "Smartphone Talk" @ 08:00 PM

http://www.mobileburn.com/news.jsp?Id=4628

"AT&T's Chief of Mobility, Ralph de la Vega, was recently quoted as saying that his company intends to offer data speeds of up to 20Mbps on its network by 2009. AT&T has previously committed to using the yet-to-be-standardized LTE technology for its next-generation 4G network. AT&T is currently testing an HSPA upgrade that will offer speeds up to 7.2Mbps, and already offers PC Cards that will support it. AT&T is in a unique position because these speed enhancements are merely software upgrades to existing equipment, and would require limited resources to deploy, as opposed to implementing an entirely new network."



Jumping from 7.2Mbps to 20Mbps is a significant bandwidth increase. In theory by the year 2009 my HSDPA enabled phone would be able to download whatever I wanted quicker than my current cable connection from Comcast. Hopefully with the increased data speeds AT&T will finally get around to releasing some video conferencing enabled devices, preferably of the Windows Mobile variety.

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Samsung Plans to add 3M Mini-Projector to New Handsets

Posted by Rocco Augusto in "Smartphone News" @ 01:45 PM

http://www.twincities.com/ci_924473...rce=most_viewed

"3M has been touting its mini-projectors for some time now (along with many others), but it looks like they're now finally a bit closer to landing in an actual product, with Samsung reportedly set to begin offering them later this year. What's not clear, unfortunately, is whether the projectors will actually be built into the cellphones (and if so, which ones), or simply offered as an attachment of some sort, but either way you can apparently expect to pay between $200 and $400 for the chance to spread a bit of visual pollution."


[Photo courtesy of Engadget]

Once again Samsung has shown us that they are on the top of their game as far as innovation goes. The idea of being able to project my handsets display is actually a neat concept. Something like this would be perfect in a meeting type situation, or even watching a movie on the go. I have to say, hats off to Samsung for once again thinking outside the box!

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• Source: Engadget Mobile

Our 31 Days of the Dragon Contest Closes Tonight

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Events" @ 12:54 PM

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Friday, May 16, 2008

Data From Hubble To Earth Cheaper Than Texting Your Friend

Posted by Ed Hansberry in "Thoughts Media Off Topic" @ 02:00 PM

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Elecont Pocket PC and Smartphone Manager

Posted by Nurhisham Hussein in "Pocket PC Software" @ 09:00 AM

http://software.pocketpcthoughts.co...cket-PC-manager

"Each of us collided with necessity to close the program for clearing memory for other programs or quickly switch between programs or see the started programs. Windows Mobile does not have convenient means which can help us with this. Elecont Pocket PC and Smartphone manager will give to you a fast and convenient way of management of your device. You can control your device only in two clicks -- open programs, close all except this or close all. In addition you'll always have the main indicators like overall memory usage and battery and memory usage for each program."



Yet another task manager? This one though is a little different - rather than just messing around with the close button, Elecont has elected to approach the problem by using a today/home screen plugin. I really like the idea of an exclusion list - if you had for example a program you want running all the time (Pocket Hack Master springs to mind), this is a life-saver. Another plus point is the app supports all versions of Windows Mobile from WM2003 to WM6.1. Elecont Manager is available for $9.99 through our affiliate links - click here for the Professional version, and here for the Standard version.

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Thursday, May 15, 2008

Winners of the SpaceTime 3.0 Contest

Posted by Darius Wey in "Pocket PC Events" @ 05:00 AM

http://www.spacetime.us/platforms.p...etpcthoughts484

For those of you who answered "1" in last week's SpaceTime 3.0 contest, congratulations on answering correctly! But an even bigger congratulations to the winners of the contest. If your username appears in the list below, expect a message in your forums inbox within the next 24 hours.

• All-platforms license: knightk
• Platform-specific license: maskology, jbtaylor

But the rest of you don't leave empty-handed. Thanks to the generosity of SpaceTime Mathematics, we have a discount code for you to save big on SpaceTime, especially the all-platforms version. Click for details.

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3 in 10 Get All or Most Calls on Cell Phones

Posted by Pete Paxton in "Smartphone News" @ 01:00 AM

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080514...BhfUcn11ghI2ocA

For nearly three in 10 households, don't even bother trying to call them on a landline phone. They either only have a cell phone or seldom if ever take calls on their traditional phone. The federal figures, released Wednesday, showed that reliance on cells is continuing to rise at the expense of wired telephones. In the second half of last year, 16 percent of households only had cell phones, while 13 percent also had landlines but got all or nearly all their calls on their cells.



I shouldn't be shocked by this. I knew this was happening but I didn't realize that three out of ten households perhaps don't even have a landline. We have both at my my place. We do use our landline but that's because I can't get reception in this little pocket neighborhood I live in. How about you? Has a cell phone replaced your landline all together? If not, why? If you do strictly use a cell phone, do you ever miss a landline or is mobile the way to go?

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Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Put Windows Live on Your Windows Mobile Phone

Posted by Rocco Augusto in "Smartphone News" @ 11:08 PM

http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/w...bile-phone.aspx

"Windows Live for Windows Mobile is now available to download for your Windows Mobile phone. Windows Live for Windows Mobile lets Windows Mobile users sync their email from Windows Live Hotmail as well as their Windows Live Contacts. Just download the .cab file for the version of Windows Mobile you are running (Standard or Professional). Windows Live for Windows Mobile works on phones running both Windows Mobile and Windows Mobile 6 (and 6.1)."



It seems like just yesterday we were reporting on the Beta version being available for download, huh? Well Windows Live is now available and ready for download in final version form. While Windows Live isn't exactly on my must have software list - mostly due to the incredibly annoying integration of my Exchange contacts with my Windows Live contacts - the program did serve to be pretty handy the few times that I did use it. According to Neowin and Windows Live Messenger has been removed as to not interfere with revenue that the carrier would normally make off SMS... which I find utterly ridiculous because the same argument could be made for email and Microsoft chose to leave Hotmail integration in with this software package. Oh well. You can download the latest version of Windows Live for Windows Mobile Smartphones and Pocket PCs here.

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• Source: Neowin.net

Fido Slashes Prices on Windows Mobile Smartphones

Posted by Rocco Augusto in "Smartphone News" @ 12:15 PM

http://www.mobilemag.com/content/100/340/C15287/

"I was flipping through my local newspaper today when I saw a full page ad for Fido. Even though the Windows Mobile smartphones from Fido haven't even been out for that long, the Canadian dog is quickly slashing prices on the devices. The Samsung JACK, for example, can now be snatched up for a mere $75. Contrast this to the original $225 asking price for the same device only a short while back... The Motorola Q9h got a price cut as well, but it's not as substantial. The Q9h started at $275. Soon after, it got slashed to $200. Now, you can get it for $150. Strangely, neither the $150 price for the Q9h nor the $75 price for the JACK are on the Fido official website. I wonder if it's a BC-only promotion."



Here is a little bit of good news for our Canadian readers. If you're looking for a new Windows Mobile Smartphone you can now pick up a Samsung JACK and Motorola Q9h from Fido, both at some seriously reduced prices. As mentioned above, this offer isn't available on Fido's official website and it may be a British Columbia only promotion. If any of our readers take advantage of this offer be sure to let us know!

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Microsoft Eyes 40% Share Of Mobile Device Market By 2012

Posted by Ed Hansberry in "Pocket PC News" @ 04:00 AM

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