Microsoft in the Pink…Redux

Rumors are flying yet again about an upcoming Microsoft project codenamed Pink. MS has now hired an ad agency for the project (McCann Erikson) who just happens to be the same ones that do the Zune campaigns. Seemingly on the strength of that connection alone the old Zune Phone rumors have started up again (Pink + Zune ads = Zune Phone? Yeah right.), even though half of Microsoft and Steve Ballmer himself have sworn upside down and backwards that Microsoft is not getting into the handset business.

Of course, there are many indications that a handset of some kind is still in Microsoft’s future. Why else purchase Danger, the creators of the Sidekick phones, unless you will have them design you a phone of some kind? While they may be there just to give a new look and feel to WinMo, their strength was always in intuitive physical design. Also, Mary Jo Foley at ZDNet is still quite convinced this is going to happen…of course she was quite convinced that a secret project named Pink was going to be a Microsoft phone and was about to be announced six months ago as well. However, she is seldom that wrong about Microsoft.

At the moment all we really know for sure is that MS hired an ad agency for a project they call Pink. That’s it. Not much to go on, but the rumor mill is spinning fast. It seems like the tech press is desperate for a Zune Phone, if for no other reason then to mock it compared to the iPhone. Go figger.

Microsoft is refusing to comment of course, but “We are NOT making a phone” has become Microsoft’s version of Apple’s “Steve is perfectly healthy, move along please” mantra. However, Steve was so healthy he now has a new liver…so maybe there is a Zune Phone coming after all, despite the mantra.

(Mock up Credit: SlashGear)

           

Archos 9 soon in USA

We may see the Archos 9 TabletPC in this Christmas list of many of us. According to a Press Release,  it will be sold in USA this fall.

The ARCHOS 9 features the new Z515 Intel® processor, Microsoft Windows 7® Operating system and an integrated multimedia platform that uses WiFi 802.11b/g connection and Bluetooth 2.1 for extremely fast computing anywhere, anytime.

This small Tablet PC has one of the most appealing designs that I have seen later.

           

More September Goodness

As Steve pointed out in a recent comment, there was a possibility that some Windows Mobile 6.5 devices could drop in September along with the Zune HD and a possible new iPod Touch…and he was right.

The Austrian government carrier, A1, will be releasing the Samsung Omnia 2 at the end of September, featuring a beautiful WVGA AMOLED touchscreen…with WinMo 6.5 baked right in. As far as anyone knows now, this will be the first released device to run Windows Mobile 6.5. No word yet if other European carriers will follow suit.

For German speakers, HERE is the press release.

(Source: WMPowerUser)

           

Got gdgt?

When Peter Rojas and Ryan Block left Engadget and Gizmodo a few months back, they said they were going to be collaborating on a new and exciting venture. That venture just went live and is called gdgt, a social networking site devoted to technogeeks and chipheads who are WAY too emotionally involved with their hi-tech toys and love to bore their friends by talking and sharing information about them…you know, for people like US.

Here is a little of what Ryan says about gdgt…

While the core concepts that drive the site — gadgets and community — will always stay the same, what we’re most excited about is the fact that we can use gdgt as the foundation for building tons of new features and tools for the gadget world. Stuff like the gadget finder — which lets you search for devices based on specs (finally!) — is only the start. We’re already working like crazy thinking up lots of new stuff to introduce over the coming months. And since we’re building this site for you, it goes without saying that the gdgt community has a direct say in what we’re working on. (Hit us up in gdgt feedback to tell us what you want from gdgt, or just what’s on your mind.)

So check out gdgt…in my opinion, this sounds like it is going to be a lot of fun and will be a valuable and unique addition and enhancement to your favorite gadget sites on the web…like MobilitySite.

Watch the intro video below and if you DO sign up for gdgt, drop a friend request to me..user name BardHaven.

 

           

SkyFire Software Update

A small upgrade has been made by the SkyFire team to their 1.0 release of the mobile browser this week. The most significant improvement of the browser, now at version 1.0.0.12113 for Windows Mobile touch and non-touch handsets with a newer version for our Symbian kindred, is a reduced memory footprint. For those of us with handsets that are showing their age via lack of capacity, the SkyFire team has streamlined their browser to eliminate those pesky low memory errors.

I’m also ecstatic over reconnections being more reliable! Even after browser runs in the background for a while, the moment I switch back to SkyFire it has reconnected to that same site instantly. It beats the beta version where the browser would return to the SkyFire homepage after an accidental disconnect.

The zoom buttons disappearing and reappearing in a timely fashion was never a stand-out issue for me, but I’m glad that the general 1.0 release fixed the navigation buttons hanging out in the top right corner even when they shouldn’t be. Plus, SkyFire is now more reliable in maintaining the all-haloed Default Browser spot on my handset. No more accidental sojourns with Pocket Internet Explorer. Sorry Microsoft.

Download the latest version of SkyFire here: http://get.skyfire.com

More information on the upgrade can be found at the SkyFire.com blog.

           

Oracle, the new king?

Oracle stock price is going up since May when Oracle announced that it bought Sun Microsystems, one of the biggest distributors and makers of Linux and the creator of Open Office the biggest competitor against Microsoft Office.

           

Waiting for September

September is already looking like a hot time in the gadget biz, with several major releases tipped to be happening in or around the beginning of autumn. This makes a lot of sense since most products hoping to make a splash in holiday shopping will want to be on shelves by October, which means a September release is very important. September is also the hot time for back to school/college buying, which always is a big time for notebooks, netbooks and MP3 players.

So, what’s on the agenda for the fall of 2009?

• The new Zune, the Zune HD, has been reliably rumored all over the place to be set for release on September 8th. The device, featuring a OLED multi-touchscreen, HD Radio and a Tegra chip for superior video quality, has a good chance to be a major hit with students looking for an all-in-one media machine for those long nights in the dorm room. If the price is right, this could be the first really big seller in Microsoft’s Zune line and solidify their Number 2 position behind the iPod in the MP3 market.
• The Second generation iPod Touch was released last September, so the rumors that the third generation will be released THIS September sound reasonable. On top of the history, I think that Apple will need to respond in some way to the Zune HD as well as to Touch users complaining they didn’t get any of the 3GS goodness. What new features will we see? No clue yet, beyond general speed and performance improvements in line with the iPhone 3GS specs. However, I would not be surprised if Apple didn’t go after the one glaring gap in the Zune HD feature set and added full Bluetooth A2DP to the iPod Touch allowing VoIP as well as wireless syncing, maybe skipping the wired earbuds in favor of a wireless Apple Bluetooth set..or perhaps activate FM transmitting. Whatever way they go, I am sure the leaks will begin mid summer.
  (Note: Eric noted to me below, quite accurately, that OS 3.0 DID activate the broadcom BT chip in the iPod Touch, but it is only for stereo, no two way with Bluetooth headsets)
• The Apple “netbook” rumors are still swirling this time saying that Apple will be releasing a “large form” iPod Touch in the early fall, featuring a 7 to 9 inch touchscreen. We do know that Apple has been buying up touchscreens in that size range all over Asia, and the fall would be the right time to roll out such a product. Of course, this is still relatively wild speculation, but I could easily see Cupertino turning out a premium PMP/Internet device, heavily integrated with the iPhone and MacBook Air to steal some Zune HD thunder (Steve, you bully). They would be going for college students and the same high end market that Sony touches with the Vaio P “Not a Netbook”. Such a product would be just the sort of thing Steve Jobs would love to use as a solid “I’m BBBAACKKKKKK” kind of statement.
• Phone wise, I am pretty sure the much hyped BlackBerry Storm 2 will be appearing in September, along with a whole slew of new Android phones. I would also not be surprised to see the next Palm WebOS device appear in the fall, and a number of the talked-about Snapdragon based “Smartbooks” from Samsung and other vendors.

Whichever way these rumors go, I am already saving up my gadget money for September. I have a feeling this is going to be a VERY interesting autumn for tech buyers.

           

Iris Mobile Browser v1.1.8: A Review

A big thank you to @gigajosh for the recommendation on NetFront mobile browser from Access Company because it’s how I found the Iris mobile browser by Torch Mobile. While I will review NetFront before the end of its beta phase, but for now, I’ll dive into Iris.

For an installation file larger than SkyFire 1.0, clocking in at 3.35 MB versus SkyFire’s 679 KB, Iris  v1.1.8 was a quick install on my AT&T Tilt running WinMo 6.1. After opening faster than any other mobile browser I’ve used, I was ecstatic to find out that the tabbed browsing in Iris is quick and responsive! Iris gives the user full control over tabs and doesn’t open tabs automatically in the background, thank goodness. There’s even an overall view of all currently open tabs where I was able to quickly flip back and forth between tabs much like the “Cover Flow” view in iTunes but on a much smaller scale. The browser history is displayed in the same way.

           

Windows 7 for just $49

Microsoft is offering the update to Windows 7 with a 50% off and free shipping! The whole list of 12 stores offerings this deal can be found here.

           

Synching Multiple Calendars with Windows Mobile

I have been trying different methods of synchronizing my Calendars for many years, and I have finally settled on a method that works for me and is pretty much maintenance free.  That method utilizes Google Calendar as my hub and a combination of Google Calendar Sync and an excellent program called gSyncit ($9.99).

Google Calendar supports multiple calendars and lets you publish/share them to other calendar tools like Outlook. Google Sync will synchronize your Outlook calendar to GMail, but it has limitations, and will only synchronize one calendar.  I use Google Calendar Sync to synchronize my work calendar with Google Calendar.  I renamed my main Google calendar to “Work”.  Using Google Calendar Sync on my work computer, I push my work Outlook calendar to Google Calendar.  I have my work Outlook look at my other Google calendars as Internet Calendars.

At home I use Outlook to get my calendar to my iPod and Windows Mobile phone.  Pocket Outlook only has one calendar and Activesync will only sync one calendar to Outlook.   gSyncit is a way to get around that limitation.

gSyncit will synchronize all your different Google calendars to your Outlook calendar.  It does this by using categories. Each Google calendar ends up as a different category.  My Work calendar ends up as category Work.  There are several options for configuring the sync process and controlling what gets synced where. It is easy to setup, so it is very easy to try out before buying.  It worked so well for me I only used it for ten minutes before deciding to pay the $9.99.   gSyncit has other features besides the calendar sync, it will also sync your contacts with GMail and that includes photos.

           

Mobile Screen Resolutions

I remember back in 1997 when 640×480 was the standard screen resolution for a computer screen.  Now days, you have huge HD screens that can pull a resolution up to 2560px wide.  In just over 10 years it grew that fast.

I’m beginning to see a little bit of that growth in mobile devices as well.  My last cell phone only had a 172×144 res screen.  Most of the time though I saw 320×240.  Recently I’ve seen VGA (640×480) and WVGA (854×480) screen resolutions.  And I’ve even seen some bigger on devices which I cannot remember.

My point is that mobile resolutions are starting to grow some, and I wonder if they will grow as much as PC resolutions did.  I can only imagine holding a small device with a 1280×1024 res screen.  I honestly think making any higher resolutions is ridiculous.

Anyone else have any opinions on this?

           

Skype for WinMo Leaves Beta

Great news for those of us who use Skype on Windows Mobile devices. Skype for Windows Mobile 3.0 Beta is no longer Beta as the Gold release was yesterday, and to celebrate some additional features were added to this great application.

New and exciting for the release is the ability to share files with other Skype users, including photos, MP3 files, MS Office files or any other documents. On top of that, Skype for WinMo can handle SMS messages much more economically then your standard mobile operator. Sadly, not for free like the voice calls (assuming you are using WiFi) but still a good value. Skype is one of the few applications which I use every single day on multiple platforms, and I have watched it evolve from a one note Internet Telephony program to a full and powerful communications suite…and it’s FREE. Tough to beat that.

Skype 3.0 for Windows Mobile runs on Windows Mobile 5, 6, and 6.1, with or without a touchscreen and requires 12MB of storage The installer may be downloaded from HERE.

Remember, data usage costs still apply when using Skype, if relevant.

Also use iPhone/iPod Touch? Check out the new Skype for iPhone v1.1 release HERE.

           

TuneWiki for BlackBerry

I’ve had enough of iPhone this and iPhone that.  Let’s talk cool apps for your BlackBerry, shall we?  Gear Diary reported that TuneWiki is available for the BlackBerry.  What is TuneWiki?  It’s a website that plays music of your choice and displays lyrics.  It’s a community forum.  It displays maps that show what other users are listening to.  It may still be a beta, but it’s pretty darn cool!  Now they have an app available in the BlackBerry App Store (yes, we have one too).  It’s a free download, but you can upgrade to the Pro version for $4.99.  Supposedly the free version is ad-supported, but I didn’t see any.  So let’s give it a quick walk through…

           

Intel Graphic Drivers for Windows 7

Intel has started to release officially the graphic chipset drivers for Windows 7. Here is the link for Windows 7 RC1 82945G Express Chipset, one of the most used in UMPC and Tablet PCs (Used in the Fujitsu P1610).