Review: HTC Shift

Product: HTC Shift CDMA version
Vendor: Sprint
Price:  $1499 from Amazon
Reviewer: Stephen Borders (badersk)
Rating: 8.5 of 10

I know What you are thinking; ‘Not another review of the Shift, everybody has done this thing to death’. Well I hadn’t got to review it and I had a special reason to test this device.

I am by trade and Automotive Technician who now is an instructor. However I still love, and probably always will, working on and especially diagnosing automobiles. As many of you may know, the automobile has become increasingly more advanced in technology. I fact the average automobile today has an average of 42 processors on board, multiple communication networks with speeds up to 1mbps, and some even have satellite and or cellular connections. On many of the cars and trucks we drive even the windows and seats are operated by computer. Well, you may say, all that’s fine but what does that have to do with another review of the SHIFT?

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Gizmodo Is Confused but Warner figures it out

So Gizmodo is confused about the naming structure out there for UMPCs, ULCPCs, mini-notebooks, ultraportables, subnotebooks, and netbooks  They just don’t understand the difference between all of them but not to worry Giz, Warner Crocker from  GottaBeMobile has it all figured out.  Yeah we can probably blame the marketing folks for all the names but blame does not answer the questions “what is a ULCPC?” or “what is the difference between a Subnotebook and a mini-Notebook?”

So after a serious amount of time researching the meaning of each, Warner has come up with the Crocker Concise Definition Mobile Dictionary. In his first release of this soon to be time honored classic, Warner clearly defines the Subnotebook, Ultraportable, Mini-Notebook, Ultra-Low Cost PC (ULCPC, Netbook, Ultra-Mobile PC (UMPC)). 

So if you want to know the meaning of each, I urge you to head over to GottaBeMobile and find out the true meaning of each and urge Warner for the quick release of Revision 2

           

What IS that thing???

Over at Gizmodo, Matt Buchanan has an excellent and quite complete breakdown of the terms used these days for small PCs. “Category Creep” has resulted in a lot of confusion for the average consumer over just what exactly these devices are for. The post takes a good shot at defining the most popular terms, considering which devices belong in each category and predicting which should be shaking out in the next year or so as small form computers become more and more common (and less and less likely to be used as makeup mirrors).

Buchanan intros the piece as follows:

When Blam broke the news on Dell’s mini Inspiron, there was one he was stuck on: How to categorize it. Is it a subnotebook? A UMPC? A netbook? (Knowing the specs might have helped, but probably not much.) Part of the problem is that the category names themselves are very new and pretty vague. Here’s a mini-compendium of the most popular terms for dwarfish laptops being tossed around, where they come from and what they’re trying to say. Help us decide which ones to keep, and which to ditch.

He covers the terms Ultraportable, Mini-notebook, ULPC, Netbook and UMPC. I have seen a couple more terms in the wild, such as the term Micro PC used by Sony for it’s Vaio UX490.

So what do you think, should the lexicon break down to just a term or two, or should marketing, like a fairy’s heart, beat wild and free? Are any of these terms keepers? Personally I feel that the term UMPC will stick for hobbyists and geeks, but the mainstream will need a more vanilla term like Netbook.

Anyone have any other names for the little darlings, not counting what you call them when you throw them against walls?

           

Browsing gets better

With the advent of Safari on the iPhone there’s been a bit of a shake-up in the mobile internet experience – or at least the expectations.

Out of the box Windows Mobile comes with cut down version of Internet Explorer called IEMobile (aka PocketIE) which, while reliable, is getting a little long in the tooth.

IEMobile is based on IE5 so there are many sites that can take advantage of the capabilities available on mobile devices today. With the advent of IE6 for Windows Mobile things should only get better.

Of course, that’s in the future – what can you do today for a better browsing experience?

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Review: NewSoft Presto USB

Products: NewSoft WMS200 Video and WMS200 Software USB
Vendor: NewSoft Technology Corporation
Price: $349.00 and $44.95 Respectively
Reviewer: Stephen Borders (badersk)
Rating: 8 of 10

“Now you can run Presto! WMS 3 FE without installing it. The latest technology lets you run the software from a USB flash drive without installation and configuration procedures”. Just “Plug the “Presto! WMS200 Software USB” flash drive into your USB port, select the application, and run it. It’s so easy.

If you are like me you may not know much about NewSoft and the things they offer. NewSoft develops hardware and software for imaging, multimedia and Internet- solutions. They are well known for their advanced technology, innovative design, and diverse product lines.

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3K Computers Mini-Notebook PC

 3K Computers is a company based in Boca Raton, Florida, about 20 miles north of where I live. This company has just released a low cost small factor PC: the 3K RazorBook 400.

3K RazorBook 400 - Mini-Notebook PC (UMPC) Ultra Mobile PC - Internet-Ready, Ultra Lightweight Notebook under 2 lbs with Powerful features.  Entertain, Play, Relax and Surf on the go with shock-proof design. At 7" and weighing less than  2lbs, you can take the RazorBook 400 Mini-Notebook PC anywhere. Bumps and shocks are no longer issues. With a dependable solid-state disk, you get unparalleled shock-protection and reliability. Power-efficient design provides longer operating time when on the go. With a rapid start-up time that takes only 15secs to boot, the RazorBook 400 is always ready to get into action. No technical manual required with the specially designed, User-friendly and intuitive Full-Flash graphic interface. You’re always connected with built-in WiFi 802.11 b/g that automatically detects and connects to the Internet at any hotspot.

I invite you guys to check the specifications of this device. It uses an Ingenic 400MHz 32Bits Single Core Mobile Processor. I have to confess that I never have heard about this processor. But at treat clock speed it does not surprise me to see that’s using Linux. The device uses a 4 Gb SSD and a 7" display.

           

Netfront 3.5 Concept Version Released

Sometimes you will come across a website that does not have a mobile optimized version and does not render well in mobile IE.  There are of course a couple of options available to you, you can try Opera Mini, or you can try out Netfront. 

The new version includes a lot of speed improvements over the old one, how much faster I cannot say, I have never used the old version, however from experience with other browser technologies on the Tilt, this one is certainly promising.

One of the neat features is the virtual canvas, the browser will mimic the size of a standard desktop browser, so that sites that normally don’t render in 320×240, render nicely and the browser will allow you to zoom and scroll over the site with simple dragging of the stylus or using the keypad.  The scrolling is smooth and fluid and works really well.

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ISOTOPE 244 Releases Machines At War v1.2

Having a bad day? Need to let out a little steam? Well let it all out by blowing some stuff up with ISOTOPE 244 new version of Machines At War 1.2!

New version 1.2 released May 1st 2008 features:

• Three NEW advanced ground units!
• The AI uses new attack strategies.
• Aircraft now use realistic flight patterns.
• Unit stats were rebalanced.

You can download a free demo to give it a try and the total cost to blow some stuff up on your mobile is only $19.95.

So head on over to ISOTOPE244.com today and check it out or CLICK HERE 

More information on Machines At War can be found after the break

 

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Ilium Software’s Eleventh Anniversary

So you missed out on TiltSite.com’s week long contest giving away 3 copies of any program from Ilium Software’s great range of products. Now what are you going to do? I’ll tell you what, head on over to Ilium Software starting Monday June 2nd for their big anniversary sale and giveaway, that’s what! Check it out:

We’re planning a week-long celebration, with a contest each day. We’ll be giving away Amazon gift cards, as well as copies of our software. The contests will be run on our blog, at http://blog.iliumsoft.com, from Monday, June 2nd, through Friday, June 6th.

And, since no anniversary party would be complete without a big sale, we’re having one of those too! For five days, we’ll be offering a 55% discount off the regular price of all of our software. The link to the anniversary sale page will be: http://www.iliumsoft.com/elevenyears (The page isn’t live yet but it will be there on Monday!)

As you all know, I am a huge fan of eWallet. It is usually the first application I load when I flash, or hard reset. I store all my serial numbers for my programs in eWallet as well as all my personal information. It has saved me more than once!

So head on over to Ilium Software starting June 2nd and join in the fun and get yourself entered to win some awesome Ilium Software, Amazon Gift Cards, or just take advantage of their HUGE sale of 55% off!

Special shout out to Julie at Ilium Software, she does a great job supporting the mobility Community!

           

The Samsung ‘F480′

Samsung Electronics announced the launch of full touch screen, ultra-slim credit card size mobile phone ‘F480′. Here is a short video from Samsung showing the F480 going through some of its paces.

The TouchWiz F480 includes 240 MB of internal music memory, a memory card with up to 8GB storage, an integrated FM radio, a 5 megapixel camera featuring auto focus and a CMOS video lens.

           

New version of EQO available - Part I

EQO (pronounced "echo") just sent me a message that a new version of their  IM/VOIP software is available. I will be running some tests and keep you all posted about results.

 

First a little background

Initially, one of EQO’s main benefits was that it allowed you to connect vicariously to Skype (before Skype had ports to mobile phones) and make data calls over that network from your phone. It worked like this: You installed Skype on your desktop, then you installed EQO on your desktop, then you connected the two apps, then you installed EQO on your mobile device which then connected to EQO on your desktop, wirelessly, and made calls vicariously on the Skype network, via the EQO/Skype pairing on your desktop. I first tried the J2ME version on my old Motorola L6 about 2 years ago. I have to admit, it was a little clunky and was more of a "power user" install, but it actually did connect, even over my old T-Mobile EDGE connection (hard to believe actually). Was it usable? Not really. But I think that was mostly due to latency of EDGE network and not that app itself. VOIP was still kind of new then.

I had also tried the IM port it offered, with mixed results. I always loved the interface though.

Fast forward a bit

About 3 months ago, I was looking for a better IM client for my Blackjack II and I decided to give EQO a try again. I installed the Winmo version and all the interface

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PIM Backup 2.8 Review

This is my first review so please go easy on me and don’t flame me until at least my second one.  Since being appointed as a new writer I decided that I should start with reviewing some software that no one should be without, especially those who like to flash a new rom every few days or just want piece of mind that their data is safe.

PIM Backup is a handy little tool that will do what it says, it will backup important  information that is on your phone.  It will backup appointments, call logs, contacts, messages (email and SMS), speed dials, tasks and any custom files you define.  There are two methods for backing up that can be chosen during the process.  One method is to create a binary file that can then be used easily to restore, the other method is a text based file, that can be used to import into other applications like Outlook etc.

The other thing you can do is backup on a schedule, that way if something happens to your phone like you delete all your contacts in a fit of phone rage, a couple of clicks and you can get it all back without too much hassle.

I’ve used this tool recently when I flashed my rom from the standard AT&T rom to the Dutty 4/29 rom, and it worked flawlessly.  I didn’t have to really do much but click ok a couple of times and it backed it all up, I just used the default settings.  Restoring was just as easy once I had flashed my rom, couple of clicks and all my emails, messages and contacts were back like they were never gone.

The other great thing about this app is its totally free, and can be downloaded from Dotfred’s site the creator of this fine app.

Now some reviewers like to give out ratings, stars or thumbs up, I personally don’t always agree, I like this app, it saved me a lot of hassle when I flashed a new rom.  However that is my own opinion, so I task you to download it, give it a try and comment on what you think. 

           

New pictures of the Dell Small Factor PC

BetaNews has published two more pictures of the new Dell Subnotebook. Unfortunately so far there are not news about the specifications of this machine.  Would this one use the new Nano from VIA? Will Dell go with Intel? Who knows…

It’s cute, it’s red, it has a Dell logo, and for many, it’s enough. The buzz machine has been reignited, after Michael Dell gave a prominent Gizmodo writer another peek at something small it’s been cooking up in its laboratories.

           

Another Contest - Helium Digital Bluetooth Headset

This one is quite simple as well. We have just worked out a deal with a new ad agency to sell our ad space for me, which is going to take a nice load off my admin tasks. They are needing some demographics about our readership. I have never really kept up with any of that, so we are set up with a survey to get some numbers and such.

Head over to the Survey and fill it out. If you do, and you fill out your email address at the end, you will be entered in the contest to win 1  Helium Digital Stereo Bluetooth Headset.

Anyone can win. Just MAKE SURE to fill out the email block at the end of the survey. The deadline is in 2 weeks, Friday the 13th. June 13, 2008.

           

Developing for Windows Mobile

Most of us are not professional developers (I’ve not really written a line of code in almost 2 years) but how often have you wished you had a little program to fit a specific niche, searched the web and given up?

If you’re planning on developing a professional application then you need to look at Visual Studio and the Windows Mobile SDKs but sometimes you just need something to quickly prototype an idea.

There are a few alternatives on the market – NSBasic and CASL spring to mind as good ways to get started but recently I’ve been playing with Basic4PPC from Anyware Software … and I like it.

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