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The Mobile Gadgeteer

Matthew Miller provides you with news, commentary and in-depth reviews of the latest in mobile gadgetry such as tablets, cutting edge smartphones, and portable gaming.

Matthew Miller

Matthew Miller started using mobile devices in 1997 and has been writing news, reviews, and opinion pieces ever since. Matthew started using mobile devices with a US Robotics Pilot 1000 and has owned hundreds of devices running Palm, Linux, Symbian, Newton, BlackBerry, iOS, Android, webOS, Windows Mobile, and Windows Phone operating systems. His current collection includes the latest and greatest foldables, wearables, and more, along with classic devices like the Apple Newton MessagePad 2100 and Sony CLIE UX50. Matthew can be found on various social networks under the user name of "palmsolo."

Latest Posts

Check out the ultimate ultra mobile PC buyer's guide

Are you considering an ultra-mobile PC this holiday season? If so, then I highly recommend you check out the 11,000 word, 28-page Ultra Mobile Computing Buyer's Guide put together by the biggest fan of UMPCs I have ever seen, Steve "Chippy" Paine. He initially posted this in a 4-part article and has now assembled it all into a single PDF document that you can download and use as an essential reference tool.

November 10, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Laptops

TeleNav is riding Shotgun with their new personal navigation device

Sometimes the lid gets blown off news about devices and software earlier than planned and it seems that today the TeleNav website developers may have been a little trigger happy as they posted the details on the upcoming TeleNav Shotgun personal navigation device. There is one back in Seattle for me to evaluate, but I also had a chance to spend a few minutes with the one that James has with him and am quite impressed. I have been using and loving the TeleNav Navigator software on the HTC Advantage and this device gives you just about the same experience on a dedicated device. It is interesting that TeleNav is jumping into this just after Dash announced they are backing out of the PND market.

November 8, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Hardware

Gears of War 2 special edition Zune 120 available

Last year Microsoft ran a promotion with a Halo special edition Zune device and now we have the Gears of War 2 special edition Zune. This is the latest generation 120GB Zune and is priced US$30 over a standard black Zune 120 at US$279.99. For this extra premium you get a Zune that has the Crimsenn Omen etched on the back and lots of content on the device itself.

November 6, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Microsoft

The Intel Classmate Netvertible appears for preliminary evaluation

Joanna Stern is usually the first person to get a look at the new netbook devices and writes some fantastic reviews that I personally read before making purchase decisions. She continues this practice with an article that takes a first look at the CTL 2go Tablet (aka Intel Classmate Netvertible). This is a touch screen netbook device that will compete with the upcoming ASUS touch screen netbook device.

November 5, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Tablets

Dash to lay off 2/3 workforce and end hardware sales

I have been checking out the Dash Express internet connected GPS device and actually packed it along on this current business trip to find my way around DC and Pennsylvania. I was quite disappointed to read the news on GigaOm that Dash will be cutting 50 jobs and end making its hardware. I was actually thinking seriously about picking up one of these units since I find the ability to send addresses to the device from the web to be extremely useful. I have relied on it for the last 3 weekends to get me to away soccer games and don't print out maps or use my phones for this at all.

November 3, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Enterprise Software

MobileTechRoundup show #153, Netbooks and MIDs

It turns out that we ended up with another show almost fully focused on netbooks so if you are interested in this topic check out MobileTechRoundup show #153. Kevin continues to confuse his MSI Wind by now installing Windows 7 on the device, after trying XP, Vista, and Mac OS X. James wrote up a blog post I linked to in regards to MIDs and this was discussed by all three of us on this show. If battery life is your focus then you may want to check out the Samsung NC10 too. HP also continues in the netbook category with their new HP Mini 1000.

November 3, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Enterprise Software

Are MIDs irrelevant in today's smartphone world?

We just finished recording Mobile Tech Roundup show #153 where we spent a large chunk of time talking about MIDs. James posted an article this morning asking if MIDs are irrelevant in today's market with the powerful smartphones and other devices like the iPod Touch and Nokia Internet Tablets. As you will hear in the upcoming podcast, I agree with James that the MIDs may be coming too late to the party to have much of an impact and it begs the question, "Who will buy a MID?"

October 31, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Hardware

Can you leave your laptop behind?

Nick Wingfield wrote an interesting article on the Wall Street Journal site called Time to Leave the Laptop Behind and I think he did an excellent job at articulating the options, trade-offs, and current state of mobile devices for the road warrior. Mobile phones today can be extremely powerful and capable so that some people are using them to work on the road. I personally have traveled a few times with only my mobile phone and a REDFLY Mobile Companion and think it can be done. However, I am not sure that the minor savings in weight is worth the compromises you need to make a mobile phone work for you.

October 28, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

First look at the HP Mini 1000 netbook

James Kendrick is in the enviable position to be in Houston where HP has a significant presence and always seem to get his hands on the latest and greatest HP products. He just posted a very detailed first look at the newly announced HP Mini 1000 netbook that is the second model, the first was the HP 2133 Mini-Note, coming from HP. I considered the 2133 at one time, but the heat issues and rather high price tag for one with the specs I wanted turned me off. The new Mini 1000 has much better pricing options and that large 10.2 inch screen.

October 28, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Enterprise Software

MobileTechRoundup show #152, Lenovo X301, MSI Wind and Android thoughts

Kevin's been checking out the Lenovo X301 with integrated WiMAX and after hearing him talk about it on MobileTechRoundup show #152 I think he is getting closer and closer to picking one up for himself. I went ahead and purchased the MSI Wind and discovered it has a slightly different keyboard layout than the review unit I checked out and the differences actually have a major impact on usability. Kevin pointed me to a fix that is now working well on the device. James picked up a black T-Mobile G1 and it was good to hear his initial thoughts after Kevin and I have been checking the device out for a couple of weeks now. We talked about some of our favorite Android applications too.

October 26, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Networking

Review: MSI Wind netbook doesn't compromise on the keyboard

Fellow podcast cohost Kevin Tofel has been enticing me with all of his writings on the MSI Wind so I reached out to the good folks at Dynamism to see about checking one out for a couple weeks. They sent along a black MSI Wind with 80GB hard drive, 6 cell battery, Bluetooth and WiFi, and 1GB RAM that they have available for US$599. After using it for just over a week and taking it on a business trip with me, I ordered my own with 160GB hard drive along with another 1GB RAM stick to upgrade my own Wind. Check out some photos and a walk around the device in my image gallery.

October 20, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

Full review of the T-Mobile G1 consumed most of my week

I have to say sorry to any readers who have been wanting to see more posts here on my blog, but my last week has been consumed by the T-Mobile G1 as you can see in my review with over 260 images and 5 videos posted over on my Smartphones & Cell Phones blog. I wanted to mention it here since my other blog is still quite new and many readers here may not have yet subscribed to my other blog. I also wanted to mention it here because I think the Google Android OS will go further than just the mobile phone with talk that it could challenge the embedded Windows CE OS seen in enterprise and other devices.

October 15, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Hardware

MobileTechRoundup show #150, More netbook talk

James, Kevin, and I were quite happy to record MobileTechRoundup show #150 and celebrate 3 years of podcasting about mobile tech. Kevin continues to tease me with the MSI Wind and now I am even closer to switching from my Fujitsu U810 to the Wind thanks to Dynamism who sent me one to check out for myself. James offered some more thoughts on the Lenovo S10 netbook and we chatted about dual core usage in netbooks. We speculated a bit about what Apple may announce on Tuesday, but we'll just have to wait and see what happens. Kevin attended the WiMAX event in Baltimore and has a Lenovo X301 with WiMAX integration to test out for a bit. James and I have the Nokia N96 in hand and talked a bit about our thoughts.

October 12, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Lenovo

Can the REDFLY and WM device match the Motorola VC6096 functionality?

While checking out my RSS feeds I saw a photo in a Mobility Site post that I thought for sure was some kind of photoshopped fake device because it seems like a wide and squat Motorola Q when you take a quick look at the photo. I then went back and visited the site and followed the link to find the Motorola VC6096 is a real Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional (touch screen) device. This is one of those Windows Mobile enterprise solutions with a focus on transportation and logistics, much like those bar code scanning Windows Mobile devices you see at the Apple Store when you buy an iPhone or iPod.

October 9, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Networking

First impressions of the Dash Express connected GPS device

I checked out a Garmin StreetPilot c580 last summer and thought it was a pretty compelling dedicated GPS system since it had MSN Direct integration to provide some wireless functionality. While it was useful for some things, the MSN Direct service is not designed for real-time wireless data and coverage is limited. I have heard quite a bit about the Dash Express internet connected GPS system and have now spent just over a week with one myself and posted several product photos and screenshots in my image gallery. I also offer several first impressions about the device and its functionality below. I plan to use it for a few upcoming out-of-town trips in the next month and will write up those thoughts before I send back the evaluation unit.

October 7, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Networking