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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

Sony Reader PRS-505 gets a major firmware upgrade

My Sony Reader is an excellent piece of hardware that I thoroughly enjoy using during my daily commute. I skipped the Amazon Kindle and bought the Sony Reader and have not been one bit sorry about this purchase I made last fall. I just saw on my favorite eBook site, MobileRead, that Sony is updating the Sony Reader PRS-505 with a firmware upgrade that adds some great functionality, including secure and non-secure support of EPUB and Adobe eBooks (including the capability for much better support of PDF documents). Check out the Sony press release where you will see the update should be online today, 24 July.

July 24, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Enterprise Software

HTC Touch Diamond ROM update adds 850 MHz support and much more

I've written a few posts about the HTC Touch Diamond and my last one discussed some of the issues I was seeing with the device. I like to visit the XDA Developers site for the tweaking they do to the HTC devices, but it is kind of gray area when they post ROM fixes and updates. However, this latest discussion on the HTC Touch Diamond ROM discusses a ROM fix posted on the HTC Hong Kong site so it seems legit to me. The major functionality that this brings to owners here in the U.S. is that it enables the 850 MHz GSM band so you can now use it more reliably with AT&T!

July 24, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

Weak US dollar starts to drive up mobile software prices

I am working on a full review of the excellent SoftMaker Office 2008 for Pocket PC and just received a note from the company that has an effect on pricing for U.S. buyers. Due to the fact that SoftMaker is a German company dealing in Euros, the significant loss in value of the U.S. dollar has driven them to make changes in their software pricing. SoftMaker reported in the email that when the Euro was introduced in 2002 it was about equal to the U.S. dollar, but the dollar has now fallen to be worth 60 percent less.

July 24, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Hardware

October Esquire magazine will use electronic ink

Earlier this month I mentioned how Hearst is embracing the mobile web by offering much of their content on mobile phones. Hearst is now going to bring a bit of mobile technology to print media with their usage of electronic ink in the October issue of Esquire. The electronic ink will be used on the cover and in a 2-page Ford ad. This electronic ink is developed by E Ink and is the same technology I enjoy on my Sony Reader, that is also found on the Amazon Kindle.

July 23, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

jkOnTheRun purchased by the Giga Omni Media group

I am very happy to let you all know that my two fellow MobileTechRoundup podcast co-hosts James Kendrick and Kevin Tofel are now full time bloggers for Giga Omni Media. James started jkOnTheRun a long time ago and Kevin joined him a few years ago in writing and posting videos on this active, entertaining, educational, and newsbreaking site. Congratulations James and Kevin! We look forward to more great content from you both.

July 22, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Enterprise Software

Aren't the Nokia N800/N810 devices dead simple web tablets?

Michael Arrington's post on creating a cheap web tablet is generating a lot of discussion on the internet and as a mobile enthusiast I wanted to add some of my thoughts to the discussion. There is a device available now that has dropped down as low as US$299.99 recently that runs an excellent Mozilla-based browser and has much more functionality than Arrington is asking for. If you took out the GPS receiver and maybe even the keyboard from the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet Nokia could probably produce one for around US$200. Actually, the Nokia N800 model can be upgraded to the latest Tablet OS 2008 and that is available for just around US$200 so that may be a good alternative that is already available.

July 22, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Enterprise Software

WordPress iPhone client stresses the need for copy/paste and BT keyboard support

Jason posted the news that a WordPress iPhone client was coming soon and it is now available on the Apple App Store. I downloaded it with hopes that I could then blog here from the iPhone, but this WordPress client requires you to have WordPress 2.5 or later running and this custom ZDNet site is running version 2.1.x right now. This new application has me wishing for copy and paste functionality for offline post creation and Bluetooth keyboard support for long post creation. Come on Apple, give us what other high end smartphones already have please.

July 22, 2008 by Matthew Miller in iPhone

RichardSolo Smart Backup Battery charges your iPhone on the go with standard mini USB

Now that I upgraded my original iPhone to the 2.0 software, I am using it more and more with my hosted Exchange account keeping me in sync. Just like folks who are using the iPhone 3G more since it is faster and there are lots of third party applications available, I am using my iPhone more with the syncing and application testing. Thus, I am not able to get through a full day of using my device without somehow charging up the iPhone. I may be able to connect to a PC or Mac from time-to-time, but I am often out and about so I needed a mobile solution. I received a Richard Solo Smart Backup Battery a few months ago and used it once or twice. Now with my new battery challenges, this external battery solution has proved vital to my iPhone usage.

July 21, 2008 by Matthew Miller in iPhone

Sprint and Verizon release Windows Mobile 6.1 upgrades for existing devices

My neighbor was quite proud to show me his Sprint Touch a few months ago and I have some great news to tell him now as Sprint announced major updates for the Sprint Touch and Mogul earlier today. The update brings Windows Mobile Professional 6.1 and EV-DO Rev. A to the devices (the Mogul already had an EV-DO Rev. A upgrade). Verizon also released a Windows Mobile 6.1 upgrade for the Samsung SGH-i760.

July 21, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Telcos

iPhone Dev Team jailbreaks and SIM unlocks iPhone 2.0 in one week

I've been pretty happy with my upgraded original iPhone, but to use it as my primary device I have had to forward my T-Mobile number to my AT&T iPhone. After just one week, I was pleased to see those excellent developers at the iPhone Dev Team post news that the iPhone 2.0 jailbreak and unlock tool has been posted and named Pwnage Tool. My original iPhone is now SIM-unlocked and running on T-Mobile and AT&T.

July 19, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Hardware

MobileTechRoundup show #140, iPhone apps, Opera Mobile 9.5 beta, and netbooks

We really tried to get away from talking just about the iPhone in MobileTechRoundup show #140, but when it is the hottest news in the mobile space it is tough. We did talk about some applications, iPhone 3G battery life, and a utility we would like to see on the iPhone. We also talked about the free Opera Mobile 9.5 beta now available for Windows Mobile touch screen devices. Netbooks were also part of the topics with Acer's Aspire One and the MSI Wind mainly discussed.

July 18, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Hardware

UPDATE: AT&T free WiFi access offer to iPhone owners is up again, NOT!

We have seen the on and off saga of free WiFi at AT&T hotspots for a couple of months now and it looks like iPhone users may again have access to free WiFi at AT&T locations, such as Starbucks. There doesn't seem to be any time limit on access either, like the 2 hours/day that applies to those using a Starbucks card.

July 18, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

Opera Mobile 9.5 beta now available for WM touch screen devices

I reviewed Opera Mobile 9.5 earlier this year and then there was the news that the public beta was coming on 15 July. We heard that it slipped earlier this week, but it only slipped a couple days and we just received the press release that Opera Mobile 9.5 beta is now available. Opera Mobile 9.5 is available now only for Windows Mobile touch screen devices.

July 16, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Hardware

Samsung OMNIA coming to Italy on 22 July

Last month Samsung announced the OMNIA Windows Mobile device that looks like a direct competitor to the Apple iPhone. I was bit surprised, and yet pleased, to see that Samsung announced it will be available on 22 July starting in Italy. It seems these devices are usually announced and then appear several months later, but this release is being made just one month after the official announcement.

July 16, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Samsung

MobileMe push is limited and subscribers get a 30-day extension

Apple's MobileMe service has been advertised as "Exchange for the rest of us" with support for push email and data. However, if you have MobileMe/.Mac account then you may have received an email this morning detailing a rocky transition from .Mac to MobileMe that clarifies not everything is pushed. Joel put together a post on Geek.com that has a copy of the email you may have received.

July 16, 2008 by Matthew Miller in iPhone