The Mobile Gadgeteer

MWC08: Microsoft aquires Danger, Inc.

One interesting announcement is the purchase of Danger, Inc. by Microsoft. The T-Mobile Sidekick was one of the first super data devices I owned several years ago and I did not expect this announcement at all. It seemed like Danger had a good market with the Sidekick brand and T-Mobile. Can Microsoft provide that same Sidekick experience with Windows Mobiel?

February 11, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Enterprise Software

MWC08: Sony Ericsson announces two new UIQ smartphones

Sony Ericsson was busy making announcements at Mobile World Congress yesterday and two new smartphones that were announced almost didn't catch my attention because their model numbers are almost the same as a couple of Cybershot phones they announced.. The upcoming SE C700 and C900 Cybershot phones are actually full UIQ smartphones, but I initially had them confused with the two SE C702 and C902 Cybershot camera phones also announced yesterday. I found out from reading All About Symbian that these other two were actually UIQ devices.

February 10, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Smartphones

MWC08: HTC announces updated HTC Advantage X7510 with a 16GB flash drive

My absolute favorite Windows Mobile device over the last few years has been the HTC Advantage and my review on the device continues to be one of the most viewed posts on this blog. I was pleased to hear that HTC just announced an updated version of the device, also called the HTC Advantage (now this will cause some confusion), that sports a new HTC Home Today screen, future version of Windows Mobile (let's make the obvious guess that it will be 6.1 shall we?) HTC TouchFLO support Opera Mobile 9.x (announcement made last week), 16GB of internal storage (Flash this time!), new and improved keyboard, and updated VueFLO that recognizes device orientation and flips the screen to match. The updated model still includes Marvell PXA270 624MHz and Qualcomm MSM 6275 processors, 256MB ROM, 128MB RAM, tri-band HSDPA, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, GPS, 5-inch VGA, and 3 megapixel camera. The battery has slightly less capacity (2100 mAh vs. the 2200 mAh of today's model, but with the flash drive instead of a spinning hard drive I doubt there will be any difference (and maybe even better life) in this new model.

February 10, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

MWC08: HTC Shift available in Europe today with Origami Experience 2.0

I had a chance to spend some time with the HTC Shift back at CES 2008 so I know that it is not a vaporware device and will be launching, it just seems like it has taken forever. Good news for those in Europe though as HTC just announced that the HTC Shift is available in Europe today. I actually saw an advertisement on a small billboard in the Barcelona airport from one of the carriers (Telefonica) launching this device. In addition, the Shift will include the new Origami Experience 2.0 from Microsoft that enables improved access and consumption of content with new RSS feeds and finger-friendly browser. I will definitely be looking for this device on the show floor and at Telefonica.

February 10, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Windows

MWC08: HTC announces P3470 with GPS for the entry level consumer

Many of us who love mobile gadgets and mobile devices want to see devices with all the features we can think of running at super fast speeds and having batteries that last forever. However, the majority of the people want a device that works for them available at a reasonalbly low price. HTC has that market covered as well with the help of devices like the new HTC P3470 that was announced today at Mobile World Congress 2008. The HTC P3470 (hopefully to receive a flashier name by carriers) is a Windows Mobile Professional device targeted to the new consumer of mobile data with a retail price of EUR449.

February 10, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

MWC08: Boingo announces mobile support for Windows Mobile 6 and UIQ

I was given a trial account of Boingo Mobile to use with Nokia Nseries devices here at Mobile World Congress 2008 and it is a great way to get connected for only US$7.95 per month for unlimited worldwide access. Boingo announced that they have updated their clients to now run on Windows Mobile 6 and UIQ devices so now even more mobile users can enjoy low cost WiFi while on the road. I plan to download this latest client to the HTC Advantage and my T-Mobile Shadow to give it a try here at MWC. If you travel or live in one of the many thousands of areas covered by Boingo Mobile then I highly recommend you check them out as a good alternative for connectivity. FYI, the US$7.95 access is for access from a mobile device and is not the same plan as if you access the Boingo network from a PC (prices starting at US$21.95/month) as I found out at the Newark International Airport.

February 10, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

MWC08: Sony Ericsson announces XPERIA X1 Windows Mobile device

Over the past few days as I was preparing for Mobile World Congres 2008, I heard a rumor that was quite exciting and today Microsoft and Sony Ericsson confirmed it when they announced the upcoming Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 Windows Mobile device. The XPERIA X1 will be coming in the second half of 2008 and is a slider phone with a 3-inch wide VGA display and QWERTY keyboard with a metal shell. Sony Ericsson has long been focused on UIQ mobile devices and it is quite a statement when they decide to partner with Microsoft to bring out a Windows Mobile device.

February 10, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Mobile OS

MobileTechRoundup #123, what did the guys order this time?

James, Kevin and I are fairly tech savvy, but why is it that even we need to visit the Apple Store Genius' to try to get our Mac and iPods up and running again? This is the topic that we start off with in MobileTechRoundup show #123. We then go on to talk about to new mobile device products that were ordered prior to the show. I am actually entering this blog post on the piece of gear I picked up as I brought it to Barcelona as my main computer for working all week. Am I crazy? Listen to the podcast and see what I am using. We also talked about a great piece of freeware for S60 owners that allows you to turn your S60 device connected vi 3G into a WiFi router for other gear. Windows Mobile owners also have such a free utility available to try. I talked a bit about the small T-Mobile Shadow update that included a nice keyboard fix. And finally, where is T-Mobile's 3G network?

February 10, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

Five reasons why Nokia should consider buying Yahoo

Nokia makes some awesome devices and I continue to be impressed by their innovation and functionality. However, as we saw last year Nokia is expanding their service offerings, largely through aquisitions. I think Nokia will continue with their hardware, but their future focus on services may be where they focus a lot of effort and IMHO is actually much more intriguing. I just read an interesting article by Stephen Wellman over at Information Week where he give five reasons that Nokia should buy Yahoo.

February 7, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Social Media

T-Mobile releases Shadow update with text entry improvements and more

I personally love my T-Mobile Shadow and other than the rather short battery life think it is one of the best smartphones I have ever used. I just read on the AllShadow.com site that T-Mobile USA released a firmware update for the device. I have to say that T-Mobile is one of the best carriers at providing updates to their devices and can always be counted on for the latest and greatest. Updates include some free songs, ringtones, and wallpaper along with stated text entry improvements.

February 6, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

The Wibrain B1; a full Windows ultra portable PC for less than US$700

I've been slowly building up my PayPal mobile device fund as I continue to look at devices that will help me get work done on my daily 2 hour train commute and regular business travel. I keep coming back to the HTC Advantage as a great solution, but until a better web browser is released for Windows Mobile devices (I can't wait to try Opera 9.5 and Skyfire) there is still a gap that could be filled with a full Windows mobile computer. One of the most reasonably priced ultra portable PCs that I had a chance to try briefly at CES was the Wibrain B1. The good folks at Dynamism sent along a unit that I tried out for several days and you can check out my thoughts, a short video, and photos of the device.

February 5, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

Nokia retains the crown in the 4th quarter, but Apple moves into third worldwide

The well-known research firm Canalys released their latest smart mobile device report breaking down results from the 4th quarter of 2007, as well as summary results from the entire year. As expected, Nokia remained the global market leader with 52.9% of the market share in the 4th quarter. RIM finished in second place with 11.4% and Apple came in a surprising third in the world with 6.5% share. HTC was not specifically identified, but their numbers can be found in the 22.7% Others vendor and I personally want to see their numbers split out because I believe they have a significant market share as well with the majority of the Windows Mobile market.In looking at operating systems in the 4th quarter of 2007, Symbian led with 65% share, Microsoft's Windows Mobile was at 12%, RIM was third with 11%, Apple had 7%, and Linux was at 5%. The good news for us mobile fans is that converged device shipments rose 60% in 2007 over 2006.

February 5, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Windows

Yahoo! Music Unlimited will soon reach its limit

It looks like on of the concerns I had with Yahoo and mobile products has been taken care of by another company. Rhapsody and Yahoo Inc. announced a strategic partnership that will see Yahoo! Music subscribers being migrated to Rhapsody over the next several months. For Yahoo! Music subscribers, this generally means an increase in the monthly subscription fee from around US$9/month to US$12.99/month when your existing contract expires.

February 5, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Social Media

fring mobile VoIP client gets updated with IM improvements and file transfer capability

I've talked about fring a couple of times on this blog (June 07 Windows Mobile release) and still continue to use it on my S60 and Windows Mobile devices. Elen sent me a press release announcing the latest version of fring that now includes the capability to conduct file transfers from mobile to mobile or mobile to PC, enhancements to the IM interface, and a new fringME! functionality that allows people to be reached from their web page or have their location appear on a Google Map (if they have a device with integrated GPS).

February 5, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Networking

Nokia launches N-Gage First Access for N81 owners, social networking included

I received a Nokia N81 8GB device to evaluate as part of the Nokia Nseries Blogger Relations program and posted my first impressions and initial thoughts, but wanted to hold off on a more detailed review until the N-Gage functionality was available since that is one of the major functionalities and selling points of the N81 with its gaming buttons and design. I found out from my buddy Rafe on All About Symbian that N-Gage First Access went live yesterday. So last night I installed the new N-Gage release on the Nokia N81 8GB and plan to post some video content soon so you can see the trial games in action on the device.

February 4, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

Matthew Miller

Latest Posts

MWC08: Microsoft aquires Danger, Inc.

MWC08: Sony Ericsson announces two new UIQ smartphones

MWC08: HTC announces updated HTC Advantage X7510 with a 16GB flash drive

MWC08: HTC Shift available in Europe today with Origami Experience 2.0

MWC08: HTC announces P3470 with GPS for the entry level consumer

MWC08: Boingo announces mobile support for Windows Mobile 6 and UIQ

MWC08: Sony Ericsson announces XPERIA X1 Windows Mobile device

MobileTechRoundup #123, what did the guys order this time?

Five reasons why Nokia should consider buying Yahoo

T-Mobile releases Shadow update with text entry improvements and more

The Wibrain B1; a full Windows ultra portable PC for less than US$700

Nokia retains the crown in the 4th quarter, but Apple moves into third worldwide

Yahoo! Music Unlimited will soon reach its limit

fring mobile VoIP client gets updated with IM improvements and file transfer capability

Nokia launches N-Gage First Access for N81 owners, social networking included

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