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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

HP iPAQ 210 PDA starts shipping for US$449

It is quite rare to find a dedicated PDA without phone functionality today, but it looks like HP is now shipping their iPAQ 210 Enterprise Handheld. This is quite a powerful PDA with a 624MHz processor, 256MB ROM, 128MB RAM, integrated Compact Flash and integrated Secure Digital slots, 4 inch VGA (480x640 pixels) display, integrated WiFi and integrated Bluetooth radios. Actually, the Dell Axim X51v I have from a couple years ago has just about the same specs, the display is 3.7 inches instead of 4 inches. However, you can no longer find the Axim X51v or HP hx4700 so this new HP is really your only choice for a high-end stand alone PDA.

January 17, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

Vulcan FlipStart drops a whopping US$800 to US$699

I am on the lookout for a reasonably priced, say under US$800, UMPC type device and just saw the news that the Vulcan FlipStart has been dropped from US$1,499 to a href="http://www.dynamism.com/flipstart/pricing.shtml">US$699. That is a whopping US$800 price drop on an ultra portable PC that runs a full version of Windows (XP or Vista). Obviously, it hasn't been selling very well to see this kind of price drop. I have not had the chance to check one out myself and personally do not like the form factor or fact that it does not have a touch screen or active digitizer. However, dropping it down to this price range makes it quite appealing for someone looking for a portable device that runs a full version of Windows.

January 16, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Processors

HTC Shift finally receives FCC approval

HTC announced the Shift ultra portable PC at CTIA in March 2007. Since that time there has been a few videos and reviews of test units that made it into the wild. You may actually be able to find the device in Europe now (I couldn't find it available anywhere online thought) and the full specs are available on the HTC website. According to Unwired View the HTC Shift has finally been approved by the FCC so it should be coming to the U.S. soon. Most every site I checked out, like Mobile Planet and Dynamism, show a late February availability of the device.

January 16, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

What's up with the MacBook Air single USB port and where is the flash card reader?

You have all probably seen the news about the new MacBook Air announced this morning by Steve Jobs and now that the glitz and glamour of the keynote is wearing off people are diving into the details. One major issue, IMHO, that Adrian Kingsley-Hughes pointed out in his first thoughts was the lack of a removable battery. The problem with the USB solution is that the MacBook Air, actually all of the Apple notebooks, do not include any kind of media card reader so if you want to upload any photos/videos you have to take out your USB modem, connect a card reader, move the photos/video onto the hard drive, and then reconnect your USB modem to connect again.

January 15, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Apple

JiWire providing free WiFi access for iPhone and iPod Touch owners

All of us iPhone owners know that the AT&T EDGE network is a bit poky, especially for web browsing. JiWire just announced free Wi-Fi access across the United States for all iPhone and iPod Touch users. This is an ad-supported program so you will have to view JiWire-supplied ads on your device. However, this seems to be a small price to pay for free Wi-Fi access at more than 100,000 hotspots.

January 15, 2008 by Matthew Miller in iPhone

Handmark releases Pocket Express Travel for the iPhone

Who says that iPhones are not for the business person? Certainly not Handmark as they just announced Pocket Express Travel for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Simply point your iPhone/iPod Touch Safari browser to www.pocketexpress.com and you will get FREE access to the Handmark travel services. I have used Pocket Express on Windows Mobile and Palm devices in the past and it is great to see an iPhone-optimized site with services for the traveler.

January 14, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Hardware

Are these i-mate Ultimates mythical mobile devices?

While there wasn't much in the way of smartphone news on the show floor, Judie over at Gear Diary scored some pretty big news off the floor with some exclusive time with i-mate where she was shown 4 i-mate Ultimate devices. Judie and Jerry had some hands-on time with the Ultimate 8150, 8502, 9502, and 6150 and I highly recommend you check out the full article for photos, specs, and first impressions. Will we ever see another i-mate Windows Mobile device actually released?

January 13, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Hardware

Ultra portable devices were everywhere at CES 2008

I mentioned that there wasn't a lot of mobile phone news at CES, yet there was plenty of ultra portable news. There were UMPCs, Tablet PCs, Intel MIDs, Via-powered devices, and more. This is an area that interests me as I travel quite a bit and also have a 2 hour daily train commute so there are lots of opportunities for using a device that helps me get things done on the road. Check out my new image gallery showing several mobile devices from CES 2008. I also learned a few things this week that helped me optimize the HTC Advantage so that it can be used to fill the role of a portable computer that may make my quest for a UMPC device a moot point.

January 13, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

MobileTechRoundup #121, CES 2008 is a wrap, Fictionwise buying eReader, AT&T 5GB limit

The Mobile Tech Roundup gang returned from CES 2008 and one of us actually returned US$10,000 richer (hint, it wasn't me). Listen to MobileTechRoundup show #121 to find out how that happened and what we thought of CES this year. It seems that Intel's Menlow and WiMAX were popular and may be the compelling technologies in mobile devices this year. Nokia showed off some software and services that impressed us too. James reported that Fictionwise purchased eReader and he is worried about what this may mean for his favorite ebook service. As a long time Fictionwise customer I anticipate this will be a good thing for ebooks. AT&T may also be implementing a 5GB limit on their "unlimited" wireless service and we discuss if that will really have much of an impact on people's usage. Pocket Informant has also been upgraded to version 8.

January 13, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Hardware

Mobile phones were not a big part of CES 2008

I spend a lot of time writing about mobile phones on this blog and was hoping to see something new, unique, or amazing at CES in this area. Unfortunately, CES 2008 was not the year of the mobile phone with nothing major announced IMHO. Back at CES 2006, Windows Mobile 5.0 was announced, but I think with the way the internet is so much a part of our lives today companies no longer have to wait for major shows like CES to announce products. There was quite a bit of news in the ultra portable/UMPC market that I'll talk about in another blog post with an image gallery.

January 9, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Mobile Carriers

WiMAX may be rolling out sooner than you thought

I stopped by the Xohm (pronounced Zome) booth today at CES 2008 to try to get some answers on the roll-out of WiMAX in the U.S. While I think people understand the concept of WiMAX (wide-area WiFi) it seems with all the news of Sprint and Clearwire's decision to not move forward with a nationwide network many were left wondering if WiMAX was really going to happen and when. After talking with Xohm representatives and hearing the latest from Chief Technology Officer Barry West, Sprint Nextel, we will see WiMAX available commercially before the summer of this year.

January 9, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Networking

CES: Mobility at the ShowStoppers event

CES 2008 in Vegas doesn't seem quite as busy on the show floor, but there were a ton of press at the Digital Experience! and ShowStoppers events.

January 7, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

CES: Nokia makes an official announcement of the N95 8GB North American version

A couple of weeks ago Nokia slipped up and provided evidence that a Nokia N95 8GB device would be coming to North America. That rumor is now reality as Nokia announced the N95 8GB NAM that will support the 850/1900 MHz HSDPA wireless data network found on AT&T in the U.S. The N95 8GB offers an 8GB flash drive and a larger 2.8 inch QVGA display, compared to the 2.6 inch QVGA display of the N95 NAM model.

January 7, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Networking

CES: Skype announces support for more mobile platforms, including the PSP

I use Skype to record out MobileTechRoundup podcasts and also to call my family when I am on the road. I mostly use it on my MacBook Pro with some occasional use on the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet (which is a great sounding VoIP device). Skype announced continued expansion into the mobile arena with the 3 Skypephone, Freetalk Wireless Stereo Headset, Intel-based Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs), Nokia N810 Internet Tablet, Sony mylo Communicator, and PSP-2000 series device.

January 7, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Social Media

CES: Mobile gadgets at Digital Experience!

I arrived at CES in Vegas and plan to stick around and see if there are any new mobile gadgets that may be worth picking up in 2008. While I do like to wander the show floor and find hidden treasures, it is much more productive to attend press events where vendors are brought in to offer one-on-one time in a single venue. The first such event I attended last night was the Digital Experience! press event. In the past, it seemed like this was a rather intimate affair, but it has grown to be a rather large event and was almost too big this year IMHO and I wasn't able to see everything I wanted to in the three hours available.

January 6, 2008 by Matthew Miller in Mobility