The Mobile Gadgeteer

WebFives/Vizrea aquired by Microsoft so download your content in the next 30 days

I set up a Vizrea account back in 2006 when they launched their service that was going to make it easy to get photos and video off of my camera-enabled phone and onto my PC so I could share it easily with others. I used the service a bit at first, but then moved on to just uploading pics to Flickr. Vizrea launched in 2006 with ex-Microsoft engineer Mike Toutonghi kicking off the service that he thought of after some frustrating camera phone experience at the DEMO conference. I just received the following letter in my email inbox, and it looks like Mike may be going back to Microsoft. WebFives (previously known as Vizrea) has been aquired by Microsoft and the service will shut down after 31 December.

November 30, 2007 by Matthew Miller in Microsoft

Mobius Amsterdam 2007: Symbian, Windows Live, and working group session

Mobius 2007 Amsterdam concluded today after hearing about the Mobius Project, Symbian, and Windows Live. The attendees broke up into small groups at the end to discuss what we would do if we were the CEO and management team in charge of Android, Apple/iPhone, S60, and Windows Mobile. It was another successful event with stimulating conversations as the open dialog between Microsoft and mobile enthusiasts continues in a unique environment.

November 30, 2007 by Matthew Miller in Hardware

Mobius Amsterdam 2007: Windows Mobile present and future, welcome to the HTC MAGIC Labs

Today was the first full day of discussions and presentations at the Mobius 2007 event in Amsterdam following last night's evening reception. John Starkweather started off the day by laying out the ground rules for the event where most everything was completely open and we were invited to interact with each speaker/presenter as things were presented to us. Each attendee then went to the front of the room and gave their introduction as well as a demo of their favorite device and/or application. The day included presentations on current and future Windows Mobile operating systems, analyst data, chipset manufacturer information, and mobile device manufacturer discussions.

November 29, 2007 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

Google Maps for Mobile updated so you can find your location without the need for a GPS receiver

My preferred mapping application on my mobile devices is Google Maps for mobile. I read earlier today that the application has been updated to provide your location without any need for a GPS receiver. The new My Location beta feature use cell tower identification to provide approximate location information. You simply press 0 in Google Maps for mobile and a blue circle will show your approximate position. If you do have a GPS-enable device, My Location will complement it and should engage faster than GPS. My Location should also work indoors. Simply visit the Google Maps for mobile page from your compatible Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, Motorola, SE or S60 3rd Edition device to download and install this latest version.

November 29, 2007 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

Verizon Wireless announces 4G wireless future and openness makes much more sense now

It looks like Verizon Wireless was very quick to answer my question the other day about what the big deal was with allowing any device, any apps. I just read on jkOnTheRun that Verizon announced their 4G network will be with LTE. This means that CDMA has an ending at Verizon in the future and now opening up their network to any device has a much broader impact as GSM technologies are available worldwide with a much larger choice available for devices. IMHO, this announcement and their previous announcement will have a HUGE impact on the wireless carrier strategies in the United States and should be good for the consumer.

November 29, 2007 by Matthew Miller in Hardware

Mobius Amsterdam 2007: Opening reception and disclosure

The Windows Mobile Mobius 2008 summit is being held in Amsterdam this week and 22 mobile enthusiasts are here to interact with software developers, device manufacturers, chip makers, and Microsoft product managers in an open exchange of ideas, feedback, and more. The first evening was kicked off with a reception and fun mobile contest.

November 28, 2007 by Matthew Miller in Enterprise Software

Verizon Wireless finally releases XV6800 WM Professional device

Verizon Wireless usually leads the race in launching the latest and greatest CDMA version of mobile devices, but for some reason the successor the the XV6700 has been in queue for a few months compared to the mid-summer launch of the HTC Mogul. Today, Verizon Wireless announced the XV6800 Windows Mobile 6 Professional (touch screen) device. Check out the excellent review of the HTC Mogul/PPC-6800 at MobileTechReview to see what to expect in the Verizon XV6800.

November 28, 2007 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

So you can bring a Sprint phone to Verizon, what's the big deal?

You may have read the announcement this morning that Verizon Wireless is opening up its network so that customers with qualified handsets and software can plug into their network. While this may initially look like an opening up of the network to embrace customers and give them choices, I don't think it is really anything special after a further look. The handset will have to be a CDMA handset and thus the only other carrier that people may move from is Sprint. And if you look at the handsets offered by Sprint and Verizon Wireless, Verizon already has Sprint beat in the number and quality of offerings.

November 26, 2007 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

Nokia N95-1 firmware updated with demand paging capability

I've been using a Nokia N95-1 off and on for the last 7 months and even though it may not be perfect, it is one amazing device that I keep going back to after trying something new. I just read on All About Symbian that the anticipated firmware update is now available for this device. IMHO, the most significant feature is demand paging due to the limited amount of RAM on the N95-1.

November 25, 2007 by Matthew Miller in Microsoft

Check out the EverNote Windows Mobile technology preview

I was just browsing my favorite blogs and stumbled upon some awesome news over at jkOnTheRun that details the installation process and functionality of the new EverNote technology preview for Windows Mobile. There is a very limited OneNote Mobile client for Windows Mobile devices and I was patiently waiting to see a mobile client from EverNote (a OneNote competitor) and it looks like they surpassed the functionality of OneNote with this preview product. You can check out more details of the Windows Mobile technology preview and even try it on your Windows Mobile 5 or 6 Pocket PC or Smartphone device. You will need the desktop version of EverNote 2.2 and there is a 60-day free trial so you can truly see if it fits into your mobile software arsenal.

November 25, 2007 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

Share your cameraphone pics everywhere with ShoZu

As a father of three active daughters, I like to use my camera-enabled phones to capture moments of their lives when I don't have a dedicated camera in hand. I upload these pics to Flickr, Vox, my blog, my Facebook site, and sometimes my TextAmerica site. I have used the native utilities on S60 devices, Vox upload tool, special email address (WordPress functionality), Facebook utility on a BlackBerry, and ShoZu in the past, but am pleased that something major was just updated that brings all these various tools into a single package. With the latest version of ShoZu you can now easily send your latest snapshot to all these services, and a lot more, with a single upload via MMS or email. This will save me lots of time and also allow me to post to several sites at once.

November 20, 2007 by Matthew Miller in Social Media

MobileTechRoundup show #117, Freeware Extravaganza

You will want to check out the Freeware Extravaganza that we have for you in MobileTechRoundup show #117 this week as we talk about 6 free applications for your mobile devices. You can also hear about my decision on the T-Mobile Shadow. James picked up an iPod Touch and is quite impressed with the browsing experience. Kevin likes his Eee PC and talks about more usage of the device.

November 20, 2007 by Matthew Miller in Enterprise Software

Retrevo plays matchmaker between consumers and electronics

I use search engines, primarily Google, all the time to find mobile device reviews, specifications, manual, rumors, and other information. While Google is very good, it also returns back a ton of information that isn't always what I am looking for and I have to spend time weeding through the results. Last fall, there was a first launch of a vertical search site for consumer electronics. Today, the site was "relaunched" with a new clean UI, personalization capabilities, and consumer friendly data aggregation. In addition to helping you find what you are really looking for, Retrevo analyzes the information and produces a brief summary. As stated on their website, their first analysis service, Product Discovery Map is focused on the shopping and buying stages.

November 19, 2007 by Matthew Miller in Hardware

Is the Amazon Kindle going to be a monthly fee nightmare?

The internet is all a buzz about the Amazon Kindle that was just officially announced. The Amazon Kindle product page is live and you can place your order now for this US$399 ebook reader. As I scrolled down through the product page I couldn't help but start adding up how high the monthly fees for this thing could possibly be. There are monthly subscriptions for newspapers from US$9.99 to US$14.99, magazines at US$1.99 and US$2.99, blogs (yes free blogs) for US$0.99 each per month, and Word document and photo email attachment support for US$0.10 each. I think the device hardware is a bit steep to start with, but you could easily be paying a monthly subscription cost that dwarfs the hardware cost over a rather short period of time.

November 18, 2007 by Matthew Miller in Enterprise Software

First impressions of the Nokia N81 8GB; music now ROCKS on a smartphone!

It has been a few months since a device was sent for evaluation through the Nokia Nseries Blogger Relations program and I was looking forward to checking out one of the new Nseries devices, a Nokia N82, N81, N95-3, N95 8GB, or N810 Internet Tablet. On Thursday I arrived home with a plain brown box on my porch from Andy Abramson and Comunicano so I couldn't wait to see what was inside. As you can see in my unboxing video below, it was a Nokia N81 8GB with a full Maroon 5 album and 2 music videos preinstalled on the 8GB flash drive. I've read several reviews that stated the build quality was not that great and people were quite disappointed in some performance aspects (web surfing, file transfer rates) of the device so I looked forward to checking it out first hand. As I'll comment on below, I don't think it is the best quality Nseries device, but if you are an audiophile or music functionality and quality is your primary criteria for a mobile device then the N81 8GB needs serious consideration. This is the BEST music playing smartphone I have ever tried and that includes the iPhone.

November 16, 2007 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

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