Five Finger Keyboards

Interesting.


http://slashdot.org/palm/21/07/07/23/1256213_1.shtml

Phones finding phones

A new service for GPS-enabled phones will allow registered phones to find one another via SMS-based functionality and a …

Slides from Last Week’s Richmond.NET User Group Meeting

I’ve posted my slide deck from last week’s Richmond.NET User Group meeting on SlideShare.



SlideShare is a free service that allows you to upload your presentation and share it online.  Right now, they do not support PPTX (PowerPoint 2007), so you’ll have to save in good, old PPT or PPS. The site can even understand PDF files.


Slide decks can also be tagged and searched across.  There are plenty of good WPF and user experience slides, including this one entitled “The Age of the UX.”


My colleague, Russell Stalters, told me about the service and how easy it was to upload documents and embed them in blog posts.  He has a lot of presentations up there on the site.


 


Live Search 2.0 Released

image004.png@01C7C2C3.13DE5E60I’m in a mobile mood this week.  Must be because of all the iPhone hype.

Microsoft has released version 2.0 of Live Search.  If you have a Windows Mobile phone and you don’t have this app, you are really missing out.  It’s the best way to lookup driving directions and contact information.

The new version makes it easy to find movie times and locations along with ratings.

For a full description, here is the Virtual Earth / Live Maps blog post.

You can download the application to your phone from wls.live.com.

Verizon and Windows Mobile 6 - Part 2

Yesterday morning I posted about Verizon’s lack of Windows Mobile 6, and yesterday afternoon, Engadget releases some dirt on Verizon’s release of the Samsung SCH-i760, likely this month or next.  Just a rumor, but that’s a cool phone.

Consider this my official complaint about no mention of the 2nd generation Zune.  Okay, Microsoft, let’s see an announcement this afternoon.

Presenting at Richmond .NET Tonight

I’ll be presenting tonight at the Richmond.NET User Group on “Welcome to the Mobile World/ Tech Ed & MEDC 2007 Round Up (or Embedded Devices in the Mist),” which, of course, merits a movie poster. ;)

 

Embedded Devices in the Mist

 

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Verizon and Windows Mobile 6

The Blame Game

So I have been waiting to find out if my Motorola Q is going to be upgraded to Windows Mobile 6, or if I will be stuck buying a new phone.  When Microsoft released version 6 back in February, they made an announcement that phone carriers would get the software free of charge if they agreed to upgrade version 5 phones for existing customers.  That was the first time there was a glimmer of hope for us.  I can’t remember any time in the past that you could upgrade your phone.  Wireless phone companies are out of control, trying to squeeze every penny they can, just look at the iPhone contract, so I fully expected to be stuck with 5 or pay for 6.

So, we are getting close to the 6 month mark and Verizon has not made an announcement, nor have they released any version 6 phones.  I took a shot and e-mailed customer support.  This was the response to my questions, “When will the Motorola Q have an update to Windows Mobile 6?  When will you have new Windows Mobile 6 phones available?”

Mr. Kuhl, according to my records the software update to a cellular phone is provided through the manufacturer. Currently Verizon Wireless has an agreement with Microsoft  the developer of Windows. The equipment will be available as soon as the Microsoft Developer has it available. I am unable to provide information regarding which equipment is being considered or approximate release dates, as this may raise expectations that may not be met.

So, its Microsoft’s fault that Verizon doesn’t have any version 6 phones even though both Sprint and T-Mobile do.  More likely it has something to do with Motorola, since the Q hasn’t be updated for any carrier.  You would think with the increased competition from the iPhone, Verizon would be scrambling to gets it hands on something like the HTC Touch.

Why place any blame?  Just say you don’t have them yet, your working on it, and your just a rep who doesn’t have any more information.

The Shell Game

If you don’t know what a shell game is, it’s usually a con involving 3 shells and a pea or ball.  You try to guess which shell the pea/ball is under after they are mixed up, often with the pea/ball not being under any due to some sort of slight of hand.

So the Verizon route didn’t help, let’s try Microsoft.  Start with the Windows Mobile page on Microsoft’s site.  Front and center are Verizon phones. 

They have them running a green background to look like version 6, but they are running version 5.  They even mention Microsoft Office which didn’t come on my Q, but I believe its standard on version 6.  Maybe it’s on the black one?  Or is this version 6?

image

Now click through on the Version advertisement twice to get to the Verizon store, and once more to get past the opening page on Verizon’s site.  Now when you finally enter the Verizon store you see the same four phones from the Microsoft site with their standard blue version 5 background.

image

A little slight of hand, some misdirection, and if don’t don’t watch closely you just might end up with an empty shell.

Mobile Life is Hard for Early Adopters

It seems like every time Microsoft rolls out it’s new OS a different phone company leads the way.  And its always the company I am not using.  Waiting 6 months to a year is hard when you are an early adopter.  Just look at the iPhone launch.  And with all these now standard 2 year contracts, you are at the mercy of your provider, or your dropping some serious cash.  I’m glad Microsoft is trying to get companies to upgrade existing phones, but the plan doesn’t seem to be working.  Of course, it could be worse.  I could live in a country that has to wait just to get the OS made available at all.

Site for pocket pc freeware and news

This site hosts the latest and most interesting free software solutions and news. You’re welcome to post links of such programs to be published on the site.

Site for pocket pc freeware and news

Site for pocket pc freeware and news

Posted by on 11 Jul 2007 at 4:15 AM
This site hosts the latest and most interesting free software solutions and news. You’re welcome to post links of such programs to be published on the site.

Local Company Fined For Illegal Software

It's not too often we have local companies that are fined for illegal software, but when we do, it makes the paper. Pride Mobility out of Exeter, PA was fined for having unlicensed software on their PCs. To read the full story, visit http://www.zwi…


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