"With MediaCatcher, we've built an extremely easy-to-use broadcatching system with a web-based program guide. It represents the first PVR product that is specifically designed to deliver content to the iPod Video (and other portable media players including media-enabled cell phones)

With video-capable mobile devices becoming more common than television sets, we believe portable devices like the iPod are the new "TV". Unfortunately, there's a disconnect - with shows costing between $2 and $20 per download from iTunes there is no good way to fill up one’s portable media player with video. So there are many millions of video players out there without much video to watch.

The US Supreme Court has repeatedly reaffirmed your right as a consumer to "fair use" of the copyrighted content that you license, including "time shifting". That’s why VCRs and Personal Video Recorders like TiVo® are perfectly legal. And that’s why BroadClip is perfectly legal.

BroadClip makes it incredibly easy to watch your favorite TV shows anywhere you go, using your iPod. After you set up your account, just select the programs that you want on this website, and when those shows are aired they are automatically recorded on your PC, reformatted to play on your iPod, meta tagged for easy navigation on your iPod, and finally they are imported into iTunes and sent to your hungry and waiting iPod, ready to be viewed. It's painless!

All you need to use BroadClip is a PC (probably have one of those since you are reading this website) (Mac and Linux support by Q1 of 2007), a cable TV subscription (probably have that too), and a small hardware device called a “tuner”, which can be purchased on Amazon or Broadclip's website. And of course you need an iPod or other portable media player to watch your videos.

Think about it – just tell BroadClip what shows you want and they automatically appear in your iPod after they air. Pretty cool? We think so. We even patented it.

If you are starting to wonder "How much does this cost?", click here here for the best news yet."

Looks like Motorola will be making a new smartphone based completely off the RAZR design, unlike the Motorola Q. This RAZR PDA is expected to be running a linux OS, and was shown during a slide show. No date or specifications were give. Stay tuned.Pic Via Gizmodo .

"As the iPod evolves into a mini movie theater and a telephone, I think we'll see the end of the famed interface and the beginning of whole new face for the digital media giant."

"Back in August, Apple and Creative Technology announced a settlement to the legal battle over the iPod's acclaimed interface. After a dispute lasting several months, Apple relinquished to Creative’s so-called Zen Patent, which "covers the user interface that enables users of portable media players to efficiently and intuitively

navigate among and select tracks on the players. Creative applied for the Zen Patent on January 5, 2001 and it was awarded on August 9, 2005."

Under the terms of the settlement, Apple paid Creative a handsome sum of $100 million for "a paid-up license to use Creative's recently awarded patent in all Apple products." At the time, I wondered why Creative accepted a rather small fee — after all, Research in Motion ended up writing $612.5 million check over its Blackberry wireless e-mail patent dispute — and didn't demand a licensing fee for the use of its interface.

Maybe it's because it won’t be around much longer.

When the iPod was introduced, its menu was a marvel of simplicity. Once it was loaded with music, everything was naturally sorted by artist, album, genre or song, controlled by a single button and scroll wheel and a minimal amount of options. And as the iPod has evolved, the menu has remained virtually unchanged, picking up customization along the way, but never straying from its original design.

But I think that's all about to change.

During the introduction of the latest round of iPods last month, Steve Jobs took the opportunity to demo iTV, a video streaming set-top box which will be released in the first quarter of 2007. Calling it "probably the most gorgeous graphics you've ever seen on a TV set," Steve said iTV completed the iPod's story "gives you a little bit of an idea where we’re going."

Think about it: With a widescreen, touch-enabled screen, the iPod's current menu is going to seem awfully low-tech; but what if a scaled-down version of Front Row were to find its way onto the iPod? Imagine moving icons around with the wave of a finger; it would certainly bring new life to the popular media player, give users a reason to upgrade, and turn the page on a new chapter in the iPod story." Via SpyMac .

This article makes a lot of sense, and I think the author is on to something..

Treolo over @ TreoCentral Forums has posted a review of the Gadgetplus Zero Antenna. Check out his review to see if you might be interested in this mod. for your Treo. This works on Treo 650 and 700 series Treos

Gay continues, "Yet the basic fact remains. iTunes has saved 'The Office.' A year ago, the show was about to suffer the fate of a hundred thousand other shows that labored under the tyranny of Nielsen: It was about to get the ax. And then something providential happened. ABC cut a deal with iTunes' new TV service, and a few hours later, NBC followed. 'The Office' was an immediate iTunes hit. While neither Apple nor NBC release numbers (a million total monthly downloads for all TV shows is one estimate), 'The Office' now reigns as the 'Seinfeld' of iTunes. While it recently ceded the top spot to 'Lost,' most weeks the great NBC comedy is the single most downloaded program. 'I'm not sure that we'd still have the show on the air' without the iTunes boost, says Angela Bromstead, president of NBC Universal Television Studio."

Gay continues, "Anniversaries are a time to take stock, and one of the most important of the decade falls in a few weeks. When the networks (CBS followed quickly, too) signed those dramatic deals with iTunes last fall, no one had a clue what would happen. They have clues now. iTunes has saved shows, driven new viewers to the networks and their Web sites, and even changed the way shows are produced."

"iTunes has almost certainly saved other shows, too, or at least given them a lease on life. NBC recently ordered more scripts for 'Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.' Would that have happened if 'Studio' didn't have just the slightest traction on iTunes? (Four episodes placed recently in the iTunes top 50.) Probably not," Gay reports."

"Apple Computer announced on Tuesday that the second generation of its iPod Shuffle will be available globally on Friday, Nov. 3. The 1-gigabyte screenless iPod, which retails for $79, has been the subject of much fan speculation because of Apple CEO Steve Jobs' claim that it's the world's smallest digital-audio player--it's half a cubic inch in volume.

The new Shuffle was announced as part of an Apple "special event" in September. Jobs originally stated that the little music player would ship in October, but when most of the month went by without a definite release date, enthusiasts began to wonder what had happened to it."

StyleTap® Platform Features

I've been using StyleTap on my Treo 700wx and highly recommend it to anyone making the switch from Palm OS to Windows Mobile.

"We're incredibly excited," said Terence Goggin, CTO of Information Appliance Associates. "We've long been able to sync iTunes music for Windows users to a wide variety of devices. We're very happy to be able to provide a solution to easily transfer music to the BlackBerry Pearl so soon after the device has entered the market."

pearlTunes copies MP3s and other unprotected digital music from selected playlists on iTunes for Windows to the MicroSD memory card on the user's BlackBerry Pearl. This allows the user to copy just favorite selections to the BlackBerry Pearl. "One of the great things about the new BlackBerry Pearl is its ability to integrate multimedia into the existing BlackBerry form factor," Goggin continued. "So many users are going to fall in love with the ability to carry the music they listen to on their iTunes with them on the BlackBerry Pearl. This is a really exciting merging of two worlds. Now iTunes users can use pearlTunes to sync their non- protected digital music to their BlackBerry Pearl handhelds."

pearlTunes retails for $9.95." Via PDA Live .

Ojeda-Zapata reports, "The obvious choice here is a high-end PC from Dell or HP. But I have an unorthodox recommendation: a Macintosh computer."

"Macs used to be pricey but anemic compared with their PC brethren, in large part because of underpowered PowerPC processors. That is no longer the case. Today's Macs use PC-style Intel processors, which give them comparable performance and let them run PCs' Windows operating system along with Apple Computer's own Mac OS X. Mac prices are roughly comparable to PC prices, too," Ojeda-Zapata reports.

"I test-drove Apple's two top desktop machines: the Mac Pro tower and the 24-inch iMac. I found both computers to be tempting options for PC and Mac veterans alike," Ojeda-Zapata reports. "In testing the Macs, I chewed through high-end video- and photo-editing tasks with astonishing speed — faster on the Mac Pro, obviously, but plenty quickly on the iMac... If PCs and Macs provide comparable processing power, a computer purchase might be made largely on aesthetic grounds. Macs are hard to beat in this category. They're gorgeous. Nothing on the PC side compares... Both Macs run multiple displays [and] the Mac Pro, astonishingly, runs as many as eight 30-inch displays when properly configured with multiple video cards and their DVI ports."

"The Macs' Intel processors mean they can run Windows XP. I used my Mac loaners to test Windows-friendly software and hardware and could hardly tell I wasn't on a standard PC," Ojeda-Zapata reports. "On the other hand, a PC won't let you use Mac OS X. So if you're a potential switcher who finds Macs enticing but still needs to use Windows, a Mac gives you the best of both worlds."

"The Sony Mylo Personal Communicator I've been testing is a tough sell. Short for My Life Online, Mylo is a cool-looking palm-size black or white gadget aimed at the college crowd. With its slide-out "qwerty" keyboard, Mylo is easily mistaken for another gizmo targeted at youthful customers: T-Mobile's Sidekick 3 cellphone.

But Mylo is not a cellphone, though you can use it for free calls through the popular global Skype Internet service. Still, virtually nobody, Sony included, expects students to swap a cell for a Mylo. For one thing, Mylo can't dial 911.

So, given Mylo's $350 price, it has to offer extra goodies (and perform them well enough) to justify carrying it in addition to a cell, an iPod and other gizmos. Even though Mylo doesn't require monthly fees, as cellphones do, I'm not convinced Sony has made the case.

I do appreciate using Skype without a computer. To access Skype and other communications tools, Mylo has built-in Wi-Fi capability. Starting soon, the unit will come with a year of free T-Mobile hot-spot service. You also can use open Wi-Fi networks at home, work or school, though campuses that require high levels of Virtual Private Network security may not work with Mylo. The device has a hot-spot locator database, but a number of states were missing.

Mylo also can handle instant messaging and pictures, play music and let you browse the Web, all within certain limits." Via USA Today, click here to read more.

"However, unlike Nokia Communicator 9500 or its predecessors, this device will likely be powered by the S60 platform. The usual QWERTY keyboard is retained but this phone packs a lot more punch in terms of network support: it is compatible with HSDPA, UMTS, EDGE and even Wi-Fi." "Nokia has also thrown in a 2 megapixel camera and miniUSB support. No word on the availability though."

via TechEBlog

I was just reading about Instant FM Music over at Gadgetizer and it sounds pretty cool.

"The idea behind Instant FM Music is to record your favorite radio songs/playlist, but the amazing part is the capability it has to separate and identify each song."

From the ADSTech website:

"Ever listen to the radio and wonder what the name of the song is? Who is the artist? What year was it released? Instant FM Music helps you answer all of those questions! Just plug Instant FM Music into your USB Port, tune to your favorite local FM or Web Radio stations and watch as Instant FM Music & the included software not only record the station's entire playlist, but also separate and identify the songs for easy playback."

Features:

Discover Music – Find Song Title, Artist and Other Information

Record Radio Programming – Listen to the Entire Radio Playlist or Individual Songs

Playback Recordings on PC or Portable Music Players

Receive RDS/RBDS – Display Radio Text from FM Stations (only with Instant Radio application, not in Snaptune)

Retractable Antenna Included

"It was back in May that I first reported on the stunning Meizu Mini Player, a device that unabashedly rips off the iPod’s appearance but also creates the kind of device we’ve all been waiting to see. Well finally it is coming to Europe."

"Despite being available on eBay through for some months, the first official European editions will arrive courtesy of Dane Elec, a site more usually known for specialising in RAM and flash memory."

Keep reading

"PC users are often on the losing end when it comes to beautiful designs, but thankfully the odds have been evened up further by the introduction of a Mini PC from Mouse Computer Japan. This drool-worthy offering is powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo T2700 processor, a whooping 2GB of RAM to help you breeze through tons of applications, a 230GB SATA II hard drive for fast and efficient storage, a Multi-Layer DVD burner, and a 128MB video card. In addition, you also get integrated WiFi connectivity that does away with pesky network cables. All this can be yours for less than 1,200 Euros. Mac mini or the Mini PC from Mouse Computer? Let your wallet decide."

"We just got a little email action in our inbox from our PDA/Smartphone mole who has pricing he/she claims is the legit, honest-to-gawd deal for the Palm Treo 680 for Cingular. You can get yours for less than $200 in less than 2 weeks. Sweet, yah?"

", this same mole had indicated that Cingy and Palm weren’t finding any agreements in the pricing of the anticipated smartphone. Palm wanted to produce a bare-bones, consumer Treo, something that would give them (and the Palm OS) the market share it’s missing. Thusly, it wanted to forgo certain software packages to save money, as certain professional features (Documents to Go, BlackBerry Connect, etc.) wouldn’t be much use to the newly forged “casual smartphone user”."

Keep reading

It's funny how this technique always worked with NES cartridges. My friends and I used this technique when our favorite game just wouldn't start. Do you remember blowing Zelda, Mario Bros, Kid Icarus, and Donkey Kong? Cartridges that is:)

Engadget is reporting that the second generation iPod Shuffle is starting to ship. The new Shuffle is expected in stores in the next few days.

Thanks to a PowerPoint presentation that has been leaked on the Web, it now appears that the date the latest Treo will debut on Cingular's network will be November 5.

This same document goes on to list what are supposedly the various prices for this upcoming smartphone. However, at one point it slightly contradicts itself.

It says that that the Treo 680 will be $425 without a contract, $250 with a 1-year contract and an unlimited data plan, and $175 a 2-year contract and an unlimited data plan.

However, the leaked presentation also includes what is apparently going to be a print ad for this device that gives its price as $200." Via Brighthand .

"Those of us who were just a bit disappointed in Cowon's recent D1 announcement may be more pleased with what else the Korean company has cooked up. Their player is called the D2, and it's design is a bit different than most of Cowon's products."

Keep reading

"Hello chiddles, I know you’ve all been chomping at the bit for Stevey-boy’s new MacBook Pro range to sweep through and cleanse you of your misery with the effectiveness of an LSD enema, so here’s a quick round-up of what glossy Apple loveliness is now on offer…"

"With prices ranging from $1,999 upwards, your basic spec gets you a 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 15-inch 1440×900 pixel display, 1Gb and 120Gb of RAM and HDD respectively, 6x double-layer SuperDrive and a 128mb ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics chip. Since you’re unlikely to be satisfied with that, Apple offers the same 2.33GHz processor that comes as standard on the 17-inch model as an upgrade for the 15-inch."

Keep reading

"Sonnettech offers in Japan a 2100mha battery pack for iPod that goes directly on the back of your iPod. It offers 16h of autonomy for video and 80h for music. The battery pack measures only 51x111x26mm."

Wolverton reports, "The company had previously explored replacing the click wheel with a virtual one as part of a touch-sensitive display. But now Apple appears to be looking at a third option: a touch-sensitive frame surrounding the display. Rather than click a physical button or press a virtual one on the screen, users would touch an area on the frame to operate their iPod."

"iPod designers face a challenge in trying to create a device with as large a screen as possible while still providing an array of functions and an easy way to access them, Apple noted in the patent application, filed in June but not published on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Web site until Thursday. The problem with touch-sensitive screens is that they usually generate virtual buttons or windows that 'overlay the content being displayed,' the company said. This new approach may solve that problem," Wolverton reports.

Wolverton reports, "Click wheel or no, Apple's filing also hints at another interesting feature in this full-screen iPod: a sensor that would determine whether to display images and text vertically or horizontally depending on how the user was holding the gadget. The touch-sensitive controls would also change based on the device's orientation."

"As seen in our September 2006 poll, Windows Mobile remains a popular GPS Navigation platform in spite of the rise of the AIOs, with the PDA "flavour" coming out on top. The Smartphone "flavour" has gained a lot of traction though since it was launched at the end of 2002 though as seen in this article and this will probably go a step further with the upcoming "Crossbow" platform, that may or may not be called WM5.0SE, WM5.5 or WM6.0 when it is released.

These days there is quite a bit of confusion between Smartphones and PDAPhones, but when Smartphones first came out at the tail end of 2002 with the Orange SPV / Qtek 1010 they were the first phones running on a Windows/WinCE platform. At the time WinCE was used mostly on PocketPCs that came all the way from the fist Windows CE 1.0 devices launched in 1997. A lot of "convergence" has happened since, with PocketPCs having had GPS and GSM/CDMA modules grafted on and Smartphones acquiring more power and the higher resolution screens of the PocketPCs. Today, the main differences are the touchscreen that remains a PDA exclusive and a more limited number of applications running on Smartphones, notably Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and GPS related.

This might change with the arrival of Crossbow that takes the convergence further as seen below in an exclusive look at its Smartphone version. Note the new icon based program menu and the presence of Excel, Word and PowerPoint." Via GPS Passion .

"Windows Mobile 5, like desktop versions of Windows, makes use of a specialized database called the "registry." It's essentially a system-wide preferences database, though it's a bit more complicated than that. In both desktop and mobile versions of Windows, you need to know three things about the registry:

1. Changing the registry can seriously screw up your system. Always back up before editing. Always.

2. You'll need a special program, usually, to edit the registry.

3. The registry is a great tool that can get corrupted and screwed up all the time. In other words, it's a touch controversial amongst computer nerds.

...Okay, maybe you didn't need to know that third point, but it's worth having in the back of your mind when you start diving into registry edits. Doing a registry edit is basically a way to fix certain annoying issues without having to resort to doing a hard reset. For example, sometimes uninstalled files leave garbage behind in the registry and you can go in there and clean it up. At your own risk, of course.

The other major thing changing registry entries can do is actually alter the way the operating system works in the first place. Here's an example: On the 700w and 700wx, Windows Mobile 5 always displays a "Message Sent" alert when you send out an SMS. This is annoying. Fortunately, a simple registry edit can tell WM5 to quit doing that." Read more here .

Thus far, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company has offered only a single retail configuration of the Mac Pro desktop, a quad-core system featuring two 2.66GHz dual-core Intel Xeon "Woodcrest" processors. It sells for $2500, but can be custom configured with two 3.0GHz dual-core chips for an additional $800.

Since introducing the Mac Pro in August, Apple has received "very, very positive" feedback from both customers and analysts, chief operating officer Tim Cook said during a recent company conference call. However, he noted that there's still some hesitation among customers to purchase the high-end desktop ahead of Adobe's Creative Suite 3.0 launch.

Due by late March, Creative Suite 3.0 will be the first versions of the industry leading graphics suite to run natively on Apple's new Intel Macs, allowing individual applications to take full advantage of the new Mac architecture, rather than operate under Apple's Rosetta compatibility layer. But with just over five months to go before roll-out, Apple knows its professional customers, which account for 15 - 20 percent of its Mac business, may need a little short term purchasing push.

People familiar with the Mac maker's plans say it plans to drop jaws and strike awe with a new king of speed, a super-charged Mac Pro featuring a total of eight cores of processing power. The systems, which resemble the quad-core Mac Pro externally, will house two of Intel's forthcoming quad-core Xeon 5300 series "Clovertown" chips inside its chassis, those people say."

"To add on to the previous post regarding the new Cingular Pantech smartphone here is some more solid info we have received. "The Pantech will have a numeric keypad that slides out of the bottom, think of a Samsung D807. It also has a full QWERTY keyboard that slides out simultaneously, think 8125. In addition it will run the Windows Mobile 5.0 OS and is small and black in color with a screen size of the Motorola L7. This is a candy bar style phone" This is looking good, stay tuned for live pics!" Via The Boy Genius Report .

Alison from Astraware sent me this information on their "Astraware Spooktacular!" Celebrate Halloween with the Astraware Spooktacular!

THE MIDLANDS, UK - October 26th, 2006 - It's almost time for Halloween so we're excited to announce the Astraware Spooktacular - a special sales event offering a cauldron-full of great games at scarily low prices!

Starting on Friday 27th October and running until midnight on 31st October 2006, six weird and wonderful games will be available with up to 50% off their regular price. For Club Astraware members, there's a special Halloween treat as one of them will be available free! Just visit Club Astraware at: http://www.astraware.com/club/login.php. Club Astraware is easy to join and costs nothing, so why not grab a free game this Halloween?

Visit the Astraware website at http://www.astraware.com from Friday 27th October to check out the range of Spooktacular discounts!

I'd like to congratulate Reggie, Joel, Alan, Ced, and the rest of the team @ 1src for this achievement. Make sure you listen!

* Congratulations! We made it to show 100!

* New 1SRC podcast numbering system

* No word on new Palm handheld PDAs

* Palm releases the 1.05a and VersaMail 3.1 updates for Verizon branded Treo 650s

* New daylight savings rules thats to the Energy Policiy Act of 2005

* Astraware's Spooktacular 2006 Sale

* 1SRC Editorial: Operation Marketshare

* A look back at 1SRC podcast 1, 12/9/04

"Introducing the next generation of webmail. With its smart use of the latest web technology, the new .Mac webmail will remind you of the Mail application on your desktop. You’ll feel right at home with its simple and elegant interface, drag-and-drop capability, built in Address Book, and more."

Apple has delivered on their promise of updating .mac web mail. What's huge is that it mirrors the OS X email application we've all gotten used to. Awesome job Apple!!

Round 1: Design

"The Dash takes an early lead with its thin, compact shell. At 4.4 by 2.5 by 0.5 inches and just 4.2 ounces, the Dash is narrower, thinner and nearly a full ounce lighter than the E62, and it fits easily in a jeans pocket, a rarity for a smartphone. But the E62 pulls even with its roomy keypad; tapping out messages on the wide, flat keys was a distinct pleasure, especially compared to the smaller, stubby keys on the Dash. Meanwhile, both phones stumbled when it came to other modes of input: it was too easy to accidentally nudge the E62's joystick when pressing down to select a menu item, and we were continually setting off the Dash's trigger-happy, touch-sensitive strip on the side of the screen. In the end, the Dash steals the win with its ingenious head-smacker of a feature: pressing and holding a key has the same effect as tapping "Alt" first, a time-saving shortcut that our fingertips greatly appreciated."

Winner: T-Mobile Dash

Read on to see which phone wins.

The Dash is very tempting:)

Breen writes, "Though Apple's newest nanos look positively Lilliputian next to an iPod mini, they have plenty in common. Available in capacities of 2GB, 4GB and 8GB, the nano has the same scratch-resistant aluminium shell, rounded edges and (in the case of the 4GB version) colourful exterior as the mini."

"Battery life is hugely improved," Breen writes. "Apple claims 24 hours; in our tests, the 8GB model played for 26 hours and 45 minutes, while the 4GB managed almost as much. Lastly, the display’s distinctly brighter – 40 percent brighter, Apple reckons."

Breen writes, "The second-generation nano feels and looks great, with a rugged aluminium finish and bright display. Add the vastly improved battery, high-quality recording and search functions, and you've found this Christmas's must-have purchase."

"Whenever there is a new release of Firefox I anxiously await Neil Lee's optimized version. Neil aims to please, and he just announced on his blog that he has whipped up optimized versions of Firefox 2.0 for G4, G5, and Intel Macs. Please keep in mind that this optimized version can't use the Firefox icon, or the Firefox name. You'll see a variant of the icon to the right, and the app will identify itself as BonEcho. Why? As Neil explains the name and icon are for official builds only, and this ain't official, baby." Via TUAW .

I just downloaded the Intel optimized version and it is definitely faster than the standard Firefox 2.0 version for OS X.

TreoCentral forums are always the best place to find out about upcoming Treos. The latest is from images of a price tag from CompUSA listing a Sprint Treo 750w. Click here for larger pictures.

Sprint Treo 750w

1.3 Megapixel Camera

Windows Mobile OS 5 with AKU2.2

EDGE/EVDO Technology

We all know Sprint has phones running on their EVDO network, not EDGE (that's Cingular and T-Mobile's network). This could certainly be a misprint, or is it?

"The Nokia 770 Internet Tablet is likely to get a baby brother somewhere in future."

"According to T3, the Finnish company is readying a replacement for its pilot Web tablet device. Supposedly called the Nokia 330, it will be smaller and more entertainment focused than the original model. The list of improvements includes a built-in GPS receiver and support for DivX movies. The only probable downgrade is a 3.5-inch screen instead of a 4.0-inch one used in the Nokia 770."

Keep reading

"Pink products have taken centre stage over the past few weeks, but the deluge of blushing gadgets for Breast Cancer Awareness Month has yet to subside. See, Creative has just lifted the lid on a candy-coloured Zen V Plus…."

"The special-edition 2GB audio player flashes a photo and video player and a built-in FM radio with 32 station presets. Add to that a 1.5-inch screen and a fuchsia pink shell, and you've got yourself one hot little package with a heart."

"The moreish MP3 player will be available for £100 over at Play.com come 31 October."

"Apple has their own way of calculating how many songs you can stuff into your new iPod, they base their iPod limits on audio that is 4 minutes long and encoded at 128Kbps AAC. Now as soon as you start throwing in a few tracks from your favorite Phish record, those estimates just go flying out the window."

"Well, we’ve got the fix for you, the iPod storage calculator from iLounge. It’s a useful little web tool (what, couldn’t spring for a widget?) to see how many songs you can squeeze out of that new iPod. It also shows all your songs at various bitrates for all you audiophiles out there. Just enter the average length of your songs, select what size iPod you have from a drop down, it includes all the iPod sizes from over the past 5 years; in other words - anyone can use it to see how many songs they can bring to the next shin-dig “….do kids still say that, shin-dig?”."

"A hacker from the company DoubleTwist claims that he has cracked the DRM code that protects Apple's iTunes Store tracks and stops them being played on anything except iTunes or the iPod."

"Jon Lech Johanses said he'd reverse-engineered the copy-protection system and plans to license the code to rival digital music player manufacturers. That is, if Apple's lawyers don't get to him first."

"As is often the way, Apple haven't commented on the claims."

"You know you live in a truly high tech world when your medical information is stored on a USB device in the event of an emergency, where the medical personnel attending to you will be able to garner information about yourself in a jiffy by plugging the AngelKey into any available USB port. Information stored on the AngelKey includes your photo, blood pressure information, medications you are currently on, allergies, chronic or acute medical conditions that exist, and much more. We wonder how often you need to back up the AngelKey as your blood pressure will definitely be different today compared to 20 years down the road. We also hope that the information on the AngelKey is encrypted in case the device gets lost or stolen."

Make sure you check out Alan Grassia's latest 1src Editorial, "Operation: Marketshare".

"Over the past few weeks I’ve been noticing the Cingular 3125. It is showing up in newspaper ads. I’ve seen it in weekly computer trade rags and even in popular culture magazines you can find in the check out line at the grocery store check out lane. Once I noticed it about three weeks ago, it has been popping up everywhere. (Have you heard the Lewis Black skit about the bear following you around?)

So I started to think, why couldn’t we have a Cingular 3125p, you know, the same kind of phone running the Palm OS. For those of you who haven’t yet seen the 3125, it’s a small, thin, black flip feature phone that has a 12-key dial pad. It has a 2.2-inch display, 64MB of RAM, a 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, and a mini-USB port. And as you might have guessed, this phone runs the Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone operating system." Read more here .

"Today HP announced the pending launch of the next generation of the iPAQ Mobile Messenger series, the HP iPAQ hw6920, on its network. On October 31, the new iPAQ device will be made available exclusively from Cingular Wireless.

The GSM/GPRS/EDGE hw6920 series supports WiFi, GPS, and Bluetooth wireless connectivity. It comes with TeleNav's GPS Navigator built-in, which provides voice navigation and on-screen directions. The hw6920 is a Windows Mobile 5.0 PDA packaged in a traditional, and attractive, iPAQ form factor. Cingular will offer two versions of the device:

* hw6925, includes a 1.3 megapixel HP Photosmart camera

* hw6920, without a camera

The iPAQ hw6920 series will be available starting October 31 from Cingular Wireless' B2B sales channel for US$359.99 for business customers with a two-year service agreement. The new iPAQ series will also be available on hp.com and select HP channel partners."

Ryan over @ Palm Infocenter has just posted his review of the Sprint Treo 700wx. It's a great and in-depth review, complete with lots of pictures. Check it out! "The Palm Treo 700w/700wx is the first Treo smartphone to use Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating system. Nine months after debuting on Verizon, the 700wx is the first to become available on another carrier with one key additional benefit, double the operating memory. Palm's Treo 700w series aims to bring the Palm experience to Windows Mobile. It does so by combining the Pocket PC platform with a number of Palm smartphone innovations and broadband like data speeds." Read on for the full review...

"Rumor: PalmInfocenter has received a tip that Palm is going to launch a new retail store location at 30 Rockefeller Center in New York City. The Midtown New York location will be just off 6th Avenue and 50th Street. According to the tipster, the store will have a fair amount of square footage. Rockefeller Center is a very popular tourist destination and is in a very prominent location in NYC." Via PalmInfoCenter .

"Franklin's CDU-550 is the industry's very first 1x EV-DO USB device, and will be available immediately through Franklin Wireless as well as to business customers through Sprint sales channels later this month. This revolutionary product will enable tablet PC and MAC laptop and desktop users that do not have a PCMCIA card slot to connect to the Internet or company information with broadband-like download speeds using Sprint Mobile Broadband Services operating on the Sprint Power Vision Network. Sprint today has the most wireless broadband coverage of any carrier. The Sprint Power Vision Network now covers 153 million people and services customers in 220 major metropolitan areas as well as 470 airports across the nation, the most of any carrier."

I've been lucky enough to score one of these for review. I plan on using it with my Samsung Q1 UMPC. I've been using my Sprint Treo 700p to use BT DUN with my Q1 (works very well & fast), and can't wait to try this out. Stay tuned for a full review.

Gruener reports, "Documents published in the FCC database reveal that the new Rokr will remain a phone that will be very much focused on handling multimedia, but it will be a significant departure from today's model."

Gruener reports, "The most significant news about the new Rokr is that either Motorola or Apple - or both - did not see much sense in using the Itunes media player anymore. The new Rokr will ditch Apple's software in favor of Real Networks' Real One media player." Via MacDailyNews .

"Opera Software announced today that Opera Mini, the free web browser for mobile phones, is now available for BlackBerry and Palm Treo smartphones. Opera Mini promises a faster delivery of web pages and better overall user experience.

There are three ways to get the browser: 1) Point your phone's current browser to http://mini.opera.com; 2) Send an SMS with the word OPERA to 96077 (SMS charges will apply); 3) Visit the Opera site and use the download wizard."

"A 2.16GHz or 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. Up to 39% faster than its predecessor.(1) A built-in iSight for instant video conferencing on the move. Front Row with Apple Remote to dazzle everyone in the room. Now available in 15- and 17-inch models starting at just $1999. Start your engines. Performance squared

MacBook Pro is built on the revolutionary Intel Core 2 Duo — which packs the power of two processor cores (up to 2.33GHz) inside a single chip. It provides 4MB of Smart Cache, L2 cache that can be shared between the cores as needed. It delivers higher performance in 2D and 3D graphics, video editing, and music encoding. But the new engine is only part of the story. MacBook Pro supports hard drives up to 200GB and up to 3GB of 667MHz DDR2 memory. And now every MacBook Pro boasts both a FireWire 800 port and a double-layer burning SuperDrive. Ultimate speed, performance, and connectivity. To go. That’s MacBook Pro."

Could it be updated MacBooks and MacBook Pros? Or maintenance to the site? Stay tuned.

via Akihabara News

"Steve Jobs is not noted for his modesty. So five years ago it was easy to shrug off his boast that "listening to music will never be the same again" when he introduced the iPod--a tiny hard drive with headphones that held up to 2,500 songs and sold for as much as $500."

"Thing is, Jobs was right on the money this time: 67 million units later, the iPod has indeed changed the way people listen to music. It has also changed much more: Apple Computers has transformed from a struggling PC-maker into the dominant force in consumer electronics. The music industry has been forced to overhaul its business model, while the television and movie industries are getting ready to do the same. And Jobs himself has upgraded his status from business leader to cultural icon."

"So you can't blame competitors for trying to get in on the action. None has had much success so far, and several have died trying."

Keep reading

Compatible: iPod 3G, 4G, 5G, mini, nano

$140

via iLounge

"Proporta's latest device, the Solar Bluetooth GPS Receiver, is compatible with all Bluetooth-enabled devices that informs you of your exact location no matter where you are. You also won't have to worry about running out of batteries as solar power is always abundant (unless you live on either end of the earth which has limited sunlight per year). This device is able to send a wireless signal to a PDA, smartphone, or other mobile computers. When combined with Tomtom Go, you will be able to obtain a voice-guided route plan from your current location to your preferred destination. The Proporta Solar Bluetooth GPS Receiver currently retails for $ 109.95."

"WaterField Designs sent over a sweet 13″ laptop case specifically designed for my Sony VAIO, offering more than ample protection and meticulous design. Now they have gone and released protective sleeves and cases to support Apple’s upgraded 5.5G iPod and 2G iPod Nano. Once you get one of these cases there will be no more complaints of scratches. Elastic bands keep the ear buds close at hand and tangle free. The iPod Video sleeve also includes a soft grip material on the back of the case to prevent slipping."

The iPod Video case is $29.

The iPod nano case is $22.

"I've been a Palm junkie since March of 2005 when I began my odyssey into the world of smartphones. It was a strange journey that began with a Sprint Treo 650 that had been hacked to work on the Verizon network. Then I switched carriers from Verizon to Cingular and purchased an unlocked 650, which I've been using as my main device ever since. In the past year, I have seen Palm release the 700p and 700w for non-GSM carriers. No joy for me! But, finally Palm has released a new GSM phone. The 750v is a quad band (850, 900, 1800, 1900) phone for the Vodafone network. Right now it is only available outside the US, but will eventually be available here. Of course you didn't think that I would be patient enough to wait around for that day did you? Ummmm.... NO! A little googling turned me on to PhoneSource-USA.com and one day later I had an unlocked 750v in my hands."

Read the full review

Did ya just get a new iPod nano, and want headphones to match it perfectly? Don't you want a pair of good, comfortable, inexpensive, not standard white headphones? Check these out.

V-MODA today announced that its vibrantly colored Bass Fréq and Remix modaphones, designed for listeners who want to experience the most cutting edge sound wherever they go, are the perfect accessory for the remastered, colorful iPod nanos. Bass Fréq and Remix modaphones from V-MODA feature eleven vivid color options that couple perfectly with the new metallic pink, green, blue, silver and black iPod nanos. As an alternative to standard white earphones, V-MODA's line of "hearwear" adds personal flair and style, making the iPod nano and color-coordinated modaphones among the year's hottest must-have gadgets.

"We're pleased to offer the only earphones that come in colors to precisely match the iPod nano," said Val Kolton, CEO of V-MODA. "Consumers love the ability to personalize their iPods and adding matching headphones is a terrific way to do that, as they are the most visible part of the iPod. As we launch other modaphones in fashion-forward designs and colors, we look forward to seeing the possibilities for further compatibility with subsequent versions of iPods and other MP3 players."

With solid construction, ultra-soft fit, chic fashion appeal and stunning colors, these high-fidelity earphones are designed to dramatically enhance one's music listening experience while complementing modern fashion apparel and accessories. Built for modern active lifestyles, Bass Fréq and Remix modaphones offer a comfortable, lightweight and secure fit during any activity.

Bass Fréq reduces outside noise and produces deep bass by incorporating BLISS (Bass Level Isolating Soft Silicon) technology into the design. Unlike bulky active noise cancellation technologies, BLISS noise isolation requires no batteries and includes three sizes of soft silicon fittings, creating the perfect, comfortable fit. Meanwhile, Remix modaphones offer a superb hi-fi listening experience perfect for today's most demanding audio enthusiasts.

Bass Fréq and Remix modaphones are available for $50 (U.S.) at Shop V-MODA ( shop.vmoda.com), as well as at Virgin Megastore and Urban Outfitters. They come with a 100 percent risk-free satisfaction guarantee. Please visit www.v-moda.com for more information on international retail availability.

A Tabbed interface (supporting up to 3 tabs)

An address bar featuring a url box and navigation buttons

An Integrated RSS reader

Private browsing (mask the history, cache and cookies)

Support for JPEG, GIF, BMP and PNG (with alpha channels) images

Support for HTML/XHTML/WML/RSS 1.0/2.0

Support for WAP 1.0/2.0

Support for Hires and Hires+ screen sizes

Much more.

Universe is currently in beta testing. It's always nice to see new software for the Palm OS. A tabbed browser would be very welcomed!

"Hard to believe it, but a half decade ago today Steve Jobs stood up in front of a small crowd and introduced an "MP3 music player... that plays all of the popular open formats of digital music, MP3, MP3 VBR, WAV, and AIFF," a device that changed the consumer electronics industry forever. Of course, that device was the iPod. Love it or hate it (we tend to have mixed feelings about it 'round Engadget HQ), the iPod helped to make consumer electronics cool again, and managed to be a huge step forward for the CE industry shortly after the tech bubble had burst -- and during a time when the country was in turmoil after the attacks of 9/11, no less. No, the iPod wasn't the first digital music player -- not even the first with a portable hard drive -- but we're not going to wax on about what it was that charmed tens of millions of consumers out of their hard earned cash. So we figured it'd be enough to present to you an iPod family tree, do a little groundskeeping to make sure the iPod family cemetery is in good shape, and let you blow out the iPod's birthday candles whichever way you like."

"Just Blaze recently sat down with us in an exclusive interview to discuss what devices he uses, and his opinions on all things tech. We covered the Samsung Q1, HTC TyTN, T-Mobile Dash, Vertu Signature, Motorola MPx, Sony U50, Nokia E61, and many more!" Watch the interview @ The Boy Genius Report .

TUAW celebrates the iPod's 5th birthday with a great editorial.

"Five years ago today Apple introduced the first iPod. 5 gigs of storage promised 1,000 CD quality songs in your pocket. The Firewire port let you transfer those songs in less than 10 minutes, and it could even double as a portable hard drive. $399 would get you this little marvel (though it didn't go on sale until November 10th) but you had better have a Mac. Why? Because, the iPod was Mac only.

When I first heard about the iPod I thought, 'That's a dumb name and who needs to keep a 1,000 songs with them at all times? I don't even know 1,000 songs.' Fast forward 5 years and my iPod has 6800 songs on it and movies to boot!"

Rawsthorn writes, "No object has had as dramatic an impact on our lives in the past decade as the cellphone. Only the computer comes close. But more of us use a cellphone, and our relationship with it is more intimate. The cellphone is one of the handful of personal objects - like a watch - that we take with us almost everywhere."

"So why are they so badly designed? And we're not talking about dodgy network service here, but the phones themselves," Rawsthorn writes. "Perhaps you don't think there's a problem. If you're gazing lovingly at your cellphone, marveling at how simple it is to use, how pleasing to look at and to touch, then, of course, you'll consider it to be well designed. Though I've yet to meet anyone who agrees with you. Few questions are more likely to elicit groans and complaints than asking people what they think of their cellphones."

Rawsthorn writes, "In fairness to cellphone makers, it is exceptionally difficult to design anything really well, especially a technically complex product that is manufactured in huge quantities. A well-designed object, like the Apple iPod, looks so effortless and can be used so intuitively, that it's easy to underestimate the Herculean struggle required to produce it. There are many obstacles to great design. Inventing new materials. Predicting how the product will be used. Turf wars between designers, sales representatives and engineers. It takes a massive effort of corporate will - and the support of a visionary leader, like Apple's Steve Jobs - to overcome them."

"All this could change if a dynamic new player entered the market, and the likeliest contender to do so is Apple. It's an open secret that Apple has been considering plans to launch a cellphone. Let's call it the iPhone. Ever protective of its brand, Apple is unlikely to introduce the iPhone until it is convinced that it has the best possible product, which would involve rethinking everything about the cellphone and how it works, including the role of the networks," Rawsthorn writes. "It is in a powerful position to do so. The iPod proved how successful Apple's design values could be in a new product sector. Could a cellular network risk missing out on telecom's answer to the iPod? And a well-designed iPhone might force the established cellphone makers to raise their design game, too."

"Described by Google as being, "months in the making," the company describes the 425k download as "the fastest, slickest version yet" of their mobile-optimised Google Maps application, offering real-time traffic reports, detailed directions, integrated search results (search for cafes/bars etc and get addresses and the option to call them with one click), fast downloading detailed, draggable maps and even satellite imagery."

Installation

"Installing the Google Maps was easy enough, we just pointed our Treo browser to google.com/gmm and downloaded the program over the air. Users can also download the program from to their PC from http://www.google.com/gmm/treo and then hotsync the file over to their handheld in the usual way."

Keep reading

Treo 700wx Review: Awesome (but not perfect)

"The Treo 700wx is an upgrade to the Treo 700w addressing common complaints by power users that the Treo 700w does not have Bluetooth Dial-Up Networking (DUN) and comes with too little user available memory. The Treo 700wx addresses these concerns. However, I wish it dealt with a few smaller issues as well."

Hardware

"The Treo 700wx is identical to the Treo 700w in nearly every way. That's a blessing, because the Treo 700wx has the same elegant form factor that has made the Treo successful over the past four years. It's somewhat of a curse because the Treo 700wx has a 240x240 display, just like the Treo 700w. While the screen is acceptable for surfing the internet, the shortcomings of the Treo 700wx’s display become obvious when viewing pictures and especially video. When comparing the display of the Treo 700wx to the gorgeous 320x320 display of the Treo 700p, to this reviewer it seems dull and muted."

Read the full review

"iRecord uses H.264/AVC for video encoding and AAC for audio encoding. Music only recording is supported by MP3 audio compression."

"The main difference from the iRecord device to the Neuros Sony PSP PVR is that it connects directly via USB to the portable devices. The Neuros stores videos on memory cards."

Keep reading at I4U News

"There are so many iPod accessories out there that aim to make your music and video enjoyment using the portable media player a much better experience - and then there are items like Blinkit. Blinkit connects to your iPod’s dock connector, and provides a steady stream of light from the two LEDs on the unit."

Keep reading

"BengalBoy tests the Sony Ericsson P990i and HTC TyTn Smartphones. The Windows Mobile 5.0-powered TyTn features a peppy 400MHz processor, a large TFT-LCD touchscreen display, Bluetooth connectivity, Wi-Fi, and a full QWERTY keypad. While Sony Ericsson’s P990i boasts a 240 x 320 TFT touchscreen display, 2.0-megapixel camera, 64MB RAM, 128MB Flash memory, 60MB built-in memory, 802.11b Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, a music player, and USB 2.0 connectivity."

Make the jump to see the videos

"If you are considering adding a UMPC to your collection of gadgets especially if you want just a bit more computing power for your mobile online activities this Ultra-Mobile Personal Computer (UMPC) just might be worth considering. With the built-in Bluetooth, it is capable of using any Bluetooth-ready, EDGE- or EV-DO-networked cell phone to make an Internet connection."

"At $799, the 512MB RAM/40GB HDD ago7 UMPC looks inviting...unfortunately the color(White) is not quite my choice but yet the price is worth the look."

"Now I don’t know how good your language skills are, but mine run out long before we get to reading Korean. Still, I can enjoy a pretty picture as well as the next person (as long as I’ve got my glasses on, anyway) so this review of the LG Xnote C1 Tablet PC by TabletPC Club isn’t entirely wasted on me."

"LG have really made use of this season’s must-have finish - high-gloss piano black - and made a slim, sexy convertible. I mean, compare this to Lenovo’s, HP’s and Toshiba’s; they’re not exactly drool-inducing, unless various shades of grey and black float your boat. From what I can tell by the photos, the C1 has slots for CF, SD and Memory Stick, three USB ports, ethernet and modem, VGA-out and external volume controls. It also looks like there are spaces for a SIM card to go, indicating some form of cellular connectivity on-board; EVDO perhaps?"

"Big surprise everybody, the Palm Treo 680 is coming to... wait for it... Cingular. Right, we know, we all figured it was coming to Cingular anyway, but we snagged an internal Treo 680 PowerPoint doc and now we know for sure. It'll have everything we've been expecting: Palm OS 5.4.9 with that new five-tabbed quick access (dial pad, favorites, home screen, contacts, call log), quad-band GSP / GPRS / EDGE, 312MHz XScale processor, 2.2-inch 320 x 320 display, SDIO, Bluetooth 1.2, IR, PocketTunes, 1200mAh battery, and a 4.41 x 2.36 x 0.88-inch body weighing in at 5.28 ounces."

PDA247 has some screenshots of what could be ALP, you know the next version of Palm OS. It looks pretty good. Check out PDA247 for more information.

#Ricotta cake recipe

# Happy Birthday, Sammy!

# Google Maps is now available for the Treo

# Palm introduces the new Treo 680

# 1SRC Editorial: Impressions of the Treo 680

# DataViz launches Documents To Go 9

"Attempting to give the Zune a run for its money, the Archos 604 WiFi offers a viable alternative to web surfing or exchanging data over the Internet. With its 4.5-inch 450 x 272 touchscreen, Windows file sharing, and a version of the Opera browser, the Archos can record up to 30 GB from any home entertainment source and holds up to 130 hours of TV, 85 movies, 15,000 tunes, or 300,000 photos. It also sports a removable battery and kickstand for tabletop viewing."

"Go for the optional DVR Station accessory and you can record TV in MPEG-4 with Archo’s StationBright 4.3-inch TFT LCD or transfer photos from your digital cameras. You can also turn the Archos into a camcorder with zoom, video effects, and music. The 604 is available online now for $349.99."

Five years ago, the Silicon Valley icon reported quarterly revenues of $1.45 billion, down 22 percent. Profits were cut in half, and some wondered if Apple would forever suffer at the hands of low-cost PC competitors like Dell.

Apple Computer's iPod digital music player is turning 5 years old.

The ubiquitous MP3 player did more than just dramatically change Apple's fortunes; it also eased access to digital music and assured the music industry that legal music downloading could work.

Apple fans needn't have fretted, because six days later on Oct. 23, 2001, Apple unveiled the iPod, and its fortunes along with those of the music industry dramatically changed.

Spin forward five years. The company said Wednesday that it shipped 8.7 million iPods during its fourth fiscal quarter, which ended Sept. 30. In fact, Apple's $1.6 billion from iPod sales in the quarter was more than it generated as an entire company back in October 2001. Those iPod sales were also 35 percent more than the same period last year and a lot more than cautious financial analysts were expecting.

It's hard to overstate the impact of the iPod on the computer, consumer electronics and music industries since it was introduced in 2001. The iPod, arguably, is the first "crossover" product from a computer company that genuinely caught on with music and video buffs. It's shown how a computer can be an integral part of a home entertainment system, and it's led pop stars from U2's Bono to Madonna to trade quips with Apple's own rock star, CEO Steve Jobs." Read more here .

"Key features of the smart design include:

* Choose to view digital content in either landscape or portrait mode to maximize the viewing pleasure of videos, photos and games.

* A scroll wheel for a single, smooth, one-handed operation for access and navigation of digital content.

* A large 2.8-inch-wide anti-glare touch screen to quickly launch media applications for entertainment gratification.

* The HP iPAQ rx4000 Mobile Media Companion series, which is built on Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 Software for Pocket PC, also includes a suite of connectivity options, such as integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, enabling consumers to stay connected on the go.

* Built with integrated Wi-Fi, consumers can connect to their email and the Internet to get real-time information and download music or movies. Consumers can also download VoIP software to make free PC-to-PC calls and fee-based calls to landlines and mobile phones, staying connected to loved.

* Bluetooth technology enables consumers to connect to other Bluetooth devices, such as wireless stereo headphones, mobile phones and wireless printers.

* Built on Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 Software for Pocket PC, consumers can synchronize their calendar and contacts with ease, while getting work done on the go with popular Microsoft applications, such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint."

"The Meizu Miniplayer is like the Obi-Won Kenobi of MP3 players—the only hope to go up against the Empire-like iPod. Now that the Nano has gone a Darth Vader-ish black, the white of the Meizu Miniplayer reminds us that good functionality and great design will win over great design alone.

So how does this Miniplayer shine? Let us count the ways. First, it's tiny (just like the Nano). Second, it plays back WMV/MP3/OGG/WAV/XviD files. Third, it's priced the same as the Nano, but has a screen the size of a 5G iPod. Lastly, the scroll panel works as well as the Nano's scroll wheel." Via Gizmodo .

"I saw that many TreoCentral users were having SMS problems in this thread - the issue seems to be that Sprint 700wx phones are unable to send text messages to non-Sprint users and vise-versa. I confirmed that myself today.

I called Sprint to investigate and they confirmed that the problem cropped up last week. As might be expected, they blamed it on the phone itself. That seemed odd to me, as it had always worked before. In any case, I bit the bullet and did a hard reset. No dice, still didn't work.

A call to Palm's tech support yielded similar results. They're aware of the issue and apparently working feverishly to get it fixed. It's still unclear as of now what exactly the problem is. The fix, apparently, is most likely to come in the form of a software update at Palm's site. It's also theoretically possible that Sprint could update some settings over the air, though both reps that I spoke with were doubtful that would be the case.

At any rate, you can head over to the original thread to complain, commisserate, and generally talk about the issue.

None of the people I spoke with had an estimated time for when the issue would be resolved. As soon as we know we'll let you know!

On a somewhat related note, some hardy users managed to extract the threaded SMS application off of the Treo 750v and load it onto a 700wx. It requires some registry edits and is not without significant bugs, so as of this time I wouldn't recommend it myself. Another reason it's not recommended: Palm has asked the original posters at xda-developers to take down the hack.

In any case, you can read about the threaded sms hack in this thread ."

From TreoCentral , THE place to get all your Treo news.

"Tangerine lets you easily create playlists with upbeat music, or playlists for relaxing. It does that by analyzing the BPM and beat intensity of the songs in your iTunes library. As mentioned in the previous post, it analyzes the songs blazingly fast to the tune of more than 3 per second (on an 1.83 Ghz Core Duo iMac). The amazing thing is that just copying those files actually takes longer on my iMac.

We came up with the idea after I noticed that I was spending a good 30 minutes to come up with about 30 tracks for working out. I would repeat the process fairly often and I was getting tired of it and tired of listening to the same songs over and over again. So we developed Tangerine to automate that process. The app should pay for itself for some people. It should be really handy for Nike+ users and if you’re not, this app may motivate you to get one because there’s nothing like running to the beat of the music to keep you motivated." Check it out here .

This sounds like a very cool, and unique piece of software. I'm going to try it on my iMac today.

"The Good: The HTC P3300 has strong curb-appeal, integrated GPS functionality, and sports an innovative and effective jog-wheel navigation tool. The thin sleek design feels fantastic in your palm & your pocket. The bright screen is easy to read, even outdoors, and the excellent quad-band reception and phone integration means that you never have to sacrifice form for functionality.

The Bad: Althougth the HTC P3300 packs lots of punch, it comes standard with only a 200Mhz OLAP Processor, Bluetooth 1.2 - not 2.0, and no UMTS (3G) support.

The Bottom Line: Because the HTC P3300 has the built-in GPS, this new release really scores well. If you are looking for an thin, elegant Windows Mobile Pocket PC that really has it all -- this is the device for you."

To read the whole review click here .

I've used both my 700p and 700wx to use Bluetooth Dial Up Networking with my Samsung Q1 UMPC, and they both work great.

"If you're anything like us, you've been waiting for a threaded SMS / MMS app to relieve our mobile Outlook view on messaging with Windows Mobile. Well, some dear sweet blessed soul has answered the call. Hacked directly out of a Treo 750v, which featured Palm's WinMo take on their long-lauded threaded SMS feature, now you too can have IM-like text convos with your pals with a minimum of hacking. Merely install the app, make two quick registry edits and restart your phone. (If you're down with MMS you may have to reconfigure your MMS servers.) It worked like a charm when we tested to see if it was the real deal, though we understand it doesn't work with VGA displays (i.e. the Universal.) We're definitely not vouching for the legality of this one, however." Via Engadget Mobile .

I'd like to thank all my buddies over @ TreoCentral forums for working on this and making it happen!!!

***UPDATE***

DO A FULL BACKUP OF YOUR DEVICE

MAKE SURE YOU FOLLOW THE DIRECTONS EXACTLY

This single application has made my Treo 700wx so much better. As long as you follow the directions it'll work flawlessly.

TreoCentral has to be the best online community I've seen. Tonight we've ironed out some of the kinks and helped eachother get this app working the way it's meant to. Hopefully Palm will make an official download of this application for current Windows Mobile Treo users, but for now we've got it!!

***UPDATE***

Someone has already released a support app for the new Threaded SMS app.

"This is a support app for the the Palm Messaging App, which can be downloaded from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=280256 Once installed, you lose some access to the normal inbox, which you may still want. Using VJSlippyPalm, you can assign the app to a hardware key. Running VJSlippyPalm will then launch the Palm Messaging app. However, pressing it again will close Messaging and instead switch to the normal Inbox. And vice versa. If you have one of the apps already launched in the background, it will jump to that app (eg if Inbox is open, and you're on the Today screen, it will jump to Inbox)"

We've got the best people helping us out, you guys are GREAT!!!

INTRODUCTION

"I've been reviewing Microsoft Mobile devices since 1996. Our own Editor-in-Cheif emeritus, Jared Miniman used to run a site called the WindowsCE Lair, that was eventually picked up by PDATucows. I wrote for Jared there between 1996 and 1999, and then came to pocketnow.com in early 2001. I've seen sites and devices come and go. I've had my favorites and have seen some real dogs, too."

"In my mind, 2006 is going to be the year that Hell froze over because Palm finally released a Windows Mobile powered handheld. The 700w was released on Verizon in early January of 2006. I was lucky enough to be allowed to review the device here. You may also recall that I had a number of different issues with the device and wrote follow-up articles on the experience with it here and here. Keep these articles close, because we'll want to see how far the Sprint powered 700wx is going to move from this mark. Let's take a quick look..."

WHAT'S HOT

The Sprint powered Palm 700wx is the 700w remade. The 700wx has three distinct improvements over the 700w:

1.64MB instead of just 32MB

2.The ability to use the device as an EV-DO modem

3.AKU2.x and the new Communications Manager comes preinstalled

Read the full review

"Pantech's PX-500 mobile broadband connection card is certified to operate on the Sprint Power Vision Network (EV-DO) and will support Sprint's EV-DO Rev. A services when they become available later this year."

"Pantech Wireless, Inc. announced the introduction of the PX-500 mobile broadband connection card in the U.S. The card is certified to operate on the current Sprint Power Vision NetworkSM and will support higher data speeds for a mobile DSL-like experience once Sprint makes its advanced mobile broadband services (EV-DO Rev. A) available beginning later this year. Using the cards with compatible laptops, the PX-500 gives customers access to the Internet, including, audio, video and data applications, anywhere the Sprint network is available."

"The mobile broadband solution operates at 3.3V for longer laptop computer battery and features an embedded dual-band soft flip antenna."

Make the jump to find out about the features.

"Looks like portable media players are now incorporating games as another selling point, and the Ainol V1000 eschews this marketing point very well with a built-in emulator that enables you to enjoy golden classics on the NES, SNES, and even Sega consoles of old. The Ainol V1000 supports MP3, WMA , and FLAC audio formats and the AVI video format. You get to enjoy your games and videos over the 2.5" color QVGA display. The Ainol V1000 is powered by a 400MHz processor and boasts 10 equalizer effects, coming in two storage capacities of 512MB and 1GB. Its a pity about the limited storage capacity, as everything else about this metallic portable media player just stokes your desire to purchase one outright. It is currently available in China, with no word about a worldwide release. Also check out the Ainol V3 digital audio player if you're looking for one."

"SD cards for Windows Mobile devices have traditionally been "hit-and-miss." Although they usually get the job done, they also tend to be oversized, power-hungry, and accompanied by inelegant software that is difficult or unreliable to use. The Socket P300 WiFi card, however, makes substantial improvements in these key areas, even though the usual problems are not eliminated entirely."

Socket To Me

"Measuring just 40 x 24 x 2.1 mm, the P300 is only slightly larger than a regular SD memory card, sticking out of a standard SD slot on a PDA by only a couple of millimeters. This still leaves enough room for a gentle blue blinking light on the card that indicates card activity. The card complies with the 802.11b and g standards, allowing it to connect to wireless 802.11b and 802.11g networks with a theoretical maximum download speed of 54 megabits per second. Socket says the device consumes less of your PDA's battery charge than any of its competitors do."

Read the full review

"We've shown some love for Tumi backpacks in the past, so it's no surprise we'd fall head over heels for their new limited edition backpack which charges your gadgets via its built-in solar panel. Designed by famed Brit sculptor Anish Kapoor, the bag has a removable solar panel, padded laptop sleeve, and a water-repellent exterior. It'll set you back $695 bucks, but the full proceeds go to Doctors Without Borders."

"The shirt has a special pocket to store your iPod and a special slot to thread the headphones cord through. Controlling that lovely MP3 player is left to the special "smart fabric interface," which is a set of buttons built right into the shirt."

"URBAN TOOL, the manufacturer out of Australia, says that the grooveRider can go right through the wash without losing any of that "smart fabric interface." (You probably should air-dry it, however.)The shirt comes in black, khaki, and savannah. The price is US$149."

Photo via Aving.net

According to Engadget, the Raon Vega is going to be like the Sony Vaio UX. Well, the Sony Vaio UX is too small in my opinion and the Raon Vega is going to be even smaller.

"Brule of Japan just announced what they're calling the lightest 4.3-inch Windows PC on the market -- yeah, they're lookin' at you Sony Vaio UX. The Raon Vega weighs in at just 350-grams / 160×80×27.5-mm compared to the UX's 544-grams / 150×95×38-mm. Of course, the Raon Vega cuts corners by shaving 0.2-inches off the screen, and delivering a 500MHz Geode LX800 processor, 512MB of memory, 30GB disk, 1.8 hour battery, and 800x480 (WVGA) screen resolution while opting for an externally attached USB WiFi adapter. In fact, the Raon Vega is bested by Sony in every category. We're tempted to call it the poor man's ultra-portable at nearly half the price of the UX, but with an expected retail price of ¥139,800 or about $1,178 when these hit Japan later this month, well, you'll still need a fistful to take 'er home."

via Gear Live

Microsoft told Rueters, 'We encourage all third party vendors to follow best practices and help protect their users regardless of platform through careful scanning of the software they ship, so that they do not expose their customers to unnecessary risk from malicious software.' That pretty much sums it up right there.

It isn't often that I side with Microsoft against Apple, but this is one of those times." Via TUAW ,

I was glad to see one of my favorite Mac sites speak about the whole iPod virus fiasco. I wrote about this yesterday and thought it was in poor taste of Apple to make this comment about the situation.

"'As you might imagine, we are upset at Windows for not being more hardy against such viruses, and even more upset with ourselves for not catching it.'"

Props to TUAW for speaking out about this as well and not taking the Mac fan boy approach!

Treonauts has a very interesting and informative editorial posted about "Choosing Your Next Treo".

"There was a time not too long ago when choosing which Treo smartphone to buy was pretty easy as there was only one model to choose from… In the past year however Palm has vastly expanded the Treo family to very shortly provide a choice of five (possibly six soon) smartphones."

This is a must read article for anyone considering their first Treo, or upgrading their current one for a new model.

"The new T-Mobile Dash is yet another fine competitor in the bloody arena of smartphones (just ask resident fanboy Jason Chen). Featuring a full QWERTY keyboard, EDGE, WiFi, and enhanced multimedia through Windows Media 10—all on top of a sleek design—the Dash couldn't wait to give the Motorola Q a good push...email." To read more click here .

"You have to love Retro Dialer 1.2 don't you? "This retro phone dialer is a step back in time. Simply dial your party`s phone number and press the center of the screen to call. Your friends and family will be impressed with your retro style and that you know all the digits in their phone number!!! TOUCH SCREEN INSTRUCTIONS: Tap the numbers to dial and the center "Bell Telephone" logo to place the call. When dialing, the digits will appear in the menu bar. NON-TOUCH SCREEN INSTRUCTIONS: Type the digits on your keypad and press the ENTER key on your navigation controls to place the call."

"Belkin's updated accessory for the iPod, the TuneBase FM, just got approved by the FCC. Designed to mount, stabilize, charge, power and play your iPod, the TuneBase is one useful accessory. It is compatible with most iPod generations (except 3G)."

"Simply connect the Belkin TuneBase FM to the vehicle's cigarette-lighter adapter, slide the iPod into the cradle at the top and the iPod will power up when the car battery is on. When power is removed from the cigarette-lighter adapter, the iPod pauses playback."

Keep reading

"When the slightly updated 5G iPods hit the shelves earlier this year, Apple also released a software update for the original 5G iPods to bring most of the new functionalities (games, improved search etc) to the older model. Obviously the software could only do so much and wasn't able to replicate the superior screen or battery life. Or so you would have thought…"

Keep reading

"The gold RAZR by Dolce & Gabbana has been a big hit. So it is naturally for companies to explore more cross-branding of mobile phones."

via I4U News

"The iPod/iPhone rumour mill is something so clouded that as TR News Ed I made the executive decision to circumvent the vast majority of it a long time ago, but yesterday I had a conversation with an extremely well informed exec which I’m going to share.

Naturally the identity of this friendly and talkative fellow has to stay a closely guarded secret but he works in a multinational company that develops iPod products and which sport ‘Made For iPod’ accreditation and the info flowed after I questioned the value of one of his company’s new iPod accessories.

In a very matter of fact tone I was told that the product was not designed for the current generation of device, but the official 6G iPod (fanboy art above - the current generation is referred to as 5.5) which is to be released in December. His company’s device only comes onto the market shortly before then and would benefit hugely because the new iPod would sport a screen that filled the full side of the device and consequently offer higher resolution video.

He explained that Apple had told him 480p content (the lowest standard of High Definition) was the target but could only promise whatever did appear would be of a much greater quality than is used today. When I enquired about the control method he confirmed it would be virtual (see official Apple patent application above) and that essentially Apple was finally delivering the type of device we’ve seen journos (including myself) talk about since the turn of the year.

“This is why Jobs isn’t afraid of the Zune,” he said, though he had no knowledge of whether wireless would make an appearance."

"Forking out $599 for an iRocker gaming chair which supports digital audio players as well is definitely too much for us ordinary Joes, which is why there will always be a market for comparable quality products at a much lower price. The Blast Pod Audio Rocker costs a fraction of the iRocker at just $99, albeit with 33% less power than the premium iRocker. The Blast Pod also does not come with an adjustable reclining position, but at least you will be able to listen to your favorite tunes from your iPod while planting your tush comfortably into the Blast Pod. Choose from pink, navy blue, red, black, and blue colors."

"We recently discovered that a small number - less than 1% - of the Video iPods available for purchase after September 12, 2006 left our contract manufacturer carrying the Windows RavMonE.exe virus. This known virus affects only Windows computers, and up to date anti-virus software which is included with most Windows computers should detect and remove it. So far we have seen less than 25 reports concerning this problem. The iPod nano, iPod shuffle and Mac OS X are not affected, and all Video iPods now shipping are virus free. As you might imagine, we are upset at Windows for not being more hardy against such viruses, and even more upset with ourselves for not catching it."

I'm a huge Apple fan, but there was no need to include this in their admitting they shipped iPods with a virus, "upset at Windows for not being more hardy against such viruses." Take responsibility for your mistake!

Brighand is reporting on an upcoming microSD Wi-Fi card.

"The original Motorola RAZR V3, released back in July of 2004, is a handset that has truly stood the test of time. While it is by no means a technological marvel when compared with other phones on the market today, it is still a handset that sells outstandingly well. When Motorola decided to refresh its fashion line of handsets, taking such a popular design, modernizing it, and adding features to bring it in line with other handsets of the day was an obvious choice. That is not to say that the new Motorola MOTOKRZR K1 has all the advanced features of many high-end devices doing the rounds, but when compared to other fashion phones, it definitely holds its own." Read more .

The Boy Genius Report has just launched. You probably know The Boy Genius from all the smartphone news he breaks. Make sure you check out his great site!

"Due to the overwealming response from The Boy Genius Report on Engadget and Engadget Mobile, we have decided to launch our own website, bringing our fans and colleagues all of buzz reports you could possibly ever wish into existence. We will bring you exclusive scoops, news, reviews, and general banter from all points relating to the technology interests and appetites of our readers. Technology is a lifestyle - and that is exactly what we represent! The official Boy Genius Report forums are launching in the next couple days, so feel free to participate in the on-the-rise community. If you have a scoop or info, post it. If you have an opinion on something, voice it. Please stick with us as we constantly update and add content. The Boy Genius is a rebel, and as such, let the rebellion begin!"

The filing, made last month with a Far Eastern trademark office, is the latest in a long list of incontrovertible evidence to suggest the Cupertino, Calif.-based iPod maker is in the final developmental stages of the project, which is expected to merge traditional cellular capabilities with an iPod digital music player.

In the September 15th filing, Apple describes iPhone as "handheld and mobile digital electronic devices for the sending and receiving of telephone calls, faxes, electronic mail, and other digital data; MP3 and other digital format audio players."

Under the primary but broad classification, Apple said iPhone may also consist of "electronic handheld units for the wireless receipt and/or transmission of data that enable the user to keep track of or manage personal information."

Similarly, it may include "software for the redirection of messages, Internet e-mail, and/or other data to one or more electronic handheld devices from a data store on or associated with a personal computer or a server; and software for the synchronization of data between a remote station or device and a fixed or remote station or device."

Of particular interest is a secondary classification of iPhone listed in the filing which pertains to a "stand alone video game machine," implying that the device may be compatible with the handful of arcade games recently introduced for Apple's fifth-generation video iPod players. The games are available for purchase and download from the company's iTunes Store for $4.99 a piece." Via AppleInsider .

Can it be true, a free Treo from Palm? It definitely looks possible according to Gizmodo .

"Crunchgear has a tip that the low-end Treo 680 may be launching on Cingular for free, but with a catch. Apparently Palm's lack of carrier announcement during their Treo 680 launch apparently was due to problems trying to find a carrier who will carry the phone.

Cingular seems to be a likely candidate, subsidizing the 680 down to a skeletal $0, but requiring you to sustain a $30 internet plan for the entirety of your two-year contract. T-Mobile may also be a contender, but wants WiFi on the Treo in order to pimp their hotspots or work with their upcoming home VoIP program. Either way, Palm had better work fast to get these into the hands of consumers."

Palm would be very smart if they got carriers to sell this for a low price, but "free" seems too far fetched, especially for Palm. Wouldn't it be nice if they surprised us and got the carriers to sell this for free, or close to nothing? It would get more Treos in peoples hands the same way Nokia and Motorola does.

In a research note released to clients on Monday, Prudential Equity Group analyst Jesse Tortora said his checks indicate that one model will be a smart phone, including integrated keyboard, video and music capability, while the other model will be a slimmer phone with just music functionality."

iPod based smartphone with inegrated keyboard and WiFi!!! Treo what?? :)

"While attending the Digital Life conference in New York City earlier this week, mytreo.net's Tadd Rosenfeld had the opportunity to talk privately with Phil McClendon, Palm's product manager responsible for the Treo 680. This article contains three video excerpts from the meeting: (i) a close look at the new Treo Phone application, (ii) a demonstration of Google Maps, and (iii) Palm's explanation for why the Treo 680 has a standard SD slot compared to a miniSD on the Treo 750v." Click here to check out the video.

"Since its release in January 2006, the main criticism with the Treo 700w has been regarding its paltry amount of RAM. Pocket PC Techs, a 3rd party repair/upgrade company, is trying to address this issue for Verizon users stymied by their devices' memory constraints. The hope is that a lifted 700wx ROM will permit the 700w's OS to recognize the additional memory.

Interestingly, in addition to the 700w, the site's Palm memory upgrade checker also lists the Treo 700p as being currently in testing to see if its memory is upgradable.

Several e-mail correspondences from PPC Techs to TreoCentral members also indicate that the 700p,w, and wx are all currently in testing for working combinations of software and hardware to permit additional onboard memory."

Buckell reports, "Apple Computer, Inc. laptops did the best in terms of value [and] Apple had top ratings for notebook and desktop computer tech support. Brand repair history of some 128,000 computers had Apple showing fewer repairs than any other PC brand. The Apple store also got top marks in all categories when compared to other computer stores."

"So I picked up a 8GB Nano on Friday evening, bring me to my 72nd hour with the device. For the most part I am pretty pleased with the device, the new packaging - took me a sec to figure out how to open the damn thing - and its brighter screen. Battery life seems to be on par with Apple’s 20 hours, and the Nano sounds better then ever. But of course, like ever other iPod, there has to be a catch. The iPod Nano Gen 2 sports ULTRA slow - no lie - USB 2.0 transfer rates. In 10 minutes I couldn’t file the device and gave up leaving me with a half, yes HALF full Nano. My gen 1 Firewire iPod zipped right along, so as you can imagine this has left a bad taste in my mouth. Thank God for Costco and their ‘open’ return policy."

"The slightly bizarre accusation levelled at Apple is that the entrance to the new Apple Store looks like the sacred Kaaba and has been referred to as the 'Apple Mecca' -- not by Apple, but notably by our sister site News.com, among others."

"As you can see from the photographs, the similarity is striking. Both buildings are clearly cube-shaped. Presumably we can expect Jihad to be declared against Rubik's Cube by some fringe group any minute now? It too is box-shaped."

Keep reading

"Details are WAY sketchy (for now), but buywindowsmobile.com has what appears to be the first confirmed evidence of an upgraded version of the Motorola Q called the "Motorola Q Pro". No word yet on specs (HSDPA fans keep your fingers crossed), but they're reporting that it will come in black and sport Motorola's MOTOPRO Mobility Suite, which is a software package aimed at enterprise users. We had heard some earlier rumors about an HSDPA-enabled Q getting out the door by Christmas, but according to these guys the release of the Q Pro is set for the first quarter of next year."

"The Marantz IS201 Universal Apple iPod Dock is available now through Japanese gadget exporter Audio Cubes."

" What I like about this dock, is the separation of the connectors from the iPod stand. This way you can hid the cable mess better. The IS201 docking station includes stereo phono, S-Video, RC-5, IR-Flasher input and RS-232 connections and external power supply plug. With the remote control you can lean back and watch videos and photos stored on your iPod on your TV. Of course it also lists your play lists on the TV."

Keep reading

"Nobody beats Apple at computer aesthetics. From gleaming metallic finishes to ever-brighter displays, Apple consistently turns out handsome stuff that's an ideal marriage of form and function. Unlike others, Apple doesn't change merely for the sake of cosmetic tweaks," Chris Cobbs reports for The Orlando Sentinel in a review titled, "All-in-one iMacs versatile, seamless."

"The new iMacs are built around the latest Intel processor, the Core 2 Duo, bringing improved performance along with the ability to run both Mac and Windows programs. Even the priciest of non-Apple products can't match that versatility," Cobbs reports.

"My test model, featuring the new 24-inch screen, means the iMac now comes close to encroaching on the turf occupied by Apple's pricier, top-of-the-line Mac Pro series," Cobbs reports. "The 24-inch display offers higher resolution, better contrast and speedier graphics than the 17- and 20-inch iMacs. There's plenty of room to open side-by-side applications and still have space for notes and tool palettes."

"Apple's software makes these multimedia options a breeze even for those with more enthusiasm than technical know-how. That's another example of Apple's seamless delivery of form and function," Cobbs reports. "It's pretty hard to find fault with the 24-inch iMac."

During the iPod's development process did you get a sense of how big it would become?

Jobs: The way you can tell that you're onto something interesting is if everybody who knows about the project wants one themselves, if they can't wait to go out and open up their own wallets to buy one. That was clearly the case with the iPod. Everybody on the team wanted one.

Other companies had already tried to make a hard disk drive music player. Why did Apple get it right?

Jobs: We had the hardware expertise, the industrial design expertise and the software expertise, including iTunes. One of the biggest insights we have was that we decided not to try to manage your music library on the iPod, but to manage it in iTunes. Other companies tried to do everything on the device itself and made it so complicated that it was useless.

Now people at some labels think that iTunes, with its dominant market share has too much power.

Jobs: We've never once gone to them and asked them to lower their prices.

Do you think that it's fair to the customer that the songs they buy from Apple will only work on iTunes and the iPod?

Jobs: Well, they knew that all along.

Microsoft has announced its new iPod competitor, Zune. It says that this device is all about building communities. Are you worried?

Jobs: In a word, no. I've seen the demonstrations on the Internet about how you can find another person using a Zune and give them a song they can play three times. It takes forever. By the time you've gone through all that, the girl's got up and left! You're much better off to take one of your earbuds out and put it in her ear. Then you're connected with about two feet of headphone cable.

"The phone, branded the T-Mobile Dash, will go on sale on October 25 for $199 after rebates to people who sign two-year contracts. It is part of T-Mobile's bid to boost revenues by getting more customers to use phones for more than talking.

T-Mobile USA marketing director Mike Selman said that the company hopes the device will attract consumers who like to check and send e-mails on the go.

"We believe there is a real untapped need for consumers wishing to keep in touch with their personal e-mail while they are away from their computer," Selman said. Ltd., which T- Mobile also sells—could be bigger hits among style-conscious users."

"We've been fans of Mimobots for some time now, and anytime that you take something that's already cool and add Star Wars licensing, it only gets better. The Darth Vader Mimobot USB Flash Drive ($80-$170; Jan. 07) is available for pre-order now in one of three capacities (1GB, 2GB, and 4GB) and is only the first in a series of Star Wars-themed Mimobots. Limited to a run of only 3500, these are sure to sellout quickly, so if you want to have a Sith guarding your data, you'd better hurry."

"The lovable digital puppy title known as Nintendogs has widely been regarded as one of the select games that really opened up the flood gates and caused the insane demand the DS has seen in Japan. Turns out, all of us outside of that country didn't think the game was too shabby, either, as total worldwide sales of the pet-sim have hit a cute 7 million.

While we're sure some of you have left your pup(s) to starve to death in a cold, dark cartridge buried at the back of your bookcase, there still are some of those out there who remember to boot the game up, give their pooch a pet and even take him/her out for a nice stroll. Also, with next week's release of Dalmatian & Friends, could we see some of those would-be (and accomplished) deserters come back to the experience?

So, which camp do you fall into? Puppy killer or beloved owner?"

This game proves people love pets, real and virtual.

Rory Reid, Chis Stevens, and ZDNet's Rupert Goodwins want to take you for another aural ramble through the twisted streets of gadget city in the latest Crave Podcast.

You'll thrill to talk of budget software from Tesco; you'll chill to hear about screaming mobile phones; and you'll scratch your chin when you hear about virtual offices in an online world.

You'll also hear them put electronic books on trial, and hear a eulogy of some unfeasibly expensive headphones.

All this and decapitated rats strapped to mobile phones. Get your ears on it at the Crave Podcast homepage.

"The revolution in video for children has been a wonder to behold. In the last five years, the backseat DVD player has changed the way families travel, with wireless headphones and kid-sized controls allowing children to be in charge of their own entertainment. It's down-right empowering, if not a little scary."

"One place where the market was still a bit behind was in the area of personal video devices for kids. Portable DVD players are a bit too fragile. Nothing has ever matched the ruggedness of the original My First Sony Walkman. You could stomp on that cassette deck and it would continue to play. There have been a number of solid state media players for kids, but they almost uniformly stink and use propietary flash cards that are either tiny (get five minutes of SpongeBob!) or absurdly over-priced ($40 for two episodes of Powerpuff Girls!)."

Keep reading

Read more at Engadget

"The company’s new NW-S700 series of flash based players may have the same lighter-esque outer appearance as previous generations (and it really does nothing for me) but inside they are little technological marvels."

"For the first time (that I’m aware of) a digital music player will sport integrated noise cancelling technology to help block the drone of the outside world and improve audio quality. The supplied headphones do most of the work since they feature small microphones which capture, examine and neutralise surrounding noise interruptions and Sony claims they can reduce external interference by up to 75 per cent. It also marks the first occasion when a set of supplied headphones should actually be taken out the box."

Keep reading

"Spill a little water on a flash drive and it's toast. Kingston has addressed that concern with the DataTraveler Secure, a series of waterproof thumb drives that are USB 2.0 compliant."

"The titanium-coated, stainless steel casing is the star of the show here. That housing has been waterproofed and can withstand the encroachment of liquids to a depth of four feet. In other words, you can drop this one in the sink, but don't expect it to survive a dip in a lake."

"The DataTraveler Secure also comes with Windows-only security software, allowing password-controlled encryption and access."

"These waterproof flash drives come in a range of storage capacities.: the lowest is 512MB, with a price of US$44, and the highest is 4GB, with a price of US$272."

Sony and T-Mobile USA, Inc. are making it easier to live your life online by providing up to twelve months of complimentary T-Mobile HotSpot service for all mylo(TM) personal communicator devices.

Stan Glasgow, Sony Electronics' president, announced the promotion during his keynote address at the DigitalLife Expo in New York. The promotion is available for a one-year period starting on the date that a Sony mylo device first connects to the T-Mobile HotSpot service or December 31, 2007, whichever comes first.

"The mylo personal communicator is designed to let users stay connected to their online lives when they're away from their home network," said John Kodera, director of product marketing for personal communication devices at Sony Electronics. "By offering complimentary access at thousands of T-Mobile HotSpot locations, we are giving mylo communicator users more opportunities to stay online while they're out and about."

Keep reading

"From the Digital Life consumer electronics tradeshow in New York this week, the Bluetooth SIG introduced its TransSend client/server application that allows Internet content such as maps, addresses, phone numbers and other text and images to be wirelessly transferred from a Bluetooth enabled PC to another mobile Bluetooth device such as a phone or PDA. By providing this free of charge, useful, on-the-go capability to consumers, the Bluetooth SIG hopes to help increase customer satisfaction of Bluetooth enabled devices and drive visitors to TransSend enabled web sites."

"When running late for a party, a person could quickly 'TransSend' the host's address to their mobile phone. Trying out a new restaurant later in the evening becomes more convenient when the patron has already sent a map and phone number to their PDA. Someone might TransSend a brief bio of an important business contact to a mobile device to review before a dinner meeting. TransSend helps people get small, timely pieces of information to their mobile devices in a quick and effortless way so that they have the data they need when away from their PCs."

Keep reading

I just noticed that Apple is including what looks like the OS X version of Software Update for Windows with iTunes 7. The Windows version of iTunes 7 comes bundled with Apple Software Update, “to easily update iTunes and other Apple software." I wonder what other software Apple plans on releasing that will need updates for Windows users;)iLife for Windows?:)

X Doesn't Mark the Spot

"As Calligaro explained, in the early days of the creation of the Pocket PC operating system, developers needed a way to let users tell their device, "I'm done with this. Make it go away."

They picked a button with an X on it, because people were familiar with that from the desktop version of Windows. However, as everyone should know, tapping the X on a Pocket PC doesn't really close the application, it just puts it in the background.

The application is only shut down if the system decides later on that it needs the resources the application is using. This is because the Pocket PC is managing its own memory, so the user doesn't have to."

I'd like to wish Pocket PC Thoughts a Happpy 6th Anniversary! It's the premier Windows Mobile site, and is still going strong after 6 years ! I've been visiting them ever since my first Pocket PC, an iPaq 3650. Congrats to the team over there, and keep up the great work!!.

MobilityToday has some nice hands-on pictures of the Treo 680, and some camparison shots of it with the Treo 750v.

"Like we'd been hearing, T-Mobile is going all designer label on us with a couple of new Sidekick 3 looks. Last time, with the Sidekick II, they nabbed Juicy Couture and Mr. Cartoon to do the honors, and this time around we've got designs from Lifted Research Group (LRG), which is rocking a baby tree camo motif, and from Diane von Furstenburg which is sporting a "black is the new black" paintjob and some signature hot-pink number keys. Both phones also sport a bit of customized graphics for the phone interface itself, but otherwise the two limited edition Sidekicks remain largely unchanged. What we don't expect to remain unchanged is the price, but T-Mobile isn't saying exactly what yet -- we expect at least a $50 bump. Both phones should be available online and select retail stores on October 30th. Keep reading for the full-size pr0n." Via Engadget .

I knew it wouldn't be long before one of my favorite sites got a hands-on review of the Treo 680. TreoCentral has posted their first hands-on of the Treo 680.

"At the Digital Life conference in New York, Palm finally unveiled the long-rumors "low-cost" Treo: the Treo 680. The 680 is to be the first antenna-less Treo expected to be available in the US. Additionally, the 680 is to come in 4 different colors.

Both CEO Ed Colligan and Senior Treo Product Manager Phil McClendon discussed Palm's thinking behind the design of the Treo 680, gave a demonstration of the product itself, and then answered questions from the press. Although Colligan did not announce pricing or availability, Palm's press release states that they expect to have 20 carriers online by June 1, 2007. With any luck at all, we'll see a major US GSM carrier have the 680 in about a month.

TreoCentral will have video of the device and our interview with Palm employees about the device over the weekend. In the mean time, check out our impressions and photos."

Make sure you check out TreoCentral for all your Treo news, they've never let me down!

The simpler consumer devices become, the more they'll fly off the shelves and create a place for even more innovative technology, the panelists agreed. "I think once you get past ease of use, that fosters the ability to deploy more advanced technology," said Ryan Block, managing editor of Engadget. "You have to be able to use something before putting it in your home. I think a lot of users are scared of hi-def because it's this ghostly, nebulous thing."

n the same way, people who spend $9.99 on a new album from Apple Computer's iTunes Store want to be able to listen to the album whenever and wherever they want, and most importantly, only want to pay for it once, said Block.

Fortunately for Apple, the iPod maker is also the market leader in digital audio players, so it can afford to set the rules via its FairPlay digital rights management (DRM) encryption. Songs purchased from iTunes have DRM attached so they can only be played on an iPod or ripped to a CD.

Apple's success with that model has given other consumer electronics makers the idea that they can or should do the same, according to Block.

A lot of CE companies think they can own that entire ecosystem the way Apple does. That causes (more) products (to be made) that eschew open standards and make it more difficult for the consumer to actually consume," he said." Via CNET .

So true!!!!

"Welp, looks like those iPod nano Reds have been confirmed -- Bono and Oprah (Bonoprah?) congregated to the North Michigan Ave. Chi-town Apple Store to catch this amazing photo op. Hocking AIDS curing portable audio players never looked so fun." Engadget .

Looks like you can scratch one thing off of Oprah's favorite things list this year.

Compatible with Gomadic’s revolutionary TipExchange Technology, the Dual Car Charger was constructed with one cigarette lighter adapter and two optimally functioning cables so nomads can keep two devices charging at the same time. However, since the TipExchange concept is so versatile, the Dual Car Charger really enables thousands of devices: Nomads can simply leave the charger intact and rotate their tech as needed by plugging and unplugging the removable tips that are custom-made for almost any hand held device.

“We see this as the natural evolution of the Gomadic concept—which is making life easier for our customers,” says Gomadic President Don Cayelli. “Now you don’t have to argue about whose device takes precedence when you’re on the road. Whether your traveling with your sales team or your family to the beach, the Dual Charger puts more options and thus more power back into the end user’s hands.”

Keep reading

"While iPod speaker docks are a dime a dozen, third-party Zune docks are still mysterious little vixens with only the HiFi-esque Octavio as yet semi-revealed. Now this from Altec Lansing which is touted as one of them "designed for Zune" accessories, but looks exactly like their "Made for iPod" M602 only in a color scheme designed to swaddle the Zune in earthiness. Well, at least now we know what they meant by a "universal MP3 cradle." So go ahead, ogle this one for a bit, no need to feel ashamed... or jaded. Still, smart move on Altec Lansing's part dontchathink?"

"The TuneStage II captures sound signals through the player's dock connector, then sends it up to a distance of 10m. Between charges, you can do this for around 7 hours before your iPod (and TuneStage II, which is powered by the iPod) needs recharging. However, as the transmitter has a USB port, you could charge whilst playing your (i)tunes."

"It's good to use with most dockable iPods and will retail in the US only in November for around $150 (£81). A European launch will follow soon after."

via Tech Digest

"Key Ovation has finally released a Mac-compatible keyboard in its Goldtouch line. This Goldtouch keyboard is split down the middle that enables you to adjust both alphanumeric sections horizontally and vertically (at a maximum angle of 30 degrees) according to your preference, which will translate to a more natural posture that aim to increase your productivity and comfort while typing. As with any other self-respecting Apple keyboard, the Goldtouch comes with an Apple Control key, the right and left Apple and Option keys, a CD eject key, as well as Mute and Volume control. You might need a little bit of the Midas touch if you want to pick up this ergonomic keyboard, as $139 is not exactly the cheapest price in the market."

Take the power of Google Maps with you on your Treo.

Cruising around looking for a nearby coffee shop? Driving to that new restaurant but can't remember which street to turn right on? Now you can get business locations, maps and directions while you're on the go. And it's all free.

Real-time traffic — See where the congestion is, and estimate delays in over 30 major US metropolitan areas.

Detailed directions — Whether you plan to walk or drive, your route is displayed on the map itself, together with step-by-step directions.

Integrated search results — Local business locations and contact information appear all in one place, integrated on your map.

Easily movable maps — Interactive, draggable maps lets you zoom in or out, and move in all directions so you can orient yourself visually.

Satellite imagery — Get a bird's eye view of your desired location. (It's like you're there, we swear.)

I just downloaded, and installed it on my Treo 700p. It's AWESOME!!!

The Treo 680 is powered by Palm OS Garnet v5.4.9. It runs a 312 MHz Intel processor and has 64MB of user available storage memory and 64MB of SDRAM. The screen is a 320 x 320 pixel color touch-screen display. The 680 features a full size SD slot for memory expansion. It has a slimmer 1200 mAh rechargeable battery for up to 4 hours talk time. Bluetooth v1.2 wireless and IR are included as well as a VGA digital camera.

The phone is a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Class 10 device and has a internal quad-band (850/900/1800/1900) antenna that is said to feature improved TIS/TRP performance and better RF reception than the Treo 650.

It has dimensions of 2.29" x 4.40" x 0.8" inches (58.4 x 111.8 x 20.3 mm) and weighs in at 5.5 ounces (156g).

An unlocked version of the Palm Treo 680 will be made avaiabe with four different color options exclusively from Palm.com or Palm Cafe retail locations. The colors include graphite, copper, arctic and crimson and will come with a free 30 day music bundle from Yahoo Music Unlimited." Via PalmInfocenter .

Engadget is reporting that Palm has just officially announced the Treo 680.

I had the pleasure of reviewing the DocuPen Color Pen Scanner RC800 from PlanOn.

Scanners, to me at least, always seemed somewhat of a novelty. Yes they come in handy when you are working on a project or need to archive and digitize some old photographs, but who needs a scanner for everyday use? And that was the question that was on my mind while reviewing the DocuPen Color Pen Scanner.

First and foremost, this pen feels like a solid gadget. It has a nice and easy menu system and fits perfectly into your hand. I must admit, though, it does take some training (no more than a handful of scans) to get the hang of scanning a document. Once you learn the pace at which to scan—it works like a charm.

Secondly, it synced up with my Mac with zero issues. Not a single one. I installed the software and plugged it in. With the push of a button, I was looking at my documents on my iMac. It could not have been any smoother.

But to answer my first question: who needs a scanner like this? My wife is in college and loved the idea of being able to convert pages of her textbooks into text with OCR. Couple that with the Spotlight feature built into Mac OS X, she had a wealth of information at her fingertips within seconds. Seconds—simply amazing.

The scanner also scans photographs at a very good resolution. But, to be honest, I was so blown away by the text features, I did not experiment with this feature much. What I did scan, in order to write this review, I loved. It was quick and did its job.

The scanner, out of the box, could store 100’s of pages. If that is not enough, it has expandable memory! Also, for those people that will use the scanner on the go, there are leather cases available.

In closing, this scanner might be one of the coolest and most useful gadgets that I have had the opportunity to use over the past five years.

Hundreds of people descended on Liverpool Street station for the biggest ever turnout for the latest internet craze - mobile clubbing.

Armed with MP3 players loaded with favourite tracks the "clubbers" arrived on the concourse just after 7pm last night. Students, business people and office workers danced in silence as they listened to their iPods among commuters listening to announcements about late trains.

Reuters reports, "Sony created the market for portable music players with its epoch-making Walkman more than a quarter of a century ago, but in recent years it has trailed far behind Apple, whose iPod holds more than half the global digital media player market."

Reuters reports, "'We are developing a product that handles images, but I cannot make any comment on specific plans,' Sony Senior Vice President Hiroshi Yoshioka told a news conference that unveiled upcoming Walkman models. Apple launched a video-enabled iPod last October."

"Sony also said it will start rolling out five new models of a flash-memory-based Walkman, shaped like a perfume bottle, toward the end of the year at home and abroad," Reuters reports. "A 4-gigabyte model with a noise-reduction function is expected to sell for around 29,000 yen ($240) in Japan, Sony said."

Sony needs to stop trying to play catch-up and should put their money towards develpoing something no one has already done.

"According to an article (subscription required) in today's Technology section of the Wall Street Journal, Palm will launch the Treo 680 which will be the start of a new line of Treo's focused on consumers, and not enterprise. This would be the fourth and final expected Treo announcement of the year.

"Unlike other Treos, which typically were priced at more than $399 at the time of their launch, some analysts expect the new Treo 680 to start at around $199. The phone is expected to be smaller than previous Treos and will have an improved user interface and simpler icons to help consumers navigate the product.

Originally code-named "Low Rider," the Treo 680 is a world phone that will run on wireless networks equipped with GSM technology, which is widely used in Europe and Asia in addition to North America. The Treo 680 will be launched in the U.S. and available in other world markets by mid-2007.

The Treo 680's launch will be bolstered by a $25 million marketing campaign featuring several of Palm's partners, including Yahoo Inc. and eBay Inc. The campaign, designed by ad agency AKQA, will show how consumers can access those Web sites from the Treo device."

TreoCentral will be live at Palm's press conference, where this is expected to be officially launched. The conference begins in only a few hours (12:30 EST)."

"PalmSource is the Company behind Palm OS, the operating system powering some of the mobile devices and phones made by Palm and other OEM. More than 40 million mobile phones, handhelds, and other mobile devices run PalmSource software.

ACCESS' NetFront browser has been deployed to more than 279 million devices globally, representing 923 unique models ranging from mobile phones and PDAs to digital televisions, gaming consoles, and automobile telematics systems.

The first product to leverage the collective technologies and expertise of ACCESS and PalmSource is the ACCESS Linux Platform (ALP), announced in February 2006 and created to power the next generation of PDAs.

In addition to the new logo, ACCESS has launched a new global website as well, integrating the information previously available on the standalone PalmSource and ACCESS web sites.

The new integrated ACCESS and PalmSource web site is available in five language versions (English, Japanese, French, German, and Spanish) and designed to provide information to a broader global audience." Via Geekzone .

"Do you know when new Apple computers like the MacBook Pro (not desktops) will come to the market with the new Intel Core 2 Duo and new software?

Wildstrom reports, "Unlike every other computer maker, Apple refuses to discuss plans for incorporating new processors as they become available. Now that Macs include Intel chips, Apple finds itself on the same Intel road map as other computer makers. I hope that means Apple will be more forthcoming. But I'm not going to bet on it."

"As for software, Apple announced last January that a new version of OS X, called Leopard, is in the works. As usual, the company has remained mum on a release date, but my guess is that it will come no later than Mac World [sic] Expo, the second week of January. I think Apple would dearly love to steal Microsoft's thunder by making Leopard available before Microsoft ships Vista, the next version of Windows," Wildstrom reports."

"Even though Boy Genius managed to get his hands on the HTC Excalibur and the T-Mobile Dash like, way before we did, we still got a unit to take around the block ourselves. It's safe to say the Dash is probably the most T-Mobile anticipated device of the second half of this year, and with good reason. We've loved this thing ever since we laid hands on it -- don't let the pictures fool you, it's way smaller and sleeker than most photos let on. In all reality, the Dash is a fairly unphotogenic device -- which is why we had to make sure to take some bigger and better than usual photos of it. Those angled corners off the screen and the thinning metal bezel on the face makes it look pear-shaped and odd. But once you wrap your hands around it, you'll understand why this is the hottest Smartphone on the American market."

Today was the day, the big day. You could finally stand in line 30-40 people deep to pre-order (not get) the Sony PS3. Not everyone can fully comprehend the high you get, or the excitement of standing in a line with your people to get your hands on the latest "must-have" toy. These people are dedicated. They stood in line to pre-order (not get) the PS3. I understand them, but not everyone does:)

"The line of about thirty passed a few shops, including a boot store, terminating in front of a seafood market. (My favorite part of this fish store is the laminated dive-cards in the window, identifying how the fish would look if encountered underwater.) As I was shooting photos, a man in a white jumpsuit -- maybe on his way to repair a refrigerator -- stopped next to me. He asked, "What are they waiting for?"

"PlayStation 3," I said.

"Why?" he replied and kept walking."

I saw this over @ TUAW . It's a great keyboard shortcut for Mac users.

"TUAW-lover Andrew accidentally discovered that if you select a file in the Finder and press Apple + Shift + B (aka Command+Shift+B), it brings up the Bluetooth File Exchange application and prompts you for which device you want to send the selected file(s) to."

I send a lot of files to my Bluetooth enabled gadgets via my iMac, and anything that saves time works for me.

"The latest one is called the Sport Command, and it's designed with cold-weather sports in mind. It's a wireless controller that is attached to an armband. The remote has large yet separated buttons, so gloved fingers can easily track through the functions. The armband is expandable, to be able to wrap around a jacketed arm."

"It arrives in November, and the price is expected to be US$80. Now, all you need is that iPod-enhanced ski jacket."

via Mobilemag

"GEAR4 has launched BluEye, which it describes as a 3-in-1 Bluetooth hands free mobile connection, FM radio and remote control for your iPod - allowing you to make and receive calls on your iPod."

"This Bluetooth remote headphone system connects your mobile and iPod, so you can view phone numbers on your iPod display. The BluEye will also pause your tunes, alert you to an incoming call and then resume your music once your call is finished. There's also an FM receiver, which integrates directly with your iPod, with stations displayed on your iPod screen, so you can easily search for your favourite and save up to 15 channels as pre-sets."

"The Sandisk Sansa e280 offers music-savvy consumers an alternative to buying music: renting it! For 6 to 10 dollars a month, you can have (real) access to more music than iTunes users could ever dream of buying. The Sansa e280 is compatible with Microsoft’s Playforsure that allows music rental. It is also obviously compatible with plain MP3 or WMA files. With 8GB of integrated (flash) memory plus an SD card expansion slot, most users should have enough room for their music/photos. I asked Alexei to review the Sensa e280 and he played with it for about a week before writing down his impressions below."

Design and Controls

"The Sansa e280 displays a stark contrast with the earlier Sandisk mp3 players such as the e100 series. While the older e100's feel flimsy and creaky all around, the e280 has a very solid feel and a fashionable esthetic appeal. The scratch resistant metal shell on the back is particularly interesting. It has a nice matte finish and makes the player feel sturdy and durable while holding it in your hand. Sansa's weight feels about right for its size although a bit on the heavy side. However, I did not find that bothersome at all. The player also includes a micro SD expantion slot that not only gives you more space for your music, but also turns the e280 into a card reader."

Read the full review

Treocentral has just published their review of the Treo 750v. It makes for a great read, with in-depth coverage from a long time Palm OS user's perspective on switching to Windows Mobile. I made the switch with the 700wx and have not looked back.

"Let’s not beat around the bush: the 750v is the Treo you want to own. It handles phone, data, and PDA applications well and it does it in a slick looking interface. Of course, everyone wants to know about the improved form factor of the 750v. Yes, it is improved by the integrated antenna, a space-efficient miniSD slot, and the slightly reduced weight. For me, though, the form-factor is only part of the story. The rest is Windows Mobile 5.

I know many of the users on this site are also long-time Palm aficionados and so this review is geared towards you. I honestly think it is likely that a Windows Mobile Treo is going to be the device you’ll want to own in the very near future."

Here's their offical press release:

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 10, 2006--Palm, Inc. (Nasdaq:PALM) President and Chief Executive Officer Ed Colligan today invites media to join him for a press conference at DigitalLife on Thursday, Oct. 12, to announce a new Treo(TM) product.

The press conference will be held at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City. Lunch will begin at 12:30 p.m. EDT, and the press conference will follow at 1 p.m. EDT.

[...]At the show, Palm also will feature hands-on demonstrations of its latest Treo smartphone as part of the DigitalLife Cosmo Lounge, booth No. 1061.

My thought is Woo Hoo! After the long new-Treo drought that followed the release of the 700w, we're seeing new Treos all the time now. It's a good time to be a Treo lover." Via Treocentral .

"Now that the secret is out, what's that creeping out of the woodwork? Why, it's a few more screenshots of Crossbow, the next-generation Windows Mobile OS. We showed you one shot yesterday, and now here are two more, sporting a decidedly Vista-like veneer.

Crossbow beta testers are disappointed, however. Unfortunately, most of its updates are cosmetic, and there's still no way to actually quit applications. There's no WiFi sync, either. Dang." Via Gizmodo .

"We like Google as much as the next guy (unless the next guy works for Microsoft or Yahoo!) but sometimes their Mac support let's us down. It looks like things could be changing since Google just launched the Google Mac Blog. At the moment the blog is pointing to http://www.google.com/mac.html , which lists all the Mac related Google products that are available in one place. Here's hoping we see support for Macs out of the gate with future Google products."

Via TUAW .

I saw this over @ Gizmodo .

The slide-out keyboard is nice, but the device seems a bit big compared to other phones with the same features—like the HTC Wizard and Hermes. It's good if you need the screen size, but you're giving up portability for it."

It looks like Sharp hasn't gotten the memo that people prefer SMALLER devices:)

Smart phone sales have already increased by 75.5 percent in the last year to 37.4 million units, and will grow by a further 66 percent during 2006, according to data released last week by the analyst firm.

Sales of PDAs also continue to rise, racking up a 5.7 percent increase in the last year to 7.4 million units. Growth of 6.3 percent is predicted for 2006, as PDAs continue to be eclipsed by more voice-centric smart phones."

The deal, trailed all weekend, came within hours of both firms striking deals with what they’d probably describe internally as old media companies.

As Google put it in when announcing the buy, “The acquisition combines one of the largest and fastest growing online video entertainment communities with Google's expertise in organizing information and creating new models for advertising on the Internet.”

YouTube will retain its “distinct brand identity” Google said, as well as its employees. Its backers will retain a shedload of Google shares, which no doubt will be converted into readies as soon as possible. What does it mean for users? Apparently, “The combined companies will focus on providing a better, more comprehensive experience for users interested in uploading, watching and sharing videos, and will offer new opportunities for professional content owners to distribute their work to reach a vast new audience.” We can only hope this means Google will provide a sensible way of searching and navigating clips, and will hold out the prospect of paying owners of copyrighted material that finds its way onto YouTube."

Brando sent me the Press Release for their new USB Twister Hub .

"USB Twister Hub with newly and stylish alike Rubik's Cube design comes with 4 ports. Port 1 and Port 2 can be revolved 180 degree. You can easily adjust the angle of the ports and connect any other USB devices conveniently."

I'm going to order one of these for my iMac. It's great to see a company release a USB Hub that doesn't look like the standard run of the mill hub. This is something you'd be proud to have sitting on your desk.

PalmInsider has some exclusive hands on shots of the upcoming Treo 680, which is expected to be announced this week. Head on over to see more shots .

"For anyone with a 5G iPod, here is how you can make any video your iPod screensaver while it's charging, compliments of Francis Real:

1. Create a file named "Demo Mode" on your iPod.

2. In iTunes, rename any video file as "demo".

3. Sync.

4. Put on the charger.

Sounds like a neat, non-warranty-voiding hack."

"Impressive -- just six short months have elapsed from our initial hands-on of Sony Ericsson's latest superphone to the first set of honest-to-goodness reviews rolling in. Obviously, we kid; most every UIQ fan east of the Atlantic has been clamoring for this thing for a while now, but only recently have production units begun finding their way into loving homes. Delays aside, All About Symbian and phoneArena were more than happy to take delivery of the shiny new handsets in the name of putting them through their proper paces. All About Symbian seems to have come away with the more positive impression of the two, suggesting that the device is among the best PDA / phone combos currently on the market; phoneArena liked the keyboard and camera less, but thanks to freezes and crashes aplenty, both sites agreed that the P990 could've used a couple extra firmware revisions before getting pushed out the door."

I'd like to add that Pocket-lint also did a review of the p990i and they weren't all too thrilled with it:

VERDICT

"Like the old Palm Series V PDAs of yesteryear the P990i is stuck in the past, however to some its workhorse like features will no doubt appeal."

"On paper the P990i ticks all the boxes, however in practice you've got to be a brave man to pull this out of your pocket. Good on features, the P990i design is just starting to show its age."

Read the full review at Pocket-lint

"The PSA1301T has a frequency range of 150 kHz to 1.3 GHz with selectable resolution bandwidth down to 15 kHz. This makes it an excellent choice for RF service engineers seeking a portable spectrum analyzer as a replacement of traditional bench top instruments."

"The Palm TX handheld used within the PSA1301T provides the engineer with a versatile tool for recording site information and visit results. Control of the analyzer is provided by soft keys located on the touch screen. These are large enough to be finger operated, eliminating the need for a stylus. Alternatively, all functions can be operated using the hard keys. Documentation for the products being tested and test procedures can be stored on the handheld. No need to say of a large, high-resolution (480 x 320 pixels) TFT screen and lower power consumption compared to other portable systems."

The approximate international price is $1,450.

"The screen isn't the best you'll find at 128 x 128, but you get plenty of other features packed in to balance it out. There's 2GB of internal storage, along with audio and video playback, with formats suported including MP3, WMA, ASF, WMV, WAV and MP4. There's also an FM radio with 20 presets, voice recording, transfer of files via USB, plus a rechargeable lithium battery and earphones."

"Take a gander at the red-hot Cingular 3125 flip phone. Also: HTC's upcoming Excalibur smartphone, the new Palm Treo 700wx, and the Wi-Fi-enabled MDA from T-Mobile."

Some of their thoughts on the Palm Treo 700wx are:

"More memory and speedy dial-up networking make the Treo 700wx an obvious choice over the older 700w, but the decision isn't as clear-cut when it comes to other business phones. If you require full Windows compatibility, this is a strong device, and Palm has gone to some lengths to make Windows Mobile manageable with a single hand. Unfortunately, complicated menus stymie the effort. The phone is unfortunately tethered to the fortunes of Windows Mobile -- what the system does well, like Outlook and Office, the phone does well. What makes Windows unpleasant also hampers the experience of using the Treo 700wx."

Make the jump to read about the other four phones

"When a few color options are not enough, you can call on ColorWare to offer your favorite gadgets in 30 standard colors or almost unlimited customer color options. The newest addition to the lineup is the 2G iPod Nano. You can buy one new directly from their website, or you can send one in that you own to be colored. This is also available to the newly updated 30GB and 80GB iPod video, along with most of Apple’s other popular products. like the 24″ iMac. But if Apple products are not what you’re looking for don’t crash, ColorWare also offers a variety of Dell notebooks in 14”, 15”, and 17” models."

"Get bigger sound out of your little iPod(R). Tango(TM) packs two main speakers, two tweeters, and an independent downward-firing subwoofer into a compact, elegant package."

"Dock your iPod in Tango(tm) and pack a room with deep, powerful bass and crisp, clear vocals. Built-in vibration dampening keeps it all sounding clean and rich."

"Tango isn't just about great sound, though. With S-Video and 3.5mm audio/video line out jacks, you can watch movies, music videos or TV shows from your iPod with video on an external TV.

Keep reading

"Vodafone UK is using imagery of Treo 750v in several places in their (brick and mortar) retail shops - including posters and leaflets and also in various promotions. Vodafone seems to be almost proud that it sells Treo 750v on exclusive basis and "exclusive offer" phrase is being repeated by Vodafone very often in combination with this new Treo."

"Unfortunately some major Vodafone shops in UK still are not offering Treo 750v as pre-paid kit, let alone without SIM and without SIM lock. Many Vodafone shops in UK clearly refuse selling 750v other than on contract, but fortunately some of Vodafone shops, for example this one:"

Keep reading

Microsoft helps Palm to promote RECENTLY launched Treo 750v but Symbian is not doing such things

In European countries where Vodafone is operational (including UK and Germany), Microsoft is actually supporting Palm, by publishing big advertisements that promote not only Windows Mobile but also Palm Treo 750v smartphone (or "Pocket PC phone" in Microsoft's terminology)

"The advertisement above comes from Microsoft's advertising campaign in German railways - both in trains and railway magazine for travelers. The advertisements says "It has e-mail, Word, Excel, PowerPoint. And enough place for family photos" and "With Windows Mobile and with Microsoft Office Mobile you are deciding yourself, when, where, and how you want to work".

If a manufacturer of mobile phones licenses smartphone operating system from Symbian, then no marketing support is offered by Symbian. Furthermore major Symbian phone makers like Nokia (over 80% of Symbian phones sold are made by Nokia) and Sony Ericsson are never promoting Symbian as a feature but just their brand. In other words: it is worth to licence Windows Mobile, because Microsoft offers not only license for the operating system, but Microsoft supports also manufacturers through marketing efforts...

The good: Good keyboard; 3G; plenty of memory that is easily expandable; clever extensions to Windows Mobile software; SMS continuous chat view.

The bad: No Wi-Fi; 2.5mm headset jack; small, square screen; no front-facing camera for video calling.

The bottom line: The Treo 750v is the first Windows Mobile device from Palm we have seen in Asia, and the company simply had to do well with it. On the usability front it has succeeded, though there are some things that annoy us -- like the small screen.

Go read the full review

Some other "Top Secret" features for Mac OS X Leopard are also discussed in the article:

• iPhone integration

• Front Row 2.0

• iTV speculation

• Core Animation Everywhere

Delaney reports, "A spokeswoman for YouTube could not be reached for comment. A Google spokesman said, 'We don't comment on rumors and speculation.' Rumors of such talks were reported earlier on the TechCrunch blog."

Delaney reports, "Founded in February 2005, closely-held YouTube is the poster child for the boom in online video. The company says consumers view videos -- which range from short home videos to clips recorded from TV shows -- over 100 million times daily through its service and upload more than 65,000 videos each day. YouTube, San Mateo, Calif., has efforts underway to generate more advertising revenue from such traffic. At the same time, it's trying to address some media companies' concerns about the presence of video on YouTube's site that was uploaded without the content owners' permission."

"A purchase of YouTube could give a big boost to the online video efforts of Google. YouTube commanded 46% of visits to U.S. online video sites in August, according to market research firm Hitwise. That compared to a 23% share for the video activities of News Corp.'s MySpace social-networking site, and 10% for Google Video," Delaney reports. "Analysts said a Google acquisition of YouTube would make sense for both companies." Via MacDailyNews .

Intel provided a sneak peek at one of the UMPCs planned to hit the market in 2007 - a Yahoo! branded mobile device - that packs a comprehensive feature set into a small form factor. Technical details were scarce, but the presentation and hints given by senior vice president Dadi Perlmutter indicate that this will be the UMPC Microsoft and Intel should have introduced earlier this year. According to the executive, the devices will not use Core 2 Duo processor, and "consume approximately half the power of today's CPUs with approximately one-fourth the package size."

Make the jump to UMPC Site and read the thoughts on the Yahoo! UMPC

via ubergizmo

For the most part, the Gigabeat V30 (announced on September 1) has slipped under the radar thanks to the recent avalanche of new gadgets. Given our love of the S series, we were chomping at the bit to see what kind of true video player Toshiba could bring to a market stacked with good video players.

The good: The Toshiba Gigabeat V offers audio, video, and photo playback in a slim and original form factor; PMC software is intuitive; solid processor performance; compatible with WMA Lossless; standard USB port; excellent audio quality; good rated battery life.

The bad: The Toshiba Gigabeat V maxes out at 30GB; display is pixelated; thumb-stick controller not universally effective; cannot charge over USB; no FM radio or A/V recording; native video support limited to WMV.

The bottom line: Despite the Toshiba Gigabeat V30's excellent sound quality and rated battery life, there are better PVP choices.

Head over to Cnet and read the review

"Imagine if you threw a cell phone, a PDA, a UMPC, and a camera into a blender and hit “Mix”. Assuming you would have a functional device, the end result would be the HTC Herald, which is loaded with features."

"The device is a cell phone with GSM/EDGE, as well as Quadband. The display is a 2.8 inch QVGA screen with 240 x 320 resolution. Nice. It looks like a PDA, but on the side is a QWERTY-style slide keyboard. Also nice. In addition to this, the device is completely wireless capable with both 802.11 b/g WiFi and Bluetooth. Very nice!"

"Other features include a 3 Megapixel camera as well as a Micro SD slot. All this in a device with 64MB of RAM and 128MB of ROM that is only 17mm thick."

* Enhancement: Eliminate or reduce skipping when certain other applications are running (reported on Treo 700p) (#3246, #3338)

* Enhancement: Allow Pocket Tunes Deluxe to run on Chinese T|X with CJKOS enabled (#2514)

* Bug fix: Multiple bug fixes for improved operation with WMP 11 Beta 2 (still not officially supported).

* Bug fix: Fix popup of console with 5-way button on T5, T|X, and LifeDrive (#3289)

* Bug fix: Allow Treo 700p to stream from M3U files served from a port other than 80 (#3288)

* Bug fix: Fix bug where once the device goes to sleep the skin is only refreshed once every 30 seconds (#3325)

I am happy to confrim that the skipping on the Treo 700p has been fixed, I still had a few skips while running Chatter. I am glad Normsoft has fixed this issue!!

"MP3 players are fast becoming commodity items. With its recent price drops, even Apple’s players don’t command a significant premium over the competition – a fact that makes life very hard for non-Apple branded products. Rightly or wrongly, given the choice, most consumers will go for an iPod if it’s not going to cost them any more than a similar device from another manufacturer."

"Samsung is well aware of this situation and has decided to compete with the dominance of Apple by innovating. The YP-K5 is the result of many design concepts and focus groups, with the goal being a truly innovative digital music player that could not only compete with the iPod but better it."

Read the full review and see if how you think the YP-K5 stacks up against the iPod.

"Taking the iPod on the road with you pretty much necessitates the use of some sort of protective housing and the market's flooded with skins, covers and cases. Surprisingly though, there's very little on offer that actually caters for taking your iPod, ac adapter and accessories around in one neat package. Waterfield Designs specialize in this kind of casing and we've just stumbled upon a few interesting products that'll both protect and store your iPod and its accessories."

"First up is the standard iPod case (nano version pictured), which goes for a 'sock' style design with trademark check patterning and thick padding. Nice. Next up is the Gear Pouch which provides a safe home for all your iPod related stuff. Ideal for traveling, the Gear Pouch has separate compartments to neatly store all the wires, adapters and hardware an iPod user needs. Lastly we have the iPod Hi-fi Speaker Case, a quality looking fully padded transport solution for taking the iPod Hi-fi from place to place."

Fortt reports, "According to U.S. retail guru Steve Baker at NPD Group, Apple Computer's trendsetting music player is seriously into that moody, urban look. Take the slim, flash-based nano, Apple's most popular model. Last holiday season, when the color choices were white and black, black outsold white 4:3. In the larger, pricier video iPods, which also came in white and black, the two colors were just about even. 'Black has always been the bestseller,' Baker said."

"But could it be that something deeper is afoot here? I couldn't help noticing that when Apple updated the nano line last month in San Francisco, the cheapest model was silver, the colors were in the mid range, and the priciest model was black," Fortt reports. "Steve Jobs and the crew at Apple seem to have created a design language where black means premium. Are people buying it?"

Fortt reports, "To find out, Baker was nice enough to crunch another batch of retail data, this time on the MacBook laptops, which also come in white and black. His finding: In June, July and August, white MacBooks outsold black ones almost 2:1. But wait – the black ones were also more expensive, by about $200."

"'Obviously, given their thought process, they believed that black deserved a premium. The surprising thing is that it sells that well, given that it's $200 more.' Baker said he would have expected, given the price difference, that white would have outsold black by more like 4:1. 'It's a lot to pay in a business where we haven't paid extra for color before. That says to me it's really successful,'" Fortt reports.

Fortt reports, "These days, someone who flashes a black iPod isn't just saying, 'I got a new iPod' – they're saying, 'I got the best new iPod.' And yep, people are paying to make that statement." Via MacDailynews .

"As expected, T-Mobile has provided full disclosure today on exactly what it plans to do with all that juicy spectrum picked up in this summer's FCC auctions. Having been left out of the 3G race put on by its fellow national carriers, it comes as no surprise that T-Mobile has officially committed to rolling out UMTS / HSDPA on the 1700 and 2100MHz bands at a cost of some $2.1 billion. Unfortunately, the specrum is a few megahertz off from the UMTS 2100 used elsewhere, meaning existing 3G handsets designed to operate in Europe will be relegated to doing their 2.5G thing when roaming stateside; that being said, beggars can't be choosers, and we're sure T-Mobile is ecstatic to simply have somewhere to drop some next-gen data. Perhaps understanding that the wireless customer base at large can be both fickle and impatient, the nation's fourth-largest carrier is wasting no time getting its 3G equipment set up -- the rollout begins, like, now (they claim half of NYC's hardware is already in place) and will continue through the next several years, with compatible handsets and peripherals hitting retail sometime in mid 2007. Seeing how we're writing this very article from a 3G connection ourselves, all we can say is that it can't come a moment too soon." Via Engadget .

The folks @ Brando just emailed me about a new product they have just released called the iSing.

"Now you can have our Music Dock - iSing to make your iPod stand up and sing for you ! It is suitable for your iPod Nano & iPod 5G (Video) 30G as well as other portable music devices (thru line-in)."

"If you've ever been to an Apple store you've probably noticed the launcher-like buttons in the middle of the desktop of all the Macs on the floor. The buttons give you access to that store's Concierge (for Genius Bar and Studio appointments), events calendar, product info and other store info.

What if you could have those same DesktopButtons on your own Mac, giving you access to the same information - but without having to actually go to the store? I know, it's actually kind of useless, but sometimes we do things just because we can. DesktopButtons is apparently Docktop, an app that costs a mere $4, so if you like the interface itself, you really should buy it.

But what if it's the Concierge you're after? There's a torrent in the wild that will give you your very own copy of Concierge. Once configured with your local store's ID code, it will display the Concierge for that store. As ifoAppleStore points out there's a good chance the software was downloaded from an actual Apple store's computer, so it might not be in the wild for long. But for now, ifoAppleStore has all the details you need to see this all for yourself." Via TUAW .

"Palm is going to hold a press conference next Thursday in New York City to coincide with the DigitalLife show. Palm executives will be on hand at the Javits center to announce some news, which PalmInfocenter has been told will include a new product announcement.

There is no word on what the exact announcement may be, however Palm still has one last new Treo to announce as promised. Rumors have pointed at an October release of a new lower priced Palm OS Treo. An image of the unannounced Treo 680 was spotted on Palm servers last month, that were quickly removed once made public.

During Palm last quarterly conference call Palm CEO Ed Colligan talked about the last remaining new Treo smartphone promised for release this year. He stated the release would come in the "very near future". The product will have worldwide distribution and will be offered by over 20 carriers by the end of this year.

Analysts have been predicting Palm will release a sub-$300 smartphone this year using previous generation radio technologies. It could likely be a GSM/EDGE device that runs Palm OS Garnet. It is expected to be competitively priced against lower cost smartphone recently introduced such as the Motorola Q, BlackBerry Perl and the Nokia E62 ." Via PalmInfocenter .

"Anyone who's seen Apple's demos or screenshots of Time Machine can tell that this is not a typical backup application. When you need to access a backup of any file, folder or item tucked away inside a Time-Machine-aware application, you simply select the appropriate window (such as a Finder window of the folder containing the items you need to recover) and then click the Time Machine icon in the dock," Faas writes.

Faas writes, "The window you initially selected remains on display but with two arrows (backward and forward) next to it and with translucent images of the window disappearing into the background of the screen. Each translucent window indicates a previous-generation backup of the selected folder. Using the arrow keys, you can move back or forth through each backup. As the interface implies, you move backward or forward through the files on your computer based on time."

"This approach is not only visually amazing -- it does look like something out of a science fiction movie -- but it is also incredibly intuitive and easy to navigate," Faas writes. "What is truly remarkable... is that you don't need to be concerned with where the files are stored. You don't need to restore the actual files that Address Book uses to keep contacts information. And for many applications, a majority of users don't know where to find the files anyway, so with traditional backup applications, they wouldn't be able to restore them. That's because until now, backup tools have worked only at the file level.

Faas writes, "There is a great deal of reason to be excited about Time Machine. It will truly offer users backup abilities that have so far been limited primarily to larger organizations -- and it will do so at only the cost of storage space. More important, it will offer a uniquely easy-to-use backup solution, one that users will be able to access without needing to really think about complicated configurations that have until now been part of traditional backup applications. The fact that this powerful tool will be included free with Leopard puts it at the top of the list of changes coming to Mac OS X -- at least among the features announced so far." Via Macdailynews .