April 2006

Torq 100 GPS PPC Phone receive Traffic Message Channel
Sound Solutions announced the Torq N100 and calls it the first Pocket PC phone with an onboard receiver allowing it to support Traffic Message Channel (TMC) functions in available countries when using popular GPS applications. The N100 can thus receive regularly updated reports of the traffic conditions ahead and so alert drivers to problems. As a phone, the Samsung 400MHz S3C2440-powered N100 supports GSM quad-band 850/900/1800/1900MHz and GPRS for voice, SMS, email, Internet, and MMS. The 4.7 x 2.45 x 0.95 inch device with RAZR-style graphics uses Windows Mobile 5.0, has a 2.8-inch touch screen, 128MB Flash and 64MB SDRAM, 1 1,440mAH Li-Ion battery, mini-SD, a 1.3M pixel CMOS camera and built in microphone allowing them to capture digital images and voice memo recordings. -- Posted Friday, April 28, 2006 by chb

MyTinyTV 2.0: Live TV for PCs and Pocket PCs
MyTinyTV allows anyone to watch real-time television on a Pocket PC, laptop or desktop -- on the road across the Internet or a local network, anywhere and anytime, which gives viewers many more exciting seating options than the living room couch. No matter where it's used, it provides all the channels the user's home cable, satellite or antenna receives. "Take your home TV with all its channels on the road and watch TV anywhere you have Internet access," says Mike van der Meulen of Softel vdm, Inc. "Bored standing in line at the post office? Fire up your Pocket PC and watch news, shows, movies -- anything that you could be watching at home!" -- Posted Friday, April 28, 2006 by chb

GoodLink 4.8 raises the bar in handheld device management
Good Technology introduced GoodLink 4.8. The new rev of the messaging software and service enables enterprises to deploy, centrally manage and secure growing smartphone deployments with greater flexibility and ease, unlocking the power of mobility for businesses worldwide. Additionally, users can now choose from a broad range of Palm OS and Windows Mobile devices, including the new Treo 700w smartphone from Verizon Wireless and PPC 6700 from Sprint. -- Posted Monday, April 24, 2006 by chb

Nokia soars -- It's good to make phones
Nokia reported Q1 2006 net sales of 9.5 billion Euros (about US$12 billion), and a stunning 40% year on year device volume growth that drove a 29% net sales growth. Nokia also reported estimates of industry quarterly device volume of 215 million units, up 27% compared to the same period last year. Nokia's share for the quarter was 75.1 million units, up 40% from last year. That made for a first quarter device market share of 35%, up 3%. Nokia's net sales in the US almost doubled year on year. Our take: At that rate, we're talking an annual pace of over 800 million phones, and more and more have some sorts (or extensive) smarts. Soon, many will be able to receive digital TV and act as GPS devices. It should be very interesting to see what share of phones will eventually include full PDA functionalities, how successful those devices will be, and what the prevalent form factor will be. -- Posted Thursday, April 20, 2006 by chb

Phraze-It now includes the Phraze-It Game
Prevalent Devices LLC announced that the Phraze-It Game is now included with each full-version download of the Phraze-It On-Screen Finger Typing Keyboard for the Pocket PC. The Phraze-It Game includes over 50 games, each with 20 increasingly challenging puzzles to decode for hours of fun. Phraze-It is a revolutionary productivity application based upon unique patented technologies consisting of keyboard layouts with adult-sized on-screen buttons for typing with your index fingers or for one-handed or two- handed thumbing. -- Posted Tuesday, April 18, 2006 by chb

Alltel launches Office Sync
Alltel, owner of America's largest wireless network, is launching Office Sync, which allows users to send/receive email in real time and also view calendars and contacts from their Palm and Windows Mobile devices. Office Sync is initially available on the Treo 650 and the UTStarcom PPC-6700, a WinMo 5.0 Wi-Fi-enabled PPC. There are two versions of Office Sync. The Personal Edition delivers email, calendars and contacts from a personal desktop to a smart device. For larger businesses, the Enterprise Server Edition integrates Office Sync with a corporate server operating behind a secure firewall to deliver the information to customers' devices. Both editions are available from Alltel for $39.99 per month, including unlimited data. -- Posted Tuesday, April 18, 2006 by chb

Treo 700 used for two-way interaction at World HEalth Care COngress
At the World Health Care Congress, Palm and VisionTree Software announced they are collaborating for the first implementation of the Palm Treo 700w smartphone running the VisionTree Conference Platform. More than 200 VIP attendees will use Treo 700w as tools to wirelessly collect, analyze and report data while at the conference, which runs April 17-19. The Treos will allow the healthcare leaders to obtain input on strategic initiatives presented at the conference. Panelists will gain feedback from the audience through custom surveys and free-text input, and collaborate in real time while gathering relevant data. The data collected will then be available to present to the audience in graphs and charts for analysis and discussion. -- Posted Monday, April 17, 2006 by chb

Vision Object releases new revs of MyScript recognizer products
The natural handwriting recognition technology specialists at Vision Objects announced the release of MyScript Builder 4.1, MyScript Form 1.1 and MyScript InkSearch 2.0. These versions feature new functionalities and additional language support enabling system integrators to develop applications for form processing and note taking in a wide range of Western and Asian languages. -- Posted Friday, April 14, 2006 by chb

Handbook on Injectable Drugs, 13th Edition on Windows Mobile
Skyscape announced the release of the US$49 “Handbook on Injectable Drugs, 13th Edition” formatted specially for PDAs and smartphones. It is a dynamic mobile tool that makes it easy for physicians to check compatibility of drugs so they can quickly take clinical action. Over 2,400 reference citations reveal the evidence base for each decision. No other drug reference examines drug stability and compatibility in
such extensive detail. The reference is published by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, and joins Skyscape’s portfolio of more than 300 trusted references in over 35 medical specialties.
For Windows Mobile 5/Pocket PC 2002/2003.
-- Posted Monday, April 10, 2006 by chb

Homebuyers see streaming video on their PDAs
12 years after I baffled my real estate agent by taking notes and doodling skeches about homes on my Apple Newton MessagePad, Modavox, Inc. in conjunction with Arizona Home Previews.com, is launching "Video Home Showing" so potential home buyers can download instant streaming videos of homes for sale directly to Windows Mobile PDAs and cell phones using Sprint, Verizon, and Cingular. Potential buyers can view a home's interior in full, narrated video tours. -- Posted Monday, April 10, 2006 by chb

Microsoft Direct Push Technology for Treo 700w
Palm announced a software update for the Treo 700w smartphone from Verizon Wireless that will enable the Windows Mobile Messaging and Security Feature Pack, which includes Direct Push Technology. The free update, which is expected to be available later this month, gives Treo 700w smartphone users fast, automatic wireless updates of their email, calendar items, contacts and tasks, allowing IT managers to deliver this information directly from Exchange Server 2003 SP2 without incurring additional third-party infrastructure costs. -- Posted Thursday, April 6, 2006 by chb

MobiTV comes to Windows Mobile
Already available for some Palm devices, MobiTV announced collaboration with Microsoft to bring the MobiTV service and user experience to Windows Mobile-powered phones and devices. MobiTV and Microsoft will be demonstrating the delivery of live television via the MobiTV Service to a Windows Mobile-powered Pocket PC over cellular and WiFi networks at the CTIA Wireless show. -- Posted Tuesday, April 4, 2006 by chb