Follow us on Twitter and win a free copy of SBSH GoNews Touch!

I've been receiving some messages lately from readers complaining that the latest giveaway challenge we've done was too complicated. So, without looking back, I've decided to change the rules of the giveaway campaign!

(Yes, I know it's not fair, I know I'm not supposed to do that, but hey, I'm giving away free copies of a very good product, for free. Did I mention - free?)

Anyway's, without further ado, from now on, the people that will start following the MobileSpoon on Twitter gain a chance to win a free copy of the great SBSH GoNews Touch!

All you need to do is click here. and you become a candidate to win one of the 3 copies we will be giving away next week.

 

Oh, if you are already following us - just mention us in one of your tweets - and we will know to find you!

(The ones which answered the previous challenge will also be counted in the draw - so don't worry!).

Read more about the latest version of SBHS GoNewsTouch 

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Are You a Smartphone Junkie?

You are probably familiar with those blackberry junkies that goes around staring at their phones, exchanging emails during meetings, family events, toilets (oops, who wrote that), gym, quality time with the spouse, with the lover (what the #%$!?), etc.

Well, Dr. Jim Taylor from MobilityDigest (a great site in which your humble servant is contributing to every now and then) just published another great article with some tips about things you shouldn't do with your smartphone.

In this great post, Dr. Jim Taylor asks few simple questions:

• Do you take your smartphone with you wherever you go?
• Is your smartphone the last thing you look at before you go to sleep and the first thing you look at when you wake up?
• Do you make or take business calls regularly when away from work?
• Do your family or friends give you exasperated looks when you pull out your smartphone constantly?

If like me, the answer to those questions is yes, YES, YESSSS and OH GOD STOP IT YESSSSSSS!!! Then I guess you are addicted.

I once composed a poll asking: Are you a Windows Mobile Addict-? and the results indicated the most of the readers were addicted that way or another. Cool, addiction is not always bad, but what about letting your smartphone hurt your performance and take control on your life? Not so cool any longer isn't it?

Here are 5 tips (copied from the original post - which I really urge you to read) that might help the smartphones junkie take back some control on their lives followed by the comments of one smartphone junkie...

Rule #1: Don’t look at your smartphone in the morning until you get to work. Peeking at your email or phone messages before you have dressed or had breakfast will create unnecessary distraction, worry, and stress. If you’re married with children, it will also prevent you from being engaged with your family during breakfast.

MobileSpoon's Comment: How can I not look at my smartphones when all 3 of them are staring at me at the morning, waiting for my gentle touch, some of them blinking with their red light indicating there is clearly something waiting for me to read?

Rule #2: Don’t look at your smartphone during the day unless you are ready to act on it. It’s not uncommon for businesspeople to look at their smartphones as they head into a meeting or just before a conference call. The primary consequence of doing this is that you will be distracted from your next task. You will be thinking about what you found on your smartphone instead of focusing on the task ahead.

MobileSpoon's Comment: This is so true, the distraction it can cause in the worst timing is huge. But the smartphones are chasing me! I hear noises everywhere! beeps! ringtones! when I try to set them off my body starts to vibrate!
They are  c-a-l-l-i-n-g   m-m-m-m-m-m-e-e-e-e-e ! ! ! !

Rule #3: Turn off all smartphones during meetings. In fact, every company should have a “no smartphone” rule for all meetings. There are few things more irritating, distracting, and productivity-killing than having people at a meeting looking at and typing into their smartphones. They are clearly not paying attention to the meeting and, therefore, unable to contribute in any meaningful way. It also distracts others at the meeting.

MobileSpoon's Comment: OK, it's true that we are doing it, it's ugly, I admit, but unfortunately we haven't started it; it's the laptop junkies, they started it years ago, coming to meetings with their laptops while all the others were writing on paper based notebooks... I think this is where meetings completely lost their prestige and became a place where many people come to work on their laptops and also have some occasional conversations...

Rule #4: Don’t check your smartphone less than 30 minutes before you go to bed. If there are calls or emails you think you must respond to you, you will get to bed later and you’ll get riled up, so you’ll have a harder time falling asleep. The reality is that, in most cases, they can wait until morning, so best not to look. At worst, choose a time between 30 and 60 minutes before bedtime when you take a last look at your smartphone. At best, commit to not checking your smartphone at all in the evening.

MobileSpoon's Comment: Hmm... I'm not sure I got this one... I thought you said not to check my emails before going to sleep, but hey, I guess I was wrong... brrrr...

Rule #5: Don’t do your smartphone when you are doing life. In other words, don’t look at your smartphone if you are interacting with others, doing something that is supposed to clear your mind of work, such as exercise, meditation, having a meal, watching a movie, or hanging out with family or friends.. There is nothing more annoying to family and friends than to be with you when you are making business calls or responding to email—why are you even with them if you’re with them in body only? It’s okay to check your smartphone periodically, but ONLY IF you don’t interrupt more important life stuff and ONLY IF you are expecting something that you may have to act on quickly.

MobileSpoon's Comment: I agree. I hate it when my friends are playing with my smartphone when we are hanging out. I know my iPhone has some cool games, but come' on, you know the battery don't last long, don't dry it out...

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Seriously speaking, I think I can add another tip to the good tips above: turn off your email synchronization. After all, emails are just like one endless chat with the entire world, business colleagues or friends. One of the oldest tips for better productivity in work is to turn off Outlook from time to time so you won't have to deal with those disturbing alerts - I think it's the same with smartphones.

SMS are OK, but when it comes to mailing activities 24/7 - you (we) are in a serious problem.

So therefore my tip for you is this:

Every once in a while, turn off the data synchronization in your smartphone. It will calm down the urge to constantly be aware of new messages, and will also reduce significantly the amount of cellular radiation your body absorbs from your smartphone...

Comments are always welcome!

Related posts:

Psychology of Technology- 5 Smartphone Rules to Live By

Seinfeld talking about BlackBerry owners

Are you a Windows Mobile Addict-?

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Marketplace is alive and kicking. Not scoring yet...

Microsoft's Mobile Marketplace finally opened its doors to developers on Monday and I think that for a lot of Windows Mobile fans it's a reason to celebrate.

Of course, there are 2 problems with Marketplace. A - it's a new product, which means - it has bugs, all over the place, as you can read in this report. B- many of the window mobile users already got what they need for by using other alternatives which were there for years, and also many free stuff produced by brilliant XDA developers and others - I'm sure it will take some time until Marketplace will find the right place and position in the windows mobile community.

Nevertheless, one of the things I like most about iPhone is the ability to navigate through apps in the app store. Would be great to have a similar experience using my WinMo phone.

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What's new in Android 2 (Donut)?

Goggle released a new beta version of Android 2 (nicknamed Donut) to the developers. Here are some key notes:

- Multi-touch
- Speech-to-text (to enable using Google Voice)
- Automatic backups
- Improved camera (application side)
- Global search in the entire phone (like the iPhone new feature)
- Performance improvements

Hmm... nice, although not "sexy" enough if you ask me.

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The Incomplete Guide to Touchscreens Technologies

With the latest rumors about the support of Windows Mobile 6.5 to capacitive screens I decided to look for some more information about the different types of touch screens.

I decided to summarize the things I found in another "incomplete guide". Hope you'll Enjoy it.

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Stop!!!

-Before you continue!

Check out our previous mobile technologies guides:

How does 'Direct Push' work-

The History of PDAs

The Incomplete Guide to D-Pads

Different Screen Resolution in Windows Mobile Devices

GPS Vs. aGPS

The Incomplete Guide to Mobile Form Factors

More guides in here.

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OK, now that we covered that one... let's begin:

The Incomplete Guide to TouchScreens Technologies!

 

Resistive Touchscreens:

A resistive touchscreen panel is composed of several layers, the most important of which are two thin, metallic, electrically conductive layers separated by a narrow gap.

When an object, such as a finger, presses down on a point on the panel's outer surface the two metallic layers become connected at that point: the panel then behaves as a pair of voltage dividers with connected outputs. This causes a change in the electrical current which is registered as a touch event and sent to the controller for processing.

This technology is pressure sensitive so it can be used with fingers, stylus, gloved hand, Spoon or even your elbow is you know how to control it good enough...

It's a cheap technology, very accurate when using stylus, and resistant to dirt, humidity etc.

Unlike what people think, resistive touchscreens can support Multitouch.

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Surface acoustic wave

SAW technology uses ultrasonic waves that pass over the touchscreen panel. When the panel is touched, a portion of the wave is absorbed. This change in the ultrasonic waves registers the position of the touch event and sends this information to the controller for processing. Surface wave touchscreen panels can be damaged by outside elements or be contaminated... spooky.

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Capacitive

Good old iPhone style capacitive touchscreen panel is a sensor typically made of glass coated with a transparent conductor such as indium tin oxide (ITO).

This type of sensor is basically a capacitor in which the plates are the overlapping areas between the horizontal and vertical axes in a grid pattern. Since the human body also conducts electricity, a touch on the surface of the sensor will affect the electric field and create a measurable change in the capacitance of the device. Like the stylus used in the defunct CED video disc, these sensors work on proximity of the conductive medium (finger), and do not have to be directly touched to be triggered. It is a durable technology that is used in a wide range of applications including point-of-sale systems, industrial controls, and public information kiosks.

Capacitive screens have a higher clarity than Resistive screens, but they only respond to finger contact and will not work with a gloved hand or pen stylus (unless the stylus is conductive which is annoying once you lose it...) - so they usually cannot support signature capturing etc.

On the other hand, the fact that you don't need to press the screen is so nice, it makes every phone operation smooth and fun.

Multitouch is of course supported...

Pinocchio.

Cannot use capacitive screens...

(It's a joke.. sure he can... once he turns into a real kid).

 

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PenTouch Capacitive

This one is an interesting combination of both durable Capacitive technology with a tethered pen stylus. The screen can be set to respond to finger input only, pen input only, or both. The pen stylus is a good choice for signature capture, on-screen annotations, or for applications requiring precise input.

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Infrared:

Conventional optical-touch systems use an array of infrared (IR) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on two adjacent bezel edges of a display, with photosensors placed on the two opposite bezel edges to analyze the system and determine a touch event. The LED and photosensor pairs create a grid of light beams across the display. An object (such as a finger or pen) that touches the screen interrupts the light beams, causing a measured decrease in light at the corresponding photosensors. The measured photosensor outputs can be used to locate a touch-point coordinate.

Infrared touchscreens did not become popular as the other technologies because of their higher price, and because there is an issue with performance in bright ambient light. Oh, and multitouch is not supported...

Expensive and without multitouch...

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Strain gauge

In a strain gauge configuration, also called force panel technology, the screen is spring-mounted on the four corners and strain gauges are used to determine deflection when the screen is touched.

This technology has been around since the 1960s but new advances by Vissumo and F-Origin have made the solution commercially viable.It can also measure the Z-axis and the force of a person's touch. Typically used in exposed public systems such as ticket machines due to their resistance to vandalism.

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Optical imaging

A relatively-modern development in touchscreen technology, two or more image sensors are placed around the edges (mostly the corners) of the screen. Infrared backlights are placed in the camera's field of view on the other sides of the screen. A touch shows up as a shadow and each pair of cameras can then be triangulated to locate the touch or even measure the size of the touching object.

This technology is growing in popularity, due to its scalability, versatility, and affordability, especially for larger units.

 

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  Just follow us on Twitter already! 

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There are more touchscreens technologies: Acoustic pulse recognition, Dispersive signal and more, you can find more details in here.

Also, there are combinations of technologies, for instance, the Storm's touchscreen is a capacitive screen but it also includes a clickable surface. You can read more about it in here.

Here's a nice comparison between different touchscreens: 

Haptic/tactile touchscreens:

Some touchscreens include haptic feedback to ease the user experience when working on a flat surface with no real buttons.

One of the researches showed that when using haptic feedback users managed to reduce input errors (20%), increase input speed (20%), and lower their cognitive load (40%).

Interesting don't you think? Maybe this is why I liked the Omnia so much...

BTW, in some mobile devices, haptic feedback is built in,in others, it can be done using software only (a software that controls the vibration of the phone). Here's an example of such applications.

 

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Practice your Spiderman skills with Rope'n'Fly

One of my favorites "super heroes" movies is Spiderman 1.

My favorite scene in the movie is the one where Peter Parker starts jumping from one building to another using his spider's web to fly him around. The speed, the way the scene is pictured, and the fact that it's obvious that it's his first time - makes it very good.

This is the kind of fun you get in a new iPhone game (OK, new for me) called Rope N Fly: the purpose of this game is simple, to pass the longer distance using your spider's web. I think there's a free limited version of this game by the way...

It has a crappy graphics, but it feels amazingly good - it's fun!

Simple, but addictive...

You can ask my wife, she just broke my record, which means I must end this post right now and get back to the game...

Look for Rope N Fly in the AppStore for more information.

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Navit - Free GPS Navigator

Here's a free GPS Navigator which actually seems interesting.

Navit is a car navigation system with routing engine.

It's modular design is capable of using vector maps of various formats for routing and rendering of the displayed map. It's even possible to use multiple maps at a time.

The GTK+ or SDL user interfaces are designed to work well with touch screen displays. Points of Interest of various formats are displayed on the map.

The current vehicle position is either read from gpsd or directly from NMEA GPS sensors.

The routing engine not only calculates an optimal route to your destination, but also generates directions and even speaks to you using speechd.

Navit currently speaks 24 languages :
- Brazilian Portuguese
- Chinese (Hong Kong)
- Czech
- Danish
- Dutch
- English
- Finnish
- French
- German
- Hebrew
- Italian
- Japanese
- Norwegian Bokmal
- Polish
- Portuguese
- Romanian
- Russian
- Slovak
- Slovenian
- Spanish
- Swedish
- Telugu
- Thai
- Turkish

Navit is currently a freeware (alpha stage) and you can grab your own copy from SourceForge project page.

More details in here

Connecting Notifier will let you know when a call begins

Just got a story from CareAce about a new freeware called Connecting Notifier. 

The Connecting Notifier will output a short vibration each time your outgoing call gets picked up. No longer are the days where you have to hold up the phone to your ear while waiting for calls to connect. Benefits? There is plenty. Cost? It’s free to download and only takes up 8 Kb on your storage.

The Connecting Notifier is available for both the Samsung PocketPCs and Smartphones including the Omnia, Epix, Blackjack II, Jack and Propel Pro. And now, the moment you’ve been waiting for, the list of benefits that you can gain from this application:

• Health: reduce chance of damage to the brain from excessive radiation
• Safety: Allows you to keep your hands on 10 and 2 until you have to pick up the phone
• Etiquette: In a meeting and making an emergency call? Only pick up the phone when its connected!
• Finance: People say time is money, the days of waiting for calls to connect is over! Now you have time to finish your twitter posting (Go @careace!) 

  Here's a video demonstration: 

More details and download link in this CareAce page!

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Giveaway: SBSH GoNews Touch 1.1

Giveaways season starts again here at the Mobile Spoon and I'm happy to be able to give away 3 free copies of SBSH GoNews Touch 1.1 - the latest version of GoNews Touch with new features and many improvements!

Read more about GoNews Touch 1.0

Read more about what's new in GoNews Touch 1.1

This time, to win a free copy, we are asking for some of link lovin'!

Show us some love by adding a link to your favorite mobile spoon post to any web site you can think of: facebook, twitter, myspace, dig, stumbleupon, or any other way you can think of (your own site? blog? other sites?).

As long as you are not spamming other sites - every link counts!

After you place your link - point to it in a comment to this post and you will be participating in a draw in which I will pick 3 happy winners!

That's it. I hope it's not too complicated (we'll see that in a few days) - I think the free GoNews copy  is definitely worth it.

Good luck!

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SBSH GoNews Touch 1.1 Released! Giveaways on their way!

 

SBSH Mobile Software just released a new version for its best selling news reader application - GoNews Touch for Windows Mobile.

I had a chance to work with the first version of GoNews Touch, and I really liked it; the user interface is well designed: it's finger friendly, it brings a convenient navigation between pages and channels, and it spoils the users with cool thumbnails which contribute to the preview of each entry. The engine is different than any other RSS Reader because it can also also cache regular (non-RSS) websites.

(You can read my review in here).

Today, version 1.1 was officially released (got a chance to play with early beta of that one and it's great!) and it brings a lot of new capabilities:

GoNews Touch 1.1 Key Features
Google Reader - Automatically sync your Google Reader content, read-state syncing and more!

Auto Updates - Far better auto-syncing logic and implementation. Use time based or interval based

More Gestures - Swipe between articles like a real newspaper, enlarged article view display and more!

Windows Mobile 6.5 - Code and design improvements for better usability with new WM6.5 devices

Delicious!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Giveaway on the way!

With so many exciting features, I asked my friends at SBSH for 3 copies of GoNews Touch to be handed over to the lucky readers of the Mobile Spoon, and guess what? A giveaway contest will begin shortly - so stick around and check for updates because the giveaway period is about to begin shortly!

Meantime - head over to SBSH website for more information about their great products and GoNews details page

To the full press release

GoNews Touch is available for Windows Mobile devices with a touch screen for $14.95.

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Is that a Microscope on Your Cellphone or Are You Just Happy to See Me?

I'm sorry but I just had to steal this title from CraziestGadgets.

This hilariously silly ... thing... is a real invention. (read more)

I had a similar idea but with a gun... a cellphone-gun, in which you can aim and pull the trigger (OK, maybe push the trigger)...

What do you think?

I would like to order one iPhone-Gun please...

Oh wait, iPhone-Gun is too risky with the capacitive screen and all, I might shoot too many people with it, besides, iPhone is just like a game pad, you are not supposed to play with weapon...

how about WinMo-Gun? 

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Free Windows Mobile 6.5 Widgets!

You have to see this one to believe it!

Windows Mobile 6.5 is not released yet, but the WinMo community is already loaded with 6.5 goodies: themes, add-ons, ripped applications and lately - widgets.

The new widgets engine allows applications built from HTML and JavaScript to run using the IE 6 Mobile engine, but without the “chrome” (IE menus, address bar etc) which are normally associate with web pages.

David K. from FuzeMobility just published his huge 50 (!!!) items widgets collection. (yep, you heard that one right, 50 Windows Mobile widgets), where each widget takes you to your favorite web site without having to open the Internet Explorer.

So if you are already using a pre released 6.5, you can use them immediately, or you can wait a few more months and in the meantime, store them as a kick-off pack once you upgrade to 6.5.

Mobile Spoon Widget!

The Mobile Spoon got a dedicated widget too (thanks again David!) and you can see it (along with other examples) in the images below:

For more details about the Widget Mania and to download the huge widgets pack - head over to the original post.

  

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Palm Pre - How are you doing?

DJ Amir tipped me with this one, which I think you will find interesting - it's the estimated Palm Pre US sales numbers done by iGR.

This chart comes after iGR completed a series of checks last week across 50 Sprint stores nationwide in top markets and it shows that the Pre is not as successful at the moment as one would assume.

Especially not how Roger McNamee wanted it to be when he said: “You know the beautiful thing: June 29, 2009, is the two- year anniversary of the first shipment of the iPhone, Not one of those people will still be using an iPhone a month later.”

Right... hmm... embarrassment anyone?

You can read more (including some feedback from the stores) in here. 

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Touch Pro 2 vs. Nokia N97

Found this interesting video over at the FuzeMobility - the best resource for HTC Touch Pro fans and more.

The video was created by Lasse from teknoreview.com

Enjoy!

Huge Themes Collection for SPB Mobile Shell 3

Looking for themes and skins for SPB Mobile Shell 3? Here are a few options I filtered based on some great art work found at the XDA Developers:

OSX Metal:

Download OSX Metal

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Berry 66 

Berry 66 VGA MSH3 Theme by Apothehouse

I actually like this one which has the BlackBerry Bold look...

Download Berry 66

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Tux Mac OS-X:

This one is a new skin done by mobilecustom, download if you like how it looks:

Download Tux Mac OS-X

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XPERIA MSH3 by jeje1000 [QVGA-WQVGA]

XPeria owners (are there any?) will love this one, all the rest might find it a nice theme after all...

Download XPeria Theme 

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Koma Space:

They say always leave the best for last, and indeed this one is my favorite from this list, and you can grab it from the link below:

Download Koma Space skin for Mobile Shell 3

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Besides those ones, don't forget our large list of other SPB Mobile Shell themes and skins - here are some of them:

 

ChangeSkin - SPB Mobile Shell Skins Changer

This one is the coolest, as it allows you to easily switch between completely different themes (like Omnia style, TF3D style and more).

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More themes for SPB Mobile Shell 3!

A nice collection of themes for SPB Mobile shell 3 including star wars, transformers and more! Check it out!

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WinMo 6.5 theme for SPB Mobile Shell

This one is a must have theme for any SPB Mobile shell owner!

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More themes in this one: Huge themes collection for SPB Mobile Shell

 

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Customized Omnia Launcher

It has been a while since I had something interesting about Samsung Omnia.

Of course, with the new Omnia line of devices, it is nice to see some stuff related to the original Omnia which is still a very popular phone.

Here's a nice skin for the Omnia special menu, I found it at the 'MySamsungOmnia' blog, and I think it's very nice.

Instructions:

DOWNLOAD FILE : Launcher.T1.Skin
(After download, please rename it to *.rar and extract)

1. With Resco Explorer or Total Commander search the file “Launcher.exe.T1.skin” in the /Windows folder (default Omnia file explorer cannot copy/cut/overwrite system files so use Resco Explorer).
2. Copy it to another folder (for back up purpose)
3. Download the attached file (above) . Edit its properties, make it: read-only,hidden and system file (with pc or with Resco Explorer).
4. In the /Windows folder overwrite the “Launcher.exe.T1.skin” with my “Launcher.exe.T1.skin” file
5. Close (not minimize) Omnia main menu and restart the application. If it didn’t show any effect please restart the device.

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iSuck

(thanks for the tip Lucius)

Comic Reader Mobi - Now On Sale!

Many of you asked if we could make another Giveaway contest for the fabulous Comic Reader Mobi.

Well, we are working on it, but it will probably take a little while. Meantime, you will be happy to know that Comic Reader is not on sale for $9.99 only.

In addition, there is a new version that can run on PC. Which is great, because if you think of it - the same capabilities of magnifying the text are also required when you try to read comics on your laptop or netbook.

Check out Comic Reader Site for more updates 

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HTC Hero running on Windows Mobile (Throttle Launcher Skin)

Just the other day I asked for help with getting the HTC Hero user interface (the Sense UI) into my Windows Mobile phone.

And it seems like there is a solution!

Saijo (from 1800PocketPC) just dropped us a tip about a theme created for Throttle Launcher that looks very much like the Sense UI!

How cool is that?

The Hero theme was created by XDA-Developper ryomahino and it can be found in this XDA thread or that one.

Here are some examples (click image to enlarge):

Check this theme out in the throttle forum.

Thanks for the tip Saijo!

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How big is your...phone?

The poll continues and we are trying to figure out if the recent trend in phone size (huge ones) is, well, a trend, or something that came as a result of a true need.

So far over 50% want their phone to be as big as the Touch HD and even more!

HTC Sense UI - Running on windows mobile

HTC Hero includes an amazing user interface called the Sense UI.

I've been looking for something similar that will be ported to Windows Mobile - as I currently don't own an android (although I should, I know that...).

Anyway, I haven't found anything yet, so if you know of such hack available somewhere - please let me know!

Meantime, we will have to live with this piece of news talking about HTC's commitment to include the Sense UI in their future WinMo phones. 

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How to: Use Wikipedia from your Windows Mobile phone

Here's a nice Wikipedia client for Windows Mobile that looks amazingly similar to... well, we are all used to those iPhone-like designs, so let's skip it for this time.

The tool is friendly and works nicely - it even has some offline capabilities.

You can read more or download it (for free!) in the following link:

Download Universe Mobile Wiki 

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How to: Connect your memory stick directly to your phone

Here's a nice gadget: this one allows you to use a USB memory stick with a device that only has a MicroSD slot.

The adaptor enables connecting any memory stick to your mobile phone as if it was a MicroSD card.

Cool! Here's a short video:

The adapter is available for pre-order from Expansys now 

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Marketplace is coming to Windows Mobile 6

You have probably seen the early screenshots of Microsoft's Marketplace.

I didn't write about it for a long time, as I am still waiting to see how it will work out, but what I did find is that Marketplace will be available for older WinMo phones as well, which is great news!

So, WinMo 6, 6.1 - will also be able to use Marketplace which is going to be a great experience I'm sure.

Oh, and one more thing: Microsoft will start taking submissions for the catalogue on the 27 July 2009.

More updates to come soon...

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BlackBerry Bold vs. iPhone

I found an interesting article at PCWorld, comparing between BlackBerry Bold and iPhone 3GS.

The writer is definitely an iPhone fan and seems to criticize most of the BlackBerry features (UI, trackball, mails functionality, keyboard).

I found some interesting points in the article, but I have to admit I do not agree with many of them (I do agree with some). For example, I actually like the BlackBerry emails application, I also love the keyboard, and think that the trackball is great.

I do think that there is no comparison with the iPhone when it comes to user interface and third party applications.

Still, I think the following lines are an exaggeration, even for me:

"For everyone else, the BlackBerry is yesterday's mobile messenger, way past its prime and heading toward retirement. The iPhone is light-years ahead of the BlackBerry on almost every count. RIM should be ashamed."

So the full article can be found in here, I recommend reading it.

 

One thing this article does not cover is the multi-tasking problem.

Imagine this: you need to send a mail with a URL. In the iPhone, you must switch between applications to do so. Horrible experience. With BlackBerry it is done much easier.

But why let me talk about it when there is another great article, this time from EngadgetMoile - talking about a painful experience when trying to actually do some real working with the iPhone.

Check it out in here.

I really think the writer has a point. iPhone is amazing when you are just doing things for fun, with no pressure to do them fast or efficient. Everything is joyful, but when trying to actually do some working with it - it sucks.

To summarize, we all whine about Windows Mobile's problems. Apparently both competitors, which seems to be doing much better these days, have their own issues.

Soon, the Triandroids will be controlling our mobile world anyway so this discussion will not be relevant anyhow.

 

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Win95 running on iPhone

That's it.

I'm through with using laptops.

I'm switching back to Windows 95, running on ... iPhone!

Check out the video below (turn on your speakers - great music attached):

 

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Samsung Omnia 2 Emulator

   

 

I found this one at the WMPowerUser.

Samsung, following the recent trend, has come up with a nice simulator of the new Omnia user interface.

I like those things as it gives a good impression of one of the most important things in an advance mobile device - the user interface experience.

Check our the emulator in here.

 

First impression: Like in the previous Omnia - loud's of customizations, but more simple layout (iPhone style pages, shortcuts, and widgets), nice black theme (also in the standard applications!).

OK I Will have 3 of those please...

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What is "The Google Experience"?

People asked me about the meaning of the "Google Experience" term and how come some of the Android phones are not carrying Google logo inside.

So I looked for the answer and this is what I've found:

Android OS comes with 3 different flavors:

The Google Experience is the most sophisticated version with all the Google goodies pre-loaded inside with the Google logo. In addition, this version comes with unrestricted access to the Android market. Although there are around 20 Android phones expected to be released this year, only 5-6 of them are planned to have the complete "Google experience".

Strings Attached:  manufacturers sign a distribution agreement with Google and pre-install the Google applications. The OS, however, is not carrying the Google logo.

Google-free: free version of the Android OS without any sign of the Google mobile applications. UI and applications can vary from one phone to another.

Naturally, if you are going to buy an Android phone, it can only make sense to buy one with the "Google Experience" inside, don't you think? Otherwise it's like buying Windows Mobile without the mobile Office...

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New BlackBerry devices with optical trackballs

I saw in EngadgetMobile that RIM is about to release 2 BlackBerry devices with optical trackballs (Onyx and Curve 8520).

Interesting, as I recently had a chance to use an optical trackball and I think it's a very nice substitute for the classic D-Pad.

I can't say it's better than the regular Iron-man style trackball, because it's somewhat less accurate and does not allow the fast scrolling that the regular trackball allows, but I can say it's fun, really fun using it.

So I wonder if it will become RIM's default D-Pad or will it stick with both physical and optical trackballs...

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How big do you want it to be?

Recently I had a chance to work with the Omnia and Touch HD. Two devices with an unusual form factor (in terms of screen size) and big size.

While the Omnia (smaller than the HD) feels perfect in the hand, the Touch HD seems to feel a bit bigger than the standard "power-phone".

Still, the amazing WVGA resolution, and the cutting edge design, made me think the HD is the best smartphone running Windows Mobile. I even thought the fact that it's so big is actually an advantage for a gadgets fan as myself. After all: everybody knows that size counts.

Yep. I sure prefer having a device which is big than one too small like the first Touch Diamond.

But now with the new gigantic Toshiba TG01- it seems to me like the size advantage was taken too seriously. It seems like this phone was designed by someone with a really low self esteem...

Take a look at the Toshiba phone vs. the Touch HD. Amazing, isn't it? The Toshiba phone is simply HUGE! Too much if you ask me! This is not a laptop guys! it's a smartphone!

Here's a small demonstration: Toshiba TG01 next to the HD midget... funny, isn't it?

So here's a question for you: How big do you want your phone to be?

Is it as small as possible - such as the original Touch Diamond?

Is it somewhere in-between like the Samsung Omnia, iPhone, and other smartphones?

Is it a big one like the Touch HD? Or maybe one of those huge ones like the new Toshiba?

So go ahead!

Tell us - how big do you want your smartphone to be?

Vote and let's find out what is the current trend!

 

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Amazing user interface in SimCity for iPhone

I recently started playing SimCity in my iPhone.

I used to play the very first version of this game when I was a kid, trying to find the perfect way to design and maintain my cities. The concept remains the same, but they sure added a lot of options to this addictive game.

The reason I'm sharing this with you is that I found the user interface of the game (in the iPhone version) very impressive. I was amazed to see how EA managed to squeeze in all the richness and functionality inside this tiny screen!

The secret is in the brilliant user interface.

 

If the iPhone is known for its' amazing user interface - then what EA managed to do with Simcity is definitely the best of it.

The buttons, the way options are expanding based on the selection, the animation of each click, everything seems to be designed like a master piece.

I'm not sure about how much I will eventually enjoy the game itself, but I'm already enjoying the user interface.

Here are some UI examples:

Clicking on the "more" option presents some more buttons in the bottom and makes the "more" button highlighted:

Clicking on one of the sections (in the left) will open some more options:

 

I love applications or games with really good UI, and SimCity has definitely one of the best game interface I've ever seen in any mobile device.

Check out the game (I know I didn't review it much, my intention was only to point on the remarkable user interface of it).

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A Tour of TouchFLO 3D 2.5

Brandon Miniman is probably my favorite video presenter of mobile devices and software. Here's another example of his video reviews where he covers the TouchFlo 3D 2.5.

Obviously there has been significant improvements, as you can see for yourself:

 

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How does 'Direct Push' work?

There are a lot of talking about RIM's true push mechanism that makes push emails so efficient you always get your new mails before you see them in your desktop/laptop Outlook.

In front of that, Microsoft developed 'Direct Push', which may sound the same as push, but in fact it's not.

I googled it a little bit lately and found an interesting article explaining how Direct Push works:

While a real push requires keeping the IPs of each mobile device (which might change when roaming between networks etc.), Microsoft's Direct Push is actually working a bit differently.

In short, (in case you are too busy to read the entire thing), clients are sending requests to the server, but they are not getting any response back. Only if there is a change (such as a new mail), the response comes back to the client saying it needs to synchronize.

So in fact, instead of pushing the information to the devices, the devices are simply waiting until something is changing and then they get back the result saying they need to synchronize.

Interesting.

So another name for "Direct Push" would actually be: "Wait and Pull"... But then again, no one would buy a device with "wait and pull" technology...

Had fun reading this short guide? Check our our other guides:

History of PDAs

Turn your iPhone into Windows Mobile (Part #1)

The Incomplete Guide to D-Pads

History of the QWERTY keyboard

The Incomplete Guide to Mobile Form Factors

What is the difference between Windows CE, PocketPC and Windows Mobile-?

GPS Vs. aGPS

How to select a proper device for your field personnel

 

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New folding keyboard patent by Samsung

Just saw this one at the wmpoweruser;

Samsung's new patent called rear keyboard which is a folding keyboard.

It's actually a system with 2 small and thin half-QWERTY keyboards hidden in the body of the system, but can fold out automatically when text entry is needed.

There goes my single handed support... I can already see how hard it is to pull those wings out when needed...

 

Nevertheless, it's interesting to see the trials to solve the size problem... (not mine... I don't have this problem... why are you looking at me like that?!)

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How to: Dowload YouTube videos to your WinMo phone

This one will definitely be of use for many of you;

How many times did you watch a nice video in youtube that you wished you could download and view while offline?

None???

Liars.

You just said none because you wanted to ruin my point.

Anyways, Most of the common people I know wished they could have a way to download their favorite videos to their device.

GetyTV will do it for you! For free! GetyTV enables downloading of videos to your windows mobile phone.

Sure the UI looks a bit crapy, but the point of this application is not being fancy. And remember, it's a freeware, and I believe it might become one of the essentials windows mobile tools.

(I just love Windows Mobile for all the cool free tools it brings... no $1.99 required here, people are still developing for the sake of the community).

Download GetyTV 

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Prepare For Launch

(thanks to TV Tropes for the image)

My first Pocket PC was my Dell Axim X5: shiny silver chassis, color screen, wifi, and a directional pad engineered to play games. I quickly found that I could fill my PDA with amazing Pocket PC software, much of it free from the developers. I also quickly found that the Start Menu was not a practical way to get to my amazing software.

That's when I found Launcher, the Today screen plugin by Scott Seligman. Drop your shortcut in the "Launcher" folder on your device and it shows up on your Today screen. One tap with your stylus, and you're launching.

With my old 6700 running WM5, I had access to approximately 500 buttons. But even then, I had too many favorite programs.

That's when I started using HButton. Hold down my assigned hardware button, and the programs I've choosen in HButton cycle through on-screen. When I see the program I want, I let go of the button. Bliss!

Now I'm using this marvel of modern mobility, a touch-screen titan, the Samsung Omnia!

And, once again, I'm in the market for a program launcher. The "Main Menu" option isn't bad, but I feel like it's still too many taps to get to the program I want. I've used Voice Command to start programs ("Start Bubble Breaker"), and it works well enough, but sometimes I don't want to verbalize the program I want to launch. I just want to launch.

So tell me, fellow Omnia Afficionados: what's your favorite program launcher? Share your launching love in the comments below, or launch an email my JRobTaylor address at Yahoo.com.

Thanks!

Sony Ericsson Rachael’s Android Based UI

Sony Ericsson's first Android based phone is about to be released soon, probably under the XPeria brand.

We managed to find a short video demonstration of the user interface.

The UI looks interesting. The tabs in the bottom looks very much like the TouchFlo, but then again, everyone steal from everyone else...

 

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The Triandroids Are Coming!

 

Told you there will come and get us!

I knew this is how it will all end!

Androids, all over the place, nowhere to go, no place to hide!

HTC, Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, and now even Nokia!

First, they will take over the poor Windows Mobile PDAs, replacing them in the field, in offices, or as a development platform. Then they will destroy the iPhones , defeating them without a decent fight, and then no one will be able to stop them, not even Nokia or BlackBerry!

I better join them before it gets too late! I'm off to look for an Android phone!

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Mobinnova is switching to Android too

Mobinnova (remember Mobinova ICE?), which I actually never saw in real, is going to dump their Windows Mobile based phone in favor of a new line of products running Android.

Yes. Another one for the Android. Told you they are coming to get us. We should all take shelter.

The first phone will be called HighScreen and it will have the same form factor as the Ice model (talk about breaking the ice...).

BTW, looking at this Mobinnova ICE review (video below) can explain why they are dumping it. While it has some interesting ideas - the result seems to be a bit clunky...

 

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Proximity Sensor Demonstration

As technology continues to evolve, mobile devices include more capabilities to make them "smart" and efficient.

One of the nice things iPhone brought was a proximity sensor, a sensor responsible of turning off the screen while talking with the phone. As a result, accidental clicks while talking are prevented and of course that battery life is conserved.

 

And now there are some WinMo phones including this sensor. The first ones are HTC Touch Pro 2 and LG Incite. Here's a video demonstration:

(source)

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AIM 2.0 for Windows Mobile

AIM for Windows Mobile 2.0 Beta is available, you can grab your free copy right now.

What's new in AIM for Windows Mobile 2.0:

• Lifestream! This is big. Keep tabs on what's going on with your buddies. We've added a convenient "Lifestream" tab to the Buddy List. There is so much to check out:
  • Get AIM activities like status updates.
  • Got friends on other networks? Add your Facebook or Twitter services and never miss an update. Start syncing to your accounts by going to lifestream.aim.com and update your settings.
  • You can add your YouTube or Delicious accounts too.
  • Leave a comment, like an item. Obviously, if your friends don't have the beta they won't know about the Lifestream so if you want to try out commenting back and forth with someone make sure they have the beta too.
  • Read comments made by your friends. Obviously, if your friends don't have the beta, they won't know about the Lifestream. Comments can be made on the desktop AIM beta client or at lifestream.aim.com.
• Me tab. The "Me" tab is a companion to the Lifestream that lets you know when people leave you comments or "like" your updates.
• Minor bug fixes. Minor bug fixes and performance improvements.

Read more

Download the CAB file here, or click here to send it to your phone.

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How about a Virtual D-Pad?

With all the new WinMo devices by HTC (and others) with no physical D-Pad, I'm thinking there's a real need for a software that will supply a virtual D-Pad.

Actually, Toshiba already did it - as you can see in the picture:

I think such software might become very useful for devices like Touch HD, Diamond II etc.

I saw a few threads about it in the XDA Developers, but if someone knows how to programatically lunch the arrow keys - I will be happy to create the UI for such application.

Or, if anyone knows about such kind of software - please let me know and I will publish it here.

BTW, just remembered I once created a nice D-Pads guide. Take a look: The Incomplete Guide to D-Pads.

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Coming soon: BlackBerry Bold

Towards my review of the BlackBerry bold I created some more of those Mobile Super Heroes images, this time with the Iron Man, because obviously the entire trackball stuff RIM is spreading all over the place is some kind of a secret plan done by Marvel Comics.

More Mobile Super Heroes 

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Mobile Porn Apps

OK. So where's the porn? We are waiting.  

Android based phone by... Nokia?

Can it be that Nokia has finally realized nothing good can happen by sticking with the old Symbian OS and is now looking for other alternatives?

Not sure, but according to this report, Nokia is already working on an Android based smartphone.

The new touchscreen device will be unveiled at the Nokia World conference in September, say industry insiders, as the Finnish handset giant tries to revive its fortunes in the smartphone market.

Hmm, another Android based phone by a leading mobile company. Things are definitely working according to Google's plan to concur the world! err... mobile industry!

Read more 

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Numpty Physics for Windows Mobile

Recently found this at the MobilityDigest site.

It seems like the developer of the appreciated Crayon Physics has not managed to port the popular iPhone game to Windows Mobile.

But the great news for the WinMo fans among you is that Numpty Physics created an open source game with the same idea:

Numpty Physics is a drawing puzzle game in the spirit (and style?) of Crayon Physics using the same excellent Box2D engine. Note though that I've not actually played CP so the experience may be very different. Numpty Physics includes a built-in editor so that you may build (and submit) your own levels.

 

Harness gravity with your crayon and set about creating blocks, ramps, levers, pulleys and whatever else you fancy to get the little red thing to the little yellow thing.

Numpty Physics is released under the GPL.

Comments, questions, flames and levels to numptyphysics@gmail.com.

Download Numpty Physics

The VGA version (works on the Diamond/Touch Pro/Fuze is available here while the QVGA version (Tilt) is located here. Great work all around guys!

(Source: MobilityDigest)

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Small modifications to the site

This weekend I decided to invest in my blog's header and created a mixture of all the mobile super heroes I created so far.

It even has some new ones that I didn't publish yet (like the Bold which will be coming this week). Hope you find it better than the previous header.

Also, I modified the colors of the side bar to be more... blue and less... green. (not that there's nothing wrong with green...)

Easy Contacts for Windows Mobile

Easy Contact is a finger-friendly Contact, SIM and Calls manager for Windows Mobile PocketPC phones.

It sure looks nice, worth a try.

Main Features:
- Contact Manager
- SIM manager
- Calls manager
- Favorites manager
- Language customizable
- Skinnable
- Finger-friendly
- Intuitive

Download Page 

(Source: 1800PocketPC)

 

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LG's S-CLASS User Interface: What do you think about it?

I recently criticise the LG S-Class user interface for being too inconsistent, having too many screens, flows, icons, mess.

Some people agreed with me while other seemed to like the award winning UI. I thought the entire thing is bad!

Well, I was wrong!

Or right?

Or both???

Check for yourself - there's a complete emulator of the S-Class UI in LG's website and you can see it all in action: link to emulator.

After you finish - come back and vote in the poll I've created below - let us know what your thoughts are about the user interface:

Now that you've voted, here are my thoughts about it: I think it's much better than previously seen in the first few vidoes. I think that the videos gave a very bad impression, but playing with the shell seems to be nice and smooth.

Of course, the emulator can deceive a little bit as this is not running on Windows Mobile, and I still think that some of the screens are just too messy and could have been more simple, (and I still don't like the copied iPhone icons in the widgets section), but overall, I have better opinion now than I originally had.

 

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Winners Winners Winners - Comic Reader Mobi!

I'm happy to announce the winners who just won a free copy of Comic Reader Mobi - everyone's favorite comic reader for Windows Mobile and iPhone!                        

We've got 32 comments which I think is a nice number.

It's fun to see that people are interested in both gadgets and comic books, I personally find the two a nice way to pass time and waste a lot of money.

 

But, since we must select only 10 winners - here they are:

Windows Mobile version:
RW (Palm Treo Pro, Dark Knight [isn't that Batman?])
Seth (Omnia, River Tam)
Donald Matlock (Fuze, Iron Man)
XenSA (Tytn 2, Starblazer)
Jerry Barnes (HTC Touch Pro, Rogue)

iPhone version*:
dreamcastdc (iPhone, Wolverine)
daddyRobot (iPhone, Batman)
BranBrow (iPhone, Witchblade)
Kevin Sanders (iPhone, Batman)
Kuno (iPhone, Spider-man)

*Please note that as we stated in the original post, we can only send iPhone coupons to US users, so if one of the winners cannot get it - we will pick another reader instead.

 

So congratulations to all the winners! You won a free copy of Comic Reader Mobi! Please contact us through my email address (gil.bouhnick@gmail.com) so we can send you your prize!

And to all the others - thanks for participating, we will continue with our efforts to arrange more great giveaways and hopefully the next one will be yours. More updates about that in just a few days.

 

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How Tough is Panasonic ToughBook?

How tough is Panasonic ToughBook?

Well, if you think that surviving a tiger's teeth and carrying a real elephant's weight is considered to be tough - then it's tough!

 

Here's a great video demonstration. Enjoy!

Coming up next: sticking a chewing gum on an iPhone. Would it last?

  

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Last chance to win Comic Reader Mobi!

Today is the last day you can enter the contest and win Comic Reader Mobi.

All you need to do is leave a comment in this thread, and you will take part of the draw.

We are giving away 10 copies!!! 5 for Windows Mobile and 5 for the iPhone!

So go ahead! tell us who is your favorite Super Hero and win Comic Reader Mobi!

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