TamsPPC – the PocketPC Blog

WindowsNow’s Robert McLaws has just performed a Dmitry Grinbergesque PR stunt (the latter also does other kinds of stunts…so putting McLews on his level might be a bit unfair) by declaring his intention to boycott IE Mobile:

Until the Windows Mobile team gets their act together and at the very least makes IE6 Mobile a downloadable upgrade for all existing WM6 phones, I’m switching browsers to Opera Mobile. IE has been banished from my phone. Microsoft may be content to let Mozilla and Apple kick their butt in the mobile space, but that doesn’t mean that I have to be caught in the middle. I’d like you to join me. Maybe if our voices are loud enough, maybe we can convince the Windows Mobile team to actually build something innovative… and release it before the end of the decade. I know that’s asking a lot, but I think it can be done.

From my point of view, his action is totally pointless and should be ignored. After all, nobody forces him to use IE Mobile. I have used Opera on my S60 and WM handsets in the past, as I don’t want to see myself forced to bang my head against the wall every 5 minutes. This should be an automatic process for everybody with half a brain: after all, there is little reason to stick to something which makes no sense.

Nevertheless, he probably earned himself a few backlinks in the process…

So far, Celio Corp produced its Foleo ripoffs with some (limited) success – customers wanting to link their devices to LCD monitors were left in the rain. This has now changed – the picture on the left hits us via Engadget and is the first-ever shot of the so-called “Smartphone Dock”.

The Smartphone Dock is described to be a full RedFLY without a screen/keyboard; it is intended to let you connect your smartphone to your desktop peripherals (think monitor, USB keyboard). It currently is in proof-of-concept stage, with no specific release date available.

Furthermore, a program called RedFLY PC Software is expected to drop in March. It will allow you to use your PC as a “RedFLY” in a VNCesque fashion (could be very helpful for developers) – let’s stay tuned to see how this all turns out!

I have no idea what the folks at Expansys’s are up to now – the image below shows a previously-unreleased and unannounced HTC device:

As of now, all we know are the specs below:

• Processor
Qualcomm® MSM7225™, 528 MHz

• Operating System
Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional
• Memory

ROM: 512 MB / RAM: 288 MB
• Display
2.8-inch TFT-LCD flat touch-sensitive screen with QWVGA resolution

• Network
3G HSDPA/HSUPA: Europe/Asia: 900/2100 MHz
Up to 384 Kbs up-link and 7.2 Mbps down-link speeds
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
(Band frequency, HSUPA availability, and data speed are operator dependent)

• Device Control
HTC TouchFLO™ 3D Touch-sensitive front panel buttons
HTC Footprints™ button

• GPS
GPS and A-GPS ready

• Connectivity
Bluetooth® 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate and A2DP for wireless stereo headsets
Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11 b/g
HTC ExtUSB™ (11-pin mini-USB 2.0)

• Camera
3.2 megapixel camera

• Expansion Slot
microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)

• Battery
Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery
Capacity: 1100 mAh
Talk time: Up to 375 minutes for WCDMA / Up to 400 minutes for GSM
Standby time: Up to 400 hours for WCDMA / Up to 330 hours for GSM

• Dimensions
102 mm x 53.5 mm x 14.5 mm

• Weight
103 grams with battery

While working with Microsoft Outlook 2003, I just stumbled across the extremely funny thing pictured below – look at the caption of the first email group:

P.S. I am perfectly aware how this was caused, but posted it for fun’s sake – have a laugh, folks!

This year’s CES saw the announcement of Motorola’s long-awaited A3100 PocketPC phone.

Unsurprisingly, Motorola deployed an UI of its own: this is not exactly good news for developers, who now have to fight one more user interface system.

Initial shipments will hit Asia-Pacific and Latin American markets in Q1, there is no information on release plans for other markets as of this writing:

Managing your social and work life just got easier with the MOTOSURF A3100. The touch tablet’s customizable home screen is layered on top of the familiar Windows Mobile 6.1 software and has many applications that can be accessed with the tip of a finger, a stylus or an omni-directional trackball. The home screen icons can be personalized to give ‘live’ feeds on weather, news, personal and work e-mail, messaging and calendar events1. WiFi1 and 3G connectivity make the experience seamless and fast.

“We developed the MOTOSURF A3100 as a true social smartphone,” said John Cipolla, senior vice president, product development, Motorola Mobile Devices. “Home screen personalization and access to a whole host of applications gets the info you want – fast, and at your fingertips.”

The full specs his us via infosyncworld:

Talk and Standby Time
GSM Talk Time – Up to 6.8 hours

GSM Standby Time – Up to 12.4 days

Bands/Modes
GSM: Quad-Band EDGE/GPRS
WCDMA: HSDPA 7.2 850/1900/2100 Triband

Weight
119g

Dimensions
110×59.7×13.7mm

Battery
1170mAh

OS
Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional

Connectivity
USB 2.0 HS, Stereo Bluetooth wireless technology with A2DP2

Display
2.8″ QVGA with Touch Panel

Messaging
MMS, SMS, Multi-Head IM, Email [Exchange]

Audio
AMR, MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, MIDI

Video
MPEG-4, H.263, H.264 & WMV playback support,
.3GP and .MP4 file playback support,
H.263 capture support

Camera
3 megapixel auto focus, VGA secondary camera

Memory
256MB Flash, 128MB RAM, MicroSD up to 32GB

Chipset
Qualcomm MSM 7201A

Software
Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional

Form Factor
Touch tablet smartphone

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