TamsPPC – the PocketPC Blog

While the device pictured on the left is not likely to win any design prices, hardware hackers will nevertheless be extremely excited about Exeda’s homonymous handheld.

The reason is short and sweet: the box is designed to appeal to hardware and software hackers and freaks of all sorts:

* Open source u-boot bootloader
* Detailed hardware and software documentation
* Full BSP’s
* 10/100Base-T Ethernet port
* JTAG interface
* RS-232
* Unlocked SIM

Specs-wise, it is not too shabby either:

Usability

exeda incorporates a 3.5″ VGA sun-readable display with a touch screen, five row, full QWERTY keypad with backlight and a unique capacitive touchpad acting as a mouse. This makes exeda ideal for reading, browsing and data entry.

Connectivity
* A choice of wireless voice/data modem – quad band GSM/GPRS, CDMA or 3G UMTS
* 802.11g WLAN
* Bluetooth V2.0 + EDR
* 2 USB ports
* RS-232 port

Other features
* Marvell PXA270 520MB CPU
* 128MB RAM
* 2 banks of internal FLASH, 512MB each
* 2MP camera with flash
* GPS with built-in and external antennas
* MicroSD socket with SDHC support
* Built-in microphone and speaker + 3.5mm stereo jack
* High capacity 3000mAh battery

Extension
exeda functionality can be extended with an extension board inside the device. Extension boards may be designed by a 3rd party.
CompuLab will publish the electrical and mechanical interface and provides a reference extension board with full schematics.

Exeda itself provides ROM images of Angstroem Linux, Windows Mobile 6.1 and Android, but plans to add new operating systems in the future (Symbian is a likely contender). It will drop in March 09 for a currently unspecified price – further information will go live as we get it!

When using mobile devices, data loss is inevitable: operating systems can crash; devices can break down, get lost or be stolen. In most cases, the value of the device is small compared to the value of the data on it – think how you would feel if you lost your calendar, your contact database and irreplaceable pictures of your friends and family…

So far, backup programs were limited to protecting you from system crashes and operating / programming errors by keeping multiple copies of your data on an external memory card. When that card is lost, your data is gone – which leaves you with a single point of failure.

Backup version 2.0 is among the few backup programs which can save your PocketPC’s data from both crashes and theft / hardware damage. Our Palm OS experience has taught us that the safest place for your data is off the device – which is why Resco Backup 2.0 allows you to move your data to a remote FTP server automatically.

But what happens to your data while your device is lost? Resco Backup is the only program which has an answer to this question: we have a desktop tool which allows you to use your data without accessing your device! Look up contacts, read your SMS or extract files – even if your device is out of reach!

Power users will be happy about our Registry Diff tool: if your PocketPC has crashed after installing an app, find out what evil deeds it committed!

Cutting a long story short: if you want to keep your data safe, installing Resco Backup 2.0 should be your #1 priority! A free trial version can be downloaded from Resco’s web site – the full version costs 19.95$ and is available at Handango’s exclusively (MobiHand release will follow in the near future)!

I stumbled across this book at a Viennese store specializing in book blow-out sales. As I was planning an advertising campaign at that time, I purchased it…expecting to find all kinds of cool stuff. But could it stack up?

First of all: this book covers dynamic campaigns implemented with Flash. This means that the included images alone don’t tell the full story – you have to read the book and look at the included DVD on a PC in order to fully grasp a campaign.

Advertising OnLine divides its campaigns by their subject matter: the chapters cover Food&Beverage, Media, Service&Retailer, Technology&Games, Transport and Miscellaneous ads. Each ad campaign is given one to three pages worth of photos and a badly-written description text (which comes in three languages:). While some campaigns are straightforward or boring, some of the ideas really made me think. For example, did you ever think about using an IM bot as advertising tool?

Mobile computing freaks will be happy to hear that the book covers various advertising campaigns for phones: Nokia, Motorola and the now-defunct Siemens Mobile are all in the mix.

The aforementioned chapters are divided by interviews with various creatives: as the book was written in 2005, these serve more as amusing reading than as insight.

Like with most photo books, the paper quality is insanely high. The entire book is printed on semi-glossy paper, which makes the pictures look lovely. Unfortunately, the text is very unclear and full of grammatical errors…I often read all three (English, German, French) versions of the text in order to grasp its meaning.

In the end, people expecting to learn about making the most of a small ad space will be gravely disappointed with the book. It instead looks at what future technologies like ShockWave and Flash can achieve (or will be able to achieve in the future) compared to classic GIF banners. If you ever wondered why banner designers use flash, like picture books and have 26$ and some time to spare, hit this Amazon link…