August 2006 - Posts
General Motors is pulling its advertising from CBS's reality hit "Survivor," according to a news report Wednesday.
A GM spokesperson said the decision was made about three months ago and is not related to the controversy surrounding next season's competition, which will pit tribes of different ethnicities against one another, TV Week said.
The shows 13th season, Survivor: Cook Islands, 20 contestants will be organized into four tribes divided along ethnic lines - black, white, Hispanic and Asian.
Now, who’s grand idea was this?
But not without a lot of pain. It took forever to get the Motorola Q software program to realize the battery was fully charged, then it wouldn’t complete the installation of the Motorola interface via the add new hardware wizard. It required several reboots of my pc to get it to finish.
Once it installed the Motorola interface, the upgrade seemed to run fairly well. The problem is, now my phone is completely worthless until I can get through to *228 with the phone to reprogram it. I’ve been finished for about an hour, and have been trying to get through. I can’t make calls or receive calls on this thing. You would think that if this was a required step, that Verizon would do some load balancing or call distribution and make more lines available, particularly on the first day of release. I’ve heard rumors that the Motorola Q has sold well, and all of them must be trying to upgrade about now, all trying to dial *228 to reprogram the phone.
Needless to say, I’ve been disappointed with the whole process. I don’t think they planned appropriately for this.
Stop by the blog and provide your input.
From the Windows Mobile Team blog:
I’ve really enjoyed all the insightful responses to Scott’s “what features would you spend your $100 on?” entry. Thank you for your passion around our product. One feature request that kept coming up was “better one hand navigation.” I’d like to have some discussion on this subject and better understand what you’re asking for there. I’m going to make some assumptions, give some information, and then ask for clarification on what you’re looking for.
Assumptions
My first assumption is that when you say “I want one hand navigation” what you’re really saying is, “I don’t want to have to tap the screen.” If you mean something else, let me know.
My second assumption is that this feature request only applies to devices with a touch screen. We call these devices “PocketPCs,” although there are some devices marketed as “Smartphones” that have touch screens and are, in actuality, PocketPCs. Obviously if the device doesn’t have a touch screen, there won’t be any software that requires you to touch it.
Because of the second assumption, assume for the rest of this entry that I’m only talking about touch screen PocketPCs.
Hardware requirements
While we did some work on one hand navigation for WM2003SE, we didn’t really consider PocketPCs to be one hand navigatible until WM5. And, for one hand navigation to work, we tell OEMs that they should have the following hardware buttons: a DPAD (up, down, left, right, enter), two softkeys, a Start button, and an Ok button. (All phone devices also have a SEND and an END key.) We largely expect devices to lay these buttons out near each other, the way the 6700 and the Treo do. On some devices, especially the MDA, the Start and OK buttons were moved to the top and changed into quick launch keys. On my MDA, I work around this by assigning those buttons to Start and Ok in the Buttons control panel. I assume most people find that device hard to one hand navigate.
Navigation Failures
In our attempt to make PocketPC one hand navigatible, we missed a few spots. The biggest of these, in my opinion, is that you can’t change folders in inbox without tapping the dropdown on the upper left corner of the screen. There are some things in the control panels as well, but I don’t hit them very regularly. My first question for you folks is that, when you say you want one hand navigation to work, are you talking about these things or something else? In other words is it, “One hand navigation mostly works, but there are these rough edges,” or is it something much deeper?
The feedback suggests that it’s something deeper, so I’m going to ask more questions about it. The specific feedback seemed to fall into two categories:
Navigating between apps:
I saw people saying that they felt that they needed to use the stylus to move from app to app. I’d like to hear more about this. For launching apps, what requires the stylus? Alternately, what works so much better with the stylus than the buttons that you’re willing to pull it out? Note, however, that I’m assuming you have a “Start” and an “Ok” button. If your hardware doesn’t have those, then I fully understand why you can’t navigate apps without touching the screen.
Dialing the phone:
The feedback was very clear on this one. People want to dial the phone without touching the screen. My question here is, how would you like to see us implement this? In my opinion, the only way to dial without touching the screen is to have the 12 hardware phone buttons (1-9, *, 0, #). Are you folks saying, “Require that every PocketPC have hardware dialer buttons,” or do you have ideas for ways to dial from the DPAD? The only thing that comes to my mind is to put a little focus box around the number, and then have the DPAD move that focus box. For instance, start it on 1. Right goes to 2. From there, down goes to 5. Etc. Is that what you’re looking for? It feels to me like that would require you to look at the screen almost as much as touching it does.
Thanks for all your feedback.
Mike Calligaro
I downloaded the updater, you actually need two files, a 44MB file, and a 10MB file, both of which need to be installed. Why would they do that? Second, if your device is connected while you are installing and running, you need to disconnect the device and reattach it. It will then act as if you’re installing the device for the first time and install USB drivers. Again, why is this part necessary? Lastly, the installer will stop if the battery is not fully charged. I’m at about 75% battery power, and it stopped and said please ensure you are fully charged, and then the only option is to exit.
I’ll report back in a few hours after the battery charges. Was this field tested before rollout?
Yes, I know…the Q just came out but…there’s been issues…
Today they announced availability firmware and software updates. I’ll let you know how it goes.
You can get it here.
Creative Technology Ltd. (NASDAQ: CREAF), a worldwide leader in digital entertainment products, today introduced the Creative ZEN Vision W portable video, photo and MP3 player. The Creative ZEN Vision W features a high resolution, 4.3-inch, 16:9 format, colour widescreen TFT display for viewing up to 240 hours of video, tens of thousands of photos and it can carry up to 15,000 songs. The Creative ZEN Vision W is also ideal as a portable camera companion. Featuring a built-in Compact Flash slot, users can now easily import photos directly from a digital camera without a PC. The Creative ZEN Vision W (30GB) premieres at COMEX 2006 in Singapore on 31 August 2006 for only S$649.00 and will be available at all Creative Stores island-wide and online at sg.store.creative.com, as well as other retail stores in Singapore. The 60GB model for just S$749.00 will be available in end September 2006.
Personal data, including credit card information, of thousands of AT&T customers was stolen by hackers over the weekend, the company reported late Tuesday.
The breach, which affected customers who purchased DSL equipment through AT&T's Web store was discovered within hours and the online store was shut down immediately, said AT&T in a press release.
Read more here.
Google has expanded its controversial book search service to allow people to download whole copies of books in PDF format to their computers, with the ability to print them out.
The feature will go live Wednesday at the service’s website, said Adam Smith, group product manager of Google Book Search and Google Scholar.
The books available for download will only be those that are in the public domain and thus not protected by copyright, Smith said. Until now, people have been able to read these public-domain books on the Google Book Search Web site, but not download and print them, he said.
In the wake of Sprint Nextel's accelerated migration to EV-DO Rev. A, the carrier is commercially launching the Novatel Wireless S720 Sprint Mobile Broadband Card to its customer base.
Sprint has made a commitment to begin upgrading its EV-DO Sprint Power Vision network to Rev. A later this year. The carrier wants to have its upgraded network reach more than 40 million people by the close of 2006.
Since the Rev. A network has not yet launched, the card is backward compatible with Sprint's EV-DO Release 0 network.
Sprint is offering the Merlin S720 as low as $99.99, with a signed 2-year customer agreement. The card carries a suggested retail price of $249.99.
The companies are touting the Merlin S720 launch as the first Rev. A mobile data card to be available on the commercial market.
Yesterday, Sierra Wireless announced its support for Rev. A networks as well. The company introduced the AirCard 597E wireless wide area network (WAN) card, which is expected to be commercially available in the first quarter of next year. Sierra Wireless expects to launch a data card that supports high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) networks in the near future.
Samsung Telecommunications America took the wraps off of its first high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) handset in the United States. Cingular Wireless has signed on as the exclusive U.S. provider of the SGH-zx20.
The HDSPA handset supports video streaming, high-speed Web browsing and software downloads over Cingular's 3G HSDPA network. The handset, according to the companies, supports a variety of messaging and multimedia capabilities, including the Cingular Video service. The device supports the ability to talk while downloading multimedia applications.
Cingular is offering the quad-band handset for $99.99, after a $50 mail-in rebate and a signed 2-year service agreement.
Cingular says it is on target to launch its 3G coverage in most major U.S. markets before the end of the year. The Broadband Connect service debuted in 2005 and is now available in more than 60 cities and towns.
In Japan, NTT DoCoMo recently unveiled its first HSDPA handset, the 3G Foma N902iX High-Speed. The handset will be available beginning Aug. 31 when DoCoMo and its eight subsidiaries launch an HSDPA service.
My week of waiting to get rid of Time Warner ends today. My local Bell company will be here tomorrow morning to remove the “remains”, and all will be right with my world again. I get to call TW tomorrow and tell them to rid me of their service.
I couldn’t be more pleased switching back to DirecTV. It just “works”. No questions, no hassles, no service calls. I’ve been back on DirecTV with TiVo since last week, all my programs are recording, playback is working as its supposed to, and no customer service calls. My kids are excited because all of their programs are there where they are supposed to be. They don’t have to try and figure out where TW hid their channels.
One of the other great features of DirecTV is that I can go online and change my service on the internet, again, no phone calls. My wife just keeps looking at me with that “what were you thinking” look. Oh well, live and learn.
Cingular Wireless, Palm, Inc. (Nasdaq: PALM) and Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced availability of BlackBerry
(R) Connect
(TM) for the Palm
(R) Treo
(TM) 650 smart device. With BlackBerry Connect software, Cingular customers now can enjoy the feature-rich Treo 650 with the BlackBerry service for a robust and secure solution on the nationwide Cingular EDGE wireless data network.
(1)
“The availability of BlackBerry Connect on the Palm Treo 650 represents a marriage of two very popular wireless offerings that now gives Cingular customers more choice,” said Michael Woodward, executive director, mobile professional solutions, for Cingular Wireless. “Businesses can now leverage their existing BlackBerry Enterprise Server while giving employees a powerful, new wireless device option.”
BlackBerry Connect for the Treo 650 enables users to benefit from many popular features of the unique “push”-based BlackBerry architecture via BlackBerry Enterprise Server(TM). For corporate customers, BlackBerry Enterprise Server software tightly integrates with Microsoft(R) Exchange and IBM Lotus(R) Domino(R) and works with existing enterprise systems to enable secure, push-based wireless access to email and other corporate data. The Treo 650 operates on Cingular’s EDGE network, the largest high-speed national wireless data network in the United States with availability in 13,000 cities and towns and along some 40,000 miles of major highways.
BlackBerry Connect for the Treo 650 supports the following features:
· “Push” Corporate Email delivers messages automatically - and wirelessly - to the Treo 650’s inbox. Changes to the inbox, including read/unread status and deletion, can be automatically synchronized between the user’s email account and the Treo 650.
· Wireless Calendar Synchronization keeps the Treo 650’s built-in Calendar up to date remotely, allowing users to receive, accept or decline meeting requests on the go.
· Attachment Viewing lets users view Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and PDF documents in original format.(2)
· Remote Address Lookup (RAL) allows users to search their corporate directory wirelessly for email addresses without the need to download every name to the Treo 650.
· Enables centralized device management, including support for IT policies such as over-the-air device disablement and password device lock, as well as end-to-end security with Triple DES encryption.
“We are happy to provide another choice for companies that have deployed BlackBerry Enterprise Server or are planning to do so,” said Tim Roper, vice president of U.S. region for Palm. “Treo 650 already is one of the most compelling mobile-computing devices available today for business users, and the BlackBerry Connect functionality gives Cingular customers another great reason to adopt Treo as a vital business-productivity tool.”
“BlackBerry Connect allows Treo 650 users to tap into the power of the BlackBerry wireless architecture,” said Mark Guibert, vice president, Corporate Marketing, at Research In Motion. “We see a growing opportunity for wireless connectivity in the enterprise, and we’re very pleased to be working with Cingular and Palm to broaden the reach of BlackBerry and to help customers enhance their mobile communications and productivity.”
BlackBerry Connect on the Treo 650 requires a BlackBerry Connect rate plan from Cingular. The solution is available today for Cingular Treo 650 customers through Cingular’s B2B sales organization. More information is available at http://www.palm.com/cingularbbc and www.cingular.com/midtolarge/blackberry, or by calling 866-4CW-SB2B to speak with a Cingular sales representative.
Yahoo has made its suite of software for high-end mobile phones more widely available on Wednesday, when it unveiled a version for smartphones that run Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating system. Get it here.
The company's Go for Mobile software includes its email, search, photo, address book and calendar services, as well as access to news, sports and finance content. Yahoo offers many of its popular online services in mobile versions designed to fit content onto cellphones' smaller screens that are accessible using any Web-enabled phone. But the software provides a faster, smoother experience and additional features. For instance, users can store emails for reading when they don't have service and can automatically upload photos taken with their phone cameras into their Yahoo Photos accounts.
However, since Go for Mobile's launch in February, the software has only been available for certain Nokia phones, which run the Symbian operating system. In the US, consumers could only use the software if they got their service from Cingular Wireless and had one particular Nokia phone, said Yahoo spokeswoman Nicole Leverich. More services and Nokia phones are supported in Europe.
Making the software available to Windows Mobile smartphones, which include Motorola's popular Q phone and several Palm Treo phones, will nearly double Yahoo's reach. Last year, Microsoft shipped 6 million phones with its Windows Mobile software.
For now, these phone owners will have to download Yahoo's software. But starting early next year, partners such as Motorola will preinstall it on some phones, in moves that are likely to significantly expand its usage. Yahoo is in talks with Research in Motion to bring the software to its devices, Leverich said.
"This is about reach for us. We want to get it on all devices that are in consumers' hands," she said. "We definitely think expanding the reach of the service to new devices is going to help us continue to grow the service."
At Yahoo's annual analyst meeting in May, Chief Executive Terry Semel named mobile services as one of several major strategic "big bets" the company is making for the next five years. Yahoo wants to expand aggressively into this arena because mobile devices outnumber personal computers 2-to-1 and are key lines to consumers in hot emerging markets like India.
-By Riva Richmond, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5670; riva.richmond@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
Eurotech's U.S. subsidiary, Parvus, will demonstrate the multinational company's innovative wrist-worn PC at a military electronics conference Aug. 22-24 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. The Zypad WL 1000 runs Windows CE or Linux, and features hands-free operation, wireless networking, GPS tracking, and patent-pending power management technology.
Virtual Spaghetti has released an update to its free benchmark app that rates the graphics performance of Windows Mobile smartphones and PDAs. Vsbenchmark 2006 v 1.15 is now compatible with Windows Mobile 5.0 and supports a wider range of screen resolutions and devices, the company says.
Results can be uploaded to Virtual Spaghetti’s website for comparison with other devices. The company says its database currently lists over 130 models with scores ranging from 410 to 1715.
Vsbenchmark is available for free download from the company's website here.
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