John at myITforum.com

crackberry.com launched

CrackBerry.com, the "Number One Site for BlackBerry Users and Abusers," was launched today. BlackBerry users looking to indulge their inclinations or control their CrackBerry habits now have a website on which to find both a fix and a cure. The site is dedicated to users of Research In Motion's ubiquitous personal e-mail and phone devices, often called "CrackBerries" because of their addictive nature.

Club i-mate Ultimate: Innovation by Design

Club i-Mate has launched a website for their Ultimate series of Windows Mobile phones. 

Check out the Ultimate 7150:

	Each device in the Ultimate range has the latest VGA visual screen technology.	• Size: 110mm x 74mm x 18mm   • Screen: 3.8" Primary Touchscreen Display 2.2" OLED Secondary Display
	Standard Specification   All Ultimate devices come with the following specifications. • Operating System: Windows Mobile® 6 Professional • Processor: Intel Bulverde 520MHz • Quad-Band GSM/EDGE • Tri-Band UMTS/HSDPA 850/1900/2100 or 850/1700/2100 • Memory: 256MB ROM + 128 MB RAM • Screen: VGA 262K Color LCD Touch Screen • WiFi 802.11b/g/e/i • Bluetooth® v2.0 + EDR - up t 1.3 Mbps • Mini USB high speed - 480 Mbps • Direct Video Out XGA • Micro-SD card slot • 2.0 mega pixel camera • Battery: 1400mAh • FM Stereo Radio

Ultimate is a new and exciting range of devices from i-mate™, the specialists in Windows Mobile® devices. The devices are designed with the latest in mobile technology to help you get the most from Windows Mobile® and i-mate™ solutions.

Innovation by Design
The i-mate™ philosophy of Innovation by Design has been used in every sense to create a product range of devices that aims to re-define the category of Windows Mobile® devices.

From the 520MHz Intel processor, to the XGA direct video out, from HSDPA connectivity to the 262k colour VGA LCD touch screen, every component of every device provides the latest and best in mobile phone and PDA technology.

Besides having the assurance of superior technical specifications, customers also have the comfort of choice with five
distinctive form factors available.

This means all Ultimate devices support the full range of benefits provided by the latest version of Windows Mobile®. For example:
• Enhanced mobile messaging and time management solution
• Secure and simple corporate access
• Faster connections to contacts
• Faster and easier application development and distribution.

 

The decline and fall of the Palm empire

Palm used to dominate the market with the best gadget. What went wrong?

Mike Elgan over at Computerworld has written a great piece on Palm.  I have to admit, I agree with a lot of what he writes.  There was a time many moons ago that I refused to carry a Windows CE/Pocket PC/Windows Mobile device.  I preferred the Palm OS for how speedy it was, and how easy it was to use.  I poked fun at those few that actually dared carry the original version of Window CE, until HP released the first HP Jornada.  It’s a great piece on “what went wrong”.  Check it out when you get a few minutes.

“The once-mighty Palm Inc., still successful on paper from the momentum of past glories, is doomed to decline and failure. It wasn't always thus. Here's my preemptive postmortem.

About 12 years ago, I met with a man I didn't know, who worked for a start-up I was unfamiliar with, to see a product I'd never heard of.

The man was Ed Colligan. The start-up was Palm Computing (though it had recently been acquired by modem maker U.S. Robotics). And the product was code-named Touchdown, later to be branded the Palm Pilot.”

Abrams and Shatner on Star Trek XI

Both J.J. Abrams and William Shatner have been talking about Star Trek XI, targeted for a 2008 release. Abrams ("Lost," Mission: Impossible III) confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that the script is done, and it will be trimmed sometime soon.

Abrams said it's a story that even non-Trekkers can enjoy. "On the one hand, for people who love Star Trek, the fix that they will get will be really satisfying," he said. "For people who've never seen it or know it vaguely, I think they will enjoy it equally, because the movie does not require you to know anything about Star Trek. I would actually prefer [that] people don't know the series, because I feel like they will come to it with an open mind."

Meanwhile, SCI FI Wire caught up with William Shatner, who says the 11th movie will indeed deal with the early years of Capt. James T. Kirk and Spock - and that he will definitely appear in the movie if director J.J. Abrams can find a place to use him. Shatner, who originated the role of Kirk in the original Trek series and several subsequent films, said in the interview that he was invited to meet with Abrams.

"I met with J.J., and they told me they would like me to be part of their film, but they have to write the role," Shatner said. And confirming the rumors, Shatner added, "Yes, we know the story is based on young Kirk."

Microsoft updates Office Communicator 2005

Microsoft has updated Office Communicator 2005 to version 1.0.559.216.  Go here for the details.

HP issues advisory for DST issues on all iPaqs and Mobile Messengers

The start and end dates for Daylight Saving Time (DST) will change for US time zones in 2007. DST will now start on the 2nd Sunday of March and end on the first Sunday of November. Softpaq SP34629 will be available to automatically adjust for DST on the correct dates. This is a RAM patch that modifies the registry. This change will be lost if a hard reset is performed on the iPAQ, and the patch will have to be re-applied. These changes are only supported on units with PPC2003, PPC2003SE and Mobile 5.0. It will work on previous versions, but is not supported.

Symptoms:

iPAQ does not automatically adjust to new Daylight Saving Time starting 2nd Sunday of March 2007.

Apple and Cisco settle...

AP - Cisco Systems Inc. and Apple Inc. have agreed to share the "iPhone" name, but both companies are staying tightlipped about what future products might come from the resulting deal to collaborate on "interoperability" between the companies' products.

Office 2007 Office Migration Planning Manager

For those that have been tasked with assisting in the migration to Office 2007.

The Office Migration Planning Manager is a group of tools designed to help administrators during the planning and testing phases of a 2007 Microsoft Office system deployment. The goal of the tool set is to help administrators understand the number and types of Microsoft Office files in their environment and effectively plan for a smooth rollout of the new version of the Microsoft Office system.

 

BitLocker Drive Preparation Tool is available

Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption is a new security feature in Windows Vista that provides protection for data and operating system files stored on the Windows operating system volume of your computer. BitLocker guards this data if someone tampers with the computer's critical startup process. It is designed to use the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) security hardware to provide enhanced protection for your data and to protect early boot component integrity. Encrypting the entire Windows volume with BitLocker can help protect your data from unauthorized viewing, even in the event of physical attacks, such as the theft of the computer or removal of a hard disk.

Microsoft has published the BitLocker Drive Preparation Tool.

Palm posts Daylight Savings Time Updates

Palm has updated their support site for DST patches.  The patches are available for both Palm OS and Windows Mobile devices.

http://www.palm.com/us/support/downloads/dst.html

Palm updates support for Vista and Office 2007

Palm has updated their Windows Vista support page to include updated products for Windows Vista and Office 2007.  If you’re using Palm products and running Windows Vista or Office 2007, be sure to get the updates.

http://www.palm.com/us/support/windowsvista/index.html

 

Cingular 8525

Great write up on the 8525 over at Smartphone and Pocket PC Magazine.  Let’s hope the 8525 is one model HTC decides to upgrade. 

Palm addresses the security concerns?

According to this story, it depends…

Palm may or may not be fixing your Treo, depending on the model.

Marlene Somsak, VP of Communications for Palm, Inc., emailed and called me concerning the recent Treo vulnerability and my concern over it not being fixed. She is as pleasant as they come. I really enjoyed talking to her, but I didn't like the answer she had to relay.

She told me that Palm will definitely be fixing the vulnerability in Cingular 680's and Sprint 700p in an upcoming "rev", but all other models will remain unfixed (until they can find a reliable solution, if ever).

Somsak relayed that the fixing the bug would require a software patch or ROM fix, both of which "would cause problems to many existing applications." She continued, "Palm has already done the revs they planned on the other models and hadn't planned to do more."

 

Windows Vista Hardware Assessment released

The Windows Vista Hardware Assessment solution Accelerator is an inventory, assessment, and reporting tool that will find computers on a network and determine if they are ready to run the Windows Vista™ operating system.

Go here.

Cingular now wants colors...

Palm has removed all unlocked Treo 680’s from their Palm store except for the Graphite version.  What happened to Copper, Crimson, and Arctic?  They are only available from Cingular.  Originally, Cingular only offered one color, and all the other colors were available unlocked from Palm, now the reverse has happened.