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January 2008 - Posts

System Center Mobile Device Manager - Register NOW if you want to make sure you get a place!

Wow!  Have I been busy this week.... System Center Mobile Device Manager seems to be going down a storm with customers!   I think I've spoken to pretty much every Police Force, Government body and commercial organisation this week who have Read More...
Posted Thursday, January 31, 2008 8:22 PM by jasonlan | 1 Comments

Zagat to go v6 just released

Zagat To Go is one of my favourite applications for when I'm visiting another country either on business or vacation.  It gives you quick access to restaurant information and location.   You can quickly find a mexican restaurant if that's Read More...
Posted Thursday, January 31, 2008 8:16 PM by jasonlan | 3 Comments

Samsung i600 for only 205.95!

Expansys have just dropped the price of the Samsung i600 to just under 206 pounds in the UK! Best of all, you can now upgrade to the latest version of Windows Mobile 6 for free! Read More...
Posted Thursday, January 31, 2008 2:59 PM by jasonlan | 2 Comments

Google GMAIL and Windows Mobile now play together nicely

  Since Google announced their IMAP service in October last year a number of people have had problems with HTML emails and other problems when using a Windows Mobile device. If you use Gmail for your email then you will be pleased to know that your Read More...
Posted Wednesday, January 30, 2008 2:56 PM by jasonlan | 0 Comments

Chirpscreen - the coolest screensaver ever?

I spotted this over on the Channel 10 blog and installed this yesterday!  Chirpscreen is a screensaver that integrates with social networks such as Facebook and Flickr and then floats the information across the screen.  The cool thing is that Read More...
Posted Wednesday, January 30, 2008 8:30 AM by jasonlan | 4 Comments

HTC Touch White from Bell Canada

  After my post yesterday about the Samsung Jack being launched in Canada - the team over at MobileinCanada.com contacted me to highlight that Bell in Canada have also launched the HTC Touch in a rather attractive White! You can get more details Read More...
Posted Wednesday, January 30, 2008 8:19 AM by jasonlan | 1 Comments

Rogers launch the Samsung Jack

Rogers have launched the Samsung Jack in Canada! This device is the equivalent of the Blackjack II so has GPS, HSDPA and is Quadband for Voice! It also has Windows Mobile 6. More details can be found HERE Read More...
Posted Tuesday, January 29, 2008 1:37 PM by jasonlan | 0 Comments

SkyFire Browser

This looks interesting... a browser for Windows Mobile devices that also supports full audio, video, images, dynamic Flash content, advanced Ajax, Java and more Skyfire are just about to launch a private beta which you can sign up for. If you are in the Read More...
Posted Monday, January 28, 2008 8:05 PM by jasonlan | 4 Comments

Deploying Windows Mobile 6 with Small Business Server

We've literally just released a guide to implementing Windows Mobile 6 with Small Business Server 2003! If you are already using or plan to use Small Business Server (or you are a partner who implements SBS) then this will be a great resource for you. Read More...
Posted Monday, January 28, 2008 7:20 PM by jasonlan | 2 Comments

Orange Samsung i780

Now sooner do I get my hands on a Samsung Blackjack 2 than this baby comes along to tease me further! The i780 is a GPS, HSDPA touting Smartphone! My EMEA director had one of these on friday and we were comparing it in size to the Blackjack 2 and they Read More...
Posted Saturday, January 26, 2008 6:24 PM by jasonlan | 10 Comments

Windows Mobile 6 upgrade for the Samsung Blackjack

  It's been a long time coming but you can now upgrade your Samsung Blackjack to Windows Mobile 6. You can download the upgrade from HERE Read More...
Posted Friday, January 25, 2008 2:43 PM by jasonlan | 1 Comments

Zumobi partnership with Microsoft

Earlier in the week Zumobi announced their partnership with Microsoft to deliver their Zooming UI interface onto Windows Mobile devices. You can read their press release HERE If you haven't seen their UI in action see the YouTube video below: Read More...
Posted Friday, January 25, 2008 1:09 PM by jasonlan | 1 Comments

Want a ten fold increase in battery life?

Thankfully a car battery isn't the answer! Stanford University has discovered a method using silicon nanowires that can give a conventional laptop battery 40 hours of battery instead of the traditional 4 hours. The new batteries were developed by assistant Read More...
Posted Friday, January 25, 2008 11:00 AM by jasonlan | 1 Comments

ASUS P750

ZDNet have produced a review of the ASUS P750 - it's an interesting device with a 12 key keypad and 3G/HSDPA connectivity, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS. You can read more about ZDNet's review HERE Read More...
Posted Thursday, January 24, 2008 9:16 AM by jasonlan | 1 Comments

Is there a 12 key resurgence about to happen?

Over the past few years a large majority of Windows Mobile Devices have been released with QWERTY keyboards, this has primarily been due to the demand for mobile messaging.  Strangely though if you look into Smartphone device sales across EMEA in Read More...
Posted Wednesday, January 23, 2008 10:17 AM by jasonlan | 3 Comments

The Gadgeteer talk with John Starkweather

John Starkweather is one of my colleagues and based in Singapore - he is very knowledgeable about Windows Mobile and all things mobile! The Gadgeteer managed to grab a few moments with John to interview him. You can read more about the interview HERE Read More...
Posted Wednesday, January 23, 2008 7:03 AM by jasonlan | 1 Comments

Toshiba announce the G710 and G910 devices

There has been pictures and details circulating the web for some time now but yesterday Toshiba officially announced the G710 and G910 devices. The G710 is a QWERTY keyboarded device with integrated GPS and is QuadBand.  It isn't 3G but does have Read More...
Posted Tuesday, January 22, 2008 7:44 PM by jasonlan | 2 Comments

91% of mobile users keep phone within 1 meter reach 24x7

Just saw Steve's posting about Mobile Phone Usage citing that: 95% of cell phone owners never leave home without carrying their phone 3 billion people are always 'connected', twice the number of connected PCs 54% of 14-24 year olds use their cell phone Read More...
Posted Tuesday, January 22, 2008 7:21 PM by jasonlan | 2 Comments

HTC Sell 2 million Touch devices

A great spot my Modaco on this news from Yahoo that HTC announced they have sold 2 million HTC Touch devices! The Touch has certainly been very well received by customers and it's success has certainly been bigger than it's 'ELF' codename! Read More...
Posted Tuesday, January 22, 2008 7:13 PM by jasonlan | 1 Comments

HTC Touch Cruise unboxed

The HTC Touch Cruise is a device that is gathering a lot of interest.  It is very well specified with 128MB Memory, 400MHz Processor, HSDPA and a 3 megapixel camera! Tracy and Matt have created an unboxing video which I've embedded below. Expansys Read More...
Posted Tuesday, January 22, 2008 12:28 PM by jasonlan | 0 Comments

Today is the Most Depressing day of the year

Monday mornings are difficult enough but today is the most depressing day of the year according to happiness and motivation expert, Cliff Arnall, formerly of Cardiff University.  To help people beat the blues on Blue Monday, GREEN Communications Read More...
Posted Monday, January 21, 2008 4:42 PM by jasonlan | 1 Comments

Windows Mobile Briefings - Spain

Our EMEA team is continuing their Mobile Briefings around Europe and on March 6th they will be in Madrid. If you want to attend we have two briefings - an Enterprise briefing and a Partner briefing! You can register using the links below! Windows Mobile Read More...
Posted Monday, January 21, 2008 1:02 PM by jasonlan | 1 Comments

Touch Dual Review

Over on Tracy and Matt's Blog they have posted a detailed review of the HTC Touch Dual. This device seems to becoming more and more a favourite of Windows Mobile Users. You can read the review HERE Read More...
Posted Sunday, January 20, 2008 8:22 AM by jasonlan | 2 Comments

T-Mobile Germany announce the MDA Touch Plus and a 16GB Ameo

T-Mobile Germany have announced the MDA Touch Plus as well as a 16GB version of the T-Mobile Ameo.  The MDA Touch Plus is the T-Mobile version of the HTC Touch Dual.  The Ameo enhancements move the internal drive from 8GB to 16GB and also includes Read More...
Posted Saturday, January 19, 2008 8:07 PM by jasonlan | 1 Comments

Tube 2 London Geo now has LIVE travel information

Tube was the first application I ever had on my Windows Mobile Smartphone and is still one of my favourites.  Despite spending plenty of time in London I still need this application to help me find my way round. The latest version now includes a Read More...
Posted Friday, January 18, 2008 8:13 PM by jasonlan | 1 Comments

Partner Training for System Center Mobile Device Manager

After my posting on the Customer Briefings for System Center Mobile Device Manager I had a number of partners contact me looking for details on any readiness webcasts. If you are a Microsoft Partner we are delivering 4 Webcasts from February 25th to February Read More...
Posted Friday, January 18, 2008 8:09 AM by jasonlan | 0 Comments

Having trouble with Google Maps on your Orange SPV device?

Whilst of course I'm bound to say that Windows Live Search is the best mapping solution for Windows Mobile... of course there is also the Google Maps Mobile offering on Windows Mobile too. The interesting feature in this solution is the ability to automatically Read More...
Posted Thursday, January 17, 2008 8:45 AM by jasonlan | 6 Comments

Looking for a new case for your hTC TyTN II?

One thing I've noticed about Gadget Geeks and particularly Mobile Enthusiasts is that their passion for Mobile Technology has a luggage fetish undercurrent. It seems most of them are heavily into protecting their phone, mp3 player or laptop with a stylish Read More...
Posted Wednesday, January 16, 2008 3:37 PM by jasonlan | 1 Comments

Barcle - Finding the lowest price from your Mobile

I don't know about you but whenever I'm looking to buy something I always invest a fair amount of time researching where to buy it from and also how to get the best deal. That doesn't work well with impulse purchases however.... there may be a solution Read More...
Posted Wednesday, January 16, 2008 1:25 PM by jasonlan | 1 Comments

System Center Mobile Device Manager Customer Briefings

I posted a little while back about these but I wanted to make sure people were aware they were happening as registrations are filling really quickly! We are holding 2 events in the UK which will focus on our recently announced System Center Mobile Device Read More...
Posted Wednesday, January 16, 2008 8:52 AM by jasonlan | 0 Comments

IVR Technologies release Calling Card and CallBack solution

IVR Technologies announced yesterday that they have released several Windows Mobile applications for use with Talking SIP, their integrated application, media and billing server. The Smartphone applications integrate tightly and seamlessly into Windows Read More...
Posted Tuesday, January 15, 2008 10:53 PM by jasonlan | 0 Comments

BenQ E72 unboxing

This is one device I'm really excited about..... Why - well firstly it's going to be very low price point - plus it's actually a really nice 12 key Smartphone device.  The pictures don't really do it justice in terms of the quality feel of the device. Read More...
Posted Tuesday, January 15, 2008 9:51 PM by jasonlan | 2 Comments

Why does your Mobile phone never work as well in the US :(

Ever wondered why your European GSM Phone doesn't seem to work that well in the US? I was chatting with a US colleague about this just the other day. Well in the US the GSM Network is made up of 850MHz and 1900 MHz bands. Between the 850 and 1900, the Read More...
Posted Monday, January 14, 2008 6:25 AM by jasonlan | 3 Comments

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 RC Refresh

Obviously not Mobile but if you are using Vista this Service Pack 1 RC Refresh could have a positive impact on the performance of your PC.  You can get it from HERE Read More...
Posted Monday, January 14, 2008 12:08 AM by jasonlan | 2 Comments

Key-Ring GPS

If your device didn't come with GPS integrated then the likelihood is you have got a separate GPS receiver. The good news is that there are now quite a few options for 'key-ring' GPS receivers. Over on AllAboutSymbian they have looked at the Freedom Keychain Read More...
Posted Sunday, January 13, 2008 3:54 PM by jasonlan | 1 Comments

NewsGator now Free!

In the past week NewsGator announced that NetNewsWire 3.1, FeedDemon 2.6, and NewsGator Go! for Windows Mobile will be free. So where is the catch... well you there is some data collection on which feeds you are reading/clicking through. I f you are in Read More...
Posted Sunday, January 13, 2008 6:41 AM by jasonlan | 1 Comments

Fun Contact v2.0

Vito Technology have just released v2.0 of their application Fun Contact. New features in v2.0 are: Sliding out keypad to dial numbers missing from your contacts T9 contacts look up Edit or add new contacts without going to the default WM contacts Call Read More...
Posted Saturday, January 12, 2008 6:18 AM by jasonlan | 1 Comments

eXTREME AGENDA

Wow - the Organizer market for Windows Mobile is getting competitive.... with Agenda One, Agenda Fusion, Pocket Informant , Agendus, Ulti-Planner and quite a few others vying to be the Organizer on your Windows Mobile device! To up their game - Extreme Read More...
Posted Friday, January 11, 2008 10:33 PM by jasonlan | 0 Comments

T-Mobile chooses eXpansys as first UK Premier Partner

Great news for Expansys in that T-Mobile UK has chosen them as the first UK Premier Partner for its new IT Channel Partner Programme. http://www.pcretailmag.com/news/29210/T-Mobile-chooses-eXpansys-as-first-UK-distributor Read More...
Posted Friday, January 11, 2008 4:09 PM by jasonlan | 0 Comments

Windows Live/Messenger 30 day trial prompting

Yesterday a number of people were having problems with their Windows Live service on their Mobile with it prompting about your 30 day trial ending as documented on Modaco and quite a few other sites. The reason this happened was that this week we rolled Read More...
Posted Thursday, January 10, 2008 7:14 PM by jasonlan | 4 Comments

ASAP - What does that really mean!?

I had a wonderful Christmas break (as I hope you all did) and I'm busily working my way through the backlog of emails and incoming actions/communciations I received while I was off. Going through all my emails and actions there is one theme that really Read More...
Posted Thursday, January 10, 2008 3:49 PM by jasonlan | 3 Comments

E-Ten X650 announced

E-Ten have just announced the E-Ten X650 device. After Stephen Fry made great comments about the E-Ten X800 this device is similar but is a smaller 2G device with a VGA display and GPS integrated. You can even get it in two colours - black and purple! Read More...
Posted Thursday, January 10, 2008 3:42 PM by jasonlan | 1 Comments
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Can you use the HTC Advantage as a Laptop replacement?

A number of customers I work with have been keen to identify a Windows Mobile device as a potential laptop replacement. Now it all depends on your job as to whether such a device could deliver that for you however Jenneth has written an excellent article Read More...
Posted Thursday, January 10, 2008 8:07 AM by jasonlan | 4 Comments

T-Mobile gives UK Mobile Broadband customers FREE Wi-Fi

A good catch by Coolsmartphone.com and also a great move by T-Mobile which gives Mobile Broadband customers access to any of their WiFi hotspots too. If you are using T-Mobile Mobile Broadband (which starts at 12.50 per month) you can also use their popular Read More...
Posted Thursday, January 10, 2008 7:56 AM by jasonlan | 1 Comments

Last.FM on Windows Mobile

If you are a last.fm user then this application which is currently in development could be of interest to you. Last.fm Mobile in it's Pocket PC version has scrobbling and radio functionality, and the smartphone version is limited to scrobbling from Windows Read More...
Posted Thursday, January 10, 2008 7:48 AM by jasonlan | 1 Comments

Pocket Informant 8 released

Web-IS have just released version 8 of their very popular Pocket Informant application which is used as a Daily Management Tool. This product as well as being very popular also won the Smartphone & Pocket PC PIM category in 2007! Version 8 has a whole Read More...
Posted Wednesday, January 09, 2008 7:59 AM by jasonlan | 1 Comments

Verizon Wireless launch the SMT 5800

Over in the US Verizon Wireless have launched the SMT 5800 which supports the Verizon Wireless CDMA2000 1X/EV-DO network. This device has proved very popular with customers looking for the flexibility of both a 12 key and QWERTY keyboard on the device. Read More...
Posted Tuesday, January 08, 2008 4:03 PM by jasonlan | 1 Comments

Orange SPV E610 Appears

Those eagle-eyed folks over at CoolSmartphone.com have spotted the Orange SPV E610 has hit the Coming Soon section of Orange UK's Business Portfolio. The E610 is the Amoi 6711 - you can find more details on the Orange site HERE Read More...
Posted Tuesday, January 08, 2008 8:49 AM by jasonlan | 1 Comments

Bill Gates CES Keynote

If you haven't got time or didn't get a chance to see Bill Gates last CES Keynote then PocketPCThoughts.com has an excellent article covering the whole session. Bill and Robbie Bach cover everything Windows Live, Zune, Xbox, Vista, Surface, Silverlight Read More...
Posted Tuesday, January 08, 2008 6:43 AM by jasonlan | 2 Comments

Windows Mobile Data Synchronisation book now available

My colleague Rob Tiffany has now published his book - Windows Mobile Data Synchronization with SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server Compact 3.1 This book provides great guidance and insight into how to build scaleable SQL Server based mobile solutions. Rob Read More...
Posted Tuesday, January 08, 2008 6:15 AM by jasonlan | 1 Comments

Want to enable recurring audio notification of new emails

My colleague Jeff and I both had customers that wanted to enable recurring audio notification of new emails. That is that the device will continue to beep or play a sound until you the email. If you go into the Notifications option on your Windows Mobile Read More...
Posted Monday, January 07, 2008 4:02 PM by jasonlan | 5 Comments

Mobility Briefing - Dublin - 21st February

If you live in or around Dublin and are interested in learning more about Windows Mobile we have a briefing scheduled in Dublin on the 21st February. There are two elements to the briefing - a Developer and an Enterprise track. You can get more details Read More...
Posted Monday, January 07, 2008 1:33 PM by jasonlan | 5 Comments

Airo A25 - rugged and waterproof Windows Mobile 6 Phone

I'd not comes across this device before but the Airo A25 is a ruggedized and waterproof Windows Mobile 6 phone - (IP67 rated) supporting Push-to-Talk and also includes GPS. You can get more details HERE Read More...
Posted Monday, January 07, 2008 11:38 AM by jasonlan | 1 Comments

i-mate Ultimate 6150 video

I posted my Video Review of the i-mate Ultimate 8150 device on Friday. Over the weekend Tracy and Matt posted a video of another device from the i-mate Ultimate range - the 6150. You can view it above and get more information HERE Read More...
Posted Monday, January 07, 2008 8:38 AM by jasonlan | 2 Comments

TouchPal v2 - Onscreen Keyboard for Windows Mobile

I blogged previously about this excellent onscreen keyboard for your Windows Mobile device. Well the team over at Cootek have released version 2. The new release is less than 1MB in size so should load much more easily on devices, it also has support Read More...
Posted Monday, January 07, 2008 8:25 AM by jasonlan | 2 Comments

Microsoft - Live Webcast from CES - Today at 6:30PM PST (2:30AM GMT)

Well I doubt I will still be awake to watch this but I'll be sure to check it out first thing tomorrow! "Join Bill Gates, Microsoft Chairman, and Robbie Bach, President of the Entertainment & Devices Division, along with their surprise guests for Read More...
Posted Sunday, January 06, 2008 1:30 PM by jasonlan | 3 Comments

Simple alarm application for Windows Mobile (FREE)

Gil dropped me an email about his simple application he'd written which provides a simple mechanism for controlling the Alarm functions on a Windows Mobile device. It's called Spoon Alarm and allows you to: Set your favorite mp3 song to wake up with Snoozing Read More...
Posted Sunday, January 06, 2008 8:51 AM by jasonlan | 4 Comments

Wise Talk - camouflage your background noise

Ever felt the need to mask the background noise on your mobile phone? Screaming kids in the background, chinking of pint glasses, the thwack of a golf club... well if you have a Gigabyte Gsmart i350 then you can with a very cool application called Wise Read More...
Posted Sunday, January 06, 2008 7:16 AM by jasonlan | 4 Comments

Stephen Fry loving the Glofish x800

It was great to see in today's Guardian Stephen Fry's article on Smartphone devices and particularly his thoughts on the Glofish X800. Stephen doesn't seem to be the greatest fan of Windows Mobile.. Now, I have to say I'm not a fan of Windows for mobiles Read More...
Posted Saturday, January 05, 2008 9:08 AM by jasonlan | 6 Comments

List of free Wi-Fi internet access at airports worldwide

Good spot by Steve on this one... Atlarge.com is a list of Free Wi-Fi access points at Airports around the world. Very useful if you are travelling and in need of bandwidth :) Read More...
Posted Saturday, January 05, 2008 8:46 AM by jasonlan | 2 Comments

Get Pocket Informant for free! Today Only!

Pocket Informant is a very popular Windows Mobile application and you can now get it for FREE but TODAY only! If you head on over to the MobilitySite - you can get the codes and links to obtain the application for FREE when it normally costs $34.95! Read More...
Posted Saturday, January 05, 2008 8:30 AM by jasonlan | 1 Comments

i-mate Ultimate 8150 video and overview

Just before Christmas I managed to get my hands on one of the i-mate Ultimate 8150 devices. The new i-mate devices have been long awaited and the 8150 is the first device I've had a chance to try from the new range. The device itself is average in size Read More...
Posted Friday, January 04, 2008 3:23 PM by jasonlan | 8 Comments

Windows Mobile Partner Briefing - Switzerland - 19th February

Our EMEA Windows Mobile team is running another of their very successful Windows Mobile Partner Briefings. The next one is in Switzerland in February - the 19th to be specific. There are more details below: This is a FREE full-day event to answer your Read More...
Posted Thursday, January 03, 2008 11:21 AM by jasonlan | 1 Comments

Windows Mobile Total Cost of Ownership Tool

One of the common questions I get from customers is a need to quantify the total cost of ownership between Windows Mobile and Blackberry (or other) environments. We've actually just made available a tool to help quantify the TCO of both environments. Read More...
Posted Wednesday, January 02, 2008 6:37 AM by jasonlan | 1 Comments

[Humour] Starbucks 'Glen' Survivor commercial

Alison from Astraware posted this and it made me laugh quite a lot - particularly relevant for those people returning back to work today after the Christmas break. :) Read More...
Posted Wednesday, January 02, 2008 5:59 AM by jasonlan | 1 Comments

Go Gadgets - Windows Sideshow interaction for Windows Mobile devices

Ikanos Consulting are developing a solution to allow you to take Windows Vista Sideshow Gadgets onto your Windows Mobile device and interact with them. The video they have posted (above) gives a great demo of integration with Windows Media Player and Read More...
Posted Tuesday, January 01, 2008 11:51 AM by jasonlan | 3 Comments

Use your Windows Mobile device as a Wi-Fi Router

Hopefully (if you read my blog) you know how cool the Internet Sharing feature is on Windows Mobile. (if you don't - read HERE ) The Channel 10 team spotted a pretty cool application that Jorrit Jongma has written which gives you the ability to use your Read More...
Posted Tuesday, January 01, 2008 8:49 AM by jasonlan | 2 Comments

Windows Live Search team sneak out a new release

Over the Christmas period it looks like our Windows Live Search team sneaked out a new release I missed. The update seems to be of benefit (dissapointingly) mainly to folks based in the US with improvements such as 1-click directions for all businesses Read More...
Posted Tuesday, January 01, 2008 6:43 AM by jasonlan | 1 Comments
 
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