Fitaly has been around for a long time. Some people swear by it, some have no idea what it is. Well, it’s a keyboard layout designed specifically for efficient one-finger (or stylus) input. Something that’s greatly needed on small Pocket PCs and other pen-based computers that lack hardware based input methods such as keyboards or thumboards, which frankly were not designed for efficient small-device… Read More

Companies like Pixsense, Realeyes3D and Eyespot work to make cell-phone features more useful.

“Today is the day that designated domain name registrars have been given the green light to open up the application process for new .mobi top-level domain Web addresses to anyone seeking to establish a name in the burgeoning mobile Web space. Beginning now, anybody who can provide proof of trademark and country of trademark origin can register for a domain, if it promises to use that name for small device-oriented Web sites only…The intention behind the new TLD was to encourage the creation of Web services for small devices, and practically all mobile carriers in the U.S. have supported the move. But the objection of many influential parties, including some of the Web’s very founders, remain on the record, as some believe the replication of namespaces is degenerating the founding principles of the Internet for the sake of growing a commercial franchise.”

Jason Langridge put up some thoughts on the subject, and you can see them here. Darius discussed the ramifications of a .mobi domain, as well. In addition to all of these thoughts, I have a very simple, practical one as we see these sites roll out: as a consumer of content, how am I to use this domain? Should I first put “microsoft.mobi”, for instance, into my URL field, and then switch to “microsoft.com” afterwards if the .mobi one doesn’t work? What if “pda.mobi” is a different company than “pda.com”? The fact that, as BetaNews reports, a “land rush” has started on the top-level domain (TLD) worries me immensely. I’m afraid that we’ll end up with yet another TLD blurring the idea of a domain name. What’s your thoughts?

Jim Morrison, CEO and founder of I-Mate, just finished presenting at Mobius 2006 in Boston, and Mike Temporale is down there now feeding me some bits and pieces of info over IM. First, he tells me that the legendary ugliness of the I-Mate JAQ was no accident. Morrison told the Mobius attendees that their enterprise customers wanted an ugly device that employees would work with it at the office, but wouldn’t take it out to the pub because it’s so ugly - and hence it wouldn’t be stolen. Seems like curious logic to me, but it seems to explain a few things.

Over the next 12 months, I-Mate is launching 15 devices that are exclusive to their brand. I believe they’ll all be TechFaith Wireless-designed devices, since I-Mate is no longer working with HTC. Most of the devices will be Pocket PC Phone devices, though some will be Smartphone devices. The devices will be broken into three different classes: Ultimate (top geek gadgets, think Jasjar), Stealth (mid-level devices), and Light (low-end, less expensive devices).

More to come from Mike Temporale at Mobius Boston continues to unfold.

“SanDisk® Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) today introduced the 12- and 16-gigabyte (GB) SanDisk Extreme® III CompactFlash® cards to its award-winning Extreme III performance line, making these the highest capacity cards in the world.”

Both SanDisk and Pretec have just unveiled 12GB and 16GB CompactFlash cards (not Microdrives). If you’re one of the few with CompactFlash-enabled Pocket PCs (for example, the Dell Axim X50/X51 or HP iPAQ hx4700) and looking for a deified storage solution, then this is just what you need to stand out from the crowd. Just er, check with your bank first. SanDisk’s 16GB version is an insane $1049,99 USD. Are you prepared to fork out the cash?

Product Category: GPS Navigation software
Manufacturer: iNav
Where to Buy: iNav or BuyGPSNow.com
Price: $109.00 USD
System Requirements: Pocket PC 2003 or PPC2003SE, Windows Mobile 5. Vendor states compatibility with Dell, Garmin, iQue (not all models), HP iPAQ, iMate, Mitek (not A701), NEC, Siemens, Palm Treo 700W, & Viewsonic PPCs. Also various PPC Phones (Samsung i730, PPC 6600/6700, Cingular 8125, 9100, etc.)
Specifications: Requires compatible GPS hardware using NMEA protocol. Installation requires desktop/laptop with DVD/CD drive and partnered via Activesync. Requires approx. 24Mb memory for application. Map data is recommended to be loaded to SD or CF card.

Pros:

Cons:

Summary:
iNav has been providing GPS navigation software for a number of years now, on a variety of platforms. With their latest 3.0 version, a completely redesigned interface brings the package to true handheld capability ? providing almost one-handed operation. Rather than just taking it around the block for a quick spin, I took it on two lengthy road trips in different terrains to see how it would perform. It did much better than other navigation systems reviewed here, but I still wouldn’t depend on the voice prompts alone.

Read on for the full review! [more]

“MobileSphere announced Joopz, a new web-based text messaging service that enables “web texting” — two-way communications from the Web to any mobile phone for free. The new service allows users to send and receive messages to individuals and groups, while enabling recipients to respond directly to the originating PC, Mac, PDA or mobile phone and to group member mobile phones. Joopz web texts can be sent from any web-enabled device worldwide to any U.S. or Canadian mobile phone. Joopz also features text reminders, scheduled message delivery, message forwarding and additional value-added services.”

Joopz looks like a pretty interesting web service designed to allow web texting (similar to an IM only with SMS) and other neat services including message forwarding and group messaging. Anyone Joopz’ing?

Late last week, I received the newly released Mobility Electronics Stowaway Sierra Bluetooth keyboard to review. Mobility Electronics, Inc., the owners of iGo, best known for their flexible charging systems, acquired Think… Read More

Here’s a list of various Pocket PCs listed in Pricegrabber’s database, and the lowest price on each model. Clicking through to the vendor selling the product helps support this site, so if you’re interested in learning more about the product, click. Here are the five most popular Pocket PCs and their prices according to Pricegrabber searches:

… [more]

“If HTC’s pearly white Trinity handset is a bit too cutesy for ya, then perhaps you’ll find this slightly meaner-looking black version more to your liking. Apart from upping the badass factor, the handset’s specs remain the same, with Bluetooth 2.0, HSDPA, and 802.11g connectivity packed into the same streamlined, keyboard-less design — though we’re sure it’ll seem faster. No word if going black will cost you a premium; it certainly wouldn’t be the first time.”

I’ve never been a fan of white in gadgets - no, I don’t like iPods or Macbooks either - so this looks good to me. It’d be nice if they had some improvement on the specs with the update, though what that could be is hard to imagine - the Trinity has pretty much everything already

“Fizz Monitor has long been an essential utility for all Smartphone users but now it is available with an innovative homescreen plugin and for Pocket PC’s as well. The program monitors battery levels, storage space, memory use and tasks.”

Fizz Monitor is a utility with the following features:

?Monitor the Battery & Battery backup state
?Monitor the used memory and storage space
?Close applications running on your device
?Switch to running applications
?Homescreen / Today Screen plugin support
?4 Themes included

Ok, so it’s just another task manager . Still, it appears light weight and has the essential features - about the only complaint I have is that the trial period is too short at 2 days. Until the end of September, Fizz Monitor is available for $6.99 after which it’ll go for $8.99 - you can get a trial or purchase it outright through our affiliate store.

“I’ve long been promising the second part of One on one: final versions of Spb Backup and Sprite Backup 5 - the Definitive Comparison - Part I . Here’s what you (may) have been waiting for, completely enhanced and listing all the solutions, comparing and benchmarking all the current backup applications, with a lot of additional, real-world tests and, as usual, loads of never-before published hacks, tricks and tips.”

Pocket PC guru, Menneisyys, has written a great article on backups. Unfortunately, for many of us, we never backup until it’s too late, so here’s your chance to pick the right solution and to start backing up early.

If you wish to comment, please do so in the original thread.

I’ve been using Sprint’s 700wx for a few weeks now. If you read my other New Equipment blogs on the 700wx (here, here, and here) you’ll quickly… Read More

“Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive (WPNI) today announced the launch of three new mobile Internet sites, building on the company’s award-winning Web publications, washingtonpost.com, Newsweek.com and Slate. The launch signals the start of WPNI’s mobile services initiative to expand access to in-demand news and feature content that is updated around the clock…The launch is sponsored by Microsoft Windows Mobile.”

The three sites can be accessed by replacing www in the URL with mobile, e.g., mobile.newsweek.com. The interesting variable here is the Windows Mobile sponsorship — but I’m not sure what it means. If you scroll down the page, you’ll see a WM banner. So if a “launch” is sponsored, does that mean that money went towards bringing the site to life, or just promising ads for the content provider? In either case, if Microsoft’s sponsorship means more mobile sites, I’m all for it!

“When the community heard tell of i-mate’s first non-HTC device, the JAQ, we became excited. The enthusiasm faded a bit when we saw images of the JAQ’s thick battery compartment. i-mate has been turning out terrific Windows Mobile devices in the past, so why should this be an exception? We’ll put the JAQ through a top to bottom evaluation. Read on to see if we have a winner!”

Some of us have hit the JAQ harder than others and PocketNow’s review should help those out there who want an opinion of the device in action (as opposed to simple thoughts based on its specs). What do you think - Anyone want to know Jaq closely enough to buy one?

Actually ? this hasn?t been confirmed, nor is it likely. We came across an interesting Photoshop iPhone render over at T3.co.uk. See the shot below ? it seems that the author of this image decided to swipe in Pocket PC phone buttons as the phone?s graphical dialer. Pretty funny…. Read More