Mobile Obsession

Just a test

2009-08-08T15:16:00.000-05:00

This is just a test

Palm Officially announces the Treo Pro

2008-08-20T09:14:00.004-05:00

After many, many leaks, blog posts, videos, and commentaries around the web, I guess Palm decided to cave and officially announce the Treo Pro.

Meet the Treo Pro Smartphone

The new Treo Pro, announced today, packs a host of features like Wi-Fi and GPS into a sleek and elegant smartphone. (Wi-Fi and GPS fees depend on your coverage and data plan - click here for details.) Running Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, this worldphone aims to keep the IT department and end users equally happy and productive.

Get a closer look in this video featuring three of the Treo Pro's very proud parents -- Stephane Maes (VP of product marketing), Peter Skillman (VP of design), and John Moses (VP of customer relations) - discussing the Treo Pro's thoughtful balance of powerful business-friendly features and surprisingly simple design.

Mike A. - Senior Product Manager

Specs:
Operating System : Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional Edition
Processor : Qualcomm® MSM7201 400MHz
Display : 320×320 transflective color TFT flush touchscreen
Cellular Radio : HSDPA/UMTS/EDGE/GPRS/GSM radio
- Tri-band UMTS – 850MHz, 1900MHz, 2100MHz
-Quad-band GSM – 850MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz, 1900MHz
Wi-Fi 802.11b/g with WPA, WPA2, and 801.1x authentication
Built-in GPS
Bluetooth version 2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate
Memory : 256MB (100MB user available), 128MB RAM
Camera : 2.0 megapixels with up to 8x digital zoom and video capture
Battery : Removable, rechargeable 1500mAh lithium-ion; Up to 5.0 hours talk time and up to 250 hours standby
Expansion : microSDHC cards (up to 32GB supported)
Connector : MicroUSB 2.0 for synchronization and charging
Audio : 3.5mm stereo headset jack
Dimensions Length: 4.49″, Width: 2.36″, Depth: 0.53″, Weight: 4.69 oz
[The Official Palm Blog]
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Maxell Dual Auto Power Adapter Free Today on ThingFling

2008-08-20T08:46:00.006-05:00

If you have as many gadgets as I do, you can never have enough power adapters. This is a nice DC-power dual adapter, which has a rotating plug. Get it Free Today Only at ThingFling! Pay only the shipping.

Product Description

Here we go Thing Flingers! This is the Maxell Dual Auto Power Adapter compatible with any devices. This dual power adapter is not only an iPod item (yes, it works with all of them), this is an auto power adapter to multiply the 12V outlet in your car. You can charge your iPod at the same time you charge your cell phone or power your radar detector, GPS or any 12V device. Now i ask you: how could you live without it?

Lowest retail price we found is $3.00 plus shipping. At Thing Fling you get 1 for free PLUS an nice extra gift and pay only shipping.

Compatible with all portable players;
Double your lighter's capacity;
Safety caps;
Replaceable 3amp fuse;
DC 12 volt.

Fur use with:

Radar detectors;
Celular phones;
Spolights;
Cd players;
Any 12 volt accessory

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HTC Touch Pro to have Multi-Touch...who cares?

2008-08-20T06:47:00.006-05:00

According to WMPoweruser.com, the upcoming and much anticipated HTC Touch Pro will have multi-touch capabilities. This is one of the major features of the iPhone that makes navigation sweet.

Touch Diamond owners will know that the navi-wheel on the front of the device is capacitive, and can measure movement without actually rotating. Like many HTC devices, it seems the Touch Diamond and Pro have hidden features, and pretty tasty ones indeed. Using an application called Nav Debug Tool by HTC, this video shows not only is the navi-wheel capacitive, but that the whole front of the device can track finger movements, and even two fingers independently.

So far there is no know feature on the Touch Diamond/ Pro that exploits this, but once our developers get their hands on the API it wont be too long. This also promises that even current generation devices with resistive screens will be able to take advantage of multi-touch features in WM7.

Of course for mobile software developers, their titles will most likely have to be updated to take advantage of this new WM technology.

I think all of this is cool, but sometimes wonder how long our fascination with "touch-friendliness" will last. Is it just the latest fad, or is it here to stay? Sometimes using the stylus is just easier. I don't know...I'm still trying to decide how to feel about it.

[wmpoweruser.com] via [MobileTech Addicts]
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HTC Touch Pro unboxing

2008-08-14T07:00:00.006-05:00

Anyone who is a Windows Mobile fan, or maybe even if you're not will get pretty excited about the HTC Touch Pro. As you probably know, this new device is an evolution of the HTC Diamond, providing the "Touch-Flo" interface, but with a slide out keyboard like the TyTN and Mogul series phones for easy text input.

Tracy and Matt's Blog have an unboxing video and brief demonstration of the device. They promise to have also a review in the coming days.

I'm pretty anxious to see this phone and will "patiently" wait until it arrives on Verizon's CDMA network :( , which will most likely be a while.

See the HTC site for the product specs and features.

[Tracy and Matt's Blog]

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StarBurn CD/DVD/Blu Ray burner free for today only at GOTD!

2008-08-05T08:25:00.004-05:00

RocketDivision's StarBurn is free at GiveAwayOfTheDay for today only. This is a great utility for burning CDs, DVDs and now Blu Ray DVDs.

It has network support so you can burn using the drive from a networked PC. I tried most of it's features quickly and it works as documented. I especially like the ability to mount an ISO as a virtual drive.

StarBurn retails for $495, so I would suggest grabbing this one before the end of the day. You can see the entire list of features here.

If you're not familiar with GiveAwayOfTheDay, the offer a new item each day completely free of charge. Many times it's junk, but other times it's nice. The drawbacks are:

1. You must install it the same day
2. Upgrades or updates later will cost you

[GOTD]

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Sprint Customer service not so good?

2008-08-01T16:05:00.003-05:00

Sprint Customer Service

I've been a Verizon customer for over 10 years and I've really never had a beef with their customer service. At one time I considered switching to Sprint because their Smartphone selection was better and they always seemed to get the "coolest" phones before anyone else.

Based on what Alli says in her post, I'm probably glad I didn't switch.

Luv ya Verizon!

Yes, it is every bit as poor as they say.

I have been a happy Sprint customer for two years. Happy with my service, happy with my coverage, happy with my phones. I am blissfully, orgasmically happy with my Treo 800w. Unfortunately, Sprint has so mangled my account, that I am currently unable to take advantage of one of the main features of this $500 smartphone. I can no longer receive sms from short codes.

This started 5 days into my Treo 800w ownership, so I was relatively certain that it wasn’t the phone. But while on the phone with Sprint CS, I dutifully performed a hard reset to prove it. Still no sms short codes. Not from Twitter, not from Fring, not from Dashwire, not from Skyfire, not from Brightkite…well, you get the idea. Every time I called CS, they informed me that “many blocks” had been put on my sms account and they he/she had personally removed them all. I’m still trying to figure out how that many blocks got on in between each call to CS.

Read the entire post...[Alli Flowers]

Checking on iTunes' unchecked items

2008-08-01T15:25:00.002-05:00

Tips on using checkmarks in iTunes.

...Just hold down the Command key and click on the checkbox of a checked track. All tracks in that playlist (and this includes such major entries as Music, TV Shows, Audiobooks, and Ringtones) will be unchecked. When you quit iTunes, it remembers its checked-item state and so, when you next launch it, all unchecked items will remain so.

And—again, of course—when you Command-click on an unchecked box, all items in that list become checked....

Agendus for BlackBerry now available in beta

2008-08-01T07:04:00.002-05:00

Agendus for BlackBerry brings to BlackBerry phones features and functions that have made Agendus our flagship title on the Palm OS based Treo/Centro, as well as Windows Mobile and Symbian UIQ phones, so successful: It tightly integrates the built-in calendar, tasks, and contacts, and is intuitive to use.

read more | digg story

Yahoo! Go 3.0 beta finally arrives on Windows Mobile

2008-05-07T11:03:00.002-05:00

Yahoo! Go 3.0 gives you the ability to search (via Yahoo! oneSearch), view maps, manage your email, view and manage your Flickr photos, manage your schedule, view news and sports feeds, check the weather, and more.

[ZDNet]

read more | digg story

Navigate to any folder from the Run dialog

2008-05-07T10:34:00.003-05:00

Richard T. has a short video at Lifehacker describing how to set up shortcuts to navigate to an folder on your PC via the Run dialog.

[Lifehacker]
read more | digg story

TripTracker for Windows Mobile Pocket PC

2008-05-07T08:58:00.006-05:00

TripTracker is the convenient way to carry along trip essentials (such as flight, hotel and rental car information) and track all the trip-related activities (frequent flyer miles, expenses & more) at the desktop as well as on the go. Plus it includes useful tools (a currency converter, world time clock, etc.) that’ll certainly come in handy.

read more | digg story

Rumored Images of HTC Diamond

2008-05-06T07:37:00.004-05:00

Brighthand has posted some rumored images of the newest toy from HTC. Knowing HTC, nothing else in the market will compare.

I have the XV6800 from Verizon, which is a variation of the HTC Mogul from Sprint, and I simply love it. Then there is their Touch and Touch Dual.

Continue reading...

Update: The Diamond is no longer just a rumor.

[Brighthand]

mOcean for Palm OS has been updated

2008-05-06T07:25:00.007-05:00

MotionApps has released a minor update to its popular mOcean media player. If you play mp3s on your Treo, this is definitely the way to go. It's "ipod-ish" interface makes for a pleasant navigational experience when browsing your music.

mOcean is free to use if you don't mind some annoying ads, and the random mandatory update of them. If you want to be ad-free, you can snag it for $29.99.

I wasn't able to determine what was fixed in this update. It does appear to be a minor update, however.

Some of the main features of mOcean are:

Synchronize your iTunes music collection to your smartphone

Create and manage an unlimited number of playlists

Browse your music by Song Title, Artist, Album, Genre, or Playlist

Listen to the music in the background, while using another program

Make full use of both your touch screen and 5-way Navigator or use keyboard for quick shortcuts

Store music on your SD/MMC card or other mass storage device

Use card reader software implemented within mOcean

Automatically pause playback when you remove your headphones

Automatically resume playback on headphone insertion

Automatically pause playback when your phone rings

Convert any audio content, including podcasts, into MP3 format to play on the go

Listen to live Internet radio stations, Podcasts and Audiobooks

Choose from a library of recommended stations, Podcast feeds and Audiobooks

mOcean includes a photo library player, allowing you to create photo sets to present as slide shows

Play video files that you have on your smartphone or have downloaded from web and copied to your device through Palm's Quick Install utility

Personalize your smartphone by changing and customizing skins, setting background image or selecting interface that fits you best

mOcean 3 comes with implemented music visualizer

Palm Treo 800w may be available on July 22

2008-05-06T06:55:00.005-05:00

Looks like we may finally see this mystery device that's been rumored for months now. WMExperts reports that Sprint will launch the Palm Treo 800w on July 22, 2008.

The specs that have been given for this device sound very nice. Albeit other manufacturers have had similar features for some time now. I guess better late than never, Palm. The rumored specifications are:

Threaded SMS (looks to be the Palm type, not Microsoft's)
WM 6.1
Autonomous GPS
KB is larger than the Centro, slightly smaller than the 750/755
KB keys still light up
It's very fast with no lag
320x320 resolution
EvDO Rev A (though some tester units are not Rev A active as of now)
Wifi
256/128 Memory
Official color: Charcoal Black

[WMExperts]

5 Essential tools for the Mobile Web Worker

2008-05-03T14:03:00.004-05:00

As a web worker myself, I found this short list from Web Worker Daily useful. I'm already utilizing most of them, but thought I would share for others who might want some helpful tips to optimize the daily online grind.

Online Storage
Public Wi-Fi Security Tools
Hassle-Removing Sites
Lightweight Subnotebook
USB Thumb Drive

[Web Worker Daily]

Xobni walks away from Microsoft acquisition

2008-05-03T13:46:00.005-05:00

Wow this was fast! I was just reading a few days ago how Xobni was entertaining a Microsoft offer to be acquired by them, and now I'm reading it's a no-go. Hmm, I would love to know why they turned this down.

TechCrunch reports that their fear was that Xobni would end up nothing more than a feature of Outlook, which would probably be true.

If you're not familiar...Xobni is a San Francisco, California based startup that is revolutionizing the way people manage email relationships. "The name Xobni, which is the word "inbox" spelled backwards, is an affirmation of our mission: to "take back" the email inbox for our users."

Xobni creates an information profile for each person you interact with, and surfaces historical information that is relevant to what you are working on. Xobni displays contact information, threaded conversations, attachments, related people, email usage statistics, and information from the web. Xobni organizes your communication data and makes it available through intuitive navigation and super fast search.

Xobni currently integrates with the popular Microsoft Outlook email client and will extend to integrate with other email clients, instant messaging applications, and social networks.

[TechCrunch] [CrunchBase]