Archive for 2007
DataViz’ Documents To Go First To Fill Office Editing Gap for Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone Devices
DataViz®, Inc., leading provider of Office compatibility solutions for over 23 years, today announced that its award-winning mobile Office Suite Documents To Go®, is now available for Microsoft® Windows Mobile™ 5.0 Smartphone devices. The #1 selling Palm OS office editing suite, Documents To Go, will now allow users of Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone devices to view, edit and create Word, Excel and PowerPoint files on their devices and in their native formats. In addition, users can view Adobe® PDF files and decompress zipped e-mail attachments. Other features include support for password protected Word and Excel files and the ability to view, edit and create Excel charts. Documents To Go is available for a wide variety of Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone devices such as the Motorola Q, Samsung BlackJack, T-Mobile Dash, T-Mobile SDA, Cingular 3125 and Cingular 2125, to name a few. DataViz will be demonstrating Documents To Go at 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona, Spain from February 12-15, 2007.
“We are pleased to see DataViz bring its industry-leading mobile Office suite, Documents To Go, to the Windows Mobile 5.0 platform,” said Will Pinnell, Senior Director of Content, Handango. “As the leading provider of mobile content, we recognize the increasing consumer demand to edit Office files on Windows Mobile Smartphone devices, which lack this functionality out of the box. Documents To Go provides a reliable and robust after-market solution.”
“We are excited to expand our product line to include Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone devices,” said Danny Tu, Product Manager, DataViz, Inc. “Documents To Go provides an effective and reliable document editing solution which retains 100% file formatting with InTact Technology™. Users can have complete confidence when editing and emailing Office files such as a sales contract or year end reports right from their devices.“
DataViz’s commitment to developing Office compatibility for a wide variety of mobile devices began in 1999 with Documents To Go for Palm OS and has since been extended to support Symbian UIQ, Series 80 and now Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone devices. In addition, Documents To Go is currently available on all shipping versions of Palm OS devices and most recently on Motorola’s enterprise device, the MOTO Q PRO running Windows Mobile 5.0.
Matt
[Technorati tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, Documents To Go, DataViz, Windows Mobile Blog]
Lots of us have been waiting patiently to see the Orange SPV M650 finally released in the UK. We certainly get a lot of questions and feedback about the device. However, today we had terrible news from our source close to Orange. Apparently the SPV M650 will NOT be released in the UK as there is ‘Too Much Overlap’ with the flagship SPV M700.
This seems like a strange turn of events given that the M650 and the M700 are available from Orange in France. Do they not consider that the same overlap in technology to be an issue in the other European markets? We are seeking confirmation from Orange UK on this.
Check out more info on MoDaCo.
Matt
[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Orange M650, HTC P3300, HTC Artemis, Orange SPV M650, Tracy & Matt]
The P5000 is an addition to the popular COOLPIX range, demonstrating the style, performance and ease of use that has earnt Nikon its reputation for producing cameras with cutting-edge technology and consistently excellent results.
The COOLPIX P5000 combines stylish looks and a solid yet lightweight feel with a range of features that enable the user to explore the joy and artistry of photography. Textured finish gives the appearance of real leather and a new grip with grid-pattern rubber allows the user a comfortable secure hold.
However, it is the range of fun and exciting features that makes this camera stand out from the crowd. An impressive 10 megapixels of sharp resolution enable the photographer to capture images with incredible detail, even after enlargement. Picture quality is further guaranteed by Vibration Reduction, which compensates for the blurring that can be caused by camera shake or lower light. A light sensitivity range up to ISO 3200 also enables the COOLPIX P5000 to capture quality images of fast-moving or poorly-lit images.
This is a camera designed to ensure an experience of smooth and easy use for the photographer. The COOLPIX P5000 is highly responsive, offering swift start-up and fast continuous shooting. The new Mode dial provides quick access to a selection of 16 different scene-optimised modes, seven movie modes, Anti-Shake mode and High-Sensitivity mode. Images can be composed carefully, and the excellent results appreciated immediately, on the high-quality 2.5 inch LCD screen.
The fun need not stop there. The COOLPIX P5000 has compatibility with a number of add-on system components that can really liberate the creative possibilities of this new model. A variety of lens options enable the experimental user to explore different ways to use this camera. The COOLPIX P5000 comes equipped with the 36-126mm Zoom-Nikkor lens which delivers excellent results when shooting anything from portrait to panorama, but this can be swapped for the Telephoto Converter lens which extends the reach of the zoom to 378mm for long-distance shots, or the Wide-angle Converter lens which realises a focal length of 24mm.
With the COOLPIX P5000, the user can achieve results that should be shared with family and friends. This camera comes bundled with Nikon’s complimentary PictureProject software which makes editing pictures, organising shots and sharing images remarkably simple.
Nikon COOLPIX P5000 Specifications
Matt
[Technorati tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, Nikon, Coolpix D5000, Windows Mobile Blog]
Astraware Announces Support for Mobile Linux and Joins ACCESS Connect Ecosystem Global Partner Program. Here is the full press release:
Astraware is excited to announce their first steps toward support of an additional mobile platform for their range of PDA and Smartphone games. The company has been working on updates to its own core technology library to enable its games to run on Linux® based mobile platforms, and the first fruits of this labor, running under an early SDK and hardware, have recently been demonstrated by ACCESS Co, Ltd at 3GSM in Barcelona, Spain.
Astraware also announced it has joined the ACCESS Connect Ecosystem (ACE) Global Partner Program as a charter member. ACCESS’ recently announced ACE partner program is designed to create an ecosystem of world-class partners that will unleash the potential of the digital life generation by driving development and adoption of new mobile and converged technologies and solutions.
“Extending our platform support is a key part of our strategy.” said Howard Tomlinson, CEO of Astraware. “We see mobile Linux as being an extremely important part of the industry over the coming year, and we’re aiming Astraware to be the games provider of choice for this platform. As a charter member of the ACE program, we’re taking a lead in the growth of the mobile Linux community.”
“We are delighted to be able to continue our long-standing partnership with Astraware,” said Larry Berkin, Senior Director, Developer Ecosystem & Technology Acquisition for ACCESS. “Astraware’s games are incredibly popular and are an excellent addition to any mobile device. We are pleased that they have been able to assist us in these early stages of the platform development, so that we are confident a range of great quality software will be ready when the platform launches. We are also pleased to welcome them as charter members of the ACCESS Connect Ecosystem global partner program.”
“Astraware’s CTL system and cross-platform game development methodology allows us to target a wide range of mobile device platforms,” said David Oakley, CTO of Astraware. “We are very excited to be working with ACCESS to extend our technology on to the ALP platform. ALP provides a rich set of functionality to third-party developers such as ourselves enabling us to deliver a compelling experience to consumers.”
Astraware is continuing to develop its core technologies to function with the various flavors of Linux for mobile devices and intends to have a range of games fully compatible when device manufacturers are ready to launch. These will include Astraware Sudoku, Astraware Solitaire and other titles from the company’s own IP alongside key titles from its range of licensors.
Matt
[Technorati tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, Astraware, Mobile Linux, Windows Mobile Blog]
It’s been a busy few days for new device annoucements and Sharp, not wanting to be left out, have released news of their EM ONE Pocket PC mobile phone.
Like the Sharp G900, the EM ONE is a W-VGA Widescreen beast sporting a 480 x 800 TFT. However, unlike the G900 the EM ONE is not designed for voice and the data-only design means that they combine the QWERTY with a side-sliding pad which is purely for navigation. Strangely though the EM ONE specification says that it’s running Windows Mobile 5.
Sharp EM ONE specification:
Matt
[Technorati tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, Sharp, Sharp EM ONE, Windows Mobile Blog]
The Orange SPV M700 has been a device that’s long overdue and the subject of a great deal of speculation, especially where the built in GPS in concerned!
However, today we learned that the M700 is now available from Orange retails stores throughout London so you should be able to go and pick one up!
We hope to have one to review later this week.
Matt
[Technorati tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, Orange, M700, HTC Trinity, HTC P3600, SPV, Orange SPV M700]
Last week at 3GSM nVidia demonstrated their new GoForce 5500 chipset for mobile devices.
With 3D games, high quality video and a skinnable interface it certainly looks very cool. Interesting to see that it’s being demonstrated on a huge Dell widescreen monitor though!
Check out this video to see how it all comes together.
Matt
[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Windows Mobile blog, nVidia, GoForce 5500, 3GSM, Tracy & Matt]
This is the third week of our UMPC group test and this week I have been trying out the OQO Model 01+.
The OQO is the smallest and lightest device in our UMPC Group Test, weighing in at 421g and measuring just 134mm x 86mm x 23mm, bigger than a PDA but smaller than an ultralight notebook, the OQO Model 01 is an ultrasmall Windows XP computer that will appeal primarily to businesspeople who need applications with them when they’re out of the office.
Unlike the other devices we had in the group test, the OQO has a built in keyboard and TrakStik–a small, rubbery joystick that controls the cursor. The keyboard is hidden under the slide-up screen which moves on a rack and pinion mechanism. The keys may be quite small but the OQO’s keyboard is easy to use. You won’t be able to touchtype but thumb typing on it is easy enough. The TrakStik is placed to the right of the keyboard, and buttons for left- and right-click are on the left.
At the heard of the OQO is a 1GHz Transmeta processor and has a 20GB hard disk. I found the OQO to be adequately powerful, it wont win any records but for Word, Excel and Outlook it’ fine and it will quite hapilly play back full screen video.
The built-in 5-inch transflective screen has an 800×480 native resolution which is quite impressive looking considering the size of the display, the back light isn’t very even though with some noticeable light and dark areas. The OQO comes with a neat docking cable. This plugs into the bottom of the unit and provides connectors for an external keyboard, monitor, and speakers. The docking solution uses an unusual cable with a handful of ports (Ethernet, FireWire, video, USB, audio, and AC power input) spaced out along it.
The main complaint about the OQ is that is runs quite hot during normal use. This makes it quite uncomfortable to hold after a while and you end up changing hands while using it.
Another thing that’s differnt about the OQO is that the screen is capacitive rather than touch-sensitive. This means that you can only use the supplied stylus with it, you can’t use your finger or another pointing device on it. This can be rather frustrating when you just want to quickly tap on something on-screen. You also have to make sure that you calibrate the stylus correctly and it makes a big difference whether you are left or right handed when you use it. I struggled with the stylus accuracy on the OQO. The stylus is housed top right of the unit.
The OQO Model 01 has full wireless capabilities, both Wi-Fi (802.11b) and Bluetooth. There’s one FireWire and one USB port on the unit however the USB is 1.1 only, not the faster USB 2.0. There’s no video-out on the unit itself, this is provided on the docking cable, but the device doesn’t make for a good presenation machine.
The standard battery in the OQO lasted about 2 hours and the extended battery about twice as long. The battery seems to take rather a long time to charge and this too seems to develop quite a lot of heat. The power adapter is also rather noisy while the battery is charging, producing a high-pitched whine.
Overall the OQO model 01+ is a decent device. WiFi and Bluetooth quality is better than the other devices on test both in terms of range/reception and reliability. On the down side the temperature that it runs at is the biggest cause for concern though, it’s probably a bad idea to allow the unit to chage within its carrying pouch.
So come back next week to see how we rate each device side-by-side where we’ll consider thing’s like cost, warranty etc.
Matt
[Technorati tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Windows Mobile blog, UMPC, OQO, Samsung Q1, Ubiquio 702, Laptop, Tracy & Matt]
HTC announced 4 new devices this week but the one that everyone is talking about is the HTC Advantage.
The Advantage was originally called codenamed the HTC Athena but this was changed to HTC X7500, however earlier this week the official annoucement confirmed the new name of HTC Advantage, the device even got its own website www.seehtc.com .
So who will be buying this the Advantage? Are you looking to purchase one? We would like to hear your thoughts about the device!
For those amoung you that are impatient our friends at Clove are offering the chance to pre-order the HTC Advantage on their website.
Infosync world have been talking about the device on their site:
Though the Advantage has a quad-band GSM/EDGE/HSDPA radio, HTC told us they don’t imagine this device taking the place of a cell phone, which makes sense because holding the device to your ear would be ridiculous. The device is quite large, even larger than some UMPCs we’ve seen, which puts the Advantage in a strange position.
Read more about the HTC Advantage HERE and HERE.
Matt
[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Windows Mobile blog, T-Mobile, Ameo, HTC Advantage, HTC Athena, Tracy & Matt]
The folks over at mobilmania have managed to get their hands on an i-mate Ultimate 7150.
The Ultimate 7150 works like the HTC Universal in that the screen swivels, flips and folds back on itself. Is this i-mate’s answer the the HTC Advantage? It’s certainly a big device!
i-mate 7150 specification:
Matt
[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Windows Mobile blog, i-Mate, i-Mate Ultimate, 3GSM, Tracy & Matt]
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