Author Archive: Matt

More than 20 years in the IT industry. Blogging with a passion and thirst for new technology since 2005.

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By June 30, 2008 Read More →

SanDisk Sansa Fuze unboxed

The SanDisk Sansa Fuze will be the third in a line of portable media player devices that we have reviewed from SanDisk. In the past we have reviewed the Sansa e270 and the Sansa View. The Fuze is their new baby offering similar features to the previous models but in a smaller, neater package and with a claimed 24 hr playback battery life.

The Fuze has a 1.9″ 220 x 176 pixel display (not 240×320 as I stated in the video) and definitely has an iPod Nano look to it. I’m reviewing the 2GB model which is a bit low in capacity for me but there are 4GB and 8GB models available. The 2GB variant retails at a reasonable £55.

Im working on the review at the moment so for now, here’s my unbox video:

SanDisk Sansa View unboxed

SanDisk Sansa Fuze specification:

  • 2GB internal flash memory (4 & 8GB model available)
  • 1.9” 220 x 176 Colour TFT screen
  • FM Radio
  • Built in microphone for recording
  • Expandable MicroSD/SDHC™ card slot for additional storage
  • MPEG4 and WMV video support
  • Battery Life: MP3 playback 24 hours, Video playback 5 hours
  • 1.9 x 0.3 x 3.1 in

    • EDIT: Our SanDisk Sansa Fuze review is now live.

    Posted by: Matt

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    Posted in: Videos/Unboxings
    By June 29, 2008 Read More →

    HTC Touch Diamond soft reset

    Possibly one of the most common questions that I have been asked this week by email and through comments posted on the site is how to soft reset the HTC Touch Diamond.

    Seems that many think that the Diamond doesn’t have a soft reset button and that the only way to reset a hung device is to pop the battery out and put it back in.

    However, this isn’t the case. The Diamond does indeed have a reset button that you can press with your stylus, it’s just in a slightly unusual place. Don’t go poking your stylus in the two holes on the bottom of the device, neither of these are the reset button. The square hole is where you attach a lanyard or phone charm and the round one next to the USB connector is the MIC. Don’t go forcing your stylus in the MIC hole – we’ve heard that some people have already damaged their phones because of this.

    In actual fact that reset button is located just under the bit where the stylus slides in. If you remove the stylus you’ll see a little red button and the word reset. You can in fact press this button if you poke it with the stylus at an angle but it’s a little easier to get to if you pop the back cover open a bit.

    HTC Touch Diamond reset button

    HTC Touch Diamond reset button

    Posted by: Matt

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    Posted in: Phones
    By June 28, 2008 Read More →

    HTC Touch Diamond extended battery

    When we first heard that the HTC Touch Diamond came with only a 900mAh battery we, like many other people, questioned the descision to include such a low capacity battery and wondered if the battery life would suck.

    Mind you, I have to say that I’m finding the Touch Diamond battery life to be pretty good and on par with my TyTN II giving me around two days use between charges.

    However, when questioned about the battery life at the Diamond launch event HTC themselves commented that there was nothing wrong with the battery life but that there would be an extended battery made available soon!

    Something of a mixed message there then.

    As it happens though, ‘soon’ is now as eXpansys have the extended battery packs, including raplacement back cover, available for pre-order. The replacement extended battery is 1350mAh so offering a 50% increase over the standard battery.

    You can pick up a standard battery from eXpansys for just under £41 and you can pre-order HERE.

    You’ll notice that the replacement back maintains the angular design of the original back. Personally, as much as I like the look of the angled back, I’d really like to see someone come up with a replacement plain back. The angled back makes the Diamond wobbley!

    Posted by: Matt

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    Posted in: News
    By June 27, 2008 Read More →

    Nokia N810 internet tablet unboxed

    About a year ago we reviewed the Nokia N800 internet tablet. John was quite impressed with the device but one of the things he felt it was lacking was a QWERTY keyboard.

    Howerver, Nokia recently released a new internet tablet, the N810, which includes many enhancements, including a full sliding QWERTY keyboard.

    Other enhancements include a faster CPU, newer OS and better software support. On top of that there’s built in GPS and Sat-Nav software which, on that hi res screen, promises to provide a quality navigation solution.

    As always, were reviewing the Nokia N810 at the moment but for now here’s our unbox video:

    Nokia N810 unboxed

    Nokia N810 Specification:

    • Internet Tablet OS: maemo Linux based OS2008
    • High-resolution 4.13” WVGA display (800 x 480 pixels) with up to 65,000 colors
    • 400MHz TI OMAP 2420 CPU
    • 128 Mbytes RAM & 256 Mbytes Flash ROM
    • 2GB internal memory
    • Built-in VGA Camera
    • MiniSDHC Compatible memory card slot (up to 8GB)
    • Bluetooth® 2.0
    • WiFi: 802.11b/g
    • Built-in GPS receiver
    • Integrated QWERTY keyboard
    • High quality stereo speakers and microphone
    • Continuous usage (display on, wireless LAN active): up to 4 hours, Standby time: up to 14 days
    • Dimensions: 128x72x14 mm
    • 225 grams
    • Internet Calling with Video
    • Built in email client
    • RSS Feed reader
    • Instant Messaging
    • Media Player
    • Browser based on Mozilla technology
    • Flash 9 compatible

    Posted by: Matt

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    Posted in: Phones, Videos/Unboxings
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    By June 26, 2008 Read More →

    HTC Touch Diamond now on Orange website

    Looks like Orange are moving a step closer to launching the HTC Touch Diamond as today the Diamond appeared on the Orange website as one of their coming soon phones.

    I’ve also had a couple of emails from Orange employees saying that the Diamond has already started shipping to Orange retail stores so a June 30th release date could well be accurate!

    Posted by: Matt

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    Posted in: News
    By June 26, 2008 Read More →

    Dashwire Mobile 2.0 Goes Live

    A few days ago I got an email from the people at Dashwire, they wanted to tell me all about the new version of their software that allows you to sync and backup your phone with your free web-based Dashwire account.

    To be honest I’d never heard of Dashwire before and to begin with my reaction was ‘Not another Windows Mobile backup application!’. However, having had the chance to set up an account and install the application on my HTC Touch Diamond I can safely say this service is far from ordinary.

    In a nutshell, once you have set up your free account online you’ll receive a text message with a link to download the application to your mobile device. Once installed the software searches through your phone and then backs up all of you contacts, photos, video, text messages, call history, ringtones, speed dials etc. etc. You’ll then have access to all of these settings from your web browser on your PC or Mac via a nicely laid out dashboard.

    Dashwire wont backup your phone registry and doesn’t make a complete clone of your device settings. I does however allow you to sync your contacts etc. in such as way as to be non-device specific. This means that if you replace your HTC TyTN II with a new HTC Touch Diamond you’ll be able to sync the old device before and then the new device after the change over and the mojority of your key settings with you. I’ve already found this quite useful as I am constantly swapping handsets!

    Dashwire is definitely well worth taking a look. It’s totally free to use to why not give it a try! Find out more or set up your account on the Dashwire website.

    One word of warning though – syncing photos and video over your mobile network connection is likely to be VERY expensive, especially the first time you sync. It’s probably a good idea to sync over WiFi or an activesync connection!

    What is Dashwire?

    Dashwire automatically mirrors the content on your phone to the web, helping you access, manage, and share your mobile experiences

    How does it work?

    Once you sign-up for your FREE account, you’ll be prompted to install a small application on your phone that will keep your phone constantly connected and in-sync with your private, web-based Dashwire account.

    What you do on the phone will instantly update on the web, what you do on the web will update your on phone.

    No cables or effort required. Easy.

    What does Dashwire bring to the web?

  • Contacts
  • Text Messages (SMS)
  • Photos
  • Videos
  • Call logs
  • Voicemail
  • Phone settings – Ringtones, Web Bookmarks, Speed Dials

    • You control which items sync and when it happens. Dashwire connects across wireless data, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and USB.

    Posted by: Matt

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    Posted in: Apps & Games
    By June 25, 2008 Read More →

    Samsung SGH-i320 for under £100!

    Here’s a post that definitely comes under the mega-bargain category.

    I just received an email from eXpansys informing me of an amazing price drop on the Samsung SGH-i320. You may recall we reviewed the i320 about a year or so ago and for a while it was my device of choice. It’s a really neat design and a small, easily pocket-able form factor. Battery life is pretty decent and what’s more it weighs a mere 95grams which is unheard of for a Windows Mobile Smartphone.

    Ok so the i320 isn’t cutting edge technology any more, it’s WM5 and there’s no 3G BUT for under £100 you probably cant go far wrong. On top of that, if you’ve bought anything from eXpansys in the past and have a £10 discount voucher you can use that on this purchase too!

    Go and check it out for yourself on the eXpansys website and bag yourself a bargain!

    Samsung i320

    Samsung SGH-i320 Specification

  • Standard: GPRS Class 10 (900/1800/1900 MHz)
  • Camera: 1.3 Megapixel Camera
  • Display: 2.3” 240×320 65K Colour TFT
  • OS: Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone
  • Push Email (Messaging & Security Feature Pack)
  • Input: QWERTY Keyboard
  • Video Recording & Messaging (MPEG4 / H.263)
  • Audio: MP3/ AAC / AAC+ / WMA/ WAV / OGG
  • Dual Speaker / Speakerphone
  • Connectivity: Bluetooth 2 EDR / USB
  • Memory: 120MB embedded , External Memory (microSD)
  • Size: Slim Design: 111 x 59 x 12mm
  • Weight: 95g
  • 140 hours standby, 200 minutes talk time

    • Posted by: Matt

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    Posted in: News
    By June 24, 2008 Read More →

    HTC Touch Diamond on Orange by end of June?

    Just as a quick follow up to my pst a few weeks ago about the HTC Touch Diamond appearing in the June eddition of the Orange catalog in the ‘Coming Soon’ section (see below) I’ve just been told by one of the Orange business account managers that the Diamond will be released by Orange on Monday 30th June.

    We believe that, as with other popular new handsets, Orange will only offer the Diamond to business customers initially. Although this is as yet unconfirmed it does sound about right as previous HTC handsets, the Orange M700 and HTC TyTN II were only offered to business customers for about the first month after launch.

    I’m seeking confirmation at the moment and will share further news as I get it.

    Posted by: Matt

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    Posted in: News
    By June 23, 2008 Read More →

    Citrix client on the HTC Touch Diamond

    In the past I have mentioned using the Citrix client on Windows Mobile devices. I’ve had a great deal of success using it on the HTC Advantage, both the X7500 and X7510.

    The Client will install and run on most Windows Mobile devices (devices running Windows CE Smartphone Edition or Windows Mobile 6 Standard Edition are not supported) but it’s not terribly useful on 320×240 screen devices as there really isn’t enough screen real estate. So this got me to thinking – how well will Citrix run on the HTC Touch Diamond and is the screen big enough to be useful?

    The client can be downloaded from the Citrix Website and is easily installed with activesync from your desktop PC.

    I’ve been experimenting with the Citrix client today and managed to get connected to my Citrix farm and run several applications quite easily. The VGA display on the Diamond is just about large enough to use a few basic applications (Word, Excel some bespoke apps.) and an HSDPA connection is fast enough to be useful.

    A few things that I had to do before getting it to work properly was to use Internet Explorer to connect to the application server rather than Opera. Opera wont launch the Citrix Client and attempts to use Java instead, whereas Internet Explorer launches properly. You can find Internet Explorer in the Windows folder on the Diamond and you can run it from File Explorer.

    Secondly I had to install the Equifax Secure eBusiness root certificate as these are not trusted by default on WM devices.

    So those few things out of the way it was easy to connect to my application server and fire up the apps I needed. I really wish that Citrix would develop the client a bit more though. I’d like to see options to run full screen and easily minimise and zoom etc. I think on of the biggest things that it’s missing is the ability to rotate the screen on the client. Perhaps it’ll get more attention as more people use it?!

    Posted by: Matt

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    Posted in: Apps & Games
    By June 22, 2008 Read More →

    HTC Touch Diamond T-Mobile fix

    If, like me, you are using a new HTC Touch Diamond on the T-Mobile networks you may have noticed that when you see the connection wizard, it only gives you the option of Virgin and not T-Mobile.

    This unfortunately means that you have to configure the connection settings (For your data connection etc.) manually. While this is do-able it’s a bit of a pain in the bum and takes a little while to do – it’s also perhaps a little beyond the new or novice Windows Mobile user and furthermore relies upon you knowing what the settings are!

    Fortunately Paul from MoDaCo has come up with a solution in the form of a simple CAB file. All you have to do is copy the file to your Diamond and run the CAB file. After a reboot you’ll have a full list of UK networks including T-Mobile! You can find full details HERE.

    Posted by: Tracy

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    Posted in: Phones
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