Seasoned tech blogger. Host of the Tech Addicts podcast.
Having reviewed lots of mobile phones last year it is nice to start this year with a review of an accessory that has left me speechless, well nearly anyway. When I was offered the chance to review this pocket sized projector it really interested me as I had heard so much about it and couldn’t wait to receive it and now after a few weeks use its time to share my thoughts on this amazing piece of tech.
In America there are 3 or 4 really influential tech journalists whose opinions really matter in mainstream newspapers. People like Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher of The Wall Street Journal, Ed Baig of USA Today, and my personal favorite David Pogue of The New York Times. Pogue’s short videos which air on CNBC are also available as a podcast and are something I look forward to every week. Pogue gave a speech recently where he discusses the mobile trends he expects to see develop in 2009. It is a really entertaining and informative discussion (including a couple of funny songs). The main thrust of his talk centers on how mobile services will become more and more important in the coming year. More after the break, including the video.
The iPhone just got a whole lot more tempting for me this morning. The idea of a QWERTY keyboard add-on is hardly new, however, this one really looks tempting. The idea of the keyboard also becoming a rather resilient cover for the screen will attract a great many people. Click on for more info.
Its long been a big moan of mine that the media capabilities of Windows Mobile devices are inferior to the iPhone and it looks like I am not alone in thinking this as the guys over at XDA have decided to make their own MP3 player. Microfi Nitrogen is a native Windows Mobile application (unmanaged code) that allows you to play MP3 songs stored on your Pocket PC device. It features a file browser, full skin support, “Shuffle” and “Repeat” modes, a 10-band equalizer with preset support, a built-in sleep mode and a command to blank screen to prevent energy waste while playing music. More details with downloads after the break.
CookingCapsules is a nice application that allows G1 users to cook a recipe step-by-step quite easily. It is preloaded with a few recipes that you can choose from (at the moment, there are 4 Indian an d 4 French inspired recipes), like the “Chocolate Pots de Creme,” “Kheer,” and some others, too. It tells you how long the video is and how long it will take to prepare the dish. Each recipe has a video of how to prepare it, a shopping list of items required to make it, and text instructions, too. I personally think the application can be handy to have but needs some improvement. Read about my experience with CookingCapsules after the break.
Just when we thought Windows Mobile is losing out on entertainment and games because developers are swarming to other platforms either because of the software/hardware support for those titles or because of the newness of some of these other platforms, DivX is bringing its DivX Player to Windows Mobile, according to CoolSmartPhone.
Users can download the new Player from DivX. Now, you don’t have to get an official DivX Certified phone to run the player.
ShapeWriter 2.0 is an awesome new input method for touch screen devices. It works by drawing a line from letter to letter to spell out a word. In theory it should be a much faster way to input text. There is a little bit of a learning curve, but it feels a lot more natural than the on-screen keyboard in windows mobile, and I think out will be even better than the iPhone’s soft keyboard with a little refinement.
Around the world mobile devices are becoming integral parts of the banking system. Usage differs from country to country; from sms money transfers in Africa, to full scale mobile banking in Japan and Korea. However a new report suggests that mobile consumers in the USA do not feel comfortable using their handsets to interact with their banks. According to the report consumers are worried about handset security, hackers getting into their account, and what happens if the phone is lost. While these concerns are legitimate, mobile devices are often a far safer way to remotely access a bank account, than using a PC over wifi.
The report discusses some things that may reassure a nervous public, like offering complete fraud protection, and a guarantee to reimburse you if anything should happen, the same kind of steps that eventually made people comfortable using atm’s and debit cards.
Eric Chu from the Android Market has sent out an email announcing that the Android Market will support priced applications starting early Q1 2009. Given the country-by-country work required to set up payment support for developers in different countries, they will enable priced app support in Q1 for developers operating in these countries in the following order: (1) United States and UK; (2) Germany, Austria and Netherlands; (3) France, Italy and Spain. By the end of Q1 2009, they will announce support for developers operating in additional countries. Developers operating in the above listed countries should begin finalizing their priced applications, including determining the appropriate pricing strategy. This is great news and we should now see some big name applications appearing in the Market for all you Android users.
The iPhone has had this application for a while and now you can also get this fun application for Windows Mobile phones that have an accelerometer. The application is free so if your a fan of Star Wars it is a must have application for a bit of fun. Works on the HTC Touch Diamond/Pro/HD. It uses the accelerometer to make the fighting sounds when you swing the phone around. You can download it here.
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