Phones

Many of us find the flashing status LEDs on our Smartphones and PocketPCs really annoying. Lots of people place their phones next to them while they are sleeping and LEDs seem to have increased in brightness recently.

Realising that this is a problem AKsoft have released a small utility to stop the status lights from flashing. Most Smartphone and PocketPC phone models are supported but some models aren’t fully supported (as the LED’s are controlled by hardware) you can still change the LED “blinking” frequency with this software.

If you want to give it a try then head on over to AKsoft’s website and check out the demo. It’s free for 3 days then you have to pay $1 to continue using it. Sounds resonable!

Note that their site has been down for a little while so you might have to try again later!

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Tracy & Matt, MoDaCo]

Orange must be getting desperate to win back the customers they lost to T-Mobile when they introduced the excellent web n’ walk service.

The Orange offer gives new or existing customers (who re-sign their contracts) 2 months worth of free unlimited off-peak surfing. After that you’ll be paying £5 per month.

I certainly don’t think this is enough to win customers back, it may sweaten the deal for some existing customers that were considering the swap. But for me the cost of Data with Orange is just far too high and once HSDPA is rolled out I wonder how many will be able to afford it!

I’d love to see mobile data charged at a flat rate or ever as a value add freebie. Can’t see that happening any time soon though!

Check out the story on Coolsmartphone.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Mobile Data, GPRS, HSDPA, Orange]

Our thanks to Fabien from dafabmobiles.com for bring us this news item.

Fabien has come up with a way to use a mono bluetooth headset to listen to music on your Mobile Device.

“If you own a mono Bluetooth headset you have probably tried (in vain) to listen to music through it only to find it impossible. Well, your struggles are over. BTAudio Toggle is a FREE program that allows you to listen to your favorite music through your mono Bluetooth headset via your Pocket Pc Windows Mobile 5.0 phone.”

Fabien has a full tutorial on his website.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Bluetooth, Headset, Gadgets]

Exciting news! We have teamed up with ClickGamer to open two TracyandMatt branded shops.

In the first of the stores we bring you all thats good in Mobile Games. The second has all the Mobile Applications that you could wish for!

Clickgamer is the world’s fastest growing mobile games D2C portal for a variety of hand held devices including Windows Mobile, Symbian Smartphone, PALM, J2ME, RIM Blackberry, iPod and PSP. We stock only the best games and deliver them directly to the customer’s mobile phone and/or PC and MAC.

Please go and visit our new stores for some excellent Pocket PC Games and Pocket PC applications!

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Mobile Games, Clickgamer, Tracy & Matt, pocket pc games, M3100 Games]

The first review of the new HTC Artemis (HTC P3300) has appeared on mobile-review.com we like this website as they are always very thorough with their reviews.

“The device’s appearance looks out of place when compared to other HTC-branded solutions – one can readily figure out new concepts, unseen before in the company’s products. In my opinion, it’s the way of getting mature for the company, developing a more austere design. The P3300’s outlook is very distinctive and original – I could hardly force myself to call it a clone of something. The only thing beyond my grasp is why they would need to adopt Nokia 6680/6681’s silver side-framings”.

“HTC Artemis is based on now quite old HTC Prophet/HTC Wizard platform, thus their performance and lifetime tests are quite similar, sometimes even alike. Should we consider HTC Prophet (Qtek S200) as the starting point, we will have the following differences between these models:

Check out the full review HERE.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, HTC P3300, Orange, HTC Artemis]

The HTC S310, better known as the HTC Oxygen, has just appeared for sale on the
Expansys website. In stock for £214.95

The HTC S310 Smartphone (AKA – HTC Oxygen) features Windows Mobile 5.0 Direct Push technology for immediate synchronization of email, calendar and notes plus document viewers for PDF, Word, Excel® and PowerPoint®. It’s the ideal choice for busy people on the road who only want to carry one small device.

The HTC S310 is not a high-end phone, having only a 176×220 screen and no 3G connectivity, but for the price its a very solid and attractive unit, suitable for knocking around in most people’s pocket.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, HTC S310, Orange, C100, HTC Oxygen]

Sketchy information about Microsoft’s new Windows Mobile OS, codenamed “Crossbow” have been leaked.

This is one slick looking screenshot! I cant wait to see more about the new OS.

Pieter Knook, a Microsoft Sr. VP, has commented that Microsoft plan to release an upgrade to their mobile platform yearly which is interesting and could mean a new OS with every yearly upgrade for pay monthly contracts. Knook has also commented that Crossbow will have strong links with Office 2007 and Exchange 12 as well as including the mobile version of Office Communicator, an Instant Messenger tool for enterprises.

Google cache caught a leaked presentation which told us that Crossbow will be released to manufacturer in Q4 2006 ready for release in Q1/Q2 of 2007 and that the next operating system (codenamed “Photon”) will be released to manufacturers in Q4 2007 ready for release in Q1/Q2 2008 (Photon is set to include a new, flexible shell with modular containers and utilise the “Yamazaki” CE kernel).

Thanks to Brody over at www.msmobilenews.com for the heads up!

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Tracy & Matt, Crossbow, mobile phones, Windows Mobile, SPV, Orange SPV M700]

The new HTC Herald has shown its face on the web appearing on solapalmari.com

At the moment the details of the device haven’t been confirmed. There hasn’t even been any official confirmation from HTC that the device even exists. However it’s thought to be virtually the same as the HTC Hermes but being just 18mm thick.

This is the unconfirmed basic specification:

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Tracy & Matt, Orange, M3100, HTC Herald, SPV, Orange SPV M3100]

Brando Workshop have just released a metal case for the HTC Hermes, available in both Silver and Black.

Brando WorkShop aluminium hard case is specially designed for your HTC TyTN. Aircraft grade aluminium is used to make this case strong yet light in weight. All our cases are finished and examined by hand before leaving our workshop. Neoprene lining and 360 degree swivel belt clip are also added to make our cases unique, stylish, handy and innovative.

Looks like a good buy at just $28!

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Tracy & Matt, Orange, M3100, HTC Hermes, HTC TyTN, SPV, Orange SPV M3100]

According to research firm Informa Telecoms and Media, the battle now will be persuading users to upgrade their phones regularly.

New services such as mobile TV will compete with improved cameras, more memory and cutting-edge design.

But the long-awaited switch to 3G could be some time off, the report said.

The report predicts that only a quarter of all mobile phones sold by 2008 will be 3G – which might not be quite the news operators, desperate to recoup the money they spent on third-generation networks, wanted to hear.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Tracy & Matt, Orange, mobile phones, HTC Trinity, SPV, Orange SPV M700]