News

SanDisk announces the new Sansa View

SanDisk today announced the new Sansa View – a video MP3 player with a vast array of features and generous capacity, at an unbeatable price. The sleek-looking Sansa View marries the finest MP3 player attributes with full-motion video support (typically found in larger portable media players), a larger screen, long battery life and generous capacity—all in a thin, easy-to-carry package. Expected to be available in October, the Sansa View will carry a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $199.99 (around £100) for a 16GB flash-based player and $149.99 for the 8GB, far surpassing the competition with respect to value and price.

SanDisk Sansa View

A significant step-up from the company’s award-winning Sansa e200 music player series, the slim Sansa View features music, photos, FM radio and audio books, plus easy video transferring capabilities and hefty memory capabilities of up to 24GB (by using an optional 8GB microSD/microSDHC card).

“The Sansa View is a new video MP3 player that combines all of the great characteristics of a MP3 player with the video capabilities of a PMP, and packs it into a pocketable device,” said Eric Bone, vice president of marketing for SanDisk’s Sansa audio/video product line. “What’s more, we’re once again showing that category-leading technology can still be very affordable.”

SanDisk’s Sansa View video player innovates beyond the typical video loading procedure, making it easy for consumers to transfer videos natively using widely available software. Most popular formats are supported via embedded player functionality (H.264, WMV and MPEG4), or via a one-time software download of the Sansa Media Converter which quickly transcodes numerous video files, including DivX.

Consumers can purchase and insert one of SanDisk’s microSD/microSDHC cards to play up to 24GB of music, video and photos on their Sansa View. (Today, SanDisk has announced microSD/microSDHC card capacities of up to 8GB.) In addition, the microSD card allows users to easily move their content to a cell phone or other mobile device.

A MP3 player at its core, the Sansa View device comes equipped with all the soup-to-nuts features typically found in the Sansa audio line. The smooth, backlit scroll wheel and vibrant 2.4” widescreen display make it easy to navigate to: a music library; video collection; digital photos; digital FM radio with 20 pre-sets; an integrated microphone and voice recording, and Audible audiobooks.

Posted by: Matt

[Technorati tag(s): MP3 Player, SanDisk, Sansa View, media player, SanDisk Sansa View]

VITO AstroNavigator II updated to v1.3

VITO Technology announces a new version of VITO AstroNavigator II. It comes just in time to watch the Solar Eclipse on September 11, 2007 at 12:44 pm GMT.

VITO AstroNavigator II

The Partial Solar Eclipse will be visible to the lucky minority from South America, specifically Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. Are you longing to be a part of this great event and there is no chance to go to any of these countries?

Do not give way to despair because with VITO AstroNavigator II you may gaze at any Solar Eclipse. VITO AstroNavigator II allows you to choose the exact time and the location where the eclipse is expected to be seen – and there you have it in front of you. Enjoy being a part of the Universe and be aware about the most significant events happening over there.

Great news for Samsung BlackJack and Moto Q users: new version of VITO AstroNavigator II supports these Smartphones. The GPS search has become much faster. In addition to this VITO AstroNavigator II supports landscape devices now. The bug with distorted image on incoming calls has been fixed.

VITO AstroNavigator II is available for $ 19.95 at http://vitotechnology.com. Free trial provided. Updates are free for customers who purchased VITO AstroNavigator II within a year’s time.

Posted by: Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Vito, VITO AstroNavigator, Tracy & Matt, Smartphone Software]

Vodafone TyTN II coming soon as v1615

This week the news has been all about the TyTN II and today is not much different. Taking a look at the Vodafone website today you’ll find the new v1615 listed as coming soon. The v1615 is the Vodafone version of the TyTN II.

Vodafone v1615

Intersting that Vodafone state that the TyTN II is only 170 grams on their specificaion page. The TyTN II is 160 grams without the battery and 192 with. Would you like to borrow my scales Voda?

Posted by: Matt

[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, v1615, HTC TyTN II, Windows Mobile Blog]

Removing the TyTN battery cover

Just a quick video here for you as I’ve had quite a few emails today from people struggling to get the back cover off their new HTC TyTN II. You need to remove the cover in order to insert the battery.

It does feel like you are pushing the cover too hard when you first do it, it’s pretty stiff.

EDIT: You can see our TyTN II review HERE.

Posted by: Matt

[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, WM6, HTC TyTN II, Windows Mobile Blog]

HTC TyTN II – First UK stock!

I just had some great news from the guys over at Clove Technology. Chris and the Boys have been over to the magic warehouse and have collected their stock of the HTC TyTN II. So if you place your order NOW your be amoung the first in the UK to receive their TyTN II, you could be unpacking yours as soon as Wednesday!

HTC TyTN II

If you do decide to order, don’t forget to use our voucher, you’ll get a further £10 off the purchase price: TM4550SEP07

The offer is valid until the end of September, simply enter the voucher code when you check out to receive the discount.

Head on over to the TyTN II page on the Clove site.

EDIT: You can see our TyTN II review HERE.

Posted by: Matt

[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, WM6, HTC TyTN II, Windows Mobile Blog]

Samsung i760 appears on Samsung website

After a considerable wait, the Samsung SCH-i760 finally appears on the Samsung Website. The i760 looks like a rather atractive device with its combination of fixed front keypad and sliding QWERTY keyboard it could well be the compromise that many have been looking for!

Samsung SCH-i760

Samsung SCH-i760 specification:

Posted by: Matt

[Post tags: smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, Samsung SGH-i600, Samsung, Windows Mobile blog]

No WM6 upgrade for Samsung i600 in the UK?

If like me, you are a Samsung i600 owner, chances are you have been keeping an eye on the Samsung website for your free Windows Mobile 6 ROM upgrade.

You’ll probably know that the ROM upgrades are being released one country/region at a time (starting with the Russian and Dutch ROMS) any futher updates have been released over the past few weeks. We’ve been eagerly awaiting the update for the UK.

Well there could be bad news there. If you were to take a look at the Samsung i600 update page today you’ll find that some country flags have been removed! Now missing from the list are UK, Germany, Greece and Czech.

i600 ROM download site before and after

So does this mean no update for us?? Well I spoke to our PR contact at Samsung and have been told that these countries will “Definitely receive a Windows Mobile 6 update” and that the download site is just undergoing a few “Changes”. Fingers crossed then!

For those of you that simply cant wait until the official ROM version there is a work around which involves changing your locale, performing the update and then changing the locale back. You find a full how-to guide here.

Posted by: Matt

[Post tags: smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, Samsung SGH-i600, Samsung, Windows Mobile blog]

HTC release WM6 upgrades for X7500 and S620

Great news for owners of the HTC X7500 (HTC Advantage) or the HTC S620 (HTC Excalibur) – HTC have just released official Windows Mobile 6 ROM upgrades for both of these devices.

S620/X7500 WM6 Upgrades

As with other upgrades offered by HTC you can download for free from the HTC e-Club site but, if you have not done so already, you’ll have to register for an account using the serial number of your device.

Don’t forget to backup your important data though as the update will wipe everything from your device.

Posted by: Matt

[Post tag(s): smartphone news, Pocket PC news, Tracy & Matt, Windows Mobile 6, HTC X7500, HTC S620]

HTC announce Hosted Exchange Email Service

HTCmail – fully hosted email solution gives mobile professionals the fastest and simplest way to access critical business information on the move.

Hot on the heels of the HTC TyTN II announcement, HTC also today announced the launch of HTCmail, a fully hosted, secure, and managed email service based on Microsoft Hosted Exchange. HTCmail will bring the benefits of always-connected business to mobile professionals. The HTC offering provides seamless and real-time access to up to five different email accounts, either personal or work mailboxes, aggregated and instantly delivered to a mobile device through Outlook 2007. Features include email, contacts and calendar, enabling users to easily access information and communications while on the go. HTCmail is compatible with all HTC devices, and will be rolling out across selected European markets from September 2007.

“Today’s launches – both HTC TyTN II and HTCmail – are all about fast, easy access on the move to the kind of features and connectivity previously reserved for the PC world,”said Florian Seiche, Vice President of HTC Europe. “This proposition is a perfect match for both mobile professionals and advanced mobile consumers on the go who can now benefit from the powerful feature set that the HTC TyTN II offers and the true high-speed mobile access that many of our leading operator partners are offering.”

“Combining a broad range of Windows Mobile-powered devices from HTC with a rich messaging experience delivered through Microsoft Hosted Exchange is ideal for mobile professionals who demand enterprise-class communication services with cutting-edge design,” said Michael O’Hara, general manager, Communications Sector at Microsoft. “With HTCmail, small to medium enterprises can benefit from anywhere access to information without the expense or ongoing commitment of on-premise software and IT skills.”

More about HTCmail

Posted by: Matt

[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, TyTN II, HTC, HTCmail]

Sandisk announces 8GB Cruzer® Micro USB flash drive

SanDisk® Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) today announced an 8 gigabyte model of its popular Cruzer® Micro USB flash drive, double the largest capacity previously available in the Cruzer Micro line.

SanDisk Cruzer Micro 8GB

Only two inches long, a half-inch thick and weighing less than half an ounce, the 8GB Cruzer Micro nonetheless can hold a massive personal library – 1,600 ultra-high-resolution digital pictures, 2,000 digital songs or five hours of high-quality home video.

“Just a few years ago, USB flash drives had such limited capacities that they were only useful for moving a few files from one computer to another,” said Ittai Golde, senior director of product marketing for the USB Division of SanDisk. “Now, you don’t have to decide what files to put on a Cruzer Micro. You can load the drive with virtually everything you might need when you’re away from your primary computer.”

Cruzer Micro packs an impressive list of features into a small package:

Posted by: Matt

[Post tag(s): Tracy & Matt, SanDisk, Cruzer, USB flash drive, Compact Flash]