Virtual Earth Mobile is a funny beast. Microsoft doesn’t appear to push it, support it, or beta test it. Instead one guy, Jason Fuller, takes it upon himself to not only release and occasionally update, but to provide the source Visual Studio product.
The product itself is really good, and definitely a program to show off the capabilities of your device.
Rather like Windows Live Local, VEM is a small application which allows access to the Virtual Earth servers, with mapping and decent quality aerial imagery too. The original release of the program wasn’t terrible, but suffered some annoying bugs, and in my experience struggled to maintain a connection to the servers.
The new version is very much improved. A brief overview of the updates are listed below (taken from Jason’s blog)
Virtual Earth Mobile 1.69 can be downloaded from the Windows Mobile Team Blog.
[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Tracy & Matt, Virtual Earth Mobile, Windows Live Local]
Kerry Woo from the Gadgeteer has just published a great review of the Samsung SGH-i320 which, by the way, is now available on the Vodafone UK business website.
“I am simply amazed at how cell phones have evolved from the “portable” bag phone to today’s vast selection of featured laden mobile phones. Built in cameras, music players, text messaging and voice dialing are just some of the options available in mix and match feature laden phones. Add to the mix WiFi and Bluetooth, push email, robust calendar and contact management with Internet access plus a large catalog of third party software makes today’s smartphone a compelling reason to leave the laptop at home.”
Samsung SGH-i320 Specification
Read the full review here.
Matt
[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Tracy & Matt, Samsung SGH-i320, Vodafone, Samsung]
Following a successful promotion with our friends from Clove Technology, we have a new Eten Glofiish X500 offer!
To take advantage of this brilliant offer all you have to do is type TM2JAN07 into the voucher box on the order form once you have selected to buy the Eten X500 and £20 will be deducted at the checkout stage. Visit the Eten X500 on the Clove Technology site.
This another excellent offer and we are still confident that this is the cheapest X500 in the UK and we are offering you £20 off to boot!!
This offer is for our readers only and is valid until the end of January 2007.
Matt
[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Eten, Glofiish, Eten Glofiish X500, Tracy & Matt]
Our friends at Clove Technology have extended the discount offer for the Eten M700 – You can still save £25 when you purchase an Eten Glofiish M700 from Clove using the voucher code below.
The ETEN Glofiish M700 is now available on the Clove website.
To take advantage of this brilliant offer all you have to do is type TM25PNOV07 into the voucher box on the order form once you have selected to buy the Eten M700 and £25 will be deducted at the checkout stage. Take a look at the Eten M700 on the Clove Technology site.
This really is a good offer and we are confident that this is still the cheapest Glofiish M700 in the UK and we are offering you £25 off to boot!!
This offer is just for our readers and is now valid until the end of January 2007.
Overview
Compose and send e-mails, SMS message or create and edit documents on the move with the Eten Glofiish M700. The Glofiish M700 is a compact Windows Mobile 5 device featuring an integrated sliding keyboard, Quad-band GSM/GPRS with support for EDGE, SiRFStar III GPS Receiver, Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi 802.11b/g and 2.0 mega pixels camera. With all these features you only ever need to carry one device, to stay in contact by phone, accessing the Internet, managing documents, appointments and contacts, and taking quality pictures.
GPS navigation is also possible with the Eten Glofiish M700, due to the integrated SiRFStar III GPS receiver, ensuring that this is truly an all in one device.
Matt
[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, ETEN M700, glofiish, E-TEN Glofiish, Clove, Tracy & Matt]
SanDisk® Corporation today introduced a 32-gigabyte, 1.8-inch solid state drive (SSD) as a drop-in replacement for the standard mechanical hard disk drive. Initially aimed at enterprise users as the first step toward mass consumer adoption, SanDisk SSD offers field-proven durability to keep mobile PCs working in the toughest of conditions and improves the overall user experience.
Previously, large capacity flash-based drives had been used primarily by the military, aerospace and telecom industries, which demanded high performance and reliability under challenging environmental conditions. But now the declining cost of NAND flash memory has made SSD a viable and economically attractive alternative to existing technologies in a wider variety of applications, including mobile PCs aimed at enterprise and consumer users.
“This is an important milestone for SanDisk in our relentless quest to create new large-scale markets for flash storage solutions for consumers in the personal computing space,” said Eli Harari, SanDisk CEO. “The 32-gigabyte SSD that we are announcing today represents the fifth generation of flash-based solid state drives developed by msystems, which we recently acquired. The 32GB SSD has been made commercially viable through SanDisk’s technology leadership coupled with msystems’ tremendous experience and IP, which are captured in the high-performance, low-cost system controllers that distinguish this product.
“Once we begin shipping the 32GB SSD for notebook PCs, we expect to see its increasing adoption in the coming years as we continue to reduce the cost of flash memory. When these SSD devices become more affordable, we expect that their superior features over rotating disk drives will create a new consumer category for our retail sales channels worldwide,” said Harari. It is projected the SanDisk 32GB SSD will cost around $600 in the first half of 2007, he added.
Using NAND flash enhanced by SanDisk’s patented TrueFFS® flash management technology, SanDisk SSD delivers two million hours mean time between failures. With no moving parts, it does not need to spin into action or seek files in the way that conventional hard disk drives do. These characteristics, combined with SanDisk’s advanced flash management technology, make it possible for SanDisk SSD to deliver excellent performance compared with hard disk drives and competing solid state drives.
The SanDisk SSD announced today achieves a sustained read rate of 62 megabytes per second and a random read rate of 7,000 inputs/outputs per second for a 512-byte transfer – more than 100 times faster than most hard disk drives. Taking advantage of this performance, a laptop PC equipped with SanDisk SSD can boot Microsoft Windows® Vista™ Enterprise in as little as 35 seconds. It also can achieve an average file access rate of 0.12 milliseconds, compared with 55 seconds and 19 milliseconds, respectively, for a laptop PC with a hard disk drive.
Another advantage of SanDisk SSD is its extremely low power consumption rate compared to the hard disk drive: 0.4 watt during active operation versus 1.0 watt. This is particularly important to extend the battery life for the benefit of enterprise road warriors. These results enable new operating systems, such as Microsoft® Vista™, to provide mobile PC users with a superior overall system experience.
“There has been a huge increase in demand for NAND flash memory over the past few years from consumer devices such as digital cameras, MP3 players and mobile phones,” said Robert Gray, analyst with IDC, based in Framingham, Massachusetts. “There are dramatically higher bit capacities and lower prices, so the technology is now well positioned to be the foundation for new generations of potentially disruptive solid state drives. Enterprise mobile PC users will find the high performance and low power consumption especially attractive,” he added.
SanDisk SSD 1.8-inch 32GB solid state drive is now available for original equipment manufacturers. It is the first in a range of solutions that SanDisk will be offering to bring flash to the mainstream mobile PC market.
Matt
[Technorati tag(s): MP3 Player, SanDisk, Solid State Disk, SanDisk SSD, SanDisk Sansa e270]
Ludimate has released Tilelander – a surprising Windows Mobile game that can be played as a puzzle or as an action game – it’s up to the player whether to play in a relaxed mood or with a furious attitude: Tilelander
In this game the player helps save Tileland from the invasion of the evil Xyzon empire by filling tile areas and using special items such as blasts, remote controls and generators to complete levels.
Tilelander includes over 70 puzzling levels combining a variety of gameplay, from peaceful tile filling and Gauntlet-style maze solving to involved shoot’em’up and end-of-level boss fighting. The gameplay was finely tuned to be interesting and addictive with progressively unlockable levels and four difficulty settings for extra longevity.
Tilelander’s graphics are refreshing, blending a retro touch with exuberant color gradients. The level design features subtle humor and some respectful references to video gaming history. Tilelander includes access to an online high scores area, where players can compare their best scores against other players from all over the world.
More information about Tilelander including a fully-featured demo, screenshots and gameplay video are available at: Ludimate.com
Matt
[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Ludimate, Tilelander, Mobile Games, Tracy & Matt]
The Canadian company, Pharos are planning to release their own version of the Eten X500 and have imaginatively named it the “GPS Phone”.
The “GPS Phone” comes bundled with Pharos’ own navigation software.
Pharos “GPS Phone” Specification
SiRF Instant Fix ( Ephemeris Extension )
See the Pharos website for more info.
Matt
[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, GPS Phone, Pharos, Eten Glofiish X500, Tracy & Matt]
The ultra slim Samsung SGH-i320 has just appeared on the Vodafone UK business website.
The i320 is very similar in spec and design to the Samsung i600 but is a little smaller and excludes WiFi and 3g connectivity. The lack of quad-band may also put frequent travellers off this device but as the i600 is looking less and less likely for a UK release it maybe this only option if you want a Samsung device.
Samsung SGH-i320 Specification
It also features some nice touches, such as the ability to use the device in mass storage mode.
Matt
[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Tracy & Matt, Samsung SGH-i320, Vodafone, Samsung]
Our friend Fabien has been busy again and has just completed his review of the Cingular 8525.
The 8525 is Cingular’s version of the HTC Hermes. One thing to note is the lack of front facing camera on the Cingular version.
“If you love your Wizard/Qtek 9100 device and plan to get a new device running under Windows Mobile 5.0, the Cingular 8525 is a perfect update. It’s the most wanted mobile right now in United State and there’s no doubt why. It has plenty of power and packs everything needed into one device. The only bad point I will make about this device is the mini USB stereo plug…I still don’t understand where this idea come from! I won’t complain about the lack of a camera on the front of the device knowing that the video call service is a long way away.”
Check out the full review over at Dafabmobiles.
Matt
[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Cingular, HTC Hermes, Cingular 8525]
JAVOedge is happy to announce our new years sale! Got that iPod, Smartphone, or other mobile device you wanted for Christmas? Time to protect this special gift with JAVOedge products!
Simply visit JAVOedge and add any items you wish to purchase to cart. Enter the coupon code below in the Coupon Reference field and click the “Find Coupon” button to apply the discount.
Coupon code: JAVO30NEWYEARS *case sensitive*
Our PDA, Smartphones, Pocket PC, BlackBerry, Palm Treo, Motorola Q, Cingular, T-Mobile, HTC, iPod Nano and PSP accessories are companions for your new gifts!
[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, JAVOedge, Tracy & Matt]
Connect
Connect with us on the following social media platforms.