CUPERTINO, California—March 6, 2008—Apple® today previewed its iPhone™ 2.0 software, scheduled for release this June, and announced the immediate availability of a beta release of the software to selected developers and enterprise customers. The iPhone 2.0 beta release includes both the iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK) as well as new enterprise features such as support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync to provide secure, over-the-air push email, contacts and calendars as well as remote wipe, and the addition of Cisco IPsec VPN for encrypted access to private corporate networks.

“We’re excited about creating a vibrant third party developer community with potentially thousands of native applications for iPhone and iPod touch,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “iPhone’s enterprise features combined with its revolutionary Multi-Touch user interface and advanced software architecture provide the best user experience and the most advanced software platform ever for a mobile device.”

The iPhone SDK provides developers with a rich set of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and tools to create innovative applications for iPhone and iPod® touch. Starting today, anyone can download the beta iPhone SDK for free and run the iPhone Simulator on their Mac®. Apple today also introduced its new iPhone Developer Program, giving developers everything they need to create native applications, and the new App Store, a breakthrough way for developers to wirelessly deliver their applications to iPhone and iPod touch users.

With the iPhone SDK, third party developers will be able to build native applications for the iPhone with a rich set of APIs, including programming interfaces for Core OS, Core Services, Media and Cocoa Touch technologies. The iPhone SDK will allow developers to create amazing applications that leverage the iPhone’s groundbreaking Multi-Touch™ user interface, animation technology, large storage, built-in three-axis accelerometer and geographical location technology to deliver truly innovative mobile applications.

Apple has licensed Exchange ActiveSync from Microsoft and is building it right into the iPhone, so that iPhone will connect out-of-the-box to Microsoft Exchange Servers 2003 and 2007 for secure over-the-air push email, contacts, calendars and global address lists. Built-in Exchange ActiveSync support also enables security features such as remote wipe, password policies and auto-discovery. The iPhone 2.0 software supports Cisco IPsec VPN to ensure the highest level of IP-based encryption available for transmission of sensitive corporate data, as well as the ability to authenticate using digital certificates or password-based, multi-factor authentication. The addition of WPA2 Enterprise with 802.1x authentication enables enterprise customers to deploy iPhone and iPod touch with the latest standards for protection of Wi-Fi networks. More at Apple.

Over the past few years I must have tested, reviewed and owned over 50 PDAs and smartphone, and this has given me what I believe to be a fairly rounded knowledge of what is available on the market today, and how well each new device compares to older and current competitors. I have been guilty of changing devices just to try something new, and also to get hold of one extra minor feature that I do not need in the latest model.

A few of you have questioned my thoughts on the Palm Centro and there seems to be a general feeling that it is old hat and cannot possibly be a worthy contender in today's crowded market. Well, you are wrong. The device I choose to use daily is the best one for me, and the same applies to all of us. I want a smartphone that is quick, stable and portable with a decent battery life and a good range of functional third party software. At this time, the Centro is proving to work well for me, and a few others by the sound of it.

I want to access mobile email and quickly look up information on the web, so why on earth would I need Wi-Fi, HSDPA and a huge screen to do that? I want to enter data quickly and the Centro keyboard is near the top of the pile for easy access and quick email responses. Of course, Palm's lack of innovation is still annoying and I do believe that Wi-Fi should be included but it's not a deal breaker for me.

The Centro has moved me from not caring if Palm survive or not, to worrying that it is all too late and that future products will be taken away from us. Palm OS keeps dragging me back from the rather clever but dull Windows Mobile and tricky to use but exceptionally stable Symbian OS and is still, in my opinion, way ahead of all of the competition in terms of usability and flexibility.

The real worry is that the entire market is changing direction quickly and that third party software may soon no longer be available the way they are now. Web apps (hate them!) are grabbing attention and seem to be in vogue with developers and manufacturers, but ultimately the local solution will still work best for many people.

Let's hope that some stability arrives and stays for a little while, but for now the Centro is serving me well. Give it time though...

Multi-tasking is over rated...it's official & FastLaunch is new at Palm-Mac, and once again Murray is talking about me. Starting to get worried:)

Yes it is...Shaun McGill, venerable pda247 founder and staunch (well, for this week anyway) palm o/s user has stated so and therefore I believe it to be official. Of course, regular readers will recall that I have bemoaned in the past, on several occasions, my own inability to take "advantage" of this windows mobile feature which I suspect was down to years of previous palm useage...what you don't have you never miss and all that.

I've never rated it because I always felt it was a hardish feature to access on a win mob device. There was never just one button you could press to take you back to a previously opened application but rather it necessitated several presses and I ended up always thinking..."what's the point?"...it would be quicker to head back to the launcher. On my Centro however, when in an application like Resco Neeews reading an RSS feed I can go to a website link from there and then just hold down the "home" button on the Centro. From there I can pick "Neeews" and it will re-open at exactly the same spot. Bingo. Quicker and simpler.

Let's be honest here, how many times have you needed to have more than the 2 apps open at the same time? For myself, it is super-rarely which makes a palm application like this all the more attractive as it seems to fulfill that need to switch seamlessly between 2 apps on the likes of a Centro. Bang...press one key and you're back to the last app virtually and then another press and you're back where you started...sounds good does it not?

Steve Litchfield has reviewed the latest version of Handy Weather- "It's not often that I get to review an application that's nigh-on perfect in every detail. Yet Handy Weather is such a program - admittedly it only really does one thing (check the upcoming weather for a small number of locations) but it does it so smoothly and unobtrusively that it just had to earn a coveted Mega-App award. Available for almost every handheld platform in the world (really), Handy Weather impresses under S60, shown here, by not only working as a standalone application but also making its functionality available as a screen-saver.

After installation of the week-long trial version, you're gently led into picking a home city (even medium sized towns are available in many countries) and an auto-update interval (the default is 8 hours, which is about right), then it's into Handy Weather proper. Version 5, reviewed here, has had something of a UI tweak and more emphasis is now placed on the 5-day 'Day graph', giving a one glance view at what's coming up, weather-wise. This does make getting to other views slightly more laborious, but it also means that newcomers get to the most important view immediately, so probably a good thing..."

PDA Thoughts has posted an article about Fake Windows Mobile smartphones with some decent photos included for good measure- "Take a look at these fella’s… Do you notice anything? Or did you knew that Sony Ericsson had a WM smartphone already,  before the Xperia X1. Or are you familiar with the (all-new) Samsung Blackjack slider? Two feature phones running Windows Mobile 2003, what a bullsh!t! Those darn Dutch marketeers should get their advertising straight…

By the way, I took this picture with my HTC Touch in the local mall (in the Netherlands)."

Hanover, Germany – March 4, 2008 – Magellan, one of the world’s fastest growing GPS brands, today announced three new additions to its popular RoadMate series of entry-level vehicle navigation units. The Magellan RoadMate series delivers “turn it on and go” functionality in an ultra-slim, pocket-sized form.

The new RoadMate 1400 series of GPS units are an extension of the best-selling RoadMate brand.  With attractive retail pricing that begins at just €179, the Magellan RoadMate is ideal for drivers new to GPS units, for parents to give to their younger drivers, or for GPS users who want an additional device.  The new RoadMate series can be viewed this week in Hanover, Germany at the CeBIT Global Conferences in Magellan’s booth #D33, which is located in Hall 15.

The RoadMate 1400 series features a widescreen 4.3-inch anti-glare touch screen and a simple, intuitive user interface with premier features including QuickSpellTM, for fast input with a minimal amount of keystrokes, and SmartDetourTM, which prompts drivers to route around heavy or stationary traffic. It also features a newly designed, easy-to-view menu and map screens that incorporate stylish, easy-to-identify icons and graphics that are clear and crisp to the user.

The RoadMate 1400 entry level model comes preloaded with NAVTEQ® road maps, and users can choose from one of the following regions: France, Italy/Austria/Switzerland, Sweden/Finland/Norway/Denmark, Great Britain/Ireland/Northern Ireland, Germany/Austria/Switzerland, Spain/Portugal and Belgium/Netherlands/Luxembourg. It also comes pre-loaded with a database of safety cameras, which provides locations of known cameras for each region (MSRP €179.00).

The RoadMate 1415 adds text-to-speech, which announces the street name and direction of the next turn. It comes pre-loaded with NAVTEQ full European map coverage, and also features thousands of points of interest (POI), such as petrol stations, hotels, restaurants, and airports with contact details such as phone number, address and travel distance (MSRP €229.00).

The RoadMate 1425 adds a fully-integrated live traffic feature and premium lifetime traffic subscription that uses real-time traffic update information to display incidents along the driver’s route; suggests alternative routes when “fastest time” to destination is selected; and recalculates the expected arrival time based on the monitored traffic. The unit also features one million searchable POIs. The antenna to receive traffic data is seamlessly integrated into the unit’s power cable (MSRP €279.00).

“We are developing products at Magellan that are designed to exceed consumer expectations in price, content and connectivity.  The RoadMate brand is an exceptional example of a value-priced line that delivers great GPS performance as well as unique and compelling features,” said Christian Bubenheim, vice president of product marketing, Magellan.

Nokia and Microsoft, sittin' in a tree... is the latest from Michael Mace- "There's so much hype in the mobile industry that I'm always reluctant to use a word like "shocking," but nothing else fits Nokia's announcement today that it will support Microsoft Silverlight.

If you missed the press release (link), Nokia said that it's going to make Microsoft Silverlight available for all of its mobile platforms -- Series 40 (the low-end phone OS), S60 (the high-end OS), and its Maemo Internet tablet. (It's not clear if Silverlight will be bundled or just offered as a download.) Silverlight is a web app graphics and interface layer, intended to displace Adobe Flash.

The announcement was shocking for several reasons:

--Up until now, Nokia and Adobe had worked together closely. Nokia is one of the few companies paying to bundle Flash on its phones, and Nokia had featured Adobe prominently at some of its developer events in Silicon Valley. So the announcement I was expecting was that Nokia would bundle Air, the next evolution of Flash, rather than its competitor..."

Shifting Google Gears to mobile is great news for Windows Mobile owners, and potentially great for everyone else. Thanks to Justine.

Ever use a mobile web application and suddenly lose your cell connection? That's happened to me many times. If you've shared my pain, you'll be excited to know that we've launched Google Gears for mobile, which lets users access Gears-enabled mobile web apps offline. Initially available for Internet Explorer Mobile on Windows Mobile 5 and 6 devices, mobile web app developers have already started integrating Gears for mobile into their online services.

Take Zoho and Buxfer, for example: Zoho is a powerful suite of web-based productivity applications, while Buxfer is an innovative personal finance web application that helps you track your money. With Google Gears for mobile integrated into mobile Zoho and Buxfer, you can now access these web applications even when your phone is disconnected from the mobile web. Stuck on a plane? No problem — you can still read your docs on your mobile with Zoho Writer Mobile offline. Want to buy that new plasma TV, but can't remember how much is in your account? Check your balance with Buxfer's mobile web application, even if there is no cell phone signal. Try them out on your Windows Mobile 6 device by going to m.buxfer.com or mobile.zoho.com.

Today's free eBook is Pol Pot's Beautiful Daughter- "IN CAMBODIA PEOPLE ARE used to ghosts. Ghosts buy newspapers. They own property.

A few years ago, spirits owned a house in Phnom Penh, at the Tra Bek end of Monivong Boulevard. Khmer Rouge had murdered the whole family and there was no one left alive to inherit it. People cycled past the building, leaving it boarded up. Sounds of weeping came from inside.

Then a professional inheritor arrived from America. She'd done her research and could claim to be the last surviving relative of no fewer than three families. She immediately sold the house to a Chinese businessman, who turned the ground floor into a photocopying shop.
   
The copiers began to print pictures of the original owners.
   
At first, single black and white photos turned up in the copied dossiers of aid workers or government officials. The father of the murdered family had been a lawyer. He stared fiercely out of the photos as if demanding something. In other photocopies, his beautiful daughters forlornly hugged each other. The background was hazy like fog.
   
One night the owner heard a noise and trundled downstairs to find all five photocopiers printing one picture after another of faces: young college men, old women, parents with a string of babies, or government soldiers in uniform. He pushed the big green off-buttons. Nothing happened."