No.1 March 2008
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In this edition you will find discount offers, reviews, news and other articles of interest to all smartphone users. We will cater for Palm OS, Windows Mobile, Symbian and iPhone users and will also look at other types of mobile technology that may be of interest.
If you have any questions or ideas for future articles, just hit 'reply' and we will be in touch.
Sincerely yours,
Shaun McGill- Founder PDA247
You can take 20% off ALL software purchases in the 247 Palm and Windows Mobile software stores just by using discount code 'club24720'. Simply choose the software you would like from our Palm OS or Windows Mobile software stores, apply the code at checkout and enjoy your purchases!
Holux M-1000 Review
The Holux M-1000 is one of the cheapest GPS receivers on the market at this time. It comes in at just £35 + VAT, yet boasts a 20 hour battery life, upgradable flash based memory and the ability to track 32 parallel satellites. It is not the smallest GPS receiver on the market at 53 grams and 17mm deep, but that is not exactly large by any stretch of the imagination.
The LEDs are useful for giving quick information regarding the status of the device, and even better is the removable battery. Buy yourself a spare and you potentially have 40 hours of continuous navigation. Phew! There is no A/C Adaptor in the box, but the miniUSB charging connector means that you will be hard pressed to not find a suitable charger. There is a cigarette lighter charger in the box alongside a user guide and driver CD and a Smart2go Maps DVD which includes the whole of Western Europes (this is only a 7 days trial but a good option).
All of the above is impressive for the price and the majority is standard kit, but there is an extra surprise with the Holux-
I tested it in my house with my HTC TyTN II, a TomTom receiver and a Freedom Keychain receiver. The Holux obtained a signal while the others got nothing.
I took them all outside and the Holux was first in picking up a signal, but quite some distance. The TyTN II was second, with the TomTom and Freedom receivers bringing up the rear, in that order.
The Holux 1000 is very much a traditional style of receiver, but is competitively priced and peerless in terms of performance. The Freedom is out and the Holux is in for me and my Centro.
Available from Clove for £35 + VAT.
Specifications-
Tracks up to 32 satellites
Receiver: L1, 1575.42 MHz
C/A
code: 1.023 MHz
Update rate: 1 HZ.
Antenna type: Built in patch
antenna
Minimum signal tracked: -159dBm
Dimension: 67 × 43 × 17.6
mm.
Weight: < 53g.
On/Off switch: slide switcher
Lithium-ion battery
lasts for 23 hours of use
Operation temperature: -10 ℃ to 60 ℃
Store
temperature: -20 ℃ to 60 ℃
Store temperature: -30 ℃ to 80 ℃ (Without
Lithium-ion battery )
Operation humidity: 5% to 95% no condensing
Non DGPS (Differential GPS)
Position: 3.0 m CEP without
SA
Velocity: 0.1m. / sec2
Time: 0.1 microsecond sync GPS time
DGPS (RTCM/EGNOS/WAAS/MSAS)
Position: < 2.2 m., horizontal
95 % of time
< 5 m., vertical 95 % of time
Reacquisition < 0.1 sec. Average
Hot start 1 sec
Warm
start 33 sec
Cold start 36 sec
The ASUS Eee PC has taken the PDA and laptop world's by storm since release. If you are curious to find out what all the fuss is about, please take a moment to visit our Eee PC blog.
Already got an Eee and need accessories? Head on over to PDA Hut who has a good selection in stock, and at reasonable prices too...
Astraware is well known for producing high quality PDA and smartphone games, but the best may be yet to come. Platypus is already a legendary title and is adored by many thousands of people over the world. If you want to experience it before Astraware make the official Palm and Windows Mobile release of it's version, head over to this link and try it for yourself on your PC.
Each month we will look back at an article from the 247 stable that was written a few years back, to see if it is still relevant today. This time, we have an article from 2003 and hopefully the writing quality has improved since then, You may disagree though...
A World Without Technology? (30/04/03)
I was talking to a friend I used to work with the other day and we tripped onto the subject of how little technology we used back in the late 80's.
We worked for a bank and had to deal with claims for lost and stolen travellers cheques- it's almost surreal to think that we filed claims from customers in card folders, alphabetically in cupboards and the current work was kept on our desks in 'piles'.
There was an internal computer system but it was very basic and was just designed to look up travellers cheque numbers- the vast majority of work was done either with a pen (whatever that is:)) and over the phone. It seems bizarre that we often used a computer screen which was shared by a whole team of 20 people and by which you could only gain access if a supervisor wa stood next to you overlooking your actions.
The strangest part of our discussion was the realisation that we were actually rather efficient and that the number of errors were minimal. Of course if it were statiscally analised properly we would no doubt have done less than we do today but there seems to be a worrying trend in today's workplace- laziness. I used to work with people who were 18 years old (indeed I was as well) but the majority had good work ethics and the amount of time spent not working was a few minutes at most per day.
This contrasts markedly with how people work today. Here's an example:-
Do a few minutes work
Check personal emails (on work PC)
Do some more
work
Get coffee
Do some more work
Look at eBay, Amazon, Clie
Planet:) etc.
Do some more work
And so it goes on.....
Don't get me wrong here- I love technology as much as the next man and I believe the Internet to be one of the most improtant inventions of the past 50 years but it strikes me that most of us (as people) would be more efficient without it- yes email, instant messaging and web sites are incredibly quick ways to access information and make contact with other people and add to this the networks, servers and wireless communications and it's obvious that businesses today would fall apart very quickly without them.
It's not us who are more efficient- it's the technology we use that gives the illusion of efficiency. Maybe this sounds a bit over the top but it would seem that the technology we use is changing us as people- I work with people who have real problems constructing sentences and using punctuation correctly. If I see another email with no capital letters at all I will scream!
I cant understand why people dont want to use basic english when i and others write proper like.
The above sentence is an example of the type of email I see every day (are you reading this- Jude Dillon!). I won't even get onto the subject of the 'text message society'- the word is 'great' not 'gr8' (again, blame Jude)- arghhhhhhhhhh!!!
Maybe I am a bit touchy when it comes to the English language because it's probably the only subject I loved at school. On a side note I do laugh at the ignorance of some British people who continually deride the Americans for the way they use our language- it may be a shock to you to understand that a lot of the words that are spelt differently in the US were invented by them. Still no excuse for spellings like 'color' and one I see more and more- 'addicting' (always thought this was 'addictive'?)
Perhaps I am wrong when I say we are changing as people because of technology and I'm sure I am sounding a lot older than my 32 years but there are times when I would just love to spend 6 months in a tech. free environment (I would need to be forced into it as I could not give up my Clie and laptop voluntarily) and get used to using a pen and doing things manually again- I am sure it would be a liberating experience:)
A while back, we persuaded Megasoft2000 to produce Escape for Palm OS. It is one of the simplest games you can play, but also one of the most addictive. It is currently available for a mere $1.95 and full details and a trial version are available here.
Jan summed up the experience of many who play this game very well- "Alright, I'm giving my two cents about Escape. It's an amazingly simple, yet incredibly addictive game! My advice to those who try this game is: make sure you have a good screen protector! I find that I press harder and harder as I try to increase my score! I showed it to one of my 13 year old twins this morning before school, and it was hard to get him to put it down so he could get to the bus! I just introduced my husband to it, and he is playing it as I write this. I keep hearing groans, and once in a while he'll call out "I got to 12!" He just informed me that his hands are sweating, and his heart is beating fast... Escape should come with a health warning! This game isn't good for guys with high blood pressure! ;-) I haven't seen him "hooked" on any PDA game before this!! (I'll turn him into a "Palm Addict" yet! ;-)"
eBook of the month: A Walk In The Woods by Bill Bryson
Each month, we will be choosing an eBook that we think you will enjoy and this month we have chosen our favourite work by Bill Bryson. It is Bill's hilarious account of his 2,100 Appalacian Trail walk back in 1996, and it at times is achingly funny.
With no concern for the feelings of the strange people he encountered and a seeming ignorance to the fact a bear could kill him with one swipe, he delivers a laugh-a-minute ride from start to finish.
Easily worth the $8.99 asking price from eReader.
Resco BrainGain Mini-Review
Brain training games are all the rage at the moment, and this mini industry has been driven by the massive popularity of the Nintendo DS and the brain training games which sell by the million. However, it is often the case that smartphone and PDA brain training games are as good, if not better, that their DS equivalents.
Resco BrainGain is one example and at under $20 is a lot cheaper than a training title for a dedicated handheld console. It also comes with a money back guarantee, so you have little to lose.
It is currently available for Windows Mobile Professional and Standard and has native support for QVGA (portrait and landscape) and VGA screens. Within the game there are 40 programs to test your mind and to help you build up your relflexes, reasoning and a variety of other skills you did not know you had.
Sophia is your virtual guide through these tasks and she certainly adds a personal touch to the process. The interface and graphics are clean and simple, which is ideal because you really do need to concentrate on some of the tasks and I soon found myself coming back each day to see if I had improved. The most surprising aspect is that you can do well at certain times of the day, and poorly late at night (when you are tired) and this gives an indication of some clever programming at work. It really does give accurate feedback on your mental state at the time and more importantly, naturally helps you to improve on specific aspects.
The more you play, the better you will get and it is VERY addictive so set aside 30 minutes each day to improve your mind. It is hard to find a fault with BrainGain, so I won't even try and will just enjoy the experience. It is so good I haven't touched my wife's DS in weeks!
Available from Resco for $19.95, or as part of the Resco Brain Suite (which includes Resco Sudoku and Resco Sokoban) for $29.93.
UPDATE: Resco Brain Games 2008 will soon be released (this week in fact) and includes a completely new interface and many other changes. This will a free upgrade for purchasers of the above title. Also, Resco Sudoku Touch is close to release and you can try the beta version now, which will net you a $5 discount on the final version.
If the 20% discount on all of our Palm and Windows Mobile software wasn't enough for you, Creative Algorithms has generously offered a full 30% discount on ANY of it's products up until 24th March. Just use discount code '247SPRING30' at the Creative Algorithms web site.
There is a large range of products to choose from including the top travel aid, Trip Boss, and Date Wheel, which is handy for so many occasions.
SBSH PhoneWeaver Review
I never wrote a review of SBSH PhoneWeaver- someone did, probably Shaun, but it wasn't me. I did buy it as a result, however, and have watched it grow through a number of forms as new functions are added, seemingly every month or so.
At its core, PhW is a 'Phone Profile Manager' allowing automatic switching of different phone functions based on user-defined profiles. Switching can occur either manually or automatically based on time, calendar or connection events. It can switch your phone on and off as well as Bluetooth and WiFi, and it can also enable or disable your push email if you're lucky/cursed enough to have it. On top of this is volume and backlight control as well as the selection of default ringtones and other system sounds. Overall, it's quite a versatile little application.
The first few versions of PhoneWeaver concentrated on consolidating on this functionality to the point where it appears almost seamless. Given the number of different devices with different backlight mechanisms etc, that's no mean feat in itself. Having got that working so well, however, PhW is now taking ownership of a few new functions.
Firstly came the facility to run a specific application on a profile change along with other miscellaneous items like the ability to specify a specific screen orientation. Thus, in the car, you can now switch on the phone, Bluetooth radio, adjust both the backlight and volume at the same time as running up TomTom and switching to landscape to display it. All with two screen taps.
After that came the facility to specify a default internet or cellular connection for a profile. In my use, this allows for GPRS to be effectively disabled when I'm at home and relying on WiFi for connectivity. If you have the need, this would also permit single tap switching between home and work network connections.
Profile icons have now also appeared, allowing ease of identity of the active profile. As well as this, a number of display and access options are now also available. I still use the original Today screen plugin on my WM6 device but a System Tray option has now appeared which makes good use of the profile icons as an effective mode indicator.
One of the most recent additions to this application is a set of counters: email, SMS, missed calls and voicemails (if your network supports this). A simple enough function in itself, this isn't something I'd buy an application to provide but as an add-on to something I already own, I'm quite happy to use it. Personally I use PocketBreeze to count email and SMS, but missed calls or voicemail now belong firmly with PhoneWeaver.
The changes aren't 'Oh wow, amazing' in either scope or implementation, but as is the habit of SBSH, they are building on a very solid foundation and adding features that are generally useful. This isn't a piece of software I shout about from the rooftops, but when I contemplate what it's presence on may machine actually gives to me, I realise just how much I depend on it for my daily phone routine.
PhoneWeaver deserves to be another quiet SBSH success. Mike
How to: Get push GMail for free is a new guide over at AllAboutSymbian, and one that all Symbian owners should read. "Real power users look away now - you'll have worked all this out for yourself - but I've been experimenting getting my GMail 'pushed' onto my S60 smartphone, for free. Herewith the results, comments and relevant how-to details..." Full details are here.
Some recent highlights from 247 you may have missed include a Mike's honest look at the way Toshiba has dealt with PR surrounding the Portege G900, the final part of my Palm Centro review, yet another lively discussion about the iPhone and a similar discussion about the Centro and Palm's future.
Look out very soon for the return of the 247 podcast, which will involve discussion, interviews and probable arguments with the great and good from the PDA world. First up will be Murray, who is itching to debate the merits of the iPhone and many other mobile related topics- expect a tough verbal fight!
So, that's it for the March 2008 newsletter. If you would like to submit content, or want to offer feedback, please drop me a line at shaun (at) mailstm.co.uk.