12:57 PM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Announcements

Update: We moved the site without difficulties and further downtimes are not to be expected. Within the next 12-36hrs your ISP's local DNS should automatically point to our new server location. --Alex

Hello again. I hate to say it but we probably have to go offline for a couple of hours. While the database has already been transferred to the new server, I noticed that it causes an unreasonable amount of traffic between the old and the new servers now (~500k/s!). It's probably easier to wait until DNS has propagated everywhere...

If we have to go down, it'll happen in the next two hours. Stay tuned!

12:42 PM by Colin Dunstan in E-Book Readers | Alternative Devices

Looks like after all there's a chance you can send me a Nokia 770 for Christmas. Internet Tablet Talk has word that CompUSA is now shipping the Nokia for $399.99. It should even be available at your local store in limited numbers.

12:27 PM by Colin Dunstan in More E-Book Readers | Fictionwise eBookwise

David has the news that the dedicated e-book reader eBookWise-1150 can now be purchased on sale at USD $99.95. The offer is valid only until December 11th!

More over at Teleread.

12:23 PM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

PalmSource has big plans for 2006. For starters, it plans to release it's first Linux-based Palm OS. Japan's top mobile operator NTT DoCoMo must have heard about it, too, since they just increased their share holding in Access Co. Ltd from 7.12 percent to 11.66 percent for about 15b yen (~US$125m).

[via CommsDesign]

12:04 PM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

It was a turbulent week for RIM in the long-running BlackBerry patent battle. While District Judge James Spence is clearly running low on patience, the US Patent Office has rejected at least one of the claims made by RIM's adversary NTP. The New York Times sums it up nicely in Bye Bye BlackBerry?:

R.I.M., which is based in Waterloo, Ontario, promises it has a solution that will keep its beloved BlackBerries humming even in the face of an injunction. While most analysts view the prospects of a shutdown as unlikely, they have little faith in the proposed solution, which has potential legal pitfalls of its own. What's more, the history of the struggle between the companies means that no outcome is certain..."It's the proverbial blessing and curse," Mr. Steenland said of his BlackBerry, which sends e-mail messages wirelessly. "It's a blessing because it liberates you from the office. It's a curse because there's no escape."

11:48 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Techworld who had a word with a Microsoft representative reports that fragmentation could also become an issue for handheld computers:

If most files are written sequentially what happens when earlier files are deleted and then a new files written? There will be 'holes' throughout the file system which new files will be spread across, thus fragmenting them... Microsoft says its measures will 'reduce any kind of fragmentation.' It doesn't say it will get rid of it. So, over time, the file system in a mobile device's hard drive will become fragmented and, by extension, its performance in finding and assembling files from its storage system will deteriorate.

Which leaves me to wonder: How many Pocket PCs out there are equipped with a hard drive?

11:30 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

TuSSH is a fully-featured SSH client for Palm handhelds which makes use of the powerful SSH2 protocol to transmit data through an encrypted channel. PalmAddict's Quentin Jackson wrote a brilliant editorial how you could use TuSSH to securely backup your Palm handheld with a desktop PC over the air.

Does anyone know if there's also a usable Windows Mobile-based SSH client out there?

11:17 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Avid PalmAddict writer Jason Rak shares his first findings of the LifeDrive update 2.0:

I was of course hesitant at first, especially reading on the different boards about some of people's issues with the update. But I went for it and I'm glad I did. I would suggest trying it. Give yourself a block of time, say 1-2 hours, to make sure it goes smoothly. If it doesn't, while a certain pain in the neck, you can always hard erase and start from scratch (bye bye little devil treo 650 from Sprint...)

If you are hesitant to upgrade read the full post over at PalmAddicts.