09:55 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Imagination Technologies, a developer of graphics processing intellectual property, announced in a press release that Intel has licensed its next-generation PowerVR graphic and video chip, codenamed 'Eurasia', along with an upcoming multi-format video codec core.

In 2004 Intel licensed the PowerVR MBX technology and used it for its Intel 2700G accelerator, which offers 30fps MPEG 4 and Windows Media playback at 640x480 and MPEG 2 at the same framerate at 720x480. One device that integrates the chip is the Dell Axim X50v.

The Eurasia-based chips will not supersede but supplement existing PowerVR MBX products.

08:53 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

In a press release Boeing announced yesterday that it will offer four live TV channels to airline passengers on Singapore Airlines flights using Connexion, its in-flight wireless Internet service. The live channels include: BBC World Service, CNBC, MSNBC, and EuroNews.

While Singapore Airlines will be first to offer the TV service, Connexion hopes to expand TV to the rest of its airlines partners including Lufthansa and Japan Airlines over the next year.

[via WIFi Networking]

08:10 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

In the forth part of his essay "Moving from Palm to PocketPC" (part one, part two, part three) TankerBob talks about his recent Dell Axim X50 ROM update, and the update, syncing and backup processes between Palm and Pocket PC:

Pocket PC has often been labeled as less stable than Palm OS. I can’t speak to any PPC OS other than Windows Mobile 2003 SE on the Axim X50v. But so far in my experience, the two platforms seem of equivalent stability. That’s very good news. The multi-tasking in WM2003SE makes stability more difficult to achieve, but it seems to work pretty well. I’m far from the average user in terms of stressing the system, and things have been going pretty well here. The A03 firmware update improved the Bluetooth and WiFi memory usage and stability, the only two consistent issues I’d had. I can honestly say that I haven’t soft reset the Axim any more often than I reset the T3.

If you are willing to make the transition, remember to also check out Bob's related essays (I Took The Plunge, PalmOS to Pocket PC: Part I - Intro and PalmOS to Pocket PC: Part II - Conversion).

06:39 AM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

You now can get the newest 247 Weekly in html, isilo and PalmDoc format.

Issue 3 of 247 Weekly is now available to download or read online. Various topics in it this week but you will just have to read it yourself to find out what

05:29 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

It's not a secret that we from MobileRead consider Digital Rights Management (DRM) a major step backwards in terms of basic consumer rights. Barney Wragg from Universal Music Group disagrees with us and he even believes that DRM could offer bountiful opportunities for his company and the music industry as a whole. Check out his interview with TheFeature, where he talks about the mobile industry, P2P, and the need for DRM technology.

04:55 AM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Lounge

Using a digital mobile phone in rural areas may triple the risk of developing malignant or benign brain tumours compared to urban settings, according to a recent study by University Hospital in Orebro. The cause of the increased risk seems to be the higher emissions from the phones in rural areas because the base stations were further apart than they would be in cities and towns. Adding to that, emissions can also be higher in urban areas where reception is poor, and this too can increase the tumour risk.

Not surprisingly phone operators do not agree with the results of the study. BBC News, who is running the story, quotes Mike Dolan, executive director of the Mobile Operators Association saying:

"At best this study is hypothesis generating. "Its findings are not in line with the most recent epidemiological studies from Denmark and Sweden which have not found an association between brain tumours and mobile phone use."

03:43 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

The Register reviewed PalmOne's Treo 650 which was recently released in the UK. They gave it an overall grade of 90%, with the following verdict:

• Pros: Great screen; Bluetooth on board; nifty keyboard; removable battery; good battery life; Flash memory to safeguard data.
• Cons: No Wi-Fi; ungenerous amount of memory; not the slimmest smart phone around.

12:19 AM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

It has been released. The official product page is at http://store.palmone.com/product/ind...ductId=1999092

There's excellent information at Palm Addicts, including a very nice editorial from Sammy. I don't remember him ever being this excited about a new Palm model, and his enthusiasm has just about got me sold on one.

PalmInfocenter has a very nice story on it.

1src is linking to a nice German review of LifeDrive. You'll need to use something like Altavista translation to read it in English.

Brighthand is not yet reporting about the LifeDrive, but will certainly have one of the most thorough reviews soon.

Cnet also has coverage.

This is breaking news, so I'm sure that this week will bring all kinds of additional information. One final note if you're ready to buy. PalmOne is offering free overnight shipping for those that just have to have one now!

If you get one, let us know what you think!