05:10 PM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Portable Audio/Video

Remember two weeks ago we reported that iTunes Mobile 1.0, the first version of iTunes for mobile devices, is on track for release by June 2005. Gizmodo has now Motorola's confirmation that iTunes Mobile will be released in fact one month later, in July 2005:

The correct images of the iTunes screens are still under development and are not final nor approved by either Apple or Motorola. We would expect them to be available mid July when the product launches.

Thank you in advance for removing these images from your site.

Kind regards,
System Administrator
Motorola Collective

Interestingly, the images are still present on Gizmodo site

04:53 PM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Finding the right (and a free) hotspot with your Pocket PC isn't always easy. A group of Hong Kong-based programmers now released a free tool called Hitchhiker which aims to help users connecting their Pocket PCs with WiFi hotspots. Among other features, Hitchhiker V0.1 can perform automatic Internet connectivity tests and report if a login is required for a successful connection, thus making it a perfect tool for finding free hotspots.

[via msmobiles]

04:44 PM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Anthony Effinger, a senior writer at Bloomberg News, is arguing in Blackberry's Jam (PDF download) that Blackberry-maker Research in Motion is facing stiff competition from mobile phone makers and Silicon Valley startups - and it's not going to get any better any time soon.

04:21 PM by Colin Dunstan in E-Book General | News

Carnegie Mellon University is conducting an experiment at The Ellis School and one of CMU's own classes in which traditional textbooks are replaced with HP 1100 Tablet PCs (starting price: $1,599). The university received a $100k grant from HP to study how well students can learn with e-texts. So far responses have been good:

"I can understand the material better because I have a visual image. It's a lot easier and faster to type. It's all on one file," said Chao, 14, of Squirrel Hill...Ellis students complain of long startup times for the PC and the danger of computer crashes, but the benefits, they say, outweigh the disadvantages.Before this experiment, Chao said her 6-year-old brother Bobby could not even lift her bookbag, which often contained four textbooks and three binders. The bookbag of her classmate Heather Acuff, 14, of McCandless, was so heavy that she used to roll it around on wheels...Besides its lightness, Gunawardena said, another popular feature is the search engine, which works like Google. Students type in some key words, and the search engine finds a particular passage faster than they could from the index of a hardback.

Google could also lead into temptation, right? What's your next excuse when you fail to deliver your paper on time? "Sorry Professor Saltzberg, but I couldn't study the text sources because Google was down yesterday."

02:18 PM by Brad in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

I noticed today that PalmOne is offering a free WiFi card with the purchase of a Tungsten T5, plus a $50 rebate.
http://www.palmone.com/us/products/h...s/tungsten-t5/

That strikes me a a pretty decent deal.

Edit: Great find Brad. Note for the deal to qualify orders must be completed by June 3, 2005 11:59 PM (EST).

11:40 AM by Bob Russell in Miscellaneous | Lounge

It's not considered a big threat at this time, but one developer says that Apple's dashboard "may create a chance for distributing malicious Widgets."

Specifically, his concern is about the auto-install feature, which he recommends Apple stop, and he recommends users should also be provided a way to remove widgets.

I'm not a Mac guy, so I don't really know the ramifications or issues involved, but feel free to look for more information here.

11:23 AM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

What's that you say? MEDC2005 is the Microsoft Developers Conference for mobile and embedded devices. It's being held this week in Las Vegas and the expectation is that Windows Mobile 2005 will be unveiled there.

Here's some links to help you keep up with all the news...
MEDC2005 Conference Home
MEDC2005 Blogs and Podcasts
Bill Gates Keynote Speech Transcript [Edit: from WinHEC in April 2005]

And last, but not least, various Bill Gates webcasts are available, including one on why business is headed toward convergence.

11:11 AM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

It's only in alpha release right now, but there's an interesting tool called FeederReader for viewing RSS feeds and listening to podcasts on your Pocket PC.

FeederReader is a full-featured RSS Aggregator with podcast listening ("podcasting" or "podcatching") and enclosure support, running on Windows Mobile.

Major Features

• Podcast listening
• Enclosure support
• Installation and Storage on Flash Card.
• Easy Message Reading, one-handed.
• Handles large Number of feeds.
• Read while updating.
• Update multiple feeds at the same time.
• Message Lock.
• OPML Import and Export.
• Flexible viewing of Feed Data: view all
  message elements and raw files.
• Integrated Error Display.
• Flexible message handling.
• Messages retained even when removed
  from original feed.
• Detailed statistics on loaded messages.

A review is also available from Podcasting.com here.