06:48 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Orb Streaming Media is providing spontaneous access to a music, live television, videos, photos and other digital content at any time from any device that can connect to the Internet (such as a WiFi-enabled PDA). Yesterday the parent company Orb Networks announced that it has dropped its subscription fee:

"By eliminating subscription fees, Orb eliminates the final barrier between consumers and their digital media," said Jim Behrens, CEO, Orb Networks. "The allure of 'anytime, anywhere' access to one's digital world has proven to be exceptionally compelling to Orb subscribers thus far. In our view, a free Orb service will exponentially increase our value proposition for those customers -- and millions of new customers as well."

This is the second company this week announcing free streaming services. Read the instructions how to get Orb on your device.

04:57 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Virtual Reach has released an RSS feed client for the Blackberry called "Newsclip" supporting RSS versions 0.91, 0.92, 0.93, 0.94 and 2.0.

Click here to download the trial (registered version is $29.99).

04:16 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

PocketScumm, the unofficial name of the Windows CE ScummVM port, is now available as a 0.71.

General updates:
- Added a MT-32 emulator.
- Less memory-hungry MPEG movie playback for the Broken Sword games.
- Fixed wrong actor animation in Full Throttle INSANE.

Click here for a list of Windows CE-specific changes.

Downloads:
PocketPC 2000/2002 ARM and Smartphone 2002 version

Windows Mobile 2003 for PocketPC and Smartphone version

04:06 AM by doctorow in Archive | Mobile Sites

Answers.com reference-based search engine is now also accessible with mobile devices (Treo, BlackBerry, etc.) at mobile.answers.com. This new mobile version includes all of the reference sources available in the classic version of Answers.com, and has been specially formatted for smaller screens.

03:35 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

The Magic Lantern by Nicholas Hardy is a new open-source media player for palm devices with native support for XviD video, and MP3 and OGG audio. One version was compiled for the m68k processor and one for the newer ARM devices.

[via PDA247]

03:11 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

More for the palmOne rumor mill! A user from the Philippine Palm User group posted a picture of what could be the Tungsten C2.

I have an "acquaintance" that works for a tech retailer who took the risk to take the following photo with his cell phone, cropped it and sent it to me. (I will not share any details about the company or location, for obvious reasons). He says this volume should mail for the week of April 18th and would hit consumers within days. PalmOne must have an announcement before then it would seem?

According to the specs posted by the user, the C2 would have a 624mhz processor, 802.11g wireless (g!), a 2GB Flash drive, and runs on Palm OS Cobalt. Suggested price tag: $499.

A *big* thank you to ortaliz for the heads up!

Edit: Turns out to be just another fake.

05:00 PM by ignatz in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Engadget has been sent a pic that is purportedly Palm's new device called the "LifeDrive". Specs say 4 gig HD, 32 megs SDRAM, 412 Mhz processor, wifi, bluetooth, USB 2.0, and a 320x480 screen. Sure would be great, but once again, fake sense is tingling. What sort of battery could push that load? How big will you have to go to squeeze in a drive? How much will it cost? Wonder what the reality will be?

[edit 05/06/05: Amazon has finally posted details. The LifeDrive will be available on May 18, 2005]

02:54 PM by ignatz in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

A few months ago this research was mentioned, but now Toshiba has announced a new type of Li-ion battery that can charge to 80% of its capacity in 60 seconds and 100% in a few minutes more. The device does not lose significant capacity even after 1000 charges.

This technology could really change portable devices dramatically. Imagine if your laptop or digital audio player could charge up to full in 5 minutes!

Story at the Register. <via Engadget>