08:14 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Portable Audio/Video

Think Secret simply cannot leave it alone. Despite all existing legal worries, the site today revealed some insider speculations for Apple's next generation iPods.

Next iPod mini: Code-named Q22B ("Osiris"), very likely with a 5GB Seagate hard drive. Same form factor, with an updated firmware for new functionality. Expected to be finished in early February, but at least a month later before announcement or roll-out.

5G iPod: Code-named Q98, won't appear until the middle of the year at the earliest. May come out with either a 40GB or a 80GB Toshiba hard drive. New: a silver enclosure matching Mac mini, PowerBook, and Power Mac products.

07:37 AM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Lounge

If you are interested how to use your PDA for more efficient time management you should definitely pay a visit to Bruce Keener's personal page! He not only talks about his favorite software picks for Palm OS and Pocket PC, but also goes into great detail how to use them to manage and prioritize personal tasks. A wonderful resource!

11:09 PM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Never again carry a charger with you when you travel, where the whole world, whether it's an airport lounge in Tokyo, a coffee shop in New York City or a hotel in Stockholm, uses the same solution. Simply pick up your cell phone, your MP3 player, or your PDA, drop it on a pad, and it'll automatically charge! Just a dream?

Founded in June 2001 by two Cambridge U engineering students, Lily Cheng and James Hay, Splashpower Ltd. is trying to make this dream of every gadget freak come true. Their solution: Wireless power recharging.

The Splashpower technology comprises two parts:

1) the SplashModule power receiver: a sub-millimeter thin receiver module that can be customized to just about any size, shape or curve of a mobile device and makes no visible impact to product appearance.

2) the SplashPad charging base: a thin wireless charging platform the size of a mouse pad that plugs into any electric outlet and can be built into any surface (for instance cars, desks, airplane tables), with in-built protection from over-voltage.

Any device fitted with a SplashModule instantly begins to recharge through magnetic inductive power transfer when placed anywhere on the SplashPad. Multiple devices can be charged simultaneously on a single SplashPad.

The company has been promising the commercial launch of its technology for the past three years. A series of recently filed patents may indicate that Splashpower technology is finally ready to march:

Portable electrical or electronic devices for use in inductive power transfer systems (GB2399230)
Inductive power transfer system having areas with horizontal field (GB2399229)
A distributed primary inductive power transfer area with uniform coupling to one or more secondary power receiving devices (GB2399228)
Simultaneous inductive power transfer system to multiple devices (GB2399227)
Inductive power transfer system with moving field (GB2399226)
Inductive power transfer system having a horizontal magnetic field (GB2399225)
Electrical power transfer using inductive coupling (GB2398176)
Adapting portable electrical devices to receive power wirelessly (WO2004055654)
Improvements relating to contact-less power transfer (WO2004038888)
Improvements relating to automatically configuring rechargable devices (WO2004038887)
Improvements relating to retention of rechargable devices (WO2004030176)
Power transfer between devices (GB2392024)
Improvements relating to the transfer of electromagnetic power (WO03096361)
Contact-less power transfer (US2003210106)
Contactless power transfer area (GB2388716)

According to Slashpower, the company is already working hand in hand with mobile phone and portable device manufacturers and it expects to see the first mobile products incorporating Splashpower technology before the end of the year.

Perhaps it is just me, but I cannot wait to get rid of my hopelessly tangled collection of recharging cords that accumulates in my drawer

[image sources: patents, NewScientist]

06:17 PM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

ACCESS has announced the release of its NetFront V3.3 browser engine, the company's latest version of the beyond-PC browser for mobile phones, PDAs, set-top boxes, digital television, automobile telematics, and other Internet-capable devices.

NetFront V3.3 features enhanced DHTML support, frame handling, pop-up blocking, and RSS, as well as support for Atom Feed, international domains, encryption, and password management. It now also integrates support for displaying Adobe's PDF format.

The older NetFront V3.1 browser was also the winner in the "Browsers and Web Utilities" category of Pocket PC Magazine's Best Software Awards 2004 competition. There is no information yet as to when Access will offer the upgraded version of NetFront for either Pocket PC or Palm OS.

11:29 AM by PaulJManoogian in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Some time ago, eHomeUpgrade had posted a story on RealVNC. RealVNC is a cross-platform application that allows users to remotely assume control (with full access) of a computer across a network, such as via a Wi-Fi connection to the internet.

Wired has a feature story on Austrian tech columnist, Teddy The Bear who can be seen showing off his Apple Powerbook's OS X desktop in Vienna via his 640x480 VGA Wi-Fi Pocket PC. Teddy says he uses his remote setup for "productivity (email, surfing, word-processing), queuing up TV shows to record on his Mac using EyeTV, and accessing his digital media files back at home."

Don't get too excited, though. A lot of the underlying research technology, originally developed at AT&T (Bell) Labs, and now taken over by the RealVNC Open Source project, was designed for "older" operating system environments. You'll still have to search around to find a version that will work with, say, your latest ARM and SH4 processors. ...and if your remote computer crashes, you're obviously going to get disconnected.

Source: [ eHomeUpgrade ]

10:00 AM by Colin Dunstan in Miscellaneous | Lounge

Uhm... imagine the pride and joy of the hacker who could show Paris' private e-mails to his best buddies! MSNBC News is gossipping that the partying heiress has been the victim of a hacker who somehow got access to her Blackberry and was reading her private e-mails. Then again, what rational sane person would care about the e-mails she is writing to her beloved dog Tinkerbell?

PS: I always thought she had a Sidekick (see image). Is she such a geek to need two handheld devices?

09:47 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

German company WebToGo Mobiles Internet has released a new version of its "high-speed" browser WebToGo for Pocket PC. V4.3 adds Pocket PC 2003 support, a new database and improved functionality (whatever that means).

Keep in mind that WebToGo is a browser-server solution: The WebToGo server acts as a proxy for all pages that you visit, claiming three times the normal speed and a superior page-layout to conventional browsers. Registration is USD $33.00 per year.

09:23 AM by Colin Dunstan in E-Book General | News

WSJ Online is reporting that Sony, Samsung, Philips, Matsushita and Intertrust have joined the Marlin Joint Development Association, aiming to develop standard specifications for software that can prevent digital movies and music from being improperly copied. The Association also intends to enforce rules about how such content can be played and shared.

What makes Marlin different, the article cites supporters, is mainly that it is emanating from some of the biggest brands in consumer electronics. "The CE industry has been pretty quiet," said Talal Shamoon, Intertrust's chief executive. Now, they are "detonating their DRM," he said.

Our question of the day: Can hackers be impressed by such a joint effort and can piracy really be discouraged by adopting increasingly more restrictive anti-piracy technologies?