09:52 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Microsoft just released ActiveSync 3.8 for Windows Mobile-based Pocket PCs and Smartphones.

It contains fixes making synchronization more trouble free and includes all the significant improvements brought to you in ActiveSync 3.5, 3.6, and 3.7.1.

10:26 PM by Bob Russell in Miscellaneous | Lounge

In this new digital era, many are questioning the current intellectual property laws and are calling for reform. The recording industry has ruthlessly pursued file sharers even beyond what most people consider fair and reasonable. Many people wonder why it's in our best interest to keep a song's rights protected for many years. How long is long enough for content rights to get reasonable returns on the original investment required to create the work?

The battle cry has been that we must protect property rights or we will see less great movies and music and writing. The content will start disappearing because there just won't be enough revenue in it if we weaken property rights. In fact it is argued that not only must the content be protected, but the content owner should have full control over how and when it is viewed or used.

In an interview with Bill Gates at Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas by CNET news.com, we hear his thoughts about intellectual property. He answers with some pretty amazing comments like

...There are some new modern-day sort of communists who want to get rid of the incentive for musicians and moviemakers and software makers under various guises.

and

...when people say they want to be the most competitive economy, they've got to have the incentive system. Intellectual property is the incentive system for the products of the future.

Check out the article itself for more of the context for what he has to say about intellectual property and many other issues related to Microsoft's business.

But however you slice it, a big opportunity for Microsoft lies in making the most of the large revenue streams associated with content providers and content delivery systems. Microsoft is unlikely to support any weakening of copyright or patent laws as long as they expect to have a piece of that pie. Good or bad? I suppose that's the $1,000,000 question.

09:17 PM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

InfoWorld is reporting that Pocket PC and SmartPhone brand names will disappear over the next year or two. They will be merged into a single Windows Mobile product brand name. This announcement came from an interview with Scott Horn, a senior director in Microsoft's Mobile and Embedded Devices group, at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

I don't know about you, but I like calling them Pocket PCs, and I'll miss it. Palm still works well for PalmOne devices, or even Zodiac PDAs, and I don't want to give up that name either! The new brand name, Windows Mobile, sounds much more like the OS than the device, but hey, Microsoft is all about the operating system, so I guess they prefer that the focus stay on them.

So what lingo are we left with? What do you think we'll be calling Pocket PCs in the future?
-- Windows Mobile mobile devices
-- Windows PDAs?
-- Dark-side devices?
-- Palm wannabes?
-- Plain 'ole "Phones" (after all standalone PDAs disappear from the market!)

Got any ideas?... Discuss this story by responding with what you think we'll be calling them! (Family-safe language please.)

08:43 AM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Lounge

Before Microsoft chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates gave his key note speech (thanks to Doctorow for the link) yesterday at the CES, NBC TV network's Conan O'Brian said something that made me chuckle:

The theme of this year is that gadgets are no longer just for geeks. That's right, look around you ... they are also for nerds and dweebs.

Let's think about this for a second. Consider what Apple has achieved with its iPod music player, this little device that enables users to download up to 10,000 songs into a sleek white and silver rectangular device, slimmer than a pack of cigarettes. Apple managed to get rid of a nerdy stereotype and to attract in no time a less geeky crowd with very advanced technology.

Really, is it still the techno-loving geek -- the kind of person who goes to great length to be the first to try out something new, whether hardware, software, or gadgets, the kind who goes into seclusion for days when a coveted new gadget arrives -- who is mainly driving the gadget market today?

This post is also a poll, so make sure to give your vote!

08:01 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Sony is doubling the capacity of its flash media product line again with the introduction of a 4GB Memory Stick PRO (High Speed) media at the CES 2005.

The Memory Stick Pro High Speed media not only offers higher capacities and is high-speed read and write (up to 80Mbps) capable, but is also compatible with a vast array of current Memory Stick PRO devices.

Sony's new flash media flagship won't come cheap though: The 4GB Memory Stick PRO (High Speed) media will be available in March for about $900.

05:23 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | iSilo/X

iSilo and iSiloX V4.2 were released earlier today and are now ready for your download.

New highlights of the reader iSilo:
- Added image map support.
- Beta of iSilo on the Symbian UIQ platform, to lead to the first release of iSilo on that platform.
- Addressing of miscellaneous issues.
Detailed list of changes.

New highlights of the the convertor iSiloX:
- Added RSS conversion capability (GREAT!!!)
- Added handling of image maps.
- Addressing of miscellaneous issues
Detailed list of changes.

04:35 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Portable Audio/Video

Earlier we reported rumors on an upcoming iPod Flash player. Think Secret now confirms speculations that Apple's flash-based iPod will be introduced at Macworld Expo in 1GB (may sell for $149) and likely 2GB versions (may sell for $199):

The device is currently being manufactured by Taiwain-based Asustek, which Apple brought on towards the end of the summer as a second ODM for manufacturing iPods. Sources say the flash-based iPod will be powered by a chipset from SigmaTel and that it will feature a screen that is the same width as the iPod mini's but two lines shorter.

According to insiders, due to some manufacturing issues the device's full-scale roll-out may postpone for as long as a month.

06:01 PM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Announcements

After we did some serious optimizations to our newsfeed system, we now decided to offer our readers a choice of separate RSS feeds for each section of the site.

In other words, you can now build up your own personalized Mobileread headlines list by subscribing your aggregator to the combination of feeds that suits you best.

Instructions how to use RSS are provided in the link below.

[Link to our RSS feeds]

Comments are as always welcomed!