Category: Mobile Devices

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Microsoft eBook reader


I wasn’t aware that Microsoft had any real entry into the eBook reader world but thanks to MobileRead Networks, I do now! They have in fact, got a whole web site devoted to it here.

From that site you can download “Microsoft Reader” a “free, downloadable software application that allows you to read eBooks on Windows-based devices you may already own.” which sounds pretty good to me 🙂 There are 3 versions of the software for Desktops/Laptops, Tablets & UMPC’s and Pocket PC’s.

eBooks seem like a great idea but I can’t be bothered to get another device a la Kindle so being able to read eBooks on my HTC Diamond seems like a good idea. Yeah, the screen isn’t particularly big but I don’t mind-the convenience wins for me.

*Update* I’ve been doing a bit of Googling and it seems that MS Reader doesn’t yet work with WinMo 6.1, which is a bummer. It will install but won’t activate, which is always the key part with Microsoft 🙂 The forum post here shows that MS are aware of it (as do other Google finds) but there still doesn’t seem to be a fix. This is a shame as it’s going to put a lot of people off upgrading to 6.1 and then people like me who are already on 6.1 are stuck 😦

When and if I hear something further, I’ll update this post ASAP!

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No reasonable person should trust Apple’s marketing


I’m a Microsoft fan and don’t have much, if any, love for (M)Apple-but now it seems neither do Apple.

In a 9 page response to a customers complaint re: the “twice as fast for half the price” claim, Apple state, and I quote (the bold is mine):

“Plaintiff’s claims, and those of the purported class, are barred by the fact that the alleged deceptive statements were such that no reasonable person in Plaintiff’s position could have reasonably relied on or misunderstood Apple’s statements as claims of fact.”

So either we’re all reasonable people and all know that Apple’s marketing is a tissue of lies, deceipt and $8 pee covered phones or we believe that they don’t outright lie and are therefore “unreasonable” 🙂

Gizmodo have got the hook up on this here…

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Microsoft Zune is better than the iPod


Microsoft Zune is better than the iPod. That might seem like a bold statement but this post from Jeff Blankenburg shows that it is true, at least in my opinion.

I’ve wanted a Zune for a long time and the reasons listed by Jeff just make me want one even more! I’ve got an iPod but I’ve not been 100% happy with it for some time and being something of a Microsoft “fanboy”-the Zune seems like the way to go if only they’d make them available here in the UK. I really don’t see why they’re restricted to the US and Canada…if anyone’s got any ideas or info-please let me know 🙂

There are numerous reasons over at Jeff’s blog but here are the ones that really impress me:

1) It comes with FM Radio. Now in itself this is pretty cool as it’s sometimes good to have the radio on rather than just mp3’s, but the thing that puts it above and beyond is the “Add to Cart” option. With this, if you hear a track on the radio that you want, press the button and it downloads it from the Zune Marketplace! I think this feature should be pushed much harder as it’s unlike anything else I’ve seen…many a time I mean to get a song of iTunes later but forget-this solves it! Or you hear a song on the radio but didn’t catch the title or artist name to search for it later?-this solves it!

2) The Zune Pass. This gives you subscription based access to the entire Zune Marketplace for $15 a month, so you can listen to any of the tracks as many times as you want in that month AND you can keep 10 songs a month permanently, making it great value. Making it AWESOME value is that you can use 1 Zune Pass to fill 3 Zunes so most households will need just the one! You’ll just have to share the 10 “For keeps” songs between you… 😉

I really wish that they were available over here. When I was in Texas earlier this year I was very tempted to pick one up then, but as far as I can see there are various parts that won’t work over here such as the Zune Marketplace and I guess the Download from Radio won’t be configured with UK data either. This means at the minute it isn’t really a viable choice for me…

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Microsoft Live Mesh


Microsoft Live Mesh was a big part of the PDC announcements at the start of November, and although it’s still in beta, I think it’s going to become very useful to a lot of people; especially once you can add mobile devices to the mesh.

I’ve started using it since I got a new laptop, as I now tend to blog on that while sitting on the sofa rather than than slightly uncomfortable chair for the desktop. There were a number of files such as pictures, drafts of posts etc that were held locally on the PC, so I’d be halfway through a post on the laptop and suddenly need to boot up the other PC too…annoying and bad for the environment!

Now I simply add all the files to a folder in my Mesh and I can access them from either machine…nice 🙂

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Adobe Flash on Mobile Devices


Adobe Flash Player 10 is coming to Windows Mobile devices! Over at the Adobe MAX tech conference, they will today demonstrate FULL Flash 10 running on a Windows Mobile device…

This would be pretty great, as I find Flash to be one of the big differences between mobile & desktop browsing. It’s not going to start shipping on devices until late next year (2009) so it looks like it will be a Windows Mobile 7 feature.

There’s going to be an Android version, but quite possible nothing for the iPhone-due to Apple’s objections. Engadget reveal that there was indeed a demo of Flash running on the G1 at the Adobe event yesterday, so for all you Android users it will hopefully be available in the Marketplace within the next 15 months…

You can see more info over at Mobile Crunch.

*UPDATE* According to Engadget, BSQUARE have announced that they’re porting Adobe FLash to the Android G1. It’s unclear how this relates to the demo mentioned above but BSQUARe bought “NEC’s Adobe(R) Flash(R) Technology Consulting and Distribution business 12 months ago, and has done Android work for other customers” so they should know what they’re up to!

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Windows Mobile Internet Explorer 6


Windows Mobile Internet Explorer 6 has been announced is is definitely going to be with us within the next 6 months. There are all manner of improvements to give it a “rich, media experience” to make it more akin to a desktop browsing experience.

I’m quite a big user of the web when I’m out and about so I applaud any and all improvements MS make to the new Mobile browser, While I don’t find there to be anything drastically wrong with the current incarnation-there are certain things that can wind me, and I’m sure countless others, up! Still it must be pretty tricky to fit the internet into something so small hehe! 😉

This was all announced at Tech-Ed on Monday 11-11-08 but it isn’t avalable for mobile devices yet…however you can grab the desktop emulators here. This will add the images to Visual Studio 2005 and 2008 so you can test IE Mobile 6.

The Windows Mobile Team Blog lists some of the new features to be found in IE Mobile 6 which include:

  • Improved fidelity (support for full fidelity desktop rendering)
  • Layout fixes to accommodate a mobile screen (text wrap)
  • Enhanced Script and AJAX support  (Jscript v5.7 from Internet Explorer 8)
  • Improved multimedia experience (Adobe Flash Lite 3.1 for Adobe Flash content)
  • Deeper integration with search
  • Enhanced cursor navigation model
  • Touch and gesture support – pan support
  • Multiple zoom levels
  • Easy switching between mobile / desktop versions of sites by specifying UA strings.

    • One unfortunate thing is that IE 6 won’t be available as an upgrade for existing WinMo 6.1 devices, it will only appear on devices from the end of 08/early 09.

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    PDC 2008 Wrap Up


    I think we can all agree that the PDC 2008 was pretty special. Azure, Windows 7, Office Web, Azure Services, Live Mesh..the list goes on. The sheer amount of information given out at these conferences often means that we miss bits that are interesting and/or pertinent to our jobs & lives (this was certainly the case when I was at the WPC in Houston!).

    Fear not, as Mike Swanson over at MSDN Blogs has put together a wonderful collection of all the Keynotes and sessions, and where possible he’s included the Powerpoints and sample code!

    Some of the sessions I’m glad to see are below. The main links go to the video on Channel9, the Powerpoint link will download the .pptx presentation.

    A lap around the Azure Services Platform (Powerpoint)

    Microsoft Office Communications Server & Exchange: Platform Futures (Powerpoint)

    Office Communications Server R2: Enabling Unified Communications (Powerpoint)

    Microsoft Silverlight 2 for Mobile: Developing for Mobile Devices (Powerpoint)

    The whole, wonderful list can be found here. There are countless sessions on SQL, Azure, .NET, Windows 7 and more!

    I really want to give a big thank you to Mike for doing this..there are sooo many sessions on there I didn’t know about that are really interesting and useful!

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    Free Windows Mobile 7 phones..


    Free Windows Mobile 7 phones look set to be available from Carphone Warehouse (CW), when you buy a copy of Windows 7 for the PC.

    As CW open their electronic stores in conjunction with Best Buy next year, it looks like this will be a big promo for them.

    This could be a really successful offer as it rewards those who are loyal to Microsoft and also entices those who might be sitting on the fence as to one or both of the upcoming Operating Systems.

    More info can be found over at the Register.

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    Windows Mobile 6.5


    Windows Mobile 6.5 is the next version on the road map, as accidentally revealed by a Motorola Exec!

    WIth Windows Mobile 7 looking likely for a late 2010 release, we can expect WinMo 6.5 to be with us in the 2nd half of 2009. There’s currently no word as to which features will be in 6.5 and which won’t appear until V7.

    I’m excited to see what new features are contained in this as 6/6.1 had some great new stuff. Hopefully this will be an upgrade from 6.1 so I can get it on my HTC Diamond!

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    Microsoft SideSight Project


    Microsoft SideSight is a new mobile device research project, aimed at giving touchscreen functionality without needing to touch the screen! The plan is to have a range of sensors around the device which would allow you to click, rotate images, swipe the HTC Touch-Flo interface etc all from up to 10 cm away.

    I really like this as I always seem to need to use my phone (HTC Diamond) just as I’m eating crisps, chocolate, chicken etc and thus a frantic hunt for a napkin ensues! This would mean I could still answer it, view some notes or whatever without getting it covered in grease..nice 🙂

    I spotted this over at Engadget.

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