One thing, I’ve moved, here’s the URL
July 25, 2009
July 8, 2009
Free For All: Le Tour 2009
Ok, I’m not a mad weekend cyclist, I mean I ride the couch much more than I get my bike out. The annual Tour of France cycling event, has always fascinated me though, and this year there is also some added relevance concerning Windows Mobile.
For the first time this year, the Columbia, High Road Sports team, is also sporting the HTC logo. HTC are the largest supplier of Windows Mobile devices, *cough Android cough* worldwide. So bringing the brand to a high exposure sporting event like the Tour seems like a smart move. Have a look at the Team Columbia – HTC website!
July 7, 2009
Quick Look: Skyfire Browser
Alas, the never ending search for a desk top browser experience on the smallest of screens, your phone. Once again prompted by updates, I’m having a look at the Skyfire browser for Windows mobile.
With this latest update I’ve decided to go a bit deeper into the application, so let’s see how it goes.
Skyfire is one of those browsers that is not completely dependent on your device, but uses cloud technology to serve you a compressed version of the web through their own third party servers. Much like Opera Mini, and recently, the Opera Mobile 9.7 Beta.
First up I’d mention that this will work equally as well from a storage card as installed to your device, so if you are being miserly with storage space [like me] you’ll already appreciate this. You may also notice, from the screenshot above, that since Skyfire came out of beta, it’s received even more update love. Every tweak helps right? It’s good to know that this is a well supported application,
 |
 |
The first screen or option you’ll be presented with is a choice to make Skyfire the default browser, I chose no for now, knowing I can change that later, to test with other apps. First up though, I want to see how it performs on it’s own. One of the most striking things about Skyfire is what it comes with/ the default bookmarks, that give you access to all sorts of services with no set up at all.
 |
 |
There’s also a today screen plug in included in this iteration, a nice touch. One of my little negatives with Skyfire has always been the fact that you cannot import bookmarks to the browser in any way. Well unless it’s a very elusive option. You will have to manually enter the URL of all of your most read sites, something that may be off putting to a lot of users.
BUT, and it’s a big but, for usability and intuitiveness, Skyfire goes all the way up to eleven for me. The amount of settings/options you have to configure are as minimalistic as I’ve seen
 |
 |
Everything else is configured through the browser interface and shortcuts, and it’s really self explanatory. All of the menu shortcuts go no deeper than two levels, keeping with the simplicity of the program. Performance though is what everyone is going to judge this app on, so I.ve done a screen cap video that gives a relative speed comparison for you to look at.
Overall, performance is the key, Skyfire plays video, is really quick to load and even runs JAMM 3.0 with it’s animated home page, no other WinMo browser does all of that. Another performance not here is that it’s doing all of that on my Tilt/HTC Kaiser. If you are looking for a better internet experience on Windows Mobile you have to give this a try
Skyfire is available for free, for Windows Mobile and Symbian devices
July 4, 2009
What is it about Love?
If you have been reading my blog, this will appear well off topic. Sometimes though, you need to let your feelings be known. Today I had to make a really hard decision. For the first time in seventeen and a half years, I feel lonely. This morning, my constant companion for that period of time, passed away.
Passed away, is not the right description, and I feel some conflicting emotions over the decision I had to make. Diva has been my family, for the whole of that time, and today I said goodbye to her. Something went wrong with her earlier this week, From a Dog that was lively and alert for her age, she became distant, unaware. She wouldn’t eat or drink, and she wouldn’t walk.
I took her to the vet this morning, and I had to carry her there. He asked me some questions, and checked her out, and he just said to me, “I think it’s her time”.
She went to sleep at about 11.30, this morning, July 3, 2009.
June 14, 2009
Missing Sync Beta For the Palm Pre!
One of the greatest variations from the norm with the Pre and WebOS, is the idea that you are not traditionally tying your phone to a particular computer for Data Sync. The Pre breaks out of the Box in that way, not committing to any OS for sync. It relies on what ever Cloud services you want to tie it to, to maintain your personal data. This great article from Ars Technica will explain it way better than I ever could.
One thing that becomes evident though, especially after the woes over Toodle-Do’s Toodle-Down, that Doug posted, are you completely happy to commit your Data to the Cloud?
May 28, 2009
Now This Is Mobile Technology! part 28
Some of the best gadgets are those that merge the old with the new. Retro styling is still fashionable, My last car was a 1961 Ford Falcon station wagon. The restoration trend, to preserve these great old stylish designs, sometime calls for innovations that meld older tech with new. Thus a marriage of mobile devices, like a retro car stereo, and an iPod, is something that crosses many Tech barriers.
May 24, 2009
Twikini, Twitter Client for WinMo, Updated!
I posted a Quick Look of Twikini, a twitter client for Windows Mobile back in April, and it garnered some interesting comments. The fact is though, Twitter is here to stay and people want ways to access the service on any platform. Stats don’t lie, and these are not the most recent stats that I’ve seen, but the growth has been phenomenal.
May 23, 2009
Guess the Celebrity Device and Win!
Gear Diary has a great contest running at the moment, and the prizes are some really nice gear from Skooba Designs.
• First Place – Checkthrough Brief (MSRP $139.95)
• Second Place – Checkthrough Messenger (MSRP $129.95)
• Third Place – Skooba Skin (MSRP $29.95
It’s pretty simple fill in the blanks sort of contest, work out what device the celebrity is carrying and list it in your reply. As a contest, it also provides a look at how the famous and infamous utilise mobile devices in their everyday lives. Hey what have you got to lose? Hit the link below to go to the contest.
May 22, 2009
My Phone Beta for Windows Mobile is officially open!
If you missed out on one of the elusive beta codes when Microsoft’s My Phone sync service when it was first released, lament no more. It’s finally become available for everyone, and with the latest update to the mobile client, it’s really starting to look like a viable option for syncing your phone, sans PC.
May 20, 2009
A Great Contest, you shouldn’t miss if you love the NBA!
It’s slightly tragic, and some how supports the age old stereotype of tech nerds, that a great contest over at Gear Diary, has more comments in the contest post from the Gear Diary team than competitors for this great prize!
