Ever heard of “Silent Mode” for your phone?

Ever embarrassed yourself at a big meeting, or church, or any where else that you really should have turned your phone off, or at least to silent or vibrate? What about at a White House press conference?

I have [not at a White House press conference] on more than one occasion, and it brings a point to mind. “Are we so dependant on our mobile devices [phones] that we disregard some basic etiquette concerning their use, or is it just absent mindedness?”.

Of course many of us go through our daily routine with an always on mobile, face facts, we need to be connected, but consider the  ramifications in some situations.

Think about this, if you were a press secretary for the president of the US, your reaction to the first interruption was reasonable, the second really deserved a secret service takedown!

Consider how, where and why you use your mobile in relation to the situation you are in, I implore you!

 

White House confiscates hack’s handset " Register Hardware

Most Mobile, Beat Boxing!

My friend Jason over at his blog, highlighted for fun this video of beat boxing, and seriously this is one of the best examples of mobile technology I could think of, and it’s fun as well. How mobile is it, it is a human based form of emulation that rocks! Watch the Video and enjoy your weekend!

What’s in a device?

When you think about it, most mobile users don’t think about what’s under the hood of their device. Let me amend that phone. More than likely 90% of mobile users, no matter what the OS, under utilise their devices, and probably have no idea what sort of powerhouse they have in the palm [well Palm devices excluded, we are waiting for the Pre] of their hands. Me, I’m always looking at specifications, mainly Processor speed and Ram.

So thinking about the evolution of the mobile phone, the truly detached from a vehicle mobile phone, [not a car phone], we have gone from hernia inducing, over the shoulder, communicators, trending down to phones that, you would lose if you blinked, and finally found a form factor that is a compromise with a simple human condition that goes by the name of “usability”.

With what seems to be the best form factor for a mobile device comes the miniaturisation and enlargement of the power we expect to be included in a mobile device now.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon platform, is really the next step as far as I can see, handheld devices with a 1Ghz processor, this looks like the future of mobile computing, and gaming, and well , whack this in a WinMo phone and I’ll be happy!

Via ExperienceMobility

MyPhone Mobile Client gets an Update!

Just a quick heads up, the mobile client for Microsoft’s MyPhone service, got an update today. There aren’t any obvious differences, except doing multiple syncs with the service are remembered and get quicker.

Which probably means that using the scheduling option, is more of a viable choice now, consuming much less data.

As for the online portal, it seems a little better at the moment, but it is time intensive to archive all of your data there, a great thing would be a ‘select all’ option for archiving your data. Nice to see though that MS are continuing to improve, what is intended to be an integral service in their ongoing mobile development.

All you have to do to get the update is open the client on your phone and sync, at the end of synchronisation you  will get an update message, you have a choice to delay the update as well.

Thanks to @EdHans for the news!

Free For All: YouTube App from YouTube, WinMo and S60! Native at last!

At last there’s a way to use YouTube on WinMo and Symbian S60 devices, and although it’s data hungry, and there is a warning at installation, to save your hip pocket, if you don’t have an “all you can eat” data plan, don’t even go here!

youtube, on winmo from youtube

The speed and ease of use, what I would describe as “intuitive”, makes this an application for all WinMo devices, and you have to applaud Google for actually coming up with this. Although, I have to admit that any application that increases hits for them is value adding and lining Google’s pockets, this is another welcome, free app from Google, that again allows you to stick to just a Windows Mobile device whilst on the move.

Hexagonapolymorphilogical, WinMo 6.5

Hands up who has never been unimpressed with the Windows Mobile user interface…?

OK… hands down,HANDS DOWN, that injection of BO into my olfactory system is as shocking as smelling salts!

The honeycomb, or bee hive look for Windows Mobile was supposedly, an inclusion, and a finger friendly advantage. What is obvious in the design, is the extra space around shortcuts, that will allow the most ham fisted of us to successfully negotiate a program shortcut using one finger. It seems though that users have nixed and superseded the fugly, and have gone with sine sweet eye candy

have a look at the changes that real WinMo users have made to the 6.5 interface, it’s looking a little less ugly now!

Go to Engadget to  view the Video overview

Review: Proporta Universal Emergency Charger

What’s a typical day for you and your device of choice?

For me, 6.00 am start, power up the Tilt, and check email, it’s a reflex action these days, on a good day, as few as thirty something to wade through. On a bad day, well, it can get up really high depending on what the JAMM team have been rambling on about and getting off topic on while I’m asleep. Fifteen to Twenty minutes of device uptime, working out what I need to get back to and what can wait, then shower shave and shampoo to get out the front door and walk the dog, whilst checking Twitter, before I’m out the door again to get the train to work. train ride consists of answering urgent email, and trying to wade through the feeds in NewsBreak for anything that seems like urgent news, or at least of interest, for the site. 9.00 am, I’ve already run the phone for maybe an hour and a  half, needless to say, sometimes I go home with a dead device.

Any time I’m left out of contact like that, is unproductive and definitely an anxious time, [am I sounding like a web addict yet] any possible alleviation of that anxiety is welcome. So the aptly named Universal Emergency USB Charger from Proporta, is probably better than a tranquilliser for me. I’ve been trying it out for the last couple of weeks and I’m feeling a lot calmer, check out why

Motorola, does a Chunky Soup, Mobile Phone!

I’m a bit oblivious to the rugged mobile phone market, and the only analogy I can think of to illustrate the difference between the consumer mobile phone, and the rugged outdoor industrial phone is soup. You know, you get the refined, blended, processed soup that your not sure exactly what’s in it, and the chunky version that has no secrets. Chunky soup, has large bits that you can identify, and like or dislike as is your want. Although it reveals all, it is substantial and comforting, reassuring if you will.

That which a rugged mobile phone attempts to be, no frills, but it is a device you can rely upon!

Motorola have released a pair of qwerty based, rugged, windows mobile devices this week that meet the bill, a familiar form factor from Moto, reminiscent of their earlier Q devices, with maybe a Humvee take on a handset!

Hit this link for the full Press

HTC S740/S743 Windows Mobile Standard Phone on ClintonFitch[Dot]com

I know a few people that have picked up the HTC S740 recently and they all rave about it, and let’s face it, a lot of WinMo touch screen phone users lament those unprecedented calls, and data downloads mysteriously triggered whilst our devices are tucked away in a pocket.

Overall I have to say that the S740 is the best Windows Mobile Standard device that I have used in years.  It is solid yet small and delivers plenty of power and performance for even the heaviest of users.   The keyboard is comfortable and responsible and I found the battery life to be outstanding.

Clinton’s conclusion, well echoes the sentiments I’ve been encountering of this wonderful phone.

The S740 is a beautiful looking phone with a surprisingly small form factor and a huge 528MHz processor and 256 Mb of ram, Not too shabby! You’ll not see a better look at the features of this device, Hit the link for Clinton’s comprehensive review

 

Review of the HTC S740/S743  Windows Mobile Standard Phone on ClintonFitch.com

Which Windows Mobile Phone?

It often occurs to me, “How are we defined by our devices?” Now if you/I had unlimited disposable income, I would obviously gravitate to the latest and purportedly greatest device available! That’s not always possible for the majority of us though, and it’s demonstrated in this video

latest or greatest or what you find functional, what meets your current needs, here’s a wide opinion on what WinMo phone Microsoft MVP”s are carrying, interesting!

Via MobileDevicesToday