Published on
August 28, 2004 in
Blog.
Is this the Tungsten T5? – Engadget – www.engadget.com
Engadget has what might be photos of the upcoming palmOne Tungsten T5 handheld:
Rumor has it that it will run PalmOS 6 (codenamed Cobalt), have 128MB of RAM, Bluetooth and WiFi, and a 520 MHz processor. There are also rumblings of the Tungsten E2, which is getting a bump in the memory, OS version, and CPU departments.
My opinion on the Tungsten T5 (and most upcoming palmOne handhelds, excepting the Treo 650)? Meh. My first impression upon viewing the blurry spy photo above was “boring”. Don’t get me wrong – it’s got nice specs for a PalmOS device, but there’s nothing exciting about it, and nothing that hasn’t been available in a Pocket PC for months. Maybe that’s why Pocket PC recently overtook Palm in handheld marketshare…
Published on
August 28, 2004 in
Blog.
treonauts > Treo 650 & 600: Side-by-Side Comparison
Treonauts has posted side by side comparison pictures of the Treo 600 and the upcoming Treo 650:
The new Treo 650 doesn’t seem to be appreciably smaller than the Treo 600, but it does include some small changes, including a better backlit keyboard, dedicated Call and End buttons, centered screen, and other minor tweaks to things like the size and shape of the keys, antenna, etc. Check out the linked article for all the details.
The more I see about the Treo 650, the more I start thinking that it could be a great device for me.
Published on
August 28, 2004 in
Blog.
Russell Beattie Notebook – Bluetooth Crippled in Verizon’s New Motorola V710
People have been waiting forever to get a Bluetooth-capable phone on Verizon. For whatever reason, there just haven’t been any available. With the release of the Motorola V710, the dry spell was broken.
However, early purchasers have run into some surprising shortcomings – the V710 doesn’t seem to support some common Bluetooth profiles, including OBEX file transfer for copying pictures and other files off the phone. Verizon finally got a Bluetooth phone, and it can only be used with headsets and dial-up networking.
Why did Verizon (or Motorola) limit the Bluetooth functionality of the V710? Engadget is reporting that Verizon claims it’s a “fraud prevention” measure, to keep your phone from being Bluejacked, and your files stolen. Of course, this has the convenient side effect of leaving you with only two ways to get photos off of your fancy new cameraphone – email or picture messaging, both of which you’ll have to pay a little extra to Verizon for.
In the comments section of the original Russell Beattie post linked above, there are people that claim that Motorola says the reason the phone lacks full Bluetooth functionality is that it was released before it could be fully qualified for the Bluetooth spec, and that a firmware upgrade might be forthcoming to fix the issue. This conflicts with what Verizon is claiming (fraud prevention), and is purely speculation at this point.
There are some first hand reports and more discussion in a thread over in the Mobile Computing Outpost forum at Ars Technica (the best place forums on the net!).
Whatever the reason, Verizon is getting lots of bad press on the web for the Bluetooth problems in the V710. Om Malik is calling for a boycott. X-Gadget calls Verizon the Bluetooth Nazi. (“No Bluetooth for you!“) Eek.
Hopefully this will all get straightened out in the end. I don’t like the idea of carriers choosing what functionality you can and can’t use on a phone on their network by disabling functionality that the hardware manufacturer already put in place.
Published on
August 27, 2004 in
Blog.
treonauts > OMG!!! Treo 650 Ace Pictures are Here!!! [NOW FULL SIZE]
More analysis of the upcoming Treo 650. Same photos as yesterday, but some detailed discussion of the physical features and what they mean (bigger SD slot?). Also, then have a slide with specs that I haven’t seen before, that seems to confirm what we’ve been talking about.
Published on
August 27, 2004 in
Blog.
Slashdot | Examining the Treo 650 Smartphone
Head over to Slashdot for some more discussion on the Treo 650 that was revealed yesterday. Seems that the camera will be 1.3 MP (the de facto standard for upcoming devices).
Also, I noticed on the photos that came out yesterday that the model in the photos appears to be the GSM version (it has a SIM card slot). Maybe that means the GSM version will come out first this time (instead of later, like with the Treo 600)? Sprint is rumored to be passing on the Treo 650, and Verizon just barely launched the Treo 600. Maybe the Treo 650 will be GSM only when it launches, at least for a while? It makes sense to me.
Published on
August 27, 2004 in
Blog.
Jons Guides: Bluetooth Help Guide: Introduction
This is a good reference article for anyone trying to deal with making two Bluetooth devices talk to each other. It covers a wide range of devices and activities.
Go have a look!
Published on
August 27, 2004 in
Blog.
msmobiles.com – Sensation: Qtek 8020 – new Microsoft Smartphone from HTC – codename HTC Feeler – revealed
MSMobiles is reporting that HTC has a new Microsoft Smartphone on the way. Codenamed “Feeler”, it will be known as the Qtek 8020, and probably by other names by whatever carriers pick it up.
No word on specifications, but it looks pretty similar to the Orange C500 – candybar form factor, small and sleek. Probably runs Windows Mobile 2003 (it would be suicide to put 2002 on a new phone).
I’ll update with more info on this phone as it becomes available.
Published on
August 26, 2004 in
Blog.
Well, I went ahead and redesigned the site tonight. It took a little longer than I had planned, because I had to mess around with my CSS in order to get my blogroll and some other sidebar items to look right, but it’s more or less what I wanted. It’s a little lighter overall than the previous design, and hopefully more readable. The images in the page header remind me of “tiny screens”, so I like that, too. I’ve got a couple of things that I’ll be tweaking over the next couple of days, but all in all, I’m pleased with the new look.
What do you think? Any changes, problems, or suggestions? If so, post a comment or email me.
Many thanks to Dan Cederholm for the Blogger template.
Published on
August 26, 2004 in
Blog.
Actual pics of the new Treo Ace/Treo 650 – Engadget – www.engadget.com
Rumors have been flying for a while about the upcoming successor to the palmOne Treo 600 – the “Ace”, which we now know is called the Treo 650. Now, the first photos of the new device have become available:
The Treo 650 is slated to include a faster 312MHz processor, a higher-resolution (320×320) screen, Bluetooth, and a higher-resolution (1 MP) camera. Other improvements noted over at Engadget seem to include a removeable battery, mirror for taking self-portraits, recessed SD slot, and possible push-to-talk (PTT) functionality.
Head over to Engadget to check out the rest of the photos – they cover almost all angles on this new device.
I was tempted for a while by the original Treo 600 because of its small size and integrated keyboard, but the low-res screen and lack of Bluetooth turned me off. Now that that Treo 650 seems to address these issues, I might have to reconsider. Though it’s more a PDA-with-phone-functionality than a true smartphone, it will definitely be a competitor to the Motorola MPX220. Decisions, decisions…
Published on
August 26, 2004 in
Blog.
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