Josh Bancroft’s TinyScreenfuls.com

Fossil’s New Watches Revealed (pictures)

Hot on the heels of the new Swatch Paparazzi that was revealed this week, Abacus and Fossil have unveiled their second generation SPOT (Smart Personal Object Technology) Smart Watches for MSN Direct. Here’s one of the new ones from Abacus:

Very nice. The new watches come with pre-loaded content, plus all the regular stuff you can get over the air from MSN Direct (traffic updates, weather, sports scores, news headlines, instant messages, etc.). The Abacus watches will go for $129, and the Fossil watch will be $199 (and $49/year to subscribe to MSN Direct). Head over to SpotStop for more photos and details.

I’m really digging the new Abacus models. Much nicer looking than their original efforts, and a little more subdued than the Swatch Paparazzi. I think one of these just earned a “spot” (ha!) on my Christmas list.

I got to play with a Blackberry 7100t for a brief time today, and it was nice:

I spied it on the belt of a vendor we have onsite today, and immediately asked “Is that the new Blackberry?” He was kind enough to let me hold it and play with it for a bit. The most impressive thing about it was its size and the screen. The unit is smaller than any other Blackberry I’ve seen, particularly the width. The screen was also very impressive - quite large, and very crisp, bright, and colorful.

I didn’t get a chance to try out the web browser, or the SureType QWERTY keypad, but I asked the owner how he liked them, and he said they both worked well. He was pleased with how well SureType learns and adapts to your personal vocabulary.

This is a another great smartphone-type device that’s available now - you can get one from T-Mobile for $199 (with a new activation). Nobody does email better than RIM/Blackberry, so if you’re looking for a mobile device, and email is your first priority, give the 7100t a serious look.

Scobleizer: Microsoft Geek Blogger

Robert Scoble, Microsoft Geek Blogger Extraordinaire, got his Audiovox SMT5600, and he can’t stop fondling and caressing it. I can’t say I blame him - I had the same reaction when I first got to hold this sweet new Smartphone (one that belonged to a coworker):

Do you remember when you got your first iPod? Did you fondle it? Come on, be honest, you did, didn’t you? It’s sensual.

I’ve held one, several times. I couldn’t put it down.

I visited the Apple stores and felt like I was cheating. It talks to me. Oh, wait, that’s just a podcast.

I’m digressing. My Audiovox phone just arrived. I have the same emotion. It’s seductive. It talks to me. And, it plays videos. MP3s. Photos.

Audiovox, you got me. This phone simply rocks.

Dylan Greene and Cheryl Wester (over at CEWindows.net) got theirs, too, and they have had similar reactions.

I’m so jealous! I’m still waiting for a safe way to unlock this phone so I can use it on T-Mobile with cheap T-Zones GPRS ($4.99 unlimited). I use data far more than voice on my MPX200, so cheap GPRS is a big factor for me. Even though it’s not $80/month for unlimited GPRS from AT&T Wireless anymore (they dropped the price to $25/month, as long as you don’t use the phone as a modem to connect any other device), it’s still more expensive than T-Mobile. Plus, I’d rather not deal with the customer service nightmare that is AT&T Wireless.

I can’t wait until www.c500-unlock.com gets a way to unleash this bad boy so I can use it!

Scoble, where did you get a 1GB MiniSD card? I was under the impression that 512 MB was the max size currently available (and there was even some speculation that the SMT5600 only supports up to 256 MB, because that’s what the documentation says). Let us know where we can get a hold of a 1GB card. Share!

Motorola MPx220 and Audiovox SMT6500 “app locked”? : Online Phone Magazine : www.PhoneMag.com

PhoneMag has reported some problems getting certain applications to install and/or sync with their desktop companions, and is worried that this might indicate that these new Smartphones are “app locked” - that is, the carriers have “locked” them so that you can only install applications that have been signed/approved by them. On an “app-locked” Smartphone, you can’t install whatever applications you want, unless you unlock the phone to remove this block. Note that this is completely different from SIM locking, which prevents you from using a SIM card from another carrier.

PhoneMag reports problems getting SplashID to sync between the Smartphone and the PC, and as a test, they tried to install PHM Registry Editor, and were unsuccessful. I haven’t done any tests myself yet (as I haven’t gotten my hands on an MPX220 or SMT5600), but I have never been able to get PHM Registry Editor to install using the traditional ActiveSync .exe installer - I always have to copy the .CAB file directly to the phone, and install it from there (this was also pointed out in the comments section of the PhoneMag article). So this might not be a completely valid test.

If it turns out that these new Smartphones are, in fact, app locked, you can bet that a market for unlocking them will spring up overnight, just like SIM unlocking. Who wants to be told by their carrier what applications you can and can’t install on your device?

Skype adding video to their voice service and Skype for SmartPhones - Engadget - www.engadget.com

Engadget is reporting that Skype is going to be cranking up the development of new technologies and platforms to add to their popular Voice over IP client. Specifically, that they’ll be adding video capabilities to Skype on the desktop, and developing Skype for mobile devices like Smartphones.

It seems to me that limited bandwidth (GPRS, etc.) is going to be the biggest hurdle to overcome for getting VoIP on mobile devices to work, but Skype has proven themselves pretty adept and getting VoIP to work for the common man, so by all means, let’s see what they can do in the Smartphone arena.

I, for one, can’t wait. I dream of the day when I can pay for unlimited wireless data access for my mobile device (Smartphone or whatever), and not worry about “voice minutes”. Why not just do everything over the same connection?