Monthly Archive for February, 2005

Gmail Basic HTML View, Doesn’t Work With Pocket PC, BlackBerry

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Josh Bancroft
on February 28, 2005
in Blog
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Gmail: Help Center - What’s the difference between ’standard’ view and ‘plain HTML’ view?

Noticed this via Evan William’s Blog - Gmail now apparently has enabled the much-awaited-by-mobile-device-users basic HTML interface. Here’s the scoop, straight from their help pages:

In case you don’t have access to a fully supported browser, we still want you to have access to Gmail – that’s why we’ve developed a basic HTML view of our service that is compatible with almost any browser. If you sign in to Gmail using a browser that isn’t fully supported, you’ll automatically be directed to the basic HTML view.

The basic HTML view is a little different than what you’re used to because the following features aren’t available:

  • Filter creation
  • Settings (Including Forwarding and POP)
  • Spell checker
  • Keyboard shortcuts
  • Address auto-complete

If you need to access these features, please sign in to Gmail from a fully supported browser, and make sure you have cookies and JavaScript enabled.

I tried it out on my Dell Axim x50v Pocket PC, and on my Blackberry 7100t, with mixed results.

Sadly, on my Axim, all I ever got after logging in was a blank page with a red bar containing the word “Loading…” at the top. Tried many refreshes, but no dice. I think maybe because Pocket Internet Explorer identifies itself as a version of IE, Gmail’s trying to load the “standard view”, which doesn’t work. Google, can you please sniff the user agent strings more carefully to identify Windows CE/Pocket PC devices?

On the Blackberry, after a few long redirects, I was presented with a warning that the page contains frames, and prompted for which frame I wanted to view (main or js). The Blackberry browser doesn’t support frames. When I select the “main” frame, I get a page with “Loading…” that goes nowhere. If I choose the “js” frame, I get a “Page could not be loaded - it is too large for the device.”.

*sigh*

I guess the feature could not be implemented yet, and we just stumbled upon some pre-release documentation in their help system. Can anyone else report their results on other mobile devices, like the Treo or a Symbian device?

Google, we’d love it if you made a mobile device accessible view for Gmail. But you need to make sure it works on the most popular mobile devices (Windows Mobile Pocket PCs and Smartphones, PalmOS, Symbian, BlackBerry, etc.).

Maybe someday…


Portland Podcasting Meetup 2005-02-24

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Josh Bancroft
on February 25, 2005
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Portland Podcasting Meetup 2005-02-24

Click the link above for some photos I snapped at the Portland Podcasting Meetup last night, at Noodlin at the Cedar Hills Crossing mall in Beaverton, OR.

We had a great time - it was really cool to meet the people behind the Portland area podcasts that I listen to all the time - Jason and Anna from Delta Park Project, Tim Germer from Northwest Noise, and Chuck and Adam from Chuck and Adam Do Everything. My wife Rachel, who does the GadgetFamily.org podcast with me, and our daughter Emma were there, as well as Adam’s wife Marilyn (hope I spelled that right!) and Chris and Bryan, who are interested in podcasting (send me your email addresses and URLs, guys!).

I recorded the whole event on my Dell Axim x50v with my Griffin Lapel Mic - two hours of MP3 at 54 Kbps ended up just under 50MB. I’m working on editing down the file to a more workable size (as well as to get rid of the boring parts that you don’t want to hear), and I’ll post that up soon (hopefully this weekend).

If you’re in the Portland area, make sure to come to the next Podcasting Meetup! You can visit the Meetup.com site for the Portland Podcasting group to sign up for reminders of future events and gatherings, and generall get to know the Portland podcasting community.

Many thanks to Tim Germer for pulling this all together, and everyone who made the effort to come! I can’t wait to get together with all of you next month!


TinyPodcast 2005-02-22

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Josh Bancroft
on February 22, 2005
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Your weekly dose of geeky mobile technology and gadget stuff. Download the MP3 file directly (41 minutes, 18 MB) or subscribe to the TinyPodcast RSS feed in your favorite podcast aggregator.

Read on for the show notes!

  • Listener feedback - Carol in Portland asks how to get a band noticed through podcasting
  • Listener feedback - Jon tells us how he uses Xbox Media Center to play content he’s grabbed using BitTorrent and RSS. Check it out at http://www.jonsthoughtsoneverything.com/xbmc/ and http://xbmc.blogspot.com/
  • Josh got a new gadget! Sony DCR-HC40 MiniDV Digital Camcorder (link goes to the HC42, the 2005 model, which is nearly identical, because the HC40 seems to have disappeared from Sony’s site). It’s so tiny! Can anyone tell Josh how to pull recorded video off of the camera via USB, without having to buy a Firewire/IEEE1394/i-Link cable? Why not just use SD memory cards, instead of Memory Stick Duo, which is almost exactly the same size. Oh, and Sony charges $69 for a 4-pin to 4-pin i-Link/Firewire/IEEE1394 cable that you can buy in generic form for $5.
  • Sony has dropped the Clie PalmOS PDAs in Japan (after doing so in the U.S. last year). Will probably focus on the PSP and Sony Ericsson smartphones. That leaves PalmOne as the only major manufacturer of PalmOS devices. Is PalmOS shriveling on the vine?
  • Do we even want to talk about Paris Hilton’s hacked Sidekick? Josh’s theory - she leaked her password on purpose, to extend her 15 minutes of fame.
  • Brian is looking for a case for his new Dell x50v Pocket PC. Send him your suggestions and recommendations.
  • Paul gives us an update on his Garmin iQue M5 GPS Pocket PC. Complaints about how reminders are handled in Windows Mobile (can’t Snooze All, reminders steal focus, can’t open item by tapping reminder, etc.). Wouldn’t it be great if this all worked the same as it does in Outlook?

We love to get feedback from our listeners! Email Josh, Brian, or Paul, or call the TinyPodcast listener feedback line at 206-222-2479.


Layout/Template Tweaks

Published
by
Josh Bancroft
on February 20, 2005
in Blog
. 1 Comment

I implemented a few site tweaks tonight, over in the sidebar. I mostly just wanted to simplify and rearrange a bit. I added some more detailed contact information for me, and I also added Amazon affiliate links - you can search for a particular product, and I’ll showcase what I feel is the best deal at the time on a Smartphone or mobile device. Right now, it’s the Audiovox SMT5600, which is actually much less than $199 after rebates, and Amazon is the only place besides eBay to get one until Cingular starts carrying their own branded version of the phone.

Let me know what you think - if the changes are annoying, etc.


Contacts and text entry on the SMT5600

Published
by
Brian
on February 18, 2005
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What do you do at 4:30 on the Friday before a 3-day weekend? Why, you write the next installment of the ongoing Audiovox SMT5600 review, of course!

This time around, I thought that I would do another pro and con breakout of the list that I previously made.

In this post, I am going to add a little more detail on contact information on the positive side of the house and disappointing text entry on the negative side.

As far as contact data goes, this phone rocks! I had one cell phone that limited each phonebook entry to 3 numbers (and no address or other data) and so I found myself creating contacts with numbers. Just to keep track of Josh (one of the most connected people I know), you would have to have Josh, Josh1, and Josh2 and still wouldn’t be able to store any information about his web sites and other non-phone information. The SMT5600 overcomes this limitation with style! Contact information is just that – it allows you to contact each person by phone, email, SMS and smoke signals (well, not really) or even pull up their web page if they have one. To boot, it pulls all of this information right out of Outlook so you don’t have to enter any of it directly on your phone.

It’s a good thing you don’t have to enter it manually because doing so would probably kill you. To be completely honest, I have never liked any form of data entry on phones and would rather have a tooth pulled without Novocain than type even a short message. I have seen people that can SMS about as fast as most people can type, but most of us don’t fall into that camp. Most people have to look at each key every time and figure out how many times they have to push the “7” key to get the letter “S”…or is it the “8” key…no wait…

To type in the URL for Google, it takes 24 key presses! I think we can all admit that predictive text input is not going to help you when you want to type in www.tinyscreenfuls.com! Thankfully, Microsoft has graced the web browser on Smart Phones with the ability to add the www and the .com for URL’s, but the Google URL is just an example. As good as predictive text is, it can still be a pain in the neck for jargon, acronyms, names, and other tricky syntax.

Josh can talk way more about the keyboard on his Blackberry 7100t, but I have used it and it’s MUCH faster far easier than the standard T9 predictive text entry that most phones rely on (understandably with that many extra keys, right?). We’ll have to get him to post on that though.

I didn’t mean to make this such a long post, but this text entry is a big drawback for me – maybe even a showstopper. I don’t want a full-size foldout keyboard on my cell phone and don’t have any suggestion for how to make 8 keys work better for alpha-numeric input, but I do know that it’s more than an annoyance for me.

So there you have it…my scoop on these two aspects of the Audiovox SMT5600. I will keep going with my observations and have posted an entry about my black box comment over on my personal blog. Adios until next time!


Mozilla Minimo - Coming Soon to Windows Mobile

Published
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Josh Bancroft
on February 16, 2005
in Blog
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Mini-Mozilla mets Pocket PC

The Minimo Project is underway to port the Mozilla/Firefox browser to small devices (”Mini Mozilla”, get it?). They already have a version that works on Linux on the iPAQ 5500 and 3600/3700/3800 models that are running Linux. Now, we get word that a Windows Mobile port is in the works:

“While much of the work is focused on Linux-based devices, Doug Turner, one of the Minimo project leaders, recently announced that he is working on a port to Windows CE. Turner also issued a general call to Windows CE developers to help out in this effort.”

Sweet! I can’t wait to check out a Mozilla-based browser on the Pocket PC and Smartphone. I’m not a great developer, but if you are, head over to the Minimo Project, and see how you can help out.


TinyPodcast 2005-02-15

Published
by
Josh Bancroft
on February 15, 2005
in Blog
. 1 Comment

Here’s this week’s show. Yet another audio setup - this time piping the mic input through WinAMP’s line in plugin, which gives us much better ability to play music, clips, and control levels. Just over 40 minutes, 18 MB. You can download the MP3 file directly, or subscribe to the TinyPodcast feed in your favorite podcast aggregator.

Read on for this week’s show notes.

  • Intro music courtesy of MC Frontalot - Nerdcore Hiphop Could Reign Supreme!
  • Brian’s PDA Update - switched from his Palm T3 to a Dell x50v Pocket PC
  • Brian’s SMT5600 Update. Pick one up from Amazon for $49 after activation (affiliate link).
  • Hackaday, MakeZine, and pt - we miss the Engadget podcast! Until it comes back, TinyPodcast is proud to carry on the geeky mobile technology podcast banner!
  • Listener feedback from Doug in Philadelphia. Keyring - PalmOS password keeper. We chat about the HP hw6500 Mobile Messenger - check out the new photos, comparing it to the Audiovox SMT5600. Will have a WiFi version, with no SD slot (BOO to HP for not dumping the mini-SD slot instead!). Will it run Windows Mobile 2005 (codename: Magneto)? Given that there are no soft keys, it will probably run Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition.
  • One Handed Use (sounds dirty, but it’s not) - how different platforms do it, how useful is it?
  • Microsoft and Flextronics team up to offer “Peabody” low-cost Windows Mobile Smartphone to carriers. Great move to get Windows Mobile Smartphones into more people’s hands.
  • Pete from RasterWeb (check out the RasterWeb Audio podcast!) asks about the T-Mobile Sidekick II (affiliate link). We offer our thoughts, and try to find Pete some T-Mobile users in his zip code that can tell him what their coverage is like.
  • Combine BitTorrent, RSS, and your Windows Mobile device to automatically download the HDTV-quality timeshifted TV shows you want, and take them with you! Follow the Engadget how-to to set it up on your PC - great step by step instructions. HDTV TV shows on the VGA screen of the Dell x50v are UNBELIEVEABLE! Who needs a Portable Media Center? ;-) Oh, and yes, I still have rabbit ears on my TV at home…

As always, we love to get listener feedback! Email Josh, Brian, or Paul, or call and leave audio feedback at 206-222-2479.

Next week - using podcasting to promote musicians and bands, and the latest mobile technology, devices, geeky toys and technology!


Low Cost Windows Mobile Smartphone From Flextronics?

Published
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Josh Bancroft
on February 14, 2005
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Microsoft and Flextronics team up on design for low-cost Windows Mobile handset

I love to see new devices running Windows Mobile - the more choices available, the better the adoption rate of the platform will be. I really believe that Windows Mobile Smartphones are great devices, so it makes me happy to see new devices being announced (especially when they’re not just rebranded handsets from HTC - not that I don’t love HTC’s stuff).

Anyway, here’s the “Peabody” Windows Mobile Smartphone:


Very similar to the popular Audiovox SMT5600/SPV C500/HTC Typhoon in design, so it’s got that going for it. Not a lot of detail on other specs, but I’m sure we’ll find out more as this gets (hopefully) closer to market.

More details on the SMT5600

Published
by
Brian
on February 13, 2005
in Blog
. 0 Comments

So, in an earlier post, I wrote about some of the virtues and vices of the Audiovox SMT5600 and promised to expound on them at a future time. Tonight I thought I would write a little more detail about one of each. For the sake of consistency, I chose constant connectivity and the need to reboot.

Constant connectivity was nice

We were at the grocery store when my wife asked if I knew how late Costco was open. “I don’t know, but I can find out” was my reply. Seconds later, I had the Costco web page up, searched for our local store, and had the hours displayed on the Audiovox screen. GPRS isn’t the world’s fastest connection, but it sure is handy (when you can get internet connectivity anywhere with a cell signal). The browser on the phone is surprisingly capable and constant email delivery was very nice, but there were some problems…

The need to reboot several times

Periodically, I found that the device would lose connectivity which could only be restored by rebooting the phone. I don’t know if this is a problem with the phone or my service through T-Mobile, but it was annoying whatever the cause. Connectivity wasn’t the only cause for reboots. I also had a periodic memory problem that was always cured by rebooting as well. A number of times, I went to capture an image with the camera and received an error message saying there wasn’t sufficient storage space to take the picture even though the counter said I had plenty of memory left. After a reboot and no other changes…the picture would take just fine. This kind of thing is really annoying – especially when the phone reboots as slow as this one does.

So, the verdict here: I could live with an occasional reboot to have the ability to always be connected – constant connectivity could easily become an addition for me!


T-Mobile Finally Opens Blocked Ports for Blackberries

Published
by
Josh Bancroft
on February 12, 2005
in Blog
. 0 Comments

Blackberry Cool - Your Favourite Source for Everything Blackberry - T-Mobile Opens Blocked Blackberry Ports

Those who follow TinyScreenfuls.com know that this has been an ongoing issue for T-Mobile Blackberry users. On Dec. 1, 2004, T-Mobile starting blocking non-standard ports for Blackberry users, causing third party applications like IM and SSH clients to stop working. For weeks, T-Mobile was oblivious to customer complaints. I started what amounted to a web campaign to get T-Mobile to sit up and take notice of the issue. Their silence was damning them.

Well, I don’t know how much websites like ours had to do with it, but people are reporting that T-Mobile has unblocked all ports for Blackberry users. Too bad it only took them two and a half months…

I haven’t had a chance to try it out yet (for some reason, when I install midpssh on my Blackberry, it wants to uninstall Verichat, and vice versa). I’ll definitely do some verification, and report here (and probably in the next TinyPodcast show).

Let’s hear it for the power of the blogosphere! Could it be that T-Mobile finally caught the Cluetrain?