Here’s this week’s TinyPodcast. A little over 39 minutes, about 18 MB. Subscribe to the feed, or download the MP3 file directly (fixed - the download link was pointing to last week’s show).
Welcome to anyone that is here from the Portland Tribune podcasting article that featured TinyPodcast - thanks for checking us out. We hope you like what you see and hear! Don’t forget to visit PodcastX.com to learn more about producing and listening to podcasts. We want to build a great community resource for podcasting there, but we need bodies first!
Read on for this week’s show notes.
I’ll post some show notes after I have a chance to listen through the show, and type some up. We talk about lots of exciting new stuff this week, including Google Maps, Brian’s impressions of the Audiovox SMT5600 Windows Mobile Smartphone (a.k.a. the Scoblephone, and lots more. Good stuff this week - have a listen.
- Google Maps! - You can read Josh’s ongoing impressions of Google Maps over at GeekBlog.org.
- HP Announces hw6500 iPAQ Mobile Communicator - Treo form factor, thumbboard, 520MHz CPU, GSM/GPRS/EDGE, SD and mini-SD slots, integrated GPS with TomTom Navigator, 240×240 screen. Awesome, right? One fatal flaw - NO WIFI! Check out some photos and details over at Brighthand.
- T-Mobile/RIM Blackberry OS 4.0 ROM update fixed all of Josh’s Bluetooth problem. Rock solid connection to his headset, no more rebooting/hanging problems. So nice to see a ROM update actually fix an issue that people are complaining about! Also, latest version of VeriChat IM app works great, even with T-Mobile’s port blocking.
- Brian’s test driving an Audiovox SMT5600 Windows Mobile Smartphone. Watch for updates on his experience on TinyScreenfuls.com.
- Live, uncensored product test - mic input adapter cable (part no. PTAMS) for Josh’s x50v Pocket PC. Mixed success, mostly to blame on a non-working Sony lavalier mic.
- T-Mobile announced the MDA-IV - “baby tablet PC“. Will be an awesome device, but who knows if it will ever be available in the U.S.?
- Shout Outs to the Noise Squad (NW podcasts) - Jason and Anna from Delta Park Project, Tim Germer from Northwest Noise, and Chuck and Adam.
As always, we love to hear your feedback. You can email Josh at jabancroft@gmail.com, email Brian at bljarv@gmail.com, or leave us a voice message at 206-222-2479.
Thanks for listening, and stay subscribed!
GeekBlog.org: Google Maps!
Google launched a mapping service tonight, and it’s pretty darn good.
Check out my post over at GeekBlog.org for more details and updated impressions.
Alas, since the service relies heavily on JavaScript to render the interactive maps, it doesn’t work on any of my mobile devices (Dell x50v Pocket PC and Blackberry 7100t).
The other day, Josh bartered an Audiovox SMT5600 from a common friend of ours and after finding that he couldn’t leave his blackberry behind, decided to loan it to me for a while to test drive. I am going to post my personal review of the phone on this page, but have decided not to do so in a one-time post. I think the review would get too long for this format, so I have decided to write a series of posts about my impressions. (For reference sake, I am coming to this device most recently from a Nokia 3650)
So after three days of use, here are my initial thoughts on the phone…
Things I like:
• Initial setup and ActiveSync was really easy
• Provides more contact data than any phone I have ever seen
• Pocket IE beats my WAP browser on 3650 hands down!
• Camera is better than 3650
• Phone is not just a black box (I will explain this one more later)
• It’s nice that it charges over USB
• Lots of customization!
• Constant connectivity is nice (easier to achieve than with other devices I’ve used)
• Automatic profile selection (chooses meeting profile during appointments)
Things I am not crazy about:
• Battery life stinks (more like a PDA than a phone)
• Data input is miserable
• Reception doesn’t seem as good as my 3650
• I have had to reboot it several times
• The rocker “directional pad” is difficult to use
The general impression is favorable, but I am starting to wonder if a smart phone is for me or not. I will talk about this as well as breaking out many of the items listed above in future posts, so stay tuned…
I just thought I would take a quick second and introduce myself here on tinyscreenfuls.com…
My name is Brian Jarvis and I have been Josh’s geek shadow for a couple of years now. We work together and share a lot of interest in the world of gadgets with tiny screens. I have been doing the podcast with him for a while now, but have never posted to the site. Well, we’re changing that and I’ll be trying to add content here on a somewhat recurring basis.
Feel free to drop by my personal blog to read a little more about my interests or leave a comment here.
Thanks everybody!
Brian
GeekBlog.org: I Just Hit 1000 Subscribed RSS Feeds
I just wanted to direct you to a post I made last night on my non-mobile technology geek site, GeekBlog.org, regarding how I read/consume the amount of information and RSS feeds that I do.
My new favorite phrase is “eat like a bird, poop like an elephant”. 
Rohdesign Weblog: Lo Szabo’s BlackBerry 7100v Review
TinyScreenfuls pal Lo Szabo has posted a great, thorough review of his Blackberry 7100v over at Mike Rohde’s site:
“Both my palmOne Zire72 and BlackBerry 7100 are perfect buddies, as each one has its own designated tasks. I don’t miss an eBook reader on BlackBerry the same way I don’t miss a keyboard on my Zire. I recommend you check out the device at your phone-carrier store and compare it to other smart-phones like the Treo 6×0 or Motorola MPx220. You might be as pleasantly surprised as I was.”
Go check out the rest of his review. I, too, am a multi-device kind of guy - I use my Blackberry/smartphone for communication (email, voice, IM, web), and my Axim x50v VGA Pocket PC, with its gorgeous screen and large storage capacity, for reading and media (ebooks, web via WiFi, etc).
Thanks for the mention in your review, Lo!
The T-Mobile MDA IV - Engadget
Looks like the next generation of Windows Mobile devices are starting to pop up. It’s about time, too - the Windows Mobile scene was starting to get kind of stale.
This is the T-Mobile MDA IV. It’s a Pocket PC Phone Edition device with a swivel VGA screen (a la a convertible Tablet PC), high speed UTMS wireless data, QWERTY keyboard, WiFi, Bluetooth, and two digital cameras (one for stills, and one for video). No specs so far on processor or memory capacity. (
Edit: Jorgen Sungdot over at InfoSyncWorld has some more details and high res photos. Apparently the CPU will be a 520MHz Intel XScale. Nice.
What struck me the most about this design is how much is resembles a baby Tablet PC, in that it can be used in both “tablet” and “hinged with keyboard below the screen” modes. Very clever, and very interesting.
Read on for more details and photos.
My German is a little rusty, and I’m too lazy to babelfish it, but I believe that the linked pocketland.de article says that the device will be manufactured by HTC (like the 3 previous incarnations of the MDA), and should be available in the 3rd quarter of 2005. Of course, that applies to T-Mobile Deutschland - who knows when/if we’ll ever see this cool device here in the U.S.
Here are a couple more photos:
T-Mobile BlackBerry Upgrade Page
I noticed this afternoon that the long-awaited OS 4.0 (from 3.8) upgrade for my Blackberry 7100t is now available from T-Mobile.
I downloaded and installed the update (both the Desktop Manager and the Blackberry itself), and things went quite smoothly. The update process can take quite a while (restarts of the device while it’s updating can take upwards of 20 minutes, so be patient), but all of my emails, contacts, and settings were preserved.
Read on for my initial impressions.
Overall, the new OS feels snappier and quicker. No major new features were introduced, except that you’re supposed to be able to view images in email attachments now (haven’t tested that yet). Besides that, I’ve only noticed a few slight UI changes (the Browser now gives more status detail while it’s loading a page, etc.).
One big bug I really hope they fixed is the Bluetooth problem where every few hours, the Blackberry would lose pairing with my headset, then hard reset itself (and take 5 minutes to come back after the reboot) when I turn Bluetooth off to fix the problem. Annoying. It hasn’t happened so far, but I’ve only been running the update for a few hours.
Anyway, if you’re feeling adventurous, go get the update. There’s lots of discussion on it over at BlackBerryForums.com.
Here’s this week’s TinyPodcast. You can download the MP3 file directly or subscribe to the TinyPodcast RSS feed in your favorite podcatcher application.
Yet another audio setup - will it ever be the same?
No audio sweepers this week, because I didn’t have the files on this computer to add them, and I decided to get the podcast posted and out there, rather than waiting until I get home to add the sweepers in post.
Here’s what we talk about this week, with links:
- Our Favorite PDA Applications:
- Brian (Palm T3) - mostly out of the box. WebPro browser, SafeDeposit as a password wallet. Looking forward to going back to Pocket PC for richer applications.
- Jarrod (HP iPAQ 2215) - Mostly “stock”, for stability. AvantGo, MSN Messenger, and Windows Media Player 9.
- Josh (Dell Axim X50V) - PocketInformant and PIToday, WisBar Advance 2 as a task manager, Marsware WeatherPanel Today screen plugin, eReader for ebooks.
- Other Great Apps: Sprite Backup, Resco Explorer 2003 (file manager, registry editor, and FTP client), FlexWallet 2005, and Bejeweled.
- Special Guest and World Exclusive Review: Paul Elliott and the new Garmin iQue M5 Pocket PC with integrated GPS. We cover hardware specs, design, usage by a first time Pocket PC user, Pocket PC complaints, GPS software usability and map accuracy, comparison to TomTom Navigator and other GPS navigation solutions. We go quite in depth on this unit - check it out!
- Check out Jarrod’s off-raoding site - www.wheeln.com!
- Podcasting article featuring TinyPodcast wasn’t published in the Portland Tribune today, look for it soon!
- Shout out to the “Noise Squad” - fine Northwest podcasts by Jason Ruby and Anna Johns/Ruby of the Delta Park Project and Tim Germer of Northwest Noise.
We love feedback! You can reach Josh Bancroft at jabancroft@gmail.com, Brian Jarvis at bljarv@gmail.com, Jarrod Ochsenbein at esniper@gmail.com, or Paul Elliott at porgy_tirebiter@yahoo.com. You can also leave a voice message for us at 206-222-2479.
Thanks for listening, and we’ll catch you next week!
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