MSN Virtual Earth Mobile - Via Virtual Earth
Before PDC, I had played with this little Windows Mobile app to view/access MSN Virtual Earth. Nice idea, but too sluggish over GPRS. At PDC, we got a sneak peak of an update to the (unofficial- written by Jason Fuller) app that added caching (greatly improves performance), GPS, and Contacts integration. I’ve been anxiously waiting for the new version to become available ever since Dr. Neil and Steve showed it off at PDC, and now it’s here!
Works on either Smartphone or Pocket PC devices. I’m especially excited to try this out since I now have speedy EVDO data on my Samsung i730 Pocket PC Phone.
Head over to the Via Virtual Earth gallery for more info, screenshots, and the .CAB file download. You can also get the source code - play around with it, and make some improvements of your own!
Technorati tags: windowsmobile, virtualearth
418 kbit/sec
Sitting at gate A29, waiting for our flight to Portland. Almost home! 
Sent wirelessly from my
Windows Mobile device.
Sitting in our plane to Dallas, then home to Portland. It’s been a great trip - I’ve got a couple hundred photos; I’ll be posting the good ones to Flickr.
Can?t wait to get home to Portland. We miss our Emma!
Sent wirelessly from my
Windows Mobile device.
There currently is a lot of debate going on about just how useful the iPod’s video capabilites are. Res too low? DRM to restrictive? Will people pay for TV shows? Etc. Lots of howtos out there already on how to convert/transcode existing video into a format that will work. All this, and we can’t even get our hands on one yet.
Want to know one thing I’m looking forward to using the video iPod for? Videoblogs. Always having the last few episodes of Rocketboom. Having some of Eric Rice’s videos around to show off. All this stuff is in Quicktime already, and should work just fine with the iPod video.
Guess that’s a big point in favor of me switching to Quicktime format (instead of Windows Media) for the occasional TinyPodcast Video Edition stuff I put out. Now I’ll have to finally break down and pay that $29.99 for Quicktime Pro.
Technorati tags: ipod
Weve been busy today. Took the Tourmobile bus from Union Station to Arlington National Cemetery. Saw JFK’s grave site with the eternal flame, and witnessed the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns. Powerful stuff.
We headed back to town and saw the Vietnam and Korean War Memorials and the Lincoln Memorial. Walked past the reflecting pool while the president’s helicopter, Marine One, circled overhead a few times.
We’re resting now at the World War II Veterans Memorial - beautiful and impressive. It’s only been open for about a year. Then we’re off to the Holocaust Memorial and wherever else our noses lead us. Until our feet give out, that is. 
Sent wirelessly from my
Windows Mobile device.
Apple - iPod - Technical Specifications
Noticed this on a Digg.com story - the new iPod recording specs:
# Voice recording settings:
* Low (22.05 KHz, mono)
* High (44.1 KHz, stereo)
The current iPods can only record at 8KHz mono (unless you install Linux on them - the hardware is capable of up to 96KHz). This is great for people who want to be able to record decent audio on an iPod for podcasts or whatever. One more reason I’m excited to get one! I wonder how well the current mic accessories, like the Griffin iTalk and iFM will work with the new higher quality recording?
Technorati tags: ipod
Settling into our accomodations at the Woodley Park Guest House for the rest of our stay here in D.C. Nice little place, right off Connecticut Ave., near the metro and near where I lived for a few months 9 years ago.
There’s supposed to be wifi here, don?t know if it’s free. If not, EVDO will do fine - just measured 712 kbit/sec.
Beside getting shoo’ed away from the Washington Monument, and finding out that the Holocaust Museum is closed for Yom Kippur, we walked arouund part of the National Mall, and went to the National Archives to see the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Declaration of Independence. We’ll do the full on tourist thing tomorrow, ans see some monuments and museums.
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Windows Mobile device.
They just evacuated/closed the Washington Monument, just as we got here. Something about a bomb scare.
Bummer - we’ll have to come back tomorrow.
Oh, and EVDO speed here is 456 kbit/sec.
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Windows Mobile device.
George Washington’s mansion, estate, and tomb.
783 kbit/sec
0.484s latency
6.608s d/l time for a 600 KB file.
Sent wirelessly from my
Windows Mobile device.
So the news is out. Just got it via the Engadget feed in Bloglines Mobile. A thinner, bigger screened, video-capable iPod. Yum.
Want my first take on the most significant part of Apple’s announcements? $1.99 TV show downloads. No commercials. I’ve been ranting for months now that I’d happily pay for episodes of Lost and other shows I watch, rather than download them (and delete them after I’ve watched). Shows that are otherwise freely broadcast over the air. Finally, someone is making that possible. I should have known it would be Apple. Now, just give me the ability to subscribe to TV shows via RSS like podcasts!
My other big question is what video codecs the new iPod will playback. I can only hope DivX is there. It would be suicidal to only allow playback of Apple’s FairPlay DRM’ed videos. Anyone know the answer? Leave me a comment.
Now to see if I can hold out until this trip is over to pick one up…
Sent wirelessly from my
Windows Mobile device.
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