iExperiment

No, I have not brought another Apple product. I’ve learned pretty quickly that despite the power, Mac OS X at the moment is not what I need for really for working in Ruby (more on that in another post) or on my HTC Touch. Anyway, I was thinking that in light of the reviews that I’ll have an iExperiment. Expect the screenshots, the list of applications used, as well as a video of all the iNess by mid to late March of this year.

Reviews, Reviews and more Reviews

That’s right! I’m going to be doing reviews on some of the most popular and most useful applications on the Pocket PC! Why? To answer some of my burning question as well as many of yours. So here’s my list of categories of software I’ll be reviewing:

• 1. Alternative UIs for replacing Windows Mobile’s Home Screen and/or Start Menu
• 2. Web Browsers
• 3. Music Players
• 4. Video Players
• 5. E-Book Readers
• 6. File Browsers
• 7. Java MIDlet Managers
• 8. UI Configurators
• 9. System Configurators
• 10. Contact Managers and of course the stylus-prone
• 11. Calender Applications

These will come in the following months as I learn about the many pros and cons involved in each programs usage on my HTC Touch Vogue otherwise known as the P3050. Before I begin the reviews, I’ll hard-reset (as in erase all of my programs and returning the Pocket PC to its original state) my Pocket PC as to make for fair reviews. If any of you have recommendations for FREEWARE (commercial, open source or otherwise) software for Windows Mobile 5 and 6 PROFESSIONAL Edition, your comments will be greatly appreciated.

Helio Ocean

What can I say? It is beyond belief that such a phone would catch my eye after using such a useful (yet pretty cumbersome) PocketPC as my HTC Touch P3050. It has many of the features that I’ve wanted or missed from previous phones that I’ve looked at or used. When Telus had their ’smartphone’ sale (now deprecated on all but the HTC S720) close to the end of last year, my girlfriend and I had to go for it. She got a Blackberry Pearl 8130. After working with my phone trying to ring out the last shred of usability out of it, I gave up. Why? Not enough hardware buttons! The iPhone may have screen size as the reason it need not have a hardware keyboard but my thumbs are huge compared to what ’softkeys’ I have to press on Cootek’s TouchPal or TenGO’s TenGO Thumb which can be quite cumbersome and slow despite the excellent dictionaries they both have and the HTC Touch’s screen is 2.8 inches versus the iPhone’s 3.5 inches (i.e.:I need a hardware keyboard). Furthermore, the QuickDial application’s history browser is pretty counter-intuitive not to mention that the weak Touchscreen makes softbutton presses a major annoyance (i.e.: I need phone keys). The answer to such woes are to either do things one-handed (which PointUI’s PointUI Home, Cootek’s TouchPal and TenGO’s TenGO Thumb support well) or get a ’smartphone’ with a hardware keyboard and more buttons (expensive considering the plans I’d have to get and the hoops I’d have to jump through). That’s where the Helio Ocean (or Pantech PN-810 if you want the original name) ends up drowning much of its competition. I’m not about to go about waxing poetic about the Ocean if people already beat me to it like at Technology Review (requires registration). So if you live in the US and want/need a smartphone, I recommend you checking out the Helio Ocean.

ULTIMATE

Just what is it? It is a phone I would like to see produced. It will have previous, current and near-future technologies for every part of its entire being while trying to prevent the I’ve-got-a-brick-in-my-pocket-syndrome. It will be a mobile device beyond anything seen today, and most of all I need your help to make it a reality. I welcome any and all ideas within reason as to any technology that should be in the phone.

New Years Thoughts and Hopes

Happy 2008 to everyone! Well it’s a new year and I’ll be blogging about what I like to most in the technological world: Gadgets! Not just gadgets but mobile devices such as PMPs, Smartphones, PocketPCs, PDAs, etc…as well as the hacks for them. Since I ended up getting a PocketPC myself (a Telus branded HTC Touch Enhanced (P3050) w/o WiFi), I’ll focus mainly on programs, hacks, and updates on PocketPCs and Smartphones. Every week I’ll post a summary of my thoughts for what I’ll be posting within the week as sort of a sneak preview. And so we begin 2008…