August 2005

Sync Pocket PC with Linux
Yes, it can be done, at least if you're somewhat familiar with Linux and command line operations. [click to see how] -- Posted Wednesday, August 24, 2005 by chb

Pen Computing's 2005 Editor's Choice Awards
It's official. After plenty of testing and reviewing, the intrepid editors of Pen Computing Magazine have bestowed the prestigious 2005 Editor's Choice Awards to the most deserving products. -- Posted Tuesday, August 23, 2005 by chb

Mitac Mio GPS-enabled PDA shipments soar
While everyone is singing the blues about the PDA market, Mitac reported a 60% increase in second quarter 2005 shipments of their Mio line of GPS-enabled devices, from 600,000 to 1.1 million for the April-June 2005 period. Mitac might well ship four million units this year, and they expect the worldwide 2005 market of GPS-enabled devices to be around 10 million. Interestingly, Mitac is hedging its bets by offering GPS units that are Pocket PCs (like the Mio168RS), CE.Net devices (like the Mio136), and proprietary (like the Mio269). For their US offerings, check www.miogps.com. -- Posted Friday, August 19, 2005 by chb

Will they or will they not?
Direct quote: CAMBRIDGE, MA, U.S.A. –August 11, 2005—SYWARE, Inc. announced today that it will provide a specific help desk for Palm OS users who will need to consider transitioning field PDA applications with the expected eventual transition to Windows Mobile. The help desk will go into action as soon as Palm OS officially releases a “Treo” version with Windows Mobile. Many current users of Palm OS will need to start preparing to move their existing or future applications to this new platform to continue to enhance their business mobility. SYWARE’s Visual CE Mobile Database and Application Development product and its integrated products for wireless synchronization and remote printing will allow this to take place without needing to hire new programmers to learn and use Visual Basic. SYWARE requires no programming to develop robust PDA applications on Windows Mobile PDAs. [see full release] -- Posted Wednesday, August 17, 2005 by chb

First WinMo 5.0 smartphones with WiFi
Things just keep getting better in the Windows Mobile smartphone space. Qtek, located in Finnland (where else?) has released the Qtek 8300 and 8310, both running Windows Mobile 5.0 and including both Bluetooth and WiFi. With WinMo smartphones becoming so much more powerful so quickly, the question is only whether the TelCoswill be willing to push Microsoft-based products as opposed to more proprietary systems that they can customize for their proprietary service plans and offerings. -- Posted Tuesday, August 16, 2005 by chb

WeatherBug Plus 6.1
WeatherBug, a leading provider of weather information services who owns over 8,000 weather tracking stations and more than 1,000 cameras in important places, announced version 6.12 of its WeatherBug software and subscription service. The software offers digital forecasts, lightning maps, weather alerts, historical data, access to weathercams, storm maps, and much more. Of particular interest to mobile users is WeatherBug Wireless that brings extensive, and attractively presented weather information not only to most advanced mobile phones, but now also to Microsoft Windows Mobile Smartphones. Screens include streaming current conditions, detailed 7-day forecasts, alerts, local radar, live cameras from all the strategically placed weathercams, and photos. -- Posted Monday, August 15, 2005 by chb