July 3rd, 2009
We’ve talked about HTC’s new Android smartphone, the HTC Hero, and that it’s coming to the US. We’ve also kept our eye on another Android smartphone on the near horizon. This one will be from Archos, to be announced by September 15.
Details on the Archos Android have been few and far between. Now there’re a few more. Pocket-lint reports that Archos’ Android will have a 5” screen. This size is significantly larger than the 3.2” screen on the HTC Hero.
You know I like large screen phones a lot. But I’m concerned that 5” may be too much of a good thing from the standpoint of the device being pocketable.
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July 3rd, 2009
Less than 2 weeks ago we talked about HTC’s unveiling of its Android smartphone, the HTC Hero. As usually happens these days, the Hero was being released initially in Europe. Less certain was if it was coming to the US, since recently a number of high-end smartphones haven’t (HTC Touch HD, Toshiba TG01). Sure, you could import the Hero. However, the import wouldn’t support US 3G bands.
We still don’t know when the Hero is coming to the US. But we do know the if part. It is coming. BoyGenius reports that the FCC has approved the Hero, with 3G bands supported on AT&T’s network. Hopefully it won’t be a long wait.
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July 3rd, 2009
We’ve talked a lot here about the femtocell. It’s a small cellular base station which connects to your cell phone service provider’s network via your home’s broadband connection. Through it, you have a strong signal via the broadband connection, rather than having to rely on a weak over the air signal.
However, femtocells, including my Verizon Wireless Network Extender, don’t support 3G. So when you use your cellphone for data rather than voice, you’re traveling in the slow lane (2G).
This may change soon. Slashgear reports that Sprint’s second generation femtocell will support 3G and will be available before the end of this year.
But what about owners of first generation femtocells (like me) who also want to travel the 3G data fast lane?
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June 30th, 2009
Mozilla Firefox is my browser of choice. Version 3.5 is now official. Download link. Or if you already are using Firefox, you can choose Check for Updates from the Help menu.
One minor warning. When I updated, the install program warned me that the current versions of some of my add-ons are incompatible with version 3.5 and therefore will no longer work unless they too are updated. Indeed, the install program listed those add-ons, and offered to check for updates to them. I accepted the offer of course. Alas, only one of the add-ons had an update that made it compatible with version 3.5. The other ones were disabled automatically. Presumably (hopefully) most of the other add-ons will be updated soon now the 3.5 is official.
So the moral of the story is if certain add-ons are critical to your use of Firefox – and they are for some – then check their compatibility with version 3.5 before you upgrade Firefox.
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June 28th, 2009
My work and home offices have powerful desktop computers. I use these desktops to perform my important daily tasks; email, PIM (contacts calendar, tasks), web browsing, and viewing documents (usually PDF or MS Office).
But often I’m not in the office. I’m the Mobile Barbarian after all. Lugging my desktop (and monitor) with me isn’t very practical. So I need a mobile device to take my office with me, unfortunately to more boring places than shown in the picture (credit).
My ideal mobile device needs to be small and light enough to carry around easily, yet capable of performing the key tasks handled by its far more powerful (and larger and heavier) desktop brethren. There are many choices. I wrote this post because I thought some of you, like me, have to make up your mind, and my thought process, however imperfect, might help you with your decision.
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June 27th, 2009
Motorola Endeavor HX1 Bluetooth Headset told you about Motorola’s new Endeavor HX1 Bluetooth headset, a direct competitor to the Aliph Jawbone Prime Bluetooth Headset.
Engadget Mobile (the source of the picture) recently reviewed the HX1 and compared it to the Jawbone Prime. The verdict? “[I]n every other meaningful metric, we found the HX1 outperforms the Prime.” The review explains this verdict in detail.
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June 24th, 2009
VZW Femtocell in the house! told you back in January 2009 about my purchase of the Verizon Wireless Network Extender, a femtocell. A femtocell is a small cellular base station which connects to your cell phone service provider’s network via your home’s broadband connection (thus bypassing a weak over the air signal) and broadcasts a strong signal through your home.
However, a femtocell is specific to a carrier. Therefore, I still had to wait for one by AT&T, the carrier for most of my family’s phones. And I’ve been waiting ever since. Well, now there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
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Posted in Mobile Access | 1 Comment »
June 24th, 2009
HTC, as expected, announced today in London its latest Android phone, the Hero. The Hero has a 3.2″ HVGA capacitive touchscreen. The specs are complete (512MB/288MB RAM/ROM, WiFi/Bluetooth/GPS, 5MP camera, MicroSD expansion slot, 3.5mm headset jack) but not advanced (e.g., Qualcomm 528 MHz processor instead of Snapdragon or Tegra).
What’s new is an interface called HTC Sense. This GUI overlay of the OS seems to serve the same function as HTC’s TouchFLO 3D for Windows Mobile. Unclear if HTC Sense will supplant TouchFLO 3D for Windows Mobile, the OS for most HTC devices.
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June 22nd, 2009
Netbooks: Swivel Touchscreen Does Not Equal Tablet PC (the source of the picture) correctly explains that a netbook having a touchscreen does not make it a Tablet PC. In other words, just because you can touch doesn’t necessarily mean you can ink, very well anyway.
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June 21st, 2009
We’ve talked recently about MiFi, which is a WiFi hotspot + a modem that connects to the Verizon network (or Sprint for its MiFi). However, both Verizon and Sprint are CDMA networks. If you’re instead on a GSM network like AT&T or T-Mobile, no MiFi love. Well, still no love. But maybe there’s hope, from both Novatel and Huawei. Novatel makes the MiFi Model 2200 used by Verizon and Sprint. Huawei is a Chinese telcom not well known in the US (yet anyway) but with a major presence in Asia.
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Posted in Mobile Access | No Comments »
We’ve talked about HTC’s new Android smartphone, the HTC Hero, and that it’s coming to the US. We’ve also kept our eye on another Android smartphone on the near horizon. This one will be from Archos, to be announced by September 15. 
