Microsoft’s Courier Delivers Where Apple’s iPad Falls Short

I’ve been a tablet user for a number of years now thanks to my Fujitsu T4215. While I’ve truly enjoyed the tablet and everything it offers, there is room for improvement in form factors, usability, and of course, functionality. The world looked to Apple in hopes their tablet device announcement would forever change how they looked at tablets. At this point, I think it’s fair to say that most people, myself included, are underwhelmed with what the iPad has to offer.

Enter Microsoft’s Courier device. This dual screen, foldable journal type device is amazing. According to the details leaked on Engadget, this device will be about 1 inch thick, sport two 5×7 LCD panels, and weigh in at about 1 pound. The screens support multi-touch as well as pen based input to provide the best experience for everyone.

Engadget has some really cool video’s on the Courier showing how it works and what you can expect from this device. In my opinion, this device connects with the tablet world far better than what Apple has done. Of course, there will always be people who say Apple has done it right and that the iPad is the be all and end all of tablet devices. For me, the Courier has much better potential. Only time will tell, but I’m looking forward to playing with a Courier much more than an iPad. Check out the video’s on Engadget and let us know your thoughts.

Microsoft MVP Global Summit Time

As you’re reading this, I’m traveling to Seattle to attend the this years MVP Summit. The summit is always a good time to get together with the other Mobile Device MVPs as well as the product group and various teams behind Windows Mobile.

This year, the summit falls at the same time as Mobile World Congress (and the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver). If Microsoft decides to share Windows Phone 7 at MWC, then I expect the product teams will have more to share with us. Unfortunately, a lot of what we talk about is under NDA. Rest assured, that whatever I can share, I will share. And I will also take with me a list of issues and questions that I have gathered from your comments posted on Mobile Jaw over the last while.

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again.

How to Send Google Buzz Posts to Twitter

As I am sure you all know Google has just released their latest project into the wilds; Google Buzz.

Buzz looks to be an interesting service that is somewhere between facebook and twitter. Who knows if it will be the social network of the decade, but I’m jumping in to try it out.

One obvious thing that is missing is a way to post to twitter from Buzz. Well, you had to know someone would figure out how!

Here is the step-by-step on how to send Buzz posts to twitter:

1. Click the following link: http://reader2twitter.appspot.com/buzz
2. Connect it to your Twitter account using OAuth
3. Click this link again as the redirected page is not the correct one: http://reader2twitter.appspot.com/buzz
4. Add your Google Profile Number ID from the bottom of your profile
5. Make sure “Sync” is On and hit Submit
6. Done!!

In number 4 above you are shown your profile page, scroll to the bottom under “Profile URL” and select the link for “see other options” to show your Google Number ID. Paste the whole number in the box.

The service is powered by Pubsubhubbub and seems to work quite well.

My twitter account can be found here
My Google Buzz profile is here

Many thanks to George Millington for the link to Louis Gray’s post!!

Update: Either this service is choking on all the new content or has been shut down. I am not seeing any content getting to twitter now. Anyone else having success?

Update again: Looks like it is still working but is spotty. Let’s hope there is an official solution from Google sometime soon.

Quantum Physics Used in New Pressure Sensitive Mobile Touch Screens

There’s an article over on the BBC web site that talks about a division of Samsung that has started to license a quantum physics “trick” known as Quantum Tunneling Composite. For example, the technology could be used to allow you to scroll a web page faster the more pressure you apply to the touch screen.

Quantum physics is one of those classes that I never really got along with at university. So I won’t pretend to understand exactly what’s happening here. The end result is a pressure sensitive switch that’s about the same thickness as a human hair, and only requires power when it’s pressed.

The article makes no mention about what devices and manufacturers are planning on using this technology or how it will effect the price of the unit. Regardless, I think it’s awesome use of technology and I can’t wait to give it a run myself.

Custom Theme Generator for Windows Phone

Earlier, we posted about adding custom wallpaper to your Windows phone. In that post, the wallpaper was a custom Windows Start button that was meant as your desktop wallpaper. If you’re looking to further customize your phone so that it’s you from top to bottom, then you will want to check out the Microsoft theme generator.

The theme generator is for Windows Mobile 6.5 devices only.  First thing you need to do, is pick your device from the rotating images. Then you can select the color you want to use, followed by the wallpaper image. You can even upload your own image and zoom/crop the image as you see fit. Once you have it just the way you like it, you can save it as a CAB file to your computer and pass it around for everyone to enjoy. You can also send it directly to your phone using an SMS message. It’s free and it’s cool. It’s worth checking out. Build a theme and share it here with us! I would like to see what everyone is capable of creating with this tool.

Custom Windows Start Button Wallpaper on your Phone

Everyone loves to customize their phones in one way or another. Clinton Fitch has a tip on how to build your own custom Windows Start button wallpaper and then getting that on your phone. The end result looks pretty cool. The wallpaper is customized to your interests and then loaded up on your phone. I just wish they had more mobile choices when making your Start button wallpaper.

Head over to Clinton’s web site and get all the details on how to get this setup.

Is it Really That Hard to get .Net Framework 3.5 on Windows Mobile 6.5 Device?

I was just going off about this on twitter and I felt it was worth posting about too. I downloaded the beta for FourSquare on Windows Mobile. However, the application requires .Net Compact Framework 3.5 on the device. At first, I figured that a new HTC HD2 running Windows Mobile 6.5 should already have the 2 year old version of the Compact Framework installed in the ROM. Guess what I found out – No .NetCF 3.5 on the device.

While that’s just short sighted and stupid on Microsoft’s part, the solution is pretty simple. All I need to do is download the CAB from the web and I’m good to go. Sadly, it’s just not that simple. You see, the .NetCF 3.5 installer is a 33MB desktop installer that contains the CAB files inside of it. So you can’t simply download it to your device and install.  Now I’m really wondering what the hell Microsoft is thinking. Have they lost sight of the end user in all this?

Let’s take a look at the steps to install the .Net Framework 3.5 on your Windows Mobile 6.5 device: 1) boot up laptop, 2) goto download page, 3) download huge 33MB installer, 4) install on desktop, 5) find 1 small 2.5MB CAB file left behind from installer, 6) ActiveSync your phone, don’t use ActiveSync then you need to copy it to a MicroSD card and insert that into your phone. 7) On your phone, launch File Explore and find the file. Run the file.

And now the steps if a CAB file was available directly from Microsoft’s site: 1) goto download page, 2) download file, 3) install file. DONE.

I would really like to see some sort of explanation on A) why it’s not already baked into the device ROM, and B) why the end user can’t simply download the CAB file directly to their device.

Windows Mobile 6.5.3 Gets Official Launch

I never thought that I would be writing a post about a dot-dot release of a mobile operating system. However, I think this is worth noting for a couple reasons. The biggest is to put to rest the rumors about 6.6 (also known as 6.5.3) being announced at Mobile World Congress and Windows Mobile 7 being delayed, again. With the announcement of the new Sony Ericcson X2 Windows Phone, Microsoft officially took the wraps off of Windows Mobile 6.5.3. So, unless Microsoft wants to go over this announcement again in a week and a half from now, I think it would be safe to say that MWC will not see the announcement of a dot increment of the existing version.

So what does 6.5.3 offer that’s so much better than 6.5? Here’s what you can expect to find in the new release:

• Capacitive touch screen support
• Platform support for multi-touch
• Improved touch friendly controls throughout the system
• Faster load times in Internet Explorer Mobile
• Pan & Flick support in Internet Explorer Mobile
• Updated runtime tools for .Net CF 3.5, SQL CE

There are also some graphical changes in 6.5.3. For example, when you tap the top title bar, it will open a new larger icon bar showing the existing system tray icons for easier access. As well, you will find that the softkeys at the bottom of the screen are now displayed in bubbles, or more button like look. Although this does look better than the early leaked images, I still don’t care for it. Check out the images and let me know what you think about these changes.

Sony Ericcson Announces the X2 Smartphone

Yesterday, Sony Ericcson announced the X2 Windows phone. This latest smartphone from Sony Ericcson is a messenger style device with a touch screen.  The form factor is not common among mobile devices. In fact, I think you can count the touch screen devices that have a physical front facing keyboard on one hand.

Regardless, the new device comes in two colors, black or white. According to the press release, it will also be available in a UK and North American version. Other features like a 3.5mm headphone jack, MicroUSB, MicroSD, Bluetooth, and a 3.2 megapixel camera, are pretty standard for a mobile device now. However, it was a little surprising to see that this phone has a QVGA screen (320×240). I understand that there is limited space on a messenger style device, and it would be difficult to put a larger screen onto that device. You could use the same size screen with a higher resolution, or try to widen the device to allow for a slightly larger screen. Either way, QVGA just doesn’t cut it on touch devices any longer.

While I like the looks and styling of the device, I would have been more impressed to see a higher resolution screen. Otherwise, this device could be a real winner. It will be interesting to see how well the public receives this phone. I’ve included the press release below, take a look and let us know your thoughts.

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SPB News 2.0 and SBSH GoNews go Head-To-Head in a Review

RSS feeds have become one of the best ways to stay connected and updated on the news being posted on your favorite websites. If you’re wondering how to take advantage of RSS on your Windows Mobile device, or perhaps you’re simply wondering what some of the better RSS clients for Windows phones are, then you should take a look at the review Clinton Fitch has posted. It takes SPB’s News 2.0 and directly compares it with SBSH’s GoNews application. Both of these companies are well known for creating great software. With Clinton’s head-to-head post, you can be sure to get the application that best suits your RSS reading style and the features you need. Check it out!

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