My apologies in advance for testing out the Sprint Java based Instinct. I have had a couple of days with it and feel like I can make a comment or two. There are many reviews out there so I am not aiming at a full fledged review. I like testing non-Windows Mobile phones to see what features I would like to see in WMx down the road.

• First the screen is very bright and large compared to my Samsung i760.
• The phone is also very light and thin (see photo) compared to something like the i760.
• The built in GPS is nice and Windows Mobile Live Search (standard on the Instinct) works like a charm with the voice recognition system.
• Battery life is good.
• The tactile feedback from the touch screen is really nice. It has a little vibration that gives you the feeling of touching a real button. This is the first touch dialer I have really liked. Number and letters are sized for finger use but it comes with a stylus.
• OWA sync with Outlook exchange for mail is easy. The big down side is no sync with Outlook Calendar yet.
• The web browser is a little weak as pointed out by others. I have a feeling that will improve. I would be happy with Opera Mini.
• The Java platform means many apps will be coming for the Instinct.
• Download speeds are good and Rev A is available on the phone.
• Bluetooth works fine with everything I tried to connect.

Overall I think it is a quality phone that offers some good features. The built-in GPS with Live Search is very handy. Call quality and one handed use is easy. The big down side for me is no sync with Outlook Calendar - yet.

June 27, 2008 - VITO Technology releases a new version of FunContact - the best selling contact manager that provides the most exciting and convenient contact management on Windows Mobile touch screen devices. You can do everything with a flick of a finger!

FunContact 2.15 presents two major new features: a new black skin like in the recently released ZoomBoard and SMS-Chat, and also joystick support. The black skin fits perfectly brand-new Windows Mobile devices hitting the market like HTC Diamond, TyTN II, Touch Pro and all other devices from Touch series as they all have dim color theme.

The original "fun" skin is still available and allows even serious businessmen to take their ease on vacation and relax. After all your wife is not going to believe you are actually updating your contacts or looking thru the call history even if she notices the sliding screens with exciting animation and bright colors. She might want to have a play with it though, so beware.

Joystick support has been the outcry from our customers since FunContact was released. New FunContact gives you the choice: you can scroll the list with a finger or with a joystick. Both variants are very convenient, and though the main idea of FunContact is to manage contacts with finger, some FunContact users addicted to joystick now can also benefit by performing all the basic operations in FunContact like calling, texting ,etc. with joystick.

FunContact is available for $19.95 at http://iwindowsmobile.com/contact-manager.html. FunContact supports English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Norwegian, Danish, Portuguese, Greek, Polish, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian.

Our friends over at GadgetMix.com have re-launched after a whole month was spent on re-coding the website to bring to the users a refreshing, pleasant experience. I like their coverage of the Asus EEE, but they cover a broad spectrum of gadgets.

GadgetMix.com is all about gadgets; gadget news and expert reviews, views, rants about them. We cover topics of windows mobile, UMPCs, NetBooks, MIDs and anything related to technology.

At GadgetMix.com, we’ve a qualified team of computer engineers and other experienced bloggers, who all have the capability to explain, review and even rant about the news or any other software or hardware product in layman’s term.

So, what are you waiting for? Head over to the GadgetMix.com and enjoy the great array of giveaways they are giving to their visitors including free cases from PDAir.com and carrymobile and lot of free applications too!

Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine’s 8th annual Best Software Awards (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/awards) helps users select the best Windows Mobile applications, utilities, and games, while honoring companies that produce outstanding software. Throughout June, Nominations Manager, Werner (“Menneisyys”) Ruotsalainen, and the 2008 Board of Experts, developed the nominations list. Now, the preliminary list of Windows Mobile Windows Mobile nominations is ready for public viewing and comment.

Preliminary nominations list: http://www.pocketpcmag.com/awards/category_all_2008.asp

End-users (most MGN readers) and Windows Mobile developers are welcome to make nominations suggestions from through July 16, 2008. The list will change daily (products may appear, disappear, and be re-categorized) until nominations are frozen on July 21.

Nominations form (suggest nominations, re-categorizations, and un-nominations. Werner Ruotsalainen will make final determination on each suggestion)

Vendors enter software into Encyclopedia (vendors must enter their free product listing in order to be eligible for nomination)

(newsfactor) Nokia's $410 million investment and the launch of the Symbian Foundation has cleared the way for an open, market-leading platform that could accelerate innovation in mobile devices. Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and NTT DoCoMo will contribute their versions of Symbian to be united into a single, open mobile platform.

With the foundation established, analysts are anticipating pricing issues for companies like Microsoft and its Windows Mobile platform, which relies on royalty revenues. An influx of open-source, royalty-free software could force competing companies to revisit pricing models to maintain their competitive strength, according to Tim Deal, a senior analyst at Pike & Fischer.

Read more at Newsfactor

Please don't give me to hard of a time for ordering Sprint's new Instinct phone. I am just testing it out so no plans to dump my great Samsung i760. Anyway, I ordered an Instinct last Friday and have received a phone message that it may be up to two weeks before they can deliver the phone. The reason is the high demand has sold out the first shipments. Good for Sprint - they need something to work for them. Bad for me waiting to test it out. Here is a rehash of the Instincts specs.

Winner of 5 awards at the CTIA WIRELESS 2008 Conference - including Best of Show - the Samsung Instinct takes touchscreen phones to the next level. Access to GPS Navigation and Email are just the beginning, get more information here or review plan requirements for the Samsung Instinct. Get free shipping and free activation when you purchase a device with a new line of service online!

Highlights
High-speed web browsing and entertainment services
Personalize your phone for one-touch access to your favorite services
Key Features
Sprint Music StoreSM
Sprint TV® enabled
Slim and fashionable
Speakerphone
Built-in camera
Web, email capable
Bluetooth
External display
GPS enabled
Memory card slot
Voice dialing
Broadband speeds where available

Anthony Dias Blue’s Pocket Guide to Wine for SmartPhone - save 30% from PDATopSoft.com

http://www.pdatopsoft.com/software/item.php?pid=10886



Wine critic Anthony Dias Blue’s Pocket Guide to Wine is an excellent guide for the wine lovers. It
informs and inspires, offering both an introduction to wine for novices and fresh insights for the
connoisseur. It lays emphasis on American wines and their hidden treasures. This application serves as a
quick reference guide for all the on – the – spot decisions.
There are six appendices on subjects such as food pairings and ordering in restaurants. With tips on how
to judge wine, this guide also gives an updated and extended winery section broken down by country and
region, including key facts, best wines, and overall ratings for each listing. Not only this, it has also
listed a comprehensive description of grape varieties with a basic primer on wine appreciation.

Learn about the world’s outstanding vintages and the people and places which produce them.
This handheld wine guide will make the selection and enjoyment of great wine easy and affordable for any
budget. It is comprehensive, accessible, and incredibly useful.


Smartphone Games

Based on your feedback, today we released version 1.0 of Vringo for Facebook. This new version works on Blackberry and Windows Mobile phones using the native contact fields!

Vringo lets you see your friends' Facebook pictures when they call. When you receive incoming calls from Facebook friends, their photos show up the with caller ID, allowing you to see their recently updated profile pictures.

Free to use and easy to set up, Vringo lets you quickly send your friends Facebook pix to your cell phone. Here you can go : http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=9215392534

After installing the facebook app go to: http://get.vringo.com

Let me know if it fixes all your issues.. it should.

WirelessWeek - June 12, 2008 The FCC is scheduled to hold a hearing today regarding the fees wireless customers pay when they want out of their service contracts. Called early termination fees (ETFs), customers are typically charged $175 in order to break a contract. Service providers say the fees are necessary to recoup the subsidized price of handsets, while consumer groups have charged that the fees are unfair and anticompetitive.

The hearing today is expected to focus on an FCC proposal that would give customers a 30-day grace period after signing up for new service, in which they could end the contract with no penalty fee. The FCC also has proposed prorating contracts based on how long a customer has left on his or her contract.

Along with the proposed updates to the fee’s structure, the FCC is also suggesting that ETFs be regulated federally. Currently, states have some say over contracts and fees, though they can’t regulate services rates.

More Infromation

SMS-Chat lets you organize your SMS correspondence into threaded SMS conversations. New version now has smilies. The telephone numbers, hyperlinks or e-mails that you receive in SMS are now more usable as you can simply click it and the necessary application with the data will be called out then. Minor bugs have been removed. SMS-Chat users who liked the bright skin will now have an opportunity to choose the skin they’ve got used to.

Read more

Spb has updated their popular backup application to version 2.0. What is Backup and what's new?



Originally, Spb Backup sprung up from Spb Clone technology — a product, trusted by thousands of enterprises for creating exact copies of "master" PDA devices. The new Spb Backup 2.0 offers a handy desktop component — Spb Backup Unpack. The tool allows viewing and exploring the backup archive on a desktop PC and pulling out single contacts, messages, and tasks. During the restore process, Spb Backup will automatically detect if device or ROM upgrade is taking place and prompt to select the appropriate restore mode.

Spb Backup 2.0

• Device and ROM upgrade modes — NEW!
• Spb Backup Sync — NEW!
• Spb Backup Unpack tool — NEW!
• Smartphone version — NEW!
• File Black-list or "Ignored Files" — NEW!
• Copies the entire device: settings, SMS, Emails, tasks, software, shortcuts, preferences
• Storage card backup
• Customizable file restoration
• Scheduled backups
• Self-extracting executable backup files
• Full and custom backups
• Backup file compression and encryption

You can find out more or get your trial copy here

The HP 2133 Mini-Note PC gives you the freedom to be productive wherever you are. Ideal for instructional use or general purpose business applications, the Compaq 2133 "lifestyle accessory" features a larger than life 8.9-inch 1366 x 766 (WXGA) display, ExpressCard/54 slot, Wireless LAN, nearly full-sized QWERTY (95% of full), integrated web cam, and optional SSD in a 2.5-pound anodized aluminium casing running Vista or Linux. Phew.

For such a good looking device it’s imperative that Proporta step up and provide suitable protection, Here’s the latest of what they have to offer…

Proporta’s Leather Case (HP iPAQ 2133) is made only with the softest leather. Beautifully hand crafted and custom designed to fit your HP Compaq 2133, this stylish leather case offers protection for when you need it the most.

As with all modern UMPCs, the delicate screen plays an integral part of the HP 2133’s functionality, and so to protect your screen from scratches, scrapes and dust evasion, Proporta recommends their Advanced Screen Protector. Incorporating an improved thickness, made from a new ultra high-clarity plastic, without impairing screen brightness and clarity, this screen protector reduces glare from sunlight or bright lighting and is fully washable and replaceable.

P.S. Carry all your bits and bobs, including your MP3, PDA or mobile phone in a Proporta Reversible Drawstring bag. To stop your cables getting in a twist, it also includes a free cable tidy with every bag.

See the Leather case here

With fast 3G wireless technology, GPS mapping, support for enterprise features like Microsoft Exchange, View MS Office documents, and the new App Store, iPhone 3G puts even more features at your fingertips. So the Apple iPhone is now marginally at the same point as a basic Smartphone. Is this enough? We see the HTC Diamond outselling the iPhone, but Apple has cut the price to $199. The media is making out like Apple is the leader in this market niche. I don't see it.

HTC Diamond rushes into fifth place at Krusell’s Top 10 list in May. There has been a lot of buzz in the industry in the past months regarding this new HTC model, says Ulf Sandberg, MD at Krusell International AB. However, this doesn’t change the fact that Nokia in the top holds four out of six positions. "I foresee that Sony Ericsson W890 and HTC Diamond both will be in Top 3 in June, Ulf Sandberg ends."

1. (1) Nokia 3109/3110

2. (2) Nokia 6300

3. (5) Nokia E51

4. (3) Sony Ericsson K810i

5. (-) HTC Diamond

6. (6) Nokia N95 8GB

7. (4) Sony Ericsson K850i

8. (7) Apple Iphone

9. (10) LG KU990

10. (-) Sony Ericsson W890i

() = Last month’s position.

krusell