Although Verizon will be the first carrier to offer the Blackberry Storm here in the U.S., Vodaphone will be the first to offer the Storm outside the states, and has released an official demo video of the Storm in action. Watch the video below (and close the pop-up ad near bottom):
Engadget: “Hmm, what have we here? A recent Microsoft survey sent out to select users has us wondering what on Earth the mega-corp is planning to do next, and judging by the looks of things, it has everything to do with Instant On. We’ve seen a number of these lightning-fast boot applications, with the most recent being ASUS’ Splashtop OS and the iteration loaded onto Dell’s freshest Latitudes. The survey makes mention that the “Instant On experience is different from ‘Full Windows’ because it limits what activities you can do and what applications you have access to.” The survey also asks about which applications would be most important to have quick access to, and it very plainly states that in this “scenario,” your PC would “be usable in eight seconds.” So, is Instant On coming to Windows? Who knows — but it’s clear someone at Redmond is giving it some thought.”
There have been rumors that Microsoft’s successor to Windows Vista would be named “Windows Cloud” or one of a few other names, but Microsoft has announced that it is going back to naming its operating systems by version number, beginning with Windows 7.
From BetaNews: In a quick announcement this afternoon on the company blog for Windows Vista — what’s already being perceived as the “old version of Windows” by Microsoft — the company’s corporate VP for Windows product management revealed what many developers had already long suspected: The next version will be called what we’ve been calling it for months already, “Windows 7.”
“The decision to use the name Windows 7 is about simplicity. Over the years, we have taken different approaches to naming Windows. We’ve used version numbers like Windows 3.11, or dates like Windows 98, or ‘aspirational’ monikers like Windows XP or Windows Vista. And since we do not ship new versions of Windows every year, using a date did not make sense. Likewise, coming up with an all-new ‘aspirational’ name does not do justice to what we are trying to achieve, which is to stay firmly rooted in our aspirations for Windows Vista, while evolving and refining the substantial investments in platform technology in Windows Vista into the next generation of Windows.”
On November 19th, Microsoft will roll out a brand new user interface for the XBox 360. The new UI will look dramatically different and provide new features including integrated NetFlix video downloads, the ability to copy any games to the local hard disk of the Xbox, avatars, new marketplace and much more.
The new UI will be free and automatically downloaded to all consoles connected to the Internet on November 19th. To see a video previous of the new interface, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i59DQC31XHU.
“Fake Call is a quick and easy way to “call yourself” in order to politely escape social situations. While pretending to receive a phone call is possible without any special software, this usually takes too many awkward key presses and fumbling. Fake Call makes it as easy as pressing 1 button, and provides an extremely realistic incoming call experience. It also includes powerful scheduling and personalization features in a simple, unobtrusive user interface.”
How many of you have been in awkward social situations with need of an excuse to leave? Fake Call for Windows Mobile can help you get out of those moments by helping you schedule an automatic (fake) call from any person/telephone # at any scheduled time. I personally wouldn’t use it in a business situation, but for other moments sometimes I admit it could come in handy 
To download Fake Call, visit www.trinketsoftware.com/FakeCall.
“I’ll bet you can already think of a handful of times when you could have used this next tool: Mail PassView. I recently came across Mail PassView when surfing through my techie RSS feeds. The program is a freeware utility that helps you recover passwords from both Outlook and Outlook Express as well as other mail clients like Eudora, Thunderbird, Yahoo!, Gmail, Hotmail, IncrediMail, and Windows Live Mail. When I first saw the application, I thought that the interface looked a lot like that other incredibly handy password recovery tool: WirelessKeyView. As it turns out, they’re both from the same developer, Nir Sofer. Although on the one hand, these sort of tools make me nervous as they so easily expose the passwords you think are safe and secure, on the other I’m very grateful that they exist. I can’t even count the number of times I helped others move their files, email, and apps from one PC to another and the biggest stumbling block was always that they didn’t remember their passwords for their ISP-assigned email addresses. If only I had known about Mail PassView then…I could have saved so much time!”
You can download Mail PassView from here.
Source: On10.net
“Apple has threatened to shut down the iTunes music store if an obscure three-person board appointed by the Librarian of Congress increase the royalties paid to publishers and songwriters by six cents per song. The Copyright Royalty Board is scheduled to hand down its decision on these rates Thursday. As part of their general muscle-flexing of late, music publishers asked the board to increase royalties paid to publishers and songwriters from 9 cents to 15 cents per track. Apple — which has mightily resisted tampering in any way with its 99 cent price point for tracks — said that if the rate hike goes through and the labels refuse to absorb the entire resulting increase, the iTunes music store will become unprofitable.”
Wow. A shutdown of iTunes would be a big hit to the digital music industry. Apple is standing its ground against a possible board ruling that would increase the cost of music from 99 cents to $1.10+ per track. It may not seem like much, but the increase could be detrimental to iTunes due to all the cuts that music labels, artists/studios and publishers already take from the sale price of each track.
“Microsoft just released the first beta version of its Phone Data Manager application which looks like a serious alternative for some of the Nokia PC Suite features as it support wider range of mobile devices including most of the Nokia S60 2nd and 3rd edition phones.”
For more information, compatibility chart and download link, visit: http://specials.msn.co.in/sp08/msphonedatamanager/willmy_phone.asp
Email Prioritizer is a plug-in for Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 (running on Exchange Server) that helps you manage email overload. This concept test provides a “do not disturb” button that temporarily pauses new email arrival, and prioritizes email with a 0-3 star rating system. We hope this prototype helps you focus on the emails that are most important to you.
“Adobe® Photoshop.com Mobile is the easiest way to upload, view, and share your photos online from your phone. All you need is a supported Windows Mobile phone and your Photoshop.com account ID. Photoshop.com Mobile beta will be available as a free download in September.”
The beta of Photoshop.com Mobile - announced a few weeks ago - is now live, but only for US customers. Only a small handful of Windows Mobile Devices are currently supported, but that list is set to grow, and you may still get lucky with your unsupported device, anyway. Anyone plan on using this service?
Source: PocketPCThoughts.com
It looks like Verizon Wireless users will be the first to get their hands on the new Blackberry Storm (formerly called the Thunder) - RIM’s first touch-screen only Blackberry smartphone. Verizon recently launched a web page for visitors to sign up for email updates on the Storm, which is scheduled for release late 2008/early 2009.
One of the most anticipated features of the Storm is RIM’s patented touchscreen technology that returns physical feedback from the screen when touched. From what I’ve read (from non-official sources), the screen is supposed to press down with a “click” when the on-screen keyboard is being used. I wonder if this feature works when in keyboard mode only, or if it’s present throughout the entire interface. Since RIM or Verizon Wireless haven’t officially announced the feature, it’s hard to say if the feature will really exist. But the bolded “What will it feel like?” text is probably a clue.
I’ll post an update with more information as it becomes available.
The RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8220 is the first BlackBerry device to sport a flip phone design. CNET TV takes a first look at the new device. [View]
This morning Microsoft unveiled the world’s most advanced tracking technology, Microsoft BlueTrack Technology, which allows us to take our mice anywhere and work with more success than ever before. Mouse on the carpet? Fine! How about that granite counter-top? No problem! Hardwood floors? Glass? Bring it on. Take a peek at this interview and see just how BlueTrack Technology works.
Source: On10
In June 2008, Yahoo updated its mail system which resulted in an unexpected problem: Removal of paragraph spacing from most email messages. The issue affects all users of Yahoo mail who read their email through the Yahoo Mail website.
A message was posted by Ryan Knight, Community Manager for Yahoo Mail, in June announcing that Yahoo is aware of the bug and currently working on a fix. The bug is taking longer to fix than anticipated according to the update, but they are working as quickly as they can to fix the issue. I am hoping that the bug gets fixed very soon as many of our clients have been complaining about receiving emails with no spacing or too much spacing (as a result of double and triple returns).
There is a temporary fix, but it’s not terribly easy to implement for the average user (it involves embedding a 1em margin via CSS in the HTML coding of the message). If you are experiencing this issue and need assistance in reformatting your email correspondence to correct this issue, feel free to contact us.
CNET.com: Research In Motion launched its newest BlackBerry, the Bold, in Canada on August 21, 2008. Also called the “Blackberry 9000″, the new device runs on an Intel XScale 624 MHz processor, has an HVGA 480×320 display and offers UMTS (2100, 900, 850MHz), GSM (1900,1800,900,850MHz), GPRS, EDGE and HDSPA , as well as Wi-Fi connectivity and GPS. There is also 1 GB of on-board memory for storage of files, and 128 MB of flash memory for applications. 
The Bold will cost $399 with a 3 year contract, initially through Rodgers, in Canada. In the U.S., T-Mobile and AT&T are expected to release the Bold in September 2008. Price subject to change for U.S. carriers (rumor $300).
“Wireless is one of those hot tech catch-alls of the new millennium. There’s wireless broadcasters and receivers, utilizing such technology as WiMax, 802.11n, and Bluetooth. There’s wireless gaming controllers. There’s just about wireless everything — except power transmission. Wireless power transmission is something that inventor Nikolai Tesla came up with over a century ago and claimed to have perfected. However, his mysterious work vanished with his death, and for decades the topic was left untouched. Now there has been a resurgence in interest with several companies competing to becoming the first to offer commercially broadcast wireless power. At the Intel Developers Forum (IDF) this month, Intel demoed just such a system. Using two large coils it showcased a system that could send 60 watts of power at 75 percent efficiency up to 3 feet. The power was enough to light up a bulb at the receiving end. Justin Rattner, Intel’s chief technology officer describes, “Something like this technology could be embedded in tables and work surfaces, so as soon as you put down an appropriately equipped device it would immediately begin drawing power.”"
It appears that we are closer (about 5 more years I suspect) to seeing devices that’ll charge wirelessly instead of plugging them into a power outlet. It’ll be interesting to see what types of devices will feature this new technology when its released.
I’ve launched a brand new website portfolio for TEQ Media. The new portfolio system allows you to search for projects by category and view specific features for each website. Many more websites are being added to the portfolio. View the new portfolio at www.teqmedia.com/portfolio/web and let me know your thoughts!
If you use a smartphone/pda running Windows Mobile 6 and want a quick reference guide to help you figure out some of most common tasks and features of your WM6 device, PocketPCFAQ.com has put together a free 1 page PDF file that you can print out and use for your reference. Download it at http://www.pocketpcfaq.com/qrg.
Want to fully waterproof your smartphone or notebook computer? There’s a new company called Golden Shellback that has created a unique type of coating (that’s not a spray) that will protect your electronic device from water and moister for $35-$50.
Watch a video below of various mobile devices including a Blackberry, iPhone and notebook computer being completely submerged in water while playing videos and remaining fully functional:
This is cool stuff. I’m curious how the coating will affect screens and keyboard/pad use. I’ll be sending in my smartphone for the waterproofing process and post an review in the near future. For more information visit the website at http://www.golden-shellback.com.