HTC & Windows Mobile Technology

↑ Grab this Headline Animator

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Speed City: Moto GP racing game for Windows Mobile




Speed City
Another free game from the Microsoft Windows Mobile Total Access site. They are really giving away great games for free. Other games include Astraware Boardgames and Texas Hold 'Em. Be careful with Astraware Boardgames since I've noticed that it would establish a data connection when open. This game unfortunately does not support an accelerometer. Such a shame...

Speed City, from OmniG Software, Inc., is a 3-D street racing game inspired by the rebel motorcycle subculture. Master your tremendous speed machine as you hug curves and burn through the sleek nighttime streets of the glittering city.

With stunning city scenes, lifelike physics simulation, and exciting street racing, you’ll definitely feel the pulse of Speed City!

Game Details

  • For touch screen and non-touch screen phones
  • Free full version
  • An endless challenge with randomly generated racing routes
  • Stunning city scenes and lifelike physics simulation
  • 3-D graphics

Bookmark and Share

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

How to bring drowned gadgets back to life




If you accidentally drowned your shiny new widget, don't stress as you're not alone. I've had near misses but never gone the whole way. I know some if not most of you have accidently done this to your gadgets.

In the UK, those enterprising Brits manage to drop a staggering 850,000 phones down the toilet in 2007 and this number will have only grown since then.

Luckily in many cases a drowned gadget can be resuscitated back to life using several simple steps. Old wives tales and urban myths abound on how to dry and fix a sodden phone (e.g. packing phones in uncooked rice or baking it in an oven etc.), yet most of these will at best deliver mixed results or more seriously can potentially be dangerous. Here's a quick step by step guide to safely attempting to bring back a drowned phone or PDA.

1. Don't turn the device back on!!! I know this is the most 'logical' thing to do to check whether it is ok and tempting to do so. As soon as possible (preferably as soon as a dunking has happened), remove the device's battery to prevent any electrical shorts from creating permanent damage and once the battery is out, shake out any excess water.

2. Dry your gadget using a soft absorbent towel. Remove any battery covers, memory cards etc. Grabbing a blow dryer, set it to low heat and position it to blow on your widget from approximately 100cm away. Keep an eye on it for the first 10-15 mins, checking to ensure it doesn't get too hot. If the device gets too hot to touch, turn off the blow dryer immediately, leaving your gizmo to cool down. Increase the distance between the blow dryer and your device and start again. You'll probably need to do this for at least an hour, maybe even 2 - 3 hours.

3. Next, drop your device into a small container and loosely pack it with cotton balls. Whilst some suggest using rice, cotton balls won't leave a starchy residue, and won't gunk up your device. Ideally you should leave it packed in cotton balls sitting in an airing cupboard for at least 24 hours, longer if necessary.

4. By now your device should be dry and the cotton balls damp. Check the device thoroughly for water, if any can be seen behind its screen, keys and other parts, repeat step3 until there is no trace of water.

Assuming your device looks and feels dry, re-insert its battery back and try switching it on. If it won't start, your battery could be dead and might need to be charged. Before doing any charging, make sure that the battery is a 110 per cent dry before charging it. As there may be some moisture still inside the device do not connect it to its power adaptor/charger to see if it works as this could permanently damage your device, blow a fuse or make your hair stand on end.

5. If device refuses to work after 24 hours, repack it in cotton balls, put it in the airing cupboard and give it another 48 hours before trying to restart it. If your device still refuses to work, use its power adaptor/charger and see if that works. If at that point it still doesn't want to play ball, you'll probably need accept defeat.

Bookmark and Share

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

FingerSuite & Ftouchflo - Finger friendly goodness







While browsing through xda-developers trying to make my wife's Eten Glofiish X610 more finger friendly, I came across this smart little program that replaces the standard menu & message box on windows mobile devices so that they are finger friendly. I'm finding this app really useful on my wife's pda.



Another app to make your pda finger friendly is the excellent ftouchflo by efrost. It was freeware but since last year, he's decided to make it a commercial software suite called FTouchSL. I missed the scroll feature that was present in my HTC devices and just remembered this tool.

So if you want to make your device more finger friendly, try these 2 tools. It'll be worth it!

Bookmark and Share

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Why is Microsoft Not Winning the Smartphone War?



Windows Mobile
skylar17 posted this on wmpower user a few days ago. Read it and comment. I think what he/she's saying is true to some degree. Long live Windows Mobile!

Why is Microsoft Not Winning the Smartphone War?
Microsoft, the personal computer juggernaut, has long dominated the computer industry with their Windows Operating System. Windows has managed to stay dominant and ward off both Apple and the countless versions of Lunix thus far. If Microsoft has been able to do this in the PC industry, why can’t they win in the mobile industry?

It’s personal
A mobile phone is much more personal than a PC. Microsoft’s goal (and how they make money) is to have every person in the world own a PC.

The truth is, there are more phones than PCs in the world today. Because of the huge amount of mobile phones owned, it has given room for six contemporary smartphone operating systems:

* Iphone OS
* Blackberry OS
* Android
* WebOS
* Windows Mobile
* Symbian

Unlike in the desktop/laptop/netbook/nettop/whatever industry, the mobile industry is brimming with competition.

Faster Paced
Microsoft is familiar with releasing an updated version of Windows system roughly every 3-5 years. This differs from the mobile landscape where new smartphone OS are being developed in intervals as little as 6 months.
Take for instance the Iphone’s OS. Each year a new version is debuted.
Android: 1.0 released in late 2008, was updated to 1.5 in early 2009
I could list more examples but it is clear that the industry is filled with constant evolution.
The PC industry evolves in steps. The mobile industry evolves up a hill (constant).

So will Windows Mobile Die?
No,
Windows mobile, or “Windows Phones” are here to stay. Because of the sheer size of the mobile industry there is room for 6 smartphone operating systems. For now, Microsoft is able to afford being ‘late to the game’.
Windows Mobile needs revolution, not evolution
This is where Windows Mobile 7 comes in. Like Windows 7, WM7 it is the opportunity for Microsoft to ‘get it right’. Microsoft is taking the correct path in my opinion, by having WM 6.5 and 7 out in the market at the same time. This way, they can attempt to compete in two different categories:

* 6.5:The all-in-one hardware/software experience (Apple, Palm, RIM’s approach)
* 7: The general operating system for many different types of hardware (Google and Symbian’s approach)

Who will become dominant?
If you are asking my opinion: undoubtedly Google’s Android.
Android is constantly evolving at an alarming rate and it thrives off of ‘the cloud’. Since cloud computing is surely moving mainstream I believe that Android will be the most commonly used smartphone OS.

How Could the others win?
Blackberry: is in a niche market for the business or text-happy consumer; failing to make real cutting-edge progress in multimedia consumption. They need to modify their OS for multimedia consumption and creation.

Iphone: is in too closed of an environment to allow innovation outside of Apple’s own updates. In addition multitasking is completely necessary.

Symbian: Nokia needs to step-up on their hardware’s power. The N-Series, E-Series devices are high-quality but the processors used inside of them are clocked at laughable speed. In addition the S60 email experience is terrible, to say the least. Perhaps the Symbian foundation’s next releases will rapidly improve on this. I am not quite sure yet.

WebOS: Palm has already made an Os that also thrives in ‘the cloud’. Palm’s hardware manufacturing sadly falls short of other manufacturers. Palm should let HTC manufacture their devices and instead put more time and effort into evolving WebOS. In addition, gaming support is necessary for the mainstream consumer.

Windows Mobile: Multi touch, capacitive screens, Zune integration. There are so many opportunities that Microsoft has refused to take advantage of thus far.

Let’s hope for a better tomorrow.

Long live Windows Mobile!

via clove via wmpoweruser

Bookmark and Share

Sunday, August 2, 2009

HTC Hero unboxing






Pocketnow.com have an unboxing video of the HTC Hero. Brendan is impressed with the packaging and so am I. You can a small bag, small & slim box and everything in the box is white. The teflon coating really makes a difference.

Comparing different phones makes the HTC Hero a bit thicker but feels nice in the hand.

Can't wait for the software review. Brendan please hurry up!

Should I switch to the HTC Hero from my HTC Touch Pro?


Bookmark and Share

Fighter game - Use G-sensor to control your ship



G-Sensor Shoot 'em up - Dopod warship
Here is an excellent game that xda-developers user xxmarkosxx found on a Chinese site. It is a shoot 'em game but you use your G-sensor or accelerometer to control your ship! It is addictive, but... it's all in Chinese! baymon another user has given a translation with thumbnails. The game is actually called Dopod Warship. GmoLopez has translated the game to Spanish but some graphics can't be changed as easily.

Heads up to all the guys there! Now only if we have a full English game, that would be awesome!

I did find at first try, it was a bit difficult to control the ship but later got the hang of it.

Download from the thread, unzip on your pc and copy the whole contents of the folder to your pda. Click on fighter.exe and your good to go!

Bookmark and Share

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Windows Mobile App store opens to Developers





Windows Mobile App Store
Looks like the Windows Mobile app store is open for Developers on monday, but as usual with new sites there's bound to be glitches as reported in The Inquirer. First there was a bug in the credit card process and hidden fees! Microsoft wants $99 per app from Developers to release an app in the store. WTF???

"Microsoft, in its all-powerful wisdom, has decided to levy an extraordinary $99 fee for each and every application, regardless of whether the code passes the company's 'rigorous' testing and selection process or not."

Obviously with charges like these, there will be no free apps in this store. Why can't MS learn from the successful Apple App Store? It is a very good model - free apps & paid apps. MS are late in starting an app store & now are charging for developers to upload their apps.

I don't know about you guys but I'll be holding my breath to see if the WM app store really will become a success. If not, I know where I can get some of the best freeware for my WM - xda-developers or warez sites hehehe

from The Mobile Spoon via The Inquirer

Bookmark and Share
Free Advertising