While I’m as excited as the next gadget freak by all the talk of the new Apple iPhone, the mythical Google phone, and Palm’s next SmartPhone-move, the new HTC S730 (aka the HTC Wings) could actually be my next phone. I have the Cingular 2125 right now and the clincher for me is that the HTC Wings is about the same size and weight as my 2125 and it has a slideout keyboard.
Cingular 2125 size/weight:
116mm x 46mm x 18mm, 106 grams
HTC Wings size/weight:
100mm x 50mm x 19mm, 120 grams
AT&T Homezone customers will able to…
use their mobile handsets to remotely view listings and schedule or delete recordings from their DVR set-top boxes. All that is needed is a WAP 2.0-enabled handset that lets subscribers access the AT&T-Yahoo portal.
As soon as I read that, my immediate thought was: Where’s the TiVo Verizon Java scheduling widget? Well, PVRWire reports something may be announced shortly:
Next week Verizon and Vodafone will launch a service allowing customers to program TiVo units by phone. Sprint plans to enter the remote recording market later this year.
My headline is a fantasy… There is no perfect phone. My favorite phone for purely email and voice has been the Blackberry 8700, but as a guy who runs a decent amount of multimedia, Windows Mobile is my preferred OS. (Though it frequently drives me crazy.)
I’ve been using the 6700 on Sprint since last summer and it’s time for change. The thing weighs a ton, no longer holds a charge, and I find the hidden keyboard too wide for comfortable thumb typing.
To borrow a term from Gizmodo, I’d like to build a Windows Mobile “Frankenphone” using the best features of the Dash, Blackjack, and 700w:
Dash
Blackjack
Palm 700w
Turns out FM isn’t dead after all… The Nokia N800 Internet tablet has a hidden FM receiver, while the forthcoming Motorola SLVR L9 FM allegiance is a bit more public. I actually dropped XM a few months ago when the amount of commercials seemed to increase and my niche stations were expanded to appeal to … Read more
Another day, another question! Actually, we probably won’t do this daily and this question came in yesterday. A fellow tech blogger asks:
Would you clear something up for me? Is there a Blackberry version of the Slingplayer and is EDGE fast enough to support it?
Sling doesn’t currently provide placeshifting software for the Blackberry platform… which is too bad as Windows Mobile drives me crazy. While getting briefed on Sling’s CES announcements a few weeks ago, I did inquire about Blackberry support. They are aware of consumer interest in such a product, though I wasn’t able to determine if something is or is not being developed at this time. Either way, I wouldn’t expect support in the near future. To recap, Sling does offer Slingplayer Mobile for Windows Mobile PocketPC and Smartphone editions ($30), while Symbian and Palm clients are currently in beta testing.
A periodic roundup of relevant news… Microsoft eying WiFi-enabled Zune filling stations: Engadget Flash-based Zune due in Q407, better WiFi soon: Digital Music News Microsoft made Zune because partner hardware “sucks”: Bloomberg Universal and Sony prohibit Zune sharing for certain artists: Zune Thoughts Europe dreaming of a brown (Zune) Christmas: Washington Post
I get a decent amount of questions via email covering a variety of topics — Believe it or not, I try to answer everything that comes my way. I don’t know why I didn’t think of doing this sooner, but I’m going to start running selected questions and answers. Perhaps my response will be useful to a larger group, and perhaps you readers will have alternate suggestions worth considering.
First up we have a question from a long-time supporter of the site. The last time I heard from John he was debating between television models at Best Buy. We had a few back and forths and then he didn’t take my advice. Ha! This time around, I think John and I are in agreement:
I bought an 20 gig iPod 2 yrs ago but now it has some sort of – can you believe it – frown face. Apple wants $250 to “fix” it. I have all of my tunes backed up so it’s not a problem to start over. What do you recommend? Also, have you ever heard of the frown face icon on the iPod? Weird I know.