Here Come Da Judge!
For the sixth year in a row, I’ll be a judge for the Smartphone & Pocket PC Magazine Best Software Awards. If you use a Windows Mobile Pocket PC, Pocket PC Phone, or Smartphone, be sure to let me know what your favorite applications via the Contact Us page so that I can make sure that they’re included in the nominations. I always enjoy judging the Best Software Awards, although about the only time I use a Windows Mobile phone these days is when I’m doing the judging!
WTF with Movable Beast, Steve?
You’ll all find out soon enough. In the meantime, the site is going to be focusing back on its roots - mobile devices. I’m going to have another outlet for my Apple fixation soon enough! Stay tuned (and sorry about the mess right now…)
Press Release: FlipSide MP3 Player for WinMo
FlipSide MP3 Player, Featuring “Swooshing” Album Art as Part of Acclaimed Visual Interface, Now Available for Windows Mobile
WYE VALLEY, UK (April 29, 2008) - FlipSide, the MP3 player from Electric Pocket that has had BlackBerry users buzzing, is now available to users of Windows Mobile devices such as the Treo 700xw, Mogul, Ace, and Blackjack. The feature that has made FlipSide such an instant hit among BlackBerry users is its iPhone-like interface that allows users to visually “swoosh” through their music quickly and easily.
Navigating through music and selecting tunes is a simple process with FlipSide: scroll through the Album Covers, or flick through them using your finger on the screen, then click on the navigation button to open up a vertical list of the tracks. The spacebar is used to start, pause and skip songs, while the navigation button is used to scroll either left or right to either fast forward or rewind within a song.
While FlipSide comes with the features expected of any MP3 player, the feature that gets the most buzz is the attractive user interface that makes FlipSide both visually enjoyable and very easy to use. Its ability to “swoosh” through the full-color cover art of an entire music collection within seconds using the navigation control button makes FlipSide stand-out as both a simple and fun MP3 player. FlipSide downloads and displays the cover art of each album and even links to FlipSide Extras to provide biographies of the artists, recommendations for similar artists and more.
FlipSide for Windows Mobile plays music stored on memory cards in MP3 & WMA formats. FlipSide retails for $19.95 and a free trial download is available now from the FlipSide website at http://flipside.fm
Chumby Love
About a month ago I was glancing at some tweets that had come in and noticed someone commenting on “Chumby“. Since that is one of the four million names I have for our cat Ruby, I immediately took notice and did a quick Google to see what this was all about. What I found was a really cool product that isn’t very mobile, but it IS very useful. (Read more after the break)
MacBook Air: A user’s report
I’ve had my MacBook Air for three weeks now, so I thought I’d do a little progress report on what I like and/or dislike about the MBA. After all, if you’re considering purchasing a MacBook Air, you don’t want to base your purchase on some of those breathless unboxing videos or on the flames about the “lack” of certain features on the slimmest notebook out there. Read on to hear my opinion of the MacBook Air after using it for travel over the last three weeks. Read more
Nokia Smartphones: Functional, but boring
The first smartphone I really loved was the Nokia 3650. It was kind of a goofy phone - instead of the traditional 10 key pad, it had a “ring” of keys around the exterior of the key area. It was fairly easy to use (Symbian OS), took decent photos, and was one of the best sounding phones I have ever owned.
New Movable Beast TV - MacBook Air Unboxing
Hey, you can watch me unbox my new 1.8 GHz (no SSD) MacBook Air that was just delivered. The video is after the break so it doesn’t hose up my wonderful formatting here on the site. You can also see it down in the center of this page (although there are unsightly scroll bars!). Read more
Another Airport That “Gets It”
I’ve had the pleasure of traveling to Columbus, Ohio twice over the last year. Last August, I was here to do a two-day class on my way to a conference in Cary, NC; now I’ve been here for four days doing a Business Analysis Boot Camp for ASPE Technology. One of the reasons I like flying to this city is that their airport is small enough to not have many delays, but large enough to cater to the many business people who have to fly in and out of the airport serving the huge insurance business here.
This is an airport that “gets it” when it comes to connectivity. I’m sitting here in an ex-phone booth that has been outfitted with a power plug, using the free WiFi that permeates the airport. And what’s really nice is that unlike the “free” WiFi at my home airport (Denver International Airport), CMH provides extremely fast and ad-free service. When I’m at DEN, I have to wait through a 30-second mandatory ad, then put up with banner ads at the top of every page. To top it off, the service is slower than mud.
They’re also one of the many airports that put their police force on Segway Personal Transporters. I love these devices - they’re a great way to get around and if my fargin’ state would ever get off of it’s dead ass, they’d approve ‘em for use on city streets, sidewalks, and bike paths like most of the states in this country.
Let’s hear it for Port Columbus International Airport in Columbus, Ohio!
Why the MacBook Air will be a successful product
Reading a lot of the posts or comments on other Mac-related web sites these days, you hear a lot of talk about the MacBook Air. People either love it or hate it, with not much common ground. After holding one in my hands at Macworld Expo, I knew I had to have one, not because it is so supermodel thin and sexy, but because it is a product that is aimed at me. (Click link to read more)
What the hell is going on with Apple’s stock price?
After announcing a number of new revenue-enhancing products and services at Macworld Expo, then following up with news of the best quarter ever for Apple, you’d expect their stock price to be countering the downward trend that the rest of the market is taking. Instead, the price is down about 35% from its high, and there seems to be no end in sight for the downward spiral. So what’s the cause of this dismal showing on NASDAQ for what was a darling of the tech stocks just two weeks ago?
I’m not an investment analyst, just a tech geek. So take what I say with a very large grain of salt and certainly don’t base your investment decisions on my comments. But it seems to me that the market is overreacting to a number of things. (Click on the link to read more)
Some MacWorld Expo Thoughts
I returned from a week at Macworld Expo Friday afternoon and thought I’d share some of my thoughts about the announcement with readers.
MacBook Air - Yes, I’ve already ordered one to replace my MacBook and no, I didn’t get the Solid State Drive option. I do a lot of traveling, averaging two trips per month, and any device that can reduce the volume and weight of what I have to carry is going to get my attention. The hands-on feel of the keyboard is excellent, actually an improvement on the good keyboards that come with the existing MacBook and MacBook Pro. The Air doesn’t get hot - I picked up a sampling of Airs that had been used hard all day at the 100 foot long display table and they were barely warm. The LED backlight produces a very even and bright display, and the location of the ports and MagSafe power outlet are good and unobtrusive. Read more after the break! Read more
Movable Beast Macworld Minute #1
OK, it took a while to get this done since my files had all been taken off of my MacBook when I upgraded it to Leopard, but warts and all this should give you a good feel for what happened during the keynote yesterday and what I’m doing today. Enjoy!
From The Floor - Invisible Shield
My best-laid plans of trying to hit the entire floor at Moscone South took a big hit this morning when one of the first booths I visited was that of the Invisible Shield guys. They’re giving away free Invisible Shields to anyone who gives up their old iPhone or iPod case, but since I don’t use one anyway I paid $20. This is a wonderful “skin” that is applied to the surface of your device to protect it from any and all damage. While I’m waiting for this to get done, I’ll be doing a bit of posting and podcasting. More soon!
Coming Up Next From Macworld Expo
Hi, MovableBeast fans! It was fun meeting some of you yesterday in the line for the Keynote and last night at the MacLevelTen meetup. Be sure to visit our sister sites (see the list on the lower right side of this page) for even more Macworld Expo news.
Today is my day to wander around the show floor, and you can be sure that I’ll be doing a number of interviews, grabbing info about new products, and otherwise gleaning through the mounds of Expo stuff to get you the best news about what’s new. I have a few visits that are going to be fun - like going to the Garmin booth and asking them what’s taking so long on their promised GPS products for Mac or meeting my buddies at Mark/Space in the flesh.
Stay tuned for more from MovableBeast!
Liveblog - Keynote
Steve J. announced Time Capsule, a backup device that features an Airport Extreme (802.11n) and a hard drive. 500 GB for $299, 1 TB for $499.
4 Million iPhones sold to date, now #2 in the smartphone market in USA, RIM is #1. SDK shipping in late February. Great features today - maps with location, webclips to be put on the home screen, up to 9 home screens, SMS multiple people at once, Lyrics support.
Steve demoed the locations feature, we can now drop pins anywhere and get directions to those pins. He then sent SMS messages to four people at once. Web clips demo - there is a + button that allows an “Add to home screen”. Icon added to home page. Steve showed New York times, zoomed into Technology section, added to home screen - goes right to that page. Touch and hold causes the icons to jiggle, at which point you can move them around on Home Page or to other home pages. (Click the link for MORE!) Read more
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Joy of Tech!
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MacLevelTen
