When Apple unveiled its “latest creation” earlier this week, I was disappointed.  Cautiously expecting paradigm-shifting technology, what I got was a camera-less, non-multitasking, non-AMOLED, DRMed up the Dock Connector, large iPod touch. 

Disappointments list aside, I am not dismissing the iPad; it’s just that the device didn’t deliver the expected wow.  Matter of fact, I think tablets will be huge in coming decade, and iPad helps set the stage for this new frontier.  Molly Wood’s excellent analysis sums up my thoughts on the subject brilliantly.  

But I also think Apple’s iPad-punt makes it more likely that other companies will have the chance to dominate the coming tablet market.  Google and Microsoft are obvious players, but since moving quickly is antithetical to the Microsoft modus operandi, it’s up to Google for now. 

If Google takes the tablet by the – well, gently by the side with just enough thumb pressure – and runs with it, the company will position itself very well very quickly. 

Here’s how I think Google and Android can win the Tablet Wars in the coming years.

Google is expected to announce its first branded phone on Tuesday, the Nexus One.  And the upcoming smartphone has, to say the least, generated a great deal of Internet buzz.  Sure, we all love Android (well, many of us do), but as the device’s release grows near, I’ve been wondering more and more…

What exactly is the big deal about the Nexus One?

The excitement, it seems, centers mainly on Google’s reported decision to claim the device as its own.  All previous Android-powered smartphones have been products touted and sold by their respective manufacturers/carriers, so there would seem to be something about the Nexus One that sets it apart – enough for Google to stamp the device with its logo and sell it unlocked directly to users, an unprecedented move. 

Could that “apartness” be as simple as hardware specs? The Nexus One, according to what information we have, is certainly a high-end phone, with features like a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU, an OLED touchscreen display, and 802.11n Wi-Fi. 

Or could there be something else about the device that makes it Google-worthy?

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It’s important to remember all veterans on this Veterans Day, but it’s particularly necessary to remember those who have been injured while serving in the U.S. military.  Operation Family Fund is a charity tirelessly dedicated to wounded soldiers, and one that uses 100% of its donations to help those in need. 

There’s no money taken for staff, postage or any type of overhead.  Every cent you donate to Operation Family Fund goes directly to those who need it most.  If you can help this fantastic organization, it would be greatly appreciated.

Our deepest thanks to all who have served.

UPDATE 11/2/09: Full Samsung Intrepid Review Posted

Samsung’s first Windows Mobile 6.5 Smartphone (Windows Phone) is here.  This Messenger-class handset’s design will be familiar to those who’ve used previous Samsung smartphones like the Jack, Ace and Epix.

Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional comes onboard the Samsung Intrepid, and while it is certainly an improvement over 6.1 in terms of usability and aesthetics, it’s by no means a game changer for Microsoft in the smartphone market.  However, it does make a few long-overdue changes, and that can only help the software giant in the mobile space until Windows Mobile 7 debuts next year.  Windows Media Player Mobile is still terrible, I’m sad to report.  IE6 Mobile is a lot better than expected.

The keyboard and toushscreen of the Intrepid are very capable and, although there’s an included stylus, I’ve yet to need it.  The 3.2MP camera is fair, and I love the new WM6.5 camera software.

Fans of Windows Mobile and the Messenger-class design will be, I think, quite satisfied with the Intrepid.  So far the unit seems speedy and stable.

Full review coming October 28.  If you have questions about the Intrepid you’d like answered, please email me.

View the Best Price for the Samsung Intrepid…

Learn more about the Sprint Samsung Intrepid…

M. Nichols, Products Editor

NVIDIA has been touting its low-power Tegra System-On-A-Chip (SoC) for mobile devices since early last year, and now – for the first time – we’re beginning to see this system show up in handheld spec listings.  The upcoming Zune HD is powered by the Tegra APX 2600, which gives the player its 720p HD video capabilities.

But this SoC won’t be limited to dedicated multimedia devices; NVIDIA’s Tegra APX series of SoCs will also power future Windows Mobile handhelds, and will provide not only for HD video output, but for a more visually appealing UI as well.

In a press release regarding the Zune HD, NVIDIA states that the company has at least “50 active Tegra processor-based design projects currently in the works.”  At least some of these devices are sure to be Windows Phones, smartphones powered by Windows Mobile 6.5, or (more likely) Windows Mobile 7 which is due out next year.

What will Tegra mean for future Windows Mobile smartphones?  Perhaps most importantly, Tegra will provide the processing power for a new User Interface, which Microsoft has indicated is a main focus of Windows Mobile 7.  Other benefits include superior video playback, faster rendering of web pages in a mobile browser, support for OLED screens, up to 12MP of image processing from a digital camera, HDMI output to TVs and other video devices, device screen resolutions up to 1280×1050, and OpenGL & Direct3D Mobile support.

Whether you’re a fan of RSS on the desktop or not, we’re sure you’ll agree that mobile devices really make the news aggregating technology shine.

If you’re a Windows Mobile touchscreen smartphone user – and if you’re reading this you very likely are – there are two new excellent RSS Reader choices for you to sink your tech teeth into.

Spb News – formerly Spb Insight – is a new RSS offering from Spb Software with a touch-friendly design, added gesture support for moving back and forth through articles, scheduled updates and more.  Supports WM 2003 and above.

SBSH GoNews isn’t exactly new (it’s just been updated to v1.1), but the software now includes Google Reader support, a feature we always welcome.  Runs on Windows Mobile 5 and 6 touchscreen devices.

Take a look at the complete offering of RSS reader software:

RSS & News Reader Software for Windows Mobile Touchscreen Devices

RSS & News Reader Software for Windows Mobile Non-Touchscreen Devices

If you’re a Verizon Wireless customer who’s been hanging on for the release of Verizon’s version of the HTC Touch Diamond, you now have something else to hang on to: your wallet. 

According to today’s press release, Verizon plans to sell the “new’ Touch Diamond for $299 with a two-year service agreement and a $70 mail-in rebate, which means you’ll lay down $370 bucks to take home this soon-to-be retired handset when it goes on sale tomorrow.

Why price Verizon’s Touch Diamond $100 over the MSRP of Sprint’s version?  No clue. 

We’ll be eager to see how long it takes for Verizon to lower the cost of this phone.

Long Zheng at istartedsomething.com has posted an interesting article defending the often maligned honeycomb, the scattered hexagonal arrangement of icons used in the updated Start Menu of Windows Mobile 6.5.

Long clearly describes the logic of the hexagonal icon layout:

“Contrary to popular belief, the tip of human fingers is not squared, but in fact circle-shaped when depressed against a hard surface like a touchscreen. When you’re space-constrained as you are in something like the applications menu – where there’s a fine balance between how many icons can be displayed at one time and how easy it is to hit the icons, large circular hitareas makes it easier for users to touch the desired icons and avoid accidentally hitting nearby icons.

“A grid is the most efficient method to pack as many squares into an area as possible, but not for circles. The mathematically most efficient method to arrange non-overlapping circles – a problem called “sphere packing” – is actually and as you might have guessed by now, hexagonal.”

I have my qualms with WM6.5, along with a healthy dose of “wait and see” skepticism. But I’m also ever watchful for writers defending Microsoft’s mobile choices, if for no other reason than they are so often sitting (and typing) alone.  I like the honeycomb, at least on paper, but irrespective of personal likes or dislikes, Long mounts an excellent defense of its use.

According to The Register, President Obama’s 2010 budget includes a new yearly spectrum license fee of $200 million dollars; that’s four times the current fee of $50 million dollars, and the stated plan is to increase fees incrementally to $550 million dollars a year by 2020.  Wireless carriers must pay this fee each year in order to use the spectrum for wireless devices – read: cell phones.

We feel wireless carriers overcharge for their many of their services, so why shouldn’t we be happy the Feds are stickin’ it right back to ‘em?  Because businesses don’t pay taxes out of pocket, they simply increase the amount they charge customers for goods and services to recover the amount they’re forced to pay.  Which means we can look forward to increasingly higher wireless bills once (and if) this change goes into effect, whether we bring home $18,000 a year or $250,000.

Bottom line: if a company you do business with (for power, food, gasoline, phone service, travel, etc.) has its taxes raised, you’ll be the one paying for it.

via Engadget Mobile

While it’s not exactly earth-shattering news, Steve Ballmer confirmed yesterday that Windows Mobile 7 is coming next year.

Since Windows Mobile 6.5 won’t begin shipping on new devices until the second half of 2009, it’s safe to assume WinMo 7 will ship at least on year later, sometime in the second half of 2010.  For many, Windows Mobile 7’s release a year and a half from now seems too little, too late, and while we concur with the latter part of that sentiment, Microsoft has an opportunity to do big things with 7.

The iPhone and RIM’s BlackBerry smartphone devices are popular, useful devices, of that there’s no doubt.  And while the respective operating systems powering these devices have a great deal to offer on the device end, there’s a lot missing – or at least underdeveloped – when it comes to PC connectivity and working seamlessly with Windows PCs.