Mobile Tech: November 2005 Archives

As reported in an uncharacteristically short entry on Robin Good's MasterNewMedia.org site, Sony has released a new firmware update to the PSP that allows RSS reading and WMA audio on the handheld device. Alongside TiVo2Go adding PSP support for television, we're seeing this gaming handheld become quite a useful and interesting machine. Perhaps I will get my hands on one to see where the limits lie.

Now this is more in line with what people may have been expecting out of the Motorola/Apple collaboration.

After the ROKR phone's lukewarm reception, Motorola has unveiled the latest phone offering with iTunes support: the RAZR V3i. Some will say this is what the ROKR should have been. While the ROKR is essentially an older Motorola brick-style phone with new software, the V3i sports the buzzworthy RAZR form factor along with iTunes, expandable memory via MicroSD and TransFlash, POP3/IMAP email client, and a 1.23 megapixel digital camera. The RAZR V3i is slated to ship, along with 3 other new RAZR phones - two that are pink and blue, and one that supports CDMA/EV-DO - in Q4 of 2005.

The Bluetooth connectivity is present in the V3i, although the current RAZR models are compatible with Apple iSync for USB only. However, the ability to use Bluetooth as a mobile internet connection for your laptop via the phone, and of course Bluetooth headset capability are present in the RAZR V3 so this will likely be the same in the RAZR V3i. Here's to hoping that the Bluetooth abilities will be expanded upon, though I wouldn't hold my breath. Until this hits the shelves we won't get much more information than this, but the important point is that the ROKR's unfortunate debut may not have put a damper on the future of mobile iTunes. Time will tell- the ROKR television ads are still airing frequently, so perhaps the jury is still out on the ROKR as well. Rejection by the early-adopter tech crowd does not mean commercial failure overall... many a Slashdot reader can recall the infamous line "No wireless, smaller than a Nomad. Lame." that was their verdict on the original iPod.

I've received my new Hiptop OS update for the T-Mobile Sidekick II. Having played with it for about a week, I can say that this is absolutely a great update so far. Good job, Danger Inc! Here's a quick listing of what I have noticed so far. Refer to my previous write-up of the release notes for a complete feature list.

• Faster web browser performance. Much faster.
• Javascript in web browser. Seems to work okay. Posting to Typepad caused my device to reset but I've only tried that once so don't draw any conclusions.
• Better visual rendering of HTML and CSS. This is a pretty big deal because sites are more readable and less stressful to look at.
• Copy text out of a web page. There's only a select all option for now, probably because there is no cursor with which to highlight sections of text.
• Slideshow capability in photo gallery
• The Terminal app that stopped working with a previous update now works again. I can use SSH/Telnet from virtually anywhere now.