Just Another Mobile Monday

eWallet has long been a favorite, and essential, app for many of us here at JAMM - so it’s fun to see today’s news at The Ilium Software Blog, letting us know about a big TV appearance for eWallet and Marc Tassin, Ilium’s marketing guru.

The local NBC TV station did quite a good little story on eWallet, which their reporter seems to like calling ‘The eWallet’ - hey I’m sure Ilium won’t complain about that title. 

Check out the story HERE - and watch the video via the link under the photo along the right-hand side of the article.  I should also pass along that the emphasis on the iPhone in the video is down to the TV station’s editing - not Ilium’s choice:

The emphasis on the iPhone is theirs - Marc showed versions of several devices, and they picked which parts to use (in the car, going back to Detroit, apparently. I’m impressed).

Here’s hoping all this celebrity stuff doesn’t go straight to Marc’s head

Now I’m waiting for a Beta of this to try, and I think the prediction was early May. Nope, no beta yet, but another teaser for you.

iSwish from FlickSoftware is moving on, and I’m still waiting for a Beta?

Development like this can only improve the WinMo UI, but as long as it remains vaporware, hope springs eternal.

If you’re tired of covering your MBA in a Manila envelope all the time, Marware is offering you the option to make all your friends Envious with a shiny (it looks shiny in the pics, anyway) black case for your laptop.

Detailed lining, a thin form factor, magnetic closure, and extra scratch protection are the big selling points.

If that sounds good to you, head on over to the Marware site!

Just a quick tidbit of news, but apparently (from CNET) BlackBerry 9000 users might be able to sync their tunes through iTunes. So they can get up to 16GB of sweet, sweet music in Apple juice format on the shiny new Blackberry Bold! Get your straws ready, it’s slurping time! (that made no sense)

In a previous article, I wrote about LiveJournal, and LJ Mobile.  But not everyone has (or wants) a LJ Blog.  Some people are happy with Wordpress, Blogger, or Live Spaces.  So,  thanks to Sampath Dassanayake (Web site), there is a (FREE) mobile alternative for the above 3 blogging platforms.

From the developer’s web site:

moBlog is a .NET Compact Framework (.NETCF) 2.0 dependent application. Hence you will need to have .NETCF 2.0, which is a free download from Microsoft installed on your device.  It will work on any Windows Mobile 2003 / Windows Mobile 5.0 (WM5) / Windows Mobile 6.0 (WM6) devices.

MoBlog supports both WM Professional (Touch screen), and Standard (Non-touch screen).

Does your device have what it takes?  Sound interesting?  See you on the next page.

[Read the rest of this entry…]

Our good friend / colleague / mentor and all-round gadget guru, Judie Lipsett from Gear Diary, is at a Mobius event in Seattle this week - and was at a presentation this afternoon from Sony-Ericsson on the much-anticipated Sony SE XPERIA X1.

She’s got some news on progress being made on the X1, and lots of great photos, including some useful size comparison shots.

Well worth a visit to Gear Diary to check it out HERE …

I am one of those rare and mythical creatures - a (very) happy Zune owner.  I have a Gen 1 Zune and really have no complaints with it and use it all the time.  I have not been a fan of Zune advertising however, which I just may have mentioned in the past on this site.

This week I just caught a Zune ad on TV for the first time ever - and I was really almost shocked to find that I like it.  I think it’s a well done advert for the Zune … finally.

Things I like about it:

• No enormous pink bunnnies starring in it at all
• It’s simple
• The track used in it (I don’t know what it is) is not lame IMO
• It highlights the single biggest selling point of the Zune - the Zune Pass all-you-can-eat music plans
• No pink bunnies

Have any of you seen the ad yet?  (if not, click the image at the top of this post to have a look) What do you think?

Right after RIM announced it was creating a $150 million fund to support BlackBerry software development, Handmark (the parent company of awesome game studio Astraware) released plans to launch a couple of lifestyle programs and several Astraware games for BlackBerry. Coincidence? Hmm.

The two Handmark programs will be available May 28. Bible Translations features wireless access to 16 translations of the Good Book. Ringtone Junkie is a ringtone manager that also includes unlimited access to its basic ringtone catalog.

Game fans will have to wait a little longer. The press release promises games in Q3 including squishy shoot-em-up Platypus. Astraware’s flagship gamepacks Solitaire, Sudoku, Casino, and Boardgames will show up in Q4.

RIM is obviously trying to extend into the non-business market, but I had my first experience with a BlackBerry Pearl yesterday and I really, really don’t get the appeal. A friend was missing calls because the ring volume was too soft, and it took me about five minutes to figure out how to fix it. I might have done it in four if the darn trackball wasn’t slowing me down. RIM wants me to play games on that thing? I’d rather chew off my own thumb.

Now something that may be urban myth is the way that a mobile device affects the equipment on an airplane, all of our devices have flight mode.

Why? An article I came across today, really challenged the Idea that functioning mobile devices on a flight can actually interfere with the planes function. So that probably means taking off, landing and not having a devastating crash.

So how is that actually debunked, some one does it, uses a mobile device in flight, with no detrimental affects to the aircraft, only getting themselves arrested.

Link

So an article today that points to a guy waiting for a vital call about a family members health condition, didn’t make the plane he was in crash, wouldn’t you think that in flight settings pertain to a long held myth.

Southwest Airlines

It seems like Myth dictates law sometimes!

Well it doesn’t seem that long ago that the Mini 4.1 Beta was released, well six weeks actually. Seems though that the build is the latest standard for the Mobile Browser now.

You wouldn’t expect a baby to get out of nappies [diapers] that quickly, but Opera seem to have an advanced toilet training technique.

The wide world of Opera browser products can admittedly get a little confusing. As a refresher, Opera Mini 4.1 works well on most Java handsets, including BlackBerry, and on Palm phones running a Java environment. Those who download Opera’s browser to Windows Mobile and Symbian phones will get Opera Mobile, a more advanced, commercial browser with a 30-day trial.

Via Cnet News

Opera Mini 4.1 introduces the following new features:

• Opera Mini 4.1 is up to 50% faster than Opera Mini 4.0
• The new Opera Mini will automatically suggest URL completions, making address input easy and intuitive
• Web pages can be saved for later off-line viewing
• Opera Mini 4.1 gives you quick access to the word or phrase you want in Web pages
• Images, ringtones and other content can be downloaded without leaving Opera Mini.

Opera Press Release