Sprint lays on the Buffet!

Posted by: Peter Murphy on Feb 29 2008 - 238 views

With the rush to reinvent the data plan, most of the big Telco’s have rushed in to present "all you can eat" plans in a bid to win/keep users happy in a dissatisfied market.  Now, Sprint is jumping to the front of the pack, with their new unlimited plan:

that includes unlimited calling, unlimited text messaging, unlimited GPS navigation, unlimited Sprint TV, unlimited Sprint Music, and unlimited data. It is easy, EVERYTHING is unlimited with Sprint’s new plan that will be available tomorrow for new and existing customers.

I don’t know about you, but it looks like the mobile market is opening up, all this competition has to be good for something?

This is from Matt Miller at the Mobile Gadgeteer and a relevant point he makes is

I wonder if the unlimited data includes unlimited tethering to laptops as well?

Have they got you on the run as well?

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Review: Real Dice Spades

Posted by: dgoldring on Feb 28 2008 - 491 views

One thing you may have been able to tell from my posts is that I went to college way back in the time before time, the dark ages, when computers stood alone on your desktop, occasionally dialing into an intranet or bulletin board via 14.4 baud modems.  In fact, for most of the time I was in college, we had only the most rudimentary email.  My point in saying this is not to make some of you marvel at my age, but to say that without the Internet to waste countless hours, we had to find other ways to entertain ourselves.  I mean, even before the Internet, we had to find something to do when we should have been studying.  In many instances, this meant finding a few friends and a deck of 52.  Card games were played everywhere, and one of the favorites was Spades.  As such, you can imagine my excitement when I found that Real Dice, earlier this year, had launched a Spades game on their network of online games.

[Note: Before reading on, you should read my review of Real Dice World Launcher, which will give you an overview of the environment in which this game exists.]

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Clinton Fitch: Hands Off!

Posted by: dgoldring on Feb 28 2008 - 239 views

 

Clinton Fitch of the aptly named Clinton Fitch(dot)com is on a roll.  I think this is three reviews in three days for him (though he now claims to be all caught up which is more than I can say.)  In his latest review, he takes a quick look at the Just Mobile PK 06 Hands Free Car Kit.  With more and more states moving to a hands free while driving requirement, this could be an important review for many of you to read.  In his review, Clinton states:

From a call perspective, the PK-06 offers excellent call quality and clarity.  In my testing, I had no problem hearing calls or being heard on the device, even on roads that created road noise.  Part of this is the DSP (Digital Sound Processor) that is built into the PK-06.  This advanced feature cuts down on background noise for those you are speaking with through the device but also clarifies the sound coming to you as the listener.  The DSP normally increases costs dramatically so Mobis should be commended for including it while keeping the cost of the device under $100 (US).

Check out his full review at Clinton Fitch(dot)com.

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Proporta Churns Out More Awesome Accessories

Posted by: weiganla on Feb 28 2008 - 208 views

If you’ve been around JAMM for a while, you know we love Proporta. I mean, they make beautiful leather cases for every gadget under the sun, reinforce them with aluminum, and then send them to you with a bag of English tea. How can you not think they’re fabulous?

Proporta must also be very busy. Over the last few weeks we’ve received several press releases announcing new accessories for numerous phones. The latest to hit our inboxes is the line of products for the HTC Touch Cruise, including an Alu-Leather case, a silicone case, and a screen protector.

I just decided I want an HTC Touch Cruise.

OK, I’m back. Sorry, had to wipe the drool off my keyboard. Anyway, whatever device you’re carrying, do yourself a favor and check out Proporta’s site. They will probably have something gorgeous for it. If they don’t, check back in about a week. Sometimes the trained monkeys that monitor JAMM’s email go on strike for more bananas, and we lose product updates. Blame Charlie — the monkeys live in the back of the Contest Factory, and it gets pretty noisy there.

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Mobile Commuting! that’s not a typo

Posted by: Peter Murphy on Feb 28 2008 - 330 views

I, like a whole lot of other people, ride public transport to work, and my commute, though not incredibly long, can seem like an enormous waste of time. I have access to two different wifi networks whilst waiting for the train to come, and if I’m early enough to the station I can check email, and refresh NewsBreak, therefore skimming my feeds on the journey. This somehow, rather inadequately, helps fill the connectionless void I find myself in for that half hour. It’s downtime that I loathe, and wish there was a solution for, other than using my mobile for BT Dial Up, I’m still using an Axim as my primary mobile device. Being on top of the world in Australia, I catch most of you guys late in the day, the day before, I’m going to work in the morning. There’s usually lot’s of stuff (read crap) to flush from my inbox, with almost bowel purging satisfaction. The train ride then becomes a butt clenching wait.

So when I came across this article, at PC World, I relaxed a little, cause I think this is an idea that would ease a lot of peoples tech separation anxiety, and increase productivity of most online based workers.

From both a government and grassroots level, however, efforts are under way to make the loathsome at least livable, through various applications of technology.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority recently garnered headlines when it began a pilot Wi-Fi program on its Worcester line, which travels between Boston and Worcester in the middle of the state. The agency plans to eventually offer it system-wide.

Of course, train riders have long used cellular-based Wi-Fi. But an opportunity lies in making Wi-Fi a basic service on public transportation

If you can connect wherever you are, you can work wherever you are, does that not make sense. I often leave work early and race home so that I can do ordering that I have to do online, that I could easily do on the train, on the handheld, thus leaving me free to post more interesting news (read crap) here.

In Oz the government has taken steps to insure that all residents have access to a broadband connection, but that should extend to anywhere anytime as well.

Open network wifi access on public transport, as being trialed in our poor cousins nation, should be an immediate inclusion, worldwide, as the Australian Government’s $84 million porn filter should not!

Ohhhh….. That’s a relief!

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Review: The Kensington Slimblade Trackball Mouse and Bluetooth USB Micro Adaptor

Posted by: dgoldring on Feb 27 2008 - 1,891 views

I am old enough that I can remember the very earliest days of personal computers…heck, my first computer was the Apple II+ and what a marvel we thought that was.   As a result, I have watched firsthand the evolution of personal computers, including the notebook/laptop computer from its earliest incarnation to the current MacBook Air and desktop replacements like the Toshiba Qosmio.  Most of the time, when I think back on my first experiences with portable computers (that weighed about 10 pounds) and then flash forward to today…well, it really is astonishing to think about how far technology has advanced and is continuing to advance.  Still, there have been a few "dead ends" or areas where the technology seemed to take a wrong turn and got stuck there.  One such wrong turn, in my opinion, is the touch pad mouse.  I remember the first true laptops I used had a detachable trackball style mouse, which later became the eraser point mouse and ultimately the touchpad.  Obviously, the touchpad has the advantage of requiring very little space on a space conscious computer.  Otherwise, however, I have found them to be a nightmare.  Unresponsive finger swipes, inadvertent taps, and, of course, the patently less than ergonomic position in which these will place your hands.  Ever since I got my Toshiba Satellite last year, I have been convinced that there simply must be a better way to control the cursor on my screen.  I was just about to give up when Kensington displayed their Slimblade Trackball Mouse at this year’s CES.  Was this the solution I had been seeking?  Read on and we’ll find out together.

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