Normally I don’t post on deals. I figure if you’re looking for something, chances are by now most you know how to find it. However, this is one deal I didn’t want you guys to miss out on.

For the past while I’ve been using an HP Mini 1020NR which is the Ubuntu version of this same netbook and without a doubt this is one of my favorite laptops EVER. Seriously EVER. I love my MacBook but having taken some time to hackintosh the 1020NR I find the MacBook is spending a lot of time on the sidelines because of just how capable a little device the Mini is.

Anyway, if you’ve been considering a netbook of any kind – today might be the day… Here’s the details:

HP Mini Notebook FW376UA Notebook PC, 10.1″ Diagonal SD LED BrightView Infinity Widescreen Display, Intel Atom Processor N270, 1024MB Memory, 16GB Solid State Drive Flash Module, Wireless 802.11b/g, HP Webcam, Genuine Windows XP Home, Factory Refurbished

And the price? 279.99 with free shipping! If I didn’t already have one, I might have to take the potential butt-chewing from my wife for ordering one without saying anything until it showed up

Yesterday, I was talking about a rumour, today I can tell you it’s a fact, there’s a dell smartphone in the works! This has been rumoured since Dell released the Dell Axim X5, someone said there’d be an X7 converged device, and we were off to the speculation races.

Lot’s of Windows mobile users are affectionate about the Dell Axim, whatever the designation, because they were the most powerful PDA’s for their time, HP were running second best at the time, and Palm had been superseded. 

When Dell stopped support for the Axim in 2007 [Wow! two years ago] the user4 mourning created a wailing wall across many user support sites. Even JAMM grew out of a bunch of Dell axim users networking and getting together!

So when the supposed deity, Michael Dell says yes, we are actually working on a smartphone, it’s big news, or is it!

Michael Dell has reportedly confirmed that his company is developing a smartphone, though he didn’t divulge when this will be available.

The CEO of Dell is on a business trip through Asia, and when speaking in Tokyo said "It is true that we are exploring smaller-screen devices."

He went on to say:

For the last three years, we have integrated 3G radios into our notebooks. We already have agreements with many mobile carriers around netbook devices, so it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect that we would have smaller mobile Internet devices or smartphones in the future.

When speaking in Taipei, Michael Dell reportedly went even further, stating that his company’s first smartphones are meeting internal deadlines, and are not delayed, as has been reported earlier.

Considering the fact that the Axim was a HTC built device, and the latest released devices from HTC, what will dictate the necessary specifications for a Dell smartphone, to make it attractive to carriers, let alone users?

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One has to assume you know exactly where this image came from. But just incase you forgot… this is from the Internet famous episode that my man Ballmer had a couple years back where he runs out breath like an idiot yelling “Developers, Developers, Developers” over and over again until I think someone told him to stop before he popped a blood vessel. Seriously one of the greatest moments in YouTube history. Make sure you check out the remixes.

Anyway, on to our main topic – which if it turns out to be true, pretty much just shut down any chance of Microsoft selling anything through their Mobile Marketplace.

istartedsomething.com is running a story that says:

I’ve also received word from Microsoft “application updates will count as new application submissions, and therefore will count towards the first 5 free submissions, or will cost $99 each after that”. That is, every new binary is treated as a new application.

Let that sink in for a second… $99 for EVERY update to an application. EVERY UPDATE – not just major updates – we’re talking things as simple as slipping a “teh” instead of a “the”. Things like not properly handling the failwhale when twitter is down and it causes your app to fail horribly and take the device with it. Things like adding customer requested functionality. EVERY UPDATE is potentially going to cost a developer $99 to have re-submitted to the Microsoft store.

So, what’s that going to do? Well, for one I’m not even going to bother putting any time in to learning to develop for WinMo, and I doubt I’m going to be the only one who makes that decision. You’re never going to see cool little apps like Pocket God which has seen an “episode” a week for a while now get ported over. But here’s something I can promise you will see for those developers who chose to participate: Sky high prices or YEARLY updates with no point releases or bug fixes in between.

Look reality is simple: Microsoft is sitting on a potential goldmine. The software selling business model has kept companies like Handango and PocketGear going for a long time and they’re in a position to take all of that business plus a sizable chunk of developer’s direct to market sales. They were coming to market with a better deal for developers, a better way of getting software for consumers, and a real chance at winning over both sides from Apple.

Apple is making a mint by providing all the tools for free. a cheap registration cost to developers, making the cost of admission very low to get a real product out into the hands of millions of people. People who all benefit by cheap apps, ease of purchase and good quality. All Microsoft had to do was look at what Apple did, copy it completely (like they’ve done a billions times before) and make a killing. A sweaty monkey could have done it. COPY THE FRICKING MODEL AND MAKE A BILLION BUCKS. HOW HARD IS THAT? But no… leave it to Microsoft to take something simple and utterly fudge it up.

(via JKOTR)

Astraware has just released its award winning Sudoku game for the Blackberry.  Plus, the game is now even better for the Palm OS.  It has been updated to include enhanced graphics, improved calculations, and hints for some of the more difficult puzzles.  Along with Palm and Blackberry, you can also purchase Sudoku for WM and the iPhone.  Astraware has packed this game full of features.  There is a Sudoku of the Day webserver that allows the user to download new puzzles at various difficulties every day.  No worries about ever running out of new challenges.  My favorite gaming extra is the fact that you can enter puzzles you come across in newspapers or magazines, and the game will help you solve them.  What a cool bonus!!!  Check out the press release after the break for all the details.

Don’t forget – Astraware Sudoku is on sale for $4.95 until March 31

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One of the biggest complaints I have heard about the Windows Mobile community lately is the price of the apps.  The problem here is not that Windows Mobile apps cost any more than they ever have, but that a certain other platform costs significantly less.  To be more clear, apps on the iPhone typically cost under $5, with only a select few daring to charge $10 or more.  Meanwhile, most Windows Mobile apps continue to see price points starting around $15 and going as high as $50 in some cases.

While this disparity can be explained, I have a real problem when there is a significant difference in price for the exact same app or game for the two platforms.  Many common apps cost half as much (or less) on the iPhone as the same app would cost on Windows Mobile.  Well, enter PDAMill, which has long been one of my favorite game developers.  Apparently, they see the injustice of this arrangement as well.  That is why they have reduced the price of all of their games to match the prices in the iTunes App Store.  That means most of their extensive library costs only $0.99 to $2.99.  You just can’t do any better than that.  I would hurry over to www.pdamill.com before the wise up and change their minds.