Mahjong is a classic game mixing solitaire and matching pairs.  Gameplay is described as tiles with different images typically arranged into different layouts, with stacked layers adding difficulty to the problem of selecting pairs.  When searching for a quality Mahjong game to play, one of the key features to look for is a good number of unique layouts.  This is where PDArt steps in with Mahjong Mania Pro.  Version 1 boasted 400 unique layouts, with the recent update to version 2 adding another 276 layouts.  Doing the math that brings the total of unique layouts to 676.  This is enough, in my opinion, to keep a person occupied for quite some time.

You can download the demo version of Mahjong Mania Pro from the JAMM Store here, with the full version being available for $16.98.

Most of the time here at JAMM, we tend to focus on the higher end devices, which can hardly even be called phones.  They connect to the Internet, handle email, text messages, music, a variety of additional apps, and plenty more.  These are devices like Windows Mobile, Android, Palm Pre, and iPhone.  Frankly, in many ways they are much more like small computers than phones.  On the other end of the spectrum are standard phones, which make phone calls, but really have limited additional functionality.  Until recently, there was nothing but a growing void between these two extremes.  In the last few months, almost like a splinter coming off of the higher end phones, we seem to have found a growing middle ground.  This new genre, feature phones, was essentially created by Samsung’s original Instinct, and offers many of the data services featured in higher end devices, but without much of the complexity.  The folks at Sprint were kind enough to loan me Samsung’s latest follow up to the Instinct, the aptly names Instinct HD.

What’s In The Box: Most of the usual accessories come with the Instinct HD.  In addition to all of the standard paperwork and manuals, you will find:

• AC adaptor for charging the battery
• USB sync/charge cable
• Headphones
• MicroSD card with SD adaptor
• 1440 mAh Lithium Ion Battery

I will say, though, I noticed quite a few things missing from this package, such as a screen protector, wrist strap, or case.

Quick Look: Let’s start with the main attraction.  The majority of the face of the device is taken up by a massive 3.2 inch HVGA capacitive touch screen.  It is really a very nice screen, and we will discuss it more fully in a bit. 

Beneath the screen are three buttons: home, back, and phone.  That tiny dot which you can barely see beneath the buttons is your microphone. 

On top of the screen is your earpiece and speaker.

Starting around the sides, the left side has the volume buttons and voice recognition button (Samsung calls this the Speech to Action Button). 

On the right are your jacks.  Starting near the top is your the accessory/power cable jack.  I was happy to find that this was a now-standard beneath that is the HD video out jack.  It would have been nice if an HDMI cable had been included, so that you could connect to an HD monitor or TV out of the box.  As it is, that is an additional $20 cable (or more) you are going to need to purchase.  Finally, on the other end is the camera button.

There is nothing to see on the bottom, but on top is the power/screen lock button, and headphone jack.  There is also a wrist strap slot, though I did find it odd that no wrist strap was included. 

On the back, you will find the whopping 5 megapixel camera, which will shoot both still pictures and video, in up to HD quality.  There is even a flash there to help with your photos in low light conditions.

Pop open the back, and there you will find the the battery, as well as the microSD card slot.  I was pretty impressed to find that Samsung included a decent sized 4GB card.  Not as big as you might want down the road, but plenty big to get you started. 

The only problem I had here was that you have to completely remove the battery in order to access the memory card slot.  It would be nice if this had been a bit more accessible.

Interface: In my opinion, the interface is one of the most important factors in the user experience.  If the interface is complicated or not intuitive, then many users will simply grow frustrated and stop using a device (just look what happened to Windows Mobile in the last year or so).  I thought Samsung did a fantastic job with the Instinct interface.  It mimics the iPhone user’s experience, without simply offering a direct copy of the iPhone interface.  This means it should feel familiar to many users (even those who have not used the iPhone), while also remaining unique.

The whole thing starts with the lock screen, consisting of a full screen wallpaper.  You have the ability to customize this screen with any picture on your device.  In other words, it is pretty consistent with most of the lock screens on many of the more advanced devices available today.  On the bottom of the screen is a clock, which shows the time and date.  I really appreciated having this on the lock screen, for obvious reasons. 

Additionally, if you have any missed calls, new emails, or text messages, that information will also be displayed on the lock screen, along with any other reminders or notifications.  I do wish, however, that my complete agenda could have been displayed here.  Frankly, this is one area in which Windows Mobile really excelled.  I have never found the at-a-glance access to my agenda on any device which compared with what Windows Mobile had to offer.  On top of the screen is the lock itself. Just slide the bar to the right to unlock the screen and enter the device.  You will notice this slide to take action will be a recurring theme with this device.

Once you have unlocked the device, we will get into the main user interface.  Like I said, this should feel familiar to anyone who has seen the iPhone, but is unique enough that it does not just feel like an iPhone rip-off.  The main interface consists of five screens:

• Favs: Which will start completely empty.  You can add any apps on your device which you will want to access quickly and easily.  I did think, however, that it would have been nice if you could have added contacts or individual web pages to this screen as well.
• Main: Which has your basic tools for email, text messaging/IM, scheduling, and basic settings.
• Fun: Which is your multimedia functionality, as well as camera, and social networking
• My Stuff: This is where you will find your apps and other items you download from the Sprint Store
• Web: Should be fairly self explanatory.  We’ll talk about the included browser later.  You also have direct buttons for several key web pages.

I really liked this interface, which is easy to use and intuitive.  You can even rearrange the icons, use the settings to control much of the look and feel of the pages, or switch the layout between grid and list format (except Favs which is always in a list).  The nice thing here is that the icons all appear on a shaded opaque background, which allows you to see the wallpaper underneath, without allowing the wallpaper to interfere with the icons.  No one will ever mistake this control and customization for a Windows Mobile device (the Instinct will not let you move icons between pages), but I was impressed by the level of control I found in a phone at this level.

Controls: I was pretty impressed by the controls, and also how well they coordinated with the interface.  Your main control is going to be the touch screen, which I thought worked very well.  You can even change the settings to give you tactile feedback, including a vibration or sound when you touch the screen (when you type, the key presses make the sound of a typewriter, which many users may not understand)…I thought this feedback got old after a few minutes, and quickly turned it off.  However, I really appreciated the fact that it was available if you need or want it.

To help you navigate through the interface, there are also three soft buttons on the bottom of the screen.  The back arrow will take you to the last screen.  Home takes you back to the main interface.  Phone takes you to the phone interface. 

There are not a lot of hard buttons on the device, which helps avoid clutter.  Though I did think the included buttons were very well planned.  Most of the hard buttons relate to functions which are difficult to navigate on a touch screen, such as power, camera,and volume. 

Finally, there is also an accelerometer for motion based functionality.  I did not find a lot of use for this, though it was incorporated into a few apps and games.  Still, it is nice to see that Samsung had the forethought to include it for developers to utilize as necessary.

I will say, however, that I missed a hard keyboard.  I have never been much of a fan of soft/onscreen keyboards, and the one on the instinct was a particular problem.  As you can see, Samsung chose to eschew the traditional QWERTY keyboard layout in most contexts, replacing it with an alphabetical layout. I found this decision to be a bit perplexing, given the fact that just about everyone in the world learns to find keys on a keyboard using the QWERTY setup.  Typing in any other layout is simply not intuitive.  Even if the Instinct had used the QWERTY layout, however, I still generally prefer an actual keyboard, and thought this phone could have benefitted from that addition.

Notwithstanding the missing keyboard, I was really impressed by the controls on the Instinct.  I thought Samsung did a fantastic job of organizing the controls into an intuitive system which worked well within the interface.  I really appreciated the division between hard buttons, soft buttons, and the touchscreen.  They avoided clutter while giving you the easiest path to each control.  I was really impressed to see this level of control in a non-smartphone. 

Phone: Since this is not a smartphone, most of you looking at the Instinct are probably looking for a phone first, and the other stuff second.  So, the phone had better be good.  I was not as impressed as I had hoped to be.  To reach the phone interface, just hit the phone button.  The nice thing here is that this is one of the three soft buttons which will always appear under the screen.  So, you can access the phone from any screen.

The phone interface itself is a tabbed interface (like the main screen) consisting of five tabs:

• Speed dial
• Contacts
• Recent
• Voicemail
• Dialer

When you enter the dialer interface, you will jump straight to the speed dial tab.  Which is not bad once you have your speed dial setup.  In the meantime, it would be nice if you could customize this so it would open the dialer directly.  Otherwise, it is just an extra step you need to take to dial the phone.  Since not everyone has speed dials or has all of their numbers on the speed dial, I would have liked the opportunity to choose whether to have this screen open to the speed dial or dialer screens.

Of course, before you can set your speed dial, you need to add your contacts.  Something which is much easier said than done.  I may have been spoiled by the amount of time I have spent on a smartphone system (Windows Mobile, WebOS, iPhone…), but I have to say that I was disappointed to find no way to sync my contacts with any web services.  I have hundreds of conacts, most of which are stored on one of several web services (Google, Plaxo, Live), so reentering them onto a phone is not an attractive thought.  Especially using only a soft keyboard.   I ended up adding only one or two contacts, and dialing the rest manually.  Needless to say, this was not ideal.

Interface aside, though, let’s take a look at the call quality and experience.  The first thing to look at is what happens when the phone rings.  I liked the incoming call interface, which displays the caller ID, along with the options of silencing the ringer, answering the call, or ignoring the call.  The nice thing here is that ignoring requires you to slide your finger across the screen, making it difficult to hit accidentally.

Which bring us to the quality of the phone calls, and I have to say that I was quite impressed.  In my tests, the earpiece was crystal clear.  I could not tell the difference between this cell phone and a landline phone.  On the other end, my wife reported that she could hear me very well.  Though she did report that she could tell a difference between the microphone on this one and a landline phone.  That being said, she says that about pretty much every cell phone, and said it was at least on par with other phones we have tested.

When you are on a call, the screen will shift to show your in-call controls.  This includes the mute button, speakerphone, access to your contacts, and conference call features, which allow you to add additional callers.  You also have a toggle which will bring up a standard telephone keypad in case you need to enter digits during the call.  To end the call, there is a large red slider.  I liked this for two reasons.  First, since it is large and red, it is pretty difficult to miss when you are ready to hang up.  Second, since you have to slide it, not push it, it will be difficult to accidentally hang up before you are ready.  That being said, it does lack the satisfaction of slamming down the phone in anger or frustration to end the call.

Email and Messaging: I thought messaging worked pretty well on this phone.  When you receive a new message, a notification appears in the middle of the screen, while playing the new message song. 

Slide the notification up to view the message, or down to dismiss the notification without viewing.  This is a pretty clever setup for text message and email notifications.  I will say, though, that it got a bit annoying to hear this new message song each time I got a new email.  I quickly turned it off to stop it from ringing all day, each time I received a new email.

Setting up your email on this phone is easy to do…as long as you use one of the included services.  AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo, and Gmail are all included, and setting these services up on your phone requires nothing more than inputting your username and password under the correct service.  Setting up anything different than the included services, however, got to be a bit trickier.  I have still not been able to convince the Instinct to connect with my JAMM email account.

Once you have setup your email account, you are ready to start sending and receiving emails.  I have to say that I really liked the email interface. The main email interface gives you access to each of your accounts, as well as contacts, calendars, and other files.  I was a bit disappointed not to find an option here to sync all, but that is a pretty small omission.

Just select the account you wish to check and you will be taken to the appropriate inbox.  Here, you will find your most recent messages (you can decide how many will be stored in your inbox, be default it will be 25).   I really liked the  inbox screen, which featured a finger-scrollable list of your most recent messages.  An icon on the left tells you whether the message has been read or not.  From here, you can delete a message, mark it, or choose to manually sync the inbox.  You do not need to manually sync, however, as each account can be set to automatically retrieve messages.  One thing I did not like, however, was the fact that the Instinct gives you no control over the frequency with which the phone checks for new messages.  Push email, which constantly scans for new messages can tear through a battery.  To preserve battery life, you may want to check email less frequently.  The Instinct does not give you this option, which was unfortunate.

Choose any message to display it.  I thought the message display screen was pretty well designed.  Some people may argue that there was a bit too much wasted space on the top and bottom, and I will admit that the “Unread” and “Reply/Fwd” buttons could be smaller, especially given the small delete and return to inbox buttons on top of the screen.  It would have been nice if the bottom buttons had been sized comparably with these top buttons in order to make more room for the message.

You can also determine the size of the downloaded messages.  By default, only 1K of each message will be downloaded.  You can, however, download up to 3K of each message.  That being said, I really would have preferred to download the whole message automatically, regardless of size.  I was also disappointed to find that HTML emails will not work on this phone.  Take, for example, my Zune Weekly newsletter (above), which showed up as so much gobledy-goop.

Overall, while I was disappointed to find some of the more advanced customization features missing, I did think email and messaging worked very well on this phone.  not as well as a smartphone, but certainly better than the average “dumb phone”, which is pretty much exactly where a feature phone like this is supposed to land.

Internet: I had heard some bad rumors and rumblings about the browser on the original Instinct, so I was a bit nervous when i started surfing the Internet with the Instinct HD.  To my surprise, the browser was none other than Opera Mobile 9…which has been long considered the best mobile browser around. 

The main screen consists of nine programmable tiles.  You can decide which websites are included here, which is a nice way to organize some of the sites you frequent the most (as an aside, individual websites can also be bookmarked on the Favs screen on the main interface.)   I will say, however, that while these tiles were convenient, I did find them a bit difficult to manage.  For example, when I typed espm instead of espn, there was no easy way to change it.

I found the browsing experience to be exceptional on the Instinct HD.  Like I said, Opera Mobile is considered one of the best (if not THE best) mobile browser around, and I was impressed to find it here.  I compared it to similar implementations on Windows Mobile and WebOS (all on Sprint’s network) and found the speed and experience to be at least comparable to other platforms.  The only thing missing was the iPhone-like multi-touch gestures for zooming, that really would have put some icing on this cake.

Multimedia: The real draw of the Instinct is its multimedia capabilities.  Before we get there, though, there is one thing I have to get off my chest.  Those of you who read my Zune HD review can skip this part, because you have pretty much seen it before. 

The name of the device is the Instinct HD.  However, the screen is not HD capable.  That means standard digital and high definition digital will look the same when played back on the device.  What the Instinct HD does allow you to do is download HD quality content, store it on the device, and then play it back on a separate HD screen. You can connect the Instinct HD to your HDTV using the HD Video Out port, although the HDMI cable you will need is not included.  So, what the HD really means here is not much more than it has an HDMI port, which is nice…but certainly not up to my expectations of the HD designation.  I think this is a bit misleading.  For most of you, who will never connect your phone to an HDTV (or even really think to do so) you are not going to see any difference between high definition video and standard video, other than the increased cost and massive file sizes (a standard two hour movie can be as many as 6 GB in HD).

Otherwise, I tested the screen out by watching a few videos over Sprint’s Mobile TV app and YouTube (both of which are included).  Boy was I disappointed.  Even though the screen cannot display HD images, I did expect it to be better than this.  The image was barely passable, often appearing digitized and generally poor video quality.  Here, you can see the same YouTube video (The Muppets, Mahna Mahna, on the Palm Pre and the Samsung Instinct HD).  Basically, despite a very nice screen, it just does not process video nearly as well as the Pre.  What a disappointment that was.

Music, I thought, worked much better than video.  The sound quality was pretty good, at least as good as most comparable phones or devices.  And I really liked the Sprint radio service, which allows you to stream music (although I was disappointed not to find Pandora here which is my favorite online music service).

I will say, however, that I was not a real fan of the player itself.  Like most media players, your music selections will appear in a sortable list (either by genre, artist, album, or song).  The problem here was that it did not do a great job of organizing your music.  For example, when I sorted by album, I found the same album had been identified multiple times.  I also found that scrolling through the list did not work as well as it should have, resulting in frequent inadvertent taps. 

I also found that album art simply did not work well on this media player.  It was frequently not displayed on my music.  Even when it was displayed as a thumbnail on the song list, however, it would not be displayed on the screen when my music was playing.  You can see, in the above pictures that Van Halen’s 1984 displayed properly in the list view on the left, but not in the media playing view on the right.  What I find to be most inexplicable about this was that Samsung makes several successful lines of media players.  The YP-P2, for example, worked very well and had an easy to use interface.  It would have been nice if Samsung had built upon that success and based the media interface on one of their already existing models.

That being said, adding your own music is easy.  You can either download tunes directly to your device from the Sprint Music store (above), or transfer them from your computer using the included cable. 

Camera: I am generally sorely disappointed by the cameras I find on mobile devices.  While it is true that the camera you have with you at all times is the best camera to have, I have often found that no camera would be better than some of the cameras I have found on these phones.

So, you can imagine that I was a little nervous when I started testing this camera.  I quickly found, however, that the 5 megapixel camera was far superior to many mobile cameras I had used.  This one features a fantastic lens and processor, which results in a pretty good picture (as you can see, above).

Just push the camera button to activate the camera on the back of the device.  I was pretty impressed to find a myriad of different shooting modes and adjustable settings (such as exposure value, timer, resolution, and plenty more).  I was disappointed to find, however, that there was neither an optical or digital zoom on the camera.  the ability to zoom into your subject and properly frame the shot would have made a significant difference.  That being said, however, this is one of the best mobile phone cameras I have used.

Once you have finished snapping photos, just hit play to view them in the album.  I thought this worked well.  In the album, you can see thumbnails of each photo.  From here, you can create a slideshow, send photos via email or instant messaging, or post them to your favorite online photo sharing site…all straight from your phone.

In addition to the still camera, the Instinct HD also features a video camera.  Switch it to video mode to record instant videos in QVGA, VGA, or stunning HD (note that you cannot send HD videos via picture mail, or view HD quality video on the Instinct screen).  I was pretty impressed by this camera, which took vide which was at least as good as the Flip HD video camera.  

Check out the video gallery below.  I thought the Instinct did a fantastic job of preserving all of your cherished family memories.

HD Video

VGA video

QVGA video

Apps: A quick glance at the Sprint store shows one of the biggest differences between the Instinct and the iPhone.  Apps.  While the Instinct has a full retinue of apps and games available, it in no way compares to the iPhone, or other platforms like Windows Mobile or Android.

Still, I did want to check out the store a bit, and I downloaded a few games, including a free demo of Monopoly.  I thought the download experience worked very well.  The store was easy to navigate and search (although it was a bit laggy) and stocked enough to entertain many of you.  All of the apps and games you download will appear on the My stuff tab.

In addition to the apps you download, there are also a few fantastic apps included with the Instinct.  Among these are:

• Sprint’s NFL Mobile
• Sprint’s NASCAR Mobile
• Google maps
• Sprint TV and Radio

In other words, all of the usual apps from the Sprint suite.  In addition to these apps, there are quite a few buttons linking to various web shortcuts, such as CNN, Facebook, ESPN, Twitter, and plenty more.  It would be nice if you could reconfigure these buttons, get rid of the services you do not use and add new ones which you prefer.

Finally, there is a calendar app included.  I was not terribly impressed by this app, but it was functional enough.  The default view is a full month at a time.  Select any date to zoom in on the events of that day.  Those are the only two views, there is no 7-day view here.  Additionally, there is no way to sync your calendar with any online services, so you will need to enter any events directly on the Instinct (though you can sync with an Exchange server).  I was also disappointed to find no task manager.  This is an often overlooked component of your daily agenda, which is unfortunate because I think it can be the most important thing I carry on my mobile device.

Wireless: In addition to connecting to Sprint’s 3G wireless network, the Instinct also includes two other wireless radios.  First is the Bluetooth, which allows you to connect wirelessly to a headset, stereo headphones, and various other accessories.  I have to admit that I am starting to sour on Bluetooth, especially since I have been able to test Kleer Wireless accessories, Kleer is just incredibly more clear than Bluetooth.  That being said, I found Bluetooth worked about as well on the Instinct as it has on any other mobile device I have tested, which is to say that a mono headset worked fine, but stereo headphones and speakers were virtually unusable due to skips and jumps in the signal.

The second wireless radio is your Wi-Fi.  This worked pretty well, and did a fantastic job of connecting to my home network.  Personally, I do not like to use Wi-Fi when I have Sprint’s 3G network available, but I  realize that many people feel differently, or have different data plans than I do.  So, it was nice to see that the Wi-Fi option is available if you need or want it.

Finally, like most phones today, the Instinct does include a GPS radio, which can be used to find real time turn by turn directions.  In order to use the GPS, the Instinct also includes Sprint Navigation, which is powered by Telenav.  I have used this software on several Sprint phones now, and it has never failed to impress.  I was very pleased to find it on this phone and, as usual, it worked great.

Memory: I was pretty disappointed to find only 100 MB of memory on this phone.  That was a pretty painfully small amount of memory even back in my Windows Mobile 2003SE days.  Today, with devices which include 4, 8, 16, 32, and even 64 GB of built in memory, 100 MB is impossibly small.  Frankly, this would have been a complete disaster if not for the microSD slot.  While the microSD slot is not terribly accessible on the fly (you will need to remove the battery to access it), it is very much appreciated.  You will receive a 4 GB card in the box, and you can always add more.  This is not just microSD compatible, but will also work with the newer, and larger, microSDHC, meaning you can add as large a card as Sandisk can produce.  Memory is pretty much dirt cheap, so the lack of on board memory is not fatal to this one as it could have been.  But really, I still feel that there was just no excuse for how little on-board memory Samsung included here. 

Battery: I have always said that the battery is the weakest link in any mobile device.  And the Instinct proved to be no exception here.  While it is chock full of advanced features, this battery simply could not keep up.  I left it sitting in standby mode for most of a day, with minimal use, and when I returned to the phone, I found the battery almost dead.  If it could not even last a full eight hours with almost no use, what do you think will happen when you actually use the phone?  Needless to say, you are going to want to keep your charger handy.

Price: Let’s talk about the price of this one for a minute, because I think you will agree with me that the price is just horribly disproportionate.  This one is going to ring up at a whopping $499.  Yeah, you heard that right.  Just shy of $500.   If you sign up with a two year contract, then you will get a $150 instant rebate and an additional $100 mail in rebate, bringing the price all the way down to $249.  OUCH!  That makes the Instinct HD one of the most expensive phones on Sprint’s network, topped only by the HTC Touch Pro and Touch Pro 2. 

I thought the Instinct was a great phone if it had cost under $100.  However, $250 (subsidized) simply made no sense.  Without leaving Sprint’s network, you could spend less money and receve: an Android phone (HTC Hero for $179); WebOS (Palm Pre fro $149); a Blackberry Curve ($149) or one of several other Windows Mobile phones such as the Palm Treo ($149) or the HTC Touch Diamond ($199).  Even the previous version of the Instinct rings up at a more than reasonable $99, and the only difference I could find between the two was the HD capabilities. 

In short, this is a phone which is designed to fill the gap between “dumb phones” and smart phones.  And previous generations of the Instinct were priced accordingly.  With this one, however, Samsung and Sprint took a flying leap, pricing the phone in competition with the highest end devices on Sprint’s network.  This price tag means it will never really be seen by its intended audience – those who are looking to upgrade from a simpler phone, but are not ready for a smart phone.  Instead, this price tag ensures that it will always be unfairly compared with the highest end smart phones…a comparison which the Instinct simply will not win.

Conclusion: I really liked this phone a lot.  I think it is a fantastic phone for someone who wants to be able to access some of the more advanced data and Internet features, without getting into a full blown smartphone.  I thought Samsung nailed the niche they were targeting.  Unfortunately, at $250, they also priced themselves right out of that niche.  Price aside, however, this is probably the best non-smartphone I have ever used.  The interface is fantastic for users who want something like the iPhone, but don’t want to get an iPhone…or don’t want to switch to AT&T.  Navigation is quick, easy, and well organized.  I would have liked a little more control over the layout, but that is really a personal preference.  

What I Liked:

• Intuitive interface and controls
• While the screen is not HD resolution, it is large and clear
• HDMI HD video out
• Lock screen notifications
• Easy to setup email accounts
• Opera browser
• Sounds quality is good for music and media
• Good included apps with access to more from Sprint’s online store
• Great camera
• GPS with Telenav Navigator
• Micro SDHC slot

What Needs Improvement:

• No case, wrist strap, or other protection
• HDMI cable not included
• Interface could have been more customizable
• No ability to sync contacts with online services
• Can’t read HTML emails
• Poor video processing
• Did not properly display album art in media player
• Only 100 MB of onboard memory included
• Memory card blocked by battery
• Price

Price: $249.99

Where To Buy: www.sprint.com

With the internet celebrating it’s 40th birthday yesterday, yes, the big 4 – 0, it’s a wonderful time to learn of it’s origin and evolution.  The Guardian has done a wonderful job of putting together an interactive slideshow highlighting almost each year of it’s existence.  The slideshow provides a wonderful insight into it’s very early days, the birth of email, the WWW, the mainstream browser and more recently, social networking phenomena.

Myself, being under 40, I have to admit that while being a technology addict, my knowledge of the internet’s history was lacking.  To be completely honest, the fact that it originated before I came to be was a bit surprising.  I sincerely recommend browsing the slideshow, as it is something that you are sure to find interesting.

[Image:  The Guardian]

SBSH Mobile Software announced a new update to its SafeWallet for iPhone and iPod Touch, together with a special 0.99 $ sale, valid until November 6, 2009

This new SafeWallet version is improving from the previous version as it supports favorites, allows auto-password validation and includes context activated field actions:

SBSH Mobile Software announced today the availability of a new SafeWallet for iPhone and iPod Touch update to version 1.2.1. Along with this new release, SBSH launched an exciting 7-day special sale, offering SafeWallet for iPhone and iPod Touch at a low price for only $0.99, valid until November 6, 2009.
SafeWallet 1.2.1 introduce new favorite cards support, automatic password validation, field actions for web-address, email and phone number fields, along with a set of important bug fixes and code optimizations! The new update is available as a free update for all current SafeWallet for iPhone and iPod Touch owners.

New features with SafeWallet 1.2.1

• Favorites Support – Full favorite cards management support. Flag cards as favorites along with a new dedicated favorites panel used to quickly access all of your favorite cards from any place within your wallet
• Auto-password validation – Enable this new option for faster access to your wallets. When enabled, SafeWallet will automatically validate your wallet password while it is typed, opening your wallet automatically as soon as the correct password was entered, speeding your wallet access time dramatically!
• Field Actions – All card fields of type web-address, phone number or email, now provide active actions! Pressing one of these field values when one of your wallet cards will open up the desired web-address using Safari, initiate a phone call or compose a new email document with the desired target recipient!

Pricing and Availability

SBSH SafeWallet for iPhone costs $5.99.
As part of our special sale you can register it now for only $0.99 (valid until November 6th, 2009).
Click here to register SafeWallet for iPhone and iPod Touch at iTunes AppStore
SBSH SafeWallet PC Companion costs $5.95. The perfect complement for SafeWallet iPhone and iPod Touch.
Click here to register SafeWallet PC Companion
Click here to download SafeWallet PC Companion 12 day trial version

The new field actions allow you to open the desired web-address, to initiate a phone call or to compose a new email.

This update is free for all registered SafeWallet users and can be obtained for as low as 0.99 $ for new costumers, much lower then the regular 5.99 $ price.

Further information and download details can be found at SBSH’s links below:

• SBSH SafeWallet for iPhone and iPod Touch overview
• SBSH SafeWallet for iPhone and iPod Touch description and screen captures

Did you know that in addition to storing and uploading photos, the Eye-Fi family of memory cards can also store and upload video?  Well, it can now… Eye-Fi will now allow you to automatically upload videos straight from the Eye-Fi card to your Facebook account, and have them appear directly in your news feed, to be shared with all 750 of your closest friends.

In light of these new video features, Eye-Fi is celebrating…and what better time to celebrate video that Halloween.  So, here is what you need to do to get that camera.  Just use an Eye-Fi card to record your best Halloween video, and upload the videos to Eye-Fi’s Facebook page.  The winner of the Eye-Fi card and Casio camera will be announced November 13, following several weeks of online voting.

Keep reading for the full press release.

Among consumers who share videos online with friends and family, nearly half do so on Facebook, according to the Consumer Electronics Association’s 2009 report Digital Imaging – A Focus on Sharing. So today, Eye-Fi Inc., makers of the world’s first wireless memory card for digital cameras, announced that Eye-Fi users can now wirelessly upload videos from their camera directly to Facebook without even turning on a computer. And users can now alert Facebook friends via newsfeed updates anytime they upload photos or videos to more than 25 sharing sites.

            “We make sharing videos with friends and family as easy as possible, so memories are fresh and relevant when they hit the Web,” said Jef Holove, CEO of Eye-Fi. “Facebook is clearly a favorite site to share videos and we’ve made it effortless to do so, just in time for Halloween, one of our users’ most popular memory sharing holidays.”

In celebration of the Facebook uploads and Halloween, Eye-Fi today launched “The Eye-Fi Haunted Video Contest.” Beginning today, people can upload their best Halloween moment captured on video through the Eye-Fi Facebook page for a chance to win an Eye-Fi Share Video card and Eye-Fi connected Casio camera. Contestants can invite members of their social network to vote for the best video and on Friday, November 13 the winner will be announced.  For more information and the full rules, visit http://www.eye.fi/halloweencontest. Check out the videos at http://www.youtube.com/eyeficard.

Eye-Fi’s complete line-up of wireless SD memory cards range in price from $49-$149 and are available at www.eye.fi, in store at Apple Retail Stores and Best Buy locations, and at major online retailers such as Amazon.com and Walmart.com. The 4GB Eye-Fi Share Video and Eye-Fi Explore Video cards can upload photos and videos directly to the computer and to one of more than 25 online photo and video sharing sites. The Eye-Fi Explore Video card automatically geotags photos with location information about where the moment was captured, and offers hotspot access from more than 10,000 Wayport and open hotspot locations in the U.S. to upload away from home.

Eye-Fi has received numerous product awards including Good Housekeeping’s V.I.P. award in 2009 and “Last Gadget Standing” at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas for the second year in a row. For more information, please visit www.eye.fi.