Smartphones & Gear

The ARC Wireless Solutions Freedom Antenna Review

I’m not sure what the problem is, but for the last month, my Sprint cellular signal strength has dramatically dropped when I am inside my home. This wouldn’t be that big of a deal, except for the fact that my mobile phone is also my home phone and my business phone as well; in other words it simply has to work. Conveniently enough, I had a product waiting in my queue which promises to “Increase Your Cell Phone Reception 8 Times!”, “Eliminate Dropped Calls and Dead Spots”, and “Enhance Voice Clarity”. If it can really deliver upon its promises, then…


The Brando Ultra Clear Protector Plus Review

Mitchell and I recently reviewed the Proporta Advanced Screen Protector, a perfect example of a silicone-based adhesive protector with a matte finish providing anti-glare properties and a paper-like writing surface . Today I am going to go to the other extreme and take a look at the Brando Ultra Clear Protector Plus, which as the name implies is a very clear protector that provides an experience as close to that of writing on a PDA’s naked screen as possible – without the worry of scratching. Let’s take a look… Included in the package is…the protector. Unlike the Proporta ASP, the…


The Proporta Advanced Screen Protector Review

[Ed. note: For this dually, Judie’s comments will be in Black, Mitchell’s comments will be in italicised Blue.] One of the first things I started worrying about when I unboxed the HTC Advantage was how I would keep the humongous 5″ diagonal screen from getting scratched. While it was nice that HTC included a screen protector in the box, I think you could probably tell by the expression on my face in the unboxing video that I wasn’t too impressed with it, and sure enough – once installed, I saw that my unenthusiastic response was warranted. Don’t get me wrong,…


Brain School Review: Exercise for Your Brain

How many of us go to the gym on a regular basis? You know you should exercise you legs…your arms…even your pecs on a regular basis. Heck, you might even do some heart-smart cardio workouts. It is a great idea to keep your body in shape and healthy. While you are at the gym, however, do you ever hit those brutal memory machines, spatial sequencing machines, and other mental gymnastics? Oh, sorry. They don’t even have those at your gym, do they? Mine either. On every street corner, it seems there is a place to exercise your body, but almost…


The BeyzaCASES Universal Leather Case Review

On the short list of accessories that Windows Mobile device owners need is a case. Cases not only protect your device but often put that device in a convenient and easy-to-access location (like your hip). In the not-to-distant past, most devices shipped with, at a minimum, a neoprene or vinyl slip case of some type. Unfortunately this has changed in recent years and now is more of an exception than a rule. A relative newcomer to providing cases for Windows Mobile devices is BeyzaCASES. The company, based in Istanbul, Turkey, provides a wide range of leather cases designed to custom…


The HTC Advantage X7500 So Far…(a serial review)

I’ve been using the HTC Advantage for five days, which is definitely not long enough time to pass true judgement on the device, but it is enough time?to talk about some of my likes and dislikes. Ready? The screen is glorious…absolutely fabulous. 5″ of diagonal goodness that is clearer, and easier to read from, than any other available Windows Mobile Device. If a lot of screen isn’t important to you because you aren’t reading eBooks, editing documents or entering data in a spreadsheet, then you will most likely be turned off by the overall size of the device. With the…


A Pair of Jacks: Samsung BlackJack and i600 Review

The Samsung BlackJack has been a runaway success over in the United States which doesn?t surprise me at all. Thin, light, black, it covers all the bases. A gorgeous and comparatively large high-res screen, thumboard, and some 3G has been thrown in for good measure. The BlackJack has just recently arrived here in Australia, and when Samsung agreed to loan me one for review I was very excited. My Treo is (or now I should say was) a great Smartphone, but these days with a design like that it is simply too fat. As I read recently about the Motorola…


The Iambic Health and Diet Manager (for Pocket PC) Review

One of the factors that made me drag my feet when deciding whether or not to fully migrate from the Palm OS to Windows Mobile was that the two software titles I considered essential were only available for the Palm OS at the time: one was Beik’s Woman which I use to track “female stuff”, and the other was Calorie King’s Diet Diary. Both programs came with desktop software, so although I would eventually lose the convenience of being able to enter or retrieve data on my PDA, I was still able to use these programs familiar interfaces on my…


The GPSGate Review

Ever wanted to spy or follow someone without their knowledge like they do in TV shows? All you need is a WM Phone with GPS and a data connection! Plant this in their car and you can follow their every move? GPSGate is a small piece of software that you install on your Windows Mobile device, preferably a phone edition for the always-on data capabilities, that multiplexes a single GPS signal to work with several applications as once, can share an internal GPS receiver over Bluetooth, and also throws in some GPS tracking into the mix.


Resco Explorer 2005 for Windows Mobile Review

The built-in File Explorer in Windows Mobile is to put it simply, lame. It only has a very basic feature set, and add to that there is no registry editor included at all. Resco has come up with a replacement application that should fulfill the needs of even power users, and throws in some features outside the realm of a file manager for that extra value. I installed the application using the CAB files downloaded off the website, but there is an installer for Windows users that makes setup a cinch. The registry editor, FTP client and today screen plug-in…


The Treo 750 vs. HTC Hermes

[tps_start_button label=”Start slideshow” style=”” class=””] Recently my dad’s company bought several of their employees Dopod 838 Pro mobile phones (based on Judie?s review actually :-D). His device arrived at the office a few days ago, but he is in Vietnam for work, so one of his colleagues dropped it off. For the last 3 days I have been using it instead of my Treo, to see if I made the right choice months ago. I have come to a somewhat mixed decision based on several things that I?d like to describe below. My basis for these ?ratings? is that I…


The i-mate JAQ3 WM5 Pocket PC Phone Edition Review

[Ed. note: If you haven’t already, then take a look at the first part of this review, Unboxing the i-mate JAQ3, in which Judie opens the JAQ3’s box and takes a quick look at this PDA phone and its other box contents.] For this jointly written and jointly posted (on each of our sites) review, Judie’s comments will be in black, and Clinton’s comments will be in blue and italicized. One afternoon about a month ago, I received an email from an i-mate executive assistant saying “Jim Morrison wants to send you an i-mate JAQ3 Windows Mobile phone, can you…


The Gennum nX6000 Bluetooth Headset Review

When I recently reviewed the nXZEN PLUS 5500 BT Headset, I was very impressed by its noise cancelling capabilities, so much so that even though the 5500 was larger than the AX2 I was using, I started using it instead. Well, now the one thing that I missed about the AX2 has been replicated in a Gennum device: Meet the nX6000, a very petite BT headset which combines the excellent noise cancelling properties of the larger nXZEN models with the tiny size I like. Included in the box are the headset, a miniUSB charging cable, a USB AC Adapter two…


The Proporta Cradle for Treo 750 Review

I have owned about 4 Proporta aluminium cases in the past (Axim X5, iPAQ 1930, iPAQ 2210, iPAQ 4350), and I have been extremely happy with their quality and design. When Proporta asked us to take their Treo 750 Cradle out for a spin, I was more than happy to. The cradle comes in a small cardboard box. Inside are the cradle and a miniUSB cable. The second I took the cradle of the box I was disappointed. In all honestly it looked like something I had picked up for $10 on eBay. It is very light, and is very…


eBooks and eReaders–a Short Overview

Soon I will be lucky enough to review Sony’s Reader, an eBook reader by Sony. But before I do and give y’all a review, I thought it might be nice to give folks a brief overview of eBooks, both on devoted devices and PDAs. I’ve been in the online documentation game for a long time.? A long time.? I was writing online doc back in 1991, before the Web even got going, back when Acrobat wasn’t even a twinkle in Adobe’s eye.? So I have some pretty (ahem) strong views on online doc, eBooks, eBook readers, and what makes for…


The Otterbox 1920 Treo Case Review

Let’s say that the place where you need to use your Palm Treo 650 or 700 series is not in an office in the middle of the city; perhaps it is at a bivouac in the middle of a desert, in an arctic outpost, or maybe on board a crabbing vessel in the middle of the Bering sea. These are not the places where a stylish wrap will protect your PDA adequately, these are the type places that call for an OtterBox 1920 Palm Treo Case. This thing is a beast!


Spectec SDW-822 miniSDIO WiFi Review

When Judie asked me if I was interested in reviewing the miniSDIO version of the Spectec WiFi card similar to her SDIO one, I was thrilled. My Treo has been pretty well perfect since I got it, except for internet access. Up until recently I have had to make do with only a 10MB data allowance, which is pretty small if I surf with pictures, especially on sites that aren?t designed for mobile devices. With a WiFi card I can surf as much as I like at home without having to worry about going over my 10MB. But therein lies…


Motorola Motofone F3 Review

My Treo 750 is a fantastic device that does email, web browsing, PIM, and if you want it to it can even make phone calls. The price of all this functionality is size. The Treo is by no means a small phone. With the likes of the Dash, the Blackjack and even the JAQ3, the Treo (all models) are quite chubby. Normally I don’t find that a problem. I am addicted to email on my phone, so the tradeoff of size for WM5, thumboard and UMTS (and soon HSDPA) is well worth it. But there are times when I don’t…


The Proporta Treo 700 Lateral Case Review

For some time Proporta has been known for their custom molded aluminum PDA cases as well as their Alu-Leather case line, which consists of hand-crafted leather cases with an aluminum “screen saver system”. Today wer’e going to take a look at the next generation case from Proporta: one that was created especially for the Palm Treo 700 series, and one which blends the protection and industrial design of their aluminum cases with the classic leather style of their Alu-Leather case line, fusing them into something new – the Treo 700 Lateral Case. Included in the box are the case, a…


The Cingular Palm Treo 750 Review

Treo at Last (and I’ll Never Go Hungry Again..!) Some of the best things come in small packages. I’ve been looking at a number of different mobile devices over the past few months. Right now, I’ve got 5 WM PDA Phones, and 2 WM Smartphones. The PDA phones are mostly locked to specific carriers. I’ve got an HP 6945 and ETEN M700 that are both unlocked, Quad Band GSM phones that support EDGE. I’ve got a Siemens SX66 (Cingular/ATT) and Palm Treo 700wx (Sprint). I’ve got an Audiovox SMT5600 (Cingular/ATT) and Cingular 3125 that are both Smartphones. However, one of…


A Palm Treo cradle – LEGO style

I was looking around for a charging cradle that would allow me to store my Palm Treo 650 or 680 in an upright position. Most of the ones that I’ve seen advertised range in price from $29 to $49 USD. While esthetically useful, the practicality of obtaining a cradle meant having yet another spare power cable and sync cable stored away in a shoebox of miscellaneous wires and USB cables. The ancient Greek phillospher Plato is quoted as saying Necessity is the mother of invention, which means that a need or problem encourages creative efforts to meet the need or…