mobilePASSION

Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference

I am up in Minneapolis at the right time of year for this annual conference of Microsoft partners. I will be out in the Expo Hall showing off the latest in Windows Mobile.

"The world of business is moving at a remarkable pace and creating new opportunities at every turn. Today’s leaders are taking advantage of these opportunities by forming strategic partnerships and alliances to increase the success of their companies.

Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2005 is a three-day global dialog where partners build alliances, gain valuable business knowledge, exchange ideas, and much more. This once-a-year opportunity brings together more than 5,500 partners for three days of work, growth, and business. The goal is simple: to gain velocity for their companies and reach and exceed their business goals—this year and into the future.

By coming together to create an intelligent network of shared ideas, Microsoft partners will be better positioned to take advantage of the rapid changes and pace of global business."

i730 Updates

I have updated the i730 First Looks review and added them to the end of the article. I missed some really cool things that is simply "stuff to love" about the product and frankly "stuff not so lovely".

I will also publish more photos and screenshots over the weekend such as this one showing the comparisons of the small size again. Here is the i730 sitting next to the Smartphone i300 from Samsung with its huge 3GB internal hard drive. The i300 will be a another fun product to do a First Looks review with.

First Look: Samsung i730 Pocket PC Phone Edition

Samsung’s new SCH-i730 is a major improvement over their previous i700. The most visible change is the slide-down QWERTY thumb keyboard, for e-mail and other text entry duties. Less visible, but perhaps more important is the enhanced wireless power built into the device. The i730 has a built-in EVDO/1xRTT capable mobile phone as well as integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capability.

Samsung was very serious about getting a form factor out that will be attractive to anyone interested in an integrated tactical keyboard yet keeping the overall size small. Verizon Wireless will be carrying the Samsung i730 product and I have heard that the availability should be around July 7.

The i730 ships with an AC charger that plugs directly into the i730 or into the USB desk cradle that folds to easily fit in your Pocket. The cradle not only recharges your i730, it simultaneously charges a second high-capacity battery that comes with the unit. The extended battery is great to bring along with you if you use the battery-draining Wi-Fi capability.

The Samsung device ships with a carrying case in the increasingly popular belt clip style, with a plastic snap holder that allows the device to be clipped to your belt in with the screen facing in toward the body for protection. The phone clip is able to be rotated around the belt clip pivot. Samsung also included a second stylus in the package.

Father's Day Sale @ SCOTTEVEST

Here is a post for the wives...

Father's Day is approaching and you just don't know what to get your gadget loving mobile madness hunk?   SCOTTEVEST is having a mega, huge sale right now that ends on Sunday, for Father’s Day.  Almost everything is on sale, and saving up to 55%.  For example, finetex systems are just $199.99, so you get the fleece for free.  All the details are here.

And "Yes" honey I really could use a little fashion in my geek life. ;-)  And you have to read the next post about the ipod spoof commercial. It some pretty funny stuff.

SCOTTEVEST Spoofs iPod Commercial

Have you seen the funny little spoof that SCOTTEVEST does with the current ipod commercial marketing gem of the silhouetted dancers using an ipod? http://www.scottevest.com/ipod/index.shtml Here is their press release;

"(SeV), the industry leader in functional fashion, released a web commercial parody of Apple’s iPod commercial. Apple’s commercial shows a dancer in silhouette with the iPod’s signature white wires flying around. SeV’s parody humorously portrays the inherent danger of dancing with wires dangling. The dancer gets tangled in the wires and trips. He then dons SeV’s patented Technology Enabled Clothing® (TEC), which manages the wires through hidden conduits, and then dances with increased energy as the beat of the music intensifies. The commercial ends with an endorsement from a surprising source, Steve Wozniak, Co-Founder of Apple and SeV customer. "

RFID device at TechEd

One of the many interesting things going on at TechEd this year was each attendee was provided a Radio Frequency Identification device (RFID) with their name badge during registration. Here is RFIDJournal site to read more about RFID or simply google on RFID. The device didn’t contain any personal information not was it linked in any way to registration but was used as a way to participate in two of the TechEd keynote demonstrations. Microsoft also made it as a way to be eligible to win one of 5 Portable Media players. The RFID was only active when we were in certain areas of the Convention Center. The RFID is pictured here behind a sticky label.. I hadn’t ever seen one before but I have heard a lot about them.

-Dale Coffing

Universal Studios

  You know you that Microsoft was going to just have to have a party over at Universal Studio for Tech Ed because of great venue it provides especially when you are here in Orlando.

And if you know me than you know that I don't leave home without my Pocket PC with me and especially when I am having fun at a Theme Park. So what does a Pocket PC user do when you are at a Universal Studios Theme Park and are going to ride one of their signature rides like River Adventure? Well you obviously have it out for pictures. Here I am with my latest Pocket PC Phone Edition making sure I don't miss that phone call. :-)

-Dale Coffing

TechEd Day 4

Well the Expo Hall closed today so my last opportunity to see you will be at the Community Cabana area. This is a photo of the always busy Windows Mobile Device Bar. We had a couple devices showing off the latest ver 5 of the OS. I hope to see in the Cabana tomorrow for my Mobility Session in the morning. We have a few MVP's at the Cabana with me helping out attendees with any technical questions as well.

I can tell you Jeremy was excited to see me. I have been handing out lots of surprise gifts to some very lucky winners. Microsoft has been giving out 5 Windows Mobile devices each day to people that have been lucky enough to be spotted wearing their black Windows Mobile hat you see here on our winner. The great thing for Jeremy is that he didn't win a Windows Mobile device but instead he was spotted wearing that blue button labeled "Windows XP Anywhere!" for the TabletPC team. He won a brand new Toshiba TabletPC. He says he is going to give it to his wife. What a husband! Click here to see a TechEd podcast video of one of the give-aways.

I have also been doing lots of demos at the TabletPC section next to us where I have been having tons of fun showing off the amazing power of the TabletPC OS. The new X41 IBM tablet PC was the one I demoed with today.

Tonight was the TechEd party fun night where Microsoft reserved the entire Universal Studios Theme Park for the TechEd group. There was food being catered in and was lining many of the walkways around the park. We were greeted by various movie animation characters along with a pretty good jazz band. One of my first duties was to make some more people happy.  I was able to give away several of the

Windows Mobile Devices there. This is Chris Edwards winning one a i-mate Smartphone for being spotted wearing his hat. He was pretty pleased about it. He friend had one of the hats too but wasn't wearing it.... :(

I thought this was creative. The was what I would call a wet bar.... literally!  It was an entire bar section make of ice! It just slowly melted during the evening events. There were ice sculpted personal computers on both ends of the bar.

Here is the fun way to get around Orlando using GPS software. I have the latest firmware updated Pharos Bluetooth receiver connected wirelessly to the Samsung i730. The new receiver is so sensitive now that it will pick up GPS signals indoors while I am in my house.

Podcasting @ TechEd 2005

Here is a behind the scene look at the podcasting crew here at TechEd. That is MIke Hall standing upon a Segway® Human Transporter with his trusty digital cam that he captures all the various things going on around TechEd. The Microsoft podcasting team are using a mini fleet of Segways to get around this huge convention center. If you are new to podcasts check out the link here where Mike wrote an educational piece concerning all the basics of podcasting and how to get it going on your Pocket PC or Smartphone. For those that couldn't make it or even if you want to see some of things you weren't able to attend you can check out the podcasts for TechEd and see some of the great work this "behind the scenes" team of workers puts out. You might even catch a part of one of my sessions at the Cabana. :-) Jeff Julian's created a page listing of the TechEd Podcasts that you can view them directly from your Media Player without using a Podcast Aggregator. Way to go Jeff!

The new hp6515 at TechEd

There have been reports a couple people are wandering around TechEd that have the HP unreleased h6500 Windows Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition.

Well one of those people came by to see me today and showed off his. So a big "THANKS" for stopping by to listen to my session talk on "Using Windows Mobilie" in the Community Cabana area. He let me get a quick photo of the device. He also let me show it off during the talk and I have to say it really is a wonderful form factor. HP really went after the people that like the Blackberry size complete with its square screen format. I wanted to compare it to the Treo 650 to give you a concept of size. For me the keyboard is much easier to use than the Treo since it has better spacing but still I love the fact you have a choice of using handwriting input on the screen via Transciber. What do you think? This will be a fun one to write an article on comparing the "Best of the Breed" for converged devices. :-)

Tech Help @ TechEd

If you are here at TechEd make sure to stop by the Cabana #10 area for any help on Windows Mobile. Here are a couple of attendees at my session showing off their Windows Mobile devices. I got to help out a guy from Orlando that was having a little trouble setting up his bluetooth phone to act as his wireless modem to his Dell X50v Pocket PC. It only took a couple of minutes and now he is a happy camper.

Dale Coffing