Asus has taken the wraps off the P735, a handheld with support for UMTS, a 3G cellular-wireless networking standard. This Pocket PC will use the standard cany-bar design, with control buttons located below a QVGA screen. Additional Applications Naturally, this handheld will come with the standard suite of Pocket PC software, but it also will have some additional applications For example, ASUS’s Remote Presenter will let users control Powerpoint presentations stored on a notebook via a Bluetooth connection. Another added application to help save contacts...

Daylight Savings Time Fix for Windows Mobile The rules for when Daylight Saving Time begins and ends change this year, so all devices with a clock and calendar will need an update, or else their clocks will move forward or backward an hour on incorrect dates. Microsoft has created a fix for Windows Mobile Smartphones, but is expecting individual carriers to distribute this to their devices, which for the most part hasn’t happened yet. OtterBox Rugged Case Available for BlackBerries Otter Products has released the OtterBox 1930 for the BlackBerry 8700...

The T-Mobile Dash is a slim, sleek Windows Mobile Smartphone. Despite its svelte exterior, this device offers many of the features advanced users are looking for in a smartphone, like a Push Email, a built-in keyboard and Wi-Fi. Look and Feel The Dash uses the same general form-factor that several of its competitors do, but the Dash uses it better than most. It rides very comfortably in a pocket, and sits easily in my hand. This isn’t surprising for a device as small as this one: 4.4 by 2.5 by 0.5 inches. Plus, the Dash’s casing has a slightly...

A mid-tier U.S. carrier, Alltel Wireless, in now offering the Palm Treo 700p. This is a Palm OS-based smartphone that debuted around the middle of last year. Unlike the more recent Treo 680, the 700p runs on CDMA cellular-wireless networks, such as Alltel’s. Pricing and Availability The 700p is available now through Alltel’s retail stores and its web site. Prices start at $350 after a $100 rebate. This price is available to new customers on two-year service agreements, as well as to existing customers on qualifying rate plans. Treo 700p vs. Treo...

Over the last month or so, there have been several rumors about the HTC Athena, an upcoming very high-end Pocket PC that will have a feature set that could make it comparable to a UMPC. According to Pocketinfo.nl, a web site based in the Netherlands, T-Mobile will soon announce plans to introduce a version of this device, called the Ameo. The Athena/Ameo will supposedly have a unique design. This will start out in a standard enough fashion: a tablet with a touchscreen. Added to that, though, will a detachable QWERTY keyboard. The main unit can be connected...

Spb Software House Introduces Brain Training Game Spb Software House has just released Spb Brain Evolution a new game for Pocket PCs. This was designed to improve the user’s mental awareness, and maintain brain fitness. The game includes ten games and will measure the user’s progress. The sub-games are Sudoku, Numbers, Qaudronica, Guess Who, Memorica, Encyclopedia, Minesweeper, Matches, Balltracker, and Arithmetics. Conduits Technologies Releases Pocket Launcher 3.0 for Windows Mobile Conduits Technologies has introduced a new version of its a...

I’d like to start off this review with a brief warning: most of you probably don’t want to read any further. The Viewsonic v38r is very much unlike the consumer and light-business grade devices that we usually review here. Instead, it is a “ruggedized” device, sometimes referred to as an “industrial” device.Rather than an office or home, it’s designed to work in less technology-hospitable climates such as warehouses, delivery trucks, field operations — anywhere that a conventional handheld would risk damage. The...

Palm has just posted a software update for the new Treo 680 on its product support web site. This company has discovered that its latest smartphone can suffer from reduced battery life when the camera is used. This is because the camera can continue to draw power from the battery — even when the device is in standby mode. Palm strongly recommends that Treo 680 users install the update when convenient to take care of this problem. This bug won’t damage the smartphone, but it should increase the amount of time it can go on a single charge.

Last fall, T-Mobile USA introduced the BlackBerry Pearl. At that time, this smartphone was only available in a black casing. Today, this carrier came out with a new version of this device in white. At this point, the white BlackBerry Pearl is only available from T-Mobile USA. Potential buyers will be happy to learn that this carrier is not charging anything extra for this new version. This means that, after discounts and mail-in rebates, its price is $150. More About the BlackBerry Pearl Even though this is a smartphone, not one of RIM’s larger cellular-wireless...

While smartphones in general have been a very hot topic of late, smartphones that have a specialized focus in music or mapping seem to have garnered even more attention. GPS phones in particular are a growing segment because, besides getting us connected with people and places where we want to go, they help us during the journey. The recently-announced Pharos 600 GPS phone is impressive in this regard. Its fashionable design and sleek form factor are at home in your purse or pocket, but its ability to tell you where the next restaurant is makes putting it...

Seamless Internet’s S-XGen officially made its debut at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) last week. This device’s ten-finger keyboard and eight hour battery life make it the first practical UMPC for real all day power computing… at least in its developer’s opinion. The S-XGen was created for business users who need access to powerful mobile computing capabilities. Its designers were hoping to create a single device that eliminates the need for a laptop, cellular phone, and PDA. Specifications The S-XGen runs Microsoft Windows CE...

Samsung has introduced its newest UMPC, the Q1P-SSD. This is the first computer of its kind to use an SSD (solid state flash memory-based) hard drive in place of a conventional rotational media-based hard drive. This means that the Q1P features faster data access and boot time compared to its predecessors. Samsung believes that the Q1P-SSD is the most powerful UMPC model available. At its heart is 32 GB of SSD (solid-state NAND) flash memory, as opposed to the traditional 1.8″ hard drive found in the earlier Q1 models. Because of this, this UMPC is...

In the months since since the launch of the Motorola Q, there have been many rumors about its successor. These have included everything from minor changes to the device to fairly significant re-designs. This week, Motorola launched the next version of this Windows Mobile Smartphone. However, after reading all the rumors, this might not be be what some people were hoping for. The Motorola Q Pro offers new features, but these are all software related and are targeted at enterprise users. There don’t appear to be any significant changes to this device’s...

Nokia announced the N800, its second generation Internet Tablet. I was able to put this brand new device through its paces at the Consumer Electronics Show. My first impressions are fairly positive. It has some nice new features not included in its predecessor, the Nokia 770, like a built-in web camera, dual memory card slots, stereo speakers, and a stand. Hardware This model has approximately the same form-factor as the 770 but it’s not exactly identical. It felt very comfortable to hold. On its back, there’s a bulge across the top, where the...

After years of rumors, Apple, Inc.’s Steve Jobs has just taken the wraps the iPhone, his company’s upcoming combination smartphone and iPod. As expected, this device will support the iTunes music service, and it will sport either 4 GB or 8 GB of storage. It will support both music and video, which will be playable on its 3.5-inch, 320-by-480-pixel, 160 ppi display. The iPhone will have a touchscreen, but not include a stylus. Instead, users will be expected to control it with their fingertips. It will be 4.5 inches tall, 2.4 inches wide, and just...