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SoftMaker Office 2008 for Pocket PCs is shipping!

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softmaker_textmaker Now available: SoftMaker Office 2008 for Pocket PCs…

After extensive beta testing, we are proud to announce that SoftMaker Office 2008 for Pocket PCs is shipping and ready for purchase.

This new version of our mobile office suite has significant advantages:

  • NEW: SoftMaker Presentations, the mobile alternative to PowerPoint.
  • NEW: PDF export in all Office applications.
  • NEW: Printing from all applications (JETCET PRINT is bundled).
  • NEW: Many new features in TextMaker 2008 and PlanMaker 2008.

softmaker_planmakerIf you wish to edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files on the Pocket PC without losing formatting or content, SoftMaker Office is your only choice. There is no other mobile office suite that reads and writes your Office documents as faithfully as SoftMaker Office 2008.

Find out more:
http://www.softmaker.com/

If you own an older version of TextMaker, PlanMaker, or SoftMaker Office, you are entitled to special upgrade pricing — you can find the details on our web site above.

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Turn your phone into an Authentication token!

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I was turned onto this Authentication Solution recently, and I have to admit after having looked the site over that the possibilities for this type of a solution are extremely high!  Cost of Ownership appears to be significantly lower than a Token Key system (think SecurID), which means Return on Investment will likely be much higher.

Here’s how it works on a pre-configured site:

  • Enter your usual username and password.
  • Instantly, you receive a phone call. Answer and press the pound sign (#).
  • That’s It!

This simple process provides two separate factors of authentication through two separate channels (your computer and your phone service).  So instead of just answering a network challenge by providing your PIN and PASSCODE displayed on your SecurID token, this service will call your cell-phone and then you enter a # into your phone.

Some advertised benefits:

  • Works with any VPN, enterprise application, or website
  • Eliminates the need for tokens
  • Works with any phone anywhere
  • Easy to setup, manage, and use

Pretty cool, huh?   For more details, check out their homepage…

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I applied to be on ETEN’s Beta Test team

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Well, I was invited to take a survey and see if I "qualified" to be a part of ETEN’s  Beta Test team.  

I am certain that I qualify on the technical front, but I am unsure if I’ll get the role since I was pretty hard on them in the survey that they asked me to fill-out.  Some of the questions appeared to be geared to see if I had high-expectations of the company and their products, and since I said yes to all of them, I will likely be passed-up.   Oh well.

It would have been fun to work with them!   And if I could only get them to up the ante on their SD RAM offerings, every device they made would be top-notch.  This was the Achilles’ Heel of the X500+ that I reviewed a while ago.

Here’s hoping….

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DSL Service Temporarily restored…

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2wire_red_logo Well, I dusted off an older 2Wire router (1000SW) and plugged it into the equation.   It will restore DSL service immediately, and will provide most of the services that we used to utilize on the newer 1800HG.   It will lack some services, like Wireless “G”, “IPSec Passthru”, and of course all of the firewall entries that I had created on the 1800HG…   sigh…

I’ve written 2Wire Technical Support to see if they could assist.  I remembered that they had assisted the last time I had this problem (yes, it has happened before) by sending me a complimentary replacement cord/adapter.  I think they felt bad that the router (very high-end electronics with Integrated Circuitry) was lasting longer than their A/C Adapter power cord.

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My 2Wire Router’s Power cord died…

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While I have had nothing but success with my 2Wire 1800HG Wireless Router, I cannot say the same about the bundled A/C power adapter.  It’s a 6V 2000mA converter, which is impossible to find a replacement for.  Even 2Wire themselves no longer stock the replacement items.

Luckily, I have an older 1000SW (Wireless-B) Router from 2Wire, so I have plugged that into the equation.   This restored internet access, and provides basic wireless “b” service, but the effective radius of service is about two-thirds of what we used to have with “hyper-G” service.   Also, the older router does not provide “IPSEC Passthru” capabilities, so VPN is dead in the water…

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Windows XP Service Pack is now available…

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I heard through a co-worker in the IT department at my day job that the Windows XP Service Pack 3 is now available, but I don’t know of anyone within the company who is considering deploying this update, as Windows Service Packs have been known to cause more problems than those that they are supposed to fix. 

Here too, the better part of wisdom might well be to leave it alone for a few weeks (or a month) in order to see what problems everyone else reports after having applied this service pack themselves.

As for me and my family, we’ll likely install this SP on one the home computers first, then, if no major problems appear in the near future, we’ll update our own company computers and see how well those work out…

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I want the new HTC Touch Diamond

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touch_diamondI want this new device, the Touch Diamond from HTC! 

The fact that this device has VGA resolution, a GPS chipset, and 192MB of DDR SDRAM is absolutely kick-ass!  The 4GB of internal storage infers this product is meant to have a Multimedia capability that should rival the iPhone.  You can see all the details at their new device website, including some YouTube videos that leave me drooling every time.

I copied the specs below, because I find it rather mysterious that several details are left out, or are covered in generic terms.

Specifically, the fact that there appears to be no external memory slots on this device for SD Cards or otherwise…

Additionally, the GPS section says merely "GPS and A-GPS ready", which tells us nothing about the GPS chipset and standard that they are going to be following.   I have a lot of respect for SiRFStar and their SiRFStar III chipset, so I am hoping this will be the chipset that is eventually chosen for this device.

Specifications:

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New version of GPS Tuner now available!

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GPS Tuner Logo

The Developer at Megalith Systems has completed work on a problem that has been nagging GPS Tuner users who own HTC P3300 devices.  This particular SmartPhone has a unique method for accessing system memory that prevented GPS Tuner from recognizing the built-in GPS receiver (GPSr).  landscape_mode

Temporary work-arounds used in the past required the use of 3rd party "port splitters", which were needed to allow GPS Tuner to properly locate and use the built-in GPSr.  This problem has now been resolved!

He also completed work on a previous update (V5.4a), but it was completed so soon (less than 5 days) after the initial release of V5.4, that I did not publish the update.

Version 5.4a

  • Google Maps and Open Street Maps zoom level calculation is improved.

Version 5.4b

  • GPS Connection on HTC P3300 devices is fixed (using Type 1 mode).

For more information, as well as download hyperlinks, please visit this page:
http://www.gpstuner.com/download/index.html

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GPS Tuner new release: v5.4 now available!

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GPS Tuner v5.4 and Map Calibrator v2.5 have been released.   Google_Topo

The new version of Award Winning off-road navigation software is now able to downlad Google Terrain (Topo) Maps and Open Street Maps from internet and use them without any calibration process. The new Map Calibrator also supports these new types of online maps. Suunto’s X9i off-road GPS watch data format (.sdf) is also supported, so you are able to see your X9i track in GPS Tuner or in Map Calibrator or upload your saved waypoints/routes to Suunto X9i internal memory. New map rotation mode (in 90 degrees steps) and built-in camera support are also implemented in GPS Tuner v5.4.

Overview

GPS Tuner is an off-road navigation software for Pocket PC devices. While most car navigation software gives you the possibility of planning your route based on a road network, GPS Tuner gives you the ability of navigation where the roads end.   GPS Tuner is an excellent tool for hiking, geocaching, boating, flying, driving and many other sporting activities, where the monitoring of duration, distance and speed can be important.

What’s new in v5.4

  • ‘Open Street Map’ has been added as online map source.
  • ‘Google Topo (Terrain)’ has been added as online map source.
  • Suunto X9i data format(.sdf) handling (Import and Export) has been added.
  • Automatic map rotation in 90 degrees has been added (instead of flipping 180 degrees).
  • Built-in camera photo can be taken and added to waypoint directly.
  • Waypoints can be exported via TXT output module.
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AT&T and Starbucks begin nationwide Wi-Fi rollout.

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AT&T Inc. and Starbucks today announced the beginning of the rollout of AT&T Wi-Fi service at company-operated Starbucks stores, kicking off a nationwide effort that will Starbucks & AT&Tcontinue through 2008.

At the 2008 AT&T Inc. Annual Meeting of Stockholders in San Antonio, Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson announced that the companies have already started the deployment of AT&T Wi-Fi service at Starbucks locations in San Antonio, making it the first market to deliver the complete AT&T Wi-Fi experience in the U.S.

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