Windows Vista Microsoft’s next generation desktop operating system has finally been completed and released to manufacturing. The new OS has been in development for over five years. Congrats to the Microsoft Vista Dev team and everyone involved in the project.
It has also been reported that the RTM build will be released on MSDN very soon.
Source: Windows Vista team blog
I wonder what this means for the future of Xscale Processor in PocketPC’s ??
SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 27, 2006 – Marvell Technology Group, Ltd. and Intel Corporation today announced that they have signed an agreement for Intel to sell its communications and application processor business to Marvell for a purchase price of $600 million plus the assumption by Marvell of certain liabilities. The planned sale will give Marvell a strong presence in the growing market segment for processors used in smart handheld devices. The sale also will enable Intel to focus its investments on its core businesses, including high-performance, low-power Intel Architecture-based processors and emerging technologies for mobile computing, including Wi-Fi and WiMAX broadband wireless technologies. The transaction is expected to close in approximately four to five months and is subject to regulatory review and other normal closing conditions.
Intel’s communications and application processor business develops and sells processors for handheld devices including smart phones and personal digital assistants. The business’ processors, based on Intel® XScale technology, include the Intel® PXA9xx communications processor, codenamed “Hermon,” which powers Research in Motion’s (RIM) Blackberry* 8700 device. The Intel PXA27x applications processor, codenamed “Bulverde,” is used in the Palm Treo* smart phone, the Motorola Q* and other devices.
Eten Corp have released an updated version of their popular M600 PocketPC phone at the Computex 2006 show in Taipei . The updated phone is called the M600+. The updated device includes the Microsoft MSFP (messaging & security feature pack) for push email, extra memory (256mb) and a 2 megapixel camera. Look forward to a full review of this device in the near future.
“With the M600+ E-TEN have made a few modest improvements to the M600 specification to offer better value and features without impacting upon the performance that made the original such a hit favorite. Flash memory has been increased to 256MB (double the original capacity) meaning consumers can load the M600+ with even more mobile applications, personal documents and contact information. Secondly, the built-in camera has been upgraded and is now capable of capturing images up to 2.0 mega-pixels in size. Finally, support for Bluetooth® 2.0 has been added.
The M600+ comes preloaded with the latest version of Microsoft Windows Mobile™ 5.0, which adds support for Direct Push technology. With Direct Push the mobile capabilities of the M600+ are extended even further by enabling most of the information stored on a corporate Microsoft Exchange Server to be updated directly on the phone. Many mobile professionals are now familiar with ‘Push Email’ services that allow the delivery of certain kinds of emails onto their mobile devices, however on the M600+, Direct Push goes even further allowing contacts,calendars, tasks and other information, in addition to emails, to be sent to the device. ”
Microsoft has today made available the latest beta version of Windows Media Player, version 11.
WMP11 sports an improved UI, better performance and improved library features. The subscription based service, URGE, is intergrated into the client and offers quick and easy downloads of the latest tunes for $14.95 per month.
Microsoft hopes to attract more people into using WMP11 by offering additional features in the Vista client such as Media Center intergration.
New features include better syncronisation with Windows Mobile Devices and other media players
You can download WMP11 from Microsoft.com
Source: Neowin.net
SoloPalmari have put together a huge review of PocketPC powered GPS systems. All togther they reviewed six PDA’s with GPS recievers. After looking at the picture below it would be difficult for them to get lost with that many GPS devices tracking your route. 
“These devices are not the only electronic companions of our tests. We also have some newcomers, but we are not going to publish the results for them, due to obvious reasons. An example is the T830 by Fujitsu Siemens, still in a preliminary phase, that is expected to be available on the market by next July/September. The firmware it implements is at a too early stage to ensure an active participation to the tests and to guarantee reliable results. Side by side to this UMTS PDA phone we have included other devices: JasJar, the “king” (review); Globalsat GH-601, the wrist receiver; SD-502, the Secure Digital with a GPS antenna inside; some Nokia smartphones, and a long list of Bluetooth GPS receivers of old and new generation…..”
Read the full review @ SoloPalmari
This is major news. Finally a free version of BES that us techies can play around with…
Research In Motion today announced the immediate availability of BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express, a new offering aimed at small and medium-sized businesses, branch offices and companies new to BlackBerry. BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express provides the same enterprise-level security, reliability, features and functionality of BlackBerry Enterprise Server v4.1 and is available as a free download from RIM via the Internet to any customer who purchases a new BlackBerry device.
“Mobile access is an increasingly essential requirement of doing business and this is especially prevalent in smaller businesses,” said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at RIM. “BlackBerry Enterprise Server is renowned for helping companies become more productive and responsive, while providing industry-leading security, functionality, manageability, and back-end integration. With BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express, we’re now making it easier than ever for new customers to derive the full benefits of the BlackBerry solution.”
BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express software comes with a single user license and is upgradeable to support up to 15 users, beyond that it is required to upgrade to the regular BES. Also included is RIM’s standard 60 day free technical support plan.
You can download your free copy of BES express from blackberry.com
Microsoft Corp. won its biggest-ever contract for mobile-phone software, an order from the U.S. Census Bureau that covers 500,000 handsets.
Microsoft, the world’s biggest software maker, plans to unveil the deal today, general manager Scott Horn said in an interview. Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft expects to increase its mobile unit’s sales to $1 billion in one to three years, from $337 million last year, and break the dominance of Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry.
`Up until now, BlackBerry had the market for themselves,” Peter Knook, a Microsoft senior vice president, said in an interview. “That landscape has changed.”
Sales of handsets with Windows will double to 20 million units in 2007 as corporate customers opt for those devices instead of the BlackBerry, Knook said. They still would be just a fraction of Microsoft’s almost $40 billion in annual sales.
Read the full story @ bloomberg
NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA), the worldwide leader in programmable graphics processor technologies, today announced that it has combined the processing capabilities of the NVIDIA GoForce family of handheld graphics processing units (GPUs) with Intel Corporation’s newest processor family (codenamed Monahans) based on the third-generation Intel XScale® architecture, to deliver a powerful development platform to content developers.
“Increased global demand for high quality digital media on the move is driving a dramatic increase in the adoption of multimedia processing technology for the wireless market segment,” said Mark Casey, general manager of Intel’s Applications Processor Business Unit. “The Monahans platform family and NVIDIA GoForce family of processors have both been architected with this steep growth curve in mind, and their combination will support exceptional 3D and multimedia capabilities in handheld devices.”
The Monahans platform family will offer a wide range of performance, power and integration levels to help meet the needs of mobile phones, portable gaming devices, personal media players and other consumer electronic devices. The NVIDIA GoForce family of handheld GPUs, including the recently launched NVIDIA GoForce 5500, enables advanced multimedia features such as digital TV, advanced photo imaging, surround sound audio, and 3D gaming on next-generation handheld devices.
Source: Nvidia.com
BenQ Mobile has announced the BenQ-Siemens P51 Pocket PC Phone Edition, including an integrated GPS module and WLAN.
Based on the Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system, the device is equipped with a QVGA (240x 320 pixels) TFT color display measuring 2.83″, plus a bult-in QWERTY keyboard.
In addition to Bluetooth and USB, this Pocket PC also has an integrated WLAN interface (WLAN 820.11b/g) to enable the user on the move to surf the Internet and make phone calls via Voice-over-IP using Skype at any hotspot.
Push e-mail based on the new Windows Mobile 5.0 Direct Push feature informs the user immediately about newly received messages. All data are synchronized quickly and easily with a PC via a USB DCA-150 data cable using ActiveSync.
The BenQ-Siemens P51 is equipped with a music player (MP3, AAC, AAC+) with equalizer and 3D surround sound. IT also comes with an integrated 1.3 megapixel camera with LED photolight.
The BenQ-Siemens P51 will come on the market in July 2006 in the color “Silver.” Prices will be determined locally and it will be available with an optional onboard navigation solution.
Press release @ http://www.benqmobile.com/
Engadget has some info from Cebit on the first Microsoft Origami / UMPC device.
You can also check out Intel’s site for more information on the first UMPC devices. The first generation of Ultra Mobile PC devices from Samsung*, Asus* and Founder* are scheduled to be commercially available in Q2, 2006.
So we managed to get our hands on a Samsung Q1 / Origami device set to roll tomorrow here at CeBIT. Don’t ask how, but it’ll be awhile before we recover from the brutal caning we just received. From the five minutes we spent with it we can tell you, well, it’s an XP Tablet PC with a 7-inch display. Sorry, that’s about it, nothing earth-shattering here folks. In fact, for all the hype, it’s hard to find anything revolutionary or even evolutionary in the hardware specs or loaded software (perhaps that will come when the price is announced). Sure, Samsung did call it a prototype unit, but as the final prototype prior to manufacture we’re told not much will change besides a “brighter TFT LCD.”
Now, beyond what we saw earlier today, Samsung will release their UMPC / Origami device with optional GPS and DMB (and presumably DVB too, eventually) mobile digital TV expansion modules, as well as WiBRO support for when that goes live in Korea around June. The version we grabbed, the Q1, also supports Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP and sports a 30GB hard disk. Unfortunately the whole thing just felt wrong in the hands – very plasticy and without substance. Take a look for yourselves after the break, we’ve got tons more shots.
Read more about the samsung Q1 @ engadget
Recent Comments