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Two Stunads is having a sale on their products as part of the Thanksgiving holiday. Software is over 30% off the normal price. Visit the link below for the sale page and more information.

Related Link: Two Stunads

A conducting plastic has been used to create a new memory technology with the potential to store a megabit of data in a millimetre-square device - 10 times denser than current magnetic memories. The device should also be cheap and fast, but cannot be rewritten, so would only be suitable for permanent storage.The device sandwiches a blob of a conducting polymer called PEDOT and a silicon diode between two perpendicular wires. Substantial research effort has focused on polymer-based transistors, which could form cheap, flexible circuits, but polymer-based memory has received relatively little attention.The key to the new technology was the discovery by researchers from Princeton University, New Jersey, and Hewlett-Packard Laboratories in Palo Alto, California, that passing a high current through PEDOT turns it into an insulator, rather like blowing a fuse. The polymers two possible states, conductor or insulator, then form the one and zero necessary to store digital data.”The beauty of the device is that it combines the best of silicon technology - diodes - with the capability to form a fuse, which does not exist in silicon,” says Vladimir Bulovic, who works on organic electronics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. However, turning the polymer INTO an insulator involves a permanent chemical change, meaning the memory can only be written to once. Its creators say this makes it ideal for archiving images and other data directly from a digital camera, cellphone or PDA, like an electronic version of film negatives. Source: NewScientist

PPC Techs have released 3 new Lil' Syncs and a Lil' Sync 4 AA Battery Adapterwith Voltage Reduction Circuit. Here is more information about the battery:

“Use with the Lil' Sync Retractable USB Sync-n-Charge cable to charge yourunit using 4 AA batteries. One of the dangers in using 4 AA batteries with a5V device is that different types of AA batteries give off differentvoltages. 4 Lithium AA batteries can give off almost 7 Volts which coulddamage some 5V systems. We've eliminated this danger by designing a VoltageReduction Circuit (VRC), comprised of a series of diodes and resistors, witha selectable switch. Select the type of battery your using and you're set.Once the Alkaline position no longer charges your unit, switch to the NiCdto drain the last usable portion of the batteries.”

Click “Read More” for more details and info

Related Link: PPC Techs

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Microsoft has set a target to sell 100 million personal digital assistants and smart phones running Windows by 2007.

The goal was set by Microsoft chief executive officer Steve Ballmer for the company's Windows Mobile unit, and shows that Microsoft is serious about this market, said Douglas Dedo, marketing manager for Windows Mobile at Microsoft.

A large percentage of the Windows Mobile device shipments will be smart phones, not PDAs, Dedo said.

Smart phones are devices that look like a phone, but offer extended PDA-like capabilities such as e-mail access and a calendar.

Microsoft launched its first smart phone about a year ago in Europe. ATT Wireless Services last month began selling Motorola's MPx200, the first smart phone based on Windows Mobile software to be sold in the US…

Full story @ Computerweekly

Anthelion is a brand new 3D space fighter game from PDAmill for the Pocket PC. As a pirate fighter-pilot you find yourself in the middle of the first war between the Anthelion Federation, the alien Locust Empire and the group of Bedouin Pirates. Fight through the missions to unveil the story of the galactic alliance and prove yourself worthy of the love of hundreds of women Anthelion features our incredible 3D graphics engine, fast-paced space combat, a compelling story, kicking aliens in the tentacle and over half an hour of music - all designed for the Pocket PC. The full version costs only 19.95$ and a trial version is available on the PDAmill website

“Anthelion, much like PDAMill's previous game Snails, is sure to be a hit. Finding fault in this game is pretty tough, unless you're adamantly opposed to action games. Everything comes together nearly perfectly, and ranks up there with the best out there.” Read the first review by PocketGamer and PocketMatrix at http://pocketmatrix.com/reviews/anthelion/.

Related Link: PDAmill

Happy Halloween to all from the staff at PPCzone. Astraware managed to slip in another game called Mars Needs Cows.

“Mars Needs Cows is the wacky puzzle game from the famous online masters,
PopCap Games!

Stretch your brain muscle in a series of increasingly challenging
puzzles, as you maneuver stupid earth animals into the middle of a field
so that you can beam them to your ship!

An out-of-this world music track, and all-new comical sound effects
makes this an essential download!

Mars Needs Cows is available for Palm PoweredT Handhelds and Pocket PC
Devices from www.astraware.com at $14.95″

Related Link: Astraware

“Cellular network provider O2 will launch its second-generation wireless Pocket PC, the XDA II, on 1 November, the company said today. The device was launched earlier this year, but until now, the company has not said when it will offer the product to customers. The XDA II is based on a faster, 400MHz Intel XScale PXA263 processor and contains 128MB of SDRAM - twice that of the original XDA - and 64MB of Flash ROM. It has a 3.5in 16-bit colour transflective LCD screen. The device runs Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC, tweaked to add voice telephony features. As a phone, the XDA II is a tri-band GSM handset with GPRS support for data. In addition to the new OS, the XDA II incorporates a 640 x 480 digicam and supports multimedia messaging - both missing from the first XDA, as was Bluetooth, now included. The new model also sports a removable battery and an SD/MMC card slot. Having seen the XDA II, we can report it is a big improvement over the original. O2 will initially offer the XDA II in the UK for £349, including sales tax and 12 months' subscription fees. O2 quotes a battery life of up to five hours talk time, and 180 hours standby time”

I have been in contact with O2 ireland and hope to get one of this devices for review as soon as possible.

Worms World Party for the Pocket PC is available! Already a hugeinternational gaming success in the PC and console markets, the PocketPC version of the immensely popular title retains the wacky gameplay,eye-popping graphics, outrageous sound effects that made Worms aninternational success in the PC and console markets.

Worms World Party is a turn-based strategy game in which the playercontrols a squad of military-trained worms that battle each other in afight for global domination. Combatants annihilate invertebrateopponents using different weapons, tools and utilities until one teamsstands (or wriggles) victorious.

Related Link: Hexacto, Buy the Game

” This is a fun game. There are a number of features I like. I like being able to pick the game up and play for five minutes and finish a level or two. I also like the option of sitting down and playing for an extended period of time. The ability to play any level is important to me as I get bored easily if I always have to restart from the beginning. The number of levels keeps things fresh. It might be a little expensively priced at just under $10 though.”

Read the review here

Related Links: RU0 Games, Buy the game

“Mark Whittard, national marketing manager at Toshiba Australia, spoke to a recent press conference on the direction of the PC market. He said sales of PocketPC-type handhelds — after a fabulous start last year prompting optimistic projections for the next five years as high as 40 percent — could be considered deceased.

“The PocketPC market is pretty much dead, and HP will tell you the same if you talk to them. They will give you a realistic view,” he told news media, in response to a question about the future of the PDA market.”

Well Toshiba don't seem very happy. I think they annoyed a lot of customers with the upgrade fiasco regarding Windows mobile 2003. Their sales have dropped since then. Could this be where the above comment came from? Also HP is supposedly dead yet the remain the second largest handheld company in the world.

Source: Itnews