Archive for January, 2006

Opera for Windows Mobile

OperaI am not a great fan of the Opera browser. Yes, it performs adequately and provides tabbed browsing, but seems more cumbersome to use than Firefox. Not even the provision of a free license key was enough to sway me!

The PocketPC is a different story. The Internet Explorer on PocketPC’s is not very useful, to say the least! News of a better browser is always welcome. The Opera 8.5 Beta for Windows Mobile devices has been released. Supporting both Windows Mobile 2003 and Windows Mobile 5.0, a host of features are provided. Zooming, multiple windows, URL auto-completion, indication of secure sites and landscape orientation are a few examples. The interface is a cut-down version of its bigger brother, presenting only the most important user interface elements and preserving all important screen real estate:

Opera for Windows Mobile

A nice feature is the ability to change to landscape mode directly from within the browser, without having to muck about with the device’s screen settings. This provides a wider display area, making it easier to see what’s going on. The default setting attempts to fit everything to the screen. I prefer to use the zoom options to make everything visible. Certain fonts are not resized, but the overall effect is very usable.

Opera for Windows Mobile

A host of additional options are available from the menu. This includes navigating active windows, indicating display preferences (zooming, fit to screen) and setting overall preferences.

Opera for Windows Mobile

A nice browser with all the features lacking in PIE. Web pages downloaded speedily on my GPRS connection. The downside: a trial period that lasts only 45 days. Since this is a beta, Opera may want to restrict use of the product in case any serious issues crop up. My fear is that they’ll make it an expensive purchase once the final release is ready: the Opera browser for mobile phones is available for USD 29.

If you require the use of a decent, fully-featured browser, this is certainly something to download and try out.

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Activesync’ing the inbox

ActivesyncFinally switched to synchronizing my Inbox on the LOOX using Exchange synchronization. At least that seems to work! For now, at least. Attachments, etc. are being copied as they should, plus I’ll be able to send and receive mail on the move, which is always handy. Let’s hope this good fortune lasts…

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Resco SuDoku

The Sudoku craze has made it to the PocketPC. Various products are available, but Resco consistently provides good value and excellent PocketPC software. Sudoku is a logic puzzle which makes it perfect for the mobile device. The aim of the game is to complete a 9×9 grid, filling in the numbers 1 through 9 in such a way that each row and column contains each number only once. Additionally, 9 regions of 3×3 need to contain the numbers 1 through 9 too. The game starts with some given numbers and it’s up to the player to decide which number goes where…

Resco SuDoku

Resco SuDoku on Windows Mobile is better than a paper-based puzzle – invariably, one finds oneself entering the wrong number or having to mark and erase previous entries. This leads to hideous markings and a guessing games as to which entry is the correct one! Tap on a number and decide where in the grid it needs to go. There’s an eraser, highlighter and undo button to use. If you get stuck, hints are available. These can indicate wrong values or duplicates to get you out of trouble. With a variety of difficulty levels and the ability to create your own puzzles, Resco SuDoku should keep even the most ardent puzzlers entertained. Various skins are selectable, though I consider most of them very distracting.

Resco SuDoku

For around USD 11 (about R60.00), it should be a welcome addition to most mobile devices, provided you enjoying the puzzle genre. Highly recommended! 4 out of 5

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Activesync woes

ActivesyncMy Activesync woes continue. Synchronization of Outlook inbox items is not possible: a dreaded application error is the result. So far, all I can do is to disable the synchronization of inbox items.

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Electricity

Great news! We have electricity to one plug in the house! After a run-around involving two sparkies, laying 400kg of cable, connecting everything and discovering that the supply from Eskom didn’t work, we are now ready to plug in the fridge and cool some beers ;-)

Plug point

This plug point deserves an honourable mention! Read more about our building project here.

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Activesync 4.1

After endless trouble trying to synchronize my Outlook mail, I have installed the new Activesync 4.1. Things have improved – it’s just trashed all my mail!

Microsoft Activesync 4.1

At least it synchronizes as it should now, without errors…

You’ve been warned: if I had a chance to do it again, I’d archive my mailbox first. Another lesson learnt.

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Annoying speaker notification – HP support

Still no resolution on my nx8220′s speaker beeping whenever Outlook notifies me of a new, highly important mail. Thought I’d give HP online support a try…

HP


[12 January 2006 04:19 PM] — Automatically generated message:
Your request has been submitted to HP. We are working on your problem and will contact you online mostly in two minutes or less (Monday-Friday, between 9am and 3am Greenwich Standard Time). If you need immediate help, please call the telephone number on your HP Service contract, or go to http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/wwcontact.html to find the phone number of the HP customer care center to call.

[12 January 2006 04:19 PM] — Automatically generated message:
For reference, your Case ID is 123

[12 January 2006 04:19 PM] — Automatically generated message:
A Support specialist, has been assigned to your case.

[12 January 2006 04:20 PM] — says:
Hello Manfred , thank you for contacting Hewlett-Packard and for your interest in this HP Active Chat support. My name is
etty and I see you have a query regarding your HP Compaq Notebook/Desktop. I am going to take few moments to review the information you submitted and will message you at the earliest.

[12 January 2006 04:21 PM] — says:
Manfred, I understand that you would like to disable the sound when you receive a high priority mail in your Outlook 2003 software. Am I correct?

[12 January 2006 04:22 PM] — Manfred Hertenberger says:
yes, but only the beep issued by the speaker. not the sound file.

[12 January 2006 04:26 PM] — says:
Please give me a moment while I check this for you.

[12 January 2006 04:29 PM] — says:
Manfred, please let me know if you hear the beeps when you receive any mail.

[12 January 2006 04:34 PM] — Manfred Hertenberger says:
yes – still beeping the speaker! but only for mails flagged high importance.

[12 January 2006 04:36 PM] — says:
Please perform the below steps and check if the issue persist:

1) On the Tools menu, click Options.
2) Click the Other tab, and then click Advanced Options.
3) Click Reminder Options.
4) Select or clear the Display the reminder check box.

If you display reminders, select or clear the Play reminder sound check box, and then, if you want, enter the path of a sound file.

[12 January 2006 04:36 PM] — says:
This is the only method to disable sound.

[12 January 2006 04:38 PM] — Manfred Hertenberger says:
that doesn’t work! it’s only for reminders… such as upcoming meetings or so.

[12 January 2006 04:39 PM] — says:
Yes, that’s correct.

[12 January 2006 04:41 PM] — says:
Please try the below steps:

1) In Control Panel, click Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices, and then click Sounds and Audio Devices.
Note If you are using Classic view in Control Panel, double-click Sounds and Audio Devices.
2) Click the Sounds tab.
3) Under Program Events, under Windows, select New Mail Notification.

[12 January 2006 04:42 PM] — Manfred Hertenberger says:
the new mail notification sound can be altered or switched off – still plays the speaker, though. that’s one of the first things i tried.

[12 January 2006 04:42 PM] — says:
Okay.

[12 January 2006 04:43 PM] — says:
Please let me know if the issue persisted before as well.

[12 January 2006 04:45 PM] — Manfred Hertenberger says:
since i’ve had the notebook – came pre-installed with xp and office was a default installation. i’ve never had this issue before on other notebooks or pc’s, so i’m assuming it’s something special to do with the hp software or so.

[12 January 2006 04:45 PM] — Manfred Hertenberger says:
i’ve had the notebook for just over a week now.

[12 January 2006 04:46 PM] — says:
Okay.

[12 January 2006 04:46 PM] — says:
Please give me few moments while I research on this issue.

[12 January 2006 04:51 PM] — says:
Please let me know if you have access to another similar known good unit.

[12 January 2006 04:52 PM] — Manfred Hertenberger says:
no

[12 January 2006 04:52 PM] — says:
Okay.

[12 January 2006 04:57 PM] — says:
please perform the below steps and check if the issue is resolved:
1) Boot the notebook in Safe mode. Follow the below steps to boot the notebook in safe mode:
a) Restart the Notebook.
b) Start tapping the ‘F8’ key. Keep tapping the key until you get the ‘Windows Startup’ Menu.
c) Choose ‘Safe Mode’ from the list.
2) Uninstall the Audio driver from the Device Manager while the notebook is in safe mode.
3) Restart the notebook in normal mode.

Ok… uninstalling sound drivers to stop the machine making a sound is one solution. Not what I was hoping for, but a solution nonetheless. Am I not making myself clear?

Anyone have a better idea?

Please!

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Time – 16 January 2006

The headline for the current issue of Time Magazine makes me wonder…

Time Magazine 16 January 2006

Nowadays, they don’t even wait for death before declaring one gone.

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LOOX T810

Update!

From an “internal use only” Data Sheet I just received, the specifications are true! Some additional details: Windows Mobile 5.0 Phone Edition, 2MP camera, SiRFstar III GPS and a 240 x 240 color transflective TFT touchscreen (65536 colours).

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Upcoming LOOX T810

LOOX T810

Byebye JASJAR!

Pocketinfo has the lowdown on the next generation Fujitsu-Siemens LOOX model that, according to them, will be announced on 13 February 2006.

If the information (supposedly from an FSC insider) is true, this will be the device I’ve been waiting for!

A mobile phone and fully-fledged PocketPC with all necessary connectivity options in one unit.

The T810 has a keyboard, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GSM, UMTS and integrated GPS and camera.

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