Several times over the last few months I have been able to use the Popplets app to not only make sharp looking mind maps and org charts, but also as a great tool to add some punch to documents.

Popplets itself is a great little app to work with. Just tap an empty spot and get a little bubble that you can add text, drawings or pictures to. Want another one? Tap another empty spot on the page or drag out from the side of the first one to create a connecting bubble. Connecting lines can be added or removed and connections stretch as you move the bubbles around. You can pick colors for backgrounds and bubbles although stangely, a white background isn’t an option. I wrote to the team a few weeks ago so hopefully it will make it into a future update.

Since you also can’t save a Popplet directly to your photo gallery, get around it by touching the share button to email it to yourself as a JPEG picture or PDF. Just save them from the mail app and you can then embed these images into your documents. If you are adding your photos to a document in Keynote or Pages, you may want to double-tap on the image to adjust the mask; essentally scaling it within the picture frame. I did it in the document examples above to zoom in on the graphic, skipping the Popplet title and much of the wasted space. An interesting border can also draw the eye, and looks so much better than a plain black line.

Check out the video at Popplet, or try out the free version in the app store; which limits you to one board. If you like it the full version is $8.99.

[Popplet]

The post Using Popplets to spice up your iPad docs appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

I spend considerably more time in front of a book than I do a TV and that time, sunk so deep into a story so as to lose the outside world altogether, is an experience I look forward to.  While I have had one of the original commercial e-ink devices for years, I found that the cumbersome book buying process, delay between page turns, and awkward menu design took something away from the reading experience, so I used it only intermittently.

Still, there is something to be said for the easy and font scalable reading, seemingly limitless choice and convenience that e-ink based book readers can provide.  It’s not unlike switching from watching regular cable TV on a set programming schedule to watching only your favourite shows drawn from the 500 channel universe, whenever you want through a PVR.  You have all of your favourite stuff in one place and can pick and choose your content according to what interests you at that moment.  Provided that the actual reading experience on an e-reader is as good as it is on paper, it gets really hard to go back.

While my old e-book reader was limited in its ability to challenge the paper book experience, and occasionally found itself on a shelf as a result, moving to the new Kindle 3 has brought me back into the digital fold.  That is not to say that I’ll forgo paper books altogether, but there is nothing about reading on the K3 that makes me yearn for dead trees like the old one did.

In the interim, I wanted to share my experience with the K3 so far.  I have had about a month with the device and have spent countless hours reading on it. Having carried it with me almost everywhere, using it both indoors and out, at home and on the road;  I’ve managed not to drop it yet and, fingers crossed, have yet to leave it on the bus like so many paperbacks.

The good

The K3 is remarkably light and thin.  At just 4.8 inches wide by 7.5 inches tall, and .335 inches thick, it fits snugly into the inside pocket of my suit jacket without ripping it and at only 8.5 ounces, doesn’t drag it down.  The device feels very sturdy in my clumsy hands, with nearly soundless buttons and room to store some 3500 books.

The reading screen is much faster and crisper than readers I have tried before, making for very pleasant reading.  If you have never used one before, it’s black text on a grey-white background, similar in appearance to a typical newspaper.   Being an e-ink based display, it is much easier on the eyes than a computer screen.  This is due in part to fact that the technology produces no light of it’s own, requiring the reflected light of the room you are in just like a paper book.  Unlike paper though, you can actually scale the font or change the typeface as desired.  Those of us who need glasses …say thank you. Amazon has increased the contrast ratio in the new version, resulting in 50% better contrast by utilizing the latest E Ink Pearl technology. This is indeed the case and not just marketing.

Reading on the K3 is an absolute pleasure.  The text looks great and page turns are nearly instant.  The unit has forward and backward page turning buttons on both the left and right sides, exactly where your fingers land when you hold it, making it easy to read from either hand with barely any physical movement.  This has also proven to be a surprisingly useful improvement over the paper experience because you can read and turn pages with just one hand, leaving the other free for a snack or beverage. Page turn speed has also be increased, making page turns 20% faster than predecessors.

Another surprising plus has been the read-to-me feature enabled on some of Amazon’s books.  In short, you can have one of the K3’s machine voices read the text out loud through either the built-in speakers or the headphone jack.  I frankly expected something that sounded like early Stephen Hawking recordings but I find the female voice remarkable easy to listen to.  Of course, it’s no where near as good as having a professional story teller weave an artful tale, but it’s serviceable on the cold walks between reading sites.

The K3’s built in keyboard is used for a number of functions beyond searching for books in the Kindle version of Amazon’s online store.  One of the most important for me has been the ability to make annotations in the text and share those notes and book clippings with others.  I am forever collecting interesting passages and the ability to share them through Facebook and Twitter, complete with links to the books themselves, is convenient.  You can also get your clips as a single file.

Getting books is a bit of a mixed bag in terms of user experience (see the next section) however it is still good overall.  Amazon boasts some half a million ebook titles available to Canadians in their on-line store.  To load up on new stuff, just pick the “shop in the Kindle store” option in the menu and up pops a very simplified version of Amazon’s online offering.  Once you find what you want, you can download a sample chapter for free or just buy the book outright. Provided you’re on Wi-Fi or 3G and the connection to the store is working, its amazingly fast.  I went from reading one book to finding, downloading and reading a second book in well under the 60 seconds they advertise.  Another highlight for me was the ability to subscribe to magazines and newspapers and have them wirelessly delivered to me when they hit the newsstand.

The bad

My only real complaint about reading actual books on the Kindle is the fact that the “Table of Contents” option is buried in a second level menu you have to find.  It’s a small thing, but it got annoying in a hurry on day one.  Also, magazines and newspapers generally strip out most of their images so if you are big on those, you had best go with the paper versions.

While the book reading functionality is just about flawless, the process of getting books has some room for improvement.  Even when I used the device in areas with 5-bar cell service, and was happily surfing away on another 3G device using the same provider, the K3 was frequently unable to contact the Amazon store over 3G.  When this happened, the device would advise me to find a Wi-Fi network -but a reboot usually solved the problem.   That process can take a few minutes though and there were days when I had to do that several times.  The basic built-in web browser suffered the same connection problems and occasionally caused the device to freeze up altogether, requiring another series of tedious reboots.  You won’t want to do too much of that though, as the wireless sucks up the battery quite quickly – I got weeks of reading with the wireless off, but only a few days with some moderate surfing.

The Kindle version of the Amazon store is also much less useful than the regular version.  While the search for books worked perfectly (when the connection was working), the inability to sort books according to price, prize winners, New York Times best seller list or simply to search within a given category, made casual book browsing less enjoyable for me.  This was made worse by miscategorized books, which often filled up the first few pages of multiple genres.  By way of example, the first 10 top results in the “Children’s E-book” category include Dracula, the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Edgar Allan Poe’s Complete Poetical works and…of course…War and Peace, the bedtime story we all know and love.  The “Advice and How to” category offers Alice in Wonderland, Sense and Sensibility, along with the Scarlet Letter …just what they are “advising” here is unclear. So…, when it came to finding stuff, the keyboard was my friend.

Lastly, although you are able to view PDF document’s on the device, the relatively small 6-inch screen (which is great for plain text) is ill suited for the 8.5 x 11 world of the majority of PDF documents out there.  Add to that the inability to scale fonts and it makes it an often frustrating experience.  Yes, you can zoom into any part of a regular sized page and see it just fine, but then you are constantly having to move the zoom around the page as you go from line to line.   Also, the service that lets you email documents to your Kindle does not work in Canada, so you have to move them over via USB or move to the USA.

The verdict

When I am able to connect to the Kindle store, which is the vast majority of the time, I am very satisfied with the overall experience.  I can get just about any book I want in seconds, anywhere with Wi-Fi of cell phone data service, on a small, light, dependable and sturdy device that is as easy to read as newsprint and lasts for weeks on a single charge. The new design is slim, light and very easy to hold for long durations of reading. The display is super crisp, pages turn very fast, and starting at $139 (Wi-Fi only), $189 (Wi-Fi + 3G) and $380 (9.7″ display) you’re really getting a bargain, even at the high-end of things.

The book geek is happy.

The post Review: One Month With the Kindle 3 appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

So is it worth it? The Hiptop2 is not all things to all people and you’ll see hits and misses throughout the review. The question is whether the things it lacks are the kinds of things you care about. Because if they aren’t, you’ll see that what it does do, it does very well.

Interface and Design

The first thing people tell me when I show them this product is that it definitely does not look like a phone. Most initially think that it’s just another gaming handheld. Aside from the unconventional looks, the Hiptop2 is also immediately noticed for its size. At 130mm x 66mm x 22mm and weighing 184 grams it still fits loosely in a larger pants pocket, but some may think you are just happy to see them.

The display screen is 240-by-160 pixel 65k color LCD which is viewable from various angles, even in direct sunlight. Brightness can be controlled manually or through a built in light sensor that adjusts to the ambient illumination. Even in manual mode with the backlight turned up to full, it’s nowhere near as bright as most of my other phones. It is however bright enough to do the job.

Controls on the device are straight-forward and very easy to use. Pickup the manual, you will learn these in minutes. My only complaints are that the left directional pad is only 4-way directional. It would have been nice to be able to click on it to make a selection. Had they added this, the device would have been as easy to use with either the right or left hand.

On the outer edge surrounding the top and bottom are buttons covered by a hard rubber, they require some effort to press making them very difficult to accidentally activate in a pocket. These include the dedicated volume keys, power, camera shutter and contextual key. In the camera application, the shutter key is the right rubberized key on the top edge. Again, the device would have been more left-hand friendly had they allowed the contextual key on the left to double as the same function.

What makes the design really cool is the slide out style screen. When you push on it with your left thumb it slides up and locks into place while changing the image orientation in the process. This reveals the keyboard and allows access to the number keys for manual dialing and messaging.

This design is absolutely excellent for providing a large data entry keyboard and large screen, but it does have drawbacks for voice dialing. For one, calling anyone that is not already in your address book requires two hands to flip open the device and type the numbers. On the upside, the device recognizes what you’re doing and takes you directly to the phone app from the main menu. You then close the phone and stick it to your ear. It sounds worse than it actually is, I quickly got used it. The only time it really annoyed me was when I was on the phone to the credit card company. Several times in the process I had to go back and re-open the phone to type in account numbers and security answers. I eventually just gave up and used the speakerphone.

As a Phone

So we all agree, it’s strange looking for a phone. The question now becomes one of usability.

The Hiptop2 is a Tri-Band GSM 900, 1800, and 1900MHz phone, this gives us plenty of worldwide coverage. Reception is excellent – no noticeable interruptions in service that could be the phone’s fault. As for the features, there are plenty of good and bad points.

To its credit, you get full synchronization with Outlook so you won’t sprain a thumb getting all your stuff in there. On the downside, it costs you $20 for the software to do it and that’s something that’s almost always free on other smartphones.

The address book has plenty of data fields, a dedicated area for notes and room for 2000 entries. It will also recognize when you type letters on the main menu screen and allow you to do a multi-letter character search of your contacts. As always, contacts can be uploaded from your SIM card.

There is also support for the standard caller identification, polyphonic ringtones and picture-associated caller ID. This includes your choice of 30 cartoon avatars or one from your personal gallery. Unfortunately, MP3 ringtones are not supported and it will only accept wav or midi files up to 100k. Adding ringtones can be done for $2 bucks a pop from the software catalog or you can just e-mail supported types to yourself.

Text messaging is present but MMS is not. If you want to send a picture message, you have to do it by e-mail. Considering that most people don’t have/use e-mail on their phones, the absence of this feature is strange.

Like it’s predecessors, all of your data is copied back onto the network. This means you can access it with a password from your computer in a secure and stable way. Any changes you make on one, appears on the other. Sadly, moving information between phones is rather challenging since it doesn’t come with Bluetooth or Infrared capabilities. Those who are determined to use wireless headsets are out of luck.

Available software is nicely organized in a simple catalog application right on the device. It receives regular updates and allows you to buy ringtones, games and other software from your phone with just a few clicks and virtually no hassle. Unfortunately you only have 25 software titles to pick from at the moment, averaging $8 bucks each. And if you delete an application, you’ll have to pay for it again to get it back.

Compare that the seemingly endless stream of applications, a great many of them free, available to Palm or PocketPC based products. Even Blackberry has many more choices. I have read about people who install third party applications otherwise but I know most people won’t go through the hoops required.

If you stick to the provided products, loading up new software really couldn’t be any easier.

As a Camera

I shot over 200 photos over the last month and overall, the pictures are a little above average for a .03 MP camera phone, but the quality is nothing more than “messing around”, It would not be suitable for any type of print.

Because of its form factor, taking pictures with the Hiptop2 feels very much like using a regular camera. As features go, you get a limited LED flash (I really wish they’d allow for it to be used as a basic flashlight), low light setting, zoom (in picture viewing) and your choice of 640 x 480, 320 x 240 or 160 x 120 sizes. Noticeably absent are color effects, white balance, frames or a self timer. The Hiptop2 does not record or play video.

Once again, integration on the Hiptop2 just can’t be understated. On many cameraphones, the act of taking a picture, saving it and e-mailing it can be a painful, multi-minute experience. On the Hiptop2, it’s a breeze.

From the main menu, just click the shutter button once to see your gallery or twice to go into capture mode. Click the shutter or scroll wheel to take a picture and then roll to the e-mail icon. Click on it; punch in an e-mail address hit send. That’s it. And best of all, it happens almost instantly. Like other cameraphones, the act of sending pictures on the network can take a wee bit of time. The difference on the Hiptop2 is that it all happens in the background. No sitting and waiting for the picture application to make the connection and send the image before you can do anything else. The second you hit send, you can go one to any function in the phone immediately; even sending another e-mail while that one is still going out. Your message will be cued behind the one in progress but it’s invisible to the user.

Also very cool was the ease of mobile photo blogging provided by Hiptop Nation. Pictures in my photo blog were easily added by just sending them by e-mail to an address set up by Hiptop fans. As I went about my travels, friends could use that URL to see what I was up to just a minute or so after I sent the images. Special thanks to Hiptop Nation for this.

Text Messaging

The implementation of Text Messaging is pretty basic. There are no folder options and no way to view messages from the same person as a chat string. On the upside though, you can set reply requests and delivery reports. There is also the rather nice touch of allowing you to punch in a persons name rather than a number. As you type, the device shows you possible matches from your address book

Another plus and minus is the support of Multi-Part SMS. This means that if you go over the character limit in a message, the surplus text will simply moved into its own message and sent with the original. Unfortunately, the Hiptop2 doesn’t actually show you your character count as you type. It will show you that you’ve gone over into a second message but if you want to organize your thoughts to avoid this, it is difficult without seeing how many characters you’re up to.

Mobile E-Mail

If you need something to get your enterprise e-mail on the go – get a Blackberry or Treo 650. The Hiptop does not support it. But if this is for your personal POP3 (that’s most of us) or IMAP e-mail, this device is an excellent choice. You get the same e-mail push as on the Blackberry (ie – your mail comes to you automatically). Word and PDF documents are automatically opened and placed in your e-mail as text. And JPEG pictures sent to you are re-sized for the screen and displayed right in the body of a message. Excellent! I also really like that all e-mail addresses, web links and phone numbers contained in an e-mail are summed up at the bottom of the message. This allows you to quickly go to a page, add or call a contact etc just by rolling to it and choosing the option with the Menu key. Sending messages is very easy and you can attach sound files, pictures or Vcards.

The e-mail client itself is very easy to use. You can set up folders and sort by subject, sender, size or date. Adding multiple e-mail accounts (up to 3) is easy and you can manage mail volume (crucial due to the limited memory) by choosing not to download attachments past a certain size or of a format not compatible with the device. You’ll still have them when you download them to your home computer, they just won’t clog up the device’s 16 MB of storage memory Also, you can simply have the device purge messages automatically after a certain amount of time.

Another well thought out feature worth mentioning is message notification. In addition to whatever sound and lights you choose to associate to incoming e-mail or text messages, a banner appears at the top of the screen summing up the contents. This happens regardless of what application you are using at the time, allowing you to decide at a glance weather this message is worth pausing your game or leaving a page. Very very nice indeed.

My only complaint in this area is that text inserted into a message from a Word or PDF attachment cannot be copied and pasted into the notes application for editing. Let’s hope they toss that into the Hiptop3.

Web Browsing

You get a full HTML browser, meaning you can surf just about any site. I found that most pages were decently rendered for a small device but there are a few things that could use some improvement. For example, there is no way to adjust the font size in the browser. Most pages were fine but a few I looked up took some squinting to read. The browser also does not support Javascript. And lastly, there is the connection speed issue. 8 times out of 10, browsing was pretty fast for a phone. I could load up Mobilemag, images and all, in about 38 seconds. About 9 seconds with the images feature turned off. That’s pretty impressive. The problem is that the other 2 times I tried, the browser would just go on doing a whole lot of nothing until it eventually timed out. I suspect this is a network issue rather than a device problem but it happened frequently enough to be irritating.

Also of note, if you lose GPRS coverage momentarily (getting into an elevator in some areas), the device is a little slow to reacquire it. Although I could do it manually at any time, it took as long as 10 minutes to do it on its own. This is a little annoying as you can’t surf to a page during that time even though you have data coverage. As such, I reset it manually whenever I needed it.

Instant Messaging

The Hiptop2 comes will an AOL Instant Messenger application built in. Super fast messaging on the go is excellent. It would have been nice however to have support for other platforms as most people I know use other IM programs. Note that you cannot create an AOL account from the device itself. Once you’ve done it on your computer, just plug your user name and password in the AOL application on the device you’re good to go.

Data Entry

All hail the mighty thumb board. Like a Blackberry, thumb typing on the Hiptop2 is a pleasure. The keys are large, raised, rubberized and well spaced making it quick and very comfortable. It’s also well thought out. Although you have a number row at the top, the proximity to the screen makes them a little awkward to hit with a thicker finger. To remedy this, virtually every number and symbol up there is also represented on other keys. Also, the net centric device has dedicated keys for @, period and comma. Beautiful.

PDA Functionality

Although nowhere near the level of functionality offered in Palm and PPC applications (No voice notes, call recording) the Hiptop2 does cover the bases for most users.

Aside from the already mentioned address book, here are some of the applications provided to keep you on track:

Notes: A very basic text editor. I typed up most of this review on it last week and had no issues to report. You can have multiple notes and flip back and fourth between them with ease. There are no formatting options (underline, bold, italic etc) so all you can do is type, copy, and paste. On a strange note, this is the only area where integration seemed a tad off. Rather than just allow me to e-mail a note, either as the body of a message or an attachment, I actually had to select the entire text, copy it and then paste it into an e-mail. It seemed so odd that I spent quite a bit of time looking for the feature before I gave up.

Calendar: This one is rather robust and can be synchronized with Outlook. You can set appointments using daily, weekly and yearly views and set detailed re-occurrences and notes. As expected, you can also set reminder alarms.

To Do: This is your basic check-the-box task list. You can set tasks with or without due dates and add notes.

Gaming: Yes, the Hiptop2 plays cell phone quality Java games and you get both an Asteroids clone and snowboard game built in. One of my favorites from the downloadable catalog, Cheese Racer, is actually an updated version of Rally-X from the Atari days. I also liked The Reckoning, another Atari (Missile Command) remix that helps you improve your typing speed. As in other functions, the device’s processor doesn’t let up and I observed no slowdowns whatsoever in hours of game play.

The graphics are rendered better than average for phone games and I have to say that the button layout does lend itself well for this purpose in closed mode. Add in the use of the vibe feature for force feedback and multicolor LED’s in the game pad, and it makes for a pretty good mobile gaming experience.

Navigation

The Hiptop2 could not be any easier to figure out. Just press the menu key in any application and your options are clearly laid out. In the main menu screen, important items from each application are previewed whenever you roll to their icons. This is a great little feature for quickly sizing up your day. Roll over the e-mail icon and it shows you how many messages you have unread as well as the sender’s address and subject line for the most recent eight. Roll over the pictures icon, and you see your last two photos. Do the same with the Calendar app, Notes and To Do list icons and they all give you a snapshot of what’s there.

Of particular interest to regular PDA users, I’ve been through a solid month of hardcore use without a single bug or crash. Now go pick yourself up off the floor. It’s also very responsive. I can think of only a single occasion when it didn’t keep up to my key presses and that was when I had the memory packed to the gills.

Customization

This is one thing that’s remarkably limited for a smartphone, maybe there will be a third party hack, but as it stands now, you can’t customize the color layouts, wallpaper, fonts or menu orders on this phone. The style is Japanese Anime and that’s how it will stay. The exterior customization allows for the grey rubber bumpers on the top and bottom to be changed to more interesting colors, or dish out the big bucks and get the device “studded” for an extra bit of bling.

Battery Power

The specs promise you 4.5 hours of continuous talk time. “Continuous” is the key. Battery ratings are very hard to nail down as how you use your phone will greatly effect how long the battery will last. For me, I can’t say I’ve been disappointed. I took and sent off a half dozen images, surfed the web, wrote and received several e-mails, played games, and make short calls every day. That worked out to the need for charging every 36 hours or so. Not bad considering my usage. On a down note, the lithium battery does not appear to be user replaceable. That usually means that short of device surgery for replacement, you’ll have to deal with lowered battery performance over time.

Conclusion

Faults and all, the Hiptop 2 delivers on the mobile lifestyle promises that most others just pay lip service to. This is largely due to a proxy server which lowers the total data volume for Hiptop devices; making the unlimited data plan possible.
It’s just not a great experience to have the power to fully access web and e-mail almost everywhere but constantly fearing the costs of using it. Up until now, I’ve paid per MB on my Treo 600 and I’ve paid large for my indulgences. With the Hiptop2 I can e-mail, surf and instant message to my heart’s content, whenever I want to, as much as I want – at a great price. And now that you can get access to the Rogers towers for a few extra bucks a month, there is just no reason not to recommend this device. If you plan to use data much, pay for an unlimited plan, it will save you in the long run big time.

The post Danger Hiptop 2 Review, AKA T-Mobile Sidekick 2 appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

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By using digital signal processing, the device compares the audio and strips out the noise that didn’t come from you. Pretty cool. Now if I could just get buckets of supermodels to walk around in public with highly noticeable headsets, I might work up the courage to wear one myself.

Bone conduction has been used in several other products, the NTT DoCoMo TS41 phone and the FingerWhisper Prototype.

The post The Jawbone Headset appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Designed for the iPod and iPod Mini, the boombox has an auxiliary port and adds an FM tuner and built in charger to the Apple accessory arsenal. If you want to hit the road, the unit takes 6 D cells. From the picture though, it looks like the iPod is left unprotected so the beach may not be your best move. Look for it in September.

The post iBoom Boombox System for the Apple iPod appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Sample shipments will be available during July at a unit price of 15,000 yen (FOB Japan), while mass production will start in September.

The super CCD design makes it highly sensitive and capable of producing high-quality images, even in dark places with low illumination. ”

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The post Super Thin 2M-pixel CCD Camera Module Developed by Mitsubishi Electric appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

“The Quest combines features from several of our most popular Garmin GPS navigators into one compact unit,” said Gary Kelley, Garmin’s director of marketing. “The Quest is extremely easy to operate – anyone with a home computer will find the icon-based menus familiar and easy to understand. From salespeople to summer vacationers, the Quest is ideal for people who haven’t yet experienced the benefits of GPS and automotive navigation.”

The Quest features auto-routable, turn-by-turn, voice-prompted navigation with fast automatic off-route and detour recalculation. With the brilliant 256-color backlit TFT display, the Quest is easy to read in any light. The unit has a rechargeable internal lithium-ion battery that provides up to 20 hours of use. Smaller than a standard television remote, the Quest provides an ample screen viewing area, but it won’t demand a lot of room on the dashboard or in the briefcase. The unique antenna folds flush with the unit when not in use and users can connect an optional external antenna as well.

The unit ships with MapSource City Select CDs, which provide full coverage of the entire United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico — including more than five million points of interest like gas stations, ATMs, hotels, restaurants, and attractions. With 115 MB of internal memory and a fast USB connection, loading a large amount of detailed map data from a PC is easy.

For weekend warriors who want to use the unit on a camping or fishing trip, the Quest is waterproof and fully compatible with the entire line of MapSource outdoor cartography, including U.S. Topo, 24K Topo, Recreational Lakes with Fishing Hot Spots, and BlueChart.

Key features of the Quest include:
Sunlight-readable display: 2.2″ W x 1.5″ H, high-resolution 256-color TFT display
Built-in basemap: Coast-to-coast general map showing highways, major roads, and borders
GPS: WAAS-enabled GPS receiver with accuracy of 10 feet (or better) in North America
Waterproof to IEC 60529 IPX-7 standards – submersible in one meter of water for up to 30 minutes
Lightweight and compact: Weighs just 5.5 oz. and measures 4.5″ W x 2.2″ H x 0.9″ D

The Quest is expected to be available in August 2004 at a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $642.84. The unit ships standard with fully unlocked MapSource City Select North America maps, PC/USB cable, AC adapter, external speaker with 12-volt adapter cable and suction mount, owner’s manual, and quick reference guide.

The post Garmin Unveils New Pocket-Sized Street Navigator, The Quest appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is based on GSM/GPRS/EDGE technology that supports data rates up to 384 Kbps. Cingular is also planning to deploy an enhanced version of UMTS called High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), which will further increase network capacity and offer speeds with peak data rates up to 14.4Mbps. This 3G technology will allow Cingular to deliver enhanced services for business customers, including high- speed Internet access and wireless audio/video, along with a host of consumer services such as high-resolution digital images, full-motion video, and advanced multi-player gaming.

“With this announcement, Cingular reinforces its commitment to deliver advanced, high-speed wireless services to customers across the U.S., while creating real economic opportunity for the country,” said de la Vega. “We need both spectrum and technology to make UMTS available nationwide. The acquisition of AT&T Wireless will give us spectrum, and this RFP will provide the technology.”

Cingular envisions numerous economic benefits to be gained by moving forward decisively with UMTS technology. Specifically, UMTS will:

- Give customers more choices and make for a more competitive environment for wireless broadband services

- Provide new opportunities for wireless developers to bring new applications to market more quickly

- Produce new high-skilled jobs and give vendors incentives to create these jobs in America.

A key advantage in deploying UMTS is the technology’s compatibility with Cingular and AT&T Wireless’ existing GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks. Earlier this year, Cingular agreed to acquire AT&T Wireless. The deal is awaiting approvals from the FCC and Department of Justice. Once the companies are integrated, Cingular will operate the largest nationwide high-speed data network.

The combined Cingular/AT&T Wireless network footprint and increased spectrum will also make it possible to roll out high-speed data services for the first time in many parts of rural America. Cingular, which pioneered the development of GSM at both 850 and 1900 MHz, intends to make the high-speed network available to not only its regional and rural roaming partners but also facilitate the ability for regional and rural carriers to deploy UMTS services on their networks as well.

“We intend to stimulate growth of UMTS, allowing our key roaming partners to benefit from the same economic efficiencies that we enjoy. As a result, more rural Americans may soon have broadband wireless for the first time,” continued de la Vega.

In addition to broad domestic coverage, Cingular customers will also have one of the largest international roaming options for both voice and data, since UMTS is the natural evolution to 3G for GSM, the global standard used by more than 70 percent of the world’s wireless customers.

Cingular will be conducting UMTS trials in Atlanta this summer and could begin rolling out UMTS in 2005. According to de la Vega, “With our on-going national deployment of GPRS/EDGE and our evolution path to UMTS, Cingular will deliver high-speed services to our customers where and when they want to be connected.”

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