• astraware,  windows mobile

    Astraware Hot Summer Summer Sale!

    August 2, 2008 /

    Summer’s here and it’s time for some fun! Whether you’re on vacation, or just want something new to play, Astraware(R) has the solution – the Astraware Hot Summer Sale!

    Starting on 1st August, Astraware is offering 25 games each with at least 25% off the regular price. Several of the games are as low as $9.95 each!

    If you’re looking for action games like Platypus or GTS World Racing, strategy titles like Westward or Tradewinds 2, word games like Bubble Babble, or favorite classics like Astraware Sudoku – they’re all included with special prices for a limited time! The Hot Summer Sale only lasts until midnight on 17th August, so make sure you don’t miss out.

    For all the details and to bag yourself a bargain, visit the Hot Summer Sale page at: http://www.astraware.com/promo/summer08.

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  • centro,  treo,  windows mobile

    2 Million Centros, Treo 800w BT Update

    July 30, 2008 /

    Palm Sells 2 Million Centro Smartphones

    Earlier today, Palm issued a press release stating that the smartphone maker had sold it’s 2 millionth Centro smartphone.

    “Consumers are ready to do more on their mobile phone, and Centro has struck a chord around the world,” said Brodie Keast, senior vice president of marketing for Palm, Inc. “Centro has everything a person needs to stay connected with everyone who is important to them — and at a price point and size that make smartphones more attractive to a much wider audience.”

    The same press release continues:

    “Now available from almost 20 carriers worldwide, including the three largest carriers in the United States, Centro has reached more young adults and women, as well as a broader range of household income, than any prior Palm smartphone. It offers customers an affordable, simple and fun option for staying connected and doing more with their mobile phones.”

    With the consumer-oriented Centro smartphone, the ease of use of the Palm OS, stylish design, and a great price point come together to create a solution that does delight the first smartphone customers.

    Palm Releases a Bluetooth Voice Dialing Update

    Owners of the recently released Windows Mobile Treo 800w are now able to install a small patch that will allow them to use hands-free voice dialing commands over a Bluetooth headset.

    The 131kb patch can be install from your desktop Windows XP or Vista computer, over-the-air directly to your Treo 800w, or via a microSD card. The installation and download links can be found on the Sprint Treo 800w downloads page.

    Since this is a software patch, and not a full flash ROM upgrade, if you hard reset your Treo 800w, you will need to reapply this patch. Furthermore, this update is only intended for Sprint Treo 800w smartphones running the TREO800w-1.03-SPNT software image.

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  • treo,  vista,  windows mobile

    Windows Mobile Sync Troubleshooting

    July 21, 2008 /

    I went to sync my Palm Treo 750 with my Dell Optiplex 755 running Microsoft Windows Vista Business SP1 this evening and ran into trouble. (Imagine that!)

    When I placed the Treo in the cradle, the Windows Mobile Device Center didn’t recognize that there was a device connected to the system. Sure, I heard that familiar “plink-plunk” when you connect a USB device to Windows, but the Treo and the PC just wouldn’t talk to each other.

    Windows Mobile Synchronization Troubleshooting Steps

    Here is a short list of the troubleshooting steps that I took to resolve the issue.

    1. Soft reset the Treo. (Just pull the batter, wait 20 seconds, and put it back in.)
    2. Reboot the PC. (Stopping and restarting the Windows Mobile services didn’t seem to work.)
    3. Use the Windows Mobile Device Center to delete and recreate the partnership.
    4. Resync the Treo with the Vista PC.

    Upon initial resync wtih Windows and Microsoft Office, there was a sync error, however, performing a second data sync immediately after the first seemed to have cleared that error up.

    Using the Treo to view the last sync status

    You can check what the status was of the last data synchronization with your Treo was by using the ActiveSync application on your device. To view the last sync status:

    1. Press the Start button (Windows flag key)
    2. Select Programs from the Start menu (or press the “P” key)
    3. Tap the ActiveSync icon
    4. Use the right button (or tap the screen) to select the software Menu button
    5. Select Status (or press “T”) to view the sync log

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  • treo,  windows mobile

    Jeff Kirvin on the Treo 800w

    July 15, 2008 /

    Now batting for the Palm lineup – Jeff Kirvin!

    “The Kirv” has picked up a new Windows Mobile Treo 800w. Jeff writes:

    “I picked up a Treo 800w over the weekend and man, I have to give Palm their props. This is a wonderful refinement of the venerable Treo form factor. It’s comfortable, light and elegant. But what really make the difference is software, Palm’s “special sauce”.”

    Read Jeff’s full post on JeffKirvin.net…

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  • sprint,  treo,  windows mobile

    Palm Officially Launches the Treo 800w

    July 14, 2008 /

    Earlier today, Palm has launched the Treo 800w smartphone for the Sprint wireless network with Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, 802.11g Wi-Fi, and GPS capabilities.

    “Palm is adding a unique stamp to the Windows Mobile experience with the Treo 800w,” said Stephane Maes, vice president, product marketing, Palm, Inc. “It’s an easy-to-use feature-packed smartphone that will keep users happy, empowered and productive.”

    The complete list of Treo 800w product specs can be found on the Palm Treo 800w website.
    A downloadable PDF datasheet for the Treo 800w is also available.

    The Treo 800w can be purchased for as little as $249.99 with a qualifying service plan and after instant and mail in rebates. Without a service agreement, the Treo 800w sells for $599.

    You can purchase the Treo 800w from Palm’s online store or Sprint’s retail outlets and online store.

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  • att,  centro,  sprint,  treo,  windows mobile

    Weekend Wrap Up

    July 14, 2008 /

    This weekend, Palm made three important moves, not that anyone noticed with iPhonemania 2.0 in full swing.

    Electric Blue Centro, Temporary Price Cut

    On Friday, Palm introduced a new electric blue Centro on the AT&T wireless network. If you are following along on your scorecards, AT&T now has three colors to choose from: obsidian black, glacier white, and now electric blue. To entice even more people to chose Centro, AT&T has lowered the price to $69.99 when you sign up for a qualifying two-year service agreement. That is great news for anyone looking to jump on the smartphone bandwagon!

    You can purchase an AT&T Centro either online from the Palm or AT&T website, or from any AT&T retail outlet. For more details, visit the Palm Centro website.

    Sprint Begins Selling the Palm Treo 800w

    At long last the new Palm Treo 800w is available! It has a great looking case and offers several new built-in features previously unavailable on any previous Palm smartphone.

    Just some of the new features include Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1; a 320×320 touch screen display, a 2.0MP camera, and built-in Wi-Fi and GPS radios. The new Treo retails for $599, however, when you sign up for a qualifying service plan, after instant and mail-in rebates, the 800w sells for $249.99. A handsome price for what could be a very nice phone.

    On Sunday night, Palm has yet to issue a press release or update their website and online store. Look for more details come Monday morning.

    Oh Palm, sigh…

    Working with AT&T to bring out a new Centro, if only in color, and putting a price cut in place was the right thing to do. And launching the much-anticipated Treo 800w on Sprint was another positive step forward.

    Yet, once again, Palm’s marketing department show how inept they are. Launching two new phones and introducing a price cut during the same weekend that Apple was rolling out their new iPhone 3G and iPhone 2.0 software was just poor planning.

    John Paczkowski from the D: All Things Digital website, has the perfect quote from Charlie Wolf who is an analyst at Needham & Company. The quote reads:

    “They took the wrong day to do it,” said Charlie Wolf, a wireless analyst at Needham & Co. “It’s going to be drowned out by the hoopla around the iPhone.”

    I truly hope that Palm learns from this mistake, and doesn’t start talking publicly about their Palm OS II/Nova plans and/or devices during the same week that Apple is rolling out new products at MacWorld Expo in San Francisco come January 2009. Palm needs to get out in front of Apple, or get behind them. Just don’t go toe-to-toe with them.

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  • sprint,  treo,  windows mobile

    Palm Launches the Treo 800w on Sprint

    July 13, 2008 /

    Starting today, Sprint has begun selling the Palm Treo 800w smartphone. According to the Sprint website, the Treo 800w has the following product specifications:

    • Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1
    • Autonomous and simultaneous GPS using Sprint Navigation for turn by turn directions, and points of interest searches
    • Stereo Bluetooth lets you listen to your music on the go
    • Embedded Wi-Fi
    • 2.0 Megapixel camera/camcorder
    • MicroSD card support
    • 320×320 TFT display capable of displaying 65K colors
    • 256MB of user memory, 128MB of program memory
    • Incoming call alerts when a data session is in progress, avoid sending callers directly to voicemail
    • Phone as a modem support

    The Treo 800w sells for $599 without a service plan and can be had for as little as $249.99 when purchased with a monthly $25 or more data plan (in addition to a voice plan) or the Sprint Simply Everything plan ($250 instant savings, $100 mail-in rebate).

    Palm has yet to issue a press release officially announcing the Treo 800w. Additionally, the Palm website and online store have yet to be updated. I expect Palm’s official launch of the Treo 800w to come on Monday morning.

    Make sure you tune into this week’s 1SRC.com Podcast for more details on the Treo 800w.

    For more details, or to purchase the Treo 800w now, visit the Sprint website.

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  • palm os,  rumors,  windows mobile

    Rumor: Treo 700wx Windows Mobile 6.0 Upgrade

    June 15, 2008 /

    Later this summer, it would appear that Palm is planning on releasing some ROM upgrades for their devices.

    Of particular note is the Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional for the Verizon Treo 700wx. Note that this is not a Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional upgrade and it will not be made available for the Verizon Treo 700w. (The Treo 700w has 32MB of RAM versus the 64MB on the Treo 700wx.) Palm is also reportedly working on two minor upgrades for the Sprint Centro and Treo 755p for Verizon that will likely be released later this year.

    According to the latest rumor, the Windows Mobile 6.0 update for the Treo 700wx is no different than the already released update for the AT&T Treo 750. Also like the Windows Mobile 6.0 update for the Treo 750, there are some important things to consider before applying the upgrade:

    • You can not revert back to Windows Mobile 5.0
    • The update will be available for free from the Palm website
    • The upgrade can only be downloaded once. You are advised to burn the installer to a CD before applying the upgrade
    • Any Treo 700wx sent in for repair service will automatically be upgraded
    • The upgrade can be installed either from the desktop computer or by running the upgrade directly off of a SD card

    I honestly never expected this update to be released for the Treo 700wx. I’m glad to see that Palm will be releasing the update. A lot of Treo 700wx customers have been asking for it.

    [Thanks to Ain’t No Snitch for the tip.]

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  • treo,  windows mobile

    Windows Mobile Journal: Adding Wi-Fi to the Treo 750

    June 9, 2008 /

    Now that I have a Windows Mobile device and I put a pre-paid AT&T Go Phone voice plan on my Treo 750, I wanted to add a data service without having to subscribe to another monthly cellular plan. To use data services, such as e-mail, web browsing, and other Internet applications, I added a Spectec miniSD 802.11b Wi-Fi card to my Treo.

    The first thing you need to do is obtain your Treo 750 (United States) or Treo 750v (Europe). Then you need to purchase the Spectec card. I ordered mine from the TreoCentral online store. Once it arrives, it is time to set it up. One thing that wasn’t clear from reading articles and reviews of the Spectec WLAN card I found online was whether or not the card works with Windows Mobile 6.0. All the reviews and spec sheets I saw talked about Windows Mobile 5.0, the version of Windows Mobile that originally shipped on the Treo 750 series. I can tell you that the Spectec card does work with Windows Mobile 6.0 – you just need to download the Windows Mobile 6 driver first.

    Note: I’m not going to repeat the process for setting up the Wi-Fi card under Windows Mobile 5.0. There are already directions for doing that online.

    Download the Windows Mobile 6 WLAN card driver from the Spectec website. Then copy the driver, wlan11b_wm60.CAB, down to your Treo 750. Once you have copied the file to the Treo, use Windows Explorer to browse to the file and execute it. The driver will install on your Treo. You may need to soft reset your device.

    Now that the driver it is almost time to turn it on. If you are using an AT&T Treo 750, before you can establish a data connection to anything other than AT&T’s data network, you will need to disable the forced AT&T proxy server setting. In the Programs folder (Start > Programs), launch the Proxy Manager application and uncheck the Force AT&T Proxy checkbox. When you do, you will receive a notice that the proxy server has been disabled. Press the OK button to clear the warning.

    Now, turn off the cell phone radio, insert the card, and then open the Wireless Manager application (Start > Settings > Connections > Wireless Manager). You will now see a Wi-Fi section.

    Press the menu button to access the Wi-Fi Settings screen. From there you can setup the connection properties for the Wi-Fi hot spots that are in range.

    At this point, you can launch an Internet application like Pocket Internet Explorer or Pocket Outlook and surf the web or check you email.

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  • astraware,  windows mobile

    GTS World Racing Now Available

    May 29, 2008 /

    Staffordshire, UK – May 28th 2008 – Astraware(R) and Pazzazz Games are excited to announce the release of GTS World Racing for Palm OS(R) and Windows Mobile(R) smartphones and PDAs.

    GTS World Racing is the must-have sequel to the highly acclaimed GTS Racing Challenge, and has been created by Pazzazz and published by Astraware.

    Fans of classic coin-operated arcade racing games will love the retro style graphics and exhilarating sound effects. Experience the roar of engines as you select your car, race your opponents, set the fastest laptimes, score points for most race wins and burn rubber to gain championship victory!

    GTS World Racing offers 64 track layouts across 16 worldwide locations – from snowscapes to dusty deserts; 3 car types to choose from each with their own handling characteristics; and 4 difficulty levels from Easy to Extreme!

    The game offers 4 play modes to satisfy every level of expertise:

    • Single Race – check out the tracks and practice your skills before heading for the main event;
    • Challenge Cup – race at each of the 16 locations and achieve the required finishing position for your chosen difficulty;
    • Grand Tour – complete all 64 tracks in all 16 locations and achieve the required finishing position in each; and
    • Championship – complete the full 16 race season and score the most points to win the championship.

    GTS World Racing is available for a wide range of smartphones and PDAs running Palm OS(R) 5 and later, and Windows Mobile(R) Professional, Classic and Standard 2003 and later.

    For more details and a the demo download, visit the Astraware website.

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