Read This Blog on Your Phone

If you want to read this blog on your phone, it is available in two more mobile-friendly formats, thanks to winksite and mdog. I personally like the look and format of the blog better at my mdog site, but that's probably because it is designed for smartphones. If you have a phone with a smaller screen and less-robust browser capabilities, my winksite will probably work better for you. One downside to the mdog version is the long URL, so make sure you save it to your favorites, so you don't have to type it in.

Let me know what you think. I'd like your feedback on how well these work on different phones.

LinkedIn Launches Mobile Website

Okay. So I discovered a while back that LinkedIn (the leading social networking site for professionals) had a mobile version of their website at m.linkedin.com, but I couldn't figure out why it wouldn't accept my email and password. Now it makes sense. Apparently, they hadn't officially launched it yet. The Guardian has reported that LinkedIn launched their mobile service this past Monday after six weeks of testing.

I have not had the opportunity to explore it extensively yet, but it appears that it has all of the basic functionality that one would want out of a mobile LinkedIn site, including access to your own profile, contacts and recent updates, as well as the ability to search for contacts and even invite co-workers and business partners to your network.

i wireless Launches HTC Touch

I'd like to apologize once again for my lack of postings for the past several months. We are almost done putting our house back together (Anyone with drywall finishing experience interested in doing a little mudding, taping and skim-coating?) and I expect to resume more regular postings in the next month or two.

Since there seems to be so much interest in the HTC Touch, and I happened to be up at this ungodly hour, I felt I needed to throw up a posting announcing the launch of the HTC Touch. This device is now available for sale on the i wireless website and in company retail stores. It will be available in select, high-volume dealers on Tuesday.

Coverage Map Updated

i wireless has updated its coverage map. A larger version can be viewed here.

Download & Read eBooks on Your Mobile - Download eReader for WM for FREE!

If you'd rather spend your down time reading books instead of playing games or browsing the web, eReader's Windows Mobile software may be just the thing for you. It allows you to download and read your eBooks whenever you want and wherever you go. The latest version now includes an interactive over-the-air shopping experience. You can access the entire eReader catalog as well as your personal bookshelf right from your mobile device. It's available from the eReader website as a free download (although the titles aren't free) and is compatible with the following Windows Mobile versions:

• Windows Mobile 2003
• Windows Mobile 2003 SE with at least 889K free memory
• Windows Mobile 5
• Windows Mobile 6

Handango Introduces "Free App Friday"

Beginning today, Handango is offering a free, premium mobile application every Friday (CST) on its website. Today's offering is mundu IM for Smartphone, which I reviewed in May of this year. Click here to get your free app.

Windows Mobile 6 and Yahoo! Go 2.0 Available for HTC S620 for Free

If you have an HTC S620, you can now upgrade to Windows Mobile 6 Standard with Yahoo! Go 2.0. Register for an HTC e-club account if you haven't already done so, then login and download the FREE upgrade to unleash the power of Windows Mobile 6 and Yahoo! Go on your phone.

EDGE in Cedar Rapids

I know I'm supposed to be too busy to be blogging, but I had to pass this along.

I was at Hawkeye Downs in Cedar Rapids tonight with my kids, watching the Cedar Valley Trail Riders Motocross. At one point in the evening, I looked down at my phone and was surprised to find that there was an "E" (for EDGE) displayed on my screen instead of the usual "G" (for GPRS). I don't know if EDGE is turned on permanently in that area, or if I just happened to look at my phone during a test run. My phone went back to "G" after we left Hawkeye Downs and unfortunately, it stayed that way all the way to my termite-infested home in Iowa City.

Microsoft Updates MSN Mobile

Microsoft has updated the MSN Mobile website at mobile.msn.com. I have to admit that I don't remember what the old site looked like, but the newly redesigned site is clean and user-friendly, and features icons and photos formatted for the small screen.

Opera Mini 4 Beta Released

The beta version of Opera Mini 4 is now available for download at http://mini.opera.com/beta.

Plaxo Mobile is Now Free

For those of you that use Plaxo, but have not sprung for the premium version, I have great news: Plaxo Mobile is now available for free at m.plaxo.com. With Plaxo Mobile, you get all of the following with nothing to download:

• Search-based access to all your contacts
• Full access to your calendar
• Weather, tasks, and notes
• Plus your network feeds!

YouTube Now Mobile

YouTube's exclusivity arrangement with one of those big wireless companies is up, and you can now access some of YouTube's best videos on your i wireless phone at http://m.youtube.com. Please note that you cannot access all videos currently on YouTube, just "a selected library," although YouTube claims that they try to make the "best" videos available on mobile.

You do not need to download any applications to be able to view the videos, but you do need a handset that supports streaming video (RTSP/3GP with H263/AMR). Apparently Windows Mobile devices do not. I tried it on my HTC S620 to no avail. According to Adam Jackson's Daily Tech Talk, "YouTube did the best they could by working on a codec that every handset maker uses but Windows mobile only supports variants of wmv." I'm sure there is a workaround or a compatible media player that I can download, but I haven't looked into it yet. If and when I find a solution, I will post it.

Now Your Mobile Phone Can Help You Save on Gas

With gas prices at record highs, you need all the help that you can get. Now you can use your i wireless phone and GasBuddy.com to help you find the cheapest gas around. There are two ways to get gas prices on your mobile device:

1. With your mobile browser, go to GasBuddyToGo.com and search for prices by City/State or Zip Code (e.g. "Iowa City, IA" or "52245")
2. Send an MMS or email to gas@gasbuddy.com (for gasoline prices) or diesel@gasbuddy.com (for diesel prices) with the City/State or Zip Code as the body of the message (leaving subject field blank). A reply will be sent to you shortly with the 5 lowest gas or diesel prices from the area that you requested.

i wireless Transitions to HTC S621

i wireless has started selling the S621 variant of the HTC "Excalibur." The only two differences that I have noticed between the S620 and S621 so far are:

• The S621 has symbols (in blue on the keys) more commonly used in the U.S. vs. the more European-centric symbols on the S620. The “J” and “L” keys have the symbols for the pound and euro on the S620. These are replaced with the “@” and “=” on the S621.
• The S621 has predictive text. The S620 does not.

Don't know which one you have? Look underneath the battery, in the lower, left-hand corner of the IMEI label. The S620 says “EXCA200.” The S621 says “EXCA100.”

More Free Games!

GameJump provides access to free, ad-supported mobile games and applications. My HTC S620 is not among the phone models supported, but there are plenty of other phone models sold by i wireless that are. Go to http://gjmp.tw from your mobile phone to start downloading games and having fun.

Free Your Photos From Their Cameraphone Prison!

According to research from mobile imaging provider Ontela, over 90% of cameraphone users are interested in a service that lets them upload pictures to their PCs. Despite this interest, 75% of users failed a test to see whether they could transfer photos from their cameraphones to a popular online photo-sharing service. If you are one of the many people who have taken photos on your phone but can't seem to get them out of your phone, you will want to check out radar. Once you sign up for a free account, all you have to do is send your photo to a designated email address via MMS (picture messaging) or your email client, if your phone has one. Your photos are instantaneously posted on your own page on Radar, complete with a title (if you included one in the subject line) and date and time you sent each photo. If you want to make your photo private, all you have to do is precede your title with a "p." How easy is that? Granted, you still need to know how to send an MMS or an email from your phone, but it's obvious that Radar understands how to make a complex process simple.

I'm All A-Twitter!

Twitter lets you broadcast what you are doing to anyone who is interested anytime and anywhere. As a member of Generation X, I think I'm a bit older than the target market for Twitter. I've heard that John Edwards uses Twitter to update potential voters on his whereabouts, but I can't imagine there are too many people who want to know what I am up to RIGHT NOW...or RIGHT NOW...or RIGHT NOW. My life is just too boring, and all of my friends are too preoccupied with their own families to worry about what I am up to. But based on the level of addiction my step-kids had/have with instant messaging, Facebook and MySpace, I can see the attraction for those of you younger that me. Try it out on your mobile phone at http://m.twitter.com.

Smartphones to Account for 22% of All Handsets Worldwide By 2012

According to Berg Insight, global shipments of smartphones will increase from 10% today to 22% by 2012. Symbian OS was the leading smartphone operating system in 2006 with a market share of 63 percent. Linux was the second largest platform, followed by Windows Mobile. Microsoft’s performance in the smartphone segment is consistently improving, even though Windows Mobile is still far from threatening either Symbian OS or Linux for the top market positions. The once popular Palm OS has virtually disappeared from the market and is now being converted into a version of Linux. Apple’s OS X will become a new entrant on the smartphone operating systems market this year with the launch of the iPhone.

Access Your Google Calendar From Your Mobile

Those of you who are regular readers of this blog know that I am a huge fan of Google and their mobile applications. I have a Gmail account, I use Google Maps when I travel, and I try to stay on top of all of my family's activities with Google Calendar. Well, now Google has designed their Calendar offering for the small screen, and for me, it is love at first sight. The layout is simple, pleasing to the eye, and makes sense. Navigation is simple enough, but a tad slow with GPRS. The "Quick Add" feature makes adding an event to your calendar on a mobile phone painless.

To experience it for yourself, go to

http://calendar.google.com/. If you don't already have an account, you will be prompted to sign up...and of course, it is free.

Bank of America Launches Mobile Banking

If you are a Bank of America customer and have an Online Banking ID and passcode, you can now do your banking from your mobile phone, including:

• Check balances on your checking, savings and credit card accounts, as well as mortgages and home equity lines held with Bank of America.
• Pay your bills and e-bills.
• Transfer money between accounts and to other Bank of America customers.
• View transactions for checking and savings accounts, mortgages and home equity lines, including posted and pending transactions.

To get started, go to http://www.bofa.mobi/