Just yesterday, I decided to renew my old mobile phone line for a brand new HTC Touch 2, Model T3333 with my mobile service provider. I was quite excited with getting the HTC Touch 2 especially since there are many functions packed inside this medium-sized, somewhat professional-looking device.

Much unfortunately, the HTC Touch 2 doesn’t look all attractive like the iPhone. Consumers are able to choose between brown or blue. The blue I chose made the HTC Touch 2 look pretty sturdy and the silver lining around the entire sides of the phone further boost its appearance. The grip on the smart-phone is pretty comfortable too. I was quite delighted with the weight of the HTC Touch 2, a light 110 grams, comparable with the 130 grams iPhone indeed!

The HTC Touch 2’s TouchFLO interface is pretty user-friendly, allowing consumers to navigate through most of the important information on their HTC Touch 2 easily. The touch-screen is rather reactive, however, one of the disadvantages I encountered is that a little more force is required to tap on the touch screen sometimes. The Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional looks good, but at certain junctions in the phone, such as the Calendar function, appears to be a stark…

I’m using linux kernel 2.6.32 on my PC and mount N900 in mass storage
mode using vfat (async).

If I write one file then sync/umount, write speed is about 17MB/sec,
same as I get on Windows Vista. However, if I write more than one file
and then sync/umount, speed is terrible, around 2MB/sec (and in kernel
2.6.31 that speed was about 450kb/sec using the old pdflush code). So
it seems linux is maybe creating multiple write streams and N900
doesn’t deal with that well at all.

Size doesn’t seem to matter, copying one 1gb file followed by sync is
around 8 times faster than copying 2 500gb files followed by sync. In
other words, as long as every single file copy is followed immediately
by sync before moving on to the next file, speed is fine. If more than
1 file is copied before sync, it’s bad.

Does anyone else experience the same problem or have any ideas how to
solve it? I’m no USB guru an every other USB device I have seems to
work properly and at full speed. dmesg shows no messages (on PC) and
it is running USB 2.0 etc.

So far my only workaround is to copy/sync/copy/sync/copy/sync but
that’s annoying. However, the difference of taking 1 minute to write
1gb versus taking 20 minutes…

The TomTom iPhone application is now proudly displayed on the shelves at the iTunes App Store and is available for purchase at a price of ￡59.99.

The TomTom iPhone application is a GPS guide unlike any other and allows users to load its improved GPS software directly onto their iPhones. The app provides users with turn-by-turn audio navigational assistance to help you find your way to your destination. This is delivered via audible prompts in a clear and pleasant voice, that users will not mind taking directions from.

One of the best features of the TomTom iPhone application is that it does not require internet connectivity to function, unlike many other GPS devices on the market. This means that you will be able to use the TomTom iPhone application, even if you are unable to get a signal.

The TomTom app also comes outfitted with detailed and easy to understand colour maps from Tele Atlas that users will be able to access on their third generation iPhones. TomTom has equipped its application with both international and national maps that do not require internet connectivity to open.

Since the application is to be used while driving, TomTom has also provided a special car kit accessory…

it winge

Okay, we admit it: a physical QWERTY keyboard on a smartphone is nice. Tactile analog feedback for pressed keys is still what our digits throb for, and the haptic vibration of a touchscreen just doesn’t quite do it for us yet (although our brains our rapidly getting retrained).

But is a physical keyboard on a smartphone nicer than a larger screen? No. Which is why the iPhone’s solution is so nice: although the virtual, onscreen QWERTY keyboard is less precise than, say, a Blackberry’s, the iPhone’s auto-correction does wonders, and it’s all worth it for widescreen video and browsing capabilities.

But wouldn’t a “best of both worlds” compromise be nice? Sure it would. Too bad Mobile Mechatronics’ iTwinge iPhone and iPod Touch keyboard isn’t it.

Mobile Mechatronics is being a bit vague about what exactly the iTwinge is. All they are claiming is that it is super lower power and doesn’t require any software to work with the iPhone 3G or 3Gs.

The promotional images makes it all even vaguer. Clearly, the iTwinge supplies users with a physical QWERTY keyboard… albeit one overlaid half of the touchscreen. But are depress buttons simply pushing against their applicable virtual key on the touchscreen, or does…

its bigger, older brother, the Nokia N97 mini was unveiled this morning at Nokia World 09. Sporting new homescreen widgets and a host of usability improvements, the N97 mini still packs 8GB of storage, a 3.2-inch touchscreen and full QWERTY keyboard into its 14.2mm thin frame. It’s also the first Nokia device to sport Lifecasting with Ovi – a new partnership with the world’s largest social network, Facebook. The N97 mini is based on the same tilt display design of its N97 big brother, built into a smaller body complete with new design touches.

Lifecasting enables users to update their Facebook status directly from the device’s homescreen. It doesn’t stop there though as location details can also be updated, enabling a whole new level of social sharing and communication. With the ability to completely customise the homescreen, users will be able to make their N97 mini truly unique.

The 3.2-inch touchscreen opens up a new world of software improvements including flick scrolling and a range of new experiences including new homescreen widgets. What’s more, the software update will also be available next month for existing N97 devices.

The Nokia N97 mini works seamlessly with Ovi Store where users can add new applications, widgets,…