T-Mobile HTC HD2 Gets Unboxed
It is getting harder and harder to watch these videos of the HTC HD2. Yeah, we have already seen a lot of the HD2 already from our friends across the pond who always get the good stuff first. But if you are like me and hang your hat in the good ol’ USA, you know the following Video is makes the HTC HD2 get real for us and not just a dream. If you think I am excited about the HD2 from T-Mobile, then check out Scott over at Letstalk.com who got his hands on one and is having a hard time concealing his enthusiasm as well. (That’s why I point the camera away from my face there Scott! LOL) Anyway, Scott unboxed the T-Mobile HD2 for us and is a great video watch. Scott says a lot of words in the video but they all seem to get drowned out by the HUGE 4.3 WVGA screen is this snapdragon 1GHz Beastie. So enough words from me, check out the video:
(via: WMPU)
Deer Versus Cars
I painted that masterpiece of Rudolph in the fifth grade by the way. Didn’t go over well. So Bossman Doug Smith who told me from the beginning that I can write about anything I want just sent his armada of authors a plea to ramp up production while he deals with the fallout that comes with deer and their poor automotive judgment. I’ve been busy myself, not abreast of the issues that affect your phone, didn’t have much to write about in response to his request but I do have my own deer story that’s apropos. Nothing whatsoever to do with technology but I’m curious what happens if I post it anyway.
Once upon a time I was driving after dark on a windy unlit road in Westport Connecticut and as I got close to a blind curve on a hill I noticed a car pulled over on one side of the road and an incapacitated deer in the middle of the other. I did some calculations in my head and determined that traffic headed toward that deer wouldn’t be able to see him in time to make an evasive maneuver and that the deer, whom I’ll go ahead and personify for narrative effect as Mister Deer, was presenting a major hazard so I thought I’d do a good deed and pull over to drag him out of the way for the deer scooper man to deal with later.
As I approached Mister Deer, I saw that he was alive and conscious. I heard a car approaching, bam, the deer tumbled underneath and was now twenty feet further away from me and the car kept going (Toyota maybe?). I was briefly relieved that there was no serious accident and that the deer was surely dead this time but as I got closer I saw that the deer was still alive and kicking. Five seconds pass, history repeated itself and if you can believe it he was still alive. Resilient little fella. That has got to be some kind of Westport deer record for surviving so many abrupt introductions to fenders, windshields and tires.
Depending on how your mind works this is going to get a little more disturbing. Don’t judge me.
OpenMobileMaps- Opensource Maps
OpenMobileMaps is an app that is being developed by Cipher over at XDA. This app is very similar to GoogleMaps but it relies on openstreetmap.org. Some of the features of this app are:
- showing map in fullscreen
- finger friendly user interface
- map tiles are automatically downloaded if internet connection is available
- map tiles are stored locally for offline use
- GPS support and GSM triangulation
- show actual position on map
- follow-mode to automatically scroll the map
- search addresses (testing)
- calculate routes (not yet implemented)
- gps and gsm tracking (not yet implemented)
- choose between different OSM servers (not yet implemented)
Download this app here. It is still a work in progress. So try it out and give the developer some feedback at his XDA thread.
Google Maps Gets Updated With Bicycle Directions
If you are a biking nut like I am, this is some very cool news indeed. Google Maps has just released an update that adds Bicycle Directions and will be unveiling this new feature at the National Bike Summit in Washington, DC. Google says: “This new feature includes: step-by-step bicycling directions; bike trails outlined directly on the map; and a new “Bicycling” layer that indicates bike trails, bike lanes, and bike-friendly roads” and
The new bicycling layer for Google Maps, accessible via the “More…” drop down menu at the top of the map, will display an overlay of the various bike-friendly roads and trails around town. The layer is color-coded to show three different types of paths:
- Dark green indicates a dedicated bike-only trail;
- Light green indicates a dedicated bike lane along a road;
- Dotted green indicates roads without bike lanes but are more appropriate for biking, based on factors such as terrain, traffic, and intersections.
Check out the video that Google released as well:
Even though Google Maps with Bicycle Directions has only been released to desktop versions, Google says a Mobile Version is planned. If you want to learn more about Google Maps with Bicycle Directions, jump after the break for the Google Press Release, or check out the Google Maps web page or CLICK HERE.
CareerBuilder Survey Paints A Darker Picture Of Our Obsession With Staying Connected
I will start by saying that I REALLY hope that my wife does not read this article! There is no telling what kind of medicine she is going to put me on or counseling she will insist I go to! I am addicted to Mobility. After reading through a Survey taken by CareerBuilder, a darker picture is being painted about our need to stay connected, even at times when we should be focusing in on what is really important in our lives. No with all that being said, I am not going to delve into a lot of depth with this as nothing I could write could compare to our own Dr. Jim’s work on the Psychology of Technology Series he so brilliantly writes for us. But what I would like is for you to take a little quiz. There are 8 different locations or times that have been listed below, ask yourself how many of those you have used your mobile device during:
- During a meal
- While in the bathroom
- Lying in bed at night
- At a movie, play, musical, etc…
- On a date
- Working out at the gym
- At a child’s event of function
- At church
Now, I had already known that I would score badly on any mobility obsessive test, but I was a little pleased that I did not go 8 for 8! How many did you score on? Here is what the survey found on what percentage of people polled used mobility on or where as the case may be:
- During a meal – 62 percent
- While in the bathroom – 57 percent
- Lying in bed at night – 50 percent
- At a movie, play, musical, etc… – 25 percent
- On a date – 18 percent
- Working out at the gym – 17 percent
- At a child’s event of function – 17 percent
- At church – 11 percent
You can read the entire CareerBuilder Survey after the break, but I invite you to share your scores with us and leave a comment. Mine was 7/8.
T-Mobile HTC HD2 Unboxing Leaks
With a device like this, we just can’t get enough leaked goodness! This time BGR’s ninjas score the T-Mobile HTC HD2 just like the rest of us will see it on March 24th. Looks like the basic accessories will be coming with the HD2 with the exception of a skin you can see listed in the picture to the right. So head on over to BGR for some more pictures if the two below aren’t enough to tide you over!
(via: BGR)
Batterygate II: Exposing Fakes
In my war against crappy cell phone batteries I’ve been dying to dig into the whole Chinese bathtub battery world as doing so could yield more effective and actionable information to use to shake things up and blow off lids than just fighting on the eBay feedback front would offer. But that’s a dark place you may not find on Google (or Pamela) to get access to and information about, one thing I’m hoping HTC can give me if they take my little email seriously. I want them to help me help them help me help you patronize the right people, you dig? That could take a while so I want to hand some of this off to you in case you ever buy a battery on eBay, either a counterfeit OEM, a crappy battery or a crappy counterfeit battery, as one of you might be able, with the right footwork, to crack their Great Wall of Cell Phone Accessory Secrecy. By they I mean China obviously. And Hong Kong and Singapore too at least have some peripheral involvement but we’re dealing with, primarily and as usual, China.
I bought three batteries advertised on eBay as being OEM/HTC. Two of the three were counterfeits. It seems there is a sea of counterfeit batteries and that ain’t right so I want to waste a ton of time trying to do something about it. If you get burned with a fake OEM or otherwise unsatisfactory battery, here’s how I recommend you handle it: First hit the seller with a negative feedback rating using language like “counterfeit” and “fraud” then contact the seller demanding your money back — but not in exchange for sending the battery back as, and you can advise them of this if asked, sending something that is fake in exchange for money, either normal money or refunded money, may constitute mail fraud. I wouldn’t worry about being prosecuted, but why make the schlep to the post office just so they can make sure there isn’t any loose evidence of their fraud? And you don’t want to mail it back just so they can sell it to someone else. If you’re not sure if your battery is copacetic or not and want to run it by me, I’ll test that sucker for you and even cover the return postage, no problem (but right now I can only charge Tilt 2 batteries, sorry everyone else).
The one legit OEM, by the way, came from Brooklyn.
These people are desperate to protect their feedback rating so you have some leverage here, at least enough to get your money back if not more. Actually by this point you may already have gotten your money back but let’s aim higher: In exchange for retracting your negative feedback in exchange for a neutral rating and not pursuing the situation further with eBay, PayPal, HTC, or if there actually is any, an equivalent their country has of a better business bureau, ask for the contact information of their supplier or the manufacturer. There are so many resellers that it’s pointless to try to report them all but getting information on who’s cooking up the bathtub batteries with the fake labels, now we’re talking. About what exactly I don’t know yet but it just feels like the right direction to head. I could use your help in getting that information in order to have any affect at all on this dirty industry so let us all benefit from your being victimized and not let the deal die in vain.
But it’s a safe bet they won’t cough that information up (at least the two I tried to pressure wouldn’t). So, demand next (in exchange for the bad feedback retraction) that they take the listing down of the fake item along with any duplicates, searching through their other listings for others of the same item. If they won’t do that, for your next counteroffer I would recommend to retract your negativity and stop breaking their balls if they would just remove any reference of HTC, OEM, HTC model numbers and the like — anything misleading buyers viewing the item into thinking it’s OEM. That’s just too much not to feed back negatively over. If they won’t do that, leave the negative feedback intact, sting them with a counterfeit report to eBay and move on in life.
So that’s what I did with Lovely Betty from Hong Kong. It’s both a good how-to for this situation and an amusing read. Sweet girl, so polite and even left me and now you too with a happy ending. Hit more so I can hit you back with the transcript.
Doug Simmons
T-Mobile Bringing In Media For HTC HD2 “Experience” March 16th
Engadget just got a T-Mobile Invite (I’m sure mine will be here tomorrow) to “Experience” a “Larger Than Life Entertainment Powerhouse” on March 16th in New York City. So as you know, T-Mobile will drop the HD2 on March 24th to retail outlets so this looks like a good “Pump You Up” session by T-Mobile for it’s release.
So are you going to be in line on the 24th of March to get one of these? No Windows Phone 7 Upgrades takes a lot wind out of my sales for having to cough up $449.99 without contract for it. I know XDA will be all over this, but, with 6 months or so before the release of Windows Phone 7, I think I am in a holding pattern for now.
BirdieSync
It is quite easy to sync your contacts, calendar, tasks, and emails between Windows Mobile Pocket Outlook on your phone and Office Outlook on your PC using Microsoft ActiveSync. However, ActiveSync doesn’t help if you use Thunderbird or Sunbird on your PC and not Microsoft Outlook. 
That is when BirdieSync helps you out. It syncs all Pocket Outlook contacts, emails, calendar, and tasks using ActiveSync. The synchronization happens automatically as soon as you connect your mobile to your computer. The most recent changes on any device you sync are synced to the other devices. This ensures that everything is in sync on all devices. It also supports the synchronization with WebDAV, calDAV and WCAP remote calendars.
You can try the trial version available with full functionality for 21 days before you buy the program. Read more details and the system requirements on the main website.
Beware of Counterfeit OEM Batteries
Last year I bought a third party battery on eBay rated 33% higher than the OEM. I was fascinated by this claim as the battery was of the same dimensions as the OEM so I spent over ten times as much money on equipment to make sure this company wasn’t pulling my leg (that’s how my mind works) and it turned into a community service project. As you can guess these guys fib quite a bit on their numbers (the question being by how much, which is what I’ve been after) and I’ve been holding off on telling you the specifics until I had tested another handful of batteries.
But I came across something you should be aware of as, and maybe I’m just naive, it never crossed my mind until I finished testing a battery identified on eBay and labeled accordingly as belonging to HTC that there are counterfeits out there. In this case, what I’ll call its voltage fingerprint was consistent with a no name I had previously bought and in addition to being a fake, incidentally it was the poorest performer.
The OEMs aren’t cheap but are still desirable for reasons every third party battery I’ve tested so far have illustrated. If you want one, do not try to hunt down a deal on eBay. Get it directly from a source you trust. Even if the guy has four thousand positive ratings, presume you’re buying a random no name that will perform accordingly otherwise you’ll feel violated and saddened as I feel right now. Yes this one was cheap and not that bad a deal even for a no name of similar performance but damnit I wanted a new OEM, not a lookalike which performed 10% worse than my seven month old OEM.
Especially do not trust the seller if the battery, allegedly OEM or otherwise, in question will be shipped from China which, as I found out very awkwardly the other night, is not Taiwan. Just when you think you’ve lowered your expectations sufficiently about a country… man.
Doug Simmons
