Computing Unplugged - The Navman PiN GPS Pocket PC, plus news

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June 28, 2004 INSIDE THIS ISSUE The Navman PiN GPS Pocket PC This week's news

STYLUSCENTRAL: WE'RE MORE THAN STYLI! Whether you're looking for soft cases or hard, auto holders, keyboards, memory cards, readers, software, cables, tethers, and, of course, the largest collection of styli, StylusCentral.com is the place to be. Home of the "What Fits My PDA?" perfect-fit database, if you need it for your PDA, we've got it. 100% Satisfaction guaranteed and free shipping on U.S. orders over $30. For the best selection of PDA Styli on the Web (and lots more), click here.

WIFILE GIVES YOU WIRELESS ACCESS TO YOUR FILES! Amazing new software lets your wireless Palm OS device access files on corporate networks, school servers and home computers. Edit documents and spreadsheets, listen to music, view or upload photos, and more. Works with smartphones, WiFi and Bluetooth devices. Download a FREE Trial at Hands High Software.

MOBILE NOTE TAKING: NOTE STUDIO FOR PALM & PC Note-taking software that works the way you think. Manage a collection of notebooks on your Palm & PC. "Now, this is great!" Download the free demo today.

MAKE OUTLOOK DO WHAT YOU'VE ALWAYS WANTED IT TO DO - CHOOSE FROM 30 POWERFUL OUTLOOK ADD-INS Find 30 Outlook add-ins that can save you time and increase your productivity. Attachment Save, Schedule Recurring Email, Auto Print, Add Email Address, Hide Fax Numbers and many more. Computing Unplugged readers: Get a special 20% discount by using the discount code "RA26BA20" when you checkout. Click here to Find 30 Outlook add-ins that can make a difference.

TRANSFORM OUTLOOK INTO A POWERFUL SALES SOLUTION Tired of using Outlook and ACT? Goldmine too complicated? Be more organized and close more sales; Satisfaction Guaranteed; Do everything inside of Outlook! Click here to learn more about Prophet

FIRST LOOK
The Navman PiN Pocket PC with built-in GPS
By David Gewirtz

Navman, one of the best known makers of GPS technology, just announced a brand-new device: the Navman PiN, a Pocket PC handheld with a built-in GPS.

We've had ours here at Computing Unplugged for a few days, so we've got some early impressions. Because we've only had it for a few days, we haven't had a chance to take it on a real road trip, and you really can't tell how well a GPS works until you rely on it to find your way someplace you've never been before.

Because of that, we're going to give you a hardware overview and first impressions, but we'll reserve our rating for a future article when we take the GPS technology through its paces. So, let's start with first impressions.

The size matter
Our first impression is that this is one sweet device, with a gorgeous screen. It's much smaller than I expected. Figure A shows it side by side with the Dell Axim X30 (a review of that's coming soon), and the PiN is actually smaller.

FIGURE A

The Dell is on the left, the Navman is on the right. Click picture for a larger image.

Of course, what really distinguishes the Navman PiN (which stands for Personal Information Navigator, a take-off on the PIM acronym) is the pop-up GPS receiver. You can see it clearly in Figure B, in its extended mode.

FIGURE B

The GPS receiver flips up and down, feeling quite secure. Click picture for a larger image.

For the rest of this first look, tap your mouse here.

TRAVEL IN STYLE -- WITH NOTES AND DOMINO! Even in the best of circumstances, traveling can be a challenge. And, when you're taking a laptop or a handheld on the road with you, and you have to connect with your office, your email, and your life, it can be even more of a challenge. But now, it just got a lot easier. DominoPower Senior Technical Editor Mick Moignard has written a series of great articles called Mick's Travel Tricks that can make traveling a pleasure again -- whether you're in the U.S. or anywhere worldwide. Your best way to learn the secret tricks of a veteran tech traveler.

COMPUTING UNPLUGGED NEWS CENTER
This week's news
Want to get the very latest mobile and wireless news? The Computing Unplugged News Center is updated every day with news of product releases, industry info, tips, techniques, and pointers to great mobile and wireless resources on the Web. Here's this week's news:

Tapwave Zodiac now at CompUSA
The Tapwave Zodiac mobile entertainment console, its accessories and games are now available in the mobile computing section of all 227 CompUSA stores.

Comdex cancelled in 2004
The technology trade show that once defined the industry has been canceled for 2004. Citing declining attendance and a lack of focus, Medialive International said it would focus instead on the proposed 2005 event.

AOL worker arrested for spam
US investigators said they had arrested an America Online employee for allegedly stealing the Internet provider's customer list and selling it to a purveyor of spam email. Jason Smathers of Harpers Ferry, W. Va., has been charged with stealing a list of 92 million AOL customer screen names and selling them to Internet marketer Sean Dunaway of Las Vegas.

Verizon recalls batteries
Verizon Wireless has recalled 50,000 cell phone batteries, some of which may be counterfeit, after reports suggesting that they may cause minor fires and injuries. The TM-510 batteries, which carry the LG Mobile Phones brand, don't have the circuitry normally installed to prevent overcharging, according to a notice from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Computer pioneer dies
Bob Bemer, a computer pioneer who helped develop the ASCII coding system and the technology that led to the "escape" key, has died at the age of 84 after battling cancer.

Toshiba methanol fuel cell
Toshiba announced a small methanol fuel cell which weighs just 8.5 g (0.3 oz) and can produce 100 mW of power. Toshiba describe this new unit as small enough for integration into a wireless headset for mobile phones, but still efficient enough to power an MP3 music player for as long as 20 hours on a single 2cc charge of highly concentrated methanol.

Web graphics exploit
Security experts are tracking a new piece of malware that appears to be compromising large numbers of Windows PCs. The attack uses a novel vector: embedded code hidden in graphics on Web pages and seems to exploit a vulnerability in Internet Explorer.

Army, Intermec contract
The US Dept. of the Army has awarded Intermec Technologies a prime contract to provide mobile computing and automatic identification systems, wireless networking technologies and services worth as much as $238 million over the next five years. Under the terms of the five-year technology contract, Intermec will supply a complete line of advanced mobile computing, wireless communications and data collection systems and services, all engineered to meet the most demanding military applications and deliver unparalleled levels of efficiency and productivity.

Microsoft patents body power
Microsoft has been awarded a patent for using human skin as a power conduit and data bus. The patent describes a method for transmitting power and data to devices worn on the body and for communication of data between those devices.

IBM, Infineon memory prototype
IBM and German memory maker Infineon unveiled a prototype 16-megabit magnetic-memory chip this week. The two companies presented the MRAM, or magnetic random access memory, chip at the Very Large Scale Integration Circuits Symposium in Hawaii. The MRAM relies on magnetism rather than an electrical charge to store data.

Ontrack's new Disk Manager
Ontrack Data Recovery announced the availability of an upgraded version of its popular Disk Manager hard drive installation software. This new version, version 5.0, offers support for drives over 137GB in size.

PC World Top 10 PDAs
PC World has posted their list of the Top 10 PDAs, with the HP IPaq H4150 Pocket PC coming in as the #1 Best Buy.

Laptop Screen Shade
The Laptop Screen Shade from Camera Bellows can eliminate the problems of glare from sunlight, bright lights or reflections on the screen when using a laptop.

Bitstream Font Fusion 2.5
Font Fusion is a small, fast, portable, memory-efficient font rendering engine for consumer electronics devices, PDAs, mobile phones, set-top boxes, graphics applications, and embedded systems. Together with Bitstream Panorama, it provides a complete font rendering and text composition solution.

Bitstream Global Text Composition
Bitstream announced today the release of version 1.0 of Bitstream Panorama, a small, fast, portable line layout engine that enables developers to compose complex lines of text. The product features high-level APIs to lay out, position, substitute, and render characters in worldwide languages. Together with Font Fusion, it offers a complete line layout and font rendering solution for developers building cell phones, smart phones, PDAs, set-top boxes, graphics applications, and embedded systems.

Telenor, Verizon text messaging
Telenor Interactive and Verizon Wireless announced an agreement under which Telenor Interactive will continue to provide premium text message voting capabilities to Verizon Wireless. Through Telenor's Media Platform, Verizon Wireless subscribers can interact with their favorite media outlets, participating via their mobile phones with popular TV shows and text voting on music selections.

Alera DVD/CD Shredder Plus
Alera Technologies has introduced its DVD/CD Shredder Plus, a media destruction device for cutting DVDs, CDs, Floppy Disks and Credit Cards into small unusable strips, permanently preventing unauthorized use and it is HIPAA compliant.

Fuel cell battery solution
A developer of miniaturized fuel cells has come up with a simplified design that could propel the power technology's use in notebook and handheld computers. MTI MicroFuel Cells unveiled prototypes of its Mobion power packs, which promise to last longer in portable devices than conventional batteries and to be easier to manufacture than rival fuel cells.

Wallpaper protects Wi-Fi
British defense contractor BAE Systems has developed a stealth wallpaper designed to stop electronic eavesdropping on Wi-Fi networks. The company has produced panels designed to prevent outsiders from listening in on companies' Wi-Fi traffic but let other traffic through, including radio and mobile phone signals.

NetZero at the Shack
United Online announced it has entered into a multi-year distribution agreement with RadioShack Corporation. Under the agreement, United Online will offer its value-priced NetZero Platinum and NetZero HiSpeed Internet services in more than 5,000 RadioShack company-owned stores and select dealer/franchise stores nationwide.

SMC Networks,IP3 Networks partnership
SMC Networks announced that it has teamed up with IP3 Networks to provide complete solutions for building wireless hotspots. The new partnership will make it easy for customers to set-up revenue-generating wireless public Internet access by teaming networking products with billing, provisioning and authentication system.

MondoPondo Version 2
Proporta is pleased to introduce MondoPondo v.2, the latest addition to its software catalog. A multi-player truth or dare quiz game for 2-16 adults on one PDA, MondoPondo comes With thousands of questions, truths and dares and is available for Windows, Palm OS, and SE Smartphones.

xmMOBILE 6.1 for Palm OS
MicroMain Corporation announced the general availability of xmMOBILE 6.1 for Palm OS devices. Used with MicroMain XM, the xmMOBILE module enables work orders to be transmitted electronically to handhelds used by maintenance technicians. With xmMOBILE, work orders and inspections can be downloaded to Palm devices including PDAs and bar code scanners.

Handtop PCs
New fully functional Windows-based handtop computers will make their debut later this year. The new class of personal computing device is an attempt to pack in the hardware and software capabilities of a PC into a small rectangular box that can be slipped into a pocket.

Fujifilm World adapter
The Fujifilm World Adapter allows you to use your portable electrical appliances in more than 150 countries around the world, and is compact and easy to pack away in any bag or rucksack. Whether you're charging your laptop or digital camera in Europe, or using your hairdryer in Hong Kong, this all-in-one unit eliminates the need for country-specific adapters.

No Delkin Mac driver
Delkin has issued a statement today in which they apologize for the lengthy delay in releasing a fully-functional Mac OS X driver for the CompactFlash version of its eFilm PRO CardBus 32 Adapter. Mac compatibility had originally been promised for early in 2004; in the spring, Delkin revised this to late May 2004. A final release date has not been specified.

USB security plug
The Keypoint, by RedCannon Security, is a USB device that includes an anti-spyware scanner, a secure email client, encrypted storage and a "stealth" browser that leaves behind no traces of the user's Web sessions on the PC.

AvantGo for Mac OS X
AvantGo is now available to Mac OS X users through The Missing Sync from Mark/Space. Using this technology from Mark/Space, AvantGo subscribers can quickly and easily synchronize thousands of channels of news, sports, entertainment and more between a Mac OS X-based desktop and a number of popular handheld devices.

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