The Blackberry App World is an application that you install on your blackberry device.  Once installed, it acts just like on the iPhone, letting you browse the many categories and download applications and games directly on your device.  Put more of your life on your BlackBerry smartphone! Download BlackBerry App World for free to load up your BlackBerry smartphone with games, social networking, online shopping, personal productivity, organization tools and other fun and functional apps. It’s your world – bring more of it with you with BlackBerry App World!

App World will be a great place for developers to publish their work and make an extra buck selling their applications.  It should help RIM stay on top of the threat the iPhone has become and keep its users satisfied with an acceptable number of applications available in many categories.

You can get started directly on the Blackberry site.

PhonEx is one of those plugins that once you get used to having it around, you just can’t live without it.  I’ve tried many plugins and applications that modify my contacts and/or my phone, but I always ended up removing them because they either caused problems or simply didn’t have the features I was used to with the standard WM6 functions.  PhonEx is not subtle in its changes and that’s what makes it work for me.  I love the scrolling contacts and the large dial-pad the most.  The Today plugin is also a very nice feature and let’s you change settings and access your contacts and favorites in no time.

The contacts manager is probably the most interesting feature there is because it is the one that sold me to this extension.  You can scroll through your contacts using just your thumb, just like on the iPhone.  no need for the stylus or the scroll bar.  Not only is this convenient, but it make your phone look and feel less antiquated.  Everything moves around smoothly, even on my older processor.  When you select a contact, the screen slides to the left and brings up the details of that contact, with a larger image and options to contact that person in a variety of ways: Call, Email, SMS etc… whatever you have entered is available.  This is where you can modify your contact’s information, assign a new picture etc…  I didn’t have pictures for everyone before, but since I installed PhonEx, I’ve been taking more pictures and trying to get more of my contacts updated because it simply looks good and makes that contacts list more attractive.

PhonEx Phonepad

From there, you can access your favorites, which is a list of people you choose to be easier to reach instead of having to go through your entire contacts list.  You can see a list of all your calls including incoming/outgoing and missed calls.  Finally, you can also go directly to the phone pad for manual dialing.  You could use the “send” key which gets reassigned to PhonEx and takes you to the phonepad as well.  The large buttons on the phonepad allow you to use your thumb only and, in my case, responds much much faster than the standard WM6 one.  For instance, when accessing my voicemail, there was a huge lag when entering my passcode.  With PhonEx, I can tap the numbers as fast as I want and everything works just fine.

There are a number of other great features like the full screen incoming calls.  When you receive a call, you get that on the entire screen, showing a picture of the contact (if you put one in) along with the number and location if it’s available.

Once you’re in a call, you have access to all the usual features, but with large buttons and it even lets you see if you are on Bluetooth right away.  You can conference someone else in and put them on Hold, Speakerphone or Mute.  You have access to the phone pad as well which is useful for dialing extensions or passcodes as I mentioned earlier.

PhonEx is certainly an excellent extension to have on your Windows Mobile Smartphone.  You can give it a try for free for 15 days and see for yourself.

]]> http://www.techforlunch.com/phoneex-makes-your-wm5-6-phone-act-like-an-iphone/feed/ 0 http://www.techforlunch.com/eneloop-rechargeable-battery-without-the-downsides/ http://www.techforlunch.com/eneloop-rechargeable-battery-without-the-downsides/#comments Mon, 26 Jan 2009 22:31:59 +0000 Pascal Roy http://www.techforlunch.com/?p=310 For the first time in battery-history it has been possible to combine the advantages of rechargeable batteries with the advantages of disposable batteries. This new kind of batteries was developed by SANYO, the worldwide leader in rechargeable batteries, in 2005 and has been put on the european market in 2006. Since then it has been the most successfull new battery ever put on the market.

Historically, disposable and rechargeable batteries have their individual advantages, which were impossible to combine.

Disposable batteries could be used immediately out of the package and could be stored for months or even years, without having to consider their self discharge. Their ease of use was unbeatable, they could be used basically everywhere. However, once empty, they had to be thrown away and a new battery had to be purchased.

Rechargeable batteries had the major advantage, that they could be used more than once. By re-charging, the use of one battery could be multiplied.

This clear advantage however, was associated with some less appealing aspects. Before usage, they had to be charged and once charged, they lost their energy rather fast. So frequent re-charging or charging just before usage was necessary.

Eneloop bring the best of both worlds to a single battery, combining the positive aspects of each type of batteries to create one that is even more appealing.

• Low self-Discharge: Once charged, the Eneloop can be stored and used after an entire year and still has 85% of its power.  Most rechargeables would be empty after that period.
• Easy to use: Ships already charged and can be counted on like a disposable battery
• Applications: can be used in the same hardware as both types, including NiMH
• Higher Performance: lasts longer than standard rechargeables
• Protects the Environment : can be recharged to full capacity up to 1000 times
• Lower Cost: Has a lower TCO than regular rechargeable batteries

Disposable Batteries		Rechargeable Batteries		eneloop
• can be used immediately• are simple to use• have low initial cost

• can be stored for long time

• have higher initial cost

• need to be charged frequently

• can be stored for long time

• have high long term cost

• have low long term cost

• have low long term cost

]]> http://www.techforlunch.com/eneloop-rechargeable-battery-without-the-downsides/feed/ 0 http://www.techforlunch.com/how-to-choose-a-usb-key/ http://www.techforlunch.com/how-to-choose-a-usb-key/#comments Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:46:11 +0000 Josee Riberdy http://www.techforlunch.com/?p=232

There is no sure-fire way to shop for a key. You will need to decide on the capacity you need and think about some of the features you want, then try to find the best value for money and buy it!

Some useful info on USB keys…
Once you have chosen the capacity of your key (depending on what you want to put in it… Pictures? Word documents? Etc.), you only need to shop around and try to find the best “deal”.  There are tons of companies that manufacture them and they are found in a variety of stores.

However, here is some more useful information…
- Over the years, the smaller the keys get, they now offer keys with large storage capacity and the prices are dropping. Good news!

- Generally, the lifespan of data on a USB key is ensured for 10 years. On average, flash memory supports 1 million deletions.

- The main available capabilities are: 512MB, 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, 16GB and 32GB (very little).  After that we fall into hard drives. Prices range from $5 to just over $200.  Note: As these data change very quickly, this information may be quickly outdated… Note the date of this article!

- Prices vary depending on the capacity, brand, the level of security (with or without a password to access the contents) and the type of key (USB 2.0, USB 2.0 High Speed or U3).

- We are moving towards U3 keys that we see more and more of on the market. These keys not only contain various files, but also applications such as software and their parameters (bookmarks, e-mail account, etc.).. Can you imagine? This means we can now bring with us our office (almost) saved on our USB key! At the moment, several free and paid applications are compatible with U3 and it has only just begun. The offer will become more and more interesting… Check the U3 site to find out more and learn about the applications that are available.

You may want to consider the form factor of your USB key.  For instance, will you be carrying it in your pocket or elsewhere?  The shape and the way it opens and closes, the way it can be carried etc, all may have an impact on your decision.

Happy shopping!

USB 3.0, also known as SuperSpeed USB, will have many significant improvements over it’s predecessors and peripherals that make use of the new standard should become available sometime late in 2009 or early 2010.  Here are some of the improvements that are described in the release:

• Higher transfer rates:  This is a given because that is basically what everyone is looking for, especially if you transfer large files to/from an external drive for instance. USB 3.0 should be able to transfer at a whooping 4.8Gbit/s (614MByte/s) making it 10 times faster than it’s little brother, USB 2.0.
• Simultaneous read/write:  USB 2.0 and 1.0 are only capable of doing one-way operations at a time, resulting in much slower transfers.  With USB 3.0, Not only is the raw transfer speed faster, but it also goes both ways at the same time so you can copy to AND from a hard drive at the same time.  The only problem will be that your USB 3.0 cable will be faster than the hardware it is connected to.
• Higher Power Output: Many devices get their power from the USB cable or simply use the cable to charge themselves.  With USB 3.0, the power output will go from 100 milliamps to 900 milliamps.  We should be able to charge our devices faster and connect bigger devices without having to use an external power adapter.
• Backwards Compatibility:  We should be able to use a USB 3.0 cable with older USB 2.0 devices.  Not only will it work, but some newer features like the power consumption control will kick-in.
• Power consumption: USB 2.0 used a polling method to verify if a device was sending data to the computer and if it needed power.  This means it was an “always-on” process and consumed more energy than was required.  USB 3.0 will us an Interrupt-driven protocol to ensure your devices get only what they need, when they need it.

The standard for USB 3.0 is not yet 100% complete and this article certainly does not cover everything that is new, but it is a pretty good summary of what most end-users will be looking for in USB 3.0.

I am very eager to see all my devices become USB 3.0, but that means I’ll have to get a bunch of new toys to play with!

The biggest new feature on the iPhone, and what gives it its name is the 3G capability.  3G is the most recent cellular network standard and allows service providers to offer greater speeds and services on their networks.  Apple has added the GPS functionnalities directly on the iPhone this time around.

I had a customer ask me to setup his iPhone to connect with his Exchange Server with the first version and, although I got it to work, it was still a pain to setup.  This new version boasts better Exchange server support.  I will certainly be taking a look at that one to see if the improvement was worthwhile.  The other new features are listed below:

• Flush headphone jack
• Improved audio
• Thinner edges
• Longer battery life
• Firmware version 2.0
• Syncs with MobileMe

The new firmware includes support for the AppStore so you should be able to get many new applications for you iPhone 3G.  The new set of features is pretty good and may make the upgrade worthwhile to many avid users but it shouldn’t anger the early adopters by making their “old” iphones too deprecated just yet.

For those who are hoping to hack or “jailbreak” their iPhone 3G, I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before you can do so and install all the 3rd party apps you want.  Although Apple is forcing end-users to get a contract in order to buy an iPhone, some units will surely be available via eBay or other outlets when a hack becomes available.

Based on the latest developments in neuro-technology, Emotiv has developed a new personal interface for human computer interaction. The Emotiv EPOC uses a set of sensors to tune into electric signals naturally produced by the brain to detect player thoughts, feelings and expression and connects wirelessly to most PCs. The Emotiv neuroheadset now makes it possible for games to be controlled and influenced by the player’s mind.

Emotiv’s focus is on the entertainment industry and more specifically, on electronic games.  The headset is initially meant to be used as a control in a video game, partly because avid gamers are usually the first adopters of new technologies.

A test of the headset showed that after “training” the EPOC system for less than a minute one could spin, push, pull and lift objects onscreen, or make them vanish, by simply thinking about it.  This is only the beginning of a new technology, the possibilities are huge for this control method.  The gaming industry is a great place to launch and put the headset to test, but other applications and industries should follow very soon.

If you live in the U.S. and are interested in giving this new ground-breaking technology a try when it becomes available late in 2008, you can reserve one right now.  The limited edition units are set to retail at 299$ and there is a limit of 4 per customer.  As an added benefit, if you reserve one, you will get email updates on the progress of the headset.

]]> http://www.techforlunch.com/control-your-computer-with-your-mind/feed/ 0 http://www.techforlunch.com/make-money-on-your-old-cell-phone-flipswap/ http://www.techforlunch.com/make-money-on-your-old-cell-phone-flipswap/#comments Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:13:24 +0000 Pascal Roy http://www.techforlunch.com/?p=209 Everyone has an old cell phone that’s just lying around and collecting dust on a shelf somewhere.  I’m no exception to that statement.  So what can you do other than to wait for a friend who needs your older less-featured phone?  Well, Flipswap it, of course!

Flipswap makes it easy to give mobile phones a second shot at life by offering fast, free and eco-friendly ways to trade them in.  Flipswap provides an easy way for consumers and businesses to make sure that these phones get put back into use by offering cash or store credit for them and then getting them into the hands of people that can’t afford a new phone.

The great thing about this is that Flipswap is completely free to use.  To get started, you enter the information for your old cell phone such as make/model and its ESN Number.  Answer a few questions about the cosmetics and accessories that come with the phone.  For instance, you give a rating on minor scratches and what working condition the phone is in.  Once you’ve spent an enormous 3 minutes entering your phone’s information, Flipswap will give you the current market price for your phone along with several options of what to do with the amount.  Here are the options that were available to me with an HTC phone:

• Cash
• Donate to ASPCA
• Amazon Gift Card
• Donate to American Red Cross
• Donate to Sierra Club
• Donate to Susan G. Komen for the Cure

After checkout, you printout the supplied labels and ship you phone and accessories to Flipswap.  Once everything is checked-out and they get your phone, the option you chose for payment is put to execution.  You either get a check in the mail or a receipt for the charity you chose.

Flipswap is a very nice idea for a service and a very useful one too!  The average American buys a new cell phone every 12-18 months, which means more than one hundred million working phones become unused every year.  That’s a lot of solid waste when you think about it.  Flipswap not only offers a way to get rid of your old cellphone or iPhones, but also to help the planet while you’re doing it and give a second life to an item you might have trashed anyways.

If you have old cell phones to get rid of, Flipswap is a great place to start looking and you *almost* don’t have to get out of your chair to sell your dust-collecting phones.

The TouchWall is a much simpler system which consists of three infrared lasers that scan a surface. A camera notes when something breaks through the laser line and feeds that information back to the Plex software. The machine runs Windows Vista and another software which understands the “touch” commands and movements, called Plex.

There are no plans to mass produce or commercialize this product just yet, but we can already see the applications and with a reduced price tag, this could be interesting. We’ll have to keep on following this one to see if it will become available at some point.

See the TouchWall in action in the following video:

This is the Open Computer, which is offered in two versions, the basic, starting at $399 and the Pro, starting at $999. In other words, Apple clones are now available.

Historically, the Mac community has been able to evolve in a closed environment. But starting a couple of years ago, Apple computers were equipped with Intel processors, which facilitate the lives of people who specialize in everything that surrounds the industry of cloning and copying.

Of course, Apple’s lawyers are probably already on the case. One can assume that Steve Jobs has already declared war on these new clones. In its advertising, Psystar insists that their computers allow the users to operate Macs at a fraction of the price, since the Mac basic costs at least three times as much, with far fewer components and performance.

The Operating system that you choose to install (or get installed) is up to you and Mac OS X may be a bit more expensive, but with such a low machine price, you’re still way under Apple’s prices. Theoretically though, it is forbidden to run this Mac OS X on any device other than those made by Apple.

The only potential problems I see with these are the availability of device drivers if you decide to change some hardware in your machine or add some components…and perhaps the availability of patches which might refuse to install if they notice you are not running genuine Apple hardware.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see Apple’s reaction in dealing with this intrusion into their world. Can Apple legally prevent manufacturers from making hardware that is capable of running their software?