Microsoft changed the name of its end-user brand loyalty site from Owners Circle to TotalAccess. Some, but not all of the articles that Tyson Greer, Jason Dunn, and I wrote have been moved to the tips and tricks section of this site.
Category: Mobile Devices
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Windows Mobile Owners Circle Changed Its Name to TotalAccess
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OLPC 8.1.0 Build 703
I didn’t notice until today that OLPC 8.1.0 Build 703 was released a month ago (June 5).
What’s new in the official-703 (8.1.0) release?
The big end-user change is that closing the lid now suspends the XO and opening resumes operation. I was shocked that it didn’t do this from day 1.
The other big change is that applications (activities in OLPC-speak) are now updated separately from the OLPC Sugar OS itself. This makes sense but is a giant pain in the rear to perform. You need to save this separate download to a USB flash drive, reboot, let the updates install, remove the flash drive, and then reboot again. Yikes, Microsoft Windows is not as annoying as this for most application updates.
The OLPC XO has been a huge disappointment. I should have bought an Asus Eee PC 701 instead last winter. At least my daughter might have found that more interesting and actually used it.
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Google Docs Blog Looking for Eee PC/Small Screen Comments
I’m not a regular reader of the Google Docs Blog. So, this is a bit dated (from June 18).
One of the Google Docs team members bought an Eee PC, tried Google Docs on it, noted a few oddities, and now asks the public: What could we change in Docs to make the experience better on the smaller screen? Let us know by leaving a comment.
One sidenote: Google Docs and many AJAX-y sites don’t work well on the OLPC XO. My recollection is that the cursor disappears when typing in a Google Docs text window. I should fire up the XO and confirm that this is still the case.
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Google Talk for the iPhone
What? Another site only for the iPhone? This time Google announced Google Talk for the iPhone. Just head to……on your iPhone or iPod touch (my touch is in the photo above). If you have a Windows Mobile device, don’t bother. The talk link above just takes you to the normal Google Talk page that tells you to download the Windows XP/Vista client.
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Friendfeed iPhone Formatted Site
Yep, another major (large) website built something specifically for the iPhone. This time it is Friendfeed.com. If you don’t have an iPhone or iPod touch, you can visit……to see what it looks like. The photo above is the site on my iPod touch.
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Mobipocket eBook Reader: Don’t Install it on an HTC Advantage
I decided to try out the free Mobipocket eBook reader on my HTC Advantage 7500 since that Windows Mobile Pocket PC (Professional Edition) has a big display and good battery life. I also downloaded a free ebook from Feedbooks.Although the screencap above is in landscape mode, I ended up switching to portrait mode to actually read the book. I don’t recommend doing this (switching from landscape to portrait using Mobipocket’s internal screen control) though because it leaves the Advantage in this mode after exiting the reader and leaves it in a state where you cannot access parts of the screen. I had to soft reset the Advantage to get access to the screen. And, even then I had to manually change the screen orientation. A second attempt left a status bar at the bottom of my landscape oriented screen that would not go away until I soft reset the box again. So, I removed it and will not be trying it again.
The reading experience on a Pocket PC has never been a good one. I remember trying Microsoft Reader back when it used to come installed on Palm-size PCs. That was not a good experience either (though it did not mess with my display the way Mobipocket does). I’ll wait to see if an ebook reader appears for the iPhone/iPod touch (I have a touch). I suspect the ebook reading experience will be pretty good on that platform.