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  • T-Mobile Dash Batteries Seem to Have Short Lifespans

    My first T-Mobile Dash battery went bad after about a year of use. This was around last March or April (2007). I bought a new replacement battery through T-Mobile around that time. Today, I noticed that my battery was at 2% charge after turning it on. I had fully charged the battery the night before and turned off the phone after the battery was charged. I fully charged the battery after noticing this and then used it like I normally do. The battery was down to about 50% at the end of the day (night). Normally, the battery is between 70 and 80% capacity after a 14 hour or so period.

    This sudden drop in charge capacity is very similar to what I saw in the original battery when it started to go bad. However, this time the second battery went bad in less than 7 months of use. That seems awfully short to me. I’m not going to buy a third battery, however. My T-Mobile G1 (Google Android) phone should arrive sometime next week. So, I’ll either switch to a different phone or muddle along with awful battery life for another 10 days or so.

  • Belkin Mini Surge Protector Dual USB Charger: USB Charger is Useless

    I bought this Belkin Mini Surge Protector Dual USB Charger recently hoping it would solve two problems at once. First, it is smaller than the power strip I’ve been carrying on trips for years. So, it would reduce luggage volume and weight slightly (every ounce counts). Second, it also has two USB charging ports. My hope was that it would help me eliminate one or two USB charging transformers.

    Unfortunately, it turns out that the USB ports only provides 500mA per port. Most USB chargers I have lying around are a full 1A. Basically, my devices don’t even see power when plugged into the Belkin’s USB port and doesn’t charge. I tried a couple of HTC Windows Mobile phones and found that none of them saw power when plugged into the Belkin.

    However, it is still a useful and small power string and surge protector with three grounded A/C outlets. So, I’m taking it on my trip to San Jose next week. I won’t be using it to charge anything from its USB ports though.

  • Testing ScribeFire with MobileViews Blog

    Just testing the Firefox ScribeFire plugin with this blog. Hope it works.

  • 4th Generation iPod nano Spoken Menus (video demo)

    I posted this item over on my MobileAppsToday.com blog but thought it was interesting enough to repost to my personal mobile tech blog too.

  • Great Spin Control by HTC 🙂

    Great spin control by HTC who has made the, IMHO, the best Windows Mobile devices for years now and now produces the first Google Android based phone – the T-Mobile G1

    Android and Windows Mobile smartphones are complementary, says HTC

    Given their track record in producing very appealing Windows Mobile hardware, I can’t see Microsoft turning their backs on them for manufacturing the G1.

  • Asus Eee PC 1000H 802.11n WiFi Works

    I’ve found two wireless access points (WAP) that Asus Eee PC 1000H will not connect to so far. I have not ID-ed the hardware. My Acer Aspire One connected to both of these WAPs. So, if WiFi compatibility is important, I would stick with the Aspire One. That said, I’m enjoying use the Eee PC 1000H in general and took it over to my brother-in-law’s home earlier today. After getting the WPA2 passcode, I connected to their WAP and noticed I had a 135Mbps connection. I only have an 802.11g WAP in my home, so I never thought to check what the 1000H supported.

    Since my MacBook also supports 802.11n, I guess I should consider springing for an 802.11n WAP for my home one of these days.