According to our sister site, AllShadow.com, the Shadow II will be delayed until 2009, according to several of their sources.

For the fans of the original Shadow, this may be a bit of a disappointment, but this delay may give HTC and T-Mobile time to spruce up the next version of the Shadow, perhaps adding 3G and significantly different hardware (which the Shadow II was rumored not to have).

How much do you pay for your data? Spb Wireless Monitor helps those who don't have an unlimited data plan keep track of their wireless data usage so that they're not slammed with unexpected overages. We'll take a look at it and help you determine if it's right for you. Read on for the review!

Overall Rating:


The Good

Includes a Today screen wireless usage summary

Per-application traffic and cost reports

Wireless usage alarms

The Bad

Doesn't track voice usage

Won't prevent wireless usage when alarm limits are exceeded

A friend of mine, who takes many business calls while driving between meetings, recently mentioned to me an excellent idea for a Windows Mobile application.

Wouldn't it be great if there was a program that would give you an audible alert as to when you might be traveling into an area where your phone will lose reception? It could be user configurable so that when the signal strength reaches a certain low, a notification appears/sounds indicating that you might lose your phone's connection soon. It should have an option to only be active while you're on a phone call because that's really the only time that you definitely care about the signal strength, and it would be extremely useful to be able to tell the person on the other end that you might lose the connection soon.

So all you Windows Mobile developers out there in internet land, there's another freebie idea. That's the kind of intelligence a "smart phone" should be capable of.

SPB is building upon the success of its legacy title--SPB GPRS Monitor--which allows you to monitor your wireless activity to avoid huge overage charges. The new title, called SPB Wireless Monitor, will allow you to monitor your internet activity by application on your Windows Mobile device. An exclusive pocketnow.com review is coming later in the week, but for now, the new SPB Wireless Monitor allows you to:

-Per Application Traffic and Cost Reports: Detailed traffic per application or time-based reports can be viewed on screen or exported as CSV files
-More Connections Supported: CDMA, GPRS, 3G, and even Wi-Fi and USB connections supported
-Peak and Off-peak Tariffs Support: Some data plans offer different tariffs for peak and off-peak hours, Spb Wireless Monitor 3.0 accounts for that
-Excessive Data Use Alarms: Set as many excessive data use warnings as you want, to avoid unwanted data charges
-Modern Multilingual User Interface: One-handed navigation, adaptive skins, for touch and non-touch screen devices

The software is now in its 3.0 version and could be purchased for $20. Upgrades from SPB Wireless Monitor 2.0 cost $10.

Check back for a review soon. You can learn more about the software from SPB Software House.

AT&T has unleashed the LG Incite, which seems to be a competitor to the Samsung Omnia. The device has a WQVGA screen, just like the Omnia, but somehow the design doesn't look as nice and slick in my opinion.

Other features include: 3-megapixel camera, tri-band HSDPA, and 256 MB ROM and 128 MB RAM (the Omnia came with 16 GB or 8 GB of built in storage; the Incite will allow you instead to add storage via memory card).

You can order the Incite direct from AT&T for $200 after mail in rebates and a two-year service agreement.

AT&T just needs a slab VGA or WVGA device in its arsenal now.

With rumors swirling around Microsoft lurking to buy BlackBerry maker Research in Motion, some are postulating what the marriage would look like for both BlackBerry and Windows Mobile handsets. It looks like Pharos may put some imagination to play, bringing two handsets to market, one of which looks like a BlackBerry Bold meets Windows Mobile. Both handsets eature a VGA touchscreen and retail for $530 unlocked according to Gizmodo.

The Traveller 127 is a BlackBerry style device (even the keys on the keyboard look BlackBerry) with a trackball for navigating the device in the middle flanked by a Home and OK keys as well as Send and End keys. The device has HSDPA, GPS, and comes with Pharos' Smart Navigator solution. The Pharos Traveller 127 looks like it has the BlackBerry body and the brains of Windows Mobile technology.

The Traveller 117 is an HTC Touch Diamond competitor, featuring a 2.8" slab display.

Specs for both devices:
Operating System: Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
Processor: Qualcomm MSM7201-90, 400MHz
Memory: 256MB Flash ROM, 128MB SDRAM
Phone: unlocked GSM quad band 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, EDGE / GPRS
3.5G tri band 850/1900/2100 MHz, UMTS 384Kb/s, HSDPA 7.2Mb/s, HSUPA 2Mb/s
Talk time: up to 4 hours talk time and 200 hours standby time
GPS: NMEA0183/AGPS compatible
Wireless: Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth™ v2.0+EDR
Camera: 2.0 megapixel camera for picture or video; 0.3 megapixel front camera for video conferences
Battery: 1410 mAh Li-Ion, rechargeable/replaceable
Weight: 4.8 ounces

Traveler 117
Size: 4.44” (L) x 2.28” (W) x 0.60” (T)
Display: 2.8" Resistive TFT LCD, 480 x 640 VGA with 18-bit 262K color capability

Traveler 127
Size: 4.57” (L) x 2.44” (W) x 0.60” (T)
Display: 2.5" TFT LCD with touch panel, 320 x 240 QVGA with 16-bit 65K colors

Celio, makers of the REDFLY Mobile Companion, just announced two new products that will allow you to connect your mobile device to a larger screen and full keyboard. The new models are the C7 and C8N.

The C7 is a more compact version of the current REDFLY and offers 5 hours of battery life for the price of $229, while the C8N has additional media ports so you can play files from your connected media player (Zune, iPod) in addition to viewing contents of your Windows Mobile handheld. The C8N will go for $299. Both devices can be pre-ordered through Celio's authorized retailers online.

And here's a pocketnow.com video of the original REDFLY for those who need to be reminded about how the product works:

From the Celio press release:

The REDFLY C7 is the result of a customer-driven plan for a power-efficient, lightweight and more affordable solution. With a power-saving seven-inch display and power-efficient features, the REDFLY C7 uses a lightweight battery that provides up to five-hours of performance, perfect for many mobile users. The REDFLY C7 weighs less than 1.5 lbs., lighter than any mobile computer with a seven-inch display.

The REDFLY C8N evolved from the original REDFLY design to meet overwhelming customer demand to use the larger screen as an external display for media players such as an iPod, iPhone , Zune, or digital camera. A new REDFLY Media Port and REDFLY Media Cable provide a simultaneous connection as a third USB port and composite video input (NTSC/PAL compatible). Now the REDFLY’s 800x480-pixel screen can be used to view photos, show demos and even watch movies. The REDFLY Media Cable is available for a suggested retail price of $19.95.

Available the week of December 1, 2008, the REDFLY C7 and C8N Smartphone Terminals can be pre-ordered today from select Celio resellers.

TekSoft has two pieces of software that will let you connect either a Bluetooth or USB mouse to your PDA. The applications for this are great, but you will either need a device with a USB host or a Compact Flash (CF) card slot as TekSoft has a SolarExpress CF Card that will enable the device to act like a USB host. Unfortunately, this means that newer, smaller Windows Mobile phones like the HTC Touch Pro and Touch HD are left out because the newer devices support the smaller micro SDHC formats for the USB option. Fortunately, however, TekSoft has a Bluetooth option as well with a software driver called BlueInput that will let you connect a Bluetooth mouse.

The USB drivers cost 10 Euros and can be purchased directly from TekSoft. No pricing details yet for the BlueInput option.

USB Mouse Video:

Bluetooth Mouse Video with BlueInput:

Last time we tested a new ROM from Samsung (G4), we found there to be some modest changes to Omnia i900 (review).

The newest ROM, J1, adds some much-needed functionality as shown in the video above. Here's a round up of what is new:

1. Flick scrolling enabled
2. Choice of screen animations
3. Vibration feedback returns for the keyboard
4. New Profiles widget
5. DLNA Server application for sharing multimedia over a network (untested)
6. New build of Opera Mobile 9.5 (is a bit faster)

If you want the new ROM, grab it from the Samsung website. The Singapore ROM seems to work well for me (there is no USA release). Thanks to Darren W. for the tip!

We're getting many emails from people who want to know which is better: the HTC Touch HD, or the SE XPERIA X1. Well, the answer has mostly been "it depends" because each device has its own merits and weaknesses, and everyone has different needs when it comes to mobile phones. Here, we compare video performance.

To start, I should mention that the Touch HD has an 800x480 screen that is 3.8", and the XPERIA X1 has a screen of the same resolution and 3.0" size. Using CorePlayer, which is a very robust video player that each device desperately needs, we can benchmark the video performance of each device, shown below. The file that was benchmarked was a trailer from the movie Transformers, and each device was soft reset prior to testing.

With a 12% higher framerate and 13% higher average speed, the Touch HD beats the XPERIA X1. With that said, I've been comparing the playback quality of both device with the same movies and TV shows, and the difference is very small in terms of frame rate and quality - at least according to my eyes. The real advantage for video playback, which you will notice, is that the Touch HD has such a large screen. Thanks for the idea, Alex.

It seems that the trend for the new breed of devices with slide-out keyboards, like the Touch Pro and XPERIA X1, is for the keyboard to slide open to the left. But older devices like the HTC TyTN II and HTC S730 had rightward-sliding keyboards. Being a righty, I prefer the new left-slide style so that my right hand is free to access the D-Pad and other hardware buttons which get positioned on the right.

Which do you prefer, or are you indifferent?

Those of you who don’t like the default look of Comm Manager on your Diamond and/or Touch Pro can now add a personal touch to it thanks to XDA Developers.

Here you can find everything you need to get your started and have your CommManager look like the ones in the screenshot: 3 cabs to suit your needs as per CommManager contents, Beam and Ringer icons and a link to that neat blue slider. For a complete effect, make sure you match them with a blue theme, like the one found here.

Just decide which one suits your needs, download and install to Device. If you don't like them anymore, just uninstall to revert to original.