Tech at Play

The Kensington Wall/Air Ultra Compact Notebook Power Adapter is simple; to be the lightest, most energy efficient power adapter that can also be used to charge your laptop as well as other mobile devices.  And compared to other regular 90 watt adapter, Kensington says the Ultra Compact Notebook Power Adapter is 43% smaller and 32% lighter.

In addition, the adapter also comes with over voltage, current, short circuit and temperature protection to make it an excellent long-term investment even if you switch or upgrade your machine.

As with other generic power adapters, support for various laptop brands are achieved by interchangeable power tips.  In this case, all common laptops (HP, Compaq, Dell, Acer, Toshiba, Lenovo, Sony, Gateway, Asus) should be supported, though you can take a look at the Power Compatibility Chart here to set your mind at ease.

Included with the various tips to get you started is an airline charging cable, retractable mini USB charging cable and travel pouch.  Other USB Power Tip Packs are sold separately if you require support for phones such as those from Motorola, Nokia, LG or Sony-Ericsson, among others.

Opinion

I have been using the Wall/Air Ultra Compact Notebook Power Adapter for a few weeks now, and I must say that I am very happy with its slimmer profile and reduced weight.  I was initially concerned that the adapter will not be able to handle my Sony Z series behemoth (It requires a power adapter of at least 85 watts) but I was assured by Kensington that it would not be a problem.

And who would have imagined that the simple built-in USB charger would prove to be useful; I am a convert on this now.  By using various USB cables that I already owned, I was able charge various devices such as my BlackBerry and iPhone much faster than via my laptop’s USB port.

So yes, the Ultra Compact Notebook Power Adapter has found a permanent home in my laptop bag, allowing me to leave my existing power adapter as a fixture for when I am at my workstation. Indeed, I also have the assurance that its usefulness will extend to my next laptop and beyond – simply by swapping out the tip.

The Kensington Wall/Air Ultra Compact Notebook Power Adapter is currently priced at $95.99.

Read on for the detailed walk-through.

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It looks like the perennial discussion on the difference between Windows Mobile and BlackBerry push email is still on-going, at least at the local HardwareZone Forums.  I have posted a response where I attempt to explain the issue in a way that is more accessible to the lay-person.  An excerpt of the key points is below; hope it proves useful to you:

A quick backgrounder. In the past, I have actively used push mail on the Windows Mobile platform on at least two different Windows Mobile devices over a couple of years. I am now on my 4th BlackBerry – the first two were company-owned while the latest two were purchased by me.

Let me try to clarify on the differences between the two.

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I finally got my own BlackBerry Bold last night – weeks after it was actually launched in Singapore.  It’s a long story, but suffice to say Kok Sen from RIM found it rather amusing when the friends I encouraged to go for the BlackBerry Bold got their units before me.

Anyway, click on the link below for more pictures and setup observations.

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I installed the latest BlackBerry OS, or Device Software v4.5.0.37 over the weekend. As you can see from the absence of new posts, I was busy giving it a spin and restoring my BlackBerry Curve 8320 back to its former shape.

I would consider some of the features in this release to be significant.

• Utilize the full capacities of micro SD HD memory cards (Tested up to 8GB)
• Default inclusion of DataViz’s Documents To Go Standard Edition
• Ability to download attachments as native files (Subject to BES-side upgrade for enterprise users)
• Ability to read HTML email (Subject to BES-upgrade for enterprise users)
• Various other really useful applications such as Video Camera and Voice Notes Recorder

[Updated: 12 July 2008]

• Improved Web browser that now comes with a pointer
• Media player comes with forward and backward controls on UI
• You can finally see the time from inside the media player too
• Improvements to the browser; comes with mouse pointer now
• Implementation of S/MIME
• Spruced-up look and feel across built-in applications such as Tasks, MemoPad, Calendar
• Ability to define the “Outline Colour” of your mailbox based on whether they are Enterprise Messages (BES) or Other Messages (BIS)
• Ability to set your BlackBerry to perform autonomous memory scrubs

The ability to support multiple calendars appears to have been quietly added as well, though I admit I used BES exclusively in the past – it could have been there all along. Anyone care to comment?

As usual, you can check out this BlackBerryForums page for the latest software updates. The usual caveat on the risks of upgrading firmware applies.

Ok, I admit I am a little behind on this. The beta of Cerience’s RepliGo PDF Reader for the BlackBerry was actually released mid of last week.

Having said that, I finally got down to testing it out yesterday. Now I cannot say too much without violating the terms of the beta test. But let’s just say you will not be disappointed if you have ever tried out, or are currently using RepliGo Server or RepliGo Professional.

Other than waiting between 3 to 5 seconds when opening a PDF file for the first time — and this is the first beta mind you, response and performance is akin or even better than what I typically experience with RepliGo Professional. Zooming and scrolling through a PDF page is amazingly smooth.

More testing is in order, but my first impression is that Cerience managed to pack the PDF portion of its server-side magic into a BlackBerry application. Impressive!

At the moment, the RepliGo PDF Reader is a closed beta, with the testing expected to last 30-45 days, according to the FAQ. So just be patient for now. If you must ask, pricing for the final product has not been determined either.

Software vendor DataViz has finally thrown the covers off the long-anticipated Documents To Go for BlackBerry (DTG) Microsoft-Office compatible suite.

DTG Standard Edition will be bundled free with BlackBerry Device Software 4.5. DTG Premium Edition, which offers additional functionalities, will be sold for a onetime fee of $69.99, and requires the following system requirements. You can also check out the differences between DTG Standard and DTG Professional here.

Before you pop the champagne though, do note that it is not possible to actually download and install it right now. The underlying reason is a little more complex, if you would let me explain in a moment.

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A couple of weeks after getting my new BlackBerry Curve, I have narrowed down a list of my favorite (and free!) BlackBerry software.  I posted My favorite free BlackBerry software yesterday.

If you are a Windows Mobile fan, I have written about my favorite Windows Mobile applications earlier. You can read about  it here: The best of Pocket PC software.

I hope this would be of help to you.

I purchased a BlackBerry Curve 8320 last week. This was despite my having written many articles on Microsoft’s Direct Push and an initial preference for it.

After almost four years of using push mail from both RIM and Microsoft, I have come to the conclusion that the RIM BlackBerry is the most reliable and robust push mail solution available on the market today.

Check out my new article RIM’s BlackBerry: Still king of push mail over at TechRepublic.

According to their press release, Research In Motion (RIM) will let developers create applications for BlackBerry phones using Microsoft’s .NET programming environment.

The ability will come in the form of a plug-in for Microsoft Visual Studio that lets developers to write application that integrate with existing back-end servers through .NET Web Services, according to RIM. It will work through the existing BlackBerry Mobile Data Service that is an integral part of the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES)

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BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd has just announced a software application that will run on Windows Mobile 6.0, allowing it to work like a BlackBerry. Basically, a user would be able to toggle back and forth between the two platforms if they want, for example, to use the Windows Media Player to listen to music or to their Pocket PC software.

At the moment, RIM already offers a BlackBerry Connect e-mail application that can run on devices with other platforms, including Windows, Symbian and the Palm-based variation of the Treo from Palm Inc. However, this announced suite will fully emulate the BlackBerry OS, including support for BlackBerry email, phone, calendar, address book, tasks, memos, browser, instant messaging and other applications developed for the BlackBerry platform. This includes the BlackBerry Mobile Data System (MDS) as well, which is being leveraged to create enterprise-grade connected applications.

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As of April 18 (Or April 19 where I live in Singapore), BlackBerry users in the u.S. can breath a sigh of relief as their devices start beeping and vibrating again. To learn more about how such a massive failure is even possible, check out my earlier article BlackBerry Suffers Massive Outage where I explain it in more depth.

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The BlackBerry wireless e-mail service from RIM (Research In Motion Ltd) seems to have suffered a widespread outage starting from Tuesday evening in the U.S.

According to NewsChannel4, “Officials with RIM said they are trying to reset the system and that their concern was with the backlog of data, which will rush through when it comes back on line, could cause a bigger problem”.

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Which uses less traffic; the BlackBerry or a Pocket PC configured for push mail?  There was a time where the BlackBerry reigned supreme and no such questions were asked, ever.  However, with the slew of maturing push mail options on the market today, people are now asking.  Indeed, at the heart of more than a few forum discussions or flame-wars, and even reflected in many of the search queries that send visitors coming to Technology At Play daily – this is one of the perennial question we encounter whenever there is a comparison of push mail technologies.

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I thought long and hard not about the contents of this article, but about the title. While sure to generate some controversy, this is what I believe to be the case. My personal opinion is that the current implementation of Direct Push overall is better than RIM’s BlackBerry device where it comes to push mail access on Microsoft Exchange.  In fact, I consider Direct Push to be superior to any of the other offerings on the market when it comes to using Exchange as a backend mail server.

As it is, the BlackBerry is still very much a de facto standard in the push mail market which it created practically single-handedly. Hence we have this little comparison with it, and the corresponding title – “ How is Microsoft’s Direct Push better than the BlackBerry?”

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