RIM announced that future Blackberry’s will be using Intel’s new chip, code named ‘Hermon’, that adds EDGE technology.  Based on other features and past reports the ‘Hermon’ should support 3G and WiFi.  Now all that’s left is to wait for the announcement of the new Blackberry’s.

[via The Register]

OQO announces Windows XP pocket computer, the Model 01+.  Sporting a 1GHz Transmeta Crusoe it measures in at 4.9” x 3.4” x 0.9” and weighs in slightly under a pound (14oz).  The Model 01+ has built in WiFi, Bluetooth, USB2.0 and FireWire, everything you’d expect from a modern form factor.  OQO even provides a docking station for use as a typical workstation (it even boasts 1280×1024 output from the dock).

I guess we could have filed this under “immobile tech” or “thankfully something other than the Treo 700w” but that might have been pushing just a little too far.  Spotted this originally on Gizmodo but a trip out to the HotSeat site shows this is one of three different steel cage seat contraptions.  It looks like you can get an optional beverage holder, but I think they missed a marketing opportunity with the MMORPG crowd by not including a mini fridge/microwave combo.

Shortly after the announcement, maybe verification is more appropriate, of the Treo 700w Motorola announced that it’s Q Smartphone will be ready by Christmas instead of Q1 2006. Both phones are Windows Mobile 5 devices with moderate displays (the Q is 320×240, the 700w is so far unconfirmed at 320×320), bluetooth and 1 megapixel cameras.  Early on, with the 700w supporting WiFi via SD, this certainly looks like a connected just about everywhere device that could earn its place as the one gadget I never leave without.

Not with Verizon?  Sprint released the PPC-6700, another Windows Mobile 5, EV-DO, WiFi, Bluetooth phone with sliding Qwerty keyboard (from behind the 320×240 display).

[Via Smartphone Thoughts]

No, not the Hipster PDA you’ve probably heard about- this is the Hipster Personal Trailer.  No, not trainer, trailer.  It will get all your gear from here to there, you’ll just get beat up repeatedly during the trip.

(via TRFJ)

Tomorrow I am heading off to the MVP Summit in Redmond and will be gone for the rest of the week.  I will still try to find time to post some interesting stuff but it may be spotty.  Bill and Jeff are going to step in and post some nice articles so your need for tech news will not go unfulfilled.  If anybody is in Seattle or Redmond this week maybe we can hook up, shoot me an email.

Tracy from The Student Tablet PC is doing a great job posting screen shots of real life note taking with some discussion about how she’s accomplishing it.  If you’re a student or have a student and are on the fence concerning the utility of a Tablet PC these are must read posts.  I almost want to go back to get my masters in Software Engineering just to use a Tablet to take notes, almost.

Robert posted a link to this thread on the tabletpcbuzz forums detailing why owners of the X41T may be hearing a lot of clicking from their hard disks.  Apparently some of the Hitachi drives that were used have defective caches.  So far, everyone on the thread running either of the diagnostic tools have reported 0KB Buffer—no cache.  I’ve been following the X41T postings in the forums rather carefully as I think that’s where I’ll find the replacement to my Tecra M4.

I get a lot of email and IMs from friends and readers asking which applications I use and recommend to others.  In the course of a normal day I tend to use a lot of programs depending on the task at hand so my list is pretty long.  I do not use every program every day but each program is important to me when I need it.  I figured it a good time to list my most used applications here on jkOnTheRun so here is the list.  Not all of these programs are Tablet PC specific so I have indicated the programs that are for those without Tablets.  The list is in no particular order so the top of the list is not necessarily more important to me than the bottom.  I’m not going to provide links for each of these, Google will find them very quickly.

1. Outlook/ TEO– I live in Outlook all day for email, schedules, time billing, etc. TEO adds full ink capability to all areas in Outlook and I consider it part of it.
2. OneNote– the second most used program I have
3. SnagIt!– simply the best screen capture program on any platform
4. KnockOut– free utility that kills Outlook and Word instantly if they fail to shut down, which is often
5. Skype– can you hear me now?
6. Onfolio– RSS reader and information collection tool, very good
7. BlogJet– my preferred blogging tool, works with most major blog engines
8. True Launch Bar– turns the Windows taskbar into something truly useful
9. Snipping Tool (Experience Pack)– Tablet PC only, captures anything on the screen with the pen
10. Ink Crossword–Tablet PC only, just what it says
11. iTunes– my default music player and podcatcher/ player
12. Adobe Acrobat– I do a lot of work with PDFs
13. Internet Explorer– Firefox who?
14. Audacity– free audio recorder, editor and mixer
15. Zinio– digital magazine reader, one of the best things you can put on a Tablet PC
16. eReader Pro– ebook reader
17. FTP Commander– free FTP client
18. WinDVD– DVD player app
19. Yahoo Widgets (formerly Konfabulator)– good for using those spare resources
20. MindManager Pro– best mind mapping program on any platform, outstanding on a Tablet PC
21. Mixcast Live– audio mixer program, best way to record Skype calls
22. Norton AntiVirus– resource hog but works very well
23. Outback Plus– back up the entire Outlook/ IE/ Firefox environment with one click
24. Outlook Express– I use this for my newsgroup program
25. Quickbooks Premium– professional accounting package
26. Karen’s Replicator– free directory copy/ replicator program
27. SkypeHeadset– lets me use my cell phone Bluetooth headset with Skype on my Tablet PC
28. Sonic RecordNow– came with my dual layer DVD burner, is the only way to record dual layer with this drive
29. Windows Media Player– version 10
30. Send to OneNote 2003 (Education Pack)– Tablet PC only, excellent utility for sending stuff to OneNote as background for inking
31. MS Word– for final drafts
32. MS PowerPoint– slides, slides, slides
33. MS Excel– I use this a lot, I spreadsheet everything
34. ActiveWords– shortcut extraordinaire
35. Ink Pad for ActiveWords– Tablet PC only, Tabletizes ActiveWords
36. Time Meter for Outlook– time and billing for consultants, works within Outlook
37. MS Publisher– I mainly make my business cards with it
38. Norton PartitionMagic– slice and dice hard drives easily
39. Perfect Disk– my favorite disk defragger
40. hdi– little hard disk indicator light that sits in the system tray for those systems lacking one

Verso Technologies recently announced the first carrier grade Skype filtering technology.  This filter can also block P2P messaging, streaming media and instant messaging.  This filtering is done at the carrier level so filtered communications can be blocked at the provider level.

“This is a first of kind technology we are introducing in the carrier marketplace,” said Monty Bannerman, president and chief operating officer, Verso Technologies.  “The introduction of Verso’s application filter reinforces the company’s focus on the network application space and strengthens our position as a leader in optimization technology.  This application should be of great interest to any facilities based carrier in the world.  Now that the application has successfully completed its pre-production trials, we are working with tier-1 carriers to conduct the first production field trial for this application.  We believe that the application has tremendous market opportunity because it addresses an increasingly critical carrier requirement as P2P traffic continues to grow worldwide.”