iPlayer on an iPhone/iPod Touch

The great BBC iPlayer (www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer) works very well on an iPhone/iPod Touch, but I suggest via a Wi-Fi connection rather that potentially high 3G/GPRS costs. If fact I use my iPod Touch for iPlayer rather than using iPlayer on a PC. Basically, because streaming video data onto the screen of an iPhone/iPod Touch is a lot less than the streaming of data on to a PCs screen; therefore minimising the risk of exceeding your monthly broadband allowance. Catching up on what you've missing from the Beeb is quiet watchable on a handheld device, especially in a landscape view. Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

Google Maps (4)-Latitude

'Latitude' is a part of 'Google Maps' that lets you share your location whilst your GPS-enabled smartphone is locked on to GPS satellites, with your family, friends and associates; who'll be able to see where your location from an online PC.

Google Maps (3)-Satellite view

The 'Satellite view' shows an image, similar to the impressive 'Google Earth'.

Google Maps (2)-Route tool

Following on from the map view and using the route tool having found a particular place using 'Search Map'. When you select 'Get directions', as shown in this screen shot, you get a choice of three modes. It also shows the distance and journey time. When you get to your destination, you can even get reverse directions to get you back to where you started! Not bad eh, for a free program that I didn't call SatNav software; to be fair, it's not far from it.

Google Maps (1)-Introduction & Map view

Google Maps is freeware and widely available, I'm currently using v.3.0.2 on my Blackberry 8820. It gives you two views and an opportunity to share your position online, called 'Latitude', this screen shot shows the 'Map' view. This view shows road names/numbers, one-way streets and railway stations. Although not what I'd call SatNav software, Google Maps gives a simple but effective route tool. Another nice feature is to 'Search Map', I tried "cash point", "cafe" and "bank" and I was very impressed with the results! When you find what you're looking for it gives you a full address, telephone number, puts a map pin at it's location, let's you save it as a favourite and even see directions to it from where you are. There are even three route modes: Driving, Public Transport and Walking.
See Google Maps-Route tool.

Garmin Mobile Blackberry - Panning map movement

Feedback to Garmin Europe (20/08/09):
I am disappointed that Garmin Mobile for my Blackberry when just travelling (not navigating) does not show the map movement in the direction of travel, e.g. heads up.
Reply from Garmin Europe (28/08/09):
Dear Ozzie Hall-Osman,
Thank you for contacting Garmin Europe.
With regards to your email, the blackberry software is only for routing to a point / address, as you are roaming the data from our server customer Roaming charge would go up because they would be download a lot of data download that is the reason why it will only show
mapping when routing.
If there is anything else I can help you with then please let me know.
Alternatively you can search for a solution here: http://www.garmin.com/support
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

TIP: Blackberry 'SPACE' key - more than just spaces

The 'SPACE' key on a Blackberry smartphone has three other uses: in the Calendar, (Web) Browser & Email applications, the space key doubles as a 'Page Down' control.
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

Windows Mobile 6.5 is appearing

More to follow...

Garmin Mobile XT for Windows Mobile

On my Samsung Omnia (Windows Mobile 6) smartphone, I've got the 'Garmin Mobile XT' v.5.00 Satellite Navigation software. The first best thing in my opinion about this software is that all the maps/software is installed on a (MicroSD) memory card and therefore when navigating, it doesn't need to stream maps using 3G/GPRS data at cost.
Garmin Mobile XT compared to Garmin Mobile on a Blackberry has more features/functionality. The 'Where to?' command from the main menu offers: Home, Addresses, Points of Interest, Local Search, Recent Finds, Contacts, My Locations, Extras, Cities, Intersections, Panoramio Photos, Location Messages and Coordinates (YEAH!!!, I really like this facility). Some facilities of Garmin Mobile XT do need a data connection via 3G/GPRS, e.g. Panoramio Photos, Weather and Safety Cameras.
The SatNav software can work in portrait or landscape mode and in general works a lot more like the software in a Garmin Nuvi SatNav.

Supertooth Visor Go

Don't struggle with Bluetooth headsets or even worse, a wired earpiece whilst you're driving. I came across this great Bluetooth SpeakerPhone a few months ago in the CarPhone Warehouse, called 'Supertooth Visor Go' and cost £30. It will connect to two different mobiles/smartphones simultaneously (but obviously only handling one call at a time); which is great while I'm travelling whilst at work with two mobiles on the go. Compliments to the manufacturer, keeping to the standard mini-USB charger port. Handy that it'll charge with my Blackberry charger. A nice feature of the 'Visor Go' is that your handset will re-connect automatically when you're back in range (>30'). The other great feature is battery performance giving an amazing 300hrs! on standby, which is literally 1 month! The volume of the speaker is great and the microphone sensitivity is good too. The 'Visor Go' bluetooth speakerphone fixes magnetically very firmly to the sun visor in your vehicle. Highly recommended.

Portable Bluetooth Keyboard

There are a few different portable fold-up keyboards that can be used with Bluetooth enabled Pocket PC, Windows Mobile, iPhone, iPod Touch, Palm, Symbian & Blackberry PDAs and Smartphones. For a large amount of typing, the use of such a keyboard is great. The one shown in this photo runs off of 2x AAA batteries.

Garmin Mobile, Part.18-Data Consumption Tests

1) Motorway driving navigation at an average speed of 50-60mph for 30mins;
2) Town driving navigation at an average speed of 15-25mph for 30mins and;
3) Walking navigation at an average speed of 2-3mph for 30mins.
Coming soon...

Garmin Mobile, Part.17-Forecast

The Forecast feature gives you a 5 day weather forecast, showing: a Weather Symbol (e.g. Sun, Sun/Cloud, Rain etc), the Day (Mo, Tu, We etc), Temperature (degrees Celsius/Fahrenheit, High/Low (day/night)). Again, another really nice feature.
Continued in Part.18 (not written yet), with my results of data volumes as detailed in Part.1.

Garmin Mobile, Part.16-Weather

The Weather feature of Garmin Mobile EU is rather neat! :-) I think that this is a particularly useful; so many of us are keen weather watchers. When you launch the Weather function, it shows: Temperature (degrees Celsius), Feels like (temperature, e.g. Wind Chill effect), Wind (strength/direction), Humidity (%) and a weather symbol (e.g. sun, sun/cloud, rain) in your location.
The next part 17 shows the Forecast function of Garmin Mobile.

Garmin Mobile, Part.15-Volume

On my Blackberry 8820 the Up/Down volume control buttons change the volume of commentary during navigation. Volume can also be preset up to 100% under settings.
Continued in Part.16.

Garmin Mobile, Part.14-Zoomed Out

This screen shot shows an example of what's shown in a 'zoomed out' view of my EU map.
Continued on Part.15.

Garmin Mobile, Part.13-Route Overview

This screen shot shows how you can look at an overview of the route' during/before you start navigation.
Continued in Part.14.

Garmin Mobile, Part.12-Navigation (3D)

A 3D variation of the navigation view.
Continued in Part.13.

Garmin Mobile, Part.11-Navigation (2D)

Whilst Garmin Mobile is in navigation operation it gives you the following on-screen information:
Top left shows the distance to the next turn and its direction. On top of the screen it shows the road name/number. The black pointer shows where you are. Top right shows your compass bearing (e.g. NE, SW etc). Lower left shows you to press (1) to zoom out of the map, lower right shows you to press (3) to zoom in on the map. Bottom left shows you your speed of travel (mph/km), the bottom centre shows satellite status & battery condition, bottom right shows you your ETA (Estimated Time Arrival). A comprehensive set of data.
Having carried out a pedestrian navigation, I was disappointed that the detail in 2D couldn't be zoomed into more.
See Part.12 for a 3D variation.

Garmin Mobile, Part.10-Travelling

This screen shot shows an example of what you'll see whist travelling, not navigating. I'm disappointed that the black pointer/roads don't give a head-up motion of travel. E.g. The pointer say moves to the left along the road I'm on!
Continued in Part.11.

Garmin Mobile, Part.09-Panoramia (2)

When you select a particular panoramic location, it shows you a photograph of what you're travelling to.

Garmin Mobile, Part.08-Panoramia (1)

This feature lists panoramic locations near you. Stuck for somewhere to visit? Give this a try.

Garmin Mobile, Part.07-Local Search (2)

Continued features shown in this screen shot of the 'Local Search' are: Bank, Parking, Entertainment, Recreation, Attractions, Hospitals, Community & Auto Services.
Continued in Part.08.

Garmin Mobile, Part.06-Local Search (1)

Shown in this screen shot is the Local Search which is a useful feature that let's you search for: (by) Spell name, Food & Drink, Fuel, Transportation, Lodging, Shopping.
Continued in Part.7.

Garmin Mobile, Part.05-Food, Hotel...(2)

Continued from Part.04.
This screen shot shows the later part of the sub-list 'Food/Hotels...' And covers: Shopping (Department Store, Grocery, General Merchandise, Shopping Centre, Pharmacy/Chemist, Convenience, House & Garden, Home Furnishings, Computer/Software - great when looking for a particular shop/product when you're in an unfamiliar location), Recreation, Entertainment, Auto Services, Transportation, Community, Hospitals (could prove very useful in the event of an accident occurring when you're away from home in an unfamiliar location) & Others (Business Services, Communications, Marine Services, Repair Services, Social Services).
Continued in Part.06.

Garmin Mobile, Part.04-Food, Hotel...(1)

This screen shot shows a sub-list of 'Where to', in the form of 'Food, Hotels...' Which covers: (by) Spell name, Food (great for looking for somewhere to eat, especially when you're in an unfamiliar location), Lodging (great for finding some temporary accommodation), Fuel (great when you're running low), Bank/ATM (great when you need some cash), Attractions.
Continued in Part.05.

Garmin Mobile, Part.03-Where to (2)

Continued features shown in this screen shot are: City, Intersection, Flight Status and Panoramia.
I am VERY disappointed that Garmin have removed the option to enter NGR (National Grid Reference) or Lat/Long Coordinates when finding/navigating to a location!!! A feature I use a lot with my in-car Garmin Nuvi 300 SatNav when I'm working with my RAYNET buddies.
Continued in Part.04.

Garmin Mobile, Part.02-Where to (1)

This screen shot shows the first of two parts of the 'Where to' functionality, including: Address (entered as a postcode or full address), Food/Hotel...(See part.04-05), Local Search (See part.06-07), My Locations (favourites), Contact (taps into your address book but may not be useful unless your address is full, e.g. House number, street, town, county etc), Recent finds.
Continued in Part.03.

Garmin Mobile, Part.01-Introduction & Main Menu

I've been a keen user of digital mapping/SatNav on PDAs for many years now; way before the first car Satnav devices came to market. I started off with an old GPS CFD (Compact Flash Disk) used in an old Compaq iPAQ Pocket PC; in those days connecting to SatNav satellites was very slow. Through the years I've used various SatNav software on a variety of PDAs/smartphones including TomTom, Navigon Mobile Navigator, MioMaps, CoPilot and Garmin Mobile.
Garmin Mobile EU, v.5.2.2 for Blackberry is the SatNav software I'm putting through a rigorous trial, with high expectations. I intend doing some tests in the next few weeks on how much it costs to navigate with streaming map data via 3G/GPRS, being the way all? Blackberry SatNav software works. I've blogged before about my conversation with a Orange data support guy, when he assured me that occasional use of SatNav software should not exceed my 250MB monthly data allowance; er... We'll see. He couldn't however give me any data costs due to the diversity of navigation. I believe that this one main issue would be the make/break factor about such smartphone set ups challenging the conventional car SatNavs. Well, I intend to do three tests over the next few weeks:
1) Motorway driving navigation at an average speed of 50-60mph for 30mins;
2) Town driving navigation at an average speed of 15-25mph for 30mins and;
3) Walking navigation at an average speed of 2-3mph for 30mins.
Based on Orange data usage logging and their co-operation, I hope to blog about what volume of mega-bytes my three tests resulted in.
Ok, now let me focus on Garmin's Mobile EU software.
When you launch the software, you're presented with the 'Main Menu' screen giving: Where to, View Map, Traffic, Weather, Settings & Exit. 'Where to' is where/how to find a location, navigate to etc. 'View Map' let's you see where you are, once you connect to a few satellites. 'Traffic' I've not seen in use yet but hope it'll pick up the standard traffic broadcasts over-the-air from organisations such as the RAC in the UK; like the way my traffic dongle works with my in-car Garmin Nuvi 300 SatNav. 'Weather' see later Part.16 & 17. 'Settings' and 'Exit' need no explanation. Whilst navigating the main menu has a 'Stop' (navigation) icon.
Continued, see Part.02.

TIP: Multi-Tasking on a Blackberry

A very useful key-press to switch between the last two running apps is 'Alt+Esc'. Esc being the key with the curved arrow, to the right of the track roller ball. Pressing 'Alt+Esc' shows all running apps, but specifically will toggle between the last two used apps; especially useful when copy/cut and pasting text etc.
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

TIP: Windows Mobile Menu

There's a neat way to customise the menu on your Windows Mobile device to have easy access to your 7 favourite programs.
1) Select 'Start', 2) Select 'Settings', 3) Select 'Menu', 4) Select 'Personal', 5) Select 'Menus', 6) Tick the 7 favourite/most used programs that you'd like quick access too, then close.
Now, when you select 'Start', your 7 favourite/most used programs will be listed, easily accessible.
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

Q&A: Windows Mobile Portrait/Landscape Views

Question: How do I convert the view on my IPAQ from portrait (vertical) to landscape (horizontal)? I have done it in the past but I do not seem to be able to get it to work now.
Answer: There are two ways of achieving this:
A) Select 'Start', Settings, System, Motion Sensor, then select either: Automatic/Manual.
B) Select 'Start', Settings, System, Screen, General, Orientation, then select either: Portrait/Landscape.
Auto-screen rotation is a feature on many new PDAs/Smartphones, which is technically called the 'accelerometer'; which has brought to us, many exciting interactive high quality games.
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

iPod Touch Sound recording

There are many different sound/voice recording programs for the iPhone/iPod Touch, many are free :-)
If you want to use this software on an iPod Touch, you'll need to get an earpiece with an in-line mic(rophone) from an Apple Store or eBay. Using this software with an iPhone will use the iPhones built-in microphone. So though away your dictaphone and put one of the great sound/voice recording apps on to your iPhone/iPod Touch.
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

iPhone Fliq Notes

When my Apple 'iPod Touch' was used as my primary PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), I wanted a really good application to create notes. After searching for a while, I came across the great application called 'Fliq Notes' by Mark Space; just Google "Fliq Notes". It let's you create notes, which are stored numerically/alphabetically, or by date/category.
A very useful PC version of 'Fliq Notes' is available; that allows you to 'Fliq' notes between your iPod/iPhone and PC/Mac(?). Also check out 'Missing Sync'.

Symbian Smartphone Show

For all users and people interested in Symbian devices, be sure to book 27-28 Oct 2009 in your calendars, for the years 'Symbian Smartphone Show' being held in Earls Court 2, London. See www.symbiansmartphoneshow.com. All the leading companies will be there such as Symbian (but of course), Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, Sony and many more. Exhibition stands, the latest products for you to play with, very interesting free seminars and keynote speeches; oh and not forgetting the freebees: pens, badges, etc etc. It's free to attend and highly recommended; having been to all the past shows myself. Yes, it's in my calendar, I'll be there, hopefully on both days; if you're going why not meet me for a chat/coffee? Text me on 07889 374086 or email me at ozziehallosman@btinternet.com.
Also, there is normally a pub meet in Central London the night before (26th), organised by the 'All About Symbian' gang, c/o Rafe/Ewan/Steve; attended by Symbian, Nokia & others. Interesting chat and the usual selection of freebees, some of which true gems!! Keep an eye on allaboutsymbian.com, when I know details, I'll also blog about it.
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

iPhone Wi-Fi connectivity

This blog also applies to the iPod Touch.
Wi-Fi connectivity on an iPhone/iPod Touch works very well, in that once you've set up a 'trusted' network when you come into that Wi-Fi zone, your device will automatically connect to that Wi-Fi network. When I used my iPod Touch as my primary PDA and had several email accounts set up along with my home Wi-Fi network; as soon as I came home, my iPod Touch would automatically connect and pick up any emails waiting for me. One criticism to Apple, is that the volume of the email received alert was way too quiet! Then if you set up other Wi-Fi networks (aka Hotspots) that you enter during the day, your device can be well 'connected' whilst you're travelling.
To set up a Wi-Fi connection on your device:
1) go to 'Settings',
2) tap on 'Wi-Fi' and set it to 'On',
3) your device will then search for Wi-Fi networks within reach. The locked/secured Wi-Fi networks will be shown with a padlock, in which case you would need the access code.
These days there are a number of free Wi-Fi networks that offer free connection to the internet. Sadly, I think in the UK, more shops/retail outlets/bars/clubs/hotels and coffee shops should be providing literally free Wi-Fi; enabling Wi-Fi enabled mobile users to utilise their online power of their devices in the form of email, web browsing, VoIP such as Skype, IM (MSN). Many coffee shops etc give an access code which only lasts for maybe 1hr. So, come on now, let's see all coffee shops, bars and hotels in the UK giving literally free Wi-Fi access to their customers. Ending on a positive note in this area, I thank 'The Cloud' (Wi-Fi provider) and the McDonalds chain of fast-food restaurants for providing free Wi-Fi.
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YouTube for S60 gains full-screen

All About Symbian (www.allaboutsymbian.com) have just announced that Google's native S60 YouTube client has just got itself a significant update, to v.2.2.17, now working in full-screen mode on S60 5th Edition phones like the Nokia N97, Nokia 5800 and Samsung i8910 HD. New Countries and languages added to its officially supported list: Brazil, Czech Republic, Poland, Russia and Sweden. You can get the update by going to m.google.com in Web on your smartphone.
All About Symbian provide lots of daily news and reviews about the huge number and every growing population of Symbian devices taking the world by storm.
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iPhone London Tube

For regular commuters of the London Underground Tube network, this app is a must have; it's great.
The 'Map' view let's you pan around the network. The 'Lines' view, lists all the different tube lines, with a search facility. When you've selected a line, it shows it's entire length and the zones which it covers. The 'Stations' view lists all the stations alphabetically, again with a search facility. When a station is selected it shows which line(s) it is on. It also lets you see where on the tube network, the station is; or a route to it from another station. Finally 'Route' let's you, yes, plan a tube route.
London Tube is available from the Apple App Store.
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Moving/Rearranging Icons on the main screen of an iPhone/iPod Touch

You can move around and rearrange icons on the screen of an iPhone and/or iPod Touch easily. Press one of the icons for about 1-2 seconds. The icons will start to shake, now you can slide the icon(s) into there new position. Perhaps move all your regularly used apps to the main front screen and your top four to the bottom of the screen that always stays in place; on my iPod Touch my bottom top four are Calendar, Mail, Contacts & Fliq Notes. Then press the large round button on the lower front of the device, to fix the new layout. This process can be repeated whenever you want.
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Nokia E71 or Blackberry

Ok, so you want to upgrade from a Psion to a smartphone and have chosen either the Nokia E71 or a Blackberry.
Both devices basically have a full suite of PIM (PIM) tools, e.g. Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, Notes/Memos, Email, Web Browser, Music/Video Player and will sync with Microsoft Office; they also both have available Word/Excel/PowerPoint reader/writers.
The main difference is with email functionality: the Nokia E71 being set to periodically 'pull' emails from one or more email servers, whereas the Blackberry's email is set up online for multiple accounts to be 'pushed' as soon as they arrive in your mailbox(s); I've currently got 7 set up!
Psion Data (Agenda, Data/Contacts, To-Do, Word & Sheet) can be converted on to either the Nokia E71 or a Blackberry via a sync into Outlook and conversion using PsiWin v2.3.3.
So a choice between the two is down to a personal choice: Price, Contract/SIM free, Size/Shape/Colour.
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Asus EeePC Netbook

I've used an Asus EeePC for about a year now, which I purchased new for about £160 from Clove Technology (www.clove.co.uk). It came loaded with a Linux OS and 'Open Office' which I used for some weeks. I then wiped it and loaded Windows XP Home and Microsoft Office because I favoured the more familiar OS and Office, which I used for several more weeks but then reverted to its original build of Linux.
The reason I put Linux back on it, was primarily down to Linux ONLY taking about 15 seconds to boot up and about the same when shutting down, absolutely great. I also like the feature, where I can just close the EeePC screen shut and it puts it into a standby mode.
'Open Office' is one of the very best free programs that I've ever seen and used. It's basically a software suite which most Linux users have but there is a PC version too. 'Open Office' comprises of a word processor called 'Write' that defaults to Microsoft Word DOC format, a spreadsheet called 'Calc' that defaults to Microsoft Excel XLS format, there is also a PowerPoint program; a trio commendable for being free.
I use the Asus EeePC as my primary portable computing device utilising the Word Processor, Spreadsheet, Firefox Web Browser and Firebird Email client. With the bigger capacity battery, the EeePC runs for about 4hrs! If I turn the screen brightness down I can even push it to last for 4.5hrs.
Linux is a simple free OS with an intuitive user interface. It also contains a traditional 'File Explorer'. The EeePC has a 7" Colour Screen, 1GB of RAM, 3x USB sockets, SD card slot, Wi-Fi, external keyboard/display sockets and an ethernet/LAN socket.
I was recently surprised to see UK High Street store Maplin (www.maplin.co.uk) selling 'returned' EeePC's for only £80! Not everyone will like this small notebook but for £80 it's an absolute bargain.
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Windows Mobile losing market share

According to a TreoBlast article: "Windows Mobile is losing it' market share". It's a real shame because Microsoft was in a dominant position. See http://treo.pdablast.com/articles/2009/8/2009816-Windows-Mobile-losing-marketshare.html In the past when ever I was asked for the best OS device that is the closest match to a PCs Microsoft Office: Outlook Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, Notes, Word & Excel; I always recommended a Windows Mobile device or older Pocket PC. Maybe their time is running out? My latest 18 month mobile contract with Orange started off with a new Samsung Omnia running WM6 but sadly after a few months I just didn't want to use it any more as my primary device :-( I didn't get on with the touch screen. I then picked up an iPod Touch and used that for the next few months (thinking I'd get an iPhone), then a few months ago I got a Blackberry 8120 Pearl and now an 8820 which is excellent! I'm getting so fond of my 8820 that I'm already looking for Blackberry options upon contract renewal in 10 months. I strongly think that my ideal PDA must have a good sized QWERTY keyboard.
I and I'm sure many PDA veterans (well I'm proud to be one of the oldest! Started with a Psion CM 20 years ago) would still use a new Psion that was about the size of a Revo if it had a colour touch screen, Wi-Fi, sync'd with Office and has good RAM; I can but dream :-)
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Android - the HTC Hero

Android is the newest handheld/PDA operating system. It's an incredibly easy to use operating system, featuring an intuitive user interface which is highly customisable. All emails, phone calls and social network comments and pictures are organised by person, rather than by communication type. It is an open source operating system, which means there are numerous additional applications available, for example games and social networking. Psions OPL (Organiser Programming Language) was 'Open Source' which enabled countless programmers to produce freeware/shareware apps for the Psions. Likewise for the Android OS the applications are available for download from the Android Market (which is directly accessible from the device; (similar to the hugely popular Apple App Store and the Blackberry App Store) and many are free. With these applications users can tailor their smartphone to their own needs and requirements.
The HTC Hero is the latest smartphone device to use this innovative operating system and is available from Clove Technology, www.clove.co.uk.
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

Navigon Mobile Navigator - another SatNav release for iPhone

Another quote hot of the press, this time courtesy of MobileCrunch: "Are our cellphones ready to replace standalone GPS units?" And "Are cellphones and iPhones in particular, ready to knock the old GPS box off of the dashboard?"
This app costs $69.99 and weighs in at 1.29GB. It is a fully-featured North American GPS system (Ed... And I assume UK and Europe should follow, if not already available?) with an intuitive interface and NAVTEQ maps. The UI (User Interface) is quite fun and shows everything you'd expect - large, bold directions, upcoming street signs, and even a little horizon line that displays a representation of where you're headed. It also has voice prompts that tell you how far you are from your destination.
The app contains all the maps you could need which is great if you're driving through a dead zone. The app uses the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS' GPS chip and little else. (Ed... Um... this sounds like the streaming of maps is the norm :-( which is a shame) The software can also grab addresses from your contacts list. (Ed... Although from past experience, the SatNav software will expect a full address? Don't know about you but for my local contacts I don't include the County, let alone the Country; so using this functionality might need a little extra input?).
I have personally used Navigon's 'Mobile Navigator' on a Symbian Smartphone, my old Nokia N82. The maps where all loaded on to the MicroSD card and so no data streaming of maps at all! Do you get the idea that I don't like the idea of data streaming of map navigation 'over the air'? Yep, I don't. It's too dependant on the need of a good 3G signal. Also with the fear of exceeding my 250MB monthly data limit which Orange (UK) currently set; even though Orange data support assure me that occasional use of mobile navigation on my current Blackberry won't exceed the limit.
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

Apple 'App Store'

Probably one of the biggest enhancements in the world of mobile technology apart from everything get smaller, lighter, faster and cheaper :-) has to be the great facility to download new applications online, straight on to the device; often for free! otherwise for a small cost.
Downloading free applications/programs from the hundreds of titles in the Apple 'App Store' for the iPhone/iPod Touch is a fine example that works so well, it couldn't be easier. Purchasing apps (applications) from the same store is easy too. The 'App Store' should exist as an icon on the screen of your iPhone/iPod Touch. You just need to set up a secure online account for payment via a credit card, you'll then receive an email listing your downloads free/paid for as well as obviously seeing your purchases on your credit card bill.
Another great feature of the Apple 'App Store' is that it shows you when app updates are available. So you can simply and quickly have the latest updates to the additional programs that you've got installed, brilliant!
The Nokia Ovi store is a similar great example for Nokia/Symbian devices and also the great 'Blackberry App Store'.
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IM+ for Blackberry - Auto re-connection/sign in would be good!

My recent feedback to 'Shape Services', c/o IM+...(I'll post their reply)
I'm running v3.3.3 on my Blackberry 8820. I so wish IM+ would run a bit more independently and re-connect/sign-in if the connection drops. Being mobile, there are occasions when you go out of a mobile signal area. Windows Live Messenger does just this really well, so 'Shape Services' please look at building in this feature.
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CoPilot 8 'Live'

Just heard that ALK are releasing 'CoPilot 8 Live'. More information, see
http://www.trustedreviews.com/car-tech/review/2009/08/17/ALK-CoPilot-Live-8-for-Windows-Mobile/p1
I've used 'CoPilot 6' before on a Samsung Omnia (Windows Mobile 6) smartphone. I actually preferred it to TomTom's software but now my favourite is by Garmin, mainly because I can enter NGR (National Grid References) and Long/Lat Co-ord references, needed when I'm working with my RAYNET colleagues.
CoPilot is compatible with many different mobile OSs.
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1TB External Hard Drive only £61.99

Just heard that Ebuyer.com have got a 1 tera-byte hard disk for £61.99; wow, isn't memory coming down in price!
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Nokia N97 firmware updated... My hard view of reality!

All About Symbian (www.allaboutsymbian) have just announced that the Nokia N97 has just been offered a firmware upgrade to v12.0.024, great BUT!
In my opinion I think that it's such a pity that manufacturers such as Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung are not testing there products well enough before they're released! Effectively, these days new mobile products are released and 'beta tested' by the public! Yes really, so that people find faults with new products reporting them to the manufacturers, who then fix the bugs/glitches and luckily release firmware upgrades. It's good that firmware upgrades are released, but absolutely NOT fair that 'joe public' have got to carry out such a major job (and very likely to be beyond the ability of 'joe average') with a brand new product costing several hundreds of pounds (£). Now, if we think back to the years that Psions released their first CM, LZ, Series 3, 3a, 3c, 3mx, 5, 5mx, Sienna, Revo & their last Series 7, we NEVER had firmware upgrades released to fix Psion bugs/glitches! Psion obviously got it 'right' before they released new products.
So, in conclusion, my advice as always these days is DON'T BUY BRAND NEW MOBILE DEVICES, unless you want to risk being a beta tester! Instead, wait a few months for those regular/predictable bug fix firmware upgrades to come out.
From a different point of view, most users of these high-powered mobile devices quite literally ONLY use them for voice calls, text/email messages and an address book; so probably wouldn't see the difference between the first releases and subsequent firmwares upgrades. So, perhaps it would be fairer me saying that manufacturers cater for the majority of the userbase, not the minority 'power users' like myself, who use the full functionality of a device and therefore would notice bugs/glitches.
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Blogging from my Blackberry

Running a very busy life, I find it difficult to find time to update my website, which is why www.palmtopman.com was reduced to just one page. So a few weeks ago I decided to give 'Blogging' a try. I started with palmtopman.blog.co.uk but now primarily use this one palmtopman.blogspot.com. I have found the time to blog by using little bits of free time and typing into my Blackberry either directly via the good sized QWERTY keyboard on my 8820 or now using a portable fold up Bluetooth keyboard.
As for the text tool, I try and keep things simple, so I am using the Blackberry 'MemoPad', which sync's with Microsoft Outlook Notes; one memopad note for each blog. Managing my notes, I have three categories; Blogs, Blogs-Ready and Blogs-Posted; so when I'm drafting a blog, I use the category 'Blogs', when a blog is ready for posting, I change the category to 'Blog-Ready' and if you haven't guessed, when I've posted the blog to blogger.com, I change the category of my note to 'Blog-Posted'. That way with a busy period of blogging, e.g. lots of free time, I know where I am with my blogs. With my blogs within MS Outlook Notes, I can easily copy, paste and post to blogger.com from my PC.
To end on a high, blogger.com let's you post blogs by just sending an email to Mail2Blogger; which I'm just about to do to post this one whilst away with my Blackberry.
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iPhone Screenshots

There are times when it might be useful to grab a screenshot of your iPhone/iPod Touch.
Maybe you want to quickly capture an internet page or a particular part of a game. I use the screenshot functionality of my iPod Touch and on different devices I use, primarily to use in training, support and to publish on websites/blogs.
The in-built process used on an iPod Touch is as follows:
Press and hold the round menu button on the lower front of iPhone/iPod Touch, then briefly press the 'power on' button. The screen will flash with a camera shutter sound; as the screenshot is taken. The screenshot image is stored under 'Saved Photos' in the Photo Album on the device.
PROBLEM... How can I now get the images from 'Saved Photos' on to my PC, I can see how to sync them from my PC to my iPod using iTunes but how about from my iPod to PC? I do have sync'ed photo albums between my PC and iPod. So I thought, aha, I'll copy & paste the images from the 'Saved Photos' album to an album that's already in-sync with my PC. So, using the new copy & paste functionality, I can select and copy an image from 'Saved Pictures' but can't see how to paste it into an in-sync album... :-( Hope someone reading this blog might have an answer?
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TomTom for iPhone-Spells an end to conventional car GPS units?

The new TomTom app that turns an iPhone into a turn-by-turn GPS navigation system is interesting. Could it spell the beginning of the end for standalone GPS...
<http://www.pcworld.com/article/170299/TomTom_For_iPhone_Spells_An_End_To_Standalone_GPS.html In my opinion it's an attractive opportunity but it'll be interesting to see how the software works when an incoming call/text comes to the iPhone! I would hope that the SatNav drops into the background during the voice call, then reappears with the latest stage of the route; or am I asking too much? With the drivers safety in mind, having to interact with the TomTom GPS software would be dangerous whilst in motion! From personal experience, having used SatNav software on a Windows Mobile device, the multi-tasking exchange between route navigation and incoming voice calls was not ideal.
Also, having not looked at the TomTom software yet, it'll be VERY interesting to see if the navigation maps will be streamed 'live' (as SatNav does on my Blackberry, high data charges?) or if the software loaded will have the entire UK (and more?) as it was on my Samsung Omnia (Windows Mobile 6 OS); then purely used the smartphone's GPS receiver to navigate.
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Bluetooth Keyboard & Blackberry

I've recently had problems trying to get a Freedom Universal Bluetooth Keyboard talking to my Blackberry 8820. The two devices seemed to 'pair' using the standard default pairing code of 0000 but when I tried to activate the keyboard from the keyboard software on the Blackberry, I got the warning pop-up "Keystroke Injection not allowed on your device". At times, a soft reset was needed! I really thought that I had incompatible keyboard software on my Blackberry.
Following a call to a great 'techie' from FreedomInput.com, he took me through the following steps on the Blackberry: Options, Advanced Options, Applications, Menu-Modules, btkbd42, Menu-Edit Permissions, Interactions-Keystroke Injection = set it to Allow! by default it was set to Deny.
Problem solved, thank you FreedomInput.
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Facebook on Mobiles & Smartphones

These days ‘social networking’ sites are very very popular and being talked about all the time amongst the computer/internet savy community. My family have found it, shall I say interesting, to keep up to speed on what our Son Ollie’s been up to whilst away at Uni for his first year!! Say no more :-) Facebook is probably one of the biggest ‘Social Networking’ arenas and is also available on many mobile and smartphone devices. I’ve used Facebook on an iPod Touch (over a Wi-Fi connection) but now use it primarily on my Blackberry 8820. Facebook is freely available from the ‘Blackberry App Store’ and Apple/iPod Store. When you open Facebook on a mobile device, it refreshes, to show you latest highlights of what your Facebook pals have posted, in the form of "What’s on your mind". It also facilitates: View Status Updates, Notifications, Upload a Photo, Friends, Add a Friend, Write on a Wall (be careful, this is open for others to read!!!) and Send a Message. Being virtually permanently online with Facebook on a Blackberry, it’s another good way of being in contact with friends and loved ones and you’ll get alerted as soon as someone makes contact with you on Facebook.

QuickPull for Blackberry

Not much to say about 'QuickPull' for Blackberry, other than it's what I categorise as a 'Must Have' app, it's free and let's you perform a soft reset as if you had temporarily removed the battery. The benefit of performing a periodic soft reset, frees up memory and keeps the Blackberry running as efficient as possible. QuickPull can also be configured to perform a daily reset at a pre-set time. It's available as a free download from, yep, you've guessed the 'Blackberry App Store'.

Tube2... a must have for Underground travellers

For travellers who use the London Underground regularly, will find this app very handy for those occasions when you need to plan/take a journey on the London Underground that you're not familiar with. 'Live Information' (I assume, underground service reports etc; but when I tried it for the first time, the server had a problem) is also available but can't be used underground as it requires an internet connection to VisualIT's website via 3G/Wi-Fi.

Tube2 is available from http://www.visualit.co.uk/.

Windows Live Messenger for Blackberry

For users of MSN Instant Messenger on a PC, this is a 'must have' free app for your Blackberry. Instant Messenger enables you to keep in contact with friends, relatives and work colleagues by sending/recieving messages. The 'Windows Live Messenger' app is once again available from the 'Blackberry App Store'. Once configured/set up with your account username/password and you've signed in, this great little app will put across your contacts as though you were signed in on your PC. It neatly shows those 'Online' contacts on the top of the screen, with those offline, listed below. A neat little feature called 'Alert Me' can be set to let you know when a contact comes online. As per the PC version, you can change your 'Status' if you don't want to be disturbed; e.g. Busy, Be Right Back, Away, In a Call, Out to Lunch or Appear Offline.

Windows Mobile Menu

Coming soon.
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Asus EeePC Netbook

Coming soon.
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Palm Desktop HotSync with Windows Vista

Coming soon.
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iPod Touch Firmware Upgrade

Bluetooth! Copy & Paste! £4.99
Coming soon.
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Garmin Mobile

Coming soon.

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Supertooth Visor Go

Coming soon.
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A practical carrying solution

Ok, so here's my problem, I want to use my Blackberry when I'm shopping, sad? no it's just that I gave up using paper about 20 years ago when I got my very first Psion Organiser (CM) and I've still got it. So, I've got a great belt holster to carry my Blackberry around during the day but I've got an extensive Asda shopping list (yes really!, it's based on Microsoft Outlook Tasks under a category called 'Shopping', original eh!) and I don't want to risk the Blackberry slipping out of my hand whilst I'm battling the isles with a trolley that wants to go in a different direction than I do! Slight exaggeration really, shopping trollies are a lot better than they used to be. Ok, there must be a suitable case that I can hang around my neck to fully meet my need? You would have thought so, but after a few days searching online, I couldn't find one anywhere! not even http://www.ebay.co.uk or http://www.mobilefun.co.uk.
So, I had an idea! :-) I thought that I'd get a good quality rubber skin (mobile phone case stall adjacent to Charing Cross Station, London; lovely Chinese Lady, who always gives me a discount) and put two little holes in opposite corners to take a cord. It worked a treat! :-) time will tell if the holes stand up to not tearing.
As far as I know, the conventional sized Blackberrys (certainly my 8820) sadly don't have a loop hole for a lanyard and so at least with my DIY carry case, the Blackberry can't accidentally fall out of my hand. This solution can of course used with any other mobile, smartphone that doesn't have a suitable case on the market. See my photo.

Blogging from my Blackberry

Coming soon.

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TECHNICAL SUPPORT & CONSULTATION

SUPPORT OF PALMTOP COMPUTERS, PDAs, MOBILEs, MOBILE SMARTPHONES
Need help backing up your data to a PC, Mac, Memory Card?
Need help connecting to your PC?
Need help deciding which palmtop/smartphone to upgrade to next?
Need help converting documents from your PC on to your palmtop/smartphone?
Your Psion screen has become faulty! Can it be repaired? Can you transfer Psion data on to a newer palmtop/smartphone?
What's the best palmtop/smartphone to use with a Mac?
Need help setting up your smartphone to send/receive email?
Call or email Ozzie (the Palmtopman) who's had 20 years experience as a user of many many different Psion, Symbian, Palm, Pocket PC, Windows Mobile, iPhone/iPod Touch & Blackberry devices.
Telephone/Text/SMS: +44 (0)7889 374086
Email: ozziehallosman@btinternet.com
Skype: Palmtopman
Instant Messenger/MSN: palmtopman@hotmail.com
http://www.palmtopman.com/

Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

Mobile Internet sites, Part.1

Although many internet websites these days are quite fancy with sound, moving images and video and too powerful to view on a small screen mobile device; there are many useful websites designed for browsing on a mobile device, for a starter, check out:
BBC - News, Weather and lots more!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mobile/i/index.shtml
All About Symbian

http://mobile.allaboutsymbian.com/
Bluewater Cinema Listings
http://www.britinfo.net/cinema/cinema-listings-1004108.htm
eBay
http://wap.ebay.co.uk/?ebayref=http%3a%2f%2fwww.ebay.co.uk%3a80%2f%3fredirect%3dmobile
Google
http://www.google.co.uk/
PayPal
https://www.paypal-marketing.co.uk/sendmoney/send_to_a_friend.htm
National Rail Enquiries
http://realtime.nationalrail.co.uk/ldb/sumdep.aspx?T=GRV&S=CHX

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Blackberry Apps installed on MicroSD card?

Does anyone know how to install applications on to an onboard MicroSD card on a Blackberry? By default, when I install additional apps they're being installed on to the internal memory; which I'm running out of!
Can I move an app from the internal memory on to the MicroSD card?

Introduction

Firstly, I have never blogged before, so please bare with me. I've been a Palmtop computer (PDA (Personal Digital Assistant)) user for 20 years now! I started off with one of Psion's first creations, the Psion CM. Over the last 10 years I've been independently supporting global users of Palmtop computers and more recently users of Mobile Smartphone devices. I maintain my own website http://www.palmtopman.com/ but recently have cut it down to just one page with links. As such I thought I'd try blogging, with an aim to share some of my huge knowledge and experiences I've learnt through support, training and playing with literally dozens of Psion, Symbian, Pocket PC, Handheld PC, Windows Mobile, Palm, iPhone & Blackberry devices over some 20 years. As they say "watch this space..."

Lost hidden folder!

A warning for fellow Blackberry users! The other day I was organising my picture library, moving some photos around and creating a few new folders to organise my library of photos/images on my Blackberry 8820. Beware of going into the 'Properties' of a folder and selecting/ticking the 'Hidden' box! It does "what it says on the tin!" My folder vanished! Damn! Now, RIM could have made it possible to somehow show hidden folders so that the properties can be un-hidden; or am I missing something? I even tried downloading and installing two different 'file managers' to see if I could see the folders to get to the properties and un-hide the folder; no luck!.
Then I thought, my last chance is via a connection with my Blackberry to my PC... YES it worked! Want to know how???

Switching between Blackberry applications

PC users may be familiar with the 'Alt+Tab' hotkey to switch between running programmes, if you didn't well you've just learnt something! So, switching between applications on a Blackberry can be achieved by pressing the 'Alt+Esc' keys; the Esc key is the key to the right of the navi-ball. When a horizontal list of apps appears, release the 'Esc' key and scroll left/right using the navi-ball to select the app you want, releasing the 'Alt' key with launch the app you're after.

Blackberry Search-note within contact

Just used the 'Search' functionality on my 8820 to find something entered as a note within a contact. It took 20 seconds to search through my 2000 contacts! Not bad eh!

Flash Light for Blackberry

There are those times when having a bit of light can make things so much easier. Two examples that spring to mind are when it's so dark that it's hard to see where to put your key into a lock, no not when you're drunk as as skunk trying in get in at the early hours of the morning! ;-) oh and, that time of the morning when you're trying to find your underwear in a dark cupboard but haven't got the heart (or the nerve) to turn the bedroom light on and disturb your partner who's fasto!
We'll hear it is, a virtual 'Flash Light' for your PDA.
'Flash Light' for your Blackberry is free and available from the 'Blackberry App Store'.

Car Finder for Blackberry

We've all done it, have'nt we, parked our car and upon return couldn't find it! At that point it seemed that half the cars in the huge car park just happened to be the same colour as yours :-)
So fear not, there's a handy little free programme for your GPS enabled Blackberry, 'Car Finder'.

You simply save the location of where you parked your vehicle (not excluding motorbikes, vans and lorrys that aren't known as cars) in 'Car Finder', then if you can't remember when you parked it amongst the rows and rows; simply use 'Car Finder' to assist you. It shows you a large directional pointer showing you in which direction you should be walking and how far in metres you are away from your car/saved location. This app is available from the 'Blackberry App Store'.

IM+ Skype for Mobile devices

IM+ for SkypeSkype is probably one of the top VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) programmes around these days and used by literally millions of users online over the internet, to keep in contact with friends, family, associates and business contacts all over the world. If you haven’t heard of Skype before, it’s a programme that works over a connection to the internet (preferably broadband) and lets you send/receive free text messages (similar to MSN Messenger) and make free voice calls and free conference calls with up to 9 other users! Conference calls being a very eco-friendly way to hold meetings without the trouble/expenses of travel/transport. Skype also enables you to purchase credit for very cheap calls to be made from Skype to conventional landline telephone numbers. With hardware that has a video camera onboard, Skype also facilitates video conference calls. Most Skype users use the PC version (see http://www.skype.com/) of this great programme but for some time now, Skype applications have been available across most of the mobile OS platforms such as Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Symbian and iPhone. When you log into Skype on a mobile device, all your contacts come across, to show you who’s online and if they’re available or not to receive text messages/voice calls. Most mobile versions of Skype also show your status as being ‘mobile’.IM+ for Skype is by Shape Services (http://www.shapeservices.com/) but is readily available from the ‘Blackberry App Store’ and from the Apple Store for iPhone/iPod Touch users.

Sorry about the redaction in the image, just protecting the privacy of my Skype contacts.

Recommened sources of PDAs/Smartphones

Over my 20 years as a Palmtop computer/Mobile Smartphone user, I've probably got my devices from all the available options including: High Street shops, Cellnet/Mobile Provider/Operator (via new mobile contracts or upgrades), online retailers, eBay, Loot and private sales.So what's my preferred choice, having tried them all?Well it depends on many things, you can get the best deals on new-6mth old smartphones with a new mobile contract, due to the heavily subsidised discount provided by Mobile providers (e.g. Orange, O2, Vodafone, T-Mobile). Alternatively, some good deals are up for grabs if you're prepared to 'haggle' with your Mobile Provider, based on your loyalty being with them for X years and threatening to leave them unless they give you the shiny new smartphone for a good price or even free! The good old saying stands, if you don't ask, you don't get. SIM/contract free devices are so generally all very expensive.My preferred online retailer has been/and remains from the start, Clove Technology (http://www.clove.co.uk/, c/o Chris Love). Having started primarily with the dear old Psions, Clove now sell a huge range of devices across all OS (operating system) platforms: Symbian, Windows Mobile, Palm, iPhone and Blackberry; not to mention all the accessories, software and more! Another two to plug are Total PDA (http://www.totalpda.co.uk/) and Expansys (http://www.expansys.co.uk/).High Street outlets include Currys Digital, PC World and the Carphone Warehouse, BUT beware, sadly their sales staff don't get trained anywhere near well enough, to provide good technical advice to meet your needs. Not focusing on your needs being just primarily to have an electronic address book, up to full sync with Microsoft Office (Inbox/Calendar/Contacts/Tasks/Notes, Word & Excel) and email on the move; rather the sales person wanting to sell you their top of the range, all singing and dancing and most expensive device.The level of product/technical knowledge of the average High Street salesman is SO poor, it gives me the reason to hang-in-there with what is in fact a hobby behind http://www.palmtopman.com/.Keeping the long standing Psion community going are my friends at POS Ltd (a.k.a Pinnock Organiser Services, c/o Paul Pinnock), http://www.clubpda.co.uk and PsionEx (http://www.psionex.co.uk/), c/o Nick Hunter & Matt.On the second-hand front, although I have picked up some bargains from eBay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/) and Loot (http://www.loot.co.uk/); I now prefer to buy Palmtop computers/mobile smartphones from the chain of CEX (Computer Exchange) stores across the UK or online from them at http://www.cex.co.uk/. The benefit of CEX over eBay/Loot is that CEX give you a 1yr guarantee, as though it was new!One source of devices that I've never managed to be lucky with is promotional freebees from manufacturers or mobile operators; even though I've been supporting them for 17 years!

Blackberry App World

In my opinion the biggest thing that's happened on the handheld world of gadgets has to be the online (from the device) facility to browse and download apps (applications) straight on to your device! iPhone users have the great online 'App Store', where hundreds of apps are available to download, many of which are free! others only cost a few pounds (£).
Nokia users have recently been introduced to the 'Ovi store'.
Now, back to the subject. By default, your Blackberry web browser homepage should show a link to download the 'Blackberry App Store'. Once installed, the store should exist as an icon on your desktop. Once the 'Blackberry App Store' is opened, bext via a Wi-Fi connection, you can look through the top downloads, sorting by price etc. You can also search for a particular app by a name(s). Many apps found in the online 'Blackberry App Store' are free but others are not expensive.

Blackberry... my latest, Part.3

Part 3 – So far, I’ve only installed a few additional apps (applications), mainly from the great ‘Blackberry App World’ (a must have for all Blackberry users) which I’ll blog about soon. I’m using a 4GB MicroSD card (plug plug only £8 from CEX!), giving plenty of room for MP3s, videos and whatever. I'd like to get a SatNav app working but am reluctant to run up high data charges with streaming maps which Garmin Mobile v.5.0.2 has to use; that's currently installed but out of the trial period.
Although I back it up to my PC on most days, I reluctantly sync to Outlook, which is oh so tedious! Come on Blackberry, can't your programmers speed this process up? I unticked all addition/deletion check boxes so that I can leave it running whilst do something less boring!

Blackberry... my latest, Part.2

Part 2 - Ok, so a very recent trip to my current favoured second-hand outlet CEX (http://www.cex.co.uk), to see what normal-sized Blackberry’s they had, locked on Orange. In the past I tried my hardest to avoid mobile operator ‘locked’ devices out of principle! but have come to the conclusion (and from experience) that some features associated with contract data usage/web browsing etc work better on a operator branded device. I had a choice between a newer 8830 with a camera and a slightly older 8820 without a camera BUT with bigger keys, so the 8820 it was and although grade C, it was in good nic and at £105, I thought a fair price. So far, I’m loving my new toy :-) and the bigger screen and nice QWERTY keyboard makes it easier on data entry; and for me to write/publish my blogs. My only little criticism is that even though I’ve got key presses set to silent/none, typing on the 8820 gives an although quiet, acknowledgement "click"; which I always worry annoys people when I’m tapping away in a very quiet environment.

All About iPhone

A useful site for fellow iPhone users is www.allaboutiphone.net. Can't blog further as I'm not personally an iPhone user, yet! Although I did use my iPod Touch (which is basically an iPhone minus phone functionality) as my primary PDA for a couple of months.

3-Lib Psion & Symbian

3-Lib (http://3lib.ukonline.co.uk/) is an interesting site by the infamous Steve Litchfield, someone I’ve known since the mid-80’s. Steve’s knowledge of our former Psion and now plentiful Symbian smartphones, is second-to-none and provides a great input to All About Symbian (http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/) and his ‘Phone Show’ (http://3lib.ukonline.co.uk/sshow/). On 3-Lib, Steve also maintains a very useful ‘GRID’ which shows a comparison between a range of devices, which may be useful in your decision making process, when choosing a new/replacement device. The 3-Lib site also contains some useful links to 3rd Party/Freeware software sites.