My Digital Life

AT&T Implements A-List to Call Non AT&T Numbers Without Using Plan Minutes

The AT&T A-List feature is now live, but you must add the feature to your account to use it. The A-List feature allows you to call non AT&T numbers without using you plan minutes. You can list 5 numbers on an individual plan and 10 shared numbers on a family plan. This is a free feature for eligible plans which consist of a minimum of $59.99 (900 min) per month for individuals and $89.99 (1400 min) for family plans exclusive of data charges.

The feature can be added on line by going to manage your features (right side of web page) and selecting the A-List feature. A new link will then be available on the right hand side to manage your a-list. It takes 24 hours for the numbers to become active. You cannot use international numbers or paying numbers like 900, etc.

I think this is great additional value for AT&T subscribers, but it pretty much matches what other carriers are doing. However along with rollover minutes they now outdo the other carriers.

I already have more minutes then I use, I guess this will just add to my rollover…

Sirius XM kills 3rd party Smartphone streaming applications

Back in 2005, Dave from geekstoolbox.com started working on a Windows Mobile player for the Sirius internet stream called SiriusWM5. It is an excellent application that I use often on my WM devices. Fast forward to 2008, Dave and 3 other individuals who developed players for other platforms pooled their talents to form nicemac, LLC. The goal of forming this company was to build a multi platform Sirius/XM player called StarPlayr including a version for the iPhone. In February 2009, they submitted their StarPlayr for the iPhone to Apple. Apple has been sitting on the application since then with no rejection statement. It is not public knowledge to what happened next, but it seems that Sirius is developing its own iPhone application and used a clause in their terms and conditions to shut StarPlayr down. Not only did Sirius/XM shut down the iPhone version, but the Windows and Mac versions as well with no official acknowledgement of what their plan is. What seems bizarre is that they ignoring the loyal fans base of the StarPlayr, which are also Sirius/XM subscribers with no statement, not very good PR from a company that is struggling.

As a Sirius subscriber I had added the 128Kbps internet option to my account. In protest I have removed that option. Not that it will do anything but if they actually have a product in Beta for the iPhone, they should at least acknowledge the fact. When XM was a standalone company they had pre announced their plans for an iPhone application, I guess the new Sirius/XM PR guys think they are Apple, for keeping such a tight secret, I think not...

Windows Mobile - SlingPlayer Mobile updated and it is worth downloading...

Per the Sling Media press release:  

 

"Sling Media, Inc., just released a new version of SlingPlayer Mobile for Windows Mobile. The new version of SlingPlayer Mobile provides support for 15 new Windows Mobile handsets including the Sony Ericsson X1, the Palm Treo Pro and the HTC Touch Diamond and Touch Pro among others.  

   

SlingPlayer Mobile for Windows Mobile  

The following is a list of newly supported Windows Mobile handsets now supported in this SlingPlayer Mobile release. For more information on these and other supported devices, go to http://www.slingmedia.com/go/pocket-pc  

   

o   Sprint Treo 800w  

o   Sony Ericsson X1  

o   Palm Treo Pro  

o   Sprint HTC Touch Diamond  

o   Sprint HTC Touch Pro  

o   Verizon HTC Touch Pro  

o   Verizon Samsung Saga  

o   Verizon Samsung Omnia  

o   AT&T LG Incite  

o   AT&T HTC Fuze  

o   AT&T Samsung Epix  

o   HP iPAQ 910  

o   AT&T Pantech Duo  

o   Sprint Samsung ACE  

o   Verizon XV6900  

   

SlingPlayer Mobile gives consumers their entire home TV experience, including local channels, local sports teams, video on demand, pay per view, etc. Any program that you can watch on your sofa back home, you can now watch via a PC, Mac or Windows Mobile-based device anywhere you can get a standard network connection (3G Cellular or WiFi). In addition, SlingPlayer Mobile users can also control their home digital video recorder (DVR) to watch recorded shows, pause, rewind and fast forward live TV, or even queue new recordings while on the road." 

 

I just tried it on my Verizon Samsung i760 Windows Mobile 6.1 device and I have to say this is the best SlingPlayer Mobile to date. On Verizon's EVDO network the landscape full screen mode the video was excellent with very little pixelation and no lag time. Maybe some day soon we will see the iPhone version... 

Ilium software celebrates 11 years this week with contests and a sale

Ilium Software, makers of such great Windows Mobile applications as eWallet, ListPro and NewsBreak is celebrating its 11 years in business this week. During the week-long celebration, there will be a contest each day. They will be giving away Amazon gift cards, as well as copies of their software. The contests will be run on their blog from Monday, June 2nd, through Friday, June 6th.

They will also be offering offering a 55% discount off the regular price of all of our software during the five days. You can find the savings on the anniversary sale page.

Twitter comes to the rescue a UC Berkeley graduate journalism student

I follow TechCrunch's Micheal Arrington tweets. Yesterday, he posted this entry about a UC Berkeley graduate journalism student, James Karl Buck, who was arrested on April 10 without any charges in Egypt for photographing a demonstration. He used his mobile phone to twitter the message “Arrested” to his 48 followers, who contacted UC Berkeley, the US Embassy and a number of press organizations on his behalf.

He was released the next day. It sounds like he was detained rather than arrested since it looks like he was able to use his cell phone. This shows the power of this technology in an emergency, especially when travelling. He could have sent a text message to one person, but by sending the SMS to twitter he reached 48.

iPhone inventory drawdown continues in Europe

In an effort to draw down the European inventory of 8GB iPhones, Mobility Today reports that 02 is reducing the price by 100 pounds across all available plans until June 1st. This follows T-Mobile Germany price cut last week adding more speculation for the release of the 3G iPhone.

Microsoft to develop applications for the iPhone

Microsoft's Specialized Devices and Applications Group has the largest group of Mac developers outside of Apple. That group produces the very profitable Office suite for Mac. According Fortune.com they have been looking at the iPhone SDK to determine the viability of building application for the iPhone. Microsoft's TellMe subsidiary is also looking at the SDK to implement voice recognition applications.

Will it be long before we see Office and Voice Command on the iPhone, probably not...Could this be another blow (after the ActiveSync licensing) to the Windows Mobile team?

I think it is just another wake up call. Time to get innovative.

The week of February 11th in My Digital Life

Last week I tried blogging with Word 2007 blog option. Word is such a great WYSIWYG editor it makes writing easier, but it is just not ready for prime time blogging. The category selection works half the time, you loose your categories when you edit a post and there is no way to use a post, modify it and publish it as a new entry. There is also no trackback support. I am back to using ECTO, it is just better and I hear even much easier to use on a Mac...Some day I will have to try it.

As expected the Yahoo board has officially rejected the Microsoft bid. Microsoft's next move will be interesting, will they up the bid (Yahoo wants $40) or work to convince Yahoo's board and large shareholders to force deal through. There are also rumors that large Microsoft shareholders don't like the deal because they don't believe that Microsoft executives can manage the merger successfully. This could end up being a protracted battle, just what Google wants...

I completed a review of Birdsoft's eXtreme Agenda version 3.1 for Windows Mobile Professional (touch screen). They have had a Windows Mobile Standard version since the days of SmartPhone 2002...It should be posted on pocketnow.com sometime this week.

I am getting attached to the Verizon SMT5800, I was not sure I would like a non touch screen OS but this little phone works very well with one hand, although the lack of GPS access by applications and the weak battery life are detractions.

I am trying a new web site Trapster.com and companion Windows Mobile software. It is a Location Based System (LBS) which allows you to enter and view police traffic traps. I will be reporting back my thoughts in an article for pocketnow.com.

This week:

• I need to finish this post how I used my AT&T Tilt on my travels.
• Move video reviews of Verizon's new SMT5800 Windows Mobile 6 Standard phone on pocketnow.com.

Is Microsoft setting up Google with the Yahoo bid?

The Economist seems to think so in its article "The Microhoo! hoo-hah". The Economist states in the closing paragraph:

"By responding on February 4th to Microsoft's bid by offering whatever support Yahoo! might require, Google may have walked into Microsoft's sucker punch. For whatever adverse effects on competition might result from Microsoft buying Yahoo!, the impact of a closer relationship between Google and Yahoo! would surely be worse."

This is an interesting twist on the bid, and although I think the purchase of Yahoo is important to Microsoft, I would not put past Steve Ballmer to have come up with this potential antitrust twist...

The week of February 4th in My Digital Life

February 2008 is already here…The big technology news over the weekend has been the potential Microsoft buyout of Yahoo. Even though Google has a 58.4% search market to Microsoft/Yahoo combined share of 32.7% (source), it was interesting to see how strong Google's reaction was. They are concerned that if the merger is well executed the combination could become a formidable competitor. Is that not what capitalism is all about! With great ideas and execution Google came out of nowhere to become the number one search engine. Google's corporate culture and ethos has been to be different than the rest of corporate America, now they seem to be joining in lock step, launching preemptive salvos because they fear competition by an industry behemoth. According to a well written post on TechCrunch, it looks like Yahoo has few options and given the combined search market share of Microsoft/Yahoo is 25.7% less than Google's share I will find it hard to believe that Google will be able to stop it, although they could slow it down. I think the threat to Google is overblown; the task of merging incompatible web properties and ad systems together will be daunting. The likely hood of Microsoft succeeding on its first try is minimal. Any misstep will provide Google with the opportunity to grab users and thus a larger market share. I think Google should see this as an opportunity rather than an assault.

I received a Verizon SMT5800 Windows Mobile Standard smart phone to review for pocketnow.com. This is my first opportunity to spend a lot of time with Windows Mobile 6 Standard edition (no touch screen). This means using the dial and D pads extensively. So far I like having a smaller device in my hand. It feels more like a regular candy bar phone, although thicker because of the slide out keyboard. I just posted the unboxing on pocketnow.com and will follow with video reviews over the next two weeks.

Two camps are confusing the whole Jailbreak process for the iPhone's new OS version 1.1.3 firmware. This is confusing users, breaking applications, could just throw the whole Jailbreak movement into a tailspin once Apple releases their SDK. Here is a post describing the issues. As a user waiting for the 1.1.4/SDK release at this point makes sense.

This week:

• Post more thoughts on the AT&T Tilt and how I used it on my trip.
• Listening to Sirius on my Tilt.

Video reviews of Verizon's new SMT5800 Windows Mobile 6 Standard phone on pocketnow.com.