Bluetooth GPS

I have the Pharos bluetooth (and USB) GPS that I got with one of those “street” programs a few years back. I use it with both my laptop (on long trips) and more frequently on my Pocket PC for location searching within a city. It seems to work much better on my Dell M65 and my new 8525 Pocket PC than it did on some of the original laptop and pocket PC when it was purchased. I believe that to be improvements in bluetooth 2.0 and stack software.

Pocket Streets has been my old standby for turning on the bluetooth GPS and finding our where I am and how to get where I am going. I always tolerated that steps to get is going by connecting the the GPS via bluetooth, starting pocket streets, starting streets connection/use of the GPS data and then finally switching back to the map to discover I had passed my destination. Grumble, grumble….

Now enter Google Maps for Pocket PC on my new 8525. I configured my pocket PC and and Google Maps to use a certain comm port for the GPS. Now whenever I turn on my GPS and start Google Maps, it immediately reads/downloads the data and there is a map with me as a little blue dot. What is really cool, is that I can select “change view” and select satellite and there my little blue do is on satellite imaging. Really cool!

So, If you have a bluetooth GPS and something to run Google Maps, give it a try.

Windows Media for Pocket PC …

As I have mentioned in postings this past week or so, I recently made the 8525 (HTC HERM100) my pocket pc phone. With the addition of the stereo bluetooth headset I have been using the Media Player regularly. In this and I think other releases of Windows Mobile 5.0 the the Media Player has an interesting problem dealing with storage cards. About every 3rd or 4th time I start the player, it refuses to recognize the storage card where all the music files are located.

The problem with the Media Player is ridiculous. If you are having the same difficulty, the following steps fix the problem for a few days and then the issue comes back.

1. Open file explorer
2. Turn on hidden files in explorer
3. Go to storage card
4. delete MSMETADATA
5. delete WMDRM
6. Go back to Media Player and “update library”
7. The storage card should be back.

Several times a week I have to perform these tasks. (Usually at stop lights…) I guess Bill did not have time to fix this issue. I keep hearing rumors of Windows Mobile 6.0 for the 8525 coming soon. Hopefully that release will resolve this issue since there will not be a Windows Mobile 5.0 service pack. :-/

Bluethooth Headphones

To go with my recent acquisition of a Cingular (AT&T) 8525 Pocket PC phone, I used some BestBuy gift cards (from birthday ) and purchased the Motorola S9 bluetooth stereo headphones. Wow!

I have a 2 gig memory card in my 8525 and keep about 12-15 CD’s on the card at any one time. It’s not exactly an iPod but it certainly works for my needs. The 8525 does not have a “normal” 1/8 stereo jack to plug in headsets. What is a boy to do? There is a little adapter you can get to go from the mini usb plug to a 1/8 stereo jack but what to do with all those wires.

I have followed bluetooth stereo for a while and finally one device and the new Bluetooth 2.0 standard were getting excellent reviews. So I took the plunge.

I quickly opened the package, charged the device with the mini-usb charger adapter and sync’d with my phone. There were now two looming questions, 1) how would the music sound? and 2) how would taking a call work? I quickly got an ear full when I started up the player and picked a song. Wow! Even the volume, pause, start, forward and reverse all worked! Wow! Next take a call - lo and behold - somone called while I was testing. The music faded out, I pressed the answer button and someone was speaking in my left ear. (not sure why Motorola did not make it both ears - but oh well). The person heard me clearly. I could hear them clearly. What more could I ask for? When the call ended - the stereo music came back! Wow!

So now when I am out and about by myself shopping at the grocery store, wally world, getting gas (I leave phone inside car as not to incite riots with the gas station attendant) and etc. you will see me enjoying a few tunes - wirelessly.

When anyone asks what is that device, I tell them my brain overheats on occasion and this thing pumps cold air into my ears to keep my brain cool.

I am trying to talk my son into one for his iPhone - his brain over heats too….

iPhone Madness

Well my son has had his iPhone for almost a week. He avoided the Friday evening hysteria by waiting till Saturday morning and just walking into an Apple store and purchasing the phone without waiting in lines. What a concept. The phone really is all that it was advertised and a little more. There are plenty of folks reviewing the phone so since I do not have one nor need one I will not be reviewing it here.

There are many colorful reviews, humorous cartoons and even YouTube videos like the following:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vniMR6Ez9cE

If you want to see the guts of the iPhone:

http://www.anandtech.com/printarticle.aspx?i=3026

I however, am very happy with my AT&T 8525. I am planning to do a few posts about that phone and some of the software that I am running on it as well. Stay tuned…