"Nuernberg, October 3, 2008--German software developer SoftMaker today announced that it has
made SoftMaker Office 2006 for Windows, predecessor to its current
office suite SoftMaker Office 2008, available as a free download."

"Since the advent of Microsoft Office 2007, an ever growing number of
users have been looking for alternatives that do not involve
learning a new user interface from scratch. SoftMaker Office 2006
is such an alternative. It comes with an interface that any Microsoft

The folks at eWEEK often post short graphic articles and slideshows about a topic or new technology (sometimes they do a quick device review in this manner). Recently they posted a superb slide-show identifying features to be included in their idea of the perfect Smart Phone. It truly is a good summary for device designer's to consider--that is, that no single device has yet to bring it all together...

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was recently interviewed by Martin Veitch, editor for CIO.com directly after his keynote speech at Microsoft's London conference “Technologies to Change Your Business: How Customers Are Implementing Tomorrow’s Strategies Today”.

One statement made by Ballmer might be of extreme interest for Windows Mobile enthusiasts:

The guys at Airscanner must be loads of fun at parties, particularly Seth Fogie! Demonstrated here (click on the linked image above), the vulnerable nature of unprotected Active Sync connections to your computer!

Fig. 1: EDAS – (Ethernet Data Acquisition System) (left) and EDAS with attached modules (right).

When you open an application or program on a touch screen device or access one of the configuration utilities, you'll see an "X" or "OK" in the upper right corner of the display. You can tap on this button with your stylus to exit the application/screen. If you have a phone-enabled touch screen device with a physical "OK" button, you can press that button to exit. This saves you the bother of pulling out your stylus, and combined with the D-pad, allows you to perform most common tasks on your device with one hand.

I have always considered Verizon to be the best U.S. wireless carrier in terms of customer service, voice quality, high-speed data, and overall coverage. However, I haven't been satisfied with the variety or capabilities of the Windows Mobile devices they offered—that is, until now! In the past few months, Verizon has introduced three new Windows Mobile 6 phones: the innovative Samsung i760, the XV6800 (both touch screen devices), and the smaller SMT5800 (a non-touch screen smartphone).

I have been a SCOTTEVEST person ever since I got my first vest years ago and over the years I have had the opportunity to review a myriad of products that have followed in the SCOTTEVEST tradition of high quality, comfort and versatility. After opening and seeing the  NEW Scott Jordan Signature System, it is possibly the best jacket that SCOTTEVEST has produced. 

I was fortune enough to be able to visit Israel last February to celebrate my and Israel's 60th birthday. Let us pray that fear, hatred, and distrust can leave the Middle East, so everyone will feel comfortable visiting this ancient, beautiful, and holy land to so many.

So this month's topic is scary Windows Mobile problems and mine's actually pretty similar to Nate's in that it's ROM related. But that's where the similarity ends. Mine was caused because I was loading custom ROMS onto my device (an ETEN Glofiish X500) more often than I changed underwear (and I do change often). That was a recipe for disaster (custom ROM loading that is, what were you thinking?) and it wasn't long before my device conked out.

You wake up one day to discover your mobile is not listening to you anymore. Programs exit unbidden, or the unit simply hangs threateningly at the boot screen. It might refuse to start at all (uh-oh)! It's turned into a zombie... Yep, that's right. All you did was ask it to load some software, or maybe you tweaked some reg value you shouldn've. Next thing you know, your trying to resurrect it from the dead.

As we've noted before, Google's Android isn’t related to Windows Mobile, but we cover it here because it’s one more indication of the trend toward Internet-centric touch devices. Plus this week we’ll note new mobile video sharing sites that even let you stream live video from your device.