Personal site where I share about mobile Technology, and vent about everyday life! http://dukecarico.com Tue, 13 May 2008 09:20:24 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://dukecarico.com/index.php/News/20080509245/General/New-Bike.html I have a grin on my face! Its been there all week. If you notice the last few posts here, you know I have been camping. And I got to thinking about a scooter to use as a dingy behind the motorhome. I found one, and bought it! But in my quest to find a small scooter, I discovered an incredible scooter that totally blurs the line between what a scooter is and what a motorcycle is. Lots of storage, very comfortable, large enough to take trips on, small enough to handle, and lets not forget the GRIN factor. I can't quit smiling! Going for a ride this afternoon, and got a day trip planned for tomorrow. Look for a video soon of this bike and its many controls. For now, how about a picture or two? News - General Fri, 09 May 2008 04:27:12 +0100 http://dukecarico.com/index.php/News/20080428244/General/New-Scooter.html With the spring like weather, I have had scooter fever! Been looking for something that my wife can handle, and also, easy to push on and off a a versa hauler mounted on the back of the motor home. I bought this Thursday and picked it up this evening! Took it to a local parking lot and my wife handled it like a pro! Seems to be a fun little scooter for the money! The best part: it gets 90 MPG! News - General Mon, 28 Apr 2008 17:34:28 +0100 http://dukecarico.com/index.php/News/20080427243/General/Fun-weekend.html So Friday morning, a few of us headed over to the eastern side of Asheville to do some mountain biking! Great, great fun! Almost perfect weather, and just maybe one of my most funnest ever mountain bike trips! We did a lot of riding! We didn't go hungry, and when it came a big rain, Jeff and Shawn decided , whats a little water? and rode through a very hard rain! Having the camper on this trip made it really nice as it turned the rain into basically nothing! Great time! Here is a little video I put together of pictures mostly taken by Shawn's new camera. aCLeXaHueysClick here to grab the Video (images/stories/video/bentcreek.mpg) And a picture gallery News - General Sun, 27 Apr 2008 16:56:59 +0100 http://dukecarico.com/index.php/News/20080422242/General/I-am-becoming-a-dork.html Through the years, I have owned a few motorcycles. Good times, all and all. On the last camping trip out, a beautiful SCOOTER caught my eye. Not your ordinary one, but still a scooter. There was a time in my life when I wouldn't have been caught dead on one! My, how things have changed! I am test riding this one this afternoon. . . News - General Tue, 22 Apr 2008 04:48:36 +0100 http://dukecarico.com/index.php/News/20080412241/General/Hanging-out-in-the-Aquarium.html So today we went to the Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies! Well worth the $20.00 per person it cost! A good time! tyLD-WHAMls And a Multitude of Photos (index.php/component/option,com_mediaslide/act,contact/id,12/albumnum,12/Itemid,29/) News - General Sat, 12 Apr 2008 19:53:26 +0100 http://dukecarico.com/index.php/News/20080411240/Latest/2nd-Trip-Out-in-the-MotorHome.html So I headed out in the MotorHome today! There was a Malibu on my tail the whole way. I mean the guy was never more than 5 feet from my rear bumper the whole trip! Oh, wait a minute! That's my Malibu! So this is the 2nd trip out with the MotorHome, but its the first trip out with a Tow vehicle. Thank God that I figured out how to transfer Power, disable the Drive Shaft and not lose the car enroute to our Destination. Our Destination? Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. We are nestled into a campground about 1/2 mile from the main drag. There is a nice stream flowing about 20 feet from my bedroom window. The cable TV is not very clear, but as you can plainly see, the Internet connection is pretty strong! Currently, the rest of the fam is gone to Walmart for some minor things for the weekend. I am headed to the bed to take a nap and get ready to fire up the grill for Burgers tonight. Depending on the day, maybe some pictures later on, but here are the ones for the moment. News - General Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:21:02 +0100 http://dukecarico.com/index.php/News/20080406239/General/Motorhome-part-1.html So last weekend we took our motorhome out for our first adventure. A local park where I could check everything out! I left out Friday afternoon and I had to be at Church both Saturday night and Sunday morning so I knew my time was going to be limited. So besides the obvious of Gas quickly approaching $3.50 per gallon, here is the adventure. I pack up a few groceries and throw in the fridge, grab the dog and head out! I am loving driving the beast! Lots of fun and I feel like I am getting the hang of handling all 31 feet of her! I pull into the campground and its raining pretty good! I set her up in the rain and everything goes great! The wife joins me and for supper we eat Pizza! I build a campfire as wood is pletiful in this campground! We get a visit from my wife's brother and we hang out and watch a DVD on the TV and just talk about nothing . . . . They leave, we climb in bed and I sleep like a rock! Life is good!Wake up Saturday morning and I take the dog for a walk. The wife sleeps until almost 11:00 so the bed either works great for her or she just didn't sleep at all for my snoring and is trying to play catch up! It rains most of the day, but thats OK, because I have plenty of room in the motorhome and spend most of the day watching TV. I leave about 5:00 PM to head to church! Perform at Church and then go to damon's to eat; churches treat! Get back to the motorhome about 9:00PM and probably in bed by 10:30.Wake up Sunday, take a shower and head to Church to perform for two services. Come back around 11:30 and lay around for about an hour. Then I start tearing down. So far, I don't feel I have had a chance to really enjoy it because of my obligations . . . .Pack everything up in about 45 minutes and start the drive home. The first part is down a narrow road . . . BAM!!! the Passenger mirror smacks a roadside sign! Leaves a small scratch on the mirror. Get the motorhome down the driveway, start to get out and notice a crack in the windshield! How did that happen??????? Call a local company about replacing it and they say bring it in. I learn that it had been cracked there once before and plugged. The weather lately had been very cold at night but fairly warm in the day, thus the spidering that I saw. $300 and I have new windshield! I am hoping this is not typical of my trips out! I am still learning all the systems as this thing is much fancier than the one we had in the 80's. I like several things about this system, but if its going to cost me $300 + gas each time I go out, I might be selling this one soon . . . . News - General Sun, 06 Apr 2008 19:02:38 +0100 http://dukecarico.com/index.php/News/20080406238/HTC-TyTN/My-Cell-Phone-History.html A very long time ago, one of my very first posts to my blog was my Palm Treo History. A malicious hacker deleted that folder along with others and that post is lost forever. But I did get to thinking that maybe I should lay out my Cell phone history to include before and after the Treo and capture that here. So without further adue, here we go.Sprint Brick: Yea, this one was my first! I debated getting a bag-phone. I ended up running with this one because I felt it more portable . I remember the plan was $30.00 per month and it included 30 anytime minutes. Weekends were free and Sprint was the provider! The best I remember anything past the allowable 30 minutes was something like $0.45 a minute! We carried it everywhere but used it rarely! I actually gave this phone away to a girl who wanted to walk around the Mall pretending to talk on it, just for laughs. We've come a long way baby . . . . During this time, I had a PDA! it was a Palm IIIx. I think the x meant that it was double the RAM/ROM of the original III series. I can't remember if that was 4 or 8 megs of Ram. But with that said, I used this device. I used it daily and never left home without it! It would become my organizer and I was constantl tweaking, installing, uninstalling, and playing with this device! I dropped the III one day and cracked the screen. But that was not that big of a deal as I had been eyeing a device that offered 16,000 colors vs the grayscale unit I had been using. In fact, it had come down in price to be just a little more than what I originally gave for the III. This was called the IIIc. And the C stood for Color! News - HTC TyTN Sun, 06 Apr 2008 12:24:39 +0100 http://dukecarico.com/index.php/News/20080406237/HTC-TyTN/HTC-TyTN-II-One-Month.html Six weeks to be more exact! I really intended to write this closer to the one month mark, but I have been wide open, with several different projects, with not a lot of free time, and it's only because of inclement weather here in Northeast Tennessee that I am sitting down now to write this. Do I still like the TyTN II? Yes, I still like it! But there are things about it, that I don't like for sure! Lets start with those:Email: Attention developers! Windows Mobile needs a reliable, easy to use, IMAP capable email client! I guess Flexmail has won awards because its better than anything else available, but it sure don't come close to Chatteremail for the Palm OS. I have found this email client awkward for multilple email accounts, and not very easy to navigate in General. IMAP works, but it could work better! For example, why can't I get different ringtones for different accounts, with different vibrations? Currently when mail comes in, I am pecking 4 diferent inboxes to see where I just got mail. I am telling you, take the Chatteremail user interface and copy it in everyway you can! I can accept the file size limits and mark for download without a problem. I just find email in general very limiting compared to what I have had. And I would love for this client to be able to self Launch . If for any reason, I reset, then I have to manually turn it on. With Chatter, I could set it to launch when the Treo booted up! I also have a problem with the home screen. I have an email icon, but its tied to the default email app. This is now wasted space on my homescreen as it no longer works. Messaging: Flexmail can handle messaging! So can Palm's own mail client! These are both tied in directly to Mail I purchased a standalone app to allow me to better manage messaging. Its nice to look at, and finger friendly! But it doesn't recognize html addeys. I use Twitter and the links that people are sending are no good. I can't even copy/paste them into a browser . . . If someone can recommend a decent messaging app, I am all ears!Phone App: I appreciate that Microsoft's Phone interface is finger friendly! But what I am after is something a little more versatle. For example, favorites: I can only have nine persons in my quickdial list. If your not as popular in my book, then you have to go into my Contacts list so that probably means I am not going to call you often. The reason is that from my favorites, I have to go to contacts, and there are a lot of contacts here! Yea, I can use the scrolling feature, or type in part of your name, but that takes two hands, so forget it while I am driving. Built in weather app: There is this very cool, very attractive weather app on the today screen. But its limited in the cities that are available. The closest city to me is 90 miles away, so that makes it not very accurate for weather. I have read about hacks, but those hacks have not helped me as this data is being pulled from Accuweather's world site and my city/zip is just not available on this site. More wasted space on the today screen. Now that I have the venting out of the way, lets talk about the pluses . . . . GPS: To have this GPS with me everywhere I go is just handy! This is a very large plus and I know its becoming more common in phones in general! I say great! I have used this as my only GPS and on a recent trip to Nashville, compared it to my Tom Tom One 3rd edition. I believe the Tom Tom one is a little faster and overall, more friendly, but its an extra device! I hope one day soon to get them up both side by side to show you the differences. Sliding Keyboard/Tilting Screen: What a great design! I love typing on this phone! I can whip out a message pretty darn quick with the keyboard and the text recognition feature. This was a big concern with me, leaving the Palm Treo design with the keyboard right on the front of the device. But I have to say, when I need the keyboard, its almost effortless to access it! And when I am done, its just as effortless to close it! Calendar: I thought the Palm Calendar was pretty good . . . But the TyTN's is much more intuitive and syncs with no effort. For example, I am at work, with my TyTN hooked up to my computer. I accept a new meeting request and within seconds, its on my TyTN! I don't resync or push any buttons. It automatically adds the calendar to my TyTN! And it adds location, notes, etc on its own! Very nice feature that I am enjoying!Volume: This thing is loud! I don't care if I am listening to a podcast, or talking on it! Nice! I also like that out of the box I can add MP-3 ringtones and trim them with the included trimming app! With the Treo, this would have meant adding a 3rd party app, and then using Audacity to trim the song on my computer. Overall, I am enjoying my new device! And if I didn't sound like it, be assured that I have no regrets of leaving the Palm OS platform! But I do miss a few of Palm's features! Email and phone features being the largest ones. But lets not forget that Palm has its own set of shortcomings that I am not covering in this article. I have used WiFi on the TyTN, but not a whole lot. Its one of those features that is not a necessary, but when you use it, you are sure glad you have it! I also like the scroll wheel on the side. Depending on the screen you are on, this goes a long way on making this device a one handed device. I also like the camera. Its a little awkward, but compared to the camera phone I used to have, its a camera that I can actually use a picture or two that I take with it! I like it that I can use a USB cable to hook it to any computer! No special cables to buy or keep up with! In fact, I probably have about 5 digital camera USB cables that I can use. This unit is a very quality unit! I have said it before, but I like the feel of it in my hands. Yea, its heavy, but the feel of the buttons and the lines makes this a very well-built device. So the bottom line: I am enjoying my new TyTN II! News - HTC TyTN Sun, 06 Apr 2008 05:25:00 +0100 http://dukecarico.com/index.php/News/20080405236/Latest/Introducing-Stone.html If you are a long time follower, you know that I use Joomla to manage my content here at Just Duke! I can't say enough about what a powerful application Joomla is! Best of all, its open source with a very active, and very helpful community! Since its open source, I have tried to give just a little bit back to the community by tweaking and building templates for others to use! I have been testing Joomla 1.5 for a few months now and although I have yet to migrate any of my sites to 1.5, I thought it was time to build a template. Introducing Stone: If you would like to see a demo of this, I currently have it up and running here (test2) . And as I do with all my templates, you can download Stone here at Just duke by clicking this link (index.php/Joomla-1.5-Fixed-Width-Large/View-category.html) . News - Latest Sat, 05 Apr 2008 07:14:48 +0100 http://dukecarico.com/index.php/News/20080404235/Technology/Dell/Motoroloa.html Dells goal is to trim $3 Billion in costs and will involve more job cuts than what was recently announced to be around 8,800! Michael Dell said Wednesday that his company's management had identified a very significant opportunity to cut costs, and that it was aggressively going after it . Dell wouldn't say how many would get the ax in the end, only that it would be more than the 8,800 previously announced. Motoroloa on the other hand, just can't seem to get past the tough times! They announced yesterday that its laying off another 2,600 workers to bring the grand total of layoffs since 2007 to 10,000! Motorola has been trying to turn its Business around and recently announced that its going to split its mobile phone business which will probably mean even more cuts down the road. Remember when these companies offered 1st rate customer service and innovative products? I remember when they were a leader in their fields! There was a time when I wouldn't own anything other than a Dell computer because it was rare I had a problem and if I did, I got to speak to someone who's first language was English! When support moved to India, I started shopping for price considerations only as I figured whats the difference? Poor Motorola! Once they touted winning the Malcolm Baldrige award! An award that stood for quality products, and great quality control! The Razr changed the way the world looked at what a cell phone could be. And then, like Palm, they sat there, on top of the World, only to get knocked off by the likes of Samsung, LG, HTC, and others. What happened to them? The Q was a step in the right direction for sure! It wasn't enough. Lets hope both of these companies figure out how to journey back to what made them great companies to start with! News - Technology Fri, 04 Apr 2008 04:13:21 +0100 http://dukecarico.com/index.php/Home/20080320234/Newsflash/AMD-rumored-Lay-offs.html Yet another sign that our nation is in recession. There are rumors everywhere that AMD is laying off 5% of its workforce. That is guesstimated to be around 800 employees. AMD has struggled recently to compete head to head with Intel and as a result have made some Boo-boos. So when the economy turns, I guess its companies like AMD that are the first to show it. This is not OFFICIAL! But it is sounding like it is true. We should know for sure by Q1 results at the latest! Here is hoping and praying that 800 persons find bigger and better jobs in short order! Newsflashes - Newsflash Thu, 20 Mar 2008 04:07:43 +0100 http://dukecarico.com/index.php/Latest/Quick-Family-Update.html Years ago my family spent a lot of time in a motorhome. We had some really good times for certain. My wife had some sickness in her family and it sat in our driveway for about a year not getting used so I sold it. I made the comment that one day I would buy another. Well, through circumstances that I won't elaborate on, that time has come! This was a deal I just couldn't refuse! This isn't new, but its like new, low miles and in perfect condition. I plan on using this often, so maybe its time for a new category to be added here at Just Duke; Travels . . . . Several more pictures (index.php/component/option,com_mediaslide/act,contact/id,11/albumnum,11/Itemid,29/) of it can be found here. News - Latest Sun, 16 Mar 2008 05:21:51 +0100 http://dukecarico.com/index.php/Newsflash/Chinese-Woman-Torches-400-Cell-Phones.html The 37-year-old Chinese woman wasn't particularly stoked about her husband walking out on their marriage, so she did the only reasonable thing that presented itself: rounded up the entire stock of more than 400 phones the couple had at their joint-owned cellphone shop, and set the entire lot ablaze -- inside her home. The collection was valued at roughly 300,000 yuan, about $42,000 US. Newsflashes - Newsflash Sun, 09 Mar 2008 06:20:19 +0100 http://dukecarico.com/index.php/HTC-TyTN/HTC-with-an-MID-this-year.html High Tech Computer has joined Intel's efforts to develop Mobile Internet Device Products and the company is expected to launch their first product with handset functions this year, according to sources in Taiwan's handset industry! What does this mean? It could mean that we finally see a true alternative to the laptop . . . Let me explain. Currently mobile devices are built upon what is called in the industry an ARM processor. But Mobile Internet Devices use the x86 architecture. Windows PCs all are built upon the x86 platform. There are many MID devices available today! But most are not exactly what one would call pocketable. And I don't expect HTC's first one to be either! But I am betting that its only a matter of time before we see an x86 based mid the size of the TyTN II. And that could be mobile world changing! The x86 platform could mean that software designed for your windows PC may be compatible with your handset! Michael Chen, director of INtel's Embedded Sales Group, in Asia Pacific, is already claiming that these devices will perform much better than the current ARM based devices! I don't expect the World to migrate to this platform this year, but I am betting in two-three years, most smartphones offered will be built using the x86 platform. Intel also has a 2nd generation platform scheduled for 2009, and thats when I expect things to get really fun! Even with voice functionality, the prices of second-generation MID devices are also expected to more competitive than the current generation of MIDs which are mostly available in prices ranging from US$599-799, according to market sources. If your wondering where the future of mobile computing might lie, my guess is its with Intel's MID x86 processors and HTC's first generation devices. News - HTC TyTN Sat, 08 Mar 2008 05:27:36 +0100 http://dukecarico.com/index.php/Technology/Lamp-Post-Padding-for-Texters.html So people are walking down the street so absorbed with their texting that they are getting injured walking into things. This has prompted the UK based Charity Living Streets to break out Lamp Post Pad in Brick Lane, London. If all goes well then plans are to roll out the idiot proof system in other areas of London. Now just how stupid is this? Where does this end? Will double decker buses also be outfitted with padding? I am sorry, but you can't engineer for every scenario. You can't prevent Stupid , no matter how hard you try . . . News - Technology Thu, 06 Mar 2008 06:02:52 +0100 http://dukecarico.com/index.php/Technology/Xperia-on-AT&T.html PIctures are surfacing that show Sony's very anticipated Xperia X1 with AT T logo right on the sign up screen! This doesn't necessarily mean that it will appear on the blue and orange network, but it is a sign of hope. If it is true, then give AT T some credit! They currently carry a wide variety of smartphones at several pricepoints, including that exclusive deal with the iPhone. Without a doubt, AT T does the best job of the big three here in the states when it comes to SmartPhone selection. Lets hope that this means they are adding this one to the stable! And that Sprint/Verizon have already made the call to enquire about getting their CDMA versions in their display cases as well! News - Technology Thu, 06 Mar 2008 05:46:29 +0100 http://dukecarico.com/index.php/Technology/3rd-Party-Apps.html There is a great article written by Michael Mace (http://mobileopportunity.blogspot.com/2008/02/mobile-applications-rip.html) about 3rd party apps and how the industry is basically choking this market. I would encourage anyone interested in Mobile Tech to read how Mike sums up the current climate within the mobile market. Mr. Mace says that Mobile apps are headed to be more browser based apps, and less of system apps. He lays out several reasons why, and I certainly am not arguing with him. His whole article makes a lot of sad sense. And he hopes that maybe this will force us to innovate around the mobile browser experience. I think we need to take a long hard look at this experience . . . . Now love or hate the iPhone, Apple has come close to giving the user an almost decent interface on its Safari browser. But it still lacks much to be desired! Palm thought that the answer might lie in its companion device; The Foleo. That one never got off the ground, as who wanted to carry another device to basically do what their phones were already doing? No, what mobile users want is a laptop experience in something that they can put in their pocket. There is much to overcome here! Even though the industry is improving bandwidth, today you only have decent speeds in larger cities. And even there, grabbing your information over a web browser still wouldn't be described as painless . So until the browser experience improves, I believe there is a considerable market for 3rd party apps, and those apps will make their way to consumers in some way or another. Microsoft has recently stated that they sold 11 million Windows Mobile Licenses this year, and they expect to sale 20 million more in fiscal year 2008. I totally agree with Mike that the market is fragmenting in that you have all of these choices and its hard for a developer to cover them all. But at the same time, I am betting that every smartphone manufacturer out there, except maybe Palm are setting recrods for sales. So even though its harder to build for WM, RIM, Palm, Linux, the rewards when you do are much higher. My Treo 650 and 680 came with a nice OS for the time. But it wasn't until I added Chatteremail, QuickNews, zLauncher and Treo Alarm that it really became useful for something beyond a phone. My HTC TyTN II came with a plethora of 3rd Party software on a CD. Most of it licensed! I think the people building the OSes for these devices recognize the importance of 3rd party developers and will find ways to get these apps to consumers. Handango, and Mobi-hand makes sense. They sale for the developers and everyone wins! The Microsoft and Palm people win because it makes their system more valuable to the consumer. The Developer wins, because he has a gateway to sale his app to the masses. The web site wins because it is making a profit by providing a service to both the developer and the consumer, and the consumer wins because he has an easy way to obtain an app that expands his device. I would love to see the mobile browser improve! But until it does, I believe that everyone recognizes the need for an application that resides on the device itself. When the iPhone was introduced, Jobs had a similar vision . . . Use the Safari browser to do whatever you wanted to do. This was one of the most critisized decisions about the iPhone (along with only an EDGE radio) and finally, Apple is caving in to the consumer to allow for certain 3rd Party apps. I do agree with Mr. Mace, that building apps inside web sites make a lot of sense, would be cheaper on the developer, etc. One app that I think already exists that is similar to this model is Boopsie (http://boopsie.com/home/) . Its a very small app that allows you to search Boopsie's web site and depending on your search, takes you to mobile versions of the web sites, such as Wikipedia, Celebrity Pics, etc. This app is fast and one of my favorites, especially for freeware! But I can't see an app like this, replacing my SBSH weather app, or my Flexmail app, given the mobile browser as it is today. But I believe that given time, when the mobile browser does improve . . . and it will as mobile phones get faster data abilities, and designers build more sites with the mobile experience in mind, that many apps won't be apps any longer. But will be mobile web sites where all you have to do is launch a browser or an Icon. News - Technology Sun, 02 Mar 2008 05:34:13 +0100 http://dukecarico.com/index.php/HTC-TyTN/Review-Newsbreak-for-Windows-Mobile.html One app that I really loved with the Palm OS was Quicknews (http://software.everythingtreo.com/product.asp?id=449 n=Quick-News-for-Palm-OS) . I am talking a very complete RSS Newsreader that did a great job of retrieving news and podcasts from web sites that I was interested in. So when I knew I was making the move to a WM platform, I knew there were certain apps that I would want to replace the ones I used for Palm. Enter Newsbreak (http://software.everythingtreo.com/product.asp?id=537 n=NewsBreak) ! Since I have made the switch, this app and my email have probably been used more than any other on my device. I tried several newsreader apps before deciding on this one however. And I must admit that there are several good choices out there when it comes to newsreaders. One very cool feature about NewsBreak is the ability for it to auto-update. You can't specify a time, but you can specify a timeframe. So when I have a chance to get caught up on my news interests, its not like I have to go update the news articles and then start reading. There are a few newsreaders out there for both Palm and WM that are missing this crutial feature. Another necessary is the ability to search for your news interests, and this is really the feature that won me over to this particular app! It seemed that searching in Quicknews was a hit or miss adventure when looking for particular feeds. But so far, Livesearch has been very accurate in helping locate exactly the feeds I am looking for. If I don't want to use Livesearch, I have the option of using Syndic8.com. Newsbreak also gives you the ability to import OPML files, or choose from the list of Newsbreak's own built in Channels which lean heavily to mobile tech, and that is certainly not a problem with me! But Newsbreak also gives you the ability to grab podcasts! So many times, I will pick out two or three to listen to, and download them. Then later one, I grab my headphones and while I am doing things such as housework, or yardwork, I take in things such as This week in Tech, or Wired Magazine. All and all, this is a very nice application, as the ability to run in the background, auto-update and keep me informed is just hard to beat. Also, suddenly I am pretty interested in any article that mention HTC or TyTN II then I tell it to flag me if any updates show these tag-words in the content. Very nice! The menu options seem to be complete and make this a solid choice for a news reader. Also, this reader supports images so you have the ability to see content that includes photos. All and all, a very solid reader and I am enjoying it very much! Click on the read more link below for a photogallery of different screen shots of this newsreader. News - HTC TyTN Sat, 01 Mar 2008 06:22:55 +0100 http://dukecarico.com/index.php/Technology/RIM-Following-the-Trends.html RIM has applied for a patent on a Sliding design. I guess I have to ask why? The first one I guess I ever saw was the HTC Wizard. Now, HTC offers a plethora of designs featuring this design and Nokia, Sony, and others have copied it. Yet, RIM feels it necessary to patent it? Maybe there is more to this Patent than meets the eyes. It does feature a trackball, and the screen overlay does look a little larger and maybe offeres some sort of panel behind the screen? But I am guessing its nothing that we haven't already seen from many mobile phone manufacturers. Expect Lawsuits! News - Technology Sat, 01 Mar 2008 04:04:44 +0100