Hi boys and girls,

Do you remember when Ask The Admin covered a very interesting topic of Free Exchange services? For those who don’t, you can look here, here and sometimes here.

In a nutshell, this article talked about how me and my fiance’ had to plan our wedding and had tons of appointments flying in from both directions.

In order to get our two phones talking to one another and playing nicely, I used a free Exchange hosting service called www.Mail2Web.com to enable my WinMo PDA and my fiance’s Blackjack to sync calendars every 10 minutes logging into the service through ActiveSync, as if they are the same phone. As a result, both phones would have the same calendar information, and keep it that way every ten minutes.

I’ve had this system going for some time now, and it’s been working just fine. I haven’t even had to login to the control panel for anything!While figuring out this howto, I noticed in my own phone that WinMo gives you 4 categories of info items to sync, (as illustrated by the image so cleverly placed on the top of this blog) – Contacts, Calendar, Email, and Tasks. I realized that my fiance’s BlackJack also had the choice of 4 different points of info to sync. This meant that every WinMo device can choose which information to sync with an ActiveSync Server Source and more importantly, which information NOT to sync with an Exchange Server. So we’ve established that my fiance’s BlackJack and my ATT 8525/Hermes were acting as if they had the same calendar – consider them synced.

So this was a real world problem solved by the fact that 2 people have phones with WinMo and Activesync, and the availability of a free exchange service @ www.Mail2Web.com.
Now onto the next real-world problem: The Admin and I have a lot of tasks involved with keeping our beloved website up and running, current and fresh. Throughout the months tasks have come and gone, but certain tasks fell through the sieve and got replaced by more current, more urgent tasks that took precedence at the time. So basically tasks were getting lost. Since neither of us used the built in Tasks application in WinMo, this presented the perfect opportunity to put my theory to the test.

I know that I already have 2 people logging into MY Mail2Web account to sync calendars. But what would be wrong with 3 people logging into that same account – except that my Fiance’ will only sync Calendar information, and The Admin will only sync Tasks information (and NOBODY syncs Contact information).

So I had the The Admin log into my Mail2Web account through his ActiveSync Server Connection and sync only Tasks, and I had my own phone begin to sync Tasks with the same service it was already syncing to for Calendar information, which coincidentally my Fiance’s phone was simultaneously syncing Calendar information with as well.

Problem solved:
Me and the Admin with synced Tasklist,
Me and the Fiance with synced Calendar.
Free.
Automatic.
Just the way we like it.

AskTheAdmin.com.
Free Tech Support for the Masses.

Commodore 64 (the one you used to play Bruce Lee on.)

Could you carry on a conversation about the impending spectrum auction if someone were to strike one up with you? Do you know what the spectrum auction is?

Don’t worry about it, most of us can’t and don’t. Not to worry though. Scott from AndroidGuys is here, guest-blogging for AtA to explain a little bit more about it. You’ve probably seen quite a bit written up recently about who may or may not be bidding in the auction come January, especially last week once Google made the announcement signaling their intent to participate.

Today, we want to tell you a little bit more about what the 700MHz is used for, what it could potentially be used for, and why it has been making headlines. This way you gain an understanding as to why companies are ready to plunk down over $4.6B next spring.

Currently, the spectrum is being used for analog television broadcasts. As we all know, in February 2009 we will no longer be seeing that as we are transitioning to digital television. This spectrum would work well as an alternative to DSL or cable internet providers as it travels easily and penetrates walls. It would be very enticing to businesses already in the wireless game, as it could be how they’d end up providing high speed internet to their consumers. It could also be a great way for companies to get their feet wet offering their own services.

So now we come to Google’s involvement and why it was a big deal that they announced their intention to bid. Back in the summer, Google petitioned the FCC to enforce rules on the companies who intended to bid on the spectrum should they end up winning. The biggest provision made was that it would require the winner to support any wireless device or any software application. Verizon fought these requirements for a while and at one point tried to sue the FCC. Ultimately decided to drop their argument and make nice. In a change of heart, they even announced their “Any App, Any Phone’ initiative last week.

With Google recently making headlines with their ‘intention to bid’, many are asking how serious this bid really is and whether or not Google plans on seeing the auction through to the end.

A lot of people have speculated that Google will make the introductory offer of $4.6B and bow out. It’s been said that they only intend to bid because they were the company that had the FCC make provisions to the rules.

The auction does not begin until January 24th but that doesn’t mean we don’t know who is going to participate. So far, we do know that besides Google, we’ll also get bids from Verizon, AT&T, Cox Cable, Echostar, Leap Wireless and Frontline Wireless. The actual list might be slightly larger because companies only had to notify the FCC of their intent secretly and not publicly. Names that are noticeably absent from the list are Time Warner, AOL, Comcast, Sprint, and Clearwire. These are names that have been essentially confirmed as not partaking in the event. The auction is likely to last several weeks or months, but one thing is certain; Come February 2009, someone else will be broadcasting on 700MHz.

Smart money says Google have their search engine, applications, and ads in place regardless of who wins.

Thanks again to Karl and the other Admins for letting me stop by! If you want to keep up on Google, Android, or the 700MHz auction, stop by AndroidGuys or subscribe to our feed!

Hey Boys and Girls,

We’ve had the honor of meeting up with the guys over at Gelaskins. Their products were one of the more popular products at the CES pre-show and Digital-Life Show, mainly because of the sexy designs they use for their Gelaskins. Really wicked stuff. But there’s more to Gelaskins than meets the eye. Beyond the sick designs they’ve used for their products, they’ve also seemingly took great pains to make sure the products are easy to apply, and guess what… IT WORKS.

I wish screen protectors were this easy, because I’ve never had a device with a screen, that didn’t also have an air bubble or two. But this was a pleasure to stick on. It seems the Gelaskin is somehow porous, and air bubbles can be dissipated just by pressing on them. It literally took me 10 seconds to stick this thing. When I noticed it wasn’t perfectly centered, I peeled it off and gave it another go. Once again the product stuck on with no issues, snags, snafus, or the such.

The guys at Gelaskins were nice enough to provide us with a bunch of different sizes and designs, so pretty soon we will be running a Gelaskins Giveaway contest. Sponsored by Gelaskins and Ask The Admin, of course. So stay tuned kiddies, these things are gonna be the hottest new accessory for pretty much every piece of high-end electronics you own, phones, laptops, and everything in between.

I like Gelaskins.

C64
Happy Holidays

Hi boys and girls,

Do you remember when Ask The Admin covered a very interesting topic of Free Exchange services? For those who don’t, you can look here, here and sometimes here.

In a nutshell, this article talked about how me and my fiance’ had to plan our wedding and had tons of appointments flying in from both directions.

In order to get our two phones talking to one another and playing nicely, I used a free Exchange hosting service called www.Mail2Web.com to enable my WinMo PDA and my fiance’s Blackjack to sync calendars every 10 minutes logging into the service through ActiveSync, as if they are the same phone. As a result, both phones would have the same calendar information, and keep it that way every ten minutes.

I’ve had this system going for some time now, and it’s been working just fine. I haven’t even had to login to the control panel for anything!

While figuring out this howto, I noticed in my own phone that WinMo gives you 4 categories of info items to sync, (as illustrated by the image so cleverly placed on the top of this blog) – Contacts, Calendar, Email, and Tasks. I realized that my fiance’s BlackJack also had the choice of 4 different points of info to sync. This meant that every WinMo device can choose which information to sync with an ActiveSync Server Source and more importantly, which information NOT to sync with an Exchange Server. So we’ve established that my fiance’s BlackJack and my ATT 8525/Hermes were acting as if they had the same calendar – consider them synced.
So this was a real world problem solved by the fact that 2 people have phones with WinMo and Activesync, and the availability of a free exchange service @ www.Mail2Web.com.

Now onto the next real-world problem: The Admin and I have a lot of tasks involved with keeping our beloved website up and running, current and fresh. Throughout the months tasks have come and gone, but certain tasks fell through the sieve and got replaced by more current, more urgent tasks that took precedence at the time. So basically tasks were getting lost. Since neither of us used the built in Tasks application in WinMo, this presented the perfect opportunity to put my theory to the test.

I know that I already have 2 people logging into MY Mail2Web account to sync calendars. But what would be wrong with 3 people logging into that same account – except that my Fiance’ will only sync Calendar information, and The Admin will only sync Tasks information (and NOBODY syncs Contact information).

So I had the The Admin log into my Mail2Web account through his ActiveSync Server Connection and sync only Tasks, and I had my own phone begin to sync Tasks with the same service it was already syncing to for Calendar information, which coincidentally my Fiance’s phone was simultaneously syncing Calendar information with as well.

Problem solved:
Me and the Admin with synced Tasklist,
Me and the Fiance with synced Calendar.
Free.
Automatic.
Just the way we like it.

AskTheAdmin.com.
Free Tech Support for the Masses.

Commodore 64 (the one you used to play Bruce Lee on.)

Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen,

This is your friendly Commodore 64 here to report on yet another useful, tech-improving, free service that is bound to improve any nerd’s life fo sho.

This new service, which has solved a long standing problem, in my view, with send/receive, hates attachments, crappy, slow, sluggish, snap-crackle, pop3 email technology. The software is called emoze, which is a spin-off of a company called Emblaze.
We covered this service in one of our previous posts here, but now we’ve really gotten up close and personal.

Now we are not instant fanboys of anything or anyone here, but we are a bunch of wise(ass) admins, and we do know what’s good for us, and any of our end users who are on the go, and email dependent. That person will attest to the fact that it sucks to have to send/receive on a schedule. Most people have their email send/receiving on an average of every 5 minutes, which makes for a very cumbersome convo, at best. If those convos are short and sweet, like most, they become exponentially cumbersome. So we know whats good, and after trying emoze with my corporate outlook mail, and using it’s proprietary ‘desktop to mobile push’ clients for about a week now, we can truly say this a great service, and good for you too! Best of all, for a single end-user, the service is totally free, just the way we love it here at AskTheAdmin.

We had the pleasure of personally meeting with Neftali Shani, Chairman of Emblaze and Active Chairman of emoze, in a one on one pow-wow where we were really able to get a sense of his vision and mission for the company and the free service:

We are committed to enhancing the user experience, making emoze the world’s most flexible and user-friendly push email and synchronization system…

All in all, emoze is the most efficient and effective way to keep up to date with emails, calendars, contacts and other data when on the move, no matter what mobile device or information management system you use.
We support Lotus Notes and Domino Servers, Microsoft Outlook and Exchange, POP3 and Web-Access, among others – democratizing push email and data for consumers and businesses alike.

The emoze program installs a client on your desktop that ‘listens’ to any new emails coming into your Outlook running on your pc. On the mobile side, a program running on your pda/smartphone listens to what the desktop client has to say, and integrates that with an email account that looks pretty much like your other mobile email accounts – with one caveat – NO SEND/RECEIVE!

The service, while connection dependent, works pretty invisibly, though it uses it’s own notification to let you know an email has come in. I’m pretty sure thats the same notification that MMS uses, but I dont get enough MMS messages to tell the difference.

Messages come through to your phone almost as instantly as they do to your outlook, so I’d have to say this service is pretty tight.

The only gripes I have involve issues that, in all fairness, might not be the fault of emoze. These issues might actually be the responsibility of the hardware or OS manufacturer. For example, when starting up the phone, the emoze client takes a little long to load, sometimes taking more than a minute to go through it’s syncing process. However this is most likely due to my connection speed. Also, while tethered to my laptop via bluetooth and internet connection sharing, it seems to want precedence over my shared connection so connection speed was pretty hampered. All in all, these are problems that would likely solve themselves in time, as connection speeds make their way up. Also as more hardware manufacturers adopt the HSDPA standard, this will do away with whatever lag time the emoze client unearths.

Also worth noting is that I can’t be considered the average user. My HTC Hermes/8525 has ALOT of stuff loaded on it, besides the 4gb memory card i have blazing inside. I’m pretty sure that for the average business end-user, this service would be almost completely transparent and would invisibly provide someone with exactly what emoze promises – Free Push Email For ALL!
In summary, emoze is a wonderful service. Free push email for the masses is a big undertaking but the good people over at emoze have taken it upon themselves to try to improve the democracy associated with email.

Very noble.

_ThePushyCommodore_ (yup still the one you used to play Bruce Lee on)
1

Hey everyone, it’s Scott from AndroidGuys here. Thanks to Karl and the other Admins here, I’m back with another article!

Yesterday, we put an article up on AndroidGuys where we talked about Google’s foray into the television world. I’d like to expound upon that piece and explain how open source could radically change the television and advertising industry.

Google’s $10 Million Android Developers Challenge is not only the open source platform that will help change the way mobile devices are designed and used. It is my opinion that it is more specifically the basis for the way people will stay in touch and get information. Google was never really going to come out with the iPhone killer. I think they have their sites on much bigger things. They’d rather change the way you receive your content, be it television, web, email, photos, etc. Instead of focusing on entirely on the mobile industry, Google is also evaluating the television industry. That’s right, we’re already talking about AndroidTV. Is the day that far off where you will be able to sync your favorite shows, emails, and notes between your TV and your mobile device? I don’t think it is. There are already plenty of ways hardware devices can sync up; Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, and of course using the trusty data cable.

By asking developers to write programs around their open source backbone, Google will be able to seamlessly integrate the best features between your phone and television. Today’s cable boxes are more or less computers. They come preloaded with a few limited API’s like a menu setup, a program guide, the DVR software, and a few customer service feature, like account information. Now imagine what you could do with that box if it were open source. There are already scores of “roll your own” DVR interfaces that you can make using your PC or Mac.

Let’s imagine a scenario here. You’re in a fantasy football league and are following your players as closely as possible. Why shouldn’t you be able to watch a pre-recorded program on your TiVo and, at the same time, have a widget display your players’ performances at the bottom of the screen? Stock tickers, real-time weather conditions and traffic are the tip of the iceberg. In the age of micro-blogging, wouldn’t make sense to be able to see what your friends are doing right now without having to log online? Your Twitter widget tells you that Craig is on his way home from work. Maybe a notification when Ted is logged into Facebook. Maybe a popup that alerts you to the fact that someone just left you feedback on eBay. Folks, it’s all going to happen. And very soon.

Need more convincing? The guy behind Android? Andy Rubin. Take a look at his past endeavors. You might recall a little project he was involved in a few years back called WebTV. Oh yeah, for those of you who are currently unemployed, Google’s hiring for a television technology software engineer position in Mountain View, CA.

My grin is bigger than yours.

Scott | AndroidGuys.com | chewie77@gmail.com

Hey Boys and Girls,

Shhh, this one is a little secret for all you hardcore aTa fans…

We here at www.asktheadmin.com have an inside scoop that is sure to be the talk of the (virtual) town about Google and their new Gphone.

We all know it’s reality that Google is, in fact, working on their own phone. It’s been buzzing for months. Can you say G-Phone?

We also know, for fact, that The Big Goog have been trying to get their hands on their own cell-radio frequency from the FCC. This has been old news for months. Can you say 700 Mhz?
We also know that GOOG have been working heavily on an operating system for phone hardware. Can you say Android?

But what we have also cleverly found out, from a source who REALLY prefers we leave her name and whereabouts undisclosed, is that Google really is looking to move in on, and compete with, all the other big cellphone companies.

Our source works for a sub-contractor for one of the PR companies working for Google, and while details are shaky at best, I did catch something about new branding, FREE cell service, and one of the biggest, single-handed emergences of a ridiculously strong competitor, and more importantly a huge threat, to EVERY cellphone service provider in the NATION.

What was more important than the facts themselves are the details. How about the fact that it was requested that these new branding schemes be done with great haste, and that a considerable amount of money was spent into developing these new brand schemes quite richly and deeply. Almost like they paid extra, like a rush fee, to be sure the whole idea gets pushed to it’s end, and double time!

I don’t know about you Boys and Girls, but this sounds like Google is about to make some serious moves towards becoming their own, end to end, cellphone company, from the phone right down to the airwaves. Whats craziest is that they want it to be free (and ad-based, of course). Not only will it be their own cellphone service, and harware manufacturer, but they are essentially BUILDING their own ad-market from scratch. POOF!

Can you say anti-trust? Can you say market upturn?
Can you dare to say free cellphone service and wireless internet?

Google dares!

In the immortal words of William Shakespeare, and later Aldous Huxley – “Oh Brave New World that has such people in it.”

Chew on that.
Peace

Commodore 64 (the one you used to play Bruce Lee on)
1

Edit – As Reader Gavin pointed out Google is laying their own fiber under the ocean see here.

Good afternoon! My name is Scott Webster and I am one of the administrators over at AndroidGuys.com. I’d like to thank Karl for letting me fill in today as a guest blogger.

I’m here to talk briefly about the current state of Smartphones as well as what we might come to expect from Android and the capability of open source phones.

As of right now, there are only three major options being used in the US for smartphones and PDA phones. You have RIM’s Blackberry, Microsoft Windows Mobile, and Apple’s iPhone/OSX. Sure, you also have niche devices like Helio’s Ocean and the T-Mobile Sidekick, but predominantly, these three are what makes up the high end phone market today. Overseas however is a different story. Nokia and Symbian have pretty much dominated the industry and is slowly seeing market share build over here. While each of these platforms is unique, they share very similar features from one to the next. Higher end camera’s, internal memory, and the ability to install software are just three things that separate them from your mom’s flip phone. It sounds great to be able to install software on the phone, but it’s not as easy as it would initially seem. This is where the drawbacks start.

For years, Blackberry devices were almost locked airtight when it came to 3rd party applications. It is only recently that you can point your browser to a site and get games, tools, and enhancements for your device. Microsoft has been steadily improving their Windows OS and offering two lines options depending on your style of handset; Smartphone and Pocket PC software. Apple came along and shook the industry up a little bit this summer by introducing us to phones using the same user-friendly, sexy OSX that graces many of their computers.

With an entirely touch based phone, it opened up a lot of doors and enticed your tech enthusiasts and prosumers. This was the way of the future, right?

The iPhone was not without its detractors though. There were two major gripes coming from the community. First was that there was no way to add applications to the phone. A user was confined to the pre-installed package of programs, no matter how nice or easy to use. Secondly, people were turned off by the fact that they had to sign up to AT&T for service. With a phone already selling at $400-$600, people were not ready to plunk down another $150-$200 to get out of a contract with their current provider. So what happened next? To address these problems, people began dissecting the phone literally from day one. They were looking for ways to ‘open’ the phone up and unlock it. ‘If it takes a SIM card, it has to work on T-Mobile or another carrier’ was the general consensus. It didn’t take long for people to figure out how to jailbreak their handsets. Now, it’s a game of cat and mouse with Apple releasing their updates and hackers releasing patches. In the meanwhile, Apple comes out and says that they will be releasing a developers kit next year so that users can enjoy new ways of taking advantage of all that the iPhone offers.

Enter Google and the Open Handset Alliance.

For the last two years, people have speculated as to what Google’s role might be in the cell phone industry. Months ago, when the news started to really pour in that a ‘gPhone’ was in the works, the blogs and tech sites began to wonder as to what this phone would look like and how it would work. Mock-ups and ‘leaks’ were hitting the internet on a regular basis. As time went, the industry conversations gravitated towards not just one handset called a gPhone, but rather a few models using a Google based operating system. Was Google creating a brand new operating system for phones? Well, yes and no.

Google was in fact working with a couple dozen other companies on an operating system. An open source one to be certain. This list of companies behind this project reads like a “Who’s Who” in the technology industry. In the handset corner, you have Samsung, HTC, LG and Motorola. In the carrier corner, you’ll notice Sprint and T-Mobile. Looking further down the list, you’ll see other major names like eBay, Intel, nVidia, Qualcomm, and Texas Instruments. This group of companies is known as the Open Handset Alliance.

So what happens when all these guys come to the same party? Magic. What else would you expect from today’s movers and shakers? I can almost guarantee that these companies have their hands in at least one thing you touch or use every day. We have total confidence that Android will not just become a major player in the phone industry. We believe that just by merely existing, they will revolutionize the market and force some of today’s names to either adapt their own model or risk extinction. Google and their friends have been doing their homework and listening to people for a lot longer than you think.

If you look through AskTheAdmin’s posts on open source, it’s almost universally in favor of it. Take a look at some of the software you’re probably using right now. Mozilla Firefox, Thunderbird, Flock, home-brewed DVR’s, XBOX Media Center, etc. Let’s also consider what happens when you work on projects socially like Wikipedia. The power and potential is limitless. I don’t know about you, but I can’t even imagine the kind of phone I will be holding a year from now.

Please stop by AndroidGuys.com if you’d like to stay up on developments. Also, please be sure to leave us feedback.

Thanks again to everyone at AskTheAdmin for their support!

Scott Webster | androidguys@gmail.com

(Edit From TheAdmiN: Do you guys like what you see? Do you want us to make this a weekly spot for The AndroidGuys?)

The Admin and Commodore 64 attended the CES International 2008 Press Preview last night. We were on a mission to find new gizmos and gadgets for our upcoming post

“It’s A Geeky Christmas! What to get the geek in your life for the holidays.”

We searched high and low (mostly near the fancy finger foods and at the bar ) then we hit the exhibits. Somehow we wound up with an Exhibitor pass instead of the standard press pass… I started to wait in line to get it all fixed up but then the security guard told me i can go right into the show floor – which was not going to be open for another half hour. Sweet! No line at the bar… No line for food. And no lines at the booths! Super Sweet.

We found a few really cool stocking stuffers and some great low and high end gifts. Some brand new technology and some re-vamped old ones. Check out the highlights:

• A Gold and Fake Snake Skin Motorola Razr V8

• The Dragon is a premium class-1 Bluetooth headset with 100-meter range and dual-mic noise suppression, designed for all-day usage and top performance. It can be used as a two way radio as well. The octopus looking usb hub was cool as well from CallPod.

• AtA’s first hands on with the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child). I was told we can buy them individually but no one could tell me how. If I was Fidel Castro they would have told me! AMD showed us this little guy along with some other very cool stuff.

• Parrot’s Hands Free Car Kit from the Awesome hands of Philips

• A helmet cam

• A Blinged Out Hello Kitty Laptop? Kind of hurts a little eh? AMD had it on display next to some of their fabulous new itty bitty chips that bring ATI graphics to phones and other small platforms.

We also came across some amazing new takes on Wireless USB from WiQuest, RCA is helping old people that don’t know that their old analog TV’s will stop working in 2012 by offering a converter, Alpines Mobile Media Solution – these things keep getting smaller and smaller! I played with some Solid State Drives from SanDisk, Audio Vox has some awesome (Cheap) two way radios and Turbo Charge had really cheap portable chargers for almost every possible mobile device.

Review units will be coming in shortly and we are hard at work compiling our Geeky List for our readers (and their significant others). If you have something you want to submit or just share with us please drop a email to tips at askTheAdmin.com and we will check everything out!

So what do you want for the holidays? Let us know – or if you don’t know what you want send that close someone over to AtA in December for a list of “AtA approved Geeky Goodness” Patent Pending

_TheIfeelLikeSantaAdmiN_

I had been using Celetask to do quick one button reboots but my trial expired and I really could not justify $7.95 just to reboot easier. User Maevro over at Howard Forums created a .cab file that adds a Reboot option to your Windows Mobile Device Quick List. Thats the one you get by hitting the power button once. This was tested on the Q, Dash, Wing and my Dopod 730 aka the Cavalier. It should work with all Windows Mobile 5 or 6 devices. Enjoy!

The Cab file can be downloaded here:
http://www.mistercomputerhead.com/reboot.cab

_TheRebootingAdmiN_

So all the local NYC stores still have stock on the iPhone. eBay yesterday, around 7pm, had these things going for as much as $1200! Now there are so many auctions for .99 and no bids.

Post your iPhone stories and comments in the comments or hit us up at info at asktheadmin dot com

Karl L. Gechlik

_TheAdmiN_
Do you think those bidders that locked in @ $1200 are really going to pay?

I just saw a Washington Post reporter who accidentally dropped his Blackberry in the toilet was able to retrieve it and dry it out to working order again: by leaving it turned off in a bowl of uncooked rice.

One of the commenters said:

for a better desiccant, it’d be a good idea to store all those little silica gel packets that come in anything from shoe boxes to moisture-sensitive gadgets.

I have had lots of experience with getting stuff wet that wasnt suppose to get wet. So a few rules of thumb are make sure the unit is in the powered off state as it dries. And try to get it out in the sun or in a warm spot to dry it off.

If the damage didn’t happen initially on impact in the water chances are it can be resurected!

The sun, rice or silica gel paks all do the same thing and suck up that evil moisture and allow your circuit boards data to flow again.