June 2006 - Posts
Destination Q is now LIVE. Motorola has begun handing out these postcards in downtown Chicago:
I was told that there will be Q's all over the walls on display, demonstrating its various capabilities.
It will be open for only six weeks, so get over there today and check it out!
WM5torage, created by
MoDaCo, offers users a simple application to turn your Windows Mobile 5 Smart Phone into a removable storage device (ordinary "usb disk", effectively turning the smartphone into a flash reader, albeit USB 1.0 only, and not very fast) recognized by Windows, esentially the same functionality as a USB flash drive. How is this useful? Well, if you've ever tried to copy large amounts of data to your Mobile device using Active Sync, then you know that it can be a slow process, as Active Sync sits between your PC and the device, marshalling all data access to and from. This application gives you full control over your storage, which enables you to run portable applications, and transfer files all without the need for active sync to be installed. This can be very handy if you are on a guest machine and need to access your phone storage without installing active sync on the host machine, and best of all, it's free.
There are a few side notes, however. When activated, the memory card will not be accessible to the smartphone, as all direct access to the flash card will be routed to USB. Take note of that if some currently running programs which have files open from the storage card. Also, your phone needs to have full application unlock, so that registry entries can be written.
See the web site forum for more details.
Check out this nifty Windows Mobile 5 app for your Q SmartPhone. According to the web site you can get update World Cup scores, news and other information updates.
"WCup 2006 is a football manager, which will enrich your desktop with the latest news and results for the upcoming World Cup 2006 in Germany.
The information is periodically actualized so that you always have up-to-date World Cup news, latest standings and scores, statistics etc. Detailed match reports follow shortly after the match completion.
WCup 2006 offers rich historical information, team rosters, portraits of famous players, information about tournament cities/locations, match calendar, statistics and much more.
Application, reports, news etc. is provided in English, German and French languages."
The extended battery is on sale at Verizon's online
store for only $19.99 ($59.99 regular pice). It's 1640mAh vs. 1130mAh for the standard one. You also get a new battery cover since the the new battery is a bit larger. The extra capacity is nice, but you'll lose a little of the sleek Q form factor.
Armed with my digital camera and a paparazzi attitude, I headed out to snag some shots of the Motorola Q centric store located at 666 N Michigan Ave. Titled Destination Q, the store front had a very neo modern feel about it, nestled in a white marble façade, with a distinct mixture of high technology and a divine looking photo of a woman floating in the clouds, presenting the Q itself, hovering above her out- reached hand. The front door was covered with a frosted coating to keep out prying eyes, with a repeated phrase running across the middle of the glass stating “Let There Be Q”. Given the marbled store front, mystical looking woman, and the 666 number of the address itself, I have to say that the whole thing had a very “Da Vinci Code” like look about it, and the symbolism did not go unnoticed. Motorola must have high confidence in this new product offering’s ability to revolutionize the mobile communications market, much in same the way the Razr did, but obviously at a whole other level.
In front of the store I happened to notice a bus stop advertisement for the Q. This ad struck out at me mainly because what had initially appeared as a replica photo of the large poster of the woman with a floating Q on the front of the store was actually a 3D shadow box with an actual display model floating in her hand, accompanied by several more at the bottom of the box.
From there I decided to walk around the block to examine for potential access points to the back of the store, or maybe just a peek of some display items being hauled in from the street, but alas, found nothing of note. I did realize one possible security hole in the window dressing of the store front though, which my camera would be much better at circumventing than my own eyes. The cloud background window screening was apparently meant to be a more permanent part of the finished store, and thus had small holes with which to let light into the interior. I was able to get a few photos of the inside of the store, which was clearly unfinished, and seemed to be bustling with activity in preparation for a June 8 opening.
As you can see from the shots, there is still some work to be done. There are a few interesting items to note. A large flat screen appears to have an Xbox 360 setup, as evidenced by the console box on the pedestal below the screen. It is also possible to see some of the interior styling, which appears to be very similar to the minimalist white that is used extensively at the Apple Store right across the street. There is a stair case at the side of the main room which leads to one of possibly two additional upper levels. From the paper towels and hefty sacks lying on the counters, it is obvious that the store is the final stages of preparation. It seems clear from the relatively small size of the main room that the store is in fact dedicated exclusively to the Q, and seems as though it will be geared more towards that of a consumer experience, rather than a place to buy Motorola products. I would even suspect that you might not be able to pick up the phone for use, since the Verizon exclusivity will ultimately run out when the Q is eventually released with GSM capability.
With the success of the iPod accessory market, it's only a matter of time before the Q sprouts it's own add-on industry. At least Motorola has gotten out of the gate quickly with a bold high-fashion accessory, the
Q helmet. For those who thought the
RAZRWire glasses were far too fragile, the Q Helmet offers several pounds of stylish head gear.
Featuring Bluetooth 1.2 and ergonmic face shield, it's the perfect companion for Q owning skydivers or for those working in structurally unsound offices.
Ok one last
review....at least for tonight. This one seems a bit more comprehensive than the AP review since 90% of it doesn't involve a faux James Bond plot.
Motorola has add the Q to the developer
site. There isn't much there at the moment except for a nice Q plugin for the emulator, but you can register for updates. So when they add content, you'll be one of the first to know.
Who can get enough reviews of the Q? Posting other people's reviews saves me valuable time so I can practice typing on miniture keyboards. Here is the
AP's take on the Q. Quick summary: Some James Bond analogy, expensive service.
PC Magazine has reviewed the Q over
here. Quick summary: The phone is great, but the high service costs aren't.
With the growing number of smartphone users due to the MotoQ, Sling Media has released a new smartphone version of
SlingPlayer . Now you can watch reruns of "Touched by an Angel" while driving to work via EV-DO. Isn't technology great?
PdaNet 1.65 was recently released. What is PdaNet? It's a small application that allows you to use your smartphone as a modem from your pc. It connects via USB or Bluetooth and is free for a 7 day trial ($34 to purchase). Installation is simple so you'll be enjoying high speed access from your home pc or laptop in minutes. Unless of course you had to sell your home pc and laptop to pay for the first month of Verizon's data plan.
I thought that I would start searching for apps to run from my Motorola Q when it arrives. So far I only found a few freeware sites with Windows Mobile SmartPhone 2005 specific application categories, and with limited freeware offerings. I noticed on a number of the downloads that the .NET Compact Framework 2.0 is required to run the application, so I thought it would be a good idea to be prepared.
Here is a link to the redistributable.
This review of the Motorola Q by PhoneScoop.com reviewer Eric Lin has everything short of a personality test to help determine if the Q is the right smart phone for you. Sure the Q is slender and sexy at first glance, but is it really the dream do-it-all communicator that you've been waiting for, holding on to that star-tac for all these years? Eric delves into the nitty-gritty of the keyboard feel, the responsiveness of the keys, and serves up some hot poses of the Q at every angle. After reading this article, you'll feel as though you've been around the block with the Q and back. Are you ready to make the 2-year
commitment?