Pocket PC Entertainment and Humor

Here are a few hopefully funny things I've done about the Pocket PC and its competition. (No, I don't claim to be a Photoshop expert!) Please treat these as downloads, subject to our Downloads policy.

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Here are the items on this page:

• Motorola D-Phone
• Credit Card iPAQ
• Touchscreen Smartphone Hack
• Windows Mobile Jumbotron
• Microsoft Buys Palm
• Verizon Wireless Bluetooth Hack
• HP iPAQ hx401
• Early Motorola Q Release
• SanDisk 40 GB Secure Digital Card
• Neanderthal Tools
• Toshiba Product Support

Motorola D-Phone

I did this for April Fool's Day 2008 at pocketnow.com. People were complaining that Windows Mobile was broken, hard-to-use and so on, so I thought it would be humorous to see what happened if we made it really hard to use. In case it's not completely obvious, you can tell it's an April Fool's joke by the phone number (401-2008 = 4/1/2008, or April Fool's Day).

You've been reading lots of articles complaining about Windows Mobile lately. They say that it's broken, too hard to use and not a good user experience. People expected Microsoft to fix that in Windows Mobile 7, and they may, but apparently they've also been working on a new, somewhat retro operating system.

Motorola, who's been having troubles of their own in the mobile phone market, will be the first to release a phone based on the new operating system. It will use the same basic case as their popular Motorola Q9 series of phones.

At CTIA today, Motorola showed off the new phone. Here at pocketnow, we're proud to have the first photo of the new Motorola D-Phone, running Microsoft's latest operating system, DOS Mobile 1.0.

Post any comments about this in our forums.

Credit Card iPAQ

I did this for April Fool's Day 2008 at pocketnow.com. Last year I created the world's largest Windows Mobile device, the Windows Mobile Jumbotron. This year I thought I'd create the world's smallest one. You can tell it's an April Fool's joke by the 4.1" display (4.1 = 4/1, or April Fool's Day).

Even though it's not a phone, HP took an opportunity at CTIA to announce the world's thinnest Windows Mobile device. Using a 4.1" VGA OLED display and a lithium-polymer battery, HP has packed a Windows Mobile Classic device into a credit card-sized package.

Other than the excellent display, it's not a high-end PDA. Here are the specs announced so far:

• Intel Marvell 312 MHz processor
• Windows Mobile 6.1 Classic
• 128 MB Flash ROM (58 MB available)
• 64 MB RAM
• 4.1" 640x480 VGA OLED screen
• 802.11b WiFi (not 802.11g!)
• Bluetooth 2.0
• MicroSDIO slot

There also aren't any application buttons and there's no directional pad, so you'll have to use the touchscreen to do everything.

While it may not be the most powerful PDA ever, look at the size of it. It's a Pocket PC that won't fill up that pocket!

Post any comments about this in our forums.

Touchscreen Smartphone Hack

I did this for April Fool's Day 2008 at pocketnow.com, but I'd been thinking of it for almost a year. You can tell it's an April Fool's joke by the hacker's name number (412008 = 4/1/2008, or April Fool's Day).

I've always wondered why you couldn't have a touchscreen Smartphone. After all, the Pocket PC and Smartphone versions of Windows Mobile have been converging, so why hasn't somebody combined the finger-friendly aspects of the Smartphone with the easy navigation and text selection of a touchscreen?

Well, thanks to a shortage of LCD displays in certain sizes last year and an enterprising hacker, you might already have one.

Apparently there was a shortage of smaller LCDs last year, so some Smartphone OEMs used existing stocks of smaller touchscreens. Because Smartphones aren't supposed to have touchscreens, they obviously didn't announce his. However, an enterprising hacker at XDA Developers named Hacksalot412008 wondered if that touchscreen could be activated, so he tracked down one of the phones and went to work.

It turns out that activating the touchscreen is very simple. Just get a copy of touch.dll from the \Windows folder of a Pocket PC, copy it to your Smartphone's \Windows folder, do a soft reset and, if you have one of the special phones, you'll be able to use the touchscreen. You'll obviously need to get your own stylus, but see the photo for an example of what you can do.

Post any comments about this in our forums.

Windows Mobile Jumbotron

I did this for April Fool's Day 2007 at pocketnow.com. PDAs are supposed to be small and private. I thought it would be humorous to see what happened at the other extreme. You can tell it's an April Fool's joke by the 41-foot display (41 = 4/1, or April Fool's Day) and the Sony spokeswoman's name (phonetically, April Fool-You).

Sony has announced it has completed a joint project with Microsoft to produce the first Windows Mobile Jumbotron. Installed at Georgetown's Legg Mason Arena, it measures almost 24 feet by 34 feet (or, in TV speak, just over 41 feet diagonally).

People will be able to connect to the Jumbotron using Class 1 Bluetooth to browse the Web, check E-mail, search using Windows Live and so on.

Based on Windows Mobile 6, April Fulyu of Sony said, "This is the world's largest PDA. You'll be able to keep working now even while at sporting events." She also said the WM Jumbotron would be deployed at other college and professional sporting venues in 2007.

This sounds awesome. No more small screens and hard-to-read print. What do you think?

Post any comments about this in our forums.

Microsoft Buys Palm

I did this for April Fool's Day 2007 at pocketnow.com. There was lots of speculation that Palm was up for sale, and that perhaps Motorola would buy Palm. I thought Microsoft buying Palm would upset the Palm fanboys. You can tell it's an April Fool's joke by the $4.1 billion and the 41 licensees (4.1 = 41 = 4/1, or April Fool's Day).

In case you didn't see the big news on Friday, Microsoft and Palm have agreed to merge. It was thought that Motorola was going to acquire Palm, but apparently Microsoft outbid Motorola to the tune of $4.1 billion.

Steve Ballmer said that Palm would be producing the Windows Mobile Treo as well as Windows Mobile versions of the LifeDrive, Tungsten, TX and even the low-cost Z series. Imagine a Windows Mobile device for under $100!

Ballmer also stated that Palm would no longer be producing any Palm OS devices after the acquisition is finalized.

The two big questions I have are how Microsoft's 41 Windows Mobile licensees will take this news and what will happen to ACCESS (who bought PalmSource) now that their biggest licensee will be gone.

Is this good news or bad news?

Post any comments about this in our forums.

Verizon Wireless Bluetooth Hack

I did this for April Fool's Day 2006 at pocketnow.com. Verizon Wireless was somewhat infamous for crippling Bluetooth on some devices (like not allowing sending files, presumably to preserve GetItNow revenue). I thought it would be funny if there was an easy hack to eliminate the restrictions. You can tell it's an April Fool's joke by the registry value (0x0401 = 4/1, or April Fool's Day).

A developer has just discovered a new registry hack to restore full Bluetooth functionality to any Verizon Wireless Pocket PC Phones. This is something everybody has been waiting for!

It does require a registry hack, so break out your favorite registry editor and add the following key/value pair to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Telephony as a DWORD value:

Uncripple 0x0401

Voila! Bluetooth should be working like you want! Unfortunately, I don't have a Pocket PC Phone to test this on. If you do, let us know whether or not it worked in the discussion.

Post any comments about this in our forums.

HP iPAQ hx401

I did this for April Fool's Day 2006 at pocketnow.com. Everybody wants the perfect PDA, so I created one. You can tell it's an April Fool's joke by the model number (401 = 4/1, or April Fool's Day) — HP Pocket PCs have four-digit model numbers.

HP announced the iPAQ hx401 today. It seems like the PDA everybody has been waiting for — the successor to the hx4700, only better.

Here are some specs:

• Intel XScale 624 MHz processor
• Windows Mobile 5.0 for Pocket PC with AKU2
• 288 MB Flash ROM (224 MB available)
• 128 MB RAM
• 4.0" 480x640 VGA screen
• GSM with EDGE
• 802.11g WiFi (yes, 54 mbps)
• Bluetooth 2.0
• SiRFStar III GPS with TMC traffic data receiver
• Fingerprint scanner
• SDIO slot
• MiniSD slot

The form factor is supposed to be similar to the hx4700, so it's probably meant to be used as a connected PDA, not a true phone, although with Bluetooth you can use a headset, of course.

Unfortunately, as this was just a press release, I don't have any photos yet. Is this your next Pocket PC?

Post any comments about this in our forums.

Early Motorola Q Release

I did this for April Fool's Day 2006 at pocketnow.com. The Motorola Q had been announced months back and people were predicting an April release, so I claimed that I got one earlier. You can tell it's an April Fool's joke by looking at the first letter of each item in the feature list. (And, yes, that is an old Q prototype.)

I walked into my local Verizon Wireless store Friday to check out the xv6700, but look what I found. Yes, it's the Motorola Q! I had heard rumors that it might be released in April, but this beat the rumors by one day.

Here are some specs and things that I like so far:

• Awesome 1.3 megapixel camera
• Phone: CDMA
• RAZR-like styling
• Internal antenna (no lumps sticking up)
• Lighted QWERTY keyboard
• Form factor: Candy bar
• Operating System: Windows Mobile 5.0 for Smartphones
• Only 0.47" thick
• Landscape 320x240 2.4" QVGA screen
• Storage: 64 MB Flash ROM, plus MiniSD slot

I bought one on the spot. Are you going to?

Post any comments about this in our forums.

SanDisk 40 GB Secure Digital Card

I did this for April Fool's Day 2005 at pocketnow.com. This was back when 2 GB SD cards still cost well over $100! It was also before the video iPods were released.

In a surprise move, SanDisk announced a 40 GB Secure Digital memory card. According to the press release, it will feature a transfer rate of 480 Mbps, equivalent to USB 2.0. The best news -- it will cost only $499, a bargain considering how much other companies charge for miniscule 12 GB Compact Flash cards. Availability is reported to be in the third quarter of 2005.

This is awesome news. We'll now be able to have iPod-like storage on our Pocket PCs. Better still, we'll be able to store several DVDs worth of movies we can watch. Try that on your iPod!

Will you be buying this card when it starts shipping? I know I will.

Post any comments about this in our forums.

Neanderthal Tools

I did this for a contest at Pocket PC Addict that was making fun of Palm PDAs. I had always wondered how primitive humans knew when to hunt, and this picture explained it. (Look on the left side of the picture if you can't see it.)

(Clicking the image opens the full-size version in a new window.)

Post any comments about this in our forums.

Toshiba Product Support

I did this for a PDA parody contest at Pocket PC Thoughts. Toshiba wasn't going to upgrade their e310 Pocket PC, which had been out a relatively short time, to Windows Mobile 2003. I didn't think that was reasonable, so I visited their Web site and created my own promotion for the e330 that replaced it. I also took a shot at them for selling high-tech manufacturing equipment to the Russians back in the day when the Russian military was a bigger threat than their spammers and phishers.

(Clicking the image opens the full-size version in a new window.)

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