Windows 7 may have native, on screen, multi-touch support
I’m assuming that this announcement was made very deliberately and that multitouch is a lock. I’m trusting that the Vista wounds are fresh and that they’ll avoid making declarations that they can’t deliver on.
Frankly, the thing that excites me most about this announcement is that OS X will most likely follow suit (or preempt).
Microsoft SideWinder Mouse
Update: Bought a Sidewinder this weekend and it is wonderful! I find myself actually using thumb buttons for once. Also, the mouse is wide and comfortable. It’s nice to see that the container for the weights and alternative feet holds the cord really well. The cord holding feature was clearly not just an afterthought – the holder has a substantial amount of additional heft beyond the mouse weights.
I’m looking forward to the new Microsoft Sidewinder mouse. Not just for gaming, but because of the optimal placement of the thumb buttons. Most mice put the thumb buttons ‘out of the way’, forcing you to reach to press them. The Sidewinder thumb buttons are positioned at your thumb’s resting position, similar to how the left and right buttons are positioned under your fingers.
I’m also looking forward to the competition this represents for logitech. I’m a huge fan of the logitech mice (I own several, including the mx510, the vx nano, and the mx revolution), but I’d love to see even more innovation.
Connectivity Issues
So. As I noted earlier, the Nokia N800 can’t communicate with the Cingular/Samsung Blackjack because the N800 doesn’t support Bluetooth PAN and the Blackjack doesn’t support Bluetooth DUN. Meanwhile, my Vista laptop also can’t connect to the Blackjack because it doesn’t recognize the Blackjack’s PAN implementation.
UMPCPortal is live!
Steve just launched UMPCPortal, combining his work from CarryPad.com and the great community site OrigamiPortal that he recently acquired. It’s now a one-stop-shop for UMPC specs and news.
I helped him out a little with the UMPC Comparison section (an upgrade to his already awesome UMPC product info database), so check that out during your visit – and bookmark it! I expect it will be really useful during next week’s CeBit as the UMPC news rolls in. For an example of the great treatment and extensive descriptions his portal gives to individual UMPCs, check out this page about the Samsung Q2.
You can read more about the launch here.
The Nokia N800 can not use some Windows Mobile 5 SmartPhones for Internet Sharing
There. I said it.
Before broadcasting this to the world, I wanted to wait until I had a solution to the problem or a commitment from Nokia or Microsoft to fix this, but I came up empty on all 3 counts. This post on the InternetTabletTalk forums describes the situation in detail, but here’s a brief primer:
- Windows Mobile 5.0 AKU 3 (and higher), SmartPhone Edition no longer has Bluetooth DUN functionality. The Cingular BlackJack has this version of WM and presumably all of the newer SmartPhones are in that boat as well.
- The Nokia 770 and N800 Internet Tablets currently only support Bluetooth DUN as a way to share a phone’s internet connection.
- Windows Mobile 5.0 AKU 3 supports an alternative method for connection sharing: PAN.
- There are scripts available for the 770 that force it to share internet connections over PAN. It’s pretty hairy to get those scripts running, but it works.
- Those scripts sort of work on the n800, but Opera can’t use the resulting connection for some reason.
Nokia hasn’t announced any plans, yet, to officially support PAN. You can make your voice heard on the matter here.
Microsoft hasn’t announced any plans, yet, to put DUN support back in. You can make your voice heard on the matter here.
John Tokash 