After my somewhat dismissive comments on the BlackJack II I’ve discovered that Samsung’s next leap is pretty significant.

Although the phone in the picture (an SGH-i780 aka “Mirage”) bears a strong resemblance to it’s cousin there’s a couple of clues that not everything is quite the same.

First up is the front facing camera. Okay, it’s a tiny little thing but you might notice it. Then there’s the screen – it’s bigger than the BlackJack II (and unusually it’s a square 320x320 format). Just below the screen is a weird touchpad thing in place or the more traditional D-Pad.

Oh, and I left the last big thing until last… that stylus you see next to the phone… your eyes are not playing tricks… this is a touch device.

Amazingly they packed all this, and 802.11b and g WiFi into a device that is pretty much the same size and weight as the BlackJack II without sacrificing anything – it’s still a 3G and GPS equipped device and even has a noticeably faster processor.

This phone fixes pretty much every complaint that I had with the BlackJack II, and even the keyboard is good enough that I’d consider this to be a better phone for every day than my Shadow (there, I said it!) but… the one thing that I’m not sure I like is the trackpad. In mouse mode (yes, you get an on-screen cursor) it’s just too small a surface to work with, and in 4-way pointer mode I miss the physical “action” of a D-Pad. I’d probably even say I prefer the pearl like rollerball (if you like it on the Blackberry wait until you see it on the VelocityMobile 111 – a Windows Mobile device).

Worse than the trackpad is the fact it still doesn’t come with a standard miniUSB connector/charger.

I’ve only got this for a few days while I work on getting a demo tweaked to fit the layout better but I think I’ll miss it when it’s gone! I won’t miss the connector though.

If you use a Blackberry Smartphone and wish you could be like the cool Windows Mobile folks who have access to Live services well… there’s some good news for you - Microsoft and RIM announced Windows Live Services for Blackberry.

This brings both Instant Messenger capabilities as well as access to Hotmail via Blackerry’s familiar push technology to keep you in touch with personal as well as business contacts on the go.

This adds to the existing Live Search capabilities already available for Blackberry.

Just because you use a Blackberry doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of Live services

Did you know that 5 of the 10 top selling ‘Smart Phones’ in the US run on Windows Mobile (yes, even more than the iPhone)?

Have you always wondered what it takes to write something like ‘Bubble breaker’ and how you can get started on an applications that could get used by millions of people around the world

If so, then the Mobility Fire Starter Events are for you!

The Mobility Fire Starter events are either a 1-day seminar or a 3  day lab with in-depth coverage of building applications on the Windows Mobile platform.

You will be introduced to the nitty gritty of writing applications on the Windows Mobile platform. In a typical Fire Starter fashion, the day begins with something really simple and build to more complex applications by the end of the day.

The following seven areas will be discussed in detail:

· All About Windows Mobile
· Windows Mobile for Line of Business
· The Tools
· Managed Development
· Data Management Strategies
· Performance and Optimization
· A Whole New Level

All you need some basic level of understanding of the .NET platform. The event uses familiar tools such as Visual Studio, the .NET Compact Framework, SQL Server Compact Edition and more.

There are only a few events left in the US and they’re filling up fast (I’ve got my place in Redmond booked!)

Thanks to Jason for the heads up and Loke for an insight into the sort of things the event contains.

If you’re a developer looking to get a headstart on the most open smartphone development on the market you really need to be there…

A while ago I got myself a Samsung Q1U Ultra-Mobile PC (UMPC) which I’ve really enjoyed using for RSS reading, basic browsing, and as a glorified remote control for my SlimServer. I’ve been lucky enough to be using the Origami Experience v2 which you can read about here which really rocks (though I must get it set up for speech so I can yell “next” at it when I’m on the elliptical!)

One problem though is that the UMPC devices are, by their very nature, a little underpowered. With an 800Mhz Intel A110 processor and only 1GB of RAM trying to do a lot of things was a bit painful.

Luckily Hugo Ortega (who I’d been lucky enough to get some advice from before buying my Q1U) had posted some very clear instructions on doubling the RAM in the Q1U to 2GB.

With a couple of hours free on Sunday I headed down to Frys and grabbed a Crucial 2GB 667Mhz 200 pin SoDIMM (less than $50 from Amazon or your local electronics store). As it turned out it took longer to get to Frys and back than it did to actually complete the installation!

The machine certainly feels a lot quicker and more stable. The HDD is spending less time thrashing which in turn I hope will help battery life. The addition of a 2GB Readyboost SD card will also help keep things smooth and fun.

The lesson I’ve learnt from this … along with last weeks flattening of my day-to-day Vaio to install a slipstreamed SP1 build and get rid of all the cruft … RAM *really* matters to Vista. Even on a low power processor it can be the difference between usable and painful for anything other than really simple tasks.

Microsoft’s SPOT (Smart Personal Object Technology) has had quite a long life in it’s original form, with up to date information being delivered to various devices – as diverse as watches and coffee makers – but as times have changed demand has waned.

Partners are no longer selling SPOT enabled watches – although the good news for us who use them is that the service will continue to deliver news, weather and other updates as expected for time to come.

That doesn’t mean it’s the end for the brand though. The MSN Direct service is changing along with the needs of it’s audience and delivering content in more appropriate and targeted ways… the SPOT devices are becoming less visible and more just a part of every day life.

What use is traffic data and gas prices delivered to your phone? If you’re in the car then wouldn’t it make sense it your GPS device knew that information and could make use of it? Well, with the partnership with Garmin (“MSN Direct services for GPS Navigation Devices” according to the marketing folks) the technology is embedded into your Satellite Navigation to help make smarter decisions.

One criticism of the SPOT enabled watches was the screen size. Well, a lot of people already carry a device with a much larger screen every day – their phone. Using over the air data delivery or WiFi (for phones that support that) the MSN Direct service is available both as a native Windows Mobile client or via any mobile browser by visiting the mobile enabled http://phone.msndirect.com.

It’s great to see how this really simple technology has evolved from it’s useful but admittedly clunky origins. Of course, if you’re determined to have a really high tech watch you should check out the Epoq EGP-WP98B – a smart watch that runs Windows Mobile 5 (yes, it’s a phone!)