One of the problems with using most smartphones or UMPCs is that while the form factor is ideally suited to portability they are not exactly the best form factor for composing an essay on.

A while ago I ordered a USB roll up keyboard for the Q1U but it was too big and the keypad layout was weird (and the action was terrible). The backlight was the coolest thing about it (but it made a buzzing noise). Needless to say it wasn’t a hit (and as the Q1U only has 2 USB sockets it was a bit of a nuisance).

I’d asked around a bit and folks said great things about the iGo Stowaway keyboard but sadly while it is still available it’s been discontinued – mainly because developing new drivers wasn’t cost effective for iGo. While that meant I could get one today and it would probably work with any of my phones and my Vista / WinXP machines there was no guarantee it would stay current as new devices and operating systems appeared on the horizon.

So I went hunting again and found a great little bluetooth keyboard from Freedom (the same folks who make my current GPS dongle). It supports both HID and SPP profiles which means it can be paired with Windows PCs, Windows Mobile smartphones and professional (touch) devices as well as Blackberry, Nokia and Palm phones.

Installation on the PC was easy – like pairing with any other device (though typing in the pass key “blind” was funny!). Pairing on the phone was a little harder as it requires downloading a driver and then generating an unlock key (I understand that they do that to ensure people only use their drivers with keyboards from Freedom but the process wasn’t fool-proof for me… I’d like the driver to include the smarts to negotiate the connection and guide me through verification) – but it works perfectly.

The keyboard, although folding, has a great layout (apart from the /? key being to the right of the shift, and the spacebar being in two parts), great action on the keys but having 5 rows (including a full number row), Windows key, function key (Fn+number) and a physical on/off switch (toggles on, HID or SPP profiles) makes this a great option for both UMPC or smartphone users fed up with cramped (or missing) keyboards.

It’s not tiny. Folded it’s about the size of two SGH-i780s side by side (see here for comparisons) but it’s lightweight, and takes standard AA batteries. Unfolded and locked it’s stable and feels solid. It even includes an integrated stand for your phone – can double as a notes holder.

The only thing I’d like to see is a pointing-stick style mouse to avoid reaching for the stylus or having to tap the screen on the Q1U but even that omission doesn’t distract from using this (as any bluetooth mouse could also be paired to complement the setup)

And yes. I wrote this review on my UMPC using the Freedom keyboard. I would have used my i780 but I don’t have a blogging app on there that I really like.

One thing that makes a smartphone really smart is knowing where it is and being able to tell you about it. Most people are comfortable with using the mapping capabilities of the satellite navigation systems in their car, but there’s no reason not to take that functionality everywhere with you.

Most of the high-end Windows Mobile smartphone (non touch) and Professional (touch-screen) devices come with GPS capabilities (and some with Assisted GPS which allows cell tower triangulation to get an initial lock while the phone locks on to enough satellites to get an accurate location).

Useful as it is, some older devices (like my trusty old Wizard, or the T-Mobile Dash) and even newer handsets like the Shadow don’t include GPS – often it’s driven by battery capacity (as running GPS all day can take its toll).

That doesn’t mean you have to go without though. If your phone has bluetooth support then there are a number of options available. I’d tried a couple of reasonable solutions but not found one that was convenient enough for everyday use. When my last device died I almost didn’t bother replacing it as most of the phones I was using had GPS. But my trusty Shadow was feeling left out and I was still using it as my day-top-day phone.

So I had a look around and found what has turned out to be a great little GPS unit. The Freedom Keychain GPS 2000.

This receiver is tiny. It hangs on my keychain and it’s hardly noticeable. It charges via a standard miniUSB connector so it’s easy to keep powered and gives about 8 hours use before needing juice. Pairing with the Shadow was incredibly easy and I’ve not had a connection problem (first for a Bluetooth device!). It takes about 15-30 seconds to get a lock from turning on when outside (longer indoors) and it’s accurate – most mini GPS units are 20 channel, this is a 51 channel device. One final thing I love about this is the fact the status lights are very discrete.

So, what can you use GPS with on your smartphone?

If you’ve got a built-in or bluetooth device then the most obvious application is Windows Live Search for Mobile (see review of latest version) but I also use Navizon to keep an eye on where my buddies are. For turn-by-turn navigation similar to your in-car navigation solution there are application from CoPilot, Garmin and Mobium. There is a list being maintained at Mapping4Mobiles that details a number of other options for various devices.

At the moment there are a huge number of opportunities that are missing out of the box for location aware services – geotagging photos probably being the most obvious, but one-touch sharing of location via BrightKite or FireEagle (though Navizon works just fine for that). In an ideal world services like Yelp or similar would be able to adjust their offering if they know where I am…

One added bonus of using a bluetooth device is you can pair it with more than one device. My Keychain works fine with my Shadow, but also pairs perfectly with my Samsung UMPC which opens up a whole new set of options for navigation – including Microsoft Streets and Trips or IntelliNav (and because the Keychain uses a standard USB charger cable I can power it from the UMPC even when it’s paired via Bluetooth to drive the software!)

One of the coolest things about my new job seems to be the number of toys that have gone rushing over my desk in the last few weeks.

Most folks assume that they just get “given” to us, and for some devices (such as the TyTN II and the Mirage) they are – but only for a very short time then they have to go back to the Mobile Demo team or their real owners because my excuse to play with them is over.

Most however have been paid for out of my very own pocket. Not expensed and not donated. I really must do something about that.

So… what is in the picture this month?

At the top is my UMPC. It’s a Samsung Q1U and I like it very much. It’s recently had some surgery to give it more RAM and it’s now very much more usable. I’m not a fan of the split keyboard though and to be a really useful machine it needs a better battery and a faster CPU (and a faster hard drive!)

Below that is the telephony suspects. My Shadow, then a BlackJack II, the TyTN II we used for the Silverlight demo at Advance08 and finally the Samsung Mirage (SGH-i780).

Because all of these phones apart from the Shadow have GPS I bought myself a tiny (keyring sized) Freedom GPS 200 bluetooth device (it’s going to have to share with the Q1U though!).

Last but not least is the answer to the keyboard woes of the Q1U. A Freedom Universal folding bluetooth keyboard. This device claims compatibility with both Windows/Vista devices and smartphones. Well, I had no problem what-so-ever pairing it with the Q1U and so I’m really happy with that.

The bad news is that at this point in time I am totally unable to get it working with any of the phones in the list above. First of all the driver install from the PC doesn’t work in Vista (you have to manually copy the files across and install it), the over-the-air installer doesn’t recognize any of the devices and for good measure even when I get the driver installed it wants to generate a unique unlock code for each device before it’ll let me pair… the website fell over when I tried to go it for the first device, and as you can see… I get through devices at a fair rate so locking me to one isn’t going to make me a fan.

I’ve logged a couple of support requests… when they get back to me I’ll have another look at the keyboard and report back.

Oh, and the neat little bag with “Windows Mobile” written on it… invaluable for lugging around chargers, USB cables, spare batteries, microSD cards and USB adapters and whatever else!

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!)

It's quite often a question I ask myself when lost and confused in a city far from home (and actually I ask myself the question when I'm just popping down the shops sometimes!)

Luckily I recently discovered Navizon which lets me pair a GPS device with my phone and show me where I am on a map (yes, I know I can do the same with Windows Live Search for Mobile but ... there's more to the story). Navizon give users who report GPS data back to them points (and points mean cold hard cash via PayPal). The reason Navizon give the rewards is that their positioning service doesn't just work with a GPS equipped device. If you only have phone (and ideally WiFi) capabilities it can use information about the local cells and visible WiFi networks coupled with the afore-mentioned GPS data to make a pretty good guess as to where you are.

One of the cool things is that the Navizon API is available for other companies to make their software location aware so hopefully we'll see some good things coming soon. In the meantime users can also access data (including the optional "tracker" functionality) to keep an eye out for buddies or alert friends and family when they enter a certain place or use the XML feed to locate yourself on a map.

I decided to have a play with the XML feed and Live Maps to see what I could do...

BTW if you sign up to Navizon don't forget my referal code - 5E585D5B5A :)

One of the things I wanted in my perfect phone was GPS, but sadly my new Shadow doesn't have it built in.

The reason was simple. I'm new to the US and even still get lost in Redmond. Also after living in Australia for a decade I find my internal sense of direction is out of whack (it took me about 2 years to trust it after I moved to Aus)

Luckily there is a solution. Navizon have a small app you can download to your phone that uses cell towers, wifi access points and, if you have it, GPS to triangulate your location. Once it has that information it lets you navigate and record your trail (including options to export to Google Earth or as a CSV). You can geotag where you've been and share the information with buddies (or see where they are right now).

As it happens I also have a Bluetooth GPS device so I can pair that with the phone when I really want accuracy but it's good enough to locate the hotel I was in based on the 13 WiFi access points and 7 Cell Phone towers it could locate just from my room!

The application is available as a native Windows Mobile application and they also support iPhone, Blackberry and Nokia S60 devices. They even have a desktop app if you don't have WiFi or GPS on your phone.

This software relies on a community of users who contribute data to the system (WiFi and Cellular towers) when they have a GPS device. Not only do non GPS phone users get the benefit of that data but users who have a GPS device get to take part in the Navizon rewards program - each cell tower or access point you provide GPS coordinates for earns you points and those points translate (once you've got enough) into dollars via PayPal. You can even refer folks and earn a percentage of their points (they don't lose out, your bonus is in addition to their credit!)

One thing it doesn't do it let me post my location to Twitter (nice to do when I get off a plane - helps me remember where I am when I wake up in a strange hotel!) but I've send them a feature request for that ;)

A couple of months ago I finally took the plunge and got a new toy - a Samsung Q1 Ultra UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC) running Windows Vista.

I'd been looking for a better solution for a lightweight device that was easy to take on the road with me but that would do a better job of email than my phone, and could also connect to the corporate network and allow me to demonstrate Silverlight apps and other things that I often need to do when I'm out of the office.

As a bonus I wanted something that I could use to read ebooks and catch up on RSS feeds as well as email, but I didn't want to have to carry a whole slew of devices.

The tipping point that got me to go and get one wasn't a huge frustration with the current tools I had available but rather a sneak preview of the next generation of the Origami Experience that was announced yesterday at CES.

While the original was pretty good the integrated RSS reader in the new version was enough to push me over the edge. The added bonus of the Picture Password app helped clinch the deal as I'm not convinced fingerprints are the way to go and hated the thought of entering my password on the Q1U's dinky little keyboard.

While I love the Q1U I think it's a second generation device of a platform that's going to need to get to third or maybe fourth to be really fantastic.

The complaints aren't big things, it's mostly down to horsepower and stamina.

My machine is configured with Vista and, as everyone knows, it does take more resources to run smoothly. The fairly low spec CPU does an okay job of basic apps but in conjunction with only 1GB of RAM and a 4800rpm HDD it's quite easy to get it thrashing. I'm wondering if I dare brave opening the case up and trying to fit extra RAM and/or upgrade to a SSD... maybe one day!

Even with the underpowered processor the battery life isn't stellar. I suspect a lot of that might be (ironically) down to the disk thrashing that goes on but I'm starting to think I need a bigger battery.

My other gripe is the keyboard. Although it seems like a great idea the keys are actually harder to use than on my Wizard - I'd much prefer a slide-out keyboard or similar (in fact I think I'll end up getting a fold-up bluetooth keyboard... which will drain the battery as well!).

That does lead me on the the hidden peril of UMPCs.... on their own they are small and lightweight, but throw the power brick, and a spare keyboard and maybe a mouse and a USB hub and whatever else into the bag as well and it does take up a fair about of packing room!

That said, the Origami Experience is pretty fantastic and inking in Vista opens up a whole new dimension in ways to get things done.

Hopefully with the interest that Nokia, Intel and Cononical (Moblin project), and even apparently Apple are showing in this space we're going to see rapid steps to the next generation of devices.

For now if you're thinking about a UMPC I recommend checking out sites like jkOnTheRun, UberTablet or UMPC Buzz as well as the Origami Project site.

I just got a new set of speakers for the living room. While they're not high end audio for a family room where ease of use is pretty important the Logitech Z-5500 seem to fit right in.

Of course out of the box all the cables are the wrong length and we're going to have to move some stuff around but it was really easy to get it set up and wired into the main audio source via digital co-ax and the Media Center PC via the (supplied) 3x3.5mm adapters. Unfortunately (and if I'd have read the small print) there's no optical links (or co-ax) where supplied so I've got to pick one up tomorrow to finish getting the TV and XBox360 all plugged in.

I love the wireless remote. It's a big step up on what we had in the living room for the first few months.

The Z-5500s are replacing a Z4 2.1 setup (also Logitech) which have now been banished down to the rumpus room where Rhiannon has her PC, the washing machine and my elliptical all live. The main reason for them going down there is to let me not have to reply on the iPod when I'm working out, and let Rhiannon stream music from upstairs when she's doing her homework.

For cheaper, low-end speakers the sound from the Z4s have impressed me over the last few months. The subwoofer makes that little bit of difference over the usual run of the mill "PC" speakers and it's robust enough to have taken a few knocks so I'm hoping they'll do well in the rougher environment downstairs.

So for both the living room and rumpus downstairs music is a pretty important part of the equation. With three of us living here with fairly varied musical tastes (if you look at my Last.FM listing it's very different to Storms!).

We could have solved the problem with CD players and physical disks but it all seemed too messy and low-tech, and with the Windows Home Server sitting upstairs a fairly obvious solution was to install SqueezeCenter and get a couple of SqueezeBoxes.

The SqueezeCenter (frankly I prefer it's previous name of SlimServer, but since Logitech has purchased SlimDevices they've gone through a bit of a re-branding) runs quietly upstairs merrily cataloguing and of our CDs that we rip to the network and allows us to play them back on either Squeezebox (independently if upstairs and downstairs are catering to different people) or synchronized so you can wander around the house and not miss a beat.

You can control the Squeezeboxes either from their own remotes, or a Logitech Harmony remote, via a web browser (the SqueezeCenter has a Web interface to control the players) or various 3rd party utilities. We use all four methods depending on who is doing what where!

Annoyingly even though Logitech have purchased SlimDevices they have not yet released any integrated products. I would love to see the Squeezebox able to control the speakers (on/off, select the correct input source etc) - especially with the top-of-the-line Z-5500s, but both they and the Z4s have control inputs so I hope we'll see something on the market that uses the SqueezeBox IrBlaster connection to directly control the speakers. As it is, when I'm done on the Elliptical I have to turn a couple of things off, instead of just one.

The other annoyance with the Z-5500s is that they're not that smart. When there's no input for (say) a couple of minutes I'd want them to go into standby, and wake up when there is input. They seem to auto-select based on a hierarchy (optical, coax digital then analogue) which is cool but it would be neat for me to be able to pre-define that (say) the coax input should always be Dolby Digital music and the XBo360x/TV optical input should always optimize for TV/Movie. I guess that's another price point though.

Oh, and while I love the Squeezebox because when it's off the screen dims (or goes completely blank - that's user configurable) both the speakers display a garish blue light when they are on, and the Z-5500s have a red glow when they are in standby mode.

Every time I get all excited and add another computer to the setup at home I get in trouble.

It means more cables (the Media Center is a big culprit there) or another remote control (Media Center and Xbox360 are in the bad books there), something new to learn (that happened when we went to Vista and Office 2007 as well) or (my personal favorite gripe) yet more flashing blue lights.

Luckily our newest addition to the family isn't going to cause those sorts of upsets for a couple of reasons.

First of all because the server is designed to be headless it's going to live in a cupboard (just as soon as we drill a hole in the floor to drop the Cat5 cable down to the crawlspace) and because it's pretty transparent in operation no-one will really know it's there until it saves the day.

So what the heck is Windows Home Server? That was the question I asked when I first had a look at what was at the time called "Q". I couldn't see what was so special about a headless box that I could back stuff onto - after all I had a Maxtor NAS that could do it already didn't I?

But because I can't help myself when there's something shiny to play with I grabbed my spare desktop machine, flattened it and installed the first of several betas. After a pretty painless configuration process I had a box sitting happily on the network with the router configured to its liking and both the house PCs, the Media Center and my laptop running the Connector client. Everyone had access to the shared storage for personal data, music, pictures and movies and backups were running happily.

We slowly moved a lot of the video content for the Media Center off the various external USB drives that I used because we'd run out of space on the internal drives to the box upstairs.

A few weeks went by and we didn't really think about it. It was great having all the media in one place again and we moved the SlimServer software from Storms machine to the WHS box and no-one noticed any different (apart from Storm who got a few more responsive machine and better web browsing because she wasn't sharing her WiFi now the SlimServer was on the wired segment).

Then my work laptop had a bit of a moment and had to go for surgery. Now I'll admit that I'm not the king of backups - in fact I've not actually done anything apart from random files here and there since we got to the US - so I expected life was going to be painful. Not so. Grabbed my old laptop, installed the connector, connected to the Windows Home Server, mapped the backup and drag'n'dropped the files I needed.

An insiders perspective on development of Windows Home Server can be found on the WHS blog on TechNet and a glossy overview on the Microsoft site. If you want some more in-depth documentation check out the various Getting Started and SDK guides.

Yes, there is an SDK and folks can develop add-ins to extend the capabilities of the WHS configuration. I'm using WHIIST but check out the list at WeGotServed for more great add-ins. They're also keeping a list of OEMs who will be shipping units you can buy and put in your own cupboard later this year... meantime you can discuss the possibilities and future directions at the WHS Forum.

We still need to drill that hole so we can hide the wiring but Windows Home Server is staying.... and I'm looking forward to what v2 will bring ;)

Like any other operating system Vista performs pretty nicely if you've got enough RAM, but sometimes you're just on the edge. Sometimes not enough, but not often enough to justify going from 1GB to 2GB or beyond.

So, apart from the smart stuff like stopping services you don't need and making sure you're machine is tuned up is there anything you can do?

If you have a high performance flash memory device (USB Memory Key, SD Card etc) then the answer is yes.... and it's called ReadyBoost.

Setting up a ReadyBoost device is simple (just follow the instructions here) and it's pretty much a set and forget process with Vista taking advantage of the extra memory to avoid paging to the much slower hard disc.

Of course once you've got ReadyBoost helping out it's nice to know how much help it's providing. If you're happy to dig into the vast array of performance monitors that Vista provides then check out these instructions but, if like me, you like your information pretty, simple and bite sized then check out this sidebar gadget to give you the information.

Of course running lots of performance monitors or an extra service and the sidebar itself to monitor the benefit may well defeat the benefit - thought that's starting to get into Schrödinger's cat territory!

I now leave a USB Memory Key stuck into my docking station for my Laptop. Most of the time when I'm on the road I don't need the boost (though the larger USB key I carry with me can double for that) but when I'm desk bound it's nice to take advantage of the extra USB ports and a smaller (2GB as opposed to 8GB) ReadyBoost certified device.