Thanks for a great 2008

2008 was a great year for enterprise mobility, with plenty of new technologies and gadgets to keep us mobile workers happier than ever. This year I'm particularly thankful for:

-- Apple iPhone 3G for giving us the best mobile Web browsing experience possible on 3.5G. In the coming year, I hope iPhone application development will become less tedious than it is now.

-- Google Android for giving us a new, easier way to write mobile Java applications. Android applications are also supposed to run more efficiently than Java ME applications.

-- Netbooks, which are light, affordable and highly suitable..... Read more »

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Stream your own live video to your mobile phone

HAVA is a networked appliance that can encode a video source in real-time and stream it to your mobile phone. For example, you can connect a surveillance camera to the HAVA box and you will be able to watch the surveillance video on your mobile phone, via the HAVA mobile client software. The HAVA mobile client software will connect to the Internet via 3G or Wi-Fi to receive the video stream. The HAVA mobile client supports selected models of Windows Mobile and Nokia Series 60 phones.

I tested a HAVA Titanium HD box that I bought from..... Read more »

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Free GPS tracking for iPhone, Android

If you need to track the whereabouts of your co-workers, or to give them your precise location, try using the free GPS tracking service by InstaMapper. (You still need to pay for mobile data charges though.)

You can install the free InstaMapper client software on your iPhone, Android and BlackBerry (some models only) mobile devices. When you run the InstaMapper client on your phone, it sends your GPS location periodically to InstaMapper's server via 3G or Wi-Fi. Your co-workers will be able to log in to InstaMapper's password-protected Web site and see your present location, as well as your..... Read more »

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Why multi-SIM mobile services are useful

Some mobile operators offer a multi-SIM service that effectively "clones" your SIM card, allowing you to use multiple phones and PDAs with multiple SIM cards that are linked to a single mobile subscription.

You may make multiple phonecalls and mobile data connections simultaneously. However, only one of the devices can be designated as the master device to receive phonecalls and SMS messages.

Why is multi-SIM useful? Every day, I carry with me five mobile devices that require SIM cards:

(1) Sony VGN-AR69GU laptop with Sony Ericsson PC300 HSDPA (3.5G) mobile broadband modem

(2) Nokia N82, my primary..... Read more »

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Building a Google Android application

The new Google Android HTC G1 smartphone promises to cover the middle-ground, between the Apple iPhone and Windows Mobile smartphones.

iPhones are easy to use with their large touchscreens but as I mentioned in my earlier blog posts, some common messaging features are missing and building enterprise applications can be tedious.

Windows Mobile smartphones fully support SMS and MMS messaging, and enterprise applications may be easily built with Microsoft Visual Studio, but some functions are not suitable for finger-touch access (e.g. configuring the HTC Touch Pro to connect to a protected WiFi network). Google Android..... Read more »

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Building an iPhone application

The iPhone has a terrific touchscreen and great features like 3.5G mobile broadband and GPS, making the iPhone highly suitable for some enterprise mobile applications. If you're thinking of building your own iPhone application, here are a few useful pointers:

-- You need a Mac to build iPhone applications. Building iPhone applications on a PC is not supported by Apple.

-- Register as an iPhone developer here and download the iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK), which includes the iPhone Simulator. Registration is free, but to test your application on an actual iPhone or iPod Touch, you'll need to purchase the..... Read more »

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Turn your mobile phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot

If you're using a newer Nokia phone like Nokia N95 and N82, you can install the JoikuSpot software to turn your Nokia phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot. This means that you will be able to connect notebooks, PDAs and other Wi-Fi devices to your phone and enable them to access the Internet via the phone's 3G/GPRS mobile data function.

When you activate JoikuSpot, your phone will broadcast itself as an adhoc Wi-Fi network, with a unique SSID. You can then connect your notebook or PDA to the Wi-Fi network, just like you would with any other Wi-Fi network. Your..... Read more »

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Working with offline Web applications on Netbooks

Compact, inexpensive Netbooks like the ASUS Eee PC 701 are getting cheaper and more powerful. Why not consider using them for mobile fieldwork applications, like surveys and order entry?

I used the Eee PC 701 and I find it much easier to work with than a PDA. Although the Netbook is a little less portable than a PDA, the Netbook has a large screen suitable for filling in complex forms, and a decent-size keyboard for entering data. I highly recommend connecting a USB mouse to the Netbook if you plan to work for long periods.

However, developing mobile enterprise applications..... Read more »

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iPhone 3G is pretty but anti-social

I recently bought the Apple iPhone 3G from my local mobile operator, used it for a week and found the iPhone 3G strangely "anti-social" for a modern 3G mobile phone:

It can't forward SMS messages.
It can't send SMS messages to a predefined group of recipients (contact group).
No copy and paste functions.
No MMS messaging.
No 3G video calling.
It won't let you share documents and media files via memory cards or Bluetooth.

However, unlike other phones and PDAs, I found the iPhone 3G very good for Web browsing due to the large touchscreen and speedy 3.5G mobile Internet access. The iPhone 3G Web browser still..... Read more »

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Shop online at Dell for notebook options

I recently ordered two Dell Studio notebooks online and I was pleasantly surprised by the wide variety of options offered.

Here are some selections for those who are interested:

Choose your CPU, RAM, hard disk: You can tweak the options and get instant feedback on the total price of your notebook. Usually I'll buy the maximum RAM (i.e. 4GB) and get the fastest CPU (Core 2 Duo) my budget can afford, since the faster CPUs tend to be very expensive and are probably not cost-effective.

Windows Vista and Microsoft Office: Other brands of notebooks come preinstalled with a specific edition of..... Read more »

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• Does size matter?
• Who needs 3.5G?
• Why I killed my BlackBerry
• Using PlayStation Portable as wireless display panel
• What to pack when travelling

2009

2008

2007

2006

• The Internet as the medium
• May the new year bring good tech-ings
• High tech undone by low tech failings
• Reflections of an eternal optimist
• Thanks for a great 2008

Lee Lup Yuen

Lee Lup Yuen is passionate about mobile phones and PDAs, as he is constantly buying new gadgets and programming them in J2ME, .NET, Symbian and AppForge. He has developed commercial applications with mobile technologies like SMS, MMS, WAP, 3G video streaming and location-based services.