Building the perfect Windows Mobile business application

If you're developing a Windows Mobile application for business, you need to consider the following:

-- Can your mobile application work offline, while disconnected from the network? Your application should be able to access a local database for storing data while working offline.

-- Can your mobile application detect the network status and sync data automatically to the server as soon as there's a network connection?

-- Is your mobile application fast and responsive? PDAs don't have CPUs that run as fast as those on laptops and desktop PCs. It's best to use in-memory caching to store frequently-accessed data to ensure optimal performance.

Fortunately..... Read more »

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Using PlayStation Portable as wireless display panel

The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a great games handheld (I play mostly LocoRoco and Patapon), and I discovered recently that it's great for work too.

The PSP has a built-in Web browser and Wi-Fi capabilities. I set up a simple Web server on my home PC, wrote some scripts in .NET, connected the PSP's Web browser to my Web server, and I quickly transformed my PSP into a wireless display panel.

My PSP sits right beside my bed and shows me the current time and my unread e-mail messages. The Web browser refreshes the page periodically so that I..... Read more »

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Tracking calories burnt with your mobile phone

Newer Nokia phones like Nokia N82 and N95, have a built-in accelerometer and are capable of tracking your physical movements.

If you have one of these phones, you can download and install the
Nokia Activity Monitor to measure your energy expenditure while you're walking or jogging/running.

This morning, as I checked out from my hotel and made my way to the Syndey airport, my phone told me that I walked 1,526 steps over a distance of 1.04 km, expending a total of 60 kCal (kilocalorie).

I may not exercise much, but according to my phone I'm getting quite a good..... Read more »

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Mobile broadband roaming works (I've got the hefty bill to prove it)

I'm happy to report that 3.5G (HSDPA) roaming worked flawlessly on my laptop when I traveled from Singapore to Sydney. I was able to enjoy the same high-bandwidth mobile broadband experience in Sydney as in Singapore. So this means we mobile workers can now get high-speed Internet access anywhere in the world, as long as there's 3.5G coverage.

But mobile broadband roaming doesn't come cheap. I chalked up over S$433 (US$310) in roaming data charges just within a single day, which I'm paying out of my own pocket.

How much would you be willing to pay to enjoy that premium mobile broadband..... Read more »

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Mobile office in the sky: On board the Airbus A380

I have just experienced the future of Business Class on board the newest, largest passenger jet: Singapore Airlines Airbus A380.

I bought the ticket and paid standard Business Class fare myself; here's how I really feel about the new Business Class:

Plenty of space: The seat was incredibly spacious, wide enough to fit two people. It felt like working in your own office cubicle in the sky.

Plenty of storage, too: Right beside the windows at both sides of the plane, there are roomy compartments that you can store your laptop, folders, briefcase, shoes, sweater, almost anything else (except luggage)...... Read more »

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MacBook Air: What would you sacrifice for portability?

The Apple MacBook Air is extremely portable--it's so slim it fits inside a manila envelope. But the portability requires you to sacrifice some expansion and connectivity options:

No PC card slot: You won't be able to slot in a 3.5G Mobile Data PC Card or any other PC Card because it doesn't have a PC Card or ExpressCard slot. All peripherals must be connected via the USB interface.

No Ethernet port: You can't plug an Ethernet cable directly into the MacBook Air. You need to use an Ethernet adapter for USB. If you travel often, it may be a hassle..... Read more »

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A great new year for enterprise mobility

Here's what we can expect in the coming 12 months to help us work faster and easier while on the move:

Large and cheap Solid-State Drives (SSD): Because they have no mechanical moving parts, SSDs will let our notebooks run longer before draining the battery, compared to ordinary hard disks. They are also less prone to failure if you drop them. The newer notebooks already offer them as an expensive option (like the Apple MacBook Air), but we can expect them to get larger and cheaper in the coming months.

Built-in 802.11n and HSDPA: New notebooks will have built-in high-speed..... Read more »

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Your mobile broadband dream comes true with 3.5G

I have been using the Sony Ericsson PC300 HSDPA (3.5G) Data Card for over a month now, and I'm absolutely delighted with the mobile broadband experience that HSDPA offers.

My mobile operator provided the HSDPA data card free of charge when I upgraded my mobile data subscription plan.

The Sony Ericsson HSDPA card doesn't protrude as much as other HSDPA cards with their bulging antennas. I find it more compact than USB-based HSDPA modems that dangle around your laptop. So I'm able to leave the HSDPA card plugged inside my laptop permanently without fear of damaging..... Read more »

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Nokia N82: Great phone, but mind your fingers

I have been using the newly-released Nokia N82 for two weeks now. It looks like a beautiful slab of metal (but actually mostly plastic) and it's a logical upgrade from the N73: same candybar form factor, same size but plenty more features.

Like the N95, it has 3.5G (HSDPA), Wi-Fi, 5-Megapixel camera (good for snapping meeting notes) and TV output, which allows you to connect the phone to a TV/projector to show the phone's display.

And like the N95, it has Assisted-GPS. GPS doesn't work indoors, but luckily there's Google Maps For Mobile with My Location..... Read more »

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Traveling to the US? Lock your bags the right way

This week's tip is not about mobile technology, but nonetheless it affects many mobile warriors. Here's my tip:

If you're traveling to the United States, always lock your check-in luggage with a TSA-compliant lock!

If you don't use a TSA-compliant lock, U.S. airport security personnel may break open your locks in order to inspect your checked-in luggage without your consent. Which happened to two of my fellow travelling companions.

So always use a TSA-compliant lock, or better yet, buy a luggage bag with a built-in TSA-compliant lock. To identify a TSA-compliant lock, look out for these logos.

And the TSA..... Read more »

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

2008

2007

2006

• Up close and personal with a merger
• Now possible to have .my without the .com
• Singapore Exchange proposes BCM rules
• A new telco in town? Maybe not
• Today's corporate landscape ain't Sesame Street

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.