If you own a Dell Mini 10v netbook, an 8GB (or larger) USB flash drive, and an urge to try out the Google Chromium operating system (or bootable browser as I call it), check out this Dell blog item...

Chrome OS Wi-Fi Support Running on a Mini 10v... Source Code Available

Dell has a pre-built installable binary image file for you to download. So, there's not much hocus pocus involved in testing this out. Here's what you need:

- Dell Mini 10v Netbook
- 8GB or larger USB flash drive
- USB bootable img file downloadable from http://linux.dell.com/files/cto
- Linux or Mac - for access to the UNIX dd command to write the img file out to a USB flash drive. There is probably a Windows utility that can do the job for you there too

Dell notes that this Chromium OS for the Mini 10v is an unsupported release. So, don't expect any help other than what you see in their reasonably detailed blog entry.

My Droid has Android 2.0 in its firmware. But, if you own any other Android phone, you are problem wondering what the AndroidAndMe blog asked...

What is the Android 2.0 release date for first generation phones?

As the owner of a T-Mobile HTC Touch Pro2 with no official path to upgrade to Windows Mobile 6.5, I can sympathize with owners of older Android phones (a whole 13 months old in some cases! :-(

The blog's author, Taylor Winberly, doesn't have any definitive answers. However, the consensus appears to be that there is no firm statement from any manufacturer or carrier about a 2.0 upgrade.

This is the sort of situation many Windows Mobile Pocket PC and phone owners have been in many times over many years now. It is difficult for platform creators (Microsoft for Windows Mobile and Google for Android) to get hardware manufacturers and carriers to spend time and money to provide an upgrade that does not give them much in the way of a financial return.

So, Android users (which includes me these days), welcome to our (Windows Mobile) world of frustrating upgrade situations.

T-Mobile Sidekick customers don't have to feel like they were singled out for the pain of losing precious personal contacts and calendar information (albeit temporarily). The San Francisco Chronicle reports...

Palm, Sprint pursue lost data from Pre, Pixi

It is not nearly as widespread as the T-Mobile Sidekick problem though. Sprint's webOS device problem is limited to those trying to move from one Pre or Pixi to another. A typical scenario is a person replacing a broken or lost Pre or Pixi with a new unit.

BTW & FYI: If you, like me, depend on and sync with Google's Calendar and Contacts, don't forget to use Google's facility to backup your data to your local computer.

Image courtesy of Google

If you use an iPhone or Android-based phone, you've benefited from Google's continual innovation cycle for these favored phone platforms ("smarter"-phones?). The latest enhancements are small ones literally consisting of several pixels of changes in size and contrast...

The Iterative Web App: A new look for Gmail and Google mobile web apps

The mobile web versions of Gmail, Latitude, Calendar, and Tasks are affected by these changes. I was surprised by the number of positive comments in Google's blog entry announcing the changes. I guess sometimes small changes are meaningful to a surprising number of people.

ReadWriteWeb has an interesting article about how Waze's updated app for the iPhone and Android phones provides a game-like aspect to its user contributed mapping information...

Navigation App Waze Makes Crowdsourced Map-Building a Game

I didn't install the Android version since I noticed a comment in the Android Market that it has a problem with the Droid's keyboard. However, I downloaded and installed the iPhone version and may test it out later today.

Waze 1.3.0 for iPhone

However, it requires creating a login user name and password which is a bit of a hassle. And, will I have to login just before dashing off to somewhere in a rush? Ugh. If so, it will get uninstalled very quickly. But, that's the nature of these social type apps, I guess.

Waze for mobile (product page)

The only time I check out Ustream videos is when a friend is streaming something reasonably interesting. So, I'm not planning to install the recently released...

Ustream Viewer beta for Android in the Marketplace

...on my Droid and use the valuable and limited Android system memory. But, if you are a Ustream streaming video fan, do check out the Ustram Android Viewer (beta release). It joins the previously released Ustream Android Broadcaster that lets you stream live video directly from an Android based phone.

Ustream also provides mobile products for the iPhone and various Nokia phones.

Ustream Mobile (product site)\

Via TechCrunch: Ustream Brings Its Viewer App To Android Market

YouTube video courtesy of Google Mobile Blog

Thanksgiving in the U.S. is the precursor to two time honored traditions: Retailers everywhere rejoicing in the hopes of making a profit due to the holiday gift buying/giving season and the start of the winter holiday blockbuster movie season.

If you have an iPhone, Android, or Palm Pre, Google has a new tool to help you decide which of these blockbuster movies to see over the next month or two...

Get movie trailers and more with Google Search for mobile

I tried it out for myself. And, here's my quick tutorial on how to use this new feature:

- Point your mobile browser at google.com
- Type the word "movies" in the search text box
- Tap on the link that looks like "Movies for {name of your town/state}"
- Tap on any landscape thumbnail you see with the symbol for video playback (right arrow in a circle)

That's it!

Amazon says...

Amazon Extends Battery Life of Newest Kindle by 85 Percent and Adds Native PDF Reader

Good news for Kindle owners. The battery life increase translates (so Amazon says) to up to a week of Kindle uptime even with its 3G radio turned on. This goes up to two weeks if you turn wireless service off.

Kindle users can email PDf files to their @kindle.com email address or use a USB connection to transfer PDF files.

I'm still not interested in buying a Kindle myself though. The combination of Kindle for iPhone and Kindle for PC (beta) satisfies my Kindle ebook reading needs just fine. But, if Amazon would produce a Kindle or Mac and Kindle for Android ebook reader, I would be very happy to try those out too.

DSLreports.com provides a nice concise summary of Time Warner's WiMax (wireless broadband) offering (a reselling of Clear/Clearwire service)...

Time Warner Dallas Customers Get WiMax December 1

But, here's the thing. I think Time Warner's offering defeats the whole purpose of WiMax as a wireless broadband alternative to wired broadband like cable and DSL. All of Time Warner's WiMax offering (they call it Mobile 4G) requires a subscription to their wired cable service. This makes sense from a business point of view. But, it does not from a customer's point of view. And, then, look at their price tiers!

$79.95 per month for WiMax plus Sprint's 3G network. And, oh yes, you need to be a Roadrunner cable subscriber
$49.95 per month for just WiMax. And, yes, you need to have cable modem service from them to quality
$39.95 per month for just WiMax with a 2GB data cap (the other services provide unlimited data - I wonder if this means 5GB?). And, oh, you need to subscribe to TWO Time Warner cable services

Time Warner's 4G rollout is scheduled for January 2010 in my area with the same price structure in effect. I may give some thought to the WiMax-only service for $49.95 per month if it is truly unlimited and not capped at 5GB per month. Otherwise, I'll wait to see what Verizon charges for 3G tethering to my Droid phone.

It doesn't get much below 65 F where I live these days. But, I lived through a couple of winters that hit-50 F in days of old. So, I found this article in Popular Mechanics (of all places) fascinating!

Does Cold Weather Injure Cell Phones? Abusive Lab Test

Popular Mechanics went to Environ Laboratories in Minneapolis to torture a group of poor defenseless phones in a temperature controlled chamber capable of reaching -100 F (Brr!). Their findings might be a useful guideline for anyone traveling to (or living in) sub-zero temperatures.

10 F : Slight screen dimming
-10 F: Some battery problems
-20 F: Some phone shut down
-30 F: Serious battery and LCD problems
-40 to -55 F (seriously cold!): All phone shut down

But the, um, "good" folks at Popular Mechanics had "one more thing" to try. The video below was taken by a Motorola Krzr as it was dunked in liquid nitrogen (-314.7 F)...

YouTube video courtesy of popmechshow

Google's quest for world domination continues. Back in August, they provided a Google Apps Connector for BlackBerry Enterprise Server which typically involved firms with hundreds of BlackBerry devices. This week, they have come back to get the rest of the BlackBerry server market. The Google App Connector now also works with BlackBerry Professional Software which supports smaller groups with up to 30 devices...

Google Apps Connector for BlackBerry Enterprise Server now connects businesses of all sizes

Note to World: Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated... by Google.

I described why...

AdMob Droid Metrics Reported in GigaOn Don't Make Sense

...yesterday. Now, let's take a look at another claim based on AdMob data. This one is from AppleInsider...

Apple iPhone eats up 50% share of all mobile data traffic globally

First, AdMob's report only addresses smartphones. AdMob names these platforms and even "other" is defined as (Palm, Linux). So, AdMob is clear on this. So, it can't be the case that the iPhone uses 50% of all mobile data traffic because not all mobile data traffic is generated by smartphones. The so-called "dumb" feature phones are actually very smart these days and can take advantage of email and web service just like smartphones. But, they do not appear in the AdMob report because they are not smartphones. So, let's be a bit nit-picky and say the iPhone accounts for 50% of data used by smartphones. But, AppleInsider itself notes this distinction in the article, so "no harm, no foul" :-)

The article itself takes a very interesting look at how AdMob itself approached reporting its data. AppleInsider notes that the report ignores the iPhone despite the iPhone's dominance in data use as measured by AdMob.

I'm still skeptical of many (perhaps most or even all) of the smartphone analysis I've seen recently even if I agree with the reports' various conclusions.

I just sent email to AdMob asking if anyone there might be interesting/willing to discuss this on a podcast. They may be in a "no talk" period since Google is acquring them. But, if someone is available, I'm looking forward to learning exactly what inferences AdMob makes of their data.