Marginalia

A little while ago I blogged about an iPhone application called WorkSnug.

It is a free tool that finds public Wi-Fi locations in London and uses augmented reality to display them on screen. It’ll show you how to get to them too, thanks to a connection to Google Maps.

Well, it has just been approved by Apple and is available to download.

That’s it, really. Just wanted to update you.

It has taken a little while, but Microsoft has finally released its Marketplace for Windows 6.1 and 6.0 devices.

This means that owners of those devices have access to over the air application download, bringing them into line with Windows Mobile 6.5 handsets.

The range of applications is still woefully small, though. When announcing Marketplace for Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1 Microsoft seemed rather proud to be able to offer over 800 applications – more than three times the number available at launch.

Microsoft might be new to the over the air apps game, but it is by no means new to the smartphone applications sector, and having just 800 apps in its marketplace is woeful.

On 4 November Apple announced that its App Store was hosting 100,000 applications and that more than two billion downloads had been made onto devices. Statistics at Androlib.com suggest as many as 16,000 applications are available for Android based devices (nearly two thirds of them free).

We all know that more is not necessarily better. Just because there are thousands more apps on other platforms, does not mean that all those apps are good, let alone great. But there are enough good and great ones to make the app stores key drivers for the device.

If Microsoft is really interested in pushing Windows Mobile at the consumer sector as well as the business user it needs to buck its ideas up on the apps front. There are thousands of Windows Mobile compatible apps out there, they just aren’t all in the Marketplace yet. Microsoft needs to make getting them there a priority.

Meanwhile, if you want the Marketplace on your Windows Mobile 6.1 or 6.0 device visit http://mp.windowsphone.com from your device or go to http://windowsphone.com/getmarketplace from your PC.

Sometimes something comes along that is so simple yet so very useful that you can’t believe you didn’t think of it first. The Crabble is one such object.

Once upon a time smartphones came with docking stands which held them up at an angle on the desk so you could easily see the screen. Those days are almost entirely gone, but the need to see the screen remains.

I like to glance at my phone to see a text as it comes in or any other alert that is issued. Sometimes I simply use it as a digital clock. There are also people who like to use their phone as a digital photo frame. And those who like to watch a bit of video while they are travelling.

I suggest all such people take a look at the Crabble.





It is a plastic stand, small enough to carry in a wallet that can hold any phone at angles between 45 and 90 degrees. It has a pair of silicone bands on its feet which help stop it slipping around – especially useful if you want to use it on a moving train.

I’m currently using the Crabble with my HTC Hero, but have tested it with a few other devices since it has arrived and it works with them all.





The only caveat is that ground clearance is just 7mm – not enough to provide space for power cable connectors and barely enough for an angled headset adapter. I can’t use it with the HTC Hero in tall format, for example, as its power port is on the bottom edge.

The Crabble feels well built and robust – I doubt it’ll break easily. You can choose between a variety of colour schemes, and it’ll set you back £4.99. More information here.

I’ve just posted a First Take story on the HTC HD2.

It’s a superb device. The fast processor and capacitive screen give Windows Mobile the kind of lift that brings it up to the high standards set by Apple with its iPhone.

The HD2 responds quickly to screen taps, while the capacitive display caters for pinch to zoom. It really is a joy to use.



So confident is HTC that you won’t ever need more than a finger or two to interact with the HD2 that it comes without a stylus – absolutely unheard of as far as Windows Mobile touch or tap supporting devices are concerned.

The reason for that confidence is the huge screen. At 4.3 diagonal inches it is easily capable of displaying Web pages, and the accelerometer lets you switch between wide and tall formats readily. When entering text you have a choice of using the QWERTY tappable keyboard in wide or tall modes. Most rarely, even in the latter orientation I found it easy to tap out text at a fair speed.

This is all great stuff.

But there is a trade-off. The HTC HD2 is large. So far I’ve only had it for a few days, and it has already given me a couple wardrobe issues.

I’m not one for carrying a bag unless it is absolutely necessary. But at 120.5mm x 67mm x 11mm the HD2 needs larger pockets than I can always offer.

In addition, my slightly small hands mean I can’t reach right across the screen with a thumb to use the HD2 one-handed. That means checking something can be a two-handed operation, not recommended when you are standing on a bus which is cornering.

Of course, there is always a trade-off between size and usability. We see it in notebooks – those with huge screens aren’t exactly portable, those with teeny screens are very portable but not always easy to use. I have in the past complained about touchscreened handsets having too little screen to adequately show all I want to see. Web pages can become pinched, calendar views cramped.

There are rules of thumb that dictate the general parameters of size for such devices, with individual preference coming into play for the fine detail of actually choosing what suits you the best. And those rules of thumb aren’t all to do with physical use. When you let the size of your phone dictate your choice of clothing, something has gone badly awry. Even if you are, like me, a little on the geeky side.

Mice fascinate me. I don’t mean the little furry mammals, though actually they do fascinate me. In this context I mean computer mice. I’ve a bit of a thing about trying different types of mouse, and the latest to hit the desk is Gyration’s Air Mouse.





This is an ordinary looking cordless mouse and it works in an ordinary looking cordless mouse way. Plug the provided dongle into a USB port, hit its Connect button, hit the Connect button on the mouse, and you are in business.

But there’s more. This is one of those mice that you can wave about in the air. There’s a trigger button on its underside and if you hold this down while waving the mouse around you can move the cursor and left and right click.

In addition to the main large mouse buttons there are three programmable buttons sitting just beneath the scroll wheel. Two are simple tap buttons, the third you hold down to swipe the mouse in eight directions. To programme these and two shake control functions you need to install some software, and here I hit a snag. I was installing the mouse on a netbook without an optical drive. Copying the installation file to a USB stick was no bother, though.

The range of activities you can attach to the button presses, swipes and shakes is vast. They include launching software or issuing commands within applications, actions like image capture, zooming and opening the display configuration, and functions like closing windows, cut, copy and paste.





If the variety here is not enough you can set up screen hotspots to trigger actions. There are eight in all – the four screen edges and the four screen corners. And you can even invoke an Alt, Shift, Ctrl or Windows based keystroke combination.

And yes, all those options work both when the mouse is on the table and when it is wielded in mid air.

The Gyration Air Mouse is designed for both left and right handed users. On the desk I had no trouble at all with it. However in the air I found holding down the ‘trigger’ button on the underside was fine for cursor movement and using the two large mouse buttons, and for the shake controls. The smaller three programmable buttons were a bit tricky to reach though.

Gyration has second guessed this potential problem, and you can double click the trigger button to force the mouse into ‘motion mode’ so you don’t have to hold it down. This makes things a whole lot easier.

I am ready to pack the Gyration Air Mouse in its little travelling pouch and take it with me next time I work away from the office. I want to see the look of amazement on the faces of those on the train when I start waving my mouse in the air.

The Air Mouse costs £85 if you buy it online from Gyration.