Device Form Factors

When it comes to mobiles there is a wide variety of device form factors to choose from and cater for. What I don't understand is why some manufacturers choose to segment their devices for business and entertainment use. I for one want to use my mobile to send email, manage my calendar and watch movies and listen to podcasts. Blackberry and Palm are definitely focusing on the business market - why else would you need that keyboard. The Palm Treo also has a square screen which isn't best suited to watching wide screen content.

In my opinion, the Apple iPhone and HTC Touch Diamond strike a better balance. They sacrifice the keyboard in favour of more screen realestate.

Now the HTC G1 running Google's Android tries to have the best of both worlds with its slide-out keyboard and iPhone sized screen. My question is, is the addition of the keyboard really worth it, given it is nearly 20% heavier than the iPhone?

How fast is 3G really?

This isn't really an iPhone issue (though it does say something about Apple's marketing). Is 3G living up to the hype? Here in Australia, there is enormous potential for this technology where people do not have access to fixed-line broadband services. Unfortunately, we are seeing experiences similar to those below when demand for 3G is so high it overloads the carriers' networks. What are your experiences with 3G?

Windows Mobile Tip and Tricks 1

When developing applications for Windows Mobile, you can use the Calendar button in the device emulator to quickly see how your application behaves when you change the screen orientation. Below is a sample application in portrait orientation. Pressing the calendar button in the device emulator immediately switches you to a landscape orientation. The image above is anchored to the the top, left of its parent form. If we change the anchoring behaviour so it is anchored to the top only, we get the following behaviour so it is centred in the form when we switch from a portrait to landscape orientation.