News

Treo 650 WiFi card drivers discovered in ROM

Well, if this doesn't make some Treo users apoplectic, I don't know what will. It appears that PalmOne built into the Treo 650's ROM a complete set of drivers for the PalmOne WiFi card--but disabled them. The drivers were found by Treo hacker Shadowmite in the course of searching for the basis of generating unlock codes. From Shadowmite's posts:

I finally have been searching threw the complete dump I took from the GSM 650, and I found lo and behold, the complete WiFi driver set built in!

...

I found the wifi drivers in the memory image on the gsm 650, but they are NOT listed in rom, the phone doesn't know they are there. They are in a unused location in memory just sitting there with the first characters of the filenames removed. I currently have no clue why they are there, or if they are different from what we already have.

But I intend to research them and compare them... It'll just be a little hard since I have to extract the data byte by byte.

At this point, I think it's increasingly apparent that the reason there's no official WiFi support for the T650 coming from PalmOne is that they don't want to anger the carriers by opening up the potential for VOIP.

http://discussion.treocentral.com/showthread.php?t=64490&page=58&pp=20

Accessories from JAVOedge, Brando, others

JAVOedge has a new version of their JAVOSkin silicone cases for the Dell Axim X50/X50v.

http://www.javoedge.com/simtrix/productMtce/productDetail.do?state=init&productId=483&productRef=PSKN-71122-00&category=SKIN

Also from JAVO, clear cases for the iPaq 3000 series.

http://www.javoedge.com/simtrix/productMtce/productDetail.do?state=init&productId=438&productRef=PCLR-81123-00&category=CLEAR_CAS

New from Brando, a metal case for the Treo 650:

http://shop.brando.com.hk/bwmetalcase_details.php?i=30

A sync/charge cable with LED charging indicator for the Tungsten T5 and Treo 650:

http://shop.brando.com.hk/bwsyncdicator.php

And last from Brando, a leather case for the Treo 650:

http://shop.brando.com.hk/bwtreo650case.php

Also for the Treo 650, semi-rigid leather cases from Vaja.

http://www.vajacases.com/

Combo pen/styli for the Axim X50 series from PocketPC Techs:

http://www.pocketpctechs.com/ppctstylii.asp

From Piel Frama, a leather case designed to accomodate the Dell Axim X50/X50v with the optional extended battery.

http://www.pielframa.com/promo_x50battery.htm

Motorola prepping Razr/MPx hybrid

According to their CEO and demonstrations at the 3GSM World Congress this week in Cannes, Motorola is prepping a new PocketPC phone partly based on the design of their 'Razr' ultra-thin cellular phone, and partly on their MPx clamshell PocketPC. From Reuters:

[Motorola CEO Ed] Zander has been showing customers in Cannes a similarly super-slim version of the MPX model that runs on Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system.

"You'll see this (product) in the second half of the year,"  Zander said.

I've got to say, given how badly antiquated the MPx is at this point, perhaps comparing their new PPC phone to it is not the wisest move they could make. That said, a properly executed clamshell PocketPC phone could be pretty impressive.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=reutersEdge&storyID=7653525