Review

PocketNow has taken advantage of the leaked beta version of Windows Mobile 2005 to post a lengthy preview of the upcoming operating system. Among the highlights are new, much improved versions of Excel, Word, and Internet Explorer; a PowerPoint viewer; new dialing program for PocketPC phones, interface tweaks, and a new memory management system. The new OS uses internal flash memory as the primary Storage medium, leaving RAM entirely free for running programs. This would also mean that a dead battery or loss of power will no longer result in a hard reset.

The article has now been removed from the PocketNow site, doubtless at Microsoft's request, but it is still available complete with screen shots from Google's cached version.

Windows Mobile 2005 preview, page 1

Windows Mobile 2005 preview, page 2

Toshiba touts fast charging batteries

Toshiba has announced new improvements in their line of Lithium-Ion batteries that allow for faster charging, much longer lifecycles, and increased energy density. The company claims that the new batteries can charge from 0% to 80% in one minute, and only lose 3% of their capacity after 1000 charge cycles. It's unclear what prerequisites the high-speed charging might have, or how fast the commercial batteries will be able to charge. The company plans to have the new batteries on the market in 2006.

A company called Altair Nanotechnologies recently claimed a similar breakthrough that would allow batteries to recharge within minutes, as well as tripling the available power. It's unknown whether the two technologies are related.

Forged images of Zire 73, Tungsten E2

Over the weekend, an online accessories store posted images that they claim to be of upcoming PalmOne models called the Tungsten E2 and Zire 73. The TE2 is expected to have a 320 x 320 pixel display, 200 Mhz processor, Bluetooth, and 32 MB of non-volatile flash RAM. All rumors about the Zire 73 are unconfirmed, and frequently conflicting.

These pictures are, not to put too fine a point on it, fake. It's possible that they represent legitimate models that are upcoming in fact, the Tungsten E is an almost sure bet but more likely someone gimmicked these together according to the rumors on the street. There was a recent Zire 73 rumor, based on a different false photo, that would exactly match the image shown.