Thoughts on Pointui

If you own a Windows Mobile phone, you know the pain and ugliness that is... well, Windows Mobile.

If you have felt even a twinge of iPhone envy, you can do the poseur thing with a nifty little app called Pointui. This little app will run on both smartphones and touchscreen phones that run either Windows Mobile 5 or Windows Mobile 6. Even cooler is that they have a version that will run on Windows Mobile 2003. I tried installing it on my now decrepit Toshiba e800 PDA, and it did look nice, though it ran a bit slow.

On my more recent HTC Excalibur smartphone, however, the UI was clean, pretty and snappy. Clearly it has its shortcomings (i.e., dialing, access to contacts), but it made me feel a little bad that I paid for software in the past that deliver Pointui's functionality with a little less pizazz. Fizzweather all of a sudden doesn't seem like that great a buy. There are plenty of Youtube videos that show the GUI in action. I picked one of a recent build below.



It's quite amazing to see a responsive, snappy and attractive app on Windows Mobile. Most of the apps out there truly suck ass, for a lack of a better expression.

Pointui is still in beta, but it definitely is a promising replacement for the Windows Mobile Today Screen. Best of all, Pointui is free.

Jabra SP5050 Bluetooth Speakerphone Review

I'm not a big fan of using my cel phone while driving, and I definitely don't want to be that annoying guy with the bluetooth headset that you always see. Besides, I've tried doing the bluetooth headset thing and found myself fumbling with it just a little too much.

Enter the Jabra SP5050 bluetooth speakerphone. I've been using this for a little over a month now, so I've gotten a little perspective.



The Jabra SP5050 is an elegantly designed speakerphone that easily clips onto your visor. The sound quality easily exceeded my expectations, and the usability is quite good, though not perfect. It is rated for 12 hours of talk time, and since I have had it, I haven't really found myself in battery jeopardy yet. Since the device is simple, there really isn't a whole lot to say in a review about it, other than the fact that it is really easy to use while you're driving.

Full disclosure: I use this more for receiving calls than making calls, so I never really set myself up with the voice dial feature, and I probably won't.

In a nutshell, it's a great little device, whether you're in the car, or in a boardroom.

Pros

• Slick design


• Great sound quality


• One tap usability


• Good battery life


• Auto shut-off

Cons

• Recharger is for the car only. I sidestepped this limitation by buying a car-to-AC adapter from Deal Extreme for a few bucks. I shouldn't have to do this, so it was a tad annoying.


• Volume control uses awkwardly positioned buttons. I would have preferred a jog dial here. Very annoying and can require fumbling, especially if you can't remember which button turns up the volume and which one turns it down.


• A little spendy at $100 bucks

Rating: Highly Recommended