No GPS? No problem for Google Maps

Using maps on a mobile phone or handheld without a GPS chip can by trying sometimes. For one, you need to find your own location in a map first before any manual navigation can take place. That's a problem Google seems to have solved with its latest version of Google Maps Mobile.

By pressing "0", the My Location feature on the application approximates your location on the map with a blinking blue dot. This is achieved by detecting how close you are to the cellular base stations around you. It's isn't spot-on precise, but it sure beats having to scour the vicinity for a road name to key into your device.

We tried this feature out on an HTC Touch
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New dates for new iPaqs

When HP announced its updated iPaq range in September, we were given a launch date of Q4 2007. Well, Christmas shopping has started and some iPaq fans may have noticed that none of them can be found in stores yet. We checked with the computer giant and have gotten updated release dates for the new handhelds in Asia Pacific.

First, the good news. The 112 Classic Handheld, a basic non-cellular PDA, can be bought at the upcoming SITEX show in Singapore for S$499. It should be available in the region now, or very soon at least, so check with handheld retailers in your country if you want one. The other dedicated PDA, the 212 Enterprise Handheld, will also be available soon, January 2008 to be specific.

Now, the bad news.
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Nokia's 2006 touchscreen idea

Nokia will have touchscreen mobile phones in the future--that much we know from its announcement recently about S60 (Symbian Series60) handsets supporting touch-sensitive displays. But did you know that the Finnish giant has been thinking about it for some time now? Since before May 16, 2006, if you want to be precise.

In the document discovered by Unwired View on the US Patent and Trademark Office site, Nokia envisions a device with two screens that will display different kinds of information depending on the angle which the clamshell is opened. Control of the device is possible using either the buttons or by touching the display.

Some may say that Nokia's move is a response to the success of the iPhone, but if this patent filing is anything to go by, the cogs have been turning before Apple's cellular was even announced.

Via Unwired View

New colors and specs for HTC Touch

How do you continue to milk a device that's selling well? Offer it in different colors, of course. Starting immediately, HTC will be selling the Touch in four different hues. Aside from the already existing black and green shades, it will now come in white and burgundy (to the geeks who can think only in RGB: It's a dark, purplish shade of red).

That's not all, too. Remember how we slagged it off for being unresponsive?
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Shake mobile before use

Ever had trouble trying to pair two Bluetooth mobile phones together so you can transfer files between them? While useful in many ways, Bluetooth pairing can sometimes be quite a chore. A couple of researchers think so, too, and have developed software to make it possible to pair two phones by shaking them together.

Using accelerometers found in the phones, two of them will be paired if they are shaken in the same way. This replaces the old method of having to key in a four-digit passkey on both devices for verification. In a video, this process is demonstrated and it also shows what happens when someone tries to do it without holding the two phones in the same hand. Spoiler: It won't work.

This is definitely a very innovative take on a problem which has fazed many. What will they think of next? Perhaps connecting to wireless hotspots by doing the funky chicken with your notebook? You never know.

New Scientist (via Productdose)

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