If you want to use your 3 USB Dongle on an Asus Eee PC, then head over to Dale Lane’s blog where he has written up exactly the steps required to get it working on the little device. It all revolves around the dongle being a composite device, presenting both a CD-ROM image (to load the Windows / Mac drivers) and also being the modem itself. The main extra utility you need for the Eee is a USB Switcher application, which allows you to choose which part of the device is available to the OS.

[Via 3mobilebuzz]

Nokia have announced an agreement with ARC Transistance, the European network of automobile clubs, to provide near real time traffic data across Europe for the new Nokia Maps 2.0 software. This will allow Nokia Maps to take this data and dynamically reroute based on the traffic. ARC can provide data for 20 countries, and uses iTIS Holdings in the UK as it’s data provider. It’s not clear when this data will be available. No word on pricing yet, although we suspect it will be a similar amount that everyone charges…

TomTom have announced a range of new units over the last few weeks. Firstly, they have updated the TomTom RIDER motorcycle unit (now called RIDER 2), with MapShare, trip statistics, itinerary planning and Help Me! functionality. This functionality will also be available to existing RIDER units via a software update, and the new maps should be available in a month or two as well.

They have also announced two new ONE models, the TomTom ONE and ONE XL. These feature a new ultra slim form factor, large speaker and a unique mount solution. Known as EasyPort™, the new mount design allows it to be left attached to the device and folded against itself making it small enough to fit easily into a pocket or bag.

Some content and picture courtesy of PocketGPSWorld.

Here’s an interesting article; running Leopard (Mac OS X) on an OQO ultra portable device. Most functions work fine (WiFi, Bluetooth, sound, power management), with just a few more tweaks needed to get the last few bits working. As well as a forum post, there’s also a video.

Story courtesy of Engadget.

BT has announced that it will be helping it’s BT Business Total Broadband customers to turn their premises into WiFi Hotspots, allowing visitors to be able to access the Internet without having access to the business customer’s network. The press release mentions the BT FON community, and we wonder whether they are planning to offer the BT FON community offering currently only available to home users. Interestingly, the press release even makes mention of these visitors being able to make VOIP calls, an interesting statement from a company historically reliant upon call revenue…

More information as we can obtain it.

Thanks to Mark at Automated Home for alerting us to this article.

Well, after 4 months of daily use, the LG Viewty has finally been replaced by something smaller, lighter, better built for the impacts of every day life (it has a tempered glass screen, which should resist all manner of attempts to scratch the screen), yet still featuring the 5 megapixel camera, DivX support, and 120fps video capture. On top of that it adds a slider function with real buttons (which makes dialling calls and writing texts a little easier than the Viewty). However, we will miss the nice sliding cover over the headphone / charging port from the Viewty, although we won’t miss the lack of ability of sending all contacts via Bluetooth (a feature the new phone does have).

We’ll see how the new LG Secret fares over the next few weeks before we provide an in depth review, but right now it’s looking pretty good. Announced on Thursday last week, LG have kindly provided us an early production sample in advance of the full availability in June.

After the launch of the Skype Mobile Beta last week, Darla Mack has given the software a thorough review, which can be read here. As Darla is in the US, the prices are all US prices, but you’ll still get a good feel for the application. Of course, you may decide a 3 SkypePhone is a better option, and certainly offers a cheaper way of bringing Skype to a mobile phone.

Here’s an interesting article by Gizmodo. They’ve reviewed the HP Mini Note 2133, but also included side by side shots with the Asus Eee and a Macbook Air. As such, it allows you to compare the size of these different devices, as well as get more information on the new small notebook.

According to Engadget, who have apparently seen an internal O2 memo, the iPhone 8Gb, which was recently made £100 cheaper, has now gone End of Life, and will not be stocked anymore. Whether this is simply a move by Apple towards higher capacity devices like the 16Gb version, or whether it’s in anticipation of the oft-rumoured 3G iPhone no one is quite sure, although we’re likely to find out in June…

An Asus spokesman has confirmed that we should see the new Intel Atom based Eee 900 in the UK in June (although like TechRadar who reported this, we think it’ll be a little later that stock is freely available). This will feature the 8.9″ screen and other specs we covered here.

More details of Asus’ statements here at TechRadar.

After a long wait, Skype have released a beta version of their mobile client. This is a Java app, which gives them a good range of compatibility across many handsets, but does not provide an integrated solution for Symbian or Windows Mobile users that many would like. Also, although it uses the internet data connection for presence and IM messaging, it makes a traditional phone call to connect into the Skype infrastructure to get VOIP connectivity, so there is still a real cost to these calls (if only that they will come out of your inclusive minutes). Skype even advertise it as “no WiFi needed”, but fail to mention that it really can’t take true advantage of a WiFi connection, even if you have one. Overall, Skype themselves hint that the 3 SkypePhone might be a better solution for many, and right now, I think I agree.

More details direct from Skype.

The new LG phone we first mentioned here a few weeks back has now been formally announced, and named by LG. It’s the LG Secret, following on from the Chocolate and Shine Black Label phones, although it’s also known as the KF750. It’s 11.8mm thick, with a carbon fibre profile, and like the LG Viewty it has a 5 megapixel camera, video support, and DivX support built in.

Scheherazade is a new Audiobooks player for S60v3 from PlatySoft in Australia. It requires python to be installed, but the author has released two versions, one for those who already have python, and another which includes python. Once installed, all you need to do is to put your Audiobooks into a folder called Audiobooks and Scheherazade will automatically find them and play them for you. Even more, it’s free!

Download it from here [Via Symbian Guru].

Google are planning to introduce a single banner ad per page when Google is accessed through mobile phones on its mobile web pages. Google have stated it will be a single ad to ensure it does not impact on the mobile browsing experience.

More information at SMS Text News.

Nokia have been updating a number of their Beta applications over at Nokia Beta Labs. Firstly, they have updated PC Phone including performance updates, bug fixes, and a few other updates. Secondly, they have also updated the less popular Nokia Channels, with a new simpler interface, bug fixes and new features.

Here’s a useful guide – it’s a step by step guide on how to configure the built in email client to use Google Mail on your Series 60 handset. It covers every step of the way, and although it’s only useful once, it makes getting the settings right a breeze.

Step by Step GMail on S60 [Via HandyWi, which also includes a video]

Here’s an interesting gadget – the Goodmans iPod dock includes a 7″ screen for displaying video. It includes a remote, a 3-in-1 card reader and “LED accents”. It should cost around £90, although there are very few specs available right now to confirm whether it’s worthwhile…

Over at Pocket GPS World, they’ve published a full and frank review of the SatMap Active 10. They’ve covered all aspects of the device, in fact the only additional “Con” we would add to the Pros and Cons is the overall cost, especially if you want a lot of OS maps on the device. Head over to read the review.

[Via Mapomatic]

As part of promoting the recently relaunched N-Gage service, Nokia are giving away 120,000 licenses for FIFA08 between now and the end of June. You’ll need an N-Gage compatible device, and we suspect these free licenses will get snapped up pretty quickly.

Head to N-Gage for more information and to download the game.

For only £2.24 per month (including VAT), Skype are now offering unlimited (*) calls to a single country (which in terms of the UK means calls to 01 and 02 numbers only). This is quite a good price. If you ring lots of other European countries, then for £3.39 per month you can have unlimited (*) calls to 20 European countries. Finally, for £7.99 per month you can call 34 countries, including the US and Canada (both of which also include calls to mobiles in the deal). The deal also includes free Voicemail.

(*) Like many many badly worded deals, it’s not unlimited at all. It’s capped at 10,000 minutes per month (although that does equate to something like 5.5 hours a day across the whole month).