The Samsung Focus is finally available in Vancouver, Canada

I just stopped by my local Futureshop and discovered they finally have the Samsung focus in stock. They received one (1). And they wouldn't sell it to me "off contract" but if you're looking to become a new Rogers Wirelss customer you're in luck.

However I did discover that the BestBuy website is now showing them as in stock at the Cambie store - so it looks like the wait is finally over.

Now the question is - is it worth waiting until boxing day to see if they'll offer any discounts? FYI - the Focus retails for $499 US so we're definitely over paying north of the border.

Strangely, the HTC Surround is actually $50 less in Canada. This might be the one and only time I wish I was a Telus customer.

Continuing the search for a Windows Phone 7 device

After reading several reviews and first impressions of the retail Windows Phone 7 handsets I decided that I wanted to get my hands of a couple of the devices before shelling out $500 for a new phone.

Yesterday (being the last day of December) I decided to check in again with Future Shop, Best Buy and a Rogers Wireless retail store to see if anyone had any stock of the Samsung focus in Vancouver - still nothing. I did notice that Futureshop is now selling the LG Quantum with a slide out keyboard for Bell customers. Its a start but it still doesn't help me.

Today I took a trip down to Redmond to see if could get my hands on a phone south of the border. The Microsoft retail store in Bellevue Square is currently selling 5 phones for various carriers - and all of them are turned on and setup for display.


Samsung Focus: Thin, light and responsive. The color accuracy and brightness seems a little off but that could have been from the overly bright lights in the MS Store

LG Quantum: Looks like a good device but I'd like a larger screen and I'd prefer a thinner phone without a slide out keyboard. The display and responsiveness seemed good.

HTC Surround: I've used one of these devices before and its good (although a little thick) but I do notice just a bit of ghosting when scrolling through menus.

HTC HD7: A beautiful and thin device but substantially heavier than the Focus (its closest competitor feature-wise). I also has VERY vi sable ghosting on scrolling text, so much that I wouldn't buy the device which is unfortunate because it was my favorite of the phones on paper.

Dell Venue Pro: Another good phone but the weight and thickness make it uninteresting and I personally don't like the bottom slide out keyboard. The keys are smaller than the onscreen keyboard so I don't see the need for it.


After deciding that the phone I wanted to buy was the Samsung Focus I quickly discovered that the Microsoft store doesn't sell any phones unlocked nor will they provide any assistance with unlocking the phone. I was told that if I used AT&T service for 3 months they would then provide an unlock code.

I walked over to the AT&T retail store to see if I could get a different answer and they claimed complete ignorance and simply stated they don't sell unlocked phones.


It also looks like expansys.ca is no longer selling the Samsung Focus so I think my next step is to try ordering one online from Rogers.com for the inflated price of $599.99 Canadian ...

Panoramic WiFi Hero released for Windows Mobile Pro/Classic

Panoramic Software has quietly released v1 of WiFi Hero.

This tool was created to solve the problem of lost WiFi settings on Windows Mobile 6 & 6.1.

Microsoft implemented a "feature - not a bug" that will erase settings for WiFi access points if the connection fails. What this means is - if attempt to access a WiFi network that requires a pre-shared key and it ever fails for any reason (and anyone that uses WiFi knows it does happen from time to time), a Windows Mobile 6 or newer device will detect the failure and decide that the current settings must me to blame. It will then promptly erase settings for that WiFi access point along with the preshared key. This becomes a huge hassle for users - and an even bigger hassle for IT departments.

WiFi Hero will back up all settings upon first use and will prompt the user for passwords of access points that require network keys (don't worry - you'll only be asked once).

After that - simply load WiFi Hero whenever your settings are erased and you'll be able to restore them in one click.

Corporate versions are also available that remove the need for user intervention and allow for network keys to be pre-installed and encrypted for additional security. Contact Panoramic Software for more information: www.panoramicsoft.com

And you can buy it here for $1.99:
http://www.panoramicsoft.com/mobileapps/wifihero/WiFiHero.php

Wireless Apps (www.wireless-apps.net)

I wanted to let you know that the sister site to Wireless-gaming.com has also received a facelift.

Both sites have been completely updated. In case you haven't visited http://www.wireless-apps.net/ yet: it’s an excellent site to purchase Smartphone applications.

Currently the website has the top applications for:

Blackberry, Palm, Windows Mobile (both touch and non-touch screens), UIQ and Series 60 phones (most Nokia smart phones). Of course iPhone applications will be sold when they're available.

Take a look, just like http://www.wireless-gaming.com/ it has a great interface and we're very proud of the site.

Wireless Gaming (www.wireless-gaming.com)

I'd like to introduce you to a relatively new online sales website for wireless games.

Specifically - for Windows Mobile, Palm, Symbian Series 60 (Nokia Smartphones), UIQ (most Sony-Ericsson phones), and Blackberry. iPhone games should be added soon.

This is a site I helped develop, I'll admit that up front, but I do think it’s an excellent website and has quite a few advantages over the competition.

So first off, you can take a look here: http://www.wireless-gaming.com/

Wireless-Gaming has been designed to be easy to use, both for shopping and browsing.
We put this site together because we felt it was just too hard to find the top games on other online websites. There are amazing quality games getting very little attention in the mobile market because they're not associated with a great brand. And there are some that are associated with a big name that still fall through the cracks.

All of the titles on Wireless Gaming have been hand selected for quality and of course fun. Take a look, the site's interface, is, for lack of a better term: really cool. And of course its VeriSign secured so you don't have worry about your personal information being miss-used.

The entire site was just completely updated so even if you have browsed the site before, it’s worth looking again. And please feel free to post any comments or questions here.