If you’re into Social networking sites or just like to share photos and videos then you might want to check out Shozu. With Shozu installed on your phone you can snap a picture and upload it to many different sites in a few clicks. There is a large selection of Social Networking sites to choose from. For example: Flickr, Facebook, Google Blogger, MSN Spaces, Wordpress and many more. You can even upload to some news sites or an FTP. You choose to send it to a list of emails or people in your contacts.

From the list of devices they didn’t have the Shadow listed so I chose the T-Mobile SDA II download and it seems to work so far. When posting to a Wordpress blog there is a slight delay of minutes to an hour before it shows up. Check it out here.

 Bluetrek is setting to release a very handy Bluetooth Headset + USB Memory Key + Direct USB Charging Device soon. It’s called the Bizz and takes two things most of us have and combines them in a wonderful package.

The Specs:

• 7 hours talk time

• 10 days standby

• Interchangeable color plates

• USB Flash memory device and microSD card reader (memory from microSD card up to 8GB)

• High Speed USB 2.0

• Charges headset via USB

• Optional Car Charger

• Supports SDHC microSD

You can watch an informative video about the Bizz here.

To pay or not to pay. That seems to be the question when it comes to phone insurance. There are many considerations to take into account when it comes to deciding whether or not to get insurance on your phone. Lately, I’ve received a lot of emails from people who broke their Shadows in one way or another. Be it falls, drops, water or stolen it does cost money to replace or restore your Shadow.

The solution is insurance (T-Mobile does provide it). I have used it before, many years ago for a broken screen. The Shadow does demand some dollars so unless you have cash coming out of your ears you might want to consider the replacement costs. My suggestion is this, if you are young or accident prone, get insurance. You will be happy you did. At the most you will wait a few days for your new Shadow to arrive in the mail.

Tim writes in about CNET’s informative video on using your Slingbox on your cellphone. If you own a Slingbox then this is a must see. If you don’t own one then watching the video will only increase your awareness

  If you are familiar with search functions that search as you type then you might be interested in trying out Boopsie. Using ’smart prefix searches’ and ‘unique category search’ you can save lot of time finding what you are looking for. As you type the first few letters of each word Boopsie begins finding results based on your Channel selection. Channels range from Amazon and Encyclopedia Britannica to Facebook and Wapipedia.

If you want to give it a try before downloading it, there is a simulator here. I found it interesting and useful to use. The results are displayed in Boopsie and when you select a result it opens in Pocket Internet Explorer. If you want to get on with the downloading simply point your mobile browser to www.boopsie.com

Without a doubt, Skyfire is in demand. Over a week ago I downloaded my beta copy and have enjoyed it ever since. It does break my heart a little that not everyone can enjoy it yet. However my hopes were lifted with this recent email concerning Skyfire and the beta program. Hopefully this will left your hearts as well.

Straight from the Skyfire Office:

“Here’s the status of our private beta program.  As you know, we have quite a demand for the beta and sign ups beyond what we can support today.  On February 8^th, we invited a batch of the sign ups to download Skyfire beta 0.5 based on the chronological order in which they signed up.  We purposefully kept the number of those first downloads to a manageable number so we could finesse our systems before we increased the pool.  We’ve taken the time since February 8^th to work out any kinks in our system — nothing of significance, but the normal stuff that comes up when you go live the first time.  We needed this time to fine tune the download process, support, etc. and assess our infrastructure relative to real users.

After this period of tweaking and assessing, we are in a position to invite more people to download Skyfire. Very soon, we will invite another batch of people to download in a first signed up, first invited basis. That’s not to say, we can invite every beta sign up to download immediately – the invitations will continue in a measured pace to meet the significant demand for Skyfire. Next week, you will see our external messaging to beta signs up in this regard – blog updates, email blasts and website messaging.  We appreciate that you point your readers to our sign up page as that’s the best course of action to get into our private beta program.  However, it’s safe to say that there is a wait as we continue in a measured pace.”

So you heard it here. Up until this point every reader of AllShadow.com should already be signed up on the beta program’s sign up page. If you aren’t then you need to get over there and get your beta on. As you can see they are proceeding in chronological order of when people signed up. Do you want to be the last?

Ok guys - it’s time for you to sound off on what you would like to see at AllShadow.com.  Mike and I have some interesting things in the works for down the line, but until then, how can we make AllShadow.com a better resource for you?  Live chats?  More software suggestions?  Tshirts?  Contests?  Additional forums?  More walk-throughs?  Tell us in the comments, and be creative!

Sometimes the chimes just aren’t enough and we all like variety in our life right? This method is a simple and free way to wake up to your favorite song.

EDIT: Apparently the method described below doesn’t always work. However if you copy it into Application Data > Sounds it will work 100% of the time.

First, copy your favorite (DRM free) MP3 onto your Smartphone >My Documents > My Ringtones folder. This should also work in the My Ringtones folder on the storage card that we made in the MP3 as a Ringtone Tutorial.

To test it out, make sure the phone volume is up and not on silent then go to Start > Settings > Clock & Alarm and set an alarm for a few minutes from now. Make sure you get the AM/PM and Everyday settings correct.

Enjoy!

For awhile I have been wanting to provide a more inclusive guide to the Windows Mobile Standard Shadow than just the front page here. If you look to the right in the menu, just below ‘Ask Mike’ you can see a link that will take you to the new page ‘68 Things‘. It is meant as a primer for the new user and a Table of Contents for our How-To’s. I don’t expect it to stay 68 things forever, but instead I expect it to grow over time.

You might notice that not every item has a link. That is intentional and is a preview of some of the How-To’s to come.  It is real fun being able to make these How-to’s and write informative articles as I learn along the way as well. So if you have questions about something do these steps in order to find the best results faster: use the search function up top, use the search function in the forums, if you haven’t found an answer yet the best place to ask one is in the forums as more fellow Shadow owner’s visit there on a regular basis. Remember, AllShadow.com is mobile friendly so be sure to save a bookmark on your phone as well.

Enjoy the super list!

Ever since the Exclusive Video on Skyfire I have received numerous emails asking how to get Skyfire. Skyfire is in private beta right now, so the options on getting it are limited. Skyfire operates both on your device and on the Skyfire servers and that is one reason why it works so well, distributed browsing.

Two ways to get Skyfire:

1. Go to the Sign Up page, enter your information and wait. Hopefully the queue won’t be long and you will be added to the user list and be able to download and use Skyfire.
2. Wait for the final release, because of the beta status of it there are a few options that don’t work. I’m sure you want a working copy right?

If you do happen to have a friend that emails you the .cab file. It won’t work. Skyfire requires your cell number and some other registration details so the server can appropriately handle the connection between the web and your phone.

Skyfire is a great browser and worth the wait. So be patient it is coming…

First, we wrote an article on putting a password onto the Shadow as well as enabling encryption on your storage card in case someone got their hands on it.

If you want more encryption in case a family member or coworker needs access to your phone on occasion then there are several programs available. I’ve listed four of the more promising ones here with some notes. Read Full Entry

There are only a few hours left for the 20% discount at the AllShadow.com store. So if you have some software or gear you would like to pick up now is the time. So get on over there check out some new software.

Remember purchases go toward helping the site.

One of the great things about traveling overseas is seeing all the great sites, eating different foods and meeting new people. One of the not so great things is when you don’t speak the language. Yes, there are many phrase books out there that look really handy in the book store but once you are in country all kinds of things can go wrong like not being able to pronounce the words and so on.

What Was Wanted:

I wanted something that would make communicating in Russian easier. An Application that would help me learn, have audio examples, translation and be intuitive to use. 

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The more I use Skyfire the more I like it. I keep giving myself reasons to use it. Did you know it was Valentine’s Day? Yeah! So I used it to check movies on Yahoo’s Full Movie site instead of the mobile site. I also showed my brother his company’s website on the browser. And then… Read Full Entry

I finally had some time to sit down and update my Shadow. I documented the process so if you haven’t already done it, here is a handy little guide to help walk you through it. Read the entire article before beginning.

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