Trimble announced new pricing for its popular Recon rugged handheld computer. With the across-the-board US$300 price reduction. The Recon 200X features a 200 MHz processor with 64 MB of non-volatile Flash memory; the Recon 400X features a 400 MHz processor and 128 MB of Flash memory. Both Recon models come with Windows Mobile

Have you been considering upgrading to an HDTV? If so, you’ve probably seen the terms 1080i and 1080p. This article provides one of the best explanations we’ve ever seen about how the two formats work and what the difference is.

Sales of PDAs continued a steep decline in the second quarter as struggling vendors shipped 719,000 units worldwide, down from 1.26 million last year, according to a market research report released Wednesday. The results mark a 43.5 percent decline, a drop so large that Dell recently decided to stop selling its Axim handset and leave the market segment to its competitors, according to IDC.

And with no sign of better sales on the horizon, remaining vendors like Palm face mounting pressure to justify remaining in the market, said IDC analyst Ramon Llamas.

Electric Pocket’s Ringo Mobile now supports Windows Mobile 6 and includes more options for identifying incoming callers. Among the new features of Ringo Mobile is the ability to quickly and easily associate a picture or other graphic to appear when incoming calls arrive. Pictures enable Ringo Mobile users to identify a caller with a quick glance, even when the phone is set in vibrate mode.

Samsung and T-Mobile introduce the Samsung Blast, available exclusively from T-Mobile. With an enhanced QWERTY-like keypad for easy text entry, staying connected via text messages, instant messages and emails on the Blast is simple. The Blast also provides users with direct and convenient access to AOL email, Yahoo! Mail and Gmail. For added convenience, email messages on the Blast can be read and responded to for the same pricing as text and picture messages. Available today at select T-Mobile retail stores and online for $99.99 with a two-year contract.

Proporta has released their Silicone Case, Alu-Leather Case, and Advanced Screen Protector for Blackberry’s Curve, aka the BlackBerry 8300.

Ninety-one percent of Americans believe sending text messages while driving is as dangerous as driving after having a couple of drinks, but 57 percent admit to doing it, a poll released on Tuesday said.

The Harris Interactive survey commissioned by mobile messaging service Pinger Inc. found 89 percent of respondents believe texting while driving is dangerous and should be outlawed.

Even so, 66 percent of the adults surveyed who drive and use text messaging told pollsters they had read text messages or emails while driving. Fifty-seven percent admitted to sending them.

Apple’s iPhone put touch screens into the spotlight once again, and now the patent hounds have begun to bark, with SP Technologies claiming that the iPhone infringes on an SP Technologies patent, awarded in August 2004, covering software that allows users to input directions on a virtual keyboard that cannot be minimized or closed.

In what could be a new assault on the market for handheld gadgets, Dell has agreed to acquire Zing Systems, a company that makes software for distributing and managing music on mobile devices. Zing’s technology allows portable media players to play, store, and navigate music from digital streams.

The planned acquisition, which was announced Monday, comes as Dell seeks ways to boost sales of computers and other computing devices to consumers, a market in which the U.S. manufacturer is struggling to grow. On Monday, Gartner noted in a report that Dell is losing market share to rivals that are gaining traction in the faster-growing home PC market.

Mobile telephone carriers must allow customers’ competitors to connect to their networks, and they must make roaming available to competitors for a “reasonable” cost, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission said Tuesday.

Reacting to complaints about large carriers charging heavy roaming fees to customers of smaller competitors, the FCC voted to require that mobile carriers provide roaming services on a nondiscriminatory basis. Providing roaming connections is an obligation of commercial mobile phone carriers, the FCC said.