I’ve been toying around the idea of creating an official website dedicated to my interests in mobile technology, mobile web marketing & m-commerce. I don’t want to use my personal name domain as a platform for something that could easily grow beyond my personal thoughts and ideas.

 The idea for mobLine hit me during Alan M. Weber’s keynote address at the 2006 LinkShare Symposium in New York. Alan shared his thoughts on how to successfully lead a business into the new era of commerce fueled by a global economy. He covered a wide range of topics during his keynote, but a few things really struck a chord with me; the use of information as a catalyst for change, the importance of speed in innovation, globalization is something to embrace, the way we do business is going to change and the world is shrinking because of The Internet. Even though his keynote was a bit ominous, I agreed with assessment of the future. Near the end of his keynote, Alan made a statement along the lines of; “The invention of The Internet was just the start. The next great innovation will come sooner than you think.”

Overall his keynote was thought provoking. It got me thinking about how I could embrace this new era of commerce in a global economy. I really liked the idea of making use of web enabled mobile devices to help create my stateless business. Then it dawned on me how open the mobile web was ripe for new business ventures. I viewed it as Columbus’ New World, an undiscovered country with huge potential. I thought of the name mobLine as a cleaver play on words to distinguish / brand the difference between shopping on the World Wide Web and shopping on the mobile web. Instead of shopping online with your computer, you would be shopping mobLine (Mobile + Online = mobLine, get it?) with your phone. Unfortunately I got wrapped up with other things after the conference and I never did anything with this idea.

4Q of last year I launched a mobile version of The Woodwind & Brasswind website on the mPoria Mobile Commerce Platform, which I highly recommend if you are looking for a painless solution for mobile ecommerce. Two things quickly became very obvious to me; people are willing to buy musical instruments from a mobile commerce site and true multi-channel integration is tough because the tools, services and technologies are still young.  As an example I want to create a mobile version of my email to add into my multipart newsletter. I think it be great if someone subscribed to my newsletter and when they viewed it from a web browser they got my .com links, but if the viewed the same email from a mobile device it would have my .mobi links instead. Current web standards for email do not allow me to pull this off. 

The mobile industry is still young and standards are still being defined.  My goal with mobLine.org is to create a shared resource for all things m-commerce. The site is not live yet, but it should be soon. I’ll keep you posted as things develop. I’m looking for help if anyone is interested.

I wanted to share with you how easy it was to extend WordPress to create my own moBlog by using an opensource mobile blog software plugin called WordPress Mobile Edition. In short WordPress Mobile Edition is a plugin that shows a different user interface designed specifically for use on cell phones and other devices. When a user visits your blog from a mobile device, they will see a simplified version of your blog that looks great on most mobile phones.  Most mobile web browsers are automatically detected. Wordpress Mobile Edition requires no configuration by the user.

I give this wp plugin 5 stars for ease of use and setup.

You can download WordPress Mobile Edition from the Plugins Directory at Wordpress.org. Click here to learn more about this great little plugin.

I was excited that AT&T finally released the Microsoft Windows Mobile 6 upgrade for my Blackjack because I thought it was never going to happen. I was also hoping AT&T learned a lesson after the original release and would address some of the outstanding issues like extending Bluetooth functionality. It looks like AT&T didn’t learn a thing and let some marketing dude remove Internet Connection Sharing from Mobile 6 for the Blackjack so they could charge for it instead. Why must AT&T be so greedy? No worries, I have some good news. A savor with the screen name chudy2 stepped up and created a hack to help the masses get their ICS back.

Connect Your Laptop to a AT&T Blackjack & Use It As A Modem
The following instructions were pulled from howardforums.com. This process was developed by one of the forum members named chudy2. It appears most people have been able to set ICS up with no issues. Make sure you do your own research. It is important you feel comfortable with making these kind of changes to your phone.

Standard Disclaimer: I must state that I take no responsibility for the actions of anyone reading this blog. If something of yours breaks because you did something I talked about, it’s your fault, not mine. Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

How’s your confidence, are you ready to pull this off?

1. First and foremost you’ll need to application unlock your phone. Read my earlier post on how to unlock your Blackjack. If you do not unlock your phone none of the following recommendations will work.
2. Reset your phone.
3. Download the following file to your computer by right clicking the file name and select Save Target As. WARNING: If you download this file using IE you might have to change the file extension from .ics to .cab before saving it.
   •  Download: BJ.WM6.ICS.Enable.cab (89.6 KB)
4. Install the BJ.WM6.ICS.Enable cab file (it might ask you to reboot)
5. Navigate to \My Documents and click on the certs.cab file
6. RESET THE DEVICE!
7. Go to start and run internet sharing.

Let me know if you have any issues. 

What’s Internet Connection Sharing or ICS?
You may wonder why you need ICS on Samsung Blackjack. I hope the following helps answer that question. Internet Connection Sharing enables you to access the Internet by connecting your computer laptop to your Blackjack phone.  This is also referred to as “tethering” your device to your cell phone. As long as you have a data plan, it negates the need for you to purchase an extra cellular modem. ICS also allows for Mac & Linux users to connect to the Blackjack since they don’t have ActiveSync.

So you want to unlock your Samsung Blackjack? Unlocking your Blackjack cell phone will give the ability to put the SIM card from any carrier in it so you can use on their network. This will let you use the incredible Blackjack on Sprint if you want too. Now you can go overseas and use a pay as you go SIM from a local carrier. Cool right?

I know my earlier post on “How to Perform an Application Unlock on the Blackjack” caused some confusion because some of you thought I was talking about a SIM unlock. I’m hoping this information helps.

How to Unlock Your Blackjack:

1. First you’ll need to get your Network Control Key. The Network Control Key is a 8 digits unlock code. There are two paths to get your NCK. You can either call AT&T or ask for it. You may have to ask them to put you through to their tech department.  If you’ve never signed up for AT&T’s Service they may not give the code because your not a customer. The other way to get the code is to contact a cell phone unlocking service. They usually charge around $20 to get this code for you.
2. Once you get the Network Control Key power off the phone.
3. Remove the SIM card.
4. Power on the phone back on.
5. Enter #7465625*638*
6. Enter Network Control Key.
7. Press “OK” Soft key, not the Send or OK hard key.
8. Power off the phone.
9. Reinsert the new SIM card.

Based on the response from people that have tried this I assume it works. I have no need to unlock my phone because I live in the States and I enjoy using AT&T as my services provider. So please let me know if this does not work on either the original Samsung Blackjack or the Blackjack II. Good luck!

I know I’m little late to the game on this, works been busy… I just found out Windows Mobile 6 has finally been released for the Blackjack. I plan on upgrading tonight and will write a full review later. It looks as though Samsung has written a good “How Do I Upgrade My Blackjack to Win Mobile 6?” guide. I haven’t read any reviews on it yet, so I hope it’s rockin’.

I always thought it would be kewl if I needed a report during an off-site meeting that was on my laptop, which I left at work, because I was invited to this meeting just to listen, so I quickly whip out my cellphone and download the needed report from my laptop to my phone to save the day. With that in mind, I started in on some research last weekend to see if I could access my computer from my Samsung Blackjack. What I stumbled across was a free service provided by Avvenu called Access n’ Share. Avvenu Access n’ Share let’s you access the files on up to 10 computers from any web enabled machine, including your Windows Smartphone for Free… Freakin’ Sweet!

The process to set up an account was simple:

1. I first had to download the Avvenu Access Share Connector application from the Avvenu website.
2. Next I installed the software on my computer, and once the software is installed you are able to sign up for an account.
3. Once the account is created you are good to go and now able to access files on your computer from the web anywhere around the world.
4. To access your new Avvenu Share account from your Windows Smartphone open IE on your mobile and type https://share.avvenu.com/login/ in the address bar.
5. You’ll get a login screen were you use the same username and password you selected during the creation of your account. That’s it, you’re in!

Here’s a few screen caps of what it look like from my phone:

The Bottom Line: This service is freakin’ sweet! It’s a must for anyone that wants to be connected and a hero. It’s also hard to wrong with the price tag of free. Yeah for Free!

Over the last few years I’ve been playing the role of Internet Marketing Manager. With this role came the responsibility of managing the almighty password protected excel spreadsheet that contained every important log-in and password critical for doing my job. I quickly found myself logging into 10 to 30 websites every day. I found myself logging in to many of these sites multiple times each day.  After tossing out a random complaint one day, a colleague of mine recommended a tool called RoboForm. I jumped online to download the Free Trial Version to give it a test drive, and guess what… I never looked backed. RoboForm is just the tops, I freakin’ love this thing. If you want to give RoboForm a try, you can download a free trial version at RoboForm.com. The free version let’s you save up to 10 log-ins.

A little over a year ago I upgraded to RoboForm2Go, which is on a portable USB drive. The only things better then RoboForm is RoboForm2Go. I can now take my passwords with me where ever I go. I have found keeping my personal and work passwords together in one location extremely beneficial. I love the fact that I don’t have to take my laptop home every night. I just load up my USB Drive with my reports and such, toss it in my pocket and head home. So here’s everything this thing it has…

• It auto save your passwords in browser.
• It auto fills logins & forms.
• Fill personal info into online forms
• Save offline passwords & notes.
• Generate Secure Random Passwords to meet security best practices.
• Encrypt passwords and personal data using AES, Blowfish, RC6, 3-DES or 1-DES algorithms.
• All personal info is stored on your computer only.
• Take RoboForm with you on USB disk for ultimate portability.
• Sync your passwords and notes to Palm or Pocket PC.
• Backup & Restore, Print your passwords.
• It is well-behaved: NO ADWARE, NO SPYWARE.
• Works under Windows as an add-on to IE-based browsers.
• Works with Netscape, Mozilla, Firefox under Windows, it’s even Vista ready.

The Bottom Line:  Roboform2Go is a must have for the professional on the go that likes repetitive tasks simplified to the lowest denominator or for anyone that is just plan lazy. The software itself runs for $39.95, but you’ll be thankful you purchased it. I recommend getting your own large storage USB drive instead of buying their 256MB USB drive for $9.95. You’ll wanna also pick up their sync software called GoodSync for backing up your My Documents folder on your work computer.

You can safely overclock your Samsung Blackjack up to 252 MHz.  The default processor speed for the Blackjack is 216 MHz. I haven’t heard of anyone having issues once they overclock the phone. I’ve had mine overclocked for weeks with no problems. I bumped mine to run at 240MHz and have seen very little impact on the battery life of my phone. Don’t just take my word for it Google It (Overclock Blackjack) and do your own research to make sure you are comfortable with this.

Standard Disclaimer: I must state that I take no responsibility for the actions of anyone reading this blog. If something of yours breaks because you did something I talked about, it’s your fault, not mine. Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

You may ask yourself… How can I overclock my Samsung Blackjack? Let me explain how…

1. First and foremost you’ll need to unlock your phone. Read my earlier post on how to unlock your Blackjack. If you do not unlock your phone none of the following recommendations will work.
2. Now that your phone is prepped for overclocking you’ll need to download a few applications. From the research I’ve done, there are a hundred ways to do this, but a developer by the name of Tom Gech has created a nifty little application to speed up the process and make overclocking your Blackjack a breeze. Tom created a program called OmapClockPlus which is a helper file for an application called OmapClock. OmapClock does the actual overclocking of your phone, here’s the readme file translated from Russian. You’ll need both these applications to set up continuous overclocking on your Blackjack. Go to this post on forum.xda-developers.com and download the following (2) files:
   • OmapClock & OmapClockPlus Manual Installation.zip (13.4 KB)
   • OmapClockPlus_Wm_Smartphone.zip (4.3 KB)
3. Unzip OmapClock & OmapClockPlus Manual Installation.zip
4. Unzip OmapClockPlus_Wm_Smartphone.zip
5. Create an “OmapClock” folder in the “Program Files” folder on your Blackjack (e.g. \Program Files\OmapClock) and then copy the OmapClock.exe and OmapClockPlus.exe from the OmapClockPlus_Wm_Smartphone.zip file to this location.
6. By default the overclock speed for this setup is 240MHz. If you want to increase the speed to 252MHz open the File: OmapClock.lnk with NotePad or some other text editor and change the “-clock 240″ to “-clock 252″ and hit save.
7. Copy the OmapClock.lnk file to the Startup folder on your Blackjack. (e.g. \Windows\Startup)
8. Download the following file by right click the following link and click “Save Target As…”. Download File: OmapClock Shortcuts.zip . Unzip and copy the two files to your Blackjack’s Start Menu folder. (e.g. \Windows\Start Menu\Applications)
9. Launch OmapClockPlus (e.g. Start > Applications > OmapClockPlus) and click “Register” once OmapClockPlus opens.
10. Exit & restart your Blackjack. That’s it! If you want to make sure everything took go to OmapClock (e.g.  Start > Applications > OmapClock) and it should say “Current Clock: 252 MHz”.

I hope find this helpful & happy overclocking!

Before you can optimize and configure your Blackjack to run at optimal speeds you must first app unlock the thing. App unlocking means you can run unsigned 3rd party software on your Blackjack. If you don’t application unlock it’s security settings, any changes you make that is registry based, will not be saved.

NEW: Please note this not a SIM Card Unlock, this is an Application Unlock. Please read the post “Unlocking the Blackjack SIM Card” to learn how to do this.

Here is the easy steps:

1. Download and install Device Security Manager Powertoy for Windows Mobile 5.0 from Microsoft. This is a nifty utility to show what security policy is in effect. If you connect your Blackjack to your PC, you’ll see two tier security policy is in effect.

2. Download and copy secpolicies.cab to your Blackjack using ActiveSync. I got this from sems.org who got it from Telus support, after following a post on qusers.com.

3. Run and install it. This allows you to install third party SSL Root Certs.

4. If you run Device Security Manager Powertoy for Windows Mobile 5.0 now (it is listed in Start - Programs as “Security Configuration Manager”, you’ll see now you are using One Tier Prompt. Select Security Off and click Provision. It will install tool.cab to your device and then provision the settings.

These instructions are based on the ones found for the Motorola Q provided by sem.org.