Making Mobility Profitable Dept.: My pal Jørgen Sundgot over at infoSync has recently announced infoSync Mobile, a new piad subscription service. Unlike infoSync's relatively limited AvantGo channel, the new mobile version of the site gives you everything you'd have access to on the wired site, only formatted for the smaller screens of mobile devices. Subscriptions cost $4 a month, or $10 for three months.

This is a risky venture, given that the Internet crowd is notoriously adverse to paying for content, but I think Jørgen might be on to something. The wired, PC browser-oriented site is still free. You're not paying for the content, but unfiltered, unrestricted mobile access to the content. Mobile users are already used to paying for such access, via cell time and SMS fees. Why can't what are essentially online newspaper subscriptions - albeit very focused, niche newspapers - work the same way?

Holy Cow, I'm Shrinking Dept.: Just thought I'd plug a new favorite app of mine, Personal Health by Two Peaks Software. Available on Handango, this app is every bit the equal of Diet & Exercise Assistant on the Palm. I've lost seven pounds in two weeks so far and the software does a great job of keeping track of how many calories I eat versus how many I burn.

Mobility Is Cool Dept.: The text entry box for AvantBlog is about the size of a postage stamp, but it probably looks okay on a PalmOS device (can I just go back to saying "PalmPilot" like everyone else?). But the ability to post directly from my device might make the difference in making the blog work.

And Another Thing Dept.: BTW, I'm using AvantBlog because I can't get PocketBlog to work reliably. Anyone use this? Have any tips? Sam, you out there?

Blogging Revisited Dept.: Okay, I'm trying this again. I've been thinking recently that the mobile tech industry just moves too darn fast for a weekly column. While I'm still going to have a new column for you every Monday with the usual in-depth analysis and commentary-- or just ranting, who knows?-- I'm going to try to use this as a way to communicate faster, hotter topics. I'm using the AvantBlog channel on my Pocket PC to enter stuff on the go.

So if you want the whole package, be sure to update your AvantGo/Mazingo/iSilo channels to update on every sync!

Columns Dept.: 02/06/24 - XScale: Hit or Hype?

Despite some otherwise impressive features, performance on the new Toshiba e740 is a dud. Is this Toshiba's problem, or a sign that XScale-generation Pocket PCs won't live up to the hype?