ZenZui is both the name of a new Microsoft-backed startup and a new interface for phones designed to "transform how people engage, consume and interact with Web content through a revolutionary mobile user experience and information ecosystem."

ZenZui's Zooming User Interface organizes Web and user content in 36 tiles arranged in a virtual desktop grid. The desktop can be panned and zoomed in or out using the cellphone's touchscreen or numeric keypad. Then, when you activate one of the tiles, it will show you a small interface, which appears to follow the same directional pad control for user interaction.
 

Jeff Hawkins, co-founder of Palm is engadged in a secret project of releasing a device similar to an UMPC running a version of the Linux modified by Palm to run on a mobile device. This will include a Garnet Capability Layer, allowing the Experience to run thousands of applications that were created for Palm OS-based devices.

As the image provided by this source shows, Palm will include the versions of the Calendar and Contacts apps it developed internally and has been including on Garnet-based devices for quite some time.

It will have an application launcher that is close to the one on Palm OS Garnet, but has been altered to be more usable on a UMPC-like device like this one.

It will supposedly include 128 MB of RAM and a 30 GB microdrive for internal storage. There will almost certainly be some form of removable memory card slot, but this source didn't mention one.

The Experience will reportedly be available for both GSM and CDMA networks, and will include support for 3G cellular-wireless networks. In addition, this Palm model will include WiFi b/g and Bluetooth 2.0.

Jeff Hawkins will announce the Advantage himself in May, and it will hit the market this summer. The exact release dates will be determined by the carriers offering it. The price will also be determined by the cariers, but its cost will likely be comparable to other UMPCs.

A new version of the Bluetooth short-range wireless connectivity standard has been published. The update promises to boost battery life and make pairing gadgets a doddle.

Bluetooth 2.1 improves pairing in two ways: better security and automatic pairing. Devices like headsets that simply extend the capabilities of a phone, say, will be able to pair with the host automatically once the handset’s owner has chosen to add a Bluetooth add-on.

How well this will work in offices where there may be dozens of potential devices the phone could connect to will remain to be seen. Bluetooth 2.1 also allows devices to generate a six-digit passkey on behalf of the user. The key is used to encrypt communications on the wireless link with a strength equivalent to a 16-digit alphanumeric string, claimed the Bluetooth SIG, the organisation behind the standard.

The power savings will come to devices like mice and keyboards that use low data transfer rates and primarily send information rather than receive it. These devices will be able to operate in an even lower-power consuming mode and still send all the data they need to. That, the Bluetooth SIG said, will increase these add-ons’ battery life fivefold. Bluetooth 2.1 devices will be compatible with products that use older versions of the standard, though the connections won’t be able to use these new features.
 

The Strategy Analytics Wireless Device Lab has recently released its latest end user benchmark which concludes that users find Windows Mobile Pocket Outlook to be the easiest mobile email client to configure for a POP3 email account.

Achieving a 100% success rate, Pocket Outlook also outperformed its competitors for speed and user satisfaction. The BlackBerry Internet Service suffered fatal email configuration challenges, while discoverability was an issue for Nokia Series 60.

"Participants showed a strong preference for an on-device wizard approach to email setup" according to Paul Brown, User Experience Analyst at Strategy Analytics. "Step-by-step guidance through the setup process makes it very difficult for participants to actually go wrong."

Kevin Nolan, Director of the User Experience Labs, added, "None of the participants were able to setup an email account on the BlackBerry device without assistance. Every participant felt it was counterintuitive to be required to access the web browser in order to setup a new email account." 

"An impressive feature-set including Windows Mobile® 6 software, a 520MHz Intel processor, Stereo Bluetooth, WiFi and blazing fast HSDPA wireless data, make the UBiQUiO 503G a mobile powerhouse. Enjoy blazing fast wireless connectivity. The 503G features the latest in 3G wireless technology, HSDPA, which supports speeds up to 3.6 Mbps. That, combined with the quick 520MHz processor, make for a rewarding mobile experience. Staying up to date on your email, appointments, and tasks while on the move has never been more convenient. A generous 256MB or ROM means you can store a larger number of mobile applications directly onto the device and if you want to store a large number of files, then you can simply plug in a microSD card, up to 2GB in capacity. If you are looking for multimedia features, the UBiQUiO 503G offers two cameras. The main camera is a 2MP CMOS camera with Micro Focus, perfect for capturing pictures and short videos and emailing them directly to your friends or collegues. The 2nd camera is a 0.3MP camera for video conferencing. Windows Media Player Mobile and the included stereo headphones let you enjoy your music & video files anywhere you go."

So nVidia announced their GoForce graphics processor which will first be implemented in XDA Flame, now their competitor AMD has revealed their product Imageon. "AMD's Imageon chip is a graphics processor (GPU) designed for mobile devices. While the high-end version is not shipping in any Windows Mobile devices at this point, the demonstration I saw was quite impressive....I was unable to find the model number of the GPU running the demo below, but I suspect it was the Imageon 2298, announced last month. The hope here, of course, is that technology like this will make it into Windows Mobile smartphones so we can have gaming experiences this fluid and impressive"

"Minimo is a small, simple, powerful and innovative, web browser for mobile devices, which is based on Mozilla technologies. to produce a highly usable web browser for Windows Mobile smartphones. Minimo 0.2 now includes best available support for modern web standards including Javascript and AJAX, social bookmarking, tabbed browsing (something the Internet Explorer Mobile still lacks), RSS support as well as Widget and Extension support!"

If you haven't had a chance to download Deepfish, try minimo for a while.

Not really a complete new Pocket PC from HTC, but a CDMA version of the Hermes, Cingular 8525. Releasing with WM5 and not WM6 yet!