According to Jaunted.com, select airports in Texas are “experimenting with checking in passengers via QR code, or those curious black-and-white nouveau barcodes.” [via Jaunted]

Edit: You can read about I-nigma Reader, a free QR Code reader for Windows Mobile, here.

Twitter really wasn’t my thing when it came out, I didn’t understand what the big deal was about telling everyone what you were doing. I think it’s a misconception now, though, as I read/hear people talking about how they don’t think it would be fun for them (or others) to tweet about what they are eating or where they are currently spending their time (especially if it involves a porcelain throne). I also think it’s a matter of how many friends you have and how active they are, but it also depends on HOW you tweet. I was bored with sending in tweets by text message and I wasn’t able to get every person on my follow list on my phone so I went in search of a Twitter client for my phone.

I downloaded a few different clients and finally came upon PockeTwit on the Twitter Fan Wiki, which is quickly becoming my favorite client. Out of the handful of clients that I tried (almost all of the clients that were for Windows Mobile) PockeTwit was the only one that actually ran and performed as I expected it to. The application is quick and updates even when it is “minimized,” which is what the developers called it when you close the program but don’t quit it.

The only drawback to running PockeTwit, as with any app that is constantly checking for updates on a server, is that the battery drains quite fast. Normally I can go all day on a charge (that’s a full 12+ hour day) but with PockeTwit running I’ve had to charge it after 8-9 hours, it’s not a huge thing seeing that I am normally driving home from work around then, but it is much different than I’m used to and could become a nuisance.

PockeTwit is freeware provided under the MIT License.

One of the most popular posts on this blog is the one about I-nigma and it really goes to show that people think that 2D barcodes are the next big thing. Apparently Microsoft thinks the same thing because they just released their own 2D barcodes and reader — Microsoft Tag.

Instead of the usual black blocks to make up the barcodes, Microsoft used multicolored triangles, making the barcode smaller in comparison to other 2D codes.This allows Tags to be used in a wider variety of places, unlike it’s brother the QR code. These Tags can be used to quickly link a user to a web address, send a vCard, send text, or even place a call, all with your phone’s camera. The applications are endless!

Microsoft wasn’t stingy with their product, either, once you download and install Tag (you can only install by visiting http://gettag.mobi on your phone at the moment) by visiting gettag.mobi on your phone or by sending the link in an SMS, you can create your own Tags for your print or online projects.

Microsoft Tag is freeware from Microsoft, creating Tags is also free. Here’s one I made, just open TagReader on your phone and point your camera at it, and then let the Tag do all the work!

So you want to impress your friends with your Windows Mobile phone and the Android phone just keeps showing you up every time you are out. Well not today, friend, today you have something up your sleeve that rivals even the best of Android’s apps. Today you can show off your mad skills and show your buddy an x-ray of his hand. And Portable X-Ray makes it possible.

It’s not a real X-Ray app, that should be the first thing I say in this review, actually. It’s just a video that plays of an x-ray of a hand and you tell your phone when to pause the video and continue playing it. Here’s the video of it from Youtube.com

As you can see, the x-rayer moves the phone over the x-rayee’s hand and presses the camera button to start and stop the movement on the screen. Play the video again now and watch his fingers. See him press the button? That’s the key. Well, that and knowing the direction the video will scroll next. Download the app and  make sure to install eVB included in the RAR file (a plugin from Microsoft that you will need to actually run the app). Then practice, practice, practice!

I showed this to my wife last night and she was floored, she actually thought it was x-raying my arm! It is really that life-like and people will think you are really doing it when you trick them. Just remember, a good illusionist never tells the secret to his trick.

Protable X-Ray is freeware and made for educational purposes only.

Apparently I need to start off my contests a little slower, after a thin turn-out for the SyncMate contest I have decided to make it a little easier. So, in the spirit of the New Year I am going to give out the 3 SyncMate licenses just for posting a comment. I will randomly choose the winners.

Last day to comment and win is January 14, 2009.

So I was looking around for a new app to feature here and a friend bought a G1, which has built-in Google Talk, so that got me looking around for a good app to connect to Google Talk on my HTC Touch. The first link when you google “google talk windows mobile” is a post on the Official Google Mobile Blog about Google Talk being ported onto the iPhone. Now, this review isn’t about the official Google Talk app, it’s about an app that someone mentioned in a comment on that post — Beejive (pronounced bē-hīv).

Beejive is a cross-platform, multi-IM network enabled Instant Message application, it supports AIM/iChat/MobileMe, MSN/Windows Live, Yahoo!, MySpace, Google Talk, ICQ, & Jabber, and it works on Blackberry, iPhone, and Windows Mobile. Unfortunately, according to the site, the Windows Mobile version is not going to be updated and will stay in a beta version, but it is free.

San Francisco – December 15, 2008 – The Coveroo, a new electronic fashion accessory that takes your phone from drab to fab, is unveiled today – pioneering a world where personal electronics are truly personal. A Coveroo replaces the original back cover on your mobile device with a custom version that features lasered artwork from your favorite band, TV show, movie or artist. Coveroo launches with over 250 high-quality designs from leading brands – some of which are being made commercially available for the first time – such as AC/DC, Star Trek, The Simpsons, Family Guy, and Barbie.

Getting a Coveroo is simple, inexpensive and quick –prices start at only $19.95 and holiday delivery is guaranteed if ordered by December 22, 2008. Go to www.coveroo.com, choose a phone model, and select your desired design or pick from a variety of fonts to have your name or initials etched. The folks at Coveroo will hand craft a new back cover for your phone and send it to you. Once received, you just slip off the old boring back cover and replace it with your new fashion-forward Coveroo. Coveroo early adopters and trend-setters looking to stand out, promote a cause or carry a reminder of their favorite things include a growing list of celebrities such as Dustin Hoffman, Eva Longoria and Paris Hilton.

“Consumers who are accustomed to instantly customizing everything about their online world are now demanding the same thing in the physical world,” said Karl Jacob, CEO of Coveroo. “Now they expect that anything can be a unique reflection of them – including personal electronics. On demand customization with the most popular designs is finally here and we are excited to deliver this product to consumers for the holidays.”

As part of the company’s debut, Coveroo also announced a partnership with Best Buy to provide its on-demand laser engraving at select stores nationwide. In addition to Best Buy customers being able to personalize their new purchases by adding custom Coveroos, they can also bring their existing devices into participating stores to be etched – a particularly appealing solution for Apple iPhone users. Currently, Coveroo is set-up for business in the following Best Buy locations:  Bloomington, MN in the Mall of America; Fairfax, VA; Schaumburg, IL; and West Hollywood, CA; and has plans to extend its relationship and rollout to additional Best Buy stores in the coming year.

The sophistication of the laser technology and engraving process, along with the exclusive licensing deals made with leading brands and covetted artists, allow Coveroo to fullful its mission of personalization in a way that is unmatched by any other in the market today. Coveroo offers a tremendous variety of designs while being the most affordable, high-quality and time-efficient solution for device personalization.

San Francisco-based Coveroo, formed from the merger of Wallop and Etchstar, was founded in October 2008 by seasoned industry veterans including Karl Jacob, Ben Katz and Mark Halstead. Jacob, now CEO of Coveroo, is a four-time successful entrepreneur and was most recently CEO and founder of Wallop, funded by Bay Partners, Norwest and Microsoft – all of which stayed on to finance Coveroo. Katz, now President of Coveroo, was previously CEO and founder of Etchstar, where he pioneered commercialization of on-demand customized consumer electronics. Halstead who has invented several ecommerce technologies will take on the role of Coveroo CTO. The joining of the companies and associated business and creative credentials provides the perfect combination of online insights with real-world know-how.

Available immediately from the Coveroo website are designs for the Blackberry Bold, Curve and Pearl, as well as the Motorola SLVR 7, Samsung U410 and U340 and LG CU515.  The Apple iPod touch with a Coveroo is also available on the Coveroo site.  Customers can also get Coveroos for any of these devices, and the iPhone 3G, in person at select Best Buy stores.

Coveroo is adding new phone models and design choices all the time, and can also etch custom designs to fashion a truly “one of a kind” Coveroo. For more information or to order a Coveroo online, please go to www.coveroo.com.

The people at Eltima Software have graciously supplied me with three (3) licenses to give away to my readers. But I’m not one for just giving things out, I like a little fun involved. So I’m going to have a contest to determine who gets the licenses.

It’s a simple contest, one that involves a bit of work, but it won’t be too hard. All you have to do is send in a picture that has “ThisMobileLife.com” somewhere in it. It can be a picture you took, a photo you made with Photoshop, or even a drawing; anything, as long as it has “ThisMobileLife.com” in it. Entries will be accepted until December 24th at midnight, you have three weeks. That should be enough, right?

Send all contest entries to contest@thismobilelife.com.

When I got my first satellite radio from my wife a few years ago I loved the thought that I could listen to ad-free radio any time I was driving. Well, I quickly found out that not only can you listen in your car but you can log onto the provider’s site and listen for free as well. This gave me hours of enjoyment but I found that I’m not always in the car or at my computer. I needed a mobile solution. Apparently I wasn’t the only one, R-Capi on the PPCGeeks.com forums has created a great app, C-ApiSRO, to do this very thing for you!

You will need to sign up for PPCGeeks.com to download this file, but if you have Sirius/XM you know the importance of having access to your tunes at all times!