When what we call the internet first began it wasn’t anything like what we have today. There are plenty of people out who will read this and know exactly what I am talking about and there are some who haven’t known anything but the current state of the internet. Things have changed over the years, including the way that we pay for our internet service. From what I’ve seen there have been three major points in the internet billing cycle and you can see the same exact points when you look at mobile web data.

1. Pay as you go
Anyone who remembers the internet before Cable and DSL remembers well the squeal of a modem and the rigors of the call not going through or the other end being busy. We didn’t have an always on connection and if you didn’t know how to turn the volume down on the modem everyone in the house with you knew you were connecting to the internet. Back then your internet usage was printed on your phone bill and you were billed accordingly.

Of course when someone figured out that we could use our cell phones to connect to internet sites (although very media light) the cell phone companies were quick to start charging for the data usage, on a pay as you go plan.

2. You’ve got INTERNET!
Our next step on the trip down memory lane stops where Cable and DSL internet began, dial-up internet was still pretty big and a lot of companies still billed you per kb but there was a change somewhere and people began to pay upfront for their data.

This is where we are now in the mobile data wars, every month you pay $30 and you get the internet, the fastest available and it’s always there; that is, as long as you have a signal. The only choice you have to make is whether you need enterprise support.

3. Small, Medium, Large, X-Large, XX-Large, SUPER Duper Mega Large
Now we buy our internet by how fast we want to download the finale of LOST and how high of quality we want to see the animals on our farms on Facebook. It’s like a veritable Baskin Robins of speeds, ranging from 2Mb to 100+Mb download speeds and it is always getting faster. No more can you just buy the internet, no, now you have to choose which is right for your needs.

As far as mobile data is concerned, this is the next step. Consumers are already mad that they have to pay $30 per month and they don’t get the speed they need or they don’t even use what they consider to be $30 worth of data. Then there are people who use more than their fair share of data (it is unlimited, after all) and still only pay the $30. The only indication we have of “speed” is how many “G” it is, the current is 3G and 4G is on the way.

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

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.

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!

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.

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

I wanted to be able to have my SMS, MMS, and email make a noise during the day but not wake me in the middle of the night, and WinMo’s options will not let you do that. So I set out on a search, as I often do, to find something that would fill the need I have. And I think I found exactly what I am looking for — PhoneWeaver.

PhoneWeaver lets you set up profiles that control when your phone rings, when it vibrates, or when it’s silent. It can trigger the profiles with time, your agenda, manually, or whether it is connected to ActiveSync/AC Adapter. You can have lots of profiles all set differently and have them override each other with different triggers. It comes with 4 profiles already created and you can tweak these, copy them, rename them and disable/enable them to your heart’s content.

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.

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.