General

CTIA Orlando and NewsBreak 2.0

March 22, 2007 by Marc

I’m packing up and heading out for CTIA Orlando. I’ll be meeting with a number of friends and business partners while I’m there so if you plan to attend drop me a line! It should be a great show this year and I’ll be sure to post my thoughts when I return.

I also wanted to thank everyone out there for the fantastic response you’ve given to NewsBreak 2.0. We’ve been hearing some wonderful stuff and some great ideas for future versions as well.  I think the thing I love to hear the most are comments like “I never saw the point of RSS but thanks to NewsBreak I’m hooked!” Hearing that is a dream come true since one of my goals with NewsBreak is to have a product that makes RSS easily accessible to everyone. Thanks!

We Interrupt This Blog ...

March 14, 2007 by Ellen

I’m interrupting our “regular” blog to post about something I feel very strongly about. And while we have a rule here (as much as we have any rules, we’re not big on them) that blog topics need to be at least somewhat related to what we do, one of the perks of being an owner is that I can break the rules and no one gets to say much.

So I’m jumping on a soapbox to urge everyone to read about how the new copyright rules really threaten the future of Internet Radio. This site has a lot of info, as well as links to another site that makes it very easy to send emails or even real letters to your congresspeople.

Please check it out, and, if it’s something you believe in, sign the petition, send the letters, and add the banners to your own site. And of course, come back here and post that you did, so we can add you to our monthly giveaway, and to the extra giveaway that I’ll be doing among people who reply to this specific post and say they’ve sent letters or added banners to their sites. So even if you’re not that interested in helping out internet radio, you’ll have some extra chances to win our software and swag by doing so.

Thank you! And we now return you to our regular Ilium Software blog.

eWallet 5.0.1 is now available

March 8, 2007 by Marc

Earlier this week we released NewsBreak 2.0! Now we’re very excited to announce - eWallet 5.0.1! wallet120.jpg OK, well maybe “very excited” isn’t quite the right description but hey, it’s finished and released so “Woo Hoo!”. We’re happy!

eWallet 5.0.1 is a minor update to eWallet for all platforms. It includes almost a hundred (sorry, I’m not going to try to list all 100!) tiny changes, mostly fixes or tweaks to smooth out things we discovered after the release of 5.0 . None of these are earth shattering and if you never install 5.0.1 you probably wouldn’t notice a difference. For instance, on some cards on some smartphones an extra line got left on the screen when you scrolled through card fields. On the off chance that you use that card on the affected smartphones, 5.0.1 fixes it - no more line! Woot!

Still, we tend to be perfectionists at heart at Ilium Software and if even a few people could run into the problem we like to fix it. So here it is! 5.0.1. If you’ve installed the 5.0 full version (or unlocked the 5.0 trial), installing the 5.0.1 trial over the top of it should result in a full, unlocked version. If for any reason it doesn’t, the same codes that unlocked/registered 5.0 will do the same for 5.0.1.

And we won’t be hitting all your email boxes to tell you about this one so don’t feel bad if you don’t get a notification. Like I said, most folks don’t really need it and spamming you with yet another upgrade email isn’t what we’re shooting for.

So feel free to grab the update if you’re insterested and, as always, if you have any problems or questions, let us know!

NewsBreak 2.0 - With Podcast Support!

March 6, 2007 by Marc

We’re excited to announce that we just released NewsBreak 2.0. This new version of our award winning news reader includes a number of great new features. The one we are the most excited about is full support for podcasts and enclosures.

Listen to your favorite podcasts, watch vidcasts, view enclosed images, and much more with this new version of NewsBreak. With an interface even novices find easy to use, NewsBreak makes it simple to take advantage of this new feature.

We’ve also received special permission to add Microsoft Live Search to NewsBreak. Now, when you search for new feeds, you can use either Syndic8 or Live Search giving you an even bigger selection to choose from.

Plus, we’ve updated the menus for better one-handed navigation on Windows Mobile 5.0 devices, added full support for Windows Mobile 6, polished the program up with a new look, and added even more keyword icons so you can personalize your feeds and find just the news you need.

And of course we’ve saved the best for last. To celebrate this new release we’re offering NewsBreak for just $7.95 for a limited time! Save $12.00 off the regular price!

Now, a little something for our blog readers. You already know that we give away software each month to a random poster. Well here is an excuse to post! Help us fill out the channel lists we provide to NewsBreak readers by posting your favorite news feeds, podcasts, and vidcasts here! We’ll add the very best ones to our online feed list!

Arcade Reality - The Future is Now!!

March 2, 2007 by Marc

Like flying cars and household robots, the future is notorious for its many unfulfilled promises. Turns out it isn’t all talk though! I just downloaded a game called Arcade Reality. Here is what they promise:

“No more killing feeble aliens on the tiny 2” x 2" screen! In this game you must handle hostile creatures floating around you in the real world. "

My first thought is “Um….yeah, right.” I’ve seen these promises of games that you play in the real world. “Just a few more years and every game will be like this!” they promise. Surrre. So when I heard about Arcade Reality all I could think was that it would be one more bit of false hope for my already broken gamer dreams.

But guess what? IT WORKS!!

I’m not kidding. This thing actually works. You look at the screen and search around the room for the aliens. When you spot one you hit the action button on your five way and lasers blast off through the office and the alien invaders a’splode. Suddenly, your device begins to vibrate…you’re under attack again…but from where? You spin in a circle look up up, down, and all around. Finally you spot them behind you and up. Fire! Fire! Fire! YES! BOOM BABY!!!!

Look, the graphics are 1981 I know, but this game is 2052! Definitely download this one and give it a try. The YouTube videos they have don’t even come close to representing the experience.

And NICE WORK to all the folks at Arcade Reality. As a developer I applaud an incredibly clever game that actually comes through on all those promises for the future of gaming.

Another Smartphone Tip

March 1, 2007 by Ellen

I’m seeing a lot of Smartphone tips published lately, so am jumping on the bandwagon and adding one of my own. And since I’m suchan advocate of simplicity, mine is a very simple one. It even works on any cellphone, not just Smartphones.

When setting up any kind of off-site meeting, appointment, or date, send the person you’re meeting your cellphone number. When they send theirs back (which everyone does, if you write “in case anything comes up, here’s my mobile number”), put it into your cellphone. It takes about 20 seconds, and if something goes wrong - either on your part or theirs - you have a very easy way to reach them.

If you don’t want their number stored permanently you can always erase it after the meeting (I usually store one-time numbers in the “Temp” category, and just clean them out when I’m stuck in a waiting room.)

I thought most people did this already, but am realizing that’s not true. If people sync their phones with their desktop contacts, and everyone puts their mobile phone numbers in their contact info, this becomes automatic, but it’s clear to me (from seeing and hearing other people in public) that this isn’t the case right now.

I know this isn’t extremely specific to our software or our site, but it’s such a simple way to avoid problems, it seemed worth mentioning.