There are already TellMe apps out there, where the service listens to requests—search queries or requests for other data—and carries them out online. BlackBerry and Sprint Instinct have them, and the newest Ford Sync system uses TellMe for traffic data too. But in WinMo 6.5, TellMe isn't just an app, it's a one-button hub for voice commands of all kinds, including text messaging, making calls, and also jumping to Microsoft Live Search with natural language queries like "weather in San Francisco, California," "pizza in Kansas City" or "mother's day gift ideas."

Microsoft has long been big on the voice command thing, with PocketPC versions of it dating back five or more years, so it makes sense that they'd make a bigger push with Windows Mobile 6.5 than others have done. Things are also more connected now, so it also makes sense that a new voice command system would blur the line between what's happening on the phone itself (texting, etc.) and what's happening in the wireless cloud (searches, etc.).

I am a huge fan of voice commands, and am still pissed off that Apple has ignored their safety benefits, as well as their convenience, in iPhone development, and I'm glad to see at least one of the power hitters pushing the idea towards the next logical stage.

The service will be free at WinMo 6.5 launch, either as a download from the awkwardly named Windows Marketplace for Mobile, or pre-embedded by the carrier or handset maker. [TellMe]

TellMe promo video:

That's now up to 40GB from 30GB, and there's also a port extender. Unchanged is the screen, still 4.5 inches and 1024 x 600 res, and the 1GB memory, Intel 945GMS Express chipset, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Again, like all of today's Sony stuff, next month's release seems to be limited to Japan just now. [New Launches]

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity
122 grams
58 x 108 x 16.8 mm
2.8-inch screen
Touchscreen GPS
Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 OS includes Pocket Outlook, MSN, Word, Excel and the new Power Point Mobile.
SirfStarIII LP GPS receiver
Navteq pre-installed maps (latest 2006 issues)

The peeps at Acer haven't put a pricetag on it, but expect it to be too 'spenny for what it is. [Acer via MobileWhack]

The software works with a long list of Wi-Fi-capable devices, as well as any Pocket PC model with a wireless add-in card, or if you want to use it on Windows XP, that version is free. Looks like it could be useful, not only for legitimate users looking for a Wi-Fi hookup, but for those who drive around suburban neighborhoods looking for a wide-open Wi-Fi network so they might "borrow" a bit of bandwidth—or worse. Keep that in mind if you're one who's currently comfortable with leaving your Wi-Fi router wide open. [Makayama Software]

Arkansas is certainly a land of wonders—how else to describe a place that features Hot Springs National Park, the annual Tri-Lakes Bass Tournament and the birthplace of Skeets McDonald? Yet until this week, I was completely unaware of the Razorback State's greatest attribute: a government surplus auction site that is a cheap geek's dream. An iPAQ Pocket PC for 50 bucks (pictured at right)? A Bio-Tek Instruments auto strip washer for a Jackson? Sign me up...oh, wait, maybe not; the fine print says "DOES NOT power up." But Arkansas at least gets points for honesty on that one.

The state that wrought both Joey Lauren Adams and Bill Clinton is not alone in dumping its electro-dreck, of course. From sea to shining sea, Maine to the Mexican border, the public sector is always trying to rid itself of PCs, telephones, and mimeograph machines that it no longer needs—or, perhaps, never really needed in the first place. After the jump, highlights from the latest government fire sales.

"Complete Computer Systems"
Seller Iowa Prison Industries
Price 10 cents per megahertz
At first glance, I thought the Hawkeye State was using inmates to assemble low-end PCs. But it turns out that Iowa Prison Industries is just responsible for managing the state's surplus, which means your cheap computer was probably once used to tabulate water purity statistics in Sioux City, by a guy whose sartorial tastes run towards Ban-Lon and chunky stain-resistant ties. Granted, 10 cents per megahertz isn't that sweet of a deal—not in the day and age of the refurbished HP a1610n. But for the month of May at least, IPI is offering some tasty inducements, such as a free 17-inch monitor. And if you run a non-profit organization, man, are you in luck—you're entitled to 50 free computers! (This deal also seems to extend to low-income families, as if a sudden influx of 50 PCs per household is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty. Think harder, policy wonks.)

Five BlackBerries, Plus Accessories
Seller State of New York, Office of General Services
Price $61 (as of right now)
Talk about a deal—the good folks up in Albany were even kind enough to preserve the instruction manuals, as well as a belt clip. The only catch to this eBay auction? You have to actually get your way to Albany to pick the BlackBerries up in person. No idea why they've included this stipulation, as it would seem to naturally limit their bidders to folks within a 50-mile radius or so. But then again, state government is not typically known for its rationality.

P133 Laptops ("Various Makes")
Seller Kansas Department of Administration
Price $5
If a lack of cash flow has prevented you from joining the portable computing era, here's your chance. Thrill to the majesty of Windows 98 as you wonder how a laptop could possibly still work with so many obvious coffee stains on the keyboard. Amazingly, Kansas is selling an assortment of 1970s Selectric typewriters at exactly the same per-unit price. (They're also letting go of an Alkota pressure washer for the low, low price of $250—just in case you have a surfeit of blood stains on your garage floor.)

General Mini-Rooter Power Drain Cleaner
Seller State of Michigan Surplus Department
Price $103.70 (from an opening bid of $25)
Not being intimately familiar with plumbing gadgetry, I was sorta shocked by the plus-$100 bid on this machine (pictured at right). But it retails in the neighborhood of $500, and the State of Michigan seems like a trustworthy seller, right? Plus, let's face it—outsourcing pressure in the IT sector has once again made plumbing a more lucrative profession than being a geek. Perhaps this is your chance to swap your cubicle for a van, and start raking in the dough.

2003 Ford E450 Ambulance
Seller North Carolina State Surplus
Price $16,100
Okay, granted, this item doesn't exactly qualify as low-end, and ambulances don't traditionally fall in Gizmodo's purview. But if you're all about driving a non-conformist vehicle, this is way more oddball than a hearse (which I guess is played out after Six Feet Under, anyway). You'll need your geek skills to get this puppy back in full working order, though—according to the description, the lights and sirens have been "temporarily disconnected for transport."

1970 Bell 206A Helicopter
Seller Indiana Department of Administration
Price $167,000 (minimum bid)
Forget this column's low-end moniker—just had to mention this one. At 37 years of age, this bird ain't exactly Airwolf. But slap some ball bearings in there, and she's good to go.

NEXT WEEK: Low End Theory sheds its mortal coil and bids farewell.

Brendan I. Koerner is a contributing editor at Wired and a columnist for both The New York Times and Slate. His Low End Theory column appears every Thursday on Gizmodo.

Read more Low End Theory

For a few days before Chinese New Year, I've actually been quite busy developing my very own iPhone interface for the PocketPC. After looking at the functions and interface on the iPhone, I was keen on bringing it over to my Eten M600 PPC. The iPhone interface was pratical, looked neat and it was way cooler than any wm5 theme....Although this looks like an iPhone, it will never be an iPhone. But until it is released in July this year, all we can do is to try and imitate.

Finally Apple stepped in and ordered youtube to remove my video. I thought I would get an email from them but I don't think they will bother anymore after this. So yea, it has been a very strange 3 days, with 2 suspensions of my site account due to overusage and some people wanting to get me sued so badly.

I think if you're in my shoes you won't be thinking that way. I did not put this video up to show off what I did. I'm just showing you the possibilities of a ppc, showing you that it can be done. About a hundred years ago, before the Wright brothers invented the plane, nobody thought it was possible for man to fly. After their historical flight at Kitty Hawk, planes started appearing and air travel became possible. Today, almost everyone can fly (with Airasia's cheap flights). And so the whole perspective has changed because someone figured out how to do it.

Apple Removes iPhone Interface [digg]
The programmer's site, scroll down for all iPhone stuff [tzywen]

Not sure how functional this is, but looks like fun. By the way, thanks, W.G., but next time hold the camera steady and focus up. – Charlie White

Another welcome new feature: support for HTML in messages. It's about time. Other than that, it looks like there's not a whole lot of new stuff here. It looks like this is just stopgap for the holy grail, Windows Mobile Photon, which is expected to be released in a couple of years. But when will we see this version? And will we be able to upgrade our existing phones?

The reviewers predict the first devices loaded with this updated operating system will appear in the second quarter of next year, with only HP and E-Ten on the list of companies that are ready to upgrade existing devices. Check out the long-winded review for every conceivable detail. – Charlie White

Review of Windows Mobile 6.0 for PPC (Crossbow) operating system [Mobile Review]

If you're interested in a device with built-in GPS like the Artemis, check out the review and the gallery. – Jason Chen

Thinnest E-TEN Pocket PC Phone Coming Soon - X500 [Mobility Site]

What's new? There are mostly features that support the newest Slingboxes, such as a wide screen menu option, and the software now shows the correct number of inputs for those latest iterations from Sling Media. There are also a few interface tweaks, and optimization time is sped up when you change from portrait to full screen mode.

Seems like just yesterday when the SlingPlayer Mobile was released, and now here we are already on version 1.1. Anyway, we can't wait to get our hands on these new Slingboxes, and we'll be testing a Slingbox Pro in these parts before you know it. Stay tuned. – Charlie White

Download Page [Sling Media, via Zatz Not Funny]

izen Mobile /Product Page [izen Mobile, Inc. via Smartphone Thoughts]

The UBiQUiO 501 runs on GSM/GPRS 900/1800/1900 MHz networks; noticibly absent is support for the high speed EDGE network. It'll retail for just over $600 when it's released. – Nicholas Deleon

UBiQUiO 501 Pocket PC Phone Edition with QWERTY keyboard [the::unwired via Ubergizmo]

• One click Skype access: A Skype icon on the device home screen allows users to view and call contacts easily.
• Multi-person chat: Users can have multi-person chat sessions using animated emoticons with colleagues, friends and family and when mobile users are offline, chat messages will automatically update the next time user logs in.
• Enhanced contact list: Users can now see their contacts avatars and mood messages.
• Profile personalization: Users have the ability to take a picture with the camera on their mobile device and immediately update their profile.

We especially like being able to tell everyone that our mood for today is sulky with a slight chance of brooding. – Jason Chen

Product Page [Skype via Crunchgear]

The Zeta has seven programmable buttons and supports E2-SNES, for your Super Mario World and Final Fight emulation gaming. – Jason Chen

Game controller 'Zeta' dedicated to pocket pc smartphones [AVING via Kotaku]

One of us—ok it was me—picked up a T-Mobile MDA (HTC Wizard) yesterday and have been messing with it nonstop. It's very timely that our buddy Phillip Torrone from MAKE pointed us to the video he made using the old pPod software that Apple had canned a while back to turn the MDA into a makeshift iPod.

The controls work fairly well using the touch-screen of the MDA and mimics, in our opinion, the best generation of iPod controls.

The software's still floating around, so if you want to try it yourself you can either google "Turn Your Pocket Pc Into An Ipod!" or take a look at one of the links in this post. Guess which one!– Jason Chen

The iPod phone - Pocket PC to iPod [MAKE]

Except for being black rather than the Q's brushed aluminum with black trim, the i320 appears to go head-to-head with the Q, especially when you look at its 11.5mm thickness, a spec that exactly matches that of its Moto rival. It has a 2.2 inch LCD, 1.3-megapixel camera and a microSD slot, and just like the Motorola Q, runs Windows Mobile 5.0. Let the battle begin. – Charlie White

SGH-i320 The Pocket PC Phone from Samsung [Akihabara News, via Unwired View]

OQO Model 01+ [Mobility Today]

Wanna see some sweet eye candy? The pics of Verizon's XV6700BB Pocket PC Phone are out and it looks a hell of a lot like the HTC Hermes. It would be very nice if it carried the specs associated with the Hermes but it's apparently the Verizon-version of the HTC Apache, which still is still a bit sketchy. Still no word yet on price or availability of this sweet phone but we'll keep ya posted.

XV6700BB Verizon Pocket PC Phone [Mobility Today]

This week at Lifehacker: Don't pay for video at the iTunes Music Store - subscribe to free, del.icio.us video in iTunes. Create your own own iPod videos. Or forget the White Status Symbol of Apple Cult Membership, and watch your video to go on a big screen PocketPC. Of course, if you do decide to pay the man, be sure to give an iTune as a gift. Also: power texting tips for the SMS-happy, and how to make the four biggest search engines bend to your will with the top 20 search helpers.

Now that iTunes supports "vodcasting" - video podcasting - and social bookmarks manager del.icio.us supports filetypes, you can subscribe to movie files bookmarked in del.icio.us right in iTunes. With a little URL hacking with custom tags (want .mov's tagged "funny"? "movie trailer"? "girls," you pervert?) you can get free video surprises downloaded right into iTunes every day.

If Steve Jobs the Snake Charmer got you to run out and pick up your very own video iPod, check out this tutorial on creating your own iPod videos. No doubt a home video of your kitten batting at some yarn'll score some points on a first date.

Of course you could always resist the temptation of the Great White Music and Video player watch video on the go with a less sexy but more functional PocketPC.

However, if the draw of the iTunes Music Store does break you down, be sure to suck your friends and family in as well. Give an iTune or an iTMS video as a gift right inside iTunes.

Did the gagillion text messages in your mobile phone plan go unused last month? Point your clicker at a few power texting tips for the newbie and experienced thumber alike.

Finally, the search engine operators that will make Google, Yahoo, MSN and Ask Jeeves return exactly what it is you're looking for. Demand only the finest-crafted queries: dig up exactly the information you need from the darkest, loneliest corners of the Web with our top 20 search helpers.

Lifehacker’s Power User column appears every Wednesday on Gizmodo.

Mio A701 communicator boasts Windows Mobile 5.0, GPS [InfoSync World]