Neowin.net

Microsoft is to announce an application that lets manufacturers add wireless access for data and voice calls to Pocket PC devices.
Microsoft next week will announce an application that will let manufacturers using its Pocket PC 2002 operating system add wireless access for data and voice calls to their upcoming devices.

The announcement will be made in Cannes, France, and the application will be called Microsoft Phone Edition, sources said. The software will allow handhelds to access data and make wireless voice calls. The first devices to support Phone Edition will run on GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) and GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) networks and will be a new class of devices from manufacturers supporting the Pocket PC OS.

Sources said other manufacturers are expected to introduce next week new handhelds using Microsoft's Phone Edition application. At this year's Consumer Electronics Show, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates briefly demonstrated in a keynote speech a Hewlett-Packard Jornada device using the software and another from AudioVox using an application from Sierra Wireless.

Product launches for devices using the application are expected to be for Asian and European markets first, with US launches set for later this year.

News source: ZDnet Australia

Trade Skill Related

Added several trade skill items to Grobb; including a brewing supply vendor, a brew barrel, a baking vendor, a standard forge, a pottery cooking mold vendor, a kiln, a pottery wheel, and a sketch vendor.
Added water flasks to two merchants in the Bazaar
Added high quality ore vendors to Bazaar, Kaladim, and Qeynos that sell a limited supply of HQ Ore
Fixed an inconsistency with the armor class of Enchanted Imbued Dwarven Plate compared to the armor class of other Dwarven-smithed plate armor
Batwing Pie, Bug Bites and Deadly Medley now exist
Repaired the recipe for Superior Gnomish SpiritsGnomish Cleaning Substance
Increased the drop rates of cultural armor temper components
Added hilt mold vendors to more cities
Quest Related

Made adjustments to the Whistling Fists quest
Reduced the spawn time of the Zordak Ragefire in SoldungB. He will now reappear every 24 hours
Repaired some problems with the Luclin Owlbear Dart and Vah Shir Runed Totem quests
Spell Related

Eye of Zomm and Eye of Tallon are now non-KoS in a fashion similar to familiars
Koadic's Endless Intellect stacking has been fixed. If a player has Koadic's Endless Intellect on them and anyone casts Breeze, Clarity, Clarity 2, Boon of the Clear Mind, Gathering of the Mind, or Gift of Pure Thought on them, it will fail and the Koadic's will remain.
Mind Wrack gives mana instead of taking mana away
Charm is immediately removed from charmed NPC's when the character that charmed them casts invisibility
Made some small improvements to Marzin's Mark
Corrected some stacking issues with Nature's Recovery
Blast of Frost scroll has been made available for Beastlords
Self-only level 51+ spells will no longer fail to cast if the caster has a lower level character targeted.
Egress should once again force a 'zone' to clear aggro
The damage component of Elnerick's Entombment of Ice no longer causes the spell to have a chance at breaking its root component
Snakes in Lavastorm and Paineel are now animals
Hammerheads are now animals
Treants in the Plane of Growth are now plants
Timorous Deep gators, fish, and raptors are now animals
Rock Hoppers in Hollowshade Moor, Shar Vahl and Shadeweavers are now animals
Paludal and Fungusgrove Wetfang Minnows are now animals
Underbulks and Shik`Nar in Fungusgrove are now insects
Rhino Beetles in Shadeweavers Thicket and Hollowshade Moor are now insects
Shrooms in Fungusgrove are now plants
Lightcrawlers in Mons Seru are now insects
Zone Related

Fixed some of the pathing issues in Maiden's Eye
Dawnshroud Rockhoppers are now giving the proper faction hits
Fixed a pathing bug in Paludal Caverns that prevented NPCs from pursuing characters up cavern walls
Fixed a bug with the clipping plane in outdoor Luclin zones
The Oggok guards will be less friendly to Marsh Bears
Fixed some bugs in the Umbral Planes that were causing NPCs to get stuck
Added content in the Umbral Planes to make it more... entertaining
Alternate Advancement Related

Act of Valor should now work properly
Re-implemented the Improved Familiar ability. It will now summon an improved familiar that is better then the greater familiar and is very resistant to all spells. It is not immune to spells though, just extremely resistant.
Warcry should now work properly
Life Burn now considers hit points from items and should no longer be interrupted
Area Taunt should be no longer affect creatures on heights or floors above and below the warrior
Discipline Related



Added the following /disciplines for Beastlords:

Level 51: The Discipline of Resistant
Level 54: The Discipline of Fearless
Level 55: The Discipline of Protective Spirit
Level 60: The Discipline of Bestial Rage



Item Related

Expendable items no longer use mana when 'casting' a spell
Extra damage from either elemental or bane damage should now work for special attacks like backstab
Shield of Auras can now be used by Necromancers
All pieces of Black Pantherskin Armor are now Beastlord useable
Steelsilk Helm should now be visible when using the new models
Windspeeder's haste is now a permanent effect
Shield of Mental Fortitude is now actually a shield and also has a different graphic
Drape of the Deep Thinker now has a robe texture when equipped
Orb of Lost Souls can no longer be "Held"
Dark Cloak of the Sky from 'worn to activate' to 'Race/Class to activate'. The previous change that made it 'worn to activate' was an error.
Items that add bonuses to the Lock Pick skill should function properly now
Firiona Vie

The Trivial Loot Code present on the Roleplaying server will no longer affect items that are marked solely with the No-Drop flag. No-Drop items that are also Magic or Lore will continue to behave as they did prior to this patch.
Tales

Grand Master Glox sat silently staring into the black waters of the Cabilis aqueducts, his thoughts tracing and retracing the recent visions that had upset his nights. The Lord Cazic was trying to tell him something, but he could not yet decipher what it was. The hand on his shoulder startled him and he turned quickly, striking the intruder with a quick blow to the chest. The figure crumpled to the cold ground.

Glox stood over him with a look of horror, it was one of his own pupils he had struck. He lay bloodied and bruised at Glox's feet breathing heavily with much effort, he was obviously dying. The pupil reached up toward Glox with something in his hand. Glox took the items from his hand and peered at them intently. There were two items, one was a glistening serpentine scale, the other an ancient stone symbol. Glox recognized the symbol almost immediately with horror. It was the symbol of the Soriz, the ancient Iksar tribe that had been the slaves of the Shissar empire. Glox looked down at his pupil again. "Where did you get this?" The dying Iksar used his last ounce of energy to point up toward the night sky and the moon of Luclin. "sSs... Ssraeshza... has... returned..."