Filed under: Games, Video, Features, Linux, Windows Mobile, Microsoft, VoIP, Mobile Minute
Mobile Minute News: Silverlight on Windows Mobile, Skype on a smartphone
by Brad Linder May 7th 2007
In today's mobile Minute, we'll take a look at some of the latest news and software related to Windows Mobile devices.
Silverlight coming to Windows Mobile
Microsoft's Silverlight technology is taking aim squarely at Adobe's Flash, which currently dominates interactive video on the web. But one area where Flash implementation has never been very good is mobile devices. It looks like Silverlight could be the platform of choice for interactive mobile web applications.
Check out this interview with .NET Compact Framework Principle Product Unit Manager Scott Holden for a look at a prototype of Silverlight running on a Smartphone.
Hack allows SlingPlayer Mobile to run on Windows Mobile 6
Upgraded your Windows Mobile 5.0 device to Windows Mobile 6 only to find out that some of your favorite programs don't work? While we could make a case for if it ain't broke, don't fix it, in this case there might be a fix.
SlingPlayer for Windows Mobile didn't seem to want to run on Windows Mobile 6. Certainly Sling Media will release an update soon, but in the meantime, a member in the Sling Community forum has posted a modified installation file that seems to bring SlingPlayer Mobile to Windows Mobile 6.
Skype 2.2 beta for Windows Mobile released
Skype has released an update to its client for Windows Mobile PDAs and smartphones.
Version 2.2 beta offers a couple of new features, including support for smartphones, proxy support, and a bugfix to prevent random crashes during VoIP calls.
You can make free Skype to Skype phone calls from your mobile phone whether your contacts are using Skype on a mobile device or a PC. There's also support for SkypeIn and SkypeOut, so if you've got unlimited data minutes but a small pool of voice minutes, Skype for Windows Mobile could save you some money.
FlashThemes Player 2007 released
Got too much memory on your device and looking for a way to eat up RAM? FlashThemes can help by providing animated Today Screens.
The 2007 version of FlashThemes offers support for Windows Mobile 2003, Windows Mobile 5.0 and Windows Mobile 6 devices. There's support for landscape, portrait, and even square screens.
The program sells for $15, and the themes can run from $2 to $3 each. Still, if you have an urge to put an aquarium on your Today Screen, FlasThemes can help.
Werner Ruotsalainen's guide to Sega Genesis/Megadrive Emulators
Werner Ruotsalainen's on a roll. He recently wrote and updated several authoritative roundups of video games and emulators for Windows Mobile devices with a review of several programs that run Sega games.
As usual, the emulators are free, but the games are only 100% legal if you already own the original cartridge (and arguably if you rip the game from the cartridge yourself rather than downloading it from the internet).
Here's a quick recap of Ruotsalainen's review:
What do you get when you cross a UMPC with the iPhone?
Last month Intel announced that it would be supporting Linux with its upcoming ulta-mobile PC platform. And while desktop Linux applications don't usually win awards for their style (well, that's changing with the addition of Beryl/Compiz and other visual effects), the images we've seen of UMPCs running Linux have looked almost Appl-like.
That probably has something to do with the iPhone-like icons adorning the screens. But if you're curious to see what the interface looks like in action, eHomeUpgrade dug up this YouTube video.
It looks like a nice touchscreen interface for multimedia and web browsing. While UMPCs tend to pack a little more processing power than PDAs and Smartphones, it would be great to see a version of Linux or any other operating system that could run this smoothly on a pocketable device.
Silverlight coming to Windows Mobile
Microsoft's Silverlight technology is taking aim squarely at Adobe's Flash, which currently dominates interactive video on the web. But one area where Flash implementation has never been very good is mobile devices. It looks like Silverlight could be the platform of choice for interactive mobile web applications.
Check out this interview with .NET Compact Framework Principle Product Unit Manager Scott Holden for a look at a prototype of Silverlight running on a Smartphone.
Hack allows SlingPlayer Mobile to run on Windows Mobile 6Upgraded your Windows Mobile 5.0 device to Windows Mobile 6 only to find out that some of your favorite programs don't work? While we could make a case for if it ain't broke, don't fix it, in this case there might be a fix.
SlingPlayer for Windows Mobile didn't seem to want to run on Windows Mobile 6. Certainly Sling Media will release an update soon, but in the meantime, a member in the Sling Community forum has posted a modified installation file that seems to bring SlingPlayer Mobile to Windows Mobile 6.
Skype 2.2 beta for Windows Mobile released
Skype has released an update to its client for Windows Mobile PDAs and smartphones.
Version 2.2 beta offers a couple of new features, including support for smartphones, proxy support, and a bugfix to prevent random crashes during VoIP calls.
You can make free Skype to Skype phone calls from your mobile phone whether your contacts are using Skype on a mobile device or a PC. There's also support for SkypeIn and SkypeOut, so if you've got unlimited data minutes but a small pool of voice minutes, Skype for Windows Mobile could save you some money.
FlashThemes Player 2007 releasedGot too much memory on your device and looking for a way to eat up RAM? FlashThemes can help by providing animated Today Screens.
The 2007 version of FlashThemes offers support for Windows Mobile 2003, Windows Mobile 5.0 and Windows Mobile 6 devices. There's support for landscape, portrait, and even square screens.
The program sells for $15, and the themes can run from $2 to $3 each. Still, if you have an urge to put an aquarium on your Today Screen, FlasThemes can help.
Werner Ruotsalainen's guide to Sega Genesis/Megadrive Emulators
Werner Ruotsalainen's on a roll. He recently wrote and updated several authoritative roundups of video games and emulators for Windows Mobile devices with a review of several programs that run Sega games.As usual, the emulators are free, but the games are only 100% legal if you already own the original cartridge (and arguably if you rip the game from the cartridge yourself rather than downloading it from the internet).
Here's a quick recap of Ruotsalainen's review:
- PicoDrive rocks.
- Genesis Plus is a bit slower, but takes up less screen real estate.
- Morphgear, Mobile Drive, PocketGenesis, darcNESCE, all still exist, but most of these programs haven't been updated in years and may not work with all the games you throw at them.
What do you get when you cross a UMPC with the iPhone?
Last month Intel announced that it would be supporting Linux with its upcoming ulta-mobile PC platform. And while desktop Linux applications don't usually win awards for their style (well, that's changing with the addition of Beryl/Compiz and other visual effects), the images we've seen of UMPCs running Linux have looked almost Appl-like.
That probably has something to do with the iPhone-like icons adorning the screens. But if you're curious to see what the interface looks like in action, eHomeUpgrade dug up this YouTube video.
It looks like a nice touchscreen interface for multimedia and web browsing. While UMPCs tend to pack a little more processing power than PDAs and Smartphones, it would be great to see a version of Linux or any other operating system that could run this smoothly on a pocketable device.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Todd said 1:09PM on 5-07-2007
In the spirit of "equal time", here's a YouTube video about Open Moko, the Linux based Smart phone:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRvtAAXTIlg
http://www.openmoko.org/
Reply
James said 1:57PM on 5-07-2007
Anybody else get a nice chuckle at the irony of using YouTube (Flash-based) to talk up Silverlight?
Seriously, though, I spent the morning reading up on Silverlight and I'm pretty damn impressed. I feel like Microsoft is benefiting by showing up late to the game -- C# was their answer to Java, and Silverlight is their answer to Flash. Both were able to identify the mistakes made by their predecessors, and learn from them. I really like the idea of having a client-side web browser plugin that lets you declare the UI in XML (XAML), then code the interaction in damn near any language you choose. I'm going to keep my eye on SL.
Reply
Manny said 3:16PM on 5-07-2007
Get with the program...silverlight has already been talked about. Skype's 2.2 beta has been around several months, and Flash Themes Player is a thing of the past.
Reply