After months of beta testing, Skype has released an updated VoIP and chat client for Windows Mobile. Skype 3.0 for Windows phones should work with most phones running Windows Mobile 5.0 or newer. It's designed to support WiFi, 2G, or 3G internet connections, although you'll get the best voice quality when using WiFi.

The new features in Skype 3.0 for Windows Phones include the ability to send files to other Skype users and the ability to send text messages at Skype rates. If you don't have an unlimited data plan on your phone, Skype 3.0 isn't going to save you any money. But if your plan offers unlimited data without unlimited texting, the ability to send SMS via Skype could certainly come in handy.

You can also make free Skype to Skype calls using the client, or make long distance calls at SkypeOut Rates.

Once upon a time AvantGo was synonymous with reading news on a Windows Mobile or Palm device. If you wanted to read the New York Times, Guardian, Wired, or hundreds of other newspapers, magazines, and news sources, you wanted to install the AvantGo client which provided access to full length articles, not just RSS headers.

In an era of always connected Smartphones, better web browsers, and RSS readers, it looks like AvantGo has opted to change its business model. AvantGo as we know it is shutting down on June 30th.

Now honestly, it's been years since I used AvantGo, so I suppose I can't complain. But there are still plenty of people out there using older PDAs that aren't integrated with smartphones with 3G connectivity. So this news could leave some of these people high and dry.

The AvantGo team is directing users to try a new application called Snac that provides access to news from a handful of sites including The New York Times, USA Today, Facebook, Twitter, and weather forecasts. But Snac works with Java enabled phones, Blackberry devices, and some Windows Mobile phones. But there's no support for Palm or older Pocket PC devices.

[via Mobility Site]

Want to play with Windows Mobile 6.5 before it's available on phones and don't feel like installing one of the hacked versions floating around the shadowy corners if the internet? No problem. Microsoft launched the Software Development Kit for Windows Mobile 6.5 today, and as part of that launch, the company released an emulator that essentially lets you run the mobile operating system in a virtual environment on a Windows PC.

The idea behind the emulator is that it gives developers the tools to create and test applications for deployment on Windows Mobile 6.5 devices. But since the emulator images are available for anyone to download, you can also use them to take the operating system for a test spin or see if the apps you're running on your Pocket PC 2002 device will run properly on a new phone.

Skyfire is a web browser for Windows Mobile and Symbian S60 series phones that puts Microsoft's mobile version of Internet Explorer to shame. And I'm not talking about the kind of shame where you're a bit embarrassed to tell your friends about it. I mean the kind of shame that makes you move to a remote island and avoid human contact for the rest of your natural life.

The browser has been in beta for about a year and a half, but today the Skyfire team released Skyfire 1.0 to the public.

While the mobile browser that ships with most Windows Mobile phones can handle basic web pages, Skyfire can handle pages with rich media content including Flash 10, Quicktime, Silverlight, and Realplayer audio and video files. In other words, this is the first mobile browser that you can point at a web page like YouTube, Hulu or ESPN and simply watch web videos on the site. There's no need for a separate application just to play videos from those sites.

The browser also features the zoomable interface we've come to expect from modern web browsers. You can either view a whole web site as it would appear on a desktop browser (albeit, with tiny, unreadable text), or zoom in on the area you want to view.

Skyfire includes tools for keeping up with your friends on social networks including Facebook and Twitter. There's also an option to share any web page with your friends either via SMS or by posting a link to sites like Facebook.

Microsoft is planning to open a Windows Marketplace for Mobile store that lets you purchase and install software directly from a Windows Mobile phone. You know, kind of like Apple's iPhone App Store. You probably already knew that. But here's what you probably didn't know: When you purchase an application from Microsoft's store, you'll be able to install it on up to 5 Windows Mobile 6.5 devices.

In other words, if you've got a phone for work and one for home, and want to install the same game, IM client, calendar, or other tool, you can do it without paying twice. You could also share programs with friends or family members by authorizing their phones.

There are at least two reasons this is noteworthy. First, it's a feature that no other mobile app store I'm aware of offers. And two, it could make it a whole lot more economical to pick up a couple of Windows Mobile phones for your family than to pick up multiple iPhones or Google Android phones (unless you don't plan on purchasing software).

The only way to download and install the same application on multiple iPhones is to have multiple phones with the same credit card and iTunes information.

On the other hand, this could be taken as Microsoft giving developers the middle finger, since they could stand to lose potential sales and revenue opportunities.

Update: As has been widely reported, it turns out that Microsoft will actually allow users to install an app up to five of their own devices. There are no plan to let users share apps.

A group of Microsoft folks got together at the TechEd conference yesterday to discuss the upcoming launch of Windows Mobile 6.5. They talked about widgets, the new Windows Marketplace app store, and about how Silverlight won't be offered. But the most surprising admission was the fact that Microsoft doesn't really consider the Windows Mobile 6.5 user interface to be "complete."

Responding to a question about the UI, Windows Mobile Senior Product Manager Loke Uei Tan said the team "couldn't complete the interface on Windows Mobile 6.5" due to time constraints. Microsoft spent about 8 or 9 months developing Windows Mobile 6.5, and the emphasis wasn't really on the UI.

This isn't to say that Windows Mobile 6.5 will be completely unusable. It is a complete operating system. It's just that some of the new UI elements haven't been updated. So while there's a new program launcher and home page, large portions of the Windows Mobile 6.5 user interface will look a lot like Windows Mobile 6.1.

LogMeIn is developing an application that will let BlackBerry Storm users remotely access their Windows or OS X desktop computers. LogMeIn already provides a number of free and paid remote desktop solutions that can be run from a computer or several mobile devices including Windows Mobile and the iPhone.

The BlackBerry Storm version is pretty interesting because it includes full support for the Storm's on-screen keyboard. It will also support zooming in and out, which makes it easy to display your full desktop on a small screen device like the Storm.

The program is currently in alpha, but LogMeIn is accepting emails from people who are interested in finding out when the program will be released to the public.

[via MobileCrunch]

There's a bit more information coming out about Microsoft's answer to the iPhone App Store. A member of the PPC Geeks forums somehow managed to get a brief glimpse of the Windows Mobile Marketplace on his phone running a hacked version of Windows Mobile 6.5. His access appears to have been revoked, but he managed to get a few screengrabs before he was booted.

And Microsoft has published a list of restrictions for Windows Mobile developers looking to make their apps available in the Marketplace. You can download a PDF file with all the details, but here are a few of the things that will get your app booted from the Windows Mobile Marketplace:

• Apps that enable VoIP over mobile operator networks
• Apps that sell, link to, or promote mobile voice plans
• Apps that distribute alternate marketplaces for content types distributed through the Windows Marketplace
• Apps with over the air download sizes of more than 10MB
• Apps that run code outside of Microsoft runtimes
• Apps that change the default browser, search client, or media player

Overall, the rules seem pretty restrictive, and designed to give Microsoft and mobile carriers a lot of control over Window Mobile devices. Fortunately, you don't need to jailbreak a Windows Mobile device in order to run apps that aren't available from the Windows Mobile Marketplace. So if you can't find what you're looking for in the Marketplace, odds are you'll be able to find it somewhere else.
[via WMExperts]

Zoho has launched a new mobile interface for its web-based office and productivity applications. That includes a mail and calendar app, as well as word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and database utilities.

To launch the mobile version of Zoho, just visit m.zoho.com in any mobile browser. Or if you just want to see what the interface looks like, you can use the same URL in a desktop browser.

Zoho says the mobile interface supports mobile devices running Windows Mobile, Symbian S60, and Google Android as well as the iPhone and BlackBerry devices.

Zoho Mobile is available in English and Japanese. The team plans to develop mobile interfaces for additional Zoho office applications in the future.

The move means that mobile phone users who are unhappy with the built in office applications on their devices have another alternative -- although one that you'll have to use up some mobile minutes in order to use.

Spb Mobile Shell is a utility that gives Windows Mobile phones a completer user interface overhaul. It can be used as a replacement for the Windows Mobile Today Screen and program launchers. The latest version features a 3D carousel view that lets you flip from one screen to another, and a user customizable Today Screen replacement based on widgets for contacts, weather, and other information.

Spb Mobile Shell 3.0 also has a finger-friendly user interface that lets you scroll through programs by dragging and dropping the screen. There's a contact utility that's a bit more powerful than the default Windows Mobile contact app. You can sort contacts using widgets. For instance, you can arrange your contact screen so the people you call most often could have larger photos and be featured near the top or bottom of the screen. Another thing you can do is grab photos of your contacts from Facebook.

Some companies may choose to preload Spb Mobile Shell 3.0 on upcoming Windows Mobile handsets. But you can also download and install the application on most phones or PDAs running Windows Mobile 5.0 or later. The software runs $29.95 for a full license, or $14.95 if you're upgrading from Spb Mobile Shell 2.0. There's a 15 day free trial available.

Microsoft has announced that it will announce the launch of Windows Mobile 6.5 (which we already know an awful lot about) on May 11th at the Tech Ed 2009 conference. Odd are you won't actually see any cellphones running this operating system until this fall. But Microsoft is holding a "kick off" presentation next month.

The Tech Ed conference is aimed at IT professionals and developers, and Microsoft will be hosting several sessions on developing for Windows Mobile. So the reason for launching the OS before it's actually available to the public appears to be to help encourage developers to work on third party applications for the platform.

[via ZDNet]

While Apple and Google have let iPhone and Google Android users add new features and operating system upgrades by downloading and installing software over the air, things have always been much more complicated on Windows Mobile devices.

The earliest Windows CE devices could only be upgraded by removing a ROM chip and replacing it with a new one obtained from the device manufacturer. If you had a Dell Axim, or an HP Jornada, it was up to Dell and HP to decide whether you would be able to upgrade, not Microsoft.

Eventually technological advances made it possible to upgrade a system just by reflashing the ROM on your device. But you still needed to acquire the ROM update either from the manufacturer, or get a hacked version from the gray areas of the internet.

But now it looks like Microsoft is building a "Device Update" service for Windows Mobile. In a job listing, Microsoft talks about a new service that would allow the company to deliver new features automatically much the same way it does with Windows Update on the company's desktop operating systems. This means new features and OS updates could be installed with just a click, or maybe even no clicks at all.

It will probably be a while before we see this new feature, so you shouldn't expect it in Windows Mobile 6.5. But future versions of the operating system might be easier to update.

[via IStartedSomething]

Windows Mobile users have been able to choose themes for their home screen, start menu, and toolbars for years. But usually Windows Mobile phones and PDAs come with just a handful of backgrounds and themes to choose from. It looks like Microsoft plans to spruce things up a bit by offering a number of designer themes for Windows Mobile 6.5 from actual designers including Isaac Misrahi, Ron Arad, and Vera Wang.

Blogger Long Zheng has posted a series of pictures of the new designer themes, ripped from a pre-release version of Windows Mobile 6.5. And while I can't promise that you're going to find them all particularly attractive, they'll definitely give Windows Mobile phones a bit of flare.

You can find 4 more themes and higher resolution images at I Started Something.

Microsoft is preparing to launch Windows Marketplace for mobile phones. The Marketplace is Microsoft's answer to the iPhone App Store. It will allow Windows Mobile users to find purchase, and download mobile applications directly from their phones. But as we discovered this week, the service will only be available to users with Windows Mobile 6.5 phones. Microsoft has no plans to release a version of Windows Mobile 6.0, 6.1, or older devices despite the fact that millions of people already have mobile devices with older versions of Microsoft's mobile operating system.

Unlike Apple, Microsoft also doesn't make it easy to upgrade from one version of Windows Mobile to the next. It's typically up to the phone manufacturers and wireless carriers to decide whether an upgrade will be available and the upgrade procedure can be cumbersome, to say the least. So odds are if you don't get a new phone running Windows Mobile 6.5 you won't be able to use Windows Marketplace.

That said, this isn't the first controversy surrounding the Windows Marketplace. Microsoft initially told developers that they'd have to pay a fee every time they issued an update for an application listed in the Marketplace. But after receiving strong criticism, Microsoft backed down. Maybe if there's a large enough stink around the Windows Mobile 6.5 requirement, Microsoft will come up with a way to let users with older phones use the Windows Mobile Marketplace.

Microsoft is unveiling more information about the Windows Mobile Marketplace, including a policy change. While the company had initially decided that developers would have to pay a $99 fee not only to list applications in Microsoft's answer to the iPhone App Store, but every time they wanted to issue an update. Now Microsoft has changed that policy. Developers can issue application updates for free.

The company has also put together a promotional video that gives a preview of what the Windows Marketplace for mobile phones will look like. Users will be able to browse or search for applications, read reviews and see ratings, purchase and download programs on their handsets. You can also use a desktop web browser to shop. Any items you purchase will be automatically sent to your linked Windows Mobile phone. And you can get a refund on applications you "return."

The image to the right shows a screengrab from the video, but you can watch the entire promo at I Started Something.