It's been a while since AOL launched an updated version if its instant messenger for Windows Mobile. The new version is still in beta, but it has some nifty features that make it worth checking out. The first thing you'll notice is that the interface is much more attractive. But it's also more useful.
When you first login you're greeted with a buddy list. You can double tap on any contact to enter a chat window. After you've initiated a chat you can flip back to your buddy list knowing that you'll be able to see all open chats and any new messages in the sidebar that now pops up.
You can also manage your buddy list from the client. And the settings menu has a nice array of options letting you customize your notification, conversation, and privacy settings.
This beta supports devices running Windows Mobile 5.0 and 6.
Spb Software House has released an updated version of the company's popular Spb Backup utility for Windows Mobile phones and PDAs. While most Windows Mobile devices come with some sort of backup software, Spb has a few features that sets it apart, like the ability to create automatic scheduled backups and self-extracting backups that can be restored without installing Spb Backup first.
The new version includes:
Support for device and ROM upgrades
Smartphone version
A file-black-list for files to ignore
Spb is also including desktop software that lets you manage backups on your PC and explore the contents of backup files.
Spb Backup 2.0 is compatible with Windows Mobile 2003 and newer devices with VGA and QVGA screens. There's a 5 day free trial available, but a full license will set you back $24.95. Current users can upgrade for $9.95. If you purchased Spb Backup in the last 90 days, you can upgrade for free.
One of the coolest, and least frequently used, features in Windows Vista is Windows SideShow. Essentially this is a service that lets a computer running Windows Vista communicate with a handful of electronic devices like a media center remote control or an LCD screen. In other words, you can use a remote control to browse and control music playlists on your PC even when your monitor is off.
We've been expecting Microsoft to develop software that would let you use your Windows Mobile phone or PDA as a SideShow device pretty much since the first time we heard about this technology. Last year we even got a hint that a Windows Mobile client was coming. But it wasn't until this week that Microsoft finally released something, in the form of a beta release. And when we say beta, we mean it. Windows SideShow for Windows Mobile is listed as a 0.01 release.
Windows SideShow for Windows Mobile works on Windows Mobile 5 and 6 devices that use the Microsoft Bluetooth stack. WiFi and 3G are not supported. If you've got a device that meets the requirements, you can use your PDA or phone to access information on your PC and control some PC functions from your device. For example, you can check the weather, read your email, control media playback, or use your device as a PowerPoint remote control.
Microsoft has updates its Live Search for Windows Mobile software, adding four new features:
4 day weather forecasts
Search the web from the Live Search software without opening a web browser first
View maps and locations shared by other Virtual Earth users
Take addresses from your contact list and see where your friends are on a map
You can download the Live Search software by visiting m.live.com on your mobile device. If you don't want to download anything, you can still use the web-based Windows Live search engine, but the Live Search application is pretty slick and much faster than the web interface at loading maps and satellite imagery.
There are a handful of decent programs for Windows that will help you determine if the software on your PC is up to date. But as far as we know, nobody's ever developed such an application for Windows Mobile. Until now. AppToDate is a utility for Windows Mobile that checks to see if your installed software is up to date, and if not, it will automatically download updates.
Right now, only a handful of applications are supported, and AppToDate is still in the early beta stages. But we love the concept. Imagine only having to install software on your phone or PDA once. From then on, every time an update is issued, it would be installed automatically.
Developers can join the beta by adding AppToDate support to their applications, and anyone can download and install the application on their Windows Mobile device. Assuming they have Windows Mobile 5.0 or later. Windows Mobile 2003 doesn't appear to be supported.
Google has developed a version of Picasa Web Albums optimized for Windows Mobile 6 devices. The update packs many of the features you can find in the iPhone version of Picasa Web Albums, including slideshows, search, and full image views.
The Windows Mobile version also makes use of the recently released Google Gears for Mobile to enable offline viewing of your web albums. You'll need to download and install Google Gears for this feature to work.
You can also add a Picasa icon to your Windows Mobile programs fodler so that you can launch Picasa Web Albums without firing up your web browser first.
In order to access the new Picasa Web Albums interface, just visit picasaweb.google.com using the mobile version of Internet Explorer on any touchscreen Windows Mobile 6 device.
Microsoft officially announced the availability of Windows Mobile 6.1 today. We've been hearing rumors about new features for a few months now, but it's nice to hear it straight from the source. Plus we can stop guessing about availability. Microsoft also announced the mobile carriers and hardware makers who will be offering upgrades.
So what's new in Windows Mobile 6.1? First up, you get a new home screen with some scrolling action that allows you to access more information on a single page. Second, the smartphone versions of Windows Mobile 6.1 included threaded SMS capabilities. And finally, the mobile version of Internet Explorer has been updated to allow desktop-style views of web pages. In other words, you can see a full web page with tiny text and tiny images, and then zoom in to the portion of the web page you want to read, much as you can do with Opera Mini or the iPhone's Safari browser.
Windows Mobile 6.1 packs a few other tweaks such as an easier setup process and security enhancements. But this is a point release, not a whole new version of Windows Mobile. So if you were hoping for something a bit more dramatic, you might have to wait a little longer.
Tired of staring at your Windows Mobile phone or PDA's home screen and application menus? PointUI is a lightweight and free application that completely changes the way you interact with Windows Mobile devices.
PointUI launched earlier this year, but initially the software only ran on Windows Mobile 5.0 and newer devices with 320 x 240 pixel displays. But now the developers have released two public alpha versions. One is designed to run on Windows Mobile 2003 devices, while the other works with WM5.0/6 devices that have VGA displays. While we were able to run the WM2003 version on a Dell Axim X50v PDA with a 640 x 480 pixel display, we wouldn't recommend repeating our experiment. This WM2003 version is s-l-o-w on VGA devices. It seems rather zippy on QVGA displays though.
So what exactly does PointUI do? It provides an easy to use interface with large finger-friendly buttons and pretty screen transitions. PointUI is also customizable, allowing you to bookmark the applications you use most. We're not really convinced that PointUI makes it easier or quicker to perform day to day tasks on a Windows Mobile phone or PDA. But it cetainly is pretty to look at.
There's an unofficial application floating around that may be a beta version of an update to HTC's TouchFLO interface for Windows Mobile. TouchFLO is basically a skin that replaces the default Windows mobile user interface with one that packs nice big icons that are easy to use with a finger rather than a stylus.
Some folks at the XDA-Developers forum have managed to get the application, which bears the codename Manila, up and running. And while it's certainly pretty to look at, it's reportedly quite sluggish. In fact, once you have it up and running, you'll be lucky if you can get your PDA or phone to do much of anything. So we certainly wouldn't recommend installing Manila, at least not until someone leaks a faster version.
Nathan Weinberg at InsideMicrosoft has either got a great big scoop on some of the features Microsoft plans to put into Windows Mobile 7, or way too much time on his hands. For the duration of this post, we'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he got his hands on a leaked Microsoft document from sometime this summer explaining the new features to be packed into Windows Mobile 7.
The biggest news is that Microsoft plans to react to the iPhone's multi-touch screen in a big way. Windows Mobile 7 will reportedly support multi-touch, gesture controls, and will even react to motion thanks to interaction with your Smartphone's camera. Of course, there's a good chance not every device running Windows Mobile 7 will actually have a camera or a multi-touch screen, but the goal is to eliminate the scroll bar and let users flick from screen to screen a la the iPhone. Overall, the OS will supposedly be more finger-friendly than Windows Mobile 6 and earlier devices which really depend on a stylus or hardware keypad.
Weinberg also reports Windows Mobile 7 will get a major graphics overhaul, looking a bit more like Windows Vista than the iPhone. And he's also got screenshots of an improved on-screen keyboard and media player. While all signs point to Windows Mobile 8 being way cooler than Windows Mobile 7, if Weinberg's source is accurate, then we still can't wait to get our hands on a device running the next version of Microsoft's mobile operating system.
There are two complaints we've had with Windows Mobile since before the operating system was even called Windows Mobile:
The X button at the top of a screen doesn't close a window, it just minimizes it.
The calendar/contacts/notes applications are horrible.
There are plenty of free third-party add-ons that address the first issue. But if you want a better personal information management suite than the one that comes with Windows Mobile, you're going to have to get out your wallet. Agenda Fusion, Pocket Informant, Agendus, and several other applications are excellent PIM replacements. Each has enhanced search features, a more useful calendar week-view, and better integration of tasks, notes, calendars, and contacts. But each of these applications also costs a few bucks.
Pocket Informant has long been one of our favorites, but the latest version costs a whopping $35. Sure, it's worth it, but if you're on a budget, you might look at the price tag, look at your Smartphone and decide the built-in calendar isn't that bad.
But Jan 4th and 5th you can get Pocket Informant for free. The makers of Pocket Informant have partnered online PDA software retailer MobiHand to give away free copies of the software for the next two days. Just use the code PIFREE at checkout to get your free copy. Be forewarned, when we tried to download the application this morning, MobiHand's site was performing very slowly, but slow and steady wins the race. We were able to download and register Pocket Informant 7. The software should work with all Windows Mobile 2003 and newer devices.
It seems like every week there's a new application hitting the streets that aims to turn your Windows Mobile device into an iPhone. If you really want an iPhone, you should probably just buy one. On the other hand, if you prefer Windows Mobile applications, but like the look of the iPhone program launcher, we can understand why applications like Pointui are attractive.
Pointui appears to be scheduled for a Jan 1, 2008 launch. There's not much info available on the application's home page yet, but there are a series of Flickr photos and the YouTube video you see above. Pointui replaces the Windows Mobile start page with a new home page that lets you launch applications by sliding from one to the next. The settings menus are also replaced by large easy to see buttons.
It's not clear that Pointui will make it easier to use a Windows Mobile device. In fact, it appears that in some situations it could take longer to find and launch applications than it would take using the default interface. But it's nice to have choices. One of the advantages of Windows Mobile for now is that the SDK is available, meaning there are tons of third party applications that let you customize your user experience. The iPhone SDK doesn't come out until early next year, and somehow we doubt the first thing developers will do is try to emulate the Windows Mobile experience on the iPhone.
Windows Vista may have some compatibility and reliability issues. But it also sports some pretty cool new features like a 3D window manager and animated backgrounds (if you shell out the money for the "Ultimate" edition). One Vista feature that we'd love to see more of is SideShow, but unfortunately hardware makers have been slow to create SideShow capable devices.
In a nutshell, SideShow lets you access certain Vista features from a secondary display. For example, you can check your email without opening your laptop's lid. Or you can schedule a TV recording on Windows Media Center using your case's front-panel display. You know, if you have a laptop or PC case with an external display.
If not, you're pretty much out of luck. But maybe not for long. Microsoft has just published an SDK for SideShow with support for Bluetooth and QVGA screens: two features that many Windows Mobile devices already have. The folks at the::unwired speculate this could mean a Windows Mobile SideShow application is on its way. In other words, you'd be able to fire up a program on your phone or PDA that will give you control over your desktop. Your PDA could become your favorite remote control, web browser, or email tool.
Earlier this year Microsoft announced that a Windows Mobile Sideshow program was on its way, but we've been waiting about half a year to see anything materialize. Hopefully the SDK launch means we won't have to wait much longer.
This year Daylight Saving Time went screwy. Or to put it another way, Daylight Saving Time goes into effect this weekend. If this were 2006, it would have happened last weekend. You can thank Congress for the change.
All of this might seem like mere trivia if it weren't for the fact that older PDAs, cellphones, VCRs, and pretty much any other device that's programmed to automatically adjust for Daylight Saving Time is now wrong. Microsoft issued an update for Windows Mobile devices earlier this year, but we're figuring there's a good chance you just forgot about it and reset your clock when you noticed it was off by an hour this week.
But if you want to make sure your mobile device adjusts properly this weekend and again next Spring, it might be time to download that update.
Apple has the iPhone, Microsoft has Windows Mobile, and Google has, well, whatever the new gPhone operating system is going to be called. Computer software companies can't seem to get enough of the mobile phone market. Now it looks like Skype has plans to partner with 3 Mobile to create a Skype branded cellphone.
3 Mobile is a wireless carrier covering Europe, Asia, and Australia, so don't expect to get your hands on a Skype cellphone in the US anytime soon. But if the phone proves popular overseas, who knows what could happen in the US market.
The phone will reportedly work just like a regular cellphone -- until you press the big button that launches the Skype application. Then you'll be able to call any other Skype user for free, whether that person is using Skype on a computer or phone. Because the calls are being routed over the internet, there's no reason to charge you for anything but data minutes (it's not clear what kind of data plans will be offered with the phone).
Skype will charge its usual rates for SkypeOut calls if you're calling anyone who is not using the Skype service. Since SkypeOut international rates tend to be lower than the rates you'll get from 3 Mobile or most other telephone service providers, this sounds like a pretty good deal. But it raises an interesting question: if the Skype cellphone model proves successful the service will put itself out of business. If most of the people you call are Skype customers you'll be making free calls all the time and Skype won't be making any revenue aside from whatever service fee it collects from 3 Mobile.
It's been a while since AOL launched an updated version if its instant messenger for Windows Mobile. The new version is still in beta, but it has some nifty features that make it worth checking out. The first thing you'll notice is that the interface is much more attractive. But it's also more useful. 
