Wireless: Microsoft gets even more mobile

Read this interesting interview of Ron Markezich, chief information officer for Microsoft, on how th company is issuing company-owned cellphones and mobile devices to employees. So far employees were using their own devices.

"As of July 1, Microsoft began issuing company-owned cellphones and mobile devices to employees who request them, a change from its previous policy of supporting workers' personal devices on an ad hoc basis.
Part of the reason, Markezich said during an interview during a trip to Paris, is that employees are going to get them anyway, and company ownership gives Microsoft greater control over access to its internal network." Read more...

How To: Display the clock in all programs

By default the clock only appears at the top of the Today screen. Open any other programs and it disappears. You can change this behaviour and have the clock always up there.

Tap Start Settings System Clock & Alarms More and check Diplay the clock on the title bar in all programs.

You can also access Clock & Alarms directly from the Today screen by tapping on the Date plugin.

BETA: TextMaker 2006 for Pocket PCs

When TextMaker was released for the Pocket PC three years ago, it was an overnight sensation: a full-featured word processor with the capabilities of a desktop word processor and perfectly adapted to Pocket PCs.
If you thought there wouldn't be a way to improve on TextMaker 2002, think again...
TextMaker 2006 for Pocket PCs is here and offers a huge array of improvements.

NEW: Drastically improved document filters for Microsoft Word and RTF
NEW: Import of OpenOffice.org and OpenDocument documents
NEW: Complete AutoShapes-compatibel drawing layer built in
NEW: Automatic numbering of headings and paragraphs
NEW: Line numbering
NEW: Hierarchical bullets and paragraph numbering
NEW: Easily indent/outdent lists and paragraphs with a key press
NEW: Track changes in your documents for easy revising
NEW: Comments as balloons

Download

Hubdog brings Blogs to Windows Mobile devices

Countless number of people out there are reading almost everything on their mobiles and it’s growing everyday.
To help bloggers address this new opportunity, SRN has officially launched Hubdog Blogger Program: http://www.hubdog.com/affiliates
Hubdog’s mobile publisher program allows affiliate bloggers to create mobile versions of their blogs that are perfectly fit to Windows Mobile devices. Plus the service is completely free and totally user friendly.
See for yourself: http://www.hubdog.com/channel/2499/preview
The program’s built-in marketing toolset allows partner bloggers to add their own personalized subscription button or “chicklet” to their blog’s sidebar. This allows Windows Mobile users to easily get an optimize version of their favorite blogs on their devices, a version that can be access either online (live mode) or offline (podcast mode). Read more...

How To: Align the screen every few weeks

When you tap a selection in your Pocket PC and nothing happens, or another button is selected instead, the touch screen most likely needs alignment. It's a good idea to align the screen every few weeks to avoid the alignment getting so skewered that you can even correctly tap items on the edge of the screen. To align the screen, tap Start and Settings. Select the System tab and select Screen. Click the Align Screen button. You'll see a cross-shaped target; tap it accurately and firmly. The target moves several more times until the screen is aligned. After the screen is set, Screen Settings should appear again. Click OK and Close to return to the Desktop, and your alignment should be improved.

Microsoft to deliver IE 7 through Automatic Updates

Microsoft will release the final version of Internet Explorer 7 in the forth quarter of 2006 through Autmatic updates. Since AU requires little user intervention, the software giant "will give users a chance to opt in or out of receiving the IE 7 release".

Although software delivered via AU usually is sent automatically without any interaction from the PC user, Microsoft will give users a chance to opt in or out of receiving the IE 7 release, Schare said. This is following the same tactic Microsoft used when it released Windows XP Service Pack 2, which included the previous version of IE, he said. When the IE 7 release comes up on a PC’s AU service, the service will ask users if they want to install it now, not install it at all or install it later. Read more...

How To: More memory is not enough

We never have enough memory because the more memory we have the faster our device as well. Most applications want to install themselves to the device memory, but with some tweaks it is possible to force them to save data to the storage card. First you will need to have a registry editor and secondly you must be very careful. You must not play with the registry if you don't know how to. You're doing this at your own risk. Else, open up your registry editor as we're going to change the settings for Internet Explorer and the inbox so that Temp files, cookies, History and emails are moved and stored to the Storage card.

Go to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders And change the following keys to show:
\Storage Card\Pocket IE\Temporary Internet Files
\Storage Card\Pocket IE\Cookies
\Storage Card\Pocket IE\History This will ensure all your IE cache goes on your storage card.

Create the following folders on your Storage Card:
\Storage Card\Inbox
\Storage Card\Inbox\Attachments, Next, create the following registry entries:- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MAPI:
AttachPath=\Storage Card\Inbox\Attachments
PropertyPath=\Storage Card\Inbox

Free: Pocket MSN Search v1.0

Almost everyone knows that MSN Search site doesn't have version optimized for PDA devices. But now exists Pocket MSN Search application and you can search all Web resources via MSN search engine with you favorites Windows Mobile devices.
As you can see on attached screenshots, it's easy to use this program. Just type keyword, optionally select some options and click 'Search' from main menu.

Application has localization for English and Polish language.

All URL addresses are opening in default web browser with Skweezer.net service to optimize selected pages for PDA devices.

Download (Requires .NET CF v2.0)

New: MultiIE 4.0 Available Now!

MultiIE is a $17.95-worth plugin for Pocket Internet Explorer. Its main feature is the multi-window capability. But I find the price expensive and I'd rather buy opera mini which has more features and supports SSL. By the way, I did buy Opera 8.6.

How To: Delete email accounts

I once had to delete one of my email accounts and could not easily figure out how do it. It's nowhere mentionned that you you have to tap and hold on the the account itself and a menu will appear with the option to delete the account. As this is not quite obvious, here are the steps that will let you do it.

Open Messaging

Tap Menu - Tools – Options – Accounts tab. Tap and hold the account and select Delete.

That's it.

Off topic: Free MS Visual Basic 2005 book

This is worth the download. You will learn how to program stuff for Windows Mobile. Sample codes are also available.

Get a focused, first look at the features and capabilities in Microsoft Visual Basic 2005, Visual Studio 2005, and the .NET Framework 2.0. If you currently work with Visual Basic 6, these authors fully understand the adoption and code migration issues you'll encounter. They'll step you through a quick primer on .NET Framework programming, offering guidance for a productive transition. If you already work with .NET, you'll jump directly into what's new, learning how to extend your existing skills. From the innovations in rapid application development, debugging, and deployment, to new data access, desktop, and Web programming capabilities, you get the insights and code walkthroughs you need to be productive right away.

Download book and sample codes

Free: Make your Programs icons smaller

This utility lets you modify the size of your program icons in the Programs folder. You will be able to view them in list mode and with details. This functionality is available in Windows desktop. You can download it here free.

The programmer's website has several interesting utilities like adding icons to the today tray utility. Do not hesitate to make a donation.

How To: Change Internet Explorer Home page

To better optimize my PDA, I thought it wise to replace Internet Explorer default home to a real webpage. This way, a connection is immediately initiated when I launch Pocket Explorer and Pocket PC Mauritius is displayed on the screen. There are two ways to change the default home page. The first one is through Internet Explorer options and the second requires modifying the Registry. Remember: Messing up with the registry can render your pda useless. Be extremely careful.

Open Internet Explorer
First thing you need to go the page you want as your homepage, Pocket PC Mauritius is a good example :-). Tap Menu – Tools – Options – General Tab – Use current.

or

Open Registry
Go to HKLM – Software – Microsoft – Internet Explorer – AboutURLs - Home and insert the link to Pocket PC Mauritius.

News: rich content display on low-CPU low-memory devices

Actimagine offers a great solution for viewing entire movies on mobile devices. So far Nokia and SonyEricsson offers free blockbusters on their latest smartphones.

On mobile phones, Actimagine software solutions can be used to deliver TV-like video: movies and music clips, full screen at 30 frames per second. Content can be embedded in the handset, streamed through 3G networks or stored on memory cards and SIM cards. Full length blockbusters can be packaged on 128MB.
Video Ringtones and Games based on vector graphics are also two main applications. Read more...

Free: Start Menu Gridview-Listview Toggler for WM5 Smartphones

This utility allows you to change from the default listview to Gridview. If you don't want to install the program because of space constraints you can modify a registry key:

Change the GridView DWORD value in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shell\StartMenu as follows:
* GridView DWORD Value = 1, for GridView
* GridView DWORD Value = 0, for ListView

Download

How To: Adjust text size

Your Pocket PC pc lets you modify the text size. This way you can either see more contents on your screen or make reading easier. However this change will apply to the whole device and not a specific program. This is how you do it:

You need to go to Start > Settings > System and tap the Screen icon, then the Text size tab. You will be able to adjust the text size, using the slider, to your convenience.

Free: Toonel the bandwidth saver

Toonel.net exploits a tunneling technique combined with data compression. It runs compressed data frames from toonel client to one of the toonel servers and then these are forwarded to the target host. Reducing the size of resources that are transferred between the server and the client makes more efficient use of the user's bandwidth.

Toonel.net: what it is good for and why is it different?

expensive transports (e.g. GPRS, CDMA…)
cross platform
narrowband or slow connections (e.g. dial-up)
built from open source components
stretching download limits
allows to compress virtually any traffic

Download here

How To: Restore broken shortcuts

I'm starting a series of How to topics which I hope you will find useful. Your contribution is most welcome or you may even email me problems that you came across and I'll help you fix it.

Let’s say that you’ve installed a software on your SD card and it’s been working fine until the day you removed the card to use your Wifi card. After that your programs just stopped working as before because of a “Could not locate path” problem. Not even a soft reset would fix it.

Believe it or not, it’s very simple to fix. Just open File Explorer and navigate to where you installed the program. Click on it and hold then select Copy from the menu. Then go to Windows\Start Menu\Programs\, Tap in an empty space and select Paste Shortcut from the menu. If you receive a message warning you that the file already exists and if you want to replace it, just click OK. Then go to Start > Programs > your software, tap and it should work.

AirFolder - The Unlimited Memory Card.

Need more space on your device? Then get ready to spend $29.95 for Air folder. Once you have a connection established you can even listen to music that you stored in Airfolder. I guess that will work if you manage to keep your internet connection open that long. I don't know about you, but I'll stick to my 4GB SD card.

AirFolder is an application that allows you to access your files and folders on our server directly from File Explorer on Windows Mobile device. When you install AirFolder, it will create the new folder, "Air Folder", on your PocketPC or SmartPhone. When the software is running and you are connected to the Internet, you can access your AirFolder just as you would any local storage on your device. You can easily drag and drop files and entire folders from your local storage to your AirFolder account.

Read more

A fix available for ActiveSync 4.2

Users have reported experiencing problems with connecting to the internet from the device when upgrading from ActiveSync 4.1 to 4.2.

ActiveSync version 4.2 made a change to how it interacts with the Windows networking stack to use Layered Service Providers (LSPs) on outgoing Desktop-Pass-Through connections. This allows for improved compatibility in environments where connections to the internet must be passed through these LSPs (ISA Proxy is one such example). Unfortunately, it appears this change has caused some issues for a small segment of users who have LSPs that interfere with ActiveSync communication.

There is a registry key fix which will essentially remove this change.Please download and rename the attached text file with the .txt extension to the .reg extension.

In other words, change the file LSPvalue.txt to LSPvalue.reg. Afterwards, please double click on the newly renamed .reg file and click on the "Yes" button.This should resolve your issues.

Thanks,
Edington
--
Edington Watt
Windows Mobile Platform
Microsoft Corp.

LSPvalue.txt


Via PdaPhonehome.com

A clipboard for your Pocket PC

Pocket Multiclipboard is a software I consider useful, thus a must have especially if you do a lot of Word editing on your device. Even though a trial is available, I'm definitely adding it to my software library.

Copy many texts at the same timeYou can copy up to SIX texts at the same time in separated way to past them also separately, without losing any of them from your clipboard, as mentioned in the overview.

The program main window can be moved by draging and droping it.You have the option to make the main window always on top, so you don't have to bring Pocket MultiClipboard to the front every time you need to use it.

Purchase here

CABviaActiveSync FREE Edition now available!

CABviaActiveSync allows you keep a copy of cab files in your ActiveSync directory on your PC. This is helpful in case you want to uninstall and reinstall a software because cab files0 self destruct after an installation. This software is available free from Modaco.

So how does it work?
- CvAS installs on your desktop PC, and adds a right-click context menu for CAB files
- When you click the menu, the CAB is automatically parsed, copied to your ActiveSync directory, and a regular ActiveSync install is initiated
- When the install is complete, the CAB file stays in the ActiveSync directory, meaning you can un/reinstall in future, without having to archive the CAB away somewhere.

Download here

What Are These Arrows (and why are they still here)?

Here is an interesting article published on the Windows Mobile Team blog about the little signal strength icon at the top of the screen. The article explains why it's permanently there and its impact on our daily use of our devices.

"If you've used a Windows Mobile phone device, you've probably seen the little signal strength icon at the top. If you're lucky, you live in a place with good signal strength and see many bars. If you're like me, you live in a cellular dead spot and are happy when you get one bar.
On many non-WM phones, the part of the icon that's not bars looks something like an antenna--a vertical line with a triangle on top of it. While you sometimes see this antenna icon on WM Phones, it's often something else. And, what that "something else" is varies from device to device. On some it's a G. On others it's an E. On still others it's two arrows pointing left and right. What are these things? What did they do with our beloved antenna triangle? And why won't they go away?" Read more...

Free: Text messages Schedule application for Windows Mobile Smartphones

It's very easy to forget the birthday of a friend or even a family member. RJV SMS Scheduler 1.0 is a free utility that will automatically send your birthday greetings and other SMS messages even while you sleep.

Features:
- Can schedule to a max of 10 SMS
- With Add, Edit, Delete and Send Now options
- Can insert multiple recipients in one SMS- Alert Tone (with Delivery Status) on each schedule
- Works on all Mobile Phone Nos including international Mobile Nos.
- Easy to use
- Freeware!

Download

Free: Protect your Inbox with SecureInbox 1.0

This is a nice one, if you want to password protect to your inbox and keep some level of privacy.

"SecureInbox is a first-level security to prevent other people from reading your messages (SMS and Email) or using your phone to write SMS without your permission. See Help for instruction on how to use. Developed using eVB 3.0 for Smartphones. Special thanks to John Cody..."

Download

Ultimate Theft Alert v2.1 (for Pocket PC Phone Editions only)

If anybody gives Ultimate theft a try, please share your experience. I'm using Eye on Thief and I'm quite happy with it.

Ultimate Theft Alert v2.1 is an innovative stealth software that sends the thief's contact number to a pre-defined mobile phone number when your device is stolen.

The software works quietly hidden in the device by automatically checking the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card every time the device is cold-booted, soft-reset or after a SIM change. So when an unmatched SIM to the Owner's is recognized, it sends an SMS using the thief's SIM card to your pre-defined number (Maybe to your Dad'/Partner' number). So its like getting the thief' mobile number itself!

The software will not let the thief know that its been running or an SMS has been sent from his SIM.

The software supports Multiple SIMs to be added to owner's SIM list and it is compatible on all Pocket PC devices running on Windows Mobile! WM5 too!

Download here

13 Tips for Improving Camera Phone Photos

Our PDAs are great for managing data on the go and providing wireless internet at any time but when it comes to photos, the builtin camera is not as responsive as the other features. Here are 13 tips that will improve the photos you take. They really work.

"We are living in a time where ‘convergence’ is everywhere. Gone are the days when a camera was a camera, a MP3 player was an MP3 player, a phone was a phone…." Read more...

Yahoo! and Microsoft Bridge Global Instant Messaging Communities

Microsoft and Yahoo announced that they started a limited public beta testing of interoperability between their respective instant messaging. "Consumers worldwide from Microsoft and Yahoo! will be able to take advantage of IM interoperability and join the limited public beta program. They will be among the first to exchange instant messages across the free services as well as see their friends’ online presence, view personal status messages, share select emoticons, view offline messages and add new contacts from either service at no cost.2 Yahoo! and Microsoft plan to make the interoperability between their respective IM services broadly available to consumers in the coming months.
“This first-of-its-kind interoperability between consumer IM leaders Microsoft and Yahoo! gives our customers tremendous control, convenience and freedom in their Web communication experiences with Windows Live,” said Blake Irving, corporate vice president, Windows Live Platform at Microsoft. “We’re proud to deliver this latest advancement in IM services that empower people to communicate with virtually whomever they want, wherever they want and whenever they want.” Read more...

Palm, Vodafone and Microsoft Collaborate on Next-Generation Treo Smartphone for Europe

There has been rumors of a new Palm device in the mobile world and now it's confirmed by this joint press release. However, no pictures of the 3G/UMTS will be available until the release date of the PDA. Anyway, that's good news. But the Treo Smartphone will only be available to Vodafone Europe customers. What about the rest of us? Read more...

Introducing the emoze Beta Testing Program

The emoze Mobile Email Revolution is rolling down the hill like a snow ball. Over the past few months, the emoze team has been collecting inputs and suggestions from our rapidly growing worldwide community, working over a wide variety of networks and on hundreds of different mobile devices.The outcome - the upcoming release of emoze Personal Edition version 1.1. Now - more than ever - we want to hear what you have to say. We would like to invite you to become a beta tester for the upcoming version of emoze. Together, we can make free mobile email better, faster, and even more reliable. To join our Beta Testing Program, go to https://emoze.com/emozeBetaTest/ and make your voice heard!

Pocket PC Mauritius goes Mobile

Thanks to a regular reader, Pocket PC Mauritius is now available in a neat mobile version. It loads much faster and uses Hubdog technology. I recommend that you download hubdog or just add this link to your favorites.

Free: Download TodayAgenda

TodayAgenda displays appointments and tasks on your today screen up to 30 days in advance. It replaces the default Outlook plugin with a lot of more features.Functions:
View appointments (including location) up to 30 days in advance
View tasks (include status) up to 30 days in advance
View current day and time
Open tasks and appointments from your today screen
"Complete" tasks via context menu on your today screen
Create new appointments and tasks via context menu on your today screen
Delete appointments and tasks
Open calendar and task list (tap and tap'n'hold on the TodayAgenda icon)
Anniversary function: for all day, free, yearly appointments without end date the years since the beginning are displayed

Download

Sniff passwords from your Pocket PC

As a network administrator, you want to protect your users' confidential data. What better way to do this than to stroll down the hall with Airscanner(TM) Mobile Sniffer hidden in your pocket? Thanks to our support for Ethereal packet capture format, grabbing your user's passwords out of the airwaves is as easy as watching a movie! Your users unintentionally send their passwords through the air in clear text, so it is better that you discover this first before a malicious drive-by hacker does it for you. Airscanner(TM) Mobile Sniffer also works in promiscuous mode, so you can also discover unauthorized users who may be associating with one of your access points. Read more...

HumanWare Launches Maestro 2.0, the New Generation of PDA for Blind People

This may be another news about new technology for the visually impaired people, but this one seems to be the best of them out there.

"HumanWare is proud to announce the release of Maestro 2.0, an enhanced version of the mainstream PDA for the visually impaired. Maestro offers the unparalleled benefits of portability and mobility found in PDAs for sighted people. Version 2.0 has a multitude of new functions, including a Wi-Fi e-mail manager, a media player for music and audio books, and a task manager. And everything is done from the palm of your hand and is 100% accessible to visually impaired people."

Read more...

Buy the HTC TyTN on Expansys.Com

This superb device is now available on Expansys UK. Hopefully it will be available for purchase in the US soon. Here are some of its features:

• Platform: Microsoft® Windows Mobile® 5.0 with Messaging and Security Feature Pack
• Dimensions:
- 112.5 mm(L) x 58 mm(W) x 21.95 mm(T)
- 176 g with battery pack
• Processor: 400MHz Samsung stacked CPU
• Memory:
- ROM: 128MB (for programs and users’ storage)
- RAM: 64MB SDRAM
• Main LCD Module:
- 2.8" transflective TFT-LCD with backlight LEDs, touch-sensitive screen
- 240 x 320 portrait resolution with 64K Colours
• Communications:
- Dual-mode, HSDPA/UMTS (2100MHz for Europe and 850/1900MHz for USA)
- GSM/GPRS/EDGE quad band (850/900/1800/1900)

You can order it here.

Microsoft's Ipod killer on the shelves by Christmas

According to Reuters, the unnamed device is to be released in December and one of its features is the capability for users to download music and videos over the air. Read more...

Final version of Microsoft ActiveSync 4.2 released

A final version of Activesync 4.2 is available for download from Microsoft website. This new version still lacks wifi synchronization though.

Microsoft ActiveSync 4.2 is the latest sync software release for Windows Mobile-based devices. ActiveSync provides a great synchronization experience with Windows®-based PCs and Microsoft Outlook right out of the box. ActiveSync acts as the gateway between your Windows-based PC and Windows Mobile-based device, enabling the transfer of Outlook information, Office documents, pictures, music, videos and applications to and from your device. In addition to synchronizing with a desktop PC, ActiveSync can synchronize directly with Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 so that you can keep your e-mail, calendar data, tasks and contact information updated wirelessly when you’re away from your PC.*

Changes in ActiveSync 4.2 help resolve connectivity related issues with Microsoft Outlook, proxies, partnerships, and connectivity.

Microsoft Outlook Improvements: Resolves issues relating to error code 85010014.

Proxy/DTPT interaction Improvements: Improved auto configuration of device Connection Manager settings when desktop has no proxy path to the internet.

Improved Desktop Pass Thru behavior with ISA proxy failures.

Partnership improvements: Better resolution of multiple devices with the same name syncing with the same desktop.

Connectivity Improvements: Better handling of VPN clients (resolve unbinding of protocols from our RNDIS adapter). New auto detection of connectivity failure with user diagnostic alerts.

ActiveSync 4.2 supports PC sync via USB cable, Bluetooth, or infrared connection.

Click here to go to download page

Free Google Pack-like Installer for Windows Mobile Pocket PC

Hubdog Software Pack is a Google Pack-like Desktop Installer for Windows Mobile Pocket PC. In just a few clicks, it sets you up for an optimal mobile media experience; letting you enjoy your device’s infotainment and entertainment capacities to its fullest ! Stay tuned, Hubdog Pack will keep adding more essential software titles in the coming months.

Safe, quick and easy, Hubdog Software Pack greatly simplifies Hubdog’s installation process. Read more...

Download here.

JETware Hands-free Extension for Windows Mobile phones

The JETware Hands-free Extension provides additional functionality to the built-in Windows Mobile support for the Bluetooth Hands-Free Profile. The Extension allows hands-free devices to:

Read contacts from the Outlook phonebook (“ME” phonebook)
Read contacts from the SIM (“SM” phonebook)
Read the list of dialed calls from the call history (“DC” phonebook)
Read the list of received calls from the call history (“RC” phonebook)
Read the list of missed calls from the call history (“MC” phonebook)
Filter contacts from Outlook phonebook based on Outlook contact categories
Limit number of contacts returned from any phonebook
New! Activate Microsoft Voice Command voice dialing over Bluetooth
New! Use custom ringtones through your Bluetooth device
Show battery charge level
Show signal strength
Show roaming status
Display carrier name
Read message headings from ActiveSync, SMS, or other mail provider
New message notification
Delete messages
Read SIM serial number (used to automatically select display language)
Read GSM phone IMEI number
Read phone default phone number
Read current time from phone
New! Improved Caller ID

Download: Smartphone Pocket PC

Off topic: Dog saves diabetic owner by dialing 911

This is a true and beautiful story about a dog that saved his master after he went into a diabetic seizure. "A beagle that dialed 911 on her owner's Cingular Wireless phone, potentially saving his life after he went into a diabetic seizure, is the first animal to receive the prestigious VITA Wireless Samaritan Award. Belle and her owner, Kevin Weaver, will travel to Washington, D.C. on June 19, 2006 to be recognized at The 12th Annual Wireless Foundation Achievement Awards Dinner.

Each year, CTIA-The Wireless Foundation presents the VITA (Latin for "life") Wireless Samaritan Awards to honor people (and, in this case, an animal) across the United States who used their wireless phones to save lives, stop crime and help in other emergency situations. Wireless carriers submit nominations for the awards. Cingular Wireless submitted Belle's nomination." Read more...

SAMSUNG Develops 2Gb Flash Memory and releases slimmest WM5 Smartphone

In short and non-technical terms, this new flash memory is going to make any device, not noly PDAs and Smartphones, a lot more faster in terms of read and write. What I would like to know is how does this new technology will affect the battery life of our devices. I'll ask Samsung and keep you inform. Read Samsung's press release.

While you're there, just take a minute to check Samsung's latest SGH-i320 smartphone. Of course it runs WM5, has Push Mail, is tri-band and has a QWERTY keyboard. It's also the slimmest smartphone out there. Read more...

Why Persistent Storage is a good thing

I keep receiving emails about the differences between WM2003 and WM5. More precisely, PDA users still are having trouble understanding Persistent Storage. I visited the Windows Mobile Team blog and came across an interesting article by Mike Calligaro. The language is simple and you will get to understand what Persistent Storage is and why you should consider moving to Windows Mobile 5. Read more...

Antivirus, Anti-spam & firewall for your Pda.

Fortinet will be providing an antivirus solution with some interesting tools to protect against the threats targeting our beloved devices. However, Forticlient mobile will be made available to device manufactures and mobile operators. The software offers "full antivirus, MMS/SMS anti-spam, personal firewall and address book protection and IPSec VPN capabilities to protect mobile subscribers against constantly evolving and sophisticated mobile threats." Forticlient will be available for both Windows mobile and Symbian phones and PDAs.

Click here to read the press release.

Free: Call To Contacts

Call To Contact allows you to easily add new phone numbers to existing phone contacts with just a few clicks. When an
incoming phone call is received, Call To Contact checks to see if that number is already associated with one of your contacts.
If not, Call To Contact will prompt you to add the number once the phone conversation finishes.

FEATURES:

Simple to use. Simply start Call To Contact, and it does the rest! You are only notified when necessary.

“One Hand-Friendly”. Call To Contact is designed with phone operation in mind, using softkey menu buttons and directional pad navigation to minimize the need for stylus input.

Download Cab file

Download desktop installation

Windows Mobile How-To Hands on Labs

Learn to develop software for your device with these hands on lab form Microsoft.

"If you learn by doing, these step-by-step hands-on labs are great ways to learn about Windows Mobile, Visual Studio, .NET Compact Framework, and SQL Mobile. Each lab includes sample code and a step-by-step instruction manual that will guide you through a specific development scenario."

Download page

Download Windows Live Messenger for free

See them on the screen
Show and tell: Grab a webcam and start a video conversation within minutes.

Share stuff
Set up a Sharing Folder with a friend. Drop in photos and other stuff, as many as your computer can handle. See it even when one of you is offline.

A network of millions
Tap into the world's largest IM network, with hundreds of millions of customers worldwide.

Soon: talk to your Yahoo! friends, too
Soon you'll be able to use Windows Live Messenger to talk to your friends who use Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. The world's largest IM network is getting even bigger.

Download here