Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2009

To all the readers here, I wish a Merry Christmas and a good year for 2009. Let's pray that the world's economic recession will just be a bad souvenir. I also want to thank you all for your support throughout the year. Without you, this blog has no reason to exist. God bless you all and enjoy the holidays.

Linley.

iPhone go home

Finally the iPhone is here much to the deception of those who went to the release with the intention to get one. According to Armand, who posted a comment to my previous post, there were many in the line to purchase an iPhone, except that they all went home without one because of the exaggerated price imposed by Orange. For the readers out there, note that a dollar equals Rs32.46 and Orange is offering an 8gb iPhone 3G for Rs11,899 plus a monthly charge of Rs1259. This is simply outrageous. According to other sources close to Orange, they manage to sell only 40 units with the first buyer getting one free. Knowing that one owner of an iPhone can only purchase applications through the Apple store, and that internet connection costs that much, I strongly suggest that Mauritians buy the HTC Touch series instead, because Orange requires that you sign up for a postpaid service whereas Emtel offers internet access for prepaid as well.

Clearly, the iPhone or any Apple products are geared towards the haves. And those are relatively few in Mauritius compared to the have nots. So now is the time for Microsoft Indian Ocean Islands to evangelize Windows Mobile in the consumer market. The HTC Touch brands released by HTC lately are much cheaper and "open" in the sense that Mauritians don't have to sign up for an onerous plan with Orange or purchase Apple-chosen applications. The Windows Mobile developer community is much more important and wider than Apple. Not only you get to buy software but there are plenty of free applications on the web that you can download. The only limit is the memory available on your device. Above all else, a Windows Mobile phone was designed to work with XP,  Vista and Mac.  How many Macs do we have out there? Does the iPhone work with Microsoft products? Is it worth it to shell out so much money fo it, knowing that the iPhone has so many limitations?

I forgot to mention that the iPhone has no removable battery.

The iPhone 3G reaches Mauritian shores

Just a quick note to say that Orange is launching the iPhone 3G today in Mauritius. The device has been on sale on the "Black market" for a while now and despite all the hype, my countrymen does not seem particularly attracted by the device or the iPhone frenzy we've witnessed everwhere else in the world. PDAs are still considered devices from Mars here. So far Nokia rules. Coincidentally, HTC rep has been posting some cool billboards across the island lately promoting the Touch HD. 

The war has started. Will there be a winner? Will Nokia and Blackberry survive (Nokia for sure)? 

Palm releases application store

It's Palm's turn to offer a free application store for its Windows Mobile powered and Palm powered devices. The application gives access to 5000 games and apps. Palm is also offering 25% on the first purchase. Use coupon code SHOPMOBILE.

http://appstore.pocketgear.com/palm/

Press Release: Spb Holiday Sale: Software Treats for All Tastes

SPb is offering 30% off on all their products. If you've been thinking about getting one or several, now is the time.

Spb Software, the world's leading Windows Mobile software developer announces the start of Spb Holiday Sale 2008, which will run from December 16th until December 30th at the developer's official website. For the first time ever, Spb launches a major sale campaign, offering a 30% discount across its entire product line: from usability applications to platform enhancements, from advanced business applications to games.

"The Holiday Season is a time when people exchange special signs of care," comments Olga Gachko, Marketing Manager at Spb Software. "This year we are proud to be able to offer our customers more of our famous software for less money, and we do have quite a bit of new titles in store for everybody," Olga concludes.

To claim the discount, shoppers need to enter the "SpbHolidaySale" discount code in their shopping carts at http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com, and see 30% deducted from the order total. The Spb Holiday Sale offer is not valid with any other promotion.

Press-Release. Spb Survey 2008 Results Announced: Analyzing the Future

Spb Software, a leading mobile software developer announces the results of fifth annual Spb Survey. This year, Spb Survey was held between 10th and 24th of December, and aimed to track changes in mobile device preferences and brand loyalty, smartphone and software use cases, user profiles and behavior. Originally, Spb Survey addressed only the Windows Mobile audience, but this year, users of all mobile platforms were invited to participate. The majority of Spb Survey respondents are mobile activists with clear interest in mobile technology, and are not fully representative of the entire global mobile community. However, as mobile connectivity enters more spheres of everyday life - the global mobile community is becoming more active and technologically-savvy throughout, and accurate industrial outlooks and estimations can be made, based on the answers provided by Spb Survey respondents.
 
Thousands of survey responses given in 11 languages by people from 22 countries were analyzed and condensed into the following Spb Survey results summary:

The majority of survey respondents are still male (95%), 57% of them are aged between 19 and 35, and 58% have at least a Bachelor's degree

The majority of Spb Survey respondents are from North America and Western Europe

About 17% of respondents are students, 17% work in the field of mobility, and an amazing 68% are 'device fans'

Brand-wise, HTC smartphones have the absolute leading position, being the brand of choice for over 49% of all Spb Survey respondents. HTC is followed by HP with nearly 6%, Asus with 5.5%, E-TEN with almost 4%, Dell with a little over 3.5%, Nokia and Samsung with 3%, Qtek with 2.6%, MiTAC with 2%, Toshiba, Sony Ericsson, Palm, T-Mobile, and i-Mate - each at around 1.5%, and Fujitsu Siemens with O2 XDA at about 1%. All other brands ranked below 1%

The single most popular mobile device model is HTC TyTn II, followed by HTC Diamond, and HTC Touch Pro. Among the top ten most popular smartphone models, only one is a non-HTC device

Surprising 27% of all respondents use a second SIM card

62% of respondents would buy a device of the same brand, and 56% claim they would even buy the same model

Among the best things about their devices, 69% of respondents first put the looks (design), 68% - the availability of built-in Wi-Fi, 47% - business features and big screen, with the 'price' placing 8th in importance, and 'music platform' - last

The top two aspects most disliked in devices are 'Low memory' and 'Weight'

The majority of respondents upgrade to a new device once in every two years

Most respondents user their smartphones first for business - then for entertainment

31% of respondents use Push Email

80% backup their data

Nearly 80% of respondents use software they paid for

Spb Software invites the mobile community to view full Spb Survey 2008 results here: http://spbsoftwarehouse.com/about/pressreleases/docs/spbsurvey2008.html

Windows Mobile: What Microsoft Needs to Fix

I was reading this article in the link below on BusinessWeek and I thought I'd share it with you readers and especially to Microsoft. According to research firms, Windows Mobile has dropped to the 4th place on the mobile market. To be honest, that does not surprise me because I still have to use a stylus to move around in Windows Mobile. Thinking that Apple and Google just join the mobile bandwagon,  I'm stumped. I write this bearing in mind that Microsoft released Surface this year. They could have developed a similar technology for Windows Mobile instead. Based on news on the web, they plan to have a better technology than the iPhone with Windows Mobile 7. The problem is that WM7 will be released in 2010. Meaning that Windows Mobile will remain at its 4th position until then. I write this knowing that Windows Mobile was initially designed for the enterprise. For those of you who do not agree with me, well think about it. The only Mobile OS that lets you scan barcodes, connect to a database or web interface to publish data, use online forms is Windows Mobile and Windows CE. Android, Blackberry and iPhone do not support these features. In other words, Microsoft has the monopoly in enterprise mobility. Proof is that they licensed Exchange Activesync protocols to the fruit company and it won't be long before we see the G com joining the bandwagon. So I'm going to ask BusinessWeek and other major Tech news Corp to stop bashing Microsoft Windows Mobile. Do your homework.

Microsoft - Hurry up with the next release of Windows Mobile. I'm just tired of reading such articles on the web. 

Readers, if you want to read BusinessWeek's report, click on the link below:

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2008/tc20081210_691586.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily&referer=sphere_related_content

Press release: new version Task2Gather 1.1

VITO Technology releases Task2Gather 1.1 for Windows Mobile. Task2Gather performs greatly as a personal to-do or shopping list as well as a collaborative tool for reaching common team goals. The major bugs of previous version were fixed. Moreover, the mobile version now has tag support, auto-login feature and many other minor improvements that make task management a whole lot easier.
         New features:
                tags
                auto log in
                indicator showing server connection
                German and Russian languages support
                exit via menu or minimize
                estimated/spent via edit mode
         Fixed bugs:
                landscape support
                list is shown from start
        
        Task2Gather for Windows Mobile is available now for $0.99. Special $0.99 offer is valid until the OFFLINE MODE release. 
        Since it entered the mobile software market in 2001 VITO Technology Inc. has developed an impressive portfolio of products for Windows Mobile. The latest VITO Technology's endeavour is iPhone and Web 2.0 software development. 


Useful links: 
Task2Gather page: http://vitotechnology.com/windowsmobile-task2gather.html  


Task2Gather download: http://vitotechnology.com/files/Task2Gather.exe 
                                            
VITO Technology's sites: http://vitotechnology.com, http://iwindowsmobile.com, http://task2gather.com

WM6.1 upgrade for Imate's Ultimate series released

If you own one of the I-mate Ultimate devices, you'll be happy to learn that upgrades are available for free downloads from https://www.imate.com/st-WindowsMobile6_1.aspx. The devices concerned are:
 

i-mate Ultimate 9502: Instructions | Available now

i-mate Ultimate 8502: Instructions | Available now

i-mate Ultimate 6150: Instructions | Available now

i-mate Ultimate 8150: Instructions | Available now

 
An upgrade for the Jama 101 is coming soon.
 
IMPORTANT: Read the instructions before applying the upgrades
            

Skype 2.5 beta released

The new version closely resembles its desktop counterpart and some novelties include improved sound quality and stability. Note that Skype 2.5 is still in beta.
 
Download your free copy from:
 
www.skype.com/download/skype/windowsmobile/
            

WVGAFIX3 - Free utility to change screen resolution

I found this great and free utlity on Xda forums - where else. Basically, it lets you change your screen resolution so you can run applications that is not compatible with the original resolution. And it does that pretty well without stretching or distorting icons. 
 
Download your free copy from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=455974 and make sure you read the instructions first:
 
Installation:
*Copy CAB files to device
*Install SdkCerts.cab first
*Install second cab file
*Do soft reset
*Now you can see WVGAFIX3 in Programs.

Press release: SBSH Calendar Touch announced

SBSH Mobile Software announced today the all new Calendar Touch for Windows Mobile Pro/Classic! SBSH Calendar Touch for Windows Mobile Pro/Classic is an exciting new personal information manager that guarantees a great boost to your daily time management and productivity! Introducing new gesture-based navigation technologies to accompany latest developments in the Windows Mobile market.

SBSH Calendar Touch release follows the successful release of SBSH Calendar (former Papyrus) for Windows Mobile Standard devices earlier in August this year, introducing a complete personal information management solution for our Windows Mobile Touch users!

Calendar Touch packs exciting new features: Great looking and informative Calendaring and Tasks utilities, Search View; Advanced filters management; Automatic attendees notifications, Auto-adopting design to match your device look&feel, Popup selection effect for optimized display, advanced gestures navigation and much more! Calendar Touch is backed by a powerful engine to ensure the fastest experience for the pro user!

SBSH Calendar Touch Highlights

Personal Information Management - Full calendar views: Daily, Weekly, List and Monthly; Dedicated Tasks view; Search utility, PNG category icons with extensions support and more!

Gestures and Touch - Navigate using gestures support. Swipe your finger left/right to move between dates, down to bring the Touch Date Selector and up to easily jump get back to current day

Innovative & Powerful Tools - Automatic email notifications and attendees appointment invitations; Pop-out Effect for better display of current day events, Active timelines, Professionally designed PNG based category icon store for best display results

Simplified and Innovative - Next generation user-interface which automatically adopts your current Windows Mobile look and feel. Additionally, especially designed features that take advantage of any screen resolution and orientation!

Calendar Touch offers a myriad of exciting features and innovations! Click here to read the full development note posted at our company forums

Pricing and Availability

SBSH Calendar Touch costs $24.95

Calendar Touch can be purchased using the SBSH Store at the following URL:
http://www.sbsh.net/products/windows_mobile_pocket_pc/calendar_touch/add_to_cart            

HTC releases fix for Touch HD

HTC has a fix for the HTC Touch HD device. "Sometimes the screen stops responding for about 3 to 5 seconds when running an application that needs to use the stylus to click the screen repeatedly within a short time. For example, the windows built-in software like SMS, email, solitaire, etc."
 
The fix can be downloaded from http://www.htc.com/www/supportdownloadlist.aspx?p_id=179&act=all       
            

Eagle Eye Tracker Mobile 1.0 released.

The Eagle Eye Tracker Mobile 1.0 is a software application that turns a Windows mobile phone with windows mobile 6.1 into an advanced tracking device with many capabilities no other tracking device on the market today offers. Our website eagleeyetracker.com is a free service where you can set-up an account and have up to 5 tracking devices on your account with absolutely no monthly service charges. Eagle Eye Tracker is the only World Wide tracking service that provides free basic service of 5 tracking devices.   
 
Read more...