Windows Media Player Mobile FAQ

This document provides answers to frequently asked questions about Microsoft Windows Media Player 10 Mobile for Pocket PC and Windows Media Player 10 Mobile for Smartphone. It also includes some information about earlier versions of Windows Media Player for Pocket PC and Smartphone.

Magic Button - Pocket PC Task Manager

There are plenty of Task Managers available for Pocket PC. However if you are still searching for the right one, try this software.
Why Magic Button worth considering to download and replace your existing one:
It is free.
Does not take up any of your screen real estate, yet easy to access.
Located on title bar but does not cover any standard info, i.e. Sound icon, notification icon.
Very small foot print (memory usage). Only 71 KB executable file does it all (help file is 8 KB extra).
Makes close button really close applications. Just in case you haven't noticed, the default one only minimizes them.
Compatible with latest and greatest Windows Mobile 5.0 (new in version 2.0).
Magic Button looks clean and blends surprisingly well with the Pocket PC theme. For those who do not want too fancy or too complicated Task Manager, this is for you.

Trust me, this one is definitely better: Click here to install via Active sync and here to download the .cab file directly to your device.

Windows Mobile 5: How do I modify the default scrolling behaviour of Web browsers?

Windows Mobile 5 (WM5 for short) users may have noticed that the default scrolling behaviour of Internet Explorer Mobile (IEM for short) has been modified to make it possible for touchscreen-less (say, Microsoft Smartphone) users to navigate over links. That is, if you press up or down on the D-pad (direction pad) of your Pocket PC, only the next link will be highlighted, not the entire page scrolled. This is diametrically opposed to the approach of earlier operating system versions and can be really frustating for people that would like to scroll one page at a time, without needing to keep track where they were.
It's for them that I've written this step-by-step tutorial discussing all the available Pocket PC Web browsers and the ways of making them scroll one page at a time via the D-pad. Hope they'll find the tutorial useful.

Internet Explorer Mobile
You'll need some registry hacking to switch back to the normal scrolling mode. Get a registry editor (I recommend Resco Registry Editor but you can choose any other, WM5-compliant one; please see this roundup of the available and WM5-compliant registry editors if you want to choose one).
Navigate to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ Software\ Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ Navigation\4-Way Nav] and change its value from 1 to 0.
Alternatively, if you don't want to directly edit the Registry, you can use a third-party application like Tweaks2k2 to do the trick: navigate to Tweaks/Internet Tricks and enable "PIE Smooth Scrolling".

Freeware: Oxios Tasks Plugin 1.61

Tasks on Smartphone Home Screen (Freeware)

With Oxios Tasks Plugin, your Smartphone will display your current Outlook tasks on the Home Screen. Oxios Tasks Plugin can activate Oxios ToDo List or the builtin Smartphone Tasks Application.

Windows Mobile 5.0 compatible
Compatible with QVGA and landscape screens

Plug-ins are components that can display information on the Home Screen. With Oxios Tasks Plugin, your Smartphone will display your current Outlook tasks on the Home Screen.

Download

Palm announces Treo 700p

Earlier this year, Palm and Microsoft made the headlines with the release of the Treo 700W running Windows Mobile. This time Palm announces the release of the Treop, running Palm OS.

"The release of this Palm OS based product on the latest high-speed network technology is music to the ears of our dedicated installed base of Palm OS customers and clear validation that we intend to continue to focus on multiple platforms for our solutions," said Ed Colligan, president and chief executive officer of Palm, Inc. "This flagship product - the second new smartphone Palm will introduce this calendar year -- offers our world-class usability combined with a smarter phone, wireless email, built-in browser, and rich media capabilities - all at blazing speeds on the EvDO network." Read More...

Palm Inc. did not announce any release date yet.

Easily change WM5 shell color

This is not a required piece of software, but you might want to change the interface color at your leisure. It's great in Black & White.

"The interface colors of the WM5 device is mainly based on a single hue. Most UI elements, such as the Taskbar, the softkeys, buttons, etc., are thus "painted" using this hue, with varying degrees of Saturation and Luminosity or Lightness.
In order to change the UI colors, one can use a registry editor and change the DWORD value BaseHue in HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Color.
The accepted value of this DWORD value ranges from 0 to 4294967295. If you choose a value between 0 - 255, you'll get greyscale UI colors. Any other value from 256 above gives you "colored" UI elements." Read More...

Download

Don't miss a single World Cup game

Bcentral has a fixture list for Outlook that will insert all the games schedule in your desktop version of Outlook which you can sync to your Pocket PC/Smartphone. If you're a fan of the game, go ahead and install it. This way you won't set an appointment during this time and never miss a game. Download

Microsoft's Top Five Reasons to Choose Windows Mobile 5.0

In today's fast-paced business environment, you often need immediate access to information. Being far from your desk is no excuse. But a smartphone or Pocket PC running Windows Mobile 5.0 can be your vital link.
No other mobile device works as well with your personal computer and existing software. In fact, many Windows Mobile powered devices come with mobile versions of software you may already use. And since they can easily share data with your PC and Exchange Server network and are highly customizable, they can provide the information you need—wherever you go. Read More...

DialDTMF - Smart automatic dialer

dialDTMF a Pocket PC (Pocket Contact) plugin to dial telephone numbers using DTMF's (aka Dual Tone Multi-Frequency)(tested under PPC2000 MIPS, PPC2000 ARM, PPC2002 ARM, Xscale WMPPC2003 and WM2003SE, WM5 - if you want your processor supported either build the exe's yourself from CVS or email me and I may look into it). There is a list of known working hardware in the FAQ.

The developper even admits that he wrote the program because "I'm lazy, manual dialing is a chore, speed dialing isn't an option unless you are in one place and can program that phone. "

Pocket Cleaner for Windows Mobile

The new MindSoft Pocket Cleaner for Windows Mobile is a powerful memory cleaner for your device. There is no other cleaner in the market as fast and efficient as Pocket Cleaner.It will allow you to erase useless files that occupy space in your device memory and slow it down, while leaving you with less space to keep your files and install new programs. Forget about having to erase files and the hard work of uninstalling applications to install new ones. Keep a big amount of memory in your device, so much, that it will look completely new.

Free up space on your device, at your own risk.

Ultimate Packer for eXecutables (UPX) is a free PC-based, portable, extendable, high-performance executable packer for several different executable formats. It achieves an excellent compression ratio and offers very fast decompression. Your executables suffer no memory overhead or other drawbacks because of in-place decompression.

I haven't tested this utility yet and to be honest, I'm not looking forward to. Why? You need to copy the files (for e.g.: .exe files) to your PC for compression and copy them back to your PDA or smartphone. Good Luck.

Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006Markus F.X.J. Oberhumer, László Molnár & John F. Reiser

Samsung unveils the world's slimmest phone.

Samsung unveiled the first in the upcoming series of Samsung’s ultra slim line-ups. The Samsung X820, which will be displayed for the first time at the Sviaz ExpoComm 2006, boasts the world’s thinnest profile of only 6.9 mm. Also on display will be Samsung’s D900, the world’s slimmest slider with the depth of only 13mm.
“Samsung will continue its stride in uniting people together. Ergonomically designed to become one with the user, Samsung's slim phones deliver the perfect harmony of comfort, simplicity, and sophistication,” said Kitae Lee, president of Samsung’s Telecommunication Network Business. “It is human nature for people to communicate with others. Samsung's ultra slim phones are dedicated in bringing people together. With its exceptional design and thinness, the X820 will become one with the user, one with others, and one with the world.”

Click here to read more.

Tips: Prevent CAb files to "Self destruct"

Cab files always self-destruct after installation, that’s a fact and can be inconvenient sometimes. There is a way to fix that and the solution is quite simple but will require Windows Explorer-like software. The built-in Windows Explorer doesn’t let you alter file properties. Once you have your explorer software installed, like Total Commander, select the Cab file and tap Properties from the menu and apply the Read-Only option. Now you can be sure that you will have the file handy for any reinstallation.

Samsung's 7" LCD screen for Mobile devices

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world’s largest provider of thin-film transistor, liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels, announced today that it has developed the industry’s first amorphous silicon (a-Si) seven-inch, single-chip TFT-LCD panel that reproduces colors in high resolution (WVGA-level, 800×480 pixels).

The seven-inch LCDs are mostly used in mobile devices including DMB (digital multimedia broadcasting), PMP (portable multimedia players) and CNS (car navigation systems), and normally require 4 to 7 drive ICs(integrated circuit). Also, on a conventional seven-inch LCD panel, the T-con (time controller that drives the screen), power platform and other components typically are attached to a circuit board on the exterior of the LCD. The complexity of this integration point has been a major obstacle to slimming the package profile of mobile LCD devices.

Another gadget that you might want to add to your mobility pack. Click here to read more.

Off topic: Wifi Umbrella

This is a cute and creative use of technology. Your umbrella uses wifi to tell you everything you need to know about the weather. So no need to switch on the TV or connect to the internet in the morning, just check your umbrella's handle. If it's glowing blue, then the umbrella is saying " Take me with you". Materious, a Chicago design group, has designed the umbrella called Forecast.

WinMobile Lens Pro - Zooming software

WinMobile Lens Pro is the state-of-the-art vitual magnifying lens totally redesigned based on our popular WinMobile Lens. It is extermely easy to use. Implementing the latest in Windows Mobile technology, it provides clear and detail zooming in any predefined shapes. It can be activated using an associated hardware button or the accompanying launcher in the taskbar. Small in size, WinMobile Lens Pro grasps your device's real time screen at the moment it is activated, and allows you to magnify any part of the captured screen to a superb magnified area.

Click here to download a trial version.

Opera Mini - Access the web on mobile phones

Opera Mini™ is a fast and easy alternative to Opera's mobile browser, allowing users to access the Web on mobile phones that would normally be incapable of running a Web browser. This includes the vast majority of today's WAP-enabled phones.
Instead of requiring the phone to process Web pages, it uses a remote server to pre-process the page before sending it to the phone. This makes Opera Mini™ perfect for phones with very low resources, or low bandwidth connections.
Opera Mini™ offers the same speed and usability as the renowned Opera mobile browser, and uses Opera's Small Screen Rendering™ technology to provide access to the Web. It has all the features expected of a browser, and more, such as bookmarks, browsing history, and ability to split large pages into smaller sections for faster browsing.

Click here to download.

Tips: Enable 4-way navigation in Pocket IE

By default, the navigation button (the joystick) found on almost all PDAs is bi-directional. You can only go up or down. There is a registry value that will change that to a 4-way navigation which comes in handy when you access sites not optimized for mobile access. Here's the trick:

Change the value for this key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Navigation\"4-Way Nav"=1

To

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Navigation\"4-Way Nav"=0

Soft reset your device.

Laser projector for your mobile

A South Korean company developed a coin-size laser video projector module that can fit into portable gadgets such as mobile phones and digital cameras.
Iljin Display Thursday demonstrated various prototypes of mini-size projectors, which use its Single LCD Panel technology. Using the technology, users can project photos and video images on the wall from the built-in projector, making a seven-inch, full-color screen. Click here to read more.

Tips: Add holidays to your Calendar

Adding your country’s holidays to your Calendar manually is a pain. There is an easier way to do it without much typing. The desktop version of Outlook has a built-in list of holidays for several countries, but not all the countries appear in the list. The list does contain religious holidays too. Follow the steps:

Open Outlook, Select Tools > Options.
Click Calendar Options.
On the Calendar Options dialog box, Click on the add Holidays button.
Check the countries or religions whose religions you want to add to Calendar. Click OK.
Sync your PDA with your PC.