Tired of the non-responsive, too slow, somewhat annoying, programs tab in the TouchFlo 3D?
Well, Showaco from the XDA-Developers has developed a great hack just for you: the ability to show all the programs shortcuts in the programs tab (in TF3D). Sounds great? It is!
Source: FuzeMobility 
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It has been 10 months since I started the MobileSpoon and I took some time today to review some of my older posts.
Here are my favorite fun ones, plus the polls collection and some cool Windows Mobile games. Enjoy!
Funny ones:
Funny - Sumsing Turbo 3000
Exclusive Pictures of the Palm Treo Pro - only in the Mobile Spoon!
Motorola Alexander
Lost (the Mobile Edition)
Apple's best kept secret revealed!
The first Mobile Cell Phone
Evolution of Handheld Devices
He Finally Did It!
What else can you do with your mobile phone-
Humiliating Moments With Your Mobile Phone
Transformers Zone- Playing with yourself
Evil Magneto To Protect Windows Mobile Devices-
10 things you cannot do with LG GD910
Why phone cameras are important as pacifiers-
MobileSpoon Polls:
Weekend Quiz- Are you a Windows Mobile Expert-
Are you a Windows Mobile Expert- (Answers...)
Are you a Windows Mobile Addict-
Are you a Windows Mobile Addict- (Poll Results)
MobileSpoon Poll- The Best Smartphone in the World!
And the best Smartphone in the world is...
How do you select your mobile phone-
Best WinMo Games:
Vexed (a-la-sokoban game), Skinz Sudoku, Shift, ZNAX
Mobile Super Heroes
It has been 10 months since I started the MobileSpoon and I took some time today to review some of my older posts.
Here are my favorite tips and guides so far:
The Incomplete Guide to D-Pads
History of the QWERTY keyboard
The Incomplete Guide to Mobile Form Factors
Different Screen Resolution in Windows Mobile Devices
Windows Mobile Essentials - Building Up a New WinMo Device - From Scratch
The (Almost) Complete Guide for Free Mobile RSS Readers!
How to: hard reset your device? Any device!Out of the shell - few shell applications for Windows Mobile
What is the difference between Windows CE, PocketPC and Windows Mobile-
10 tips for true happiness with HTC Touch Pro / Fuze / Diamond!
Make your Windows Mobile more Finger Friendly with some Scroll-bar and Menus Tweaks!
How to select a proper device for your field personnel
How To- Work with both TouchFlo 3D and the Standard Today Screen
Mobile Spoon Exclusive: How to Add an 'OK' Button in HTC Touch Diamond / Pro / Fuze
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It has been 10 months since I started the MobileSpoon and I took some time today to review some of my older posts.
Here are my favorite opinion posts, including a lot of thoughts on different devices:
Murphy's Law- First attempt to plug your USB will always fail!
What happens when a Windows Mobile Addict breaks his vow and buys an iPhone-
iPhone Thoughts (and also: iPhone thoughts - Week #2)
The Truth about the Diamond vs. HTC Touch Diamond Review - by 'Y'
10 Things you probably know by now about the Android
My first impression of the Android
Windows Mobile Devices with no Hardware Buttons
Suggestion- Windows Mobile Touch
A link to a post I wrote back in November - About Windows Mobile Touch (6.5 -)
HTC Touch Pro Thoughts - Week #1
PalmPre vs. iPhone vs. WinMo vs. Android vs. BlackBerry - Fight!
Scoop- MobileSpoon in favor of the iPhone
Children get their first mobile phone at average age of 8
Microsoft announces Windows Mobile 6.5. Here's my scattered notes about it
HTC Touch HD Thoughts - Part #1
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![spoonfeeding6_thumb[1]](http://lh6.ggpht.com/__yGAwoTVvQg/Saln7DXAD9I/AAAAAAAAC0Y/M-CH4o8HY4o/s1600-h/spoonfeeding6_thumb%5B1%5D%5B8%5D.png)
It has been 10 months since I started the MobileSpoon and I took some time today to review some of my older posts.
Here are my favorite software reviews:
Review- SPB Mobile Shell
Cliquick - Innovative Keyboard for Windows Mobile
Tower Defense games, gymnastics, and one bad addiction
SHBT MyHome brings Windows Mobile 7 to all of us!
iPhone's Fring vs.WinMo's Fring. Fight!
PointUI 2 - User Interface Review
For more software and freeware collections - use the Freewares label.
For more useful tips and tricks, use the Tweaks label.
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I don't write a lot about Nokia phones, but couple of days ago I had a chance to put my hands on the Nokia E71. It's one hell of a phone and it looks amazing: incredibly thin, elegant and with a full QWERTY.
Unfortunately I am not a huge fan of Symbian and the keyboards keys are much too narrow for my fingers.
I may be writing a full review about the E71 soon, but even though I may not like it, it's a very good smartphone, and it won a very prestigioues reward in the yearly contest of MobileChoice as the best phone and smartphone of 2008.
Here's the entire list of winners in the yearly contest:
Phone of the Year: Nokia E71
Best Smartphone: Nokia E71
Best Camera Phone: Samsung i8510
Tariff Deal of the Year: 3 Mobile Broadband
Best Bluetooth Headset: Jawbone Noise Assassin
Best Network: O2
Best Mobile Game: Tetris Pop
Best Music Phone: Samsung F400
Best Customer Service: Virgin Mobile
Most Stylish Phone: LG Secret KF750
Best High Street Retailer: 02 Stores
Best Mobile Sat Nav: HTC Touch Cruise
Best Online Retailer: Virgin Mobile
Readers' Dream Phone: Apple iPhone
Manufacturer of the Year: Samsung Mobile
Source: MobileCoice
In a poll I did couple of months ago HTC Touch Pro won the contest called "the best smartphone in the world" although I think that the greatest one for 2008 was without a doubt HTC Touch HD (here's why).
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Do you suspect that your wife is not "working late" as she says she is?
Do you think your husband is having a double life?
Did it ever occur to you that your owners may have another dog?
Brian P. Hamachek has a personal website where he presents his few Windows Mobile freewares.
One of those apps is called Windows Mobile Monitor. It actually runs silently and invisibly recording all text message and phone call activity that takes place on the WinMo smartphone. A desktop client application allows you to easily and quickly transfer the activity log to your own computer.
If you are a suspicious man, woman, dog or a cat, this one is for you!
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Here's one Samsung device which looks very promising.
Samsung has announced a new messenger style device called “Valencia” that will be running Windows Mobile 6.5. This new device will sport a 393 MHz processor with 128MB RAM / 128MB ROM, a 320 x 240 non-touch screen, Tri-band GSM with GPRS, Edge, UMTS, 3G, and HSDPA. There’s a small 20MB internal storage along with a full front facing QWERTY, Bluetooth and a 2 mega pixel camera.
Besides that specs, I really looove that practical form factor and the surprising colors.
Full QWERTY, 6 hard keys, complete D-PAd, this is exactly the kind of things which may not look as sexy as the Diamond and stuff but turn your phone into a real friend.
I will continue following this one until it's out...
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Have you ever thought about assigning different SMS sounds to different contacts?
Well, if you did, here's a way to do it with Windows Mobile.
The tool is called MortRing and even though it's not the best looking app - it is clearly something which can really enhance the fun with Windows Mobile and also save you from some embarrassing moments (not that you have anything to hide of course...).
Instructions:
After installation, the program's in the autostart folder. After a soft reset, you'll see a tray icon that looks like a cell phone.
If you tap this icon, a popup menu appears. The most important entries are "Contacts" and "Categories".
In "Categories" you can assign ring- and sms tones to the contact categories. If a contact has multiple categories, the order of the list in this dialog is used. I.e., if a contact has both "Private" and "Friends", it will take the "Friends" settings if it's in the list prior to "Private".
In "Contacts" you can assign ring- and sms tones to single contacts, thus overriding the category settings. The currently used category ringtone (or "*other contacts*") is shown there if no specific contact ringtone is set. To remove a contact ringtone (and this way restoring the category setting), press the fitting "X" button ("X"=remove). It's only activated if a contact ringtone's assigned.
Download MortRing (freeware)
Or check out this XDA thread for more information.
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There has been a lot of excitement going on about the EnergyRom Series by NRGZ28. This Cooked ROM has proven to be very stable and incredibly fast for the AT&T Fuze and HTC Touch Pro. I have tested all of NRGZ28’s ROMS and I have been really happy with the result. Even though NRGZ28’s ROMS are pretty damn good I must say, there always seemed to be something missing….Until Now!
Released today is the newest NRGZ28 Custom ROM’s that now has a healthy dose FuzeBerry 7.5 CFC cooked in! As you can see from the picture that FuzeBerry plays really nice with the EnergyRom wallpaper. Here is a little more:
This ROM is CE OS 5.2.20764 (build 20764.1.4.3) and the version is: 5.05.405.1 ,all from official Raphael ROM.
This ROM contains all the speed tweaks and a little bit of eye candy (All of the MobileMatt FuzeBerry Phone Suite and TF3D Theme). The focus was a quick ROM that's great to use everyday. The CFC compressed Manila in this ROM is lighting quick, as well as the rest of the ROM.
So what are you waiting for? Head on over to Mobile Matt’s new and improved website MobileMattMobility.com right now and score your very own copy of EnergyRom 1.2.5 FuzeBerry Edition by NRGZ28.
For more discussion, head on over to the Fuze Mobility Forums!
Are you new to the whole ROM Flashing Scene? Click Here for all the basics of Flashing ROM’s for the Raphael.
GetJar conducted a phone-buying poll asking about the most important features of the phone.
Here are the top 5 features according to the US users (sorted by the importance):
1. User Interface (was the most important feature).
2. Brand
3. Content
4. Price
5. Size
Interesting, isn't it? I would have thought form factors are an important parameter as well...
I've looked through the web some more, and found another survey with slightly different results:
What are your considerations when purchasing a new phone?
Continuing the Diamond2/Pro2 pillage, HTC Calculator is now completely ported to WinMo 5/6 with different screen resolutions:
Here's all the links you will need:
QVGA: Main Memory | Storage Card | Internal Storage
wQVGA: Main Memory | Storage Card | Internal Storage
VGA: Main Memory | Storage Card | Internal Storage
wVGA: Main Memory | Storage Card | Internal Storage
Language Packs:
English | French | Spanish
Try it out if you dare!
Source: PocketPCHacks
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Landscape mode? Built-in alarms? More options? Better integration?
Those are part of the things included in the new version of TouchFlo3D.
xboxmod from the XDA-Developers is currently working on porting the new version into older HTC devices.
Here's a video preview (more updates to come soon):
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I figured it's about time I expend my blog a little bit, and as I would like to add some more content to it - I'm looking for few additional writers that share the same passion to mobile technology as I do.
So if you looooove blogging, have a good English, some spare time, and have a lot to say about mobile devices, mobile applications, tips and tweaks (especially Windows Mobile and iPhone) – you are invited to contact me!
This is a brilliant 26 minutes video demonstration of the Palm Pre.
Enjoy! (I did)
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Few days ago this picture was publish in few sites (including mine):
While I like the funny idea and used to agree with most of it, lately I came to the conclusion that I actually disagree with many of the usual complaints about the iPhone.
Don't get me wrong. I haven't switched sides yet, but I believe some of the "complains" are exaggerated.
Surprisingly (even for myself), here are some notes I never thought I will write, defending the iPhone:
No MMS:
So there's no MMS, so what? As we are talking about a smartphone with incredible Wifi capabilities - emails are just the natural option for me to send attachments.
Frankly, I never really used MMS, even when I had a simple cell phone.
Video Recording:
I actually am using a great video recorder called Cycorder. I think many iPhone users have this one which is working really good.
I honestly take more videos now with this simple but useful tool than I ever did with my older devices...
True, it can only be installed on jailbroken iPhones, but then again, locked ones should seriously be replaced with a rock...
Video Call:
For me it's just like MMS, I'm embarrassed to say I never tried it, as I usually talk when I drive so it just not an easy task to do...
Changeable Memory Card:
This is indeed annoying. Not because I need to expand my 16 Gig so fast (I don't), but because you cannot pull it out and move it to another device.
Copy & Paste:
OK. Here's something that will definitely start an argument.
How many times are you actually using copy/paste in your mobile phones? I don't use it that often. But jut in case, there are few alternatives for copy / paste. I'm using Clippy which works pretty well. So, actually I do have copy/paste in my iPhone which even has a clipboard queue.
What I do miss is the following: I get a call, and while talking I need to write down a number. I would expect that the digits that I type while talking would stay in my dialer screen after I end the call so that I can use it (make the call, store the number, something...).
Well, it doesn't... brrr, which is a real pain in the a...<beep>...ss!
No Changeable Battery:
Not that I like it (I definitely don't), but let's face it - most of us will replace our phone before the battery will die.
Having said that, there are 3 things I still don't like in my iPhone:
1. No Today screen:
I'm sorry, I know it sounds like whining, but why can't I see a snapshot of all my PIM at a glimpse? Isn't that the meaning of a "smart" phone?
2. Form factor:
I'm probably in a minority here as well, but I actually don't like the looks of the iPhone: It's too slim, the sides are too rounded which actually makes it hard to hold it without worrying that it will slip out of your hands...
3. iTunes:
Should I explain?
What do you think?
Did I become another blind Apple prisoner or does any of this make any sense?
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LG recently presented their new wristwatch phone LG GD910 and everyone seems to be so excited about it!
Well, I don’t. I think it's a cute (but useless) gimmick.
And to prove my point:
10 things you cannot do with LG GD910:
1. Pass the phone from one ear to the other
2. Hold the phone with your head bent towards your shoulder
3. Use it as multi-touch (even if it had multi-touch…)
4. Use it single handedly
5. Lose it
6. Charge it somewhere and at the same time – tell the time…
7. Take pictures of anything other than your hand
8. Drop it (and use it as an excuse to buy a new phone)
9. Dance break-dance while talking on the phone (...)
10. Pretend you are Dick Tracy
(OK, you may be able to do number 10 after all…)
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I spotted a nice site with a lot of great themes for Windows Mobile, TouchFlo, HomeScreen Plus Plus, TouchCommander, and more.
The site is surprisingly called: FreeWMThemes and it includes a lot of fun stuff including my favorite MobileMatt's FuzeBerry theme.
Here are few examples:
So head over to FreeWMThemes and enjoy a variety of free themes.
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During MWC, Microsoft announced that they sold 50 million Windows Mobile devices so far (20 million during 2008).
HTC on the other hand, announced that they have sold 40 million Windows Mobile devices since they started building Windows Mobile units.
Which means, HTC are responsible for 80% of all WinMo devices in the world (remember that HTC used to manufacture a lot of devices for other companies such as Palm, Sony Ericsson etc).
Still, you have to admit that this is an amazing number, definitely, when talking about Windows Mobile - HTC is an integral part of it.
And I'm asking:
- Can it be that Windows Mobile depends on HTC just like it depends on Microsoft?
- What will happen if like Samsung (with the OmniaHD) and Motorola - HTC will dump WinMo in favor of, let's say, Android, what will become of Windows Mobile then?
What do you think?
It has been a while since we had a weekend poll here at the MobileSpoon, and this time the question is:
What do you think of the new features of Windows Mobile 6.5?
Do you like it? Will you upgrade your phone for it? Did Microsoft just pulled a winner?
Here are some useful links before you answer:
- Windows Mobile 6.5 new features
- Windows Mobile 6.5 in action (video)!
Now that you saw it in action, let's get to the poll itself:
Thanks for voting!
I will publish the results in a few days.
Other polls and quiz you may like:
The best Smartphone in the world (final results)
Are you a Windows Mobile addict? (results)
Are you a Windows Mobile expert? (Answers)
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I assume you wouldn't want to use this freeware if you have anything to hide, but if you are tired of reading your SMS messages you will probably find TellMeText very useful.
Windows Mobile has a built in mechanism to capture incoming SMS messages. TellMeText captures those messages and activates a text2speech process to read the body of the message.
You can learn more and download TellMeText in here.
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Some interesting statistics have been recently published by Telegraph:
Apparently, 8 is the average age at which children are given their first mobile phone. (I had my first one when I was 20...).
75% of all children aged 7 to 15 owned "at least" one mobile phone. (I used to collect transformers action figures that age...)
By the age of 10, children were shopping online using their parents' debit or credit cards and 32% of them used the Internet to buy computer games.
I personally will never let my kid have a mobile phone before he gets 18. It's a matter of education, values, and... what the? Hey! Give me that! Let go of my Pro! Stop it! It's mine! Mmmmmine!!!
Read the original article in here.
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Copying content from other blogs is not a nice thing to do, especially when it's my favorite FuzeMobility (which I recently started writing in as a guest writer) - but I'm sorry, I just had to have this image in my blog too.
I have some things to say about it though, as I'm actually using an iPhone, had the HD for 2 amazing days and used to play with rocks, and I think this one is funny but a bit of an exaggeration, so stay tuned because I will post it in a couple of days.
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You probably already heard that the HTC Touch Diamond2 was stolen from the careless hands of Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo. (more in here).
While I have an alibi (I was not there because I'm poor), I just realized something:
Robbery in Barcelona?
A Diamond is stolen?
It doesn't get any better than that.
Coming next: 007 using Samsung OmniaHD to catch the thieves.
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Well well well, if it ain't that rumble again: iPhone vs. WinMo.
So far, every time I make a comparison between phones or OS I get spanked by one of the sides; furious Android fans, fanatic Apple freaks, etc.
I decided to stop doing that, but after a while (10 seconds), I got bored again, so the hell with it! I'm continuing my clashes between different devices and different OS - you are all invited to spank!
Today I would like to compare between Fring for the iPhone and Fring on Windows Mobile. Both, are great free applications which I use.
First parameter will be the user interface!
I believe you will have to agree that the iPhone version looks much better than the WinMo one. The UI is designed better, it has those finger friendly iPhone's scrollable lists and some nice tabs images in the bottom, switching between subjects.
The WinMo version, on the other doesn't look that bad, but those 'not-so-good-looking-saying-the-least' tabs in the bottom makes it a bit pale comparing to the fancy iPhone UI...
iPhone 1:0 WinMo
Moving on to the second parameter - and this is the ease of use.
In here, too, iPhone wins, big time. The user interface does not only looks better but it also works much more fluently.
The connection is established quickly, multiple chats can be handled easily, and the application feels much more comfortable.
Sorry, Microsoft, you may fix that in 6.5 too if you want (6.5 looks impressive BTW), but for now the score is: iPhone 2:0 WinMo.
Third parameter is here, and that's the level of integration with the phone; while the iPhone version should be invoked from the springboard, the WinMo version can be integrated inside the 'today' screen (watch out HTC users...) as a Today plugin, which give WinMo a huge advantage when you want to jump from one application to another and then check your Fring status.
Therefore, the score is now: iPhone 2:1 WinMo.
Now let's talk about the plugins each version has. Here it seems like WinMo has a small advantage, at least when talking about the OOTB plugins which includes some additions like Facebook, Orkut, Gmail etc.
Score goes to WinMo again, which means we have a tie:
iPhone 2:2 WinMo
While I was using both versions for a while, I tried to find more differences between them and by accident, I found something that definitely breaks this tie for good.
Get this:
When closing the Fring application in the iPhone (or in cases where the device turns off) - Fring will become disconnected, meaning that your buddies will not be able to send you a message. Ha! No background Fring for iPhone users!
On the other hand, Fring on Windows Mobile will continue to work even if you turn off your device, enabling you to get continuous alerts even while you send mails, make phone calls of leave the phone in a standby mode.
Therefore, final score is: iPhone 2:3 WinMo
WinMo version wins!
I guess that settles it then. Fring for iPhone may look better (OK, much better) and feel better (OK, much much better), but hey, it stops working when you close your phone or move to another application...
Something to think about...
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I've previously posted about an 'all-in-one' Google freeware for Windows Mobile called Google2Go.
It was not an official Google production, so Google decided to have their own official free application for Windows Mobile.
Nice. Here's a quote from Google's blog:
Google Mobile App gives you faster searching on your Windows Mobile device, with easy access to your favorite Google applications from the Today screen. There's no need to wait for a browser to open to begin a search, and with search history available to reduce typing, you can get your search results with fewer clicks than before. For an even speedier experience, Pocket PC users can add the Google Mobile App to the start menu (Settings: Menus) or configure a hardware key (Settings: Buttons) to provide easy access from within any application on your phone.
How much faster is it? Well, our stopwatches show that Google Mobile App team members (who are mostly normal people, no superpowers were deployed during the timings) were able to get their search results for identical queries nearly 50% faster from Google Mobile App than from navigating to Google.com in the mobile browser.
Here's a demo video:
To download - click here. More details in here.
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I completely forgot a post I wrote few months ago, while there were a lot of rumors about a Microsoft Zune phone with Windows Mobile 6.5 etc.
Luckily for me, there are people who actually read my blog. And there is one who actually remembers things I write! (Thanks again Simon!).
So here's the thing: back in November, I wrote 10 ideas of improvements that will make Windows Mobile a great touch phone.
Read the entire ideas in Suggestion- Windows Mobile Touch.
Of course, many of them are the obvious things we all think about.
The nice part of it is that many of them were actually implemented in WinMo 6.5 - how cool can it get? No seriously, tell me please, how coooooool can it get???
Let's see which suggestions actually happened:
1. Embed a great shell interface into Windows Mobile, some really good ones already exist!
OK, Microsoft did not embed an existing one but they did made the default shell much better: an improved Today screen, new start menu and of course a great useful lock screen.
2. Make the user interface lists scrollable by finger
Done. Ha ha ha ha (evil laugh)
3. Enable resizing the menus, buttons and combo-boxes so people can totally control the "finger friendliness" of their phone (wanna learn how?)
Microsoft indeed changed their menus, and they didn't just resized it - they redesigned it completely.
4. Change the size of the top bar so that using the [OK] button with a finger would be more convenient
Nope. was not modified in 6.5, I wish they did...
5. Drop it with those poor Internet explorer efforts - we are all using Opera already.
OK, I was probably too extreme here, seems like the new explorer will be much better than the old ones and will have a flash support as well.
6. Improve some UI areas around the phone, calendar, email, and contacts functionality - those are the areas where Windows Mobile is very powerful but has a weak user interface.
Not sure how much of this idea is implemented, but I think that the contacts did change a bit to become more finger friendly and include images which is great.
7. Wrap some admin tools such as the horrible connections dialog with a more friendly UI
Nope. Not included. Bad Microsoft! Bad!
8. Add a better built-in network roaming
Don't know about this one...
9. Add some cool animations when opening/closing a window, more than that is just exaggerated.
No information about this one yet, But according to the people who saw the system in action there is a new wait curser.
10. Call it Windows Mobile Touch - the 'Touch' brand seems to work perfectly for HTC!
OK, Microsoft did not take my advise on this one, but they did change the name to Windows Phone.
So you see? I think I can count at least 4-5 ideas which were implemented in 6.5, and since I don't think I was the only WinMo user thinking of those areas - it probably means that Microsoft did some good improvements.
Can't wait to have a Windows Mobile 6.5 device.
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Gizmodo made a good video of WinMo 6.5 which includes most of the new stuff.
Windows Mobile 6.5 in Action! Enjoy!
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Last November I wrote an article here on Fuze Mobility explaining how to How To Add A City On The AT&T Fuze TF3D Weather Tab. Since then, we have been keeping you updated with another program called HTC Weather Master which you can see here, here, and again here. Hey, we were really excited about this application!
Well, the last Beta had a few bugs in it, and some users were a little unhappy that it locked their Weather Database. In my case, I was using final version which took it out out of Beta, Version 1.0. The problem I was having is that when I tried to Add a City, it was spitting out a SQL Error. In his latest ROM However, XDA ROM Cooking Master NATF (Not A Treo Fan) has solved the SQL error by:
In my latest (unreleased) ROM, I fixed the SQL error by not including the 2330xxx_manilla file used for the weather database. Then, during initial customization, I install the file from CAB (without Read Only attribute).
After the phone reboots, HTC Weather Master works in cooked-in form (autolaunch) or manual launch from Start Menu shortcut. No SQL error.
Because HTC Weather Master locks the Database, and would not allow me to run WeatherDatabaseEditor 1.2.CAB created by andreas.falke, I posted for some help and NATF came through for us with a patch and saved me from having to do a Hard Reset to unlock My Weather Database. NATF says:
I downloaded the CAB file posted here, and the problem is that 2330fc3c_manila is being installed as Read Only. Try this CAB... I edited it to remove _2330fc3c_manila (not needed), and set 2330fc3c_manila to not be Read Only.
Here is a link to NATF’s HTC Weather Master “non read only” cab that will fix you up if you run into the same problem I did and get a SQL Error. Remember, not everyone is experiencing this issue. But if you are, here is the fix! Enjoy!
HTCWeatherMaster1.0_non-Read_Only.cab (380.7 KB, 21 views)
Thanks to NATF & XDA!
With G-Profile you can define unlimited profiles which manage the state of your device (e.g volume, ringtones, WiFi, Bluetooth, phone radio, 3G, ...). You can set wether a profile should be only activated manually, at a certain time, when an appointment in your Pocket Outlook calendar occurs, when you connect your device to AC power / a headset / a handsfree or via ActiveSync (Windows Mobile device center) to a computer, when a specified program is launched or you your phone is connected to a specific cell tower.
Read more in here or use this link to directly download G-Profile.
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Palm Pre continues to impress me. The following video, taken by PhoneDog, shows the synergy between different calendar accounts (Google, facebook, exchange)- located together in a single expandable calendar view.
I love it.
The only thing Palm should do right now to really make it perfect is to find a decent name for the device and OS...
(Com'on: Pre? WebOS? Give me something sexy!)
Here's the video:
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According to AustralianIT, the GSM Association, involves 17 major mobile operators and manufacturers including Nokia, Motorola, Qualcomm, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Vodafone, have banded together to develop a universal charger for mobile phones by January 2012.
The charger will be based on Mini USB (of course...) and will not come as part of the handset kit.
GSMA estimates that between 600 million and 960 million mobile phones sold last year were new handsets - equivalent of up to 82,000 tonnes of replacement chargers every year. The move will, of course, save a lot of that...
I have to say it does sound like a waste, on the other hand, I will probably still need to have a few charges available, one for my office, one for my car, one for the toilets (oops, did I just say that???), and one in my favorite coffeehouse ...
Thanks for sending me the tip George.
How did this happen?
We all knew that the Samsung Omnia was one of the best WinMo devices in 2008 and one of the most selling ones too.
We all heard about the amazing Samsung OmniaHD which is about to be released soon.
What we didn't expect is that it will be based on... Symbian?!??#$
Symbian?
No, seriously: Symbian?
Nevertheless, here's a video from PhoneScoop:
Motorola dumped Windows Mobile, HTC is pretending to be a friend but in fact continues the Android revolution, and now Samsung...
WinMo fans - think about it...
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I still haven't used the upcoming version, but there are some available videos and details out there.
Here's the video preview:
Release date not set yet but according to the video it seems like version 3 will have a lot of additions comparing to version 2.
Improved contacts, more options, multi-home pages,widgets, kinetic scrolling, 3D screen switcher, hardware acceleration support, Facebook integration and support for Windows Mobile 6.5.
Sounds promising!
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Forgive me for the mess in this one, but here's some of the important notes I could find in Microsoft's announcement today:
Windows Mobile Phone (and good bye to the "professional / standard" stuff)
MyPhone (we already knew that too...) will backup your calendar, tasks, pictures, videos, music, documents, and text messages via the web.
Windows Marketplace (that's an app store for win phones)
Windows Mobile 6.5 OS is here (not available yet of course)
Let's see what's new in 6.5:
Honeycomb Start Menu:
A new honeycomb window which will replace the old 'start' menu.
It does look great, much better than the old ones we had, and also will allow reordering the shortcuts in a simple configuration menu.
According to Microsoft, every new device running WinMo will have to have one button with the windows sign on triggering the new start menu. Cool.
Here's a couple of examples:
The menus will get a significant upgrade with a much better look and feel and of course some finger friendly updates...
New Today Screen:
A bit too minimalistic for me, but I guess it's better like that when there's real information on he phone.
Sliding from one line to another expands the line into a complete informative panel. You can also slide your finger right/left in order to see some more information on that panel.
Internet Explorer:
The new Internet explorer is designed to give the same browsing experience as the desktop version.
Flash will be supported in 6.5, Silverlight will probably come later.
Notice the bottom buttons look much better than the ones in the beta release, and they have an auto hide behavior (like Opera).
I have to say I really like how it looks.
Lock Screen:
I like it: it's not just a lock screen, it actually has a drop down menu for common activities people would like to do directly when unlocking the device! (Phone, meetings, etc.)
The demo also included a demonstration of voice messages in the mobile IM, an improved contacts window with built in pictures and finger friendly items and scroll.
BTW, HTC announced that the Diamond2 and Touch Pro2 will be WinMo 6.5 enabled, meaning that they will have a free upgrade to WinMo 6.5 when it will be released.
Nice. What do you think?
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Source:Engadget
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So long to the horrible D-Pad of the first generation - welcome generation 2!!! (and welcome back Tilt!?)
Both devices are expected to be available around the end of Q2 beginning of Q3 (Diamond 2 will probably be released a bit sooner than the Pro).
Excited? So am I. I have to say the keyboard of the Pro looks... yummy... rrrrrrrr.....
Touch Pro 2 Specifications:
Touch Diamond 2 Specifications:
Check out the zoom ruler in the bottom of the device - looks promising, isn't it? I can see a lot of tweaks coming in with this one...
New version of the TouchFlo 3D:
TouchFlo 3D will get a decent upgrade as well!
According to HTC, the new version of the TouchPro will include better integration with Windows Mobile, deeper and more consistent, and some new features like web pages preview in the main shell, bigger touch focus areas (for better finger usage), and some new improved tabs like the contacts tab, etc.
Continue like this, HTC, and your stuff will be more advanced than WinMo 6.5!
Did we say... yummy? (oh yeah, we said that already...)
More details and full press release in WMExperts (Touch Diamond 2, Touch Pro 2).
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Because in specific moments, you'll need both of them handy...
For more funny posts click here.
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A nice video demonstration of the Garmin-Asus Nuvifone M20.
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Here he comes to save the day!!!
Styluses had always the tendency to disappear. Luckily HTC devices have a special API event that pops up when the stylus is pulled out.
NoStylusWarning is a free tool for Windows Mobile that uses this API. It has some nice configuration options but the basic idea is to get a notification saying your stylus is out. This should remind you to put it back in place before forgetting all about it.
.Net 3.5 is required as well as an HTC device with stylus sensor (located in HTC Touch Diamond / Pro / Fuze / HD etc.)
Give it a shot. Download NoStylusWarning.
Samsung Omnia? iPhone? Treo Pro?
Nope.
As always, when it comes to mobile competitions, there's one device that picks up all the trophies: HTC Touch HD.
I've recently had a chance to put my hands on the Tough HD and my conclusions were that this is without a doubt, the best Windows Mobile device I've ever used.
Why? you ask? Here's why.
The Touch HD was also selected as the manliest gadget for 2008.
And now, PC Authority just published the results of a battery life test they did involving most of the popular phones:
In case you were wondering, here's the steps that were performed:
See the full test results in PC Authority.
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If you don't have a data plan but still want to access many useful services via your mobile phone, SmartTouch is a great alternative.
SmartTouch utilizes the global SMS system to connect to services which support basic commands manipulations in text messages.
The user interface is finger friendly and the SmartTouch framework includes a suite of widgets that are hosted inside. There's a lot of services already included:
It's practically a tool that will visualize the SMS services, As CEO John McDonough explains, it’s sort of “like moving from the days of command line MS-DOS to Windows 3.1″.
Here's few examples:
To get your free version - go to smarttouchmobileinc.com
Downloads also available in here.
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OK, listen, it's not that I have a problem with it, after all, I'm a winMo fan, right?
It's just that Garmin promised something big, something original, something that will change the way we use our mobile phones and make use of location based services, and all we ended up with is another Windows Mobile device from... Asus?
When I first posted here about Nuvifone, I was certain it's going to appear soon: here's why.
Then there were rumors about an android based nuvifone, which will probably come true soon, and now it seems Garmin-Asus decided to take the easiest path and build their location based phone on top of the powerful platform of Windows Mobile.
While I like the looks of it, and think it's a good option, but I can't help wondering what happened to the "amazing operating system" we saw in action in a video (which no longer exists by the way...) few months ago... the one that looked like this:
According to Gizmodo, the "old" nuvifone will still be released under the name G60 which will be based on linux. I have to admit, though, that the images Gizmodo has does not look as good as the original prototype...
What does it mean exactly? Are Garmin and Asus about to release at the same year - Android, WinMo and Linux based phones? Sounds strange, but I will continue following...
Anyways, here's some quotes from the official press release:
![garminy_thumb[5]](http://lh4.ggpht.com/__yGAwoTVvQg/SZSlghJt93I/AAAAAAAACs8/xRO0IAvGJI4/s1600-h/garminy_thumb%5B5%5D%5B5%5D.png)
"Recognizing that location is relevant to every aspect of every day, the nuvifone M20 is designed with location based services (LBS) at its core and has the most advanced LBS experience of any Windows Mobile phone. Navigation functions are linked to frequently used applications such as calendar, contacts, email, internet applications and more, simplifying the nuvifone user's day as they travel from one location to another.
The nuvifone M20 supports download speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps and offers a desktop-style web browsing experience. Users can zoom and pan web pages with their finger as they view the information in either portrait or landscape orientation. In addition, they can easily navigate to an address on a web page with only a few taps of the screen. " (Press release)
More of Gizmodo information in here.
And of course, the official Garmin-Asus site with all the details!
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Hi all! I'm excited to welcome a guest star to the Mobile Spoon!
Doug Smith, the founder of many popular mobility blogs such as FuzeMobility and PPCMobility, whom I've mentioned many times in the past, will be joining the Mobile spoon as a guest writer!
Doug and I have linked to each other's sites for quite a while, and we thought it will be interesting to join forces and bring new perspectives and insights about mobility subjects we find close to our hearts.
Doug is a real mobility expert and I'm sure things will get much more interesting when he is around! (While I will be writing in FuzeMobility, trying to keep up with the pro's in this great site)
So Doug, I'm sure we are going to enjoy it - welcome!
And for those of you who didn't subscribe to the FuzeMobility feeds just yet - hurry up! it's one of the best WinMo sites out there!
First, I want to say thank you to Gil for letting me blog on The Mobile Spoon! I am a huge fan of the Mobile Spoon and have been friends with Gil for a long time. So when we got to talking we thought it would be a good idea to “Guest” Blog on each others Websites to keep things fresh with new perspectives. I also wanted to get my hands on his awesome Photo Edits! So my name is Doug Smith and I own Tilt Mobility, Fuze Mobility, and PPC Mobility. I have been blogging for quite a while and can relate to Gil in being totally addicted to Mobility! Again, I am thrilled to contribute to Gil’s website and be part of the Mobile Spoon Community!
So what do I have in store for you as my first article? Oh, just my favorite Mobile Browser released an update that I’m sure you’ll want to hurry up and download! You guessed it, Skyfire has announced today that they have updated their Skyfire Mobile Browser from version 0.85 to 0.9. Skyfire has seemed to be pretty quite lately but have fired back with a new version update to 0.9 which includes a Twitter or Facebook status update that can be viewed directly within the Skyfire client. Some other good news is for you HTC Touch HD owners (DavidK) that will now see Skyfire with WVGA support.
Skyfire, which already supports Flash 10, Silverlight, Ajax and all Web 2.0 browsers is now the most adept take on Web 2.0 with these new features in the updated 0.9 version:
For more information and to download Skyfire Version 0.9, head on over to their website or just CLICK HERE
You can also read the full run down on Skyfire 0.9 be jumping after the break and reading the whole press release.
Skyfire Mobile Browser Gets Social – Connects Users to Their Social Networks and Customized Content
The only mobile browser to play video integrates Facebook and Twitter for one-click publishing and sharing
(MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA) February 12, 2009 – Today Skyfire, the makers of the same-name PC-like browser for mobile devices, released Skyfire Beta 0.9 to bring people closer to each other and their favorite content. This new version of Skyfire integrates a desktop experience browser with the best of the Social Web. In addition, this release significantly improves the reading experience, making it as enjoyable as Skyfire's unique ability to play any Web video and render any rich content on your phone.
Social Media Heats Up in Skyfire
The most noticeable change in the new version of Skyfire is a real-time activity wall which aggregates customized feeds from news, media, Facebook and Twitter. Skyfire is preconfigured with feeds from Digg, ESPN, Google News, Hulu, YouTube and Yahoo! News that display real-time updates on the start page. It is easy to customize your experience and add new feeds from your favorite Websites. Skyfire now always keeps you connected with the newest content that is relevant to you.
As part of the 0.9 release, users with Facebook and Twitter accounts can import their news feeds and Twitter streams into Skyfire and easily publish their status to these networks. Users can also share and publish any Web page to their Facebook and Twitter streams by simply going to the share menu in the Skyfire browser. This is an evolution in sharing, "…an industry first in mobile browsing," states Skyfire CEO, Nitin Bandari – now you can share one-to-one via SMS and share one-to-many via your social network.
"Mobile browsing has traditionally been about viewing Web pages. Now, for the first time, Skyfire enables users to stay connected with their friends in real time – both share and receive. We enable interactive social browsing - videos not just plain text - just like you do on your PC."
Text's Turn to Shine
Skyfire, known for its unique ability to play any video on the Web, has made great leaps in improving the experience of reading large blocks of text without the need to horizontally scroll. This is a major boon for usability and perfect for catching up with the latest text heavy news and blogs. This solution addresses the challenge of rendering Web text designed to be viewed on the PC to be easily read on the phone. The implementation solves the complexity of supporting a multitude of screen resolutions across various phone models.
"We went out the door delivering rich media – whether it was video, images, or audio – Skyfire delivered it to your phone just like your PC browser." said Tracy DeMiroz, Skyfire VP of Marketing. "In this release of Skyfire, we concentrated on improving the experience of reading text in Skyfire. The strides we made now give our users the best of both experiences whether they are watching a show on Hulu or reading an article in the New York Times."
Hot New Windows Mobile Phones
Skyfire 0.9 supports all popular Windows Mobile screen resolutions including WVGA and WQVGA, which means Skyfire runs on new popular Windows Mobile phones such as the Samsung Omnia and Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1.
Sizzling New Symbian Client
In addition, the Skyfire Symbian client for Nokia E and N Series phones has been much improved. Significantly reduced files sizes and improved installation makes for a simplified experience.
For more information about Skyfire Beta 0.9, please see the Release Notes.
About Skyfire
Skyfire is the creator of the Skyfire mobile browser, which delivers the PC Web to mobile phones so users can experience the Web on their phone exactly as they do on their PCs. The company was founded in 2006 by Nitin Bhandari and Erik Swenson, who serve as CEO and CTO, respectively. Skyfire is backed by Lightspeed Venture Partners, Trinity Ventures and Matrix Partners.
For more information, visit www.skyfire.com, or follow Skyfire on Twitter at twitter.com/skyfire.
Even with some hiccups like the lack of WiFi, I still am anxious to check out the Palm Pre when it is released (Rumored in March). Check out these Specs:
For me, I can live without Wi-Fi, but I know it will be a deal breaker for many. The Palm Pre is a solid looking device, that even with 8GB Storage and no Storage Card Slot, should be able to hold a couple of songs and maybe a movie or two.
We’ll keep you posted on more information on the Palm Pre as we get it so stay tuned!
(via)
More Palm Pre specs!
GRIMLOCK LOVE PRE! GRIMLOCK EXCITED!!!
Here's what we can speculate:
8GB included, 7.4GB free which means OS needs around 50 megs.
MMS is confirmed (I never use it...).
Phone-as-modem via Bluetooth is confirmed as well.
More Pre news in here!
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I has been a while since I wrote a user interface review - and I sure missed it, so today I will check out the hot stuff PointUI has been releasing with the new version of the PointUI shell for Windows Mobile.
The 'home' screen of PointUI includes 2 main areas:
The applets area:
The applets area (located at the top) includes few applets that can be easily navigated using left/right finger gestures or the selection panel beneath them.Among them you will find the usual weather applet, email, images, and Tasks.
moving between applets is fun and work smoothly using D-Pad or finger gestures. It can also be done dirrectly using a special context panel just beneath the applets area.
The primary navigation area:
The primary navigation area (located at the bottom) which acts as a simple launcher of 4 useful windows: calls history, favorites applications, favorites contacts (quick dial) and emails.
In addition to those main areas, PointUI includes a main menu that opens a nice window with some useful shortcuts to a task manager (running applications), customized settings list (finger friendly settings list!), all programs and more.
Here's some examples:
Programs list and the customized settings lists:
It may sound like there's nothing fascinating in here; same old stuff: emails, weather, calendar, quick dial, quick launch...
But the thing is - it's well designed! It is actually fun using this sweet application: it has some cool animations, it works extremely fast, the finger gestures work great, and it has few advantages:
Speed:
This thing is working extremely fast! I like it, it does not choke your device like other shell apps do (without mentioning names...TF3D... errrr... sorry.... won't happen again...)
Tasks applet:
At last!!! I love having my tasks in front of me, most shell applications don't have tasks support, PointUI has it in a beautiful way.
Landscape support:
There are many great If you are following my Shell applications for Windows Mobile, but not all of them support landscape mode. Since I'm using the Touch Pro these days, landscape more is a must for me.
PointUI has a great landscape support, and to make things even more powerful - it has a nice animation when switching between modes as if the developers are saying: "we knew you will check us out - here's a nice animation to make you happy..."
There are 3 things I didn't like in PointUI 2:
1. Navigating through really long lists (such as the contacts list) is a bit hard and not accurate. It's true that all the PointUI lists have that iPhone style scroller which jumps between letters but I think a text lookup and of course integration to a QWERTY keyboard (if exists on the device) would be much better.
2. As one of the comments mentioned this, there’s no customized connection manager so unlike the TouchFlo3D, you have to go to the “regular” settings in order to enable / disable connections.
3. Some of the add/new/more buttons in each applet are not completely finger friendly (just too small). I guess it will be much better on bigger devices like the Touch HD (Oh how I miss it!!!), but on my Touch Pro it’s a bit annoying.
According to the website, the Pro version (which costs money of course...) has more applets (9 instead of 6), more customization options, auto lock and haptic feedback. Cool.
That's it for this short review of the PointUI 2 user interface.
I think it's a very good software - go ahead and try it out - it's free!
To download - visit the PointUI website.
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OK, this is going to be my shortest post ever:
Open your inbox window, click 'right' (or 'left'...). 
Wow!
But not a perfect 'wow': I still don't like the stripes UI...
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Windows Mobile 6.5 will probably be announced next week but until that time - let's have fun with some more screenshots:
Let's start with the famous honeycomb: I told you it will have scrolling capabilities!
Here's something nice about the phone user interface:
The screenshots below hint that we may be getting a finger friendly soft keys menu! Ohohoho!!! I love it!
Few things I don't like about the screenshot below:
- An ugly close button (looks like a corrupted font!) - please replace that...
- What's going on with the low resolution icons? isn't it time to replace those into something more sexy?
- I don't like the scroll bar... do you?
Overall, it looks like some great additions to the current OS, but is this enough?
Let's wait for the real version before we jump into conclusions...
More WinMo 6.5 stuff in here.
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Hey, I just found this one in 1800PocketPC and I just had to embed it in my site.
Watch till the end!
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OK, so just like Google, Microsoft is about to release My Phone.
200Giga storage and sync services for Windows Mobile phones.
(Contacts, Calendar, Passwords and Pictures)
Here's a site preview:
The Google sync will let you synchronize your phone wirelessly with Gmail, Google contacts and Google Calendar.
The new service is available for Windows Mobile, iPhone, BlackBerry and Symbian devices.
Cewl!
I haven't tested it yet, but it looks promising.
Check out the video for more information:
Amir - thanks for the tip!
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It seems like Samsung's TouchWiz shell is getting a face lift.
According to EngadgetMobile, there's a new version of the shell which includes eye candy 3D effects, new finger gestures etc.
One of the problems I had with the older versions of the TouchWiz was the small number of OOTB widgets.
It seems like the new version is better designed for downloading new widgets from the web, which sounds exciting.
In addition there's some new windows in the TouchWiz and some new features around contacts and pictures.
I'm still looking for a video...
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Pandora Radio has a new version for Windows Mobile (or should we say... Windows Phone...), that will let you stream music to your WinMo phone!
Just start with the name of one of your favorite artists, songs or classical composers and Pandora will create a “station” that plays their music and more music like it.
Notice that Pandora is only available in the US.
To download, visit the Pandora Web Site.
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With so many new mobile devices out there, there's one company that does things a bit differently, it's called Modu.
Modu, in case you never heard of it, is a tiny modular phone that can be slipped into different devices (called “jackets”) — such as MP3 player, GPS, bigger cell phones, car stereo, or digital camera.
The company was founded by CEO Dov Moran whose previous company, M-Systems, pioneered the concept of the USB flash drive and sold to SanDisk for $1.6 billion in 2006.
(Read more about the company in here)
Couple of days ago, I had a chance to play with a modu unit for a few minutes and I must say I have some doubts about how well this idea will work.
Think of Modu as an expanded SIM card. Smaller than iPod Nano, it can place calls, send text messages, and hold contacts. Modu can be inserted into different device jackets, depending on the functionality needed. The camera jacket, for instance, can be paired with Modu to send pictures over the wireless network.
So far so good, right? But check this out:
What happens if I want to take pictures and talk at the same time? or maybe hear music in my car and use Modu as a camera to picture the view? Will I have to pull out my Modu from one jacket to another?
This and more: one of the great things in having one powerful device is having all the features all the time: when I'm in the gym I can use my phone as an MP3 player, then I leave the gym and go to the beach - it's there with me to take pictures, on my way back - I can use it as GPS or connect it to my car stereo if I want to hear my music again. All in one device.
I wouldn't want to carry a jacket for each function, it may become annoying - I would need a new bag for all of them!
On the other hand, for gadgets fans, jackets might be a cheap way to continuously upgrade their gadgets collection. I can already imagine myself collecting different jackets, as long as the price is attractive of course. It may also become a cheap simple phone eventually. I assume this might be the good side of modu.
But then again, it will be impossible to carry them everywhere...
What do you think?
Here's a brilliant video showing the concept:
Here's a video interview with Dov Moran, founder of Modu:
Thoughts, anyone?
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The developers of PockeTwit followed the interesting FENNEC (FireFox Mobile Browser) user interface concepts of having menus on the sides of the main screen while activating those menus is done by sliding the main screen to the right or left sides (see video demonstration).
CORRECTION: Amit has brought to my intention that PockeTwit had this UI way before FENNEC even released their demo version, so I guess I owe the developers an apology.(thanks for the comment Amit! it has been a while since your last visit! ;-))
Interesting concept indeed, which makes PockeTwit not only a useful tool but also an interesting tool.
There's a lot of configuration capabilities and I personally liked the white theme. Besides, I think WinMo apps should stop using the HTC's Black theme so much. There are other colors in the world...
Anyways, nice freeware - give it a try!
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There are rumors about a new version of the iPhone which will be released around June this year.
Gizmodo even published a mockup of the new model:
I don't know if I like it or not, but it's amazing that Apple are able to release a new version of the iPhone every year while the Microsoft guys are still talking about... Windows Mobile 6.5...
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SPB Wallet 2.0 was recently announced, and it looks better than ever!
Spb Wallet securely stores sensitive information AES 256-encrypted and password-protected, supports automatic lockup, clipboard cleanup, and protects from phishing. The data can be synchronized between (and accessed from) multiple PCs and mobile devices. The virtual, electronically stored items, such as cards and passports look like real ones: Spb Wallet 2.0 offers an integrated online database of over seven thousand most popular cards, and the option to order more custom images - for free. The new Wallet 2.0 for Windows Mobile boasts Autocomplete for PIE, new finger-friendly UI, adaptive skins, smart scrolling, gestures, animation effects, and a new logon panel. The desktop version offers advanced integration with web browsers, automatic supply and capture of websites login information, password generator, migration wizard from custom CSV formats and other wallet applications.
Spb Wallet Features:
* Supported platforms: Windows Desktop (2000, 2003, XP, Vista), Windows Mobile 5+ (Professional and Standard), Symbian S60 (9.0+) and more coming soon...
* Strong AES 256 encryption
* Integrated Online Templates Gallery with 7,000+ most popular cards, and option to order customized cards for FREE
* Improved integration with Firefox and Internet Explorer: protection from phishing, login Autocomplete for familiar sites, automatic capture of login information for new ones
* New desktop synchronization engine: synchronization with Google mail, network folders, Apple iPhone via Bonjour
* Automatic wallet lockup & clipboard cleanup
* Active card fields: open web sites, send emails, send text messages, make phone calls, and copy data to clipboard - straight from Spb Wallet
* Importing wizard, password generator, quick search
Spb's new multiplatform approach to product development is dictated by the company's strengthening position as a partner to mobile network carriers. "The Windows Mobile platform will always stay our primary focus," - comments Vassili Philippov, Spb Software COO. "But we strive to adjust our offer to meet the demands of mobile operators, who are interested in solutions that cover a wider subscriber base, and can run on all major mobile platforms."
Check out SPB Wallet Product video tour in here.
Download SPB Wallet trial [Price is currently $29.95]
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Well well well, the MS friends are doing it again; renaming stuff...
Many of us are still using the name Pocket PC even though it's Windows Mobile for quite a while, but now there are rumors that Microsoft will drop the mobile part and change it to Windows Phone.
I just hate it when they do it; SQL Compact was renamed to SQL Mobile, MS SMS was renamed to MSSCMDM [Microsoft System Center Mobile Device Manager] - the longest name in the history of software, but, I must say I like the sound of the new name: Windows Phone...
Windows Phone....
Windows Phone....
(oh, you can stop reading the post here, I'm just trying to practice the name...)
Windows Phone...
Windows Phone...
Windows Phone...
(Still here? I told you there's nothing to read over here... it's self practicing)
Windows Phone...
Windows Phone...
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Couple of days ago I published about a cool software called WM GoHome.
A friend of mine mentioned that the picture they took was actually... an iPhone...
Who knows, maybe the stolen devices secretly goes to... Apple???
Boy Genius Report and PPCMobility published 2 similar posts complaining about the iPhone - 10 things they hate about the iPhone.
While I'm currently using an iPhone, I can agree with many of the things written in those posts, here's the parts I specifically liked:
"iPhone(Apple) users. Don’t get me wrong. I like people, but iPhone people and Apple people are their own breed. They always think that Macs are the best, Apple is the best company ever and the iPhone is the best thing since sliced bread. They will push the iPhone on you until you hate everything Apple. This includes you Walt Mossberg. Apparently for the price you get one iPhone and a few pounds of smug to carry around with you. When the iPhone 3G came out I had to keep checking my phone to make sure I really did have 3G for years because the way it was advertised I was certain they were releasing something so new to the market I couldn’t have had it already."
This part is so funny, but true. I have few "Mac" people working with me and they sure like mentioning it...
The things both articles mention are:
1. Copy/Paste (I have it in my iPhone, by the way... working fine)
2. No text forwarding
3. Cannot remove battery
4. Video recording (I have that too, working really cool)
5. Lack of customizations (similar to my post few months ago)
6. Multitasking and push notifications - I totally agree with this one.
And, I must also quote one of the comments - so funny:
"Why would you need text forwarding? Just copy and pa… oh, I see what you did there…"
I will be publishing the third part of my iPhone thoughts soon, they will probably relate to some of the points above...
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Calls recording is not something every WinMo device supports.
Apparently, there's a hack that opens this option for HTC devices (Diamond / Pro / Fuze / HD).
To do so, head over to the XDA-Developers, and download this file.
Install the CAB and restart your device.
This will add a new option to your left soft menu whenever you are running a phone call. Cewl!
There's also a way to remove the annoying "beep" when you start to record the call (so that no one will notice you are doing it... ohhhh...)
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FuzeMobility continues to rock with great tweaks for the HTC Touch Pro / Fuze devices!
The daily tip talks about changing the preview layout of the mails in the TouchFlo mails tab in order to make more room for the entire message preview.
To do so you need to follow a couple of steps, so head over to FuzeMobility and follow the exact instructions.
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Mary-Jo Foley covers Microsoft in her blog All About Microsoft.
According to her inside information and some speculations based on rumors and seniors slip-ups she published the supposedly Windows Mobile next releases dates:
2010?
I can't wait that long!
It's maltreatment!
People will not use smartphones by 2010! There will be... another technology...
Palm Pre version 3 will be released by 2010, and it will have virtual ... screen... or something...
iPhone 5.1.2.3.4.5 will be released by 2010!
Brad and Angelina will have 25 kids by 2010! (OK, non-geeky joke, wrong blog...)
Now this post looks so ridiculous!
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Following my post: 10 tips for true happiness with HTC Touch Pro!, here's another useful tip to boost up some performance issues in the Touch Pro/Fuze.
If your device becomes sluggish every once in a while, there's a good chance Opera is running in the background (and you cannot see it in the 'running programs' list).
to kill it (for real), you can use SK Tools or any other process manager that shows processes and not just visual windows and simply kill the Opera process.
Of course you can always curse and restart your device...
I found the tip in WMExperts, so you can check out the entire post over here.
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The WinMo blogsphere is full of stuff about the new Toshiba TG01.
Here's some useful links if you are interested:
WMPowerUsers, WindowsMobileCool, EngadgetMobile
I must say I'm not that enthusiastic about it yet. I think the size of it is a bit exaggerated, I'm not crazry about the stripes user interface and that widgets bar on top does not seem too finger friendly.
It is impressive of course, but I guess I need some more exploration time to get used to it.
Read some interesting hands-on information in here (Translated).
And here's another video showing the gaming capabilities:
I'm wandering what other readers think of it.
Toshiba is about to release a new Windows Mobile professional device called: TG01 Smartphone (what a bad name... but it's too late to change it now... it was already announced in London).
Few interesting notes regarding the hardware of the phone:
- 9.9-mm thin handset
- 4.1-inch WVGA (800 x 480 pixel) display, based on HDTV technologies (including color matching, dynamic gamma correction and LCD backlight control)
- 1GHz Snapdragon chip (*see explanation below)
- Fully customized user interface (more details on that in few days...)
What's Snapdragon?
Snapdragon is a new processor from Qualcomm that is supposed to be running at 1ghz (read more in here). With snapdragon, the TG01 should work extremely fast, or as Toshiba says it: "revolutionize the mobile entertainment world."
Wow. Sounds impressive!
Here's a picture next to the iPhone... it actually seems a bit too big...
More pictures in here.
Take a look at this detailed video: (it has some interesting UI I will discuss in another post)
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"Today, for a few hours, I held perfection in my hands... "
G. Bouhnick, Feb 02, 2009
(OK, that's actually me quoting myself...)
It happened when a colleague of mine was kind enough to let me play with his bran new toy: the HTC Touch HD! (Thanks again Dean!)
HTC Touch HD. Even the name sounds impressive...
(I think HD Stands for: “Huge Device!”, or “Ho my god I must have this Device!” or maybe: "Hey Dean! Can I borrow your phone for a year?")
I will start my review by saying:
This is the best Windows Mobile device I have ever tried.
True, I didn’t had a chance to check battery life or GPS, so I’m not sure I can even call it a “review”, but I did manage to learn a few things about the quality of the manliest gadget for 2008, and I have some thoughts about it (I will split them into 2 parts)
Design:
When they invented the term “cutting edge” – Touch HD was in front of their eyes, I'm sure!
Black colored, slim, elegant, the edges are a bit cut (I told you this is cutting edge), huge display – perfection.
The device feels great in the hand too. It's not so rounded and thin as the slippery iPhone – so it actually feels much better in the hand.
The back cover of it is nice, and feels classy. High end.
It is without a doubt, the best looking device I’ve ever seen. (well, maybe second best after the Palm Pre…)
Hardware Buttons:
Finally, HTC got rid of the catastrophic Diamond/Pro D-Pad in favor of much better hardware buttons:
The on/off button (top/right), and the volume buttons (left) are located exactly like the iPhone buttons (nothing unusual there).
But unlike the iPhone, that has just one ‘Home’ button, the HD has 4 hardware buttons: Send, End, Home and Back.
I’m mentioning this because in my previous iPhone thoughts, I wrote about the lack of ‘Send’ button that makes it hard to easily launch calls.
The HD has the answer for that. When you click on the ‘Send’ button, your calls log is presented with a nice dial pad beneath it.
Of course, HTC wanted to spice things up a little so those hardware buttons are actually inside a touch surface with a haptic feedback that feels pretty nice.
Another thing worth mentioning is that the Back button acts also as an ‘OK’ button for dialogs which has OK button on the top.
There’s no physical D-Pad (instead, there’s 4 arrows buttons in the virtual keyboard), but as one of my friends mentioned: when you own a Diamond you get used to not using the D-Pad at all, and with the finger gestures scrolling capabilities – it’s easy to navigate without a D-Pad.
Screen Display:
WVGA. (That’s wide, really wide VGA).
It’s actually longer than the iPhone or any other device I know.
There has been a lot of complains about the low sensitivity of the Diamond / Pro / Fuze devices (there are some tweaks that slightly improve this problem).
HD has a completely different screen which feels very soft and sensitive exactly as a Windows Mobile device should. This is yet another great improvement over the earlier HTC Touch devices.
Finger Friendliness
It’s common to complain about the lack of finger friendly UI in Windows Mobile.
HTC made a lot of enhancements to the standard OS with the TouchFlo 3D, finger scrollable lists, bigger menus, etc.
The nice thing about the Touch HD is that the screen display is so big, that it effects the sizes of the buttons, tabs, and menus - they are all much bigger, which makes the device more finger friendly.
(still, there are those old settings windows which requires a stylus or a fingernail, or... claws???...)
Virtual Keyboard:
When I just tested the Diamond, I just couldn’t use the virtual keyboard – the small keys size and the screen sensitivity made it really hard for me to type.
The size of the HD’s screen plus the great sensitivity turns the keyboard into something that actually works fine.
Performance:
Another problematic area in previous HTC devices was the performance. Here, as well, there has been some tweaks to improve the speed of the TouchFlo 3D, but guess what: there’s no need for that in the Touch HD. This thing simply rocks!
No more lags while switching between TouchFlo tabs, no more waiting for windows to open up. This thing flies!
TouchFlo 3D
Once the TouchFlo works quickly (as it should), it’s really fun!
The HD version of the TouchFlo is working extremely smooth. It also has few additions to the version of the Touch Diamond/Pro/Fuze such as an additional tab for stocks, some extra buttons in the People tab and some new configuration capabilities.
What's Wrong?
I think I just wrote too many good things to say about the Touch HD: Amazing design, huge VGA screen with great sensitivity, good performance, and more.
You all know I complain a lot; I got bored quickly by the BlackBerry, I didn't like the Diamond from the first moment, I found some issues with the Pro (managed to solve many of them), and I still find it hard to get used to the iPhone’s missing features…
So... what about the HD?
Well, that’s a tough question…
I guess I can throw the obvious weak points:
- Lack of physical keyboard
- WinMo historical diseases
- Missing TouchFlo features (e.g. adding Today plug-ins etc.)
I can also complain about the image zoom feature which works extremely slow.
But the truth is that at this point, I cannot put my finger on a serious weakness in the Touch HD.
As I said at the beginning of my post, I suspect that the Touch HD is the best Windows Mobile handset out there.
(Treo Pro/Sony Ericsson XPeria/Samsung Omnia owners – I invite you to argue with the above statement…)
To be continued...
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I was not going to post about this freeware, but then I found this video, with the great Tears For Fears song: 'Mad World', so I just couldn't resist...
Omniano is a piano application for Samsung Omnia (you guessed it!)
The features list includes:
* Fast Response PIANO KEYBOARD.
* Pretty good Sound Play and have no Delay.
* Full Screen Key
* Vibrate (M490, M495 only)
* 180 Rotate by Motion Sensor(M490,M495 only)
* Led Indicator by C position or F position
* Drag and Play
* 4 Octave(C3~c6)
* configuration by user(will be support)
* QVGA, WQVGA, WVGA, VGA support
Here's a demonstration, but to enjoy it the most, start playing the video and sing with it using the lyrics below!
All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for their daily races
Going nowhere, going nowhere
And their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression, no expression
Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow
No tomorrow, no tomorrow
And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
'Cos I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very
Mad World
Children waiting for the day they feel good
Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday
Made to feel the way that every child should
Sit and listen, sit and listen
Went to school and I was very nervous
No one knew me, no one knew me
Hello teacher tell me what's my lesson
Look right through me, look right through me
That was fun wasn't it? (Oh, stop it, I know you liked it!)
Source: PocketHacks
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The XDA-Developers have created an amazing list of over 50 tips and tweaks for HTC Touch HD!
The list is really comprehensive and includes things such as improving photo thumbnails resolution, high resolution contact photos, add category folder in the start menu, adding haptic/Vibration Feedback, and much more (over 50 tips!).
Head over to the XDA-Developers site to check it out. If you are not registered to the XDA yet, here's another place where you can find the complete list.
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Our friends over at the FuzeMobility found a way to add the Touch HD "extra" buttons to Touch Diamond / Pro / Fuze.
The extra buttons are located under the photo area and among them you will find some useful shortcuts such as dial a home number, cell number, sms and message (take a look at the photo).
Head over to FuzeMobility to check how.
