SPB News 2.0 and SBSH GoNews go Head-To-Head in a Review

RSS feeds have become one of the best ways to stay connected and updated on the news being posted on your favorite websites. If you’re wondering how to take advantage of RSS on your Windows Mobile device, or perhaps you’re simply wondering what some of the better RSS clients for Windows phones are, then you should take a look at the review Clinton Fitch has posted. It takes SPB’s News 2.0 and directly compares it with SBSH’s GoNews application. Both of these companies are well known for creating great software. With Clinton’s head-to-head post, you can be sure to get the application that best suits your RSS reading style and the features you need. Check it out!

Xbox Gamer Tag Info on Windows Mobile

Since the launch of Xbox I’ve been expecting Microsoft to launch a Windows Mobile client that would let you track your friends progress while you were away from the console. Sadly, Microsoft has not stepped up to the plate on this and there are now clients popping up for other mobile platforms.

Thanks to the hard work of ZaaM IT, that’s all changing. He’s just released an early beta of WM Live – a Windows Mobile based application that allows you to check up on your friends while you’re mobile and away from the Xbox console. You add in all the Gamer Tags that you are interested in following, and then you can scroll left and right through them. Selecting a friend will display a more detailed list of their recent progress.

You can download the latest version from ZaaM IT’s website. Please make sure you have the .Net Compact Framework 2.0 installed on your device (most recent devices will already have this). Also, it’s important to know that the current version does not support non-touch devices. I’ve been told that this will be added once the touch version becomes more stable.

Thanks to Peter for telling us about the story posted over on joystiq. There’s another picture of the detailed screen after the break.

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Ilium Software Busts Out eWallet 7.0

Ilium has just released their latest update of eWallet. Version 7 offers a number of new features and changes, including how you buy the application. With version 7 you can use eWallet on any supported device at no extra cost. As Ilium says on the release page – Because when you buy or upgrade eWallet, it’s for you, not your device. As someone that changes devices on a fairly regular basis, this is a welcome change.

Here’s a quick list of some of the hot new features in eWallet 7:

• Use AutoPass with Firefox
• Great new look on Windows PCs
• Personalize eWallet from a selection of styles and backgrounds
• Quickly access your most used wallets
• Keep eWallet ready when you need it
• Support for Windows 7
• Improved remote sync
• Updated printing support
• and so much more

I was lucky enough to be involved with the beta of version 7. As such, I have been using the new version for a while now and the new interface has really changed how I use the application. No longer will the window close when the wallet times out. Now, the app stays open and running, but the wallet locks. While this may sound minor to some people, the time saved from clicking through to re-launch the application adds up. Now it’s very easy to select the wallet and unlock it. Existing customers can upgrade for the low price of $10. The upgrade details can be found over here.

For more information on how to download, upgrade, or use, check out Ilium’s website at: www.iliumsoftware.com

Market Place for Mobile Makes its way to Windows Mobile 6.0 & 6.1

On October 6th, Microsoft launched their new Windows Phone running Windows Mobile 6.5 One of the many features is the addition of a market place for mobile devices. At the time of launch, this was only available for Windows Mobile 6.5 devices. This week, Microsoft has made Market Place for Mobile available to all Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1 based devices.

To install the Market Place for Mobile application, go to http://mp.windowsphone.com on your device. From there, you can download and install the market place on your device. Once installed, you will be able to browse applications targeted for your region and device type.

It’s great to see Microsoft has made their market place available for older devices as this allows developers to target a much larger install base. However, the cost of entry for developers is prohibitive. As well, the cost of listing applications for multiple regions in the market place can add up very quickly. It’s a significant step forward for developers and the community but until the cost is addressed, I don’t see the market place being a serious contender. Check it out on your device and let us know what you think.

Home Screen Love for Windows Mobile Standard with Facade 2.0

SBSH Mobile Software has released an update to their popular home screen plugin – Facade. In the touch screen world, home screen replacement and customization tools are popping up all over. However, that’s just not the case in the world of non-touch. Facade has long been the plugin of choice for those looking to do more with their home screen on Standard devices. The latest update brings a great new interface with loads of new features to the Standard community.

The new version of Facade adds support for skin packs (the ability to bundle up the layout along with skin files into one easy to install package), Thumbnail previews of the background image and Facade layout before you apply it, changing the Softkey and category colors, PIM Integration with all major PIM applications, advanced configuration of each tab, Windows Mobile 6.5 support, and so much more.

After you install Facade, you’ll notice the home screen on your device has changed just a little. The following screen shot is taken from a Samsung Propel Pro Smartphone and it’s what you can expect to see as the default home screen after you install Facade.

There’s a lot of information on that screen, but don’t worry, it all makes sense once you work your way through it. I’ve taken the image and added highlights to the different sections. Here’s the updated image:

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A sneak-peek at the upcoming GPS Tuner Atlas

A new version of GPS Tuner 6 is going through the beta test process (the public beta of which ends Monday), and the Regular Build released in a few days after that.

The new version of the program will be renamed GPS Tuner Atlas, so as to differentiate it from the previous version.

The new version will be a free update to existing users of GPS Tuner 6, so those users have good reason to rejoice, because this program is soooo much better than the previous version.

GPS Tuner Atlas should remedy most every bug that prevented users from making full use of the initial program, and also make it compatible with older devices that did not support the Direct 3DMobile API that the original program was written for.

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Twikini Updated and Reviewed

I’ve talked about Twitter clients a fair amount around here, including a review of the beta version of Twikini back in May. Since that post, Twikini has seen a couple of releases and there’s another release coming up really soon that adds support for posting a link to your exact location using Google Maps. In my review I listed a couple things that were missing from Twikini that I felt was needed to make it a hands-down winner in the Windows Mobile space. I’m please to say that the most recent version has addressed just about everything on that list. Twikini supports multiple user accounts, skweezer for browsing links, sending Direct Messages, as well as showing TwitPic’s without actually having to open the twitpic website. Needless to say, Twikini has been my Windows Mobile twitter client of choice for a while now. If you haven’t checked it out, I recommend you do. It’s well worth the $5 price tag.

If you haven’t read my past review, it’s right here. For something a little more recent, I also recommend you take a look at the review posted by Clinton Fitch. Clinton does a great job of going over the features and showing you all the screen shots you can manage. It will give you a full understanding of what you can expect from Twikini before you even download it.

Microsoft’s MyPhone is Great But…

Microsoft’s MyPhone service allows you to backup your Windows Mobile device to the cloud in case of loss or accidental deletion. It’s a very simple application that will backup your data once a day at a given time. It only uploads the items that have been added or changed. When you get a new phone, you can just install the MyPhone client and it will sync all your contacts, photos, music, and appointments. If you don’t have data, you can still use MyPhone. Just configure the client to do a manual sync and make sure you ActiveSync your phone first and then you can run the backup. It’s worth having a backup.Since I have an unlimited data plan, I leave my phone to backup every night at 11:30pm.

I came across a bug with MyPhone while I was on vacation and out of cellular coverage. As I mentioned, the MyPhone client is set to backup my phone every night. However, since I was out of cellular coverage I disabled the radio on the phone. Why waste the battery having it try to find a cell tower when I know it won’t. However, MyPhone would still run and try to run the backup despite not having a cellular connection to work on. It would then display an error message about failing to backup. Now, I can understand that there is a need to let the user know that the backup failed. However, if the cellular radio isn’t even on, then I don’t see the point. The radio would have been turned off for a reason – MyPhone needs to check the status of the radio and respect that. I use the phone as a clock, and in the morning I grab it to see the time. Because of this, I had to clear the error before returning to the home screen and seeing the time.

MyPhone still ranks tops in my books, but Microsoft needs to address this little bug. Oh, and while you’re at it, they should also think about allowing you to name each phone that connects. As it is now, I have 5 “Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard” and 1 “Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional”. I can figure out which device the Professional one is. But I’m not sure which of the Standard ones I should be deleting. It would also be nice if I could connect multiple phones to the same MyPhone account and decide if I want to keep their information separate from each other or merged together so that they all have the exact same content. I’ve got a lot of other nice-to-have’s for MyPhone, but for now, let’s just start with fixing the problem with trying to sync even when the radio is off.

Race To Market Contest for Windows Marketplace for Mobile

Microsoft has opened the doors for application submission for it’s upcoming Windows Marketplace for Mobile. If you’re a Windows Mobile application developer, or you have an interest in writing for WinMo, now’s the time to get your application coded and submitted. Why should you bother? Well, you’re application will get listed in the Marketplace when it goes live reaching 30 million customers. And if that wasn’t reason enough, you could win one of four Microsoft Surface Tables! That’s one really cool trophy – you’ll be the only person around with one of these in your living room.

Microsoft’s on-device application store will be coming to Windows Mobile 6.5, 6.1 and 6.0 devices. It will be pre-loaded on 6.5 devices and will be available as a download for 6.1 and 6.0 platforms.

For those developers that don’t already have Visual Studio and are looking to get started with Windows Mobile development, you’re going to find that Visual Studio Express doesn’t allow for Windows Mobile development. You’ll need to buy the full version or download the 60 day trial version.

The Race to Market Challenge runs until Decemeber 31, 2009. But don’t wait and forget about this unique chance. Submit your application now. You can read more information about the Race to Market Challenge and what you need to do over at www.MobileThisDeveloper.com and on the Windows Mobile Team’s blog post here.

Happy 12th Anniversary Ilium!

Ilium Software has been celebrating their 12th anniversary this week. All week long they’ve been offering a discount on all of their products. You can save $12 off any purchase over $12 – how cool is that?! Head on over to this page on their website for all the details and to select what products you want to buy. I’ve been using eWallet since forever. It’s a great app, just like all of Ilium’s applications, and I recommend it to everyone.

And my apologies to Ilium (especially Julie) for not posting this earlier. They sent me all the details last weekend, but I’ve been so busy this week that I totally forgot about this until now. I hope the celebration has been great!

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