Saturday, March 13, 2010

Top Applications of 2008 for Windows Mobile

Thoughts Written by: Mike Temporale on Saturday, December 20, 2008 9:30am
Google Buzz

“2008 marks the 5th year that I have published a end-of-the-year Top 10 applications for Windows Mobile. I enjoy doing this little round up each year as it allows me to take a look back at all of the new and exciting applications that came out in 2008 and narrow them down to the ten applications that I think every Windows Mobile owner should have on their device. The trick, however, is narrowing it down to 10 applications! 2008 marked a banner year for many developers in the community as virtually every major application available at the beginning of the year had been updated once if not twice by the time December rolled in.”

Clinton Fitch has posted a list of the top 10 applications released this year for Windows Mobile. It’s a pretty interesting list when you consider that the list is dominated by 3 different companies. There are 4 applications from Spb, 2 from Vito, as well as 2 from Illium. Resco and Astraware both have just 1 application. There’s no question in my mind that these companies make top-notch applications. I do wonder what’s happened to the software marketplace for Windows Mobile. Have all the small guys packed up shop and moved on to Apple or Google’s mobile platform? Or is this just a result of the best getting better?

I had a chance to check out some of the different applications available for the iPhone and G1 recently. There are some that are poorly done, but there’s a lot of really nicely designed and developed applications from smaller vendors. Most of the big guys have ported over to at least the iPhone platform, and their applications are still top-notch. But there are many other top-notch applications to pick from. Once upon a time, that was the case on Windows Mobile. Not so much anymore.

One of the largest limiting factors for developers is the initial cost to building on the Windows Mobile platform. In order to compile your application for Windows Mobile, you need to purchase a copy of Visual Studio. The Express edition is great for those looking to tinker and develop desktop or Client/Server applications. But it won’t allow you to compile for the mobile platform. In order to compile for mobile, you need to buy one of the full versions, which can be very cost prohibitive, especially if your just looking to tinker around and see what you can do.

Both Apple and Google have made their platform open and allow anyone to compile for it without paying big bucks first. This is a great design as it gets all the hobbyists to build for their platform. Trying different applications and before you know it, they’ve turned into a larger ISV that’s cranking out the apps.

I’m a long way from the original focus of this post, so I’ll wrap things up by saying 2 things. First; Microsoft, wake up and reduce the cost of your development tools for the mobile platform and maybe you can bring some life back to Windows Mobile Marketplace. And Second; Click on over to Clinton’s top ten applications for Windows Mobile and see what he’s rated as a must have. You might just find a new must have application for your device. :)

   Comments (3)
\ \ \ \


Comments

3 Responses to “Top Applications of 2008 for Windows Mobile”

  1. Ronil on December 24th, 2008 2:02 am
    Ronil

    Ok This has to be the most uninformed biased list I have ever seen! It’s funny that the only applications that make his list are ones that can be offered at a discount through his store?

    Some of the best apps right now are free.

    Here are some simple questions coming from a user of WM for almost 9 years:

    Does Clinton Fitch ever listen to music or watch videos on his WM device? Is WMP what he uses, is this good enought?
    How about surfing the web? Is he happy with PIE?

    Seems like he wants to make his phone look nice and non functional. Here are some simple additions to the list:

    Media Players: Either TCPMP or CorePlayer
    Web Browsers: Opera or my favourite SkyFire
    GPS/Search: Microsoft Live Search or Google Maps
    VOIP: Skype or Fring

  2. Mike Temporale on January 1st, 2009 10:27 am
    Mike Temporale

    I think it’s nice that Clinton has offered a discount in his store for the applications that he’s found to be “the best”. It’s a nice offering to the many people that might not have spent the money otherwise. I think it’s childish to say he’s only picked these because they are listed in his store.

    In regards to your list of applications, that’s just it – your list. I’m sure no 2 people would have the exact same list of best applications.

    For me, I’ve used all the different browsers out there, but I still come back to IE Mobile. It does what I need and it does it well. I don’t find the others worth the time, effort, or money.

    Oh, and I’m pretty sure you’re VOIP suggestions don’t hold a candle to what Clinton is using. Clinton is a Pro in the VOIP market. ;)

  3. clintonfitchdotcom on January 1st, 2009 12:14 pm
    clintonfitchdotcom

    Ronil, thanks for your comment.

    The focus of my Top 10 are applications that I personally have used or currently use on my devices, perform well and make the use of my device much better than the native applications.

    That said, I use CorePlayer but I’m not super thrilled with it – thus no Top 10. The same goes for mobile browsers. I haven’t found one that I particularly like. Opera is close but…. As for GPS/Search, either Live or Google is fine but again, not thrilled with either. VoIP – I don’t bother. My professional career is in the VoIP industry so I tend to focus more on applications from Cisco in this area. VoIP on WinMo isn’t nearly ready for primetime given the current US carrier markets.

    So understand that the point of the list isn’t to be exhaustive – merely my opinion on what I think WinMo users should use to enhance their device. This has been the motto of the list for 5 years (9 if you include the H/PC lists).

    As for the discounts – that is on purpose. I arrange with the developers to get those discounts approved when the list is being published. That is to encourage you to try them if you haven’t.

Leave a Reply




Additional comments powered by BackType