Software

Facebook for Windows Mobile Updated to v1.2

By George Ponder, Monday, Feb 22, 2010 at 7:07 pm

Microsoft’s partnership with Facebook keeps getting stronger. Everything from Microsoft’s development tools to Windows Phone 7 Series includes some form of integration with the popular social networking application. Windows Phone users have several different methods of getting to their Facebook accounts from their phones. In addition to their mobile site and SMS integration, the Facebook application for Windows Phones is one of the applications that Microsoft has been pushing hard as a demonstration of what is capable with Windows Mobile 6 based devices.

Facebook 1.2 is now available from the Windows Marketplace for Mobile. If you haven’t played with it before, Facebook for Windows Phones allows you to perform most of the tasks that you are familiar with. Updating your status, sending and receiving messages, and managing and viewing pictures and videos are all simple to do within the application. Also new in the 1.2 update are the ability to comment and "like" posts.

If you haven’t given Facebook for Windows Phones a try, head over to the Marketplace for Mobile and have a look-see.

WME @ MWC: SPB Mobile Shell 5.0

By George Ponder, Wednesday, Feb 17, 2010 at 5:16 pm

For you fans of SPB Mobile Shell out there, we're pleased to report that good things are coming in Version 5.0. They're not quite ready for you yet, but they're coming this year. The 3D animations are as smooth as butter, and the video doesn't do justice to how nice it looks on a screen as large as the HTC HD2. Peep the video after the break.

SPB announces Mobile Shell 5.0

By Phil Nickinson, Tuesday, Feb 16, 2010 at 3:31 am

For the longest time SPB Mobile Shell was easily the best choice to customize the look and feel of your touchscreen Windows Mobile device. Our review of the most recent version of Mobile Shell (version 3.5) touted SPB’s penchant for putting so much functionality at your fingertips.

Somewhat lost in the shuffle of Microsoft’s big Windows Phone Seven Series announcement at Mobile World Congress, SPB announced version 5.0 of SPB Mobile Shell. Mobile Shell 5.0 introduces a number of new features such as a 3D engine which allows for a number of 3 dimensional graphical effects and 3d widgets. Improved support for social networks such as Facebook and Twitter will allow for status updates as well as contact and photo synchronization. One innovative feature that SPB is introducing is their Natural Interaction Engine which will provide support for technologies for Multitouch and G-sensors.

SPB has made a significant investment in the developer/hardware manufacturer segments with Mobile Shell 5.0. SPB UI Builder 2.0 is a set of tools that allow for customization of Mobile Shell and includes access to a number of APIs and includes a skin builder and plugins for integration for industry tools such as 3DMAX and Microsoft Expression Blend.

We have hands-on video coming. Stay tuned, folks.

Slacker Radio comes to Windows phones

By Daniel Rubino, Saturday, Feb 13, 2010 at 9:44 pm

For those fed up with the glacial movement of Pandora on the Windows phone platform, a new alternative has hit the streets: Slacker Radio.

Showing up on various forums, the .cab and service is actually very, very polished. It is the official version, but SlackerRadio themselves have not published it on their site yet.

No compromises here as you get album images, lyrics, band bio, reviews and a wide selection of music to choose from. Audio quality is also extremely good, trouncing Pandora's 64kb stream. Plus they got that whole "let me power off the screen without disrupting the stream" thing.

Two negative's we've noticed: landscape support is not there and we've had a few songs cut out towards the end for some reason (not uncommon with Pandora either).

Of course, there is the free "basic" version which limits you to something like 6-skips per hour while the program steers you towards the "full" version with upgrade notices in parts. Likewise, you don't get all those lyric bonuses in the free version.

If you want the subscription, it's $4.99 per month (on a month-to-month basis) or $3.99 a month on a 12-month plan (billed monthly). You can also try out the subscription for 7 days for free. We suppose if streaming is your thing it's not a bad deal: the quality of the product is quite top notch. If you just like streaming your own music (as opposed to the jukebox, random streaming), give nanoGroove a shot.

~~Grab the file at XDA or scan the MS Tag below to automatically download it.~~

Edit: Whoops! And just as fast Slacker Radio has remotely pulled the plug. The app currently doesn't work and we have to wait for the fine folks at Slacker Radio to drop this app "officially". Sigh. [Here's their official reasoning]

HTC gets in the e-Book Reader business with new Manila 2.5

By Daniel Rubino, Friday, Feb 12, 2010 at 7:33 pm

This is some pretty big news: it appears that HTC is getting in on the e-Book business. Watch out Apple iPad?

The latest version of Manila/Sense 2.5 (2012) features a tab dedicated to reading e-Books that can be purchased by Boarders or, evidently, though Adobe. No word on Amazon.com at this time.

HTC Reader 1.0 is the name of the program that will render the e-Books and overall it looks pretty great. It follows the usual UI/UX that HTC has laid out with their other tabs, which includes a directory for browsing, book art, and of course reading the book. There does seem to be some scrolling action needed, in addition.

The other big news is that this latest ROM comes from a Chinese Rhodium Shipped ROM. To translate and as we mentioned in the last podcast, this is coming from a Touch Pro 2 ROM that is ready to market. That HTC, they never rest.

Does this mean the reason for the Sprint WM6.5 ROM update is taking so long is so they can get their hands on this version? We have no idea and zero indication that is the case, but that notion has at least entered the realm of plausible. Keep your fingers crossed.

In the mean time, you can expect some custom ROM action to start including this latest build as it spreads through out the community.

[Big thanks to tek818 for the screenshots & info!]

Free Olympic Tracker from Samsung

By George Ponder, Thursday, Feb 11, 2010 at 10:24 pm

In case you haven’t heard, there is a huge event happening this month; an event that people around the world will be watching. No, I’m not talking about Mobile World Congress; though we (Dieter and Phil) will be there. I’m referring of course to the Winter Olympics.

Several Windows Mobile heavyweights are listed as sponsors of Vancouver 2010; one of them, Samsung, has a free application available to allow you to follow the games easily from your Windows Phone. Weather Updates, Medal Tracker, Schedule, and News are just some of the features that Samsung puts at your fingertips.

Head on over to the Samsung Vancouver 2010 site for the application (you’re looking for the “Download Wow” button in the bottom right corner).

[via Tilt Mobility]

HTC Releases Stock Tilt 2 ROM

By George Ponder, Wednesday, Feb 10, 2010 at 10:27 pm

The essence of this site is our enthusiasm for all things Windows Mobile. A common thread among WinMo enthusiasts is the unending desire to tweak and improve the devices that use. One technique that we have mentioned multiple times, and is a very popular solution for many hard core Windows Mobile junkies is the use of custom ROMs.

The hazards of flashing your device have been documented elsewhere, but HTC has assisted in alleviating one of those dangers with the official release of the stock ROM for the AT&T Tilt 2. This ROM enables you to re-flash your hardware back to using the standard (and more importantly, supported) ROM in the event of a need of hardware or software support.

Hit up HTC’s Tilt 2 download page to get your copy.

Google introduces Buzz; Google Maps goes 4.0

By Daniel Rubino, Tuesday, Feb 9, 2010 at 10:49 pm

Today, Google announced its new service called Google Buzz. Think of combining Twitter, Google Latitude and Gmail and you have Buzz.

Actually, if you've been using FourSquare...it's exactly like that. We're not saying it's not nice, just it's not really new. It is certainly an interesting move on Google's part though not unexpected. In fact, Larry Dignan at ZDNet thinks Google's real target here is Microsoft's Sharepoint.

What hath Microsoft to say?

“Busy people don’t want another social network, what they want is the convenience of aggregation. We’ve done that. Hotmail customers have benefitted from Microsoft working with Flickr, Facebook, Twitter and 75 other partners since 2008.”

We're not sure pushing Hotmail (isn't it Live Mail now guys?) is the way to go, but at least they're adamant about it. We guess.

Regardless, Windows Mobile users are the first to get this with Google Maps 4.0 which was just released this afternoon. Rejoice!

As seen from the screenshots, you can add Buzz as a Layer to your maps. It ties in nicely with Latitude for your location by bringing up popular businesses and locations of interest near you. You can then simply select the location, write a few comments and even add a picture for others to see. Still confused? Check out Google's own video tutorial for more info.

Overall, it's quite nice, even if it apes FourSquare and since people would rather not sign up for yet-another-service, we'll place out bets with Google.

And yes, My Location/Latitude appears to be now fixed with CDMA.

TouchTwit gets bumped to v1.6

By Phil Nickinson, Monday, Feb 8, 2010 at 10:13 pm

It seems as if the Twitter-client wars have simmered down a little bit (remember when we had updates like every few weeks?), but the biggies are still dropping some changes.

In this case, TouchTwit has updated to v1.6 (the author has been busy with civil service) and there are some nice new features and fixes:

New notification for "new followers"
New notification for "unfollows"
Some Theme-bugs fixed
Lesser memory ussage
Lesser cpu ussage
Scrolling bugs on 1Ghz processors fixed
More->Following was modified
And a lot of small bugs are fixed too

Overall it seems to work quite well, although we find the background vs. foreground sync option a bit confusing and limited (only 1 hour in background?).

Still, you can't beat the graphics and that scrolling all for a very fair $1.99. Updates can be found in the Windows Marketplace.

Amazon Unbox brings its videos to Windows Mobile

By Phil Nickinson, Thursday, Feb 4, 2010 at 9:35 pm

Add Amazon to the list of content providers with Windows Mobile compatible offerings. Amazon’s Unbox video service is offering portable versions of their videos that are compatible with Microsoft’s PlaysForSure certification.

The fact that a source as reputable as Amazon is offering content that is compatible with Windows Mobile is a great thing for consumers. Until our dreams come true and Microsoft gives us OTA access to the Zune Marketplace (hey, they apologized for the points system) this is a great alternative. While many people have been doing the video thing for years, the process of encoding video to optimize it for your media player of choice isn’t always as straightforward as one would like.

Is this old news for you guys? Is having video on your phone even something you would bother with? Talk it up in the comments.

[Simple Mobile Review via Windows Phone Thoughts]

Verizon Navigator goes v5.0, adds social networking, roadside assistance

By Phil Nickinson, Tuesday, Feb 2, 2010 at 6:42 pm

For those who use Verizon's Navigator service, you'll be pleased to know v5.0 comes out today and features some nice updates.

The biggest is allowing you send your location to Facebook, which we suppose is all the rage these days with you social-network kids.

You also get roadside assistance, which seems perhaps more useful with a GPS navigator program.

Finally, you also get these updates, which aren't too shabby:

Improved Customer Experience – No need to wait for the entire route to download before starting their voyage because data will now be streamed, causing display screens to populate more quickly
Enhanced Points of Interest – Access to premium places of interest with detailed descriptions, clearly branded by Map Icons
Traffic Crowd Sourcing – Opt-in to anonymously send real-time location and speed to the VZ Navigator traffic reporting service, allowing quicker notifications and improved accuracy for all VZ Navigator users
Alerts for Other Road Attributes – Graphic notifications for tunnels, U-turns, traffic circles and toll plazas
“Say it Mode” – Select BlackBerry® smartphones and Windows Mobile® handsets allow customers to verbally search for and update destinations

Touch Pro 2 and Omnia users (no Omnia II?) can update today by downloading "...the service from Get It Now®/Media Center and VZ Start or can add the feature through My Verizon". The service, like other carriers, is $9.99 a month or $2.99 a day.

[Images via TechCrunch]

New Sense 2.5 build 2011 leaks out; Twitter fixed

By Daniel Rubino, Monday, Feb 1, 2010 at 11:42 pm

As much as we loved the idea of Manila 2.5, the "no landscape" and slowness of the messaging app has kept us at arms-length from it.

Of course the no-landscape issue was addressed a few weeks ago, but things like Twitter still only took half the screen; clearly it was not finished (and perhaps there were ulterior motives for that leak).

Well, as you can see above, in build 2011 the Twitter in landscape feature is fixed. There are probably some other enhancements, though it remains to be seen what those are specifically. Though at lest according to one who is using it, "It is as fast, if not faster than Sense 2.1!" which jives with the idea that it comes from a "shipped Topaz ROM", meaning this is final baby.

Expect your favorite ROM chefs to start rolling this out soon.

[Thanks, tek818, for the tip & screenshots!]

Foursquare coming to Windows Mobile

By Daniel Rubino, Monday, Feb 1, 2010 at 10:47 pm

Foursquare, an app that until now has been only available on iPhone, Android and recently BlackBerry, is coming to Windows Mobile. Well, in an unofficial way.

Of course, you're probably wondering what is Foursquare? It's one of those new wave, social networking apps where you can share your location with friends as well as interesting things nearby. Or rather:

Think of foursquare as an "urban mix tape." We'll help you make lists of your favorite things to do and let you share them with friends. Think beyond your standard review - we're looking less for "The food here is top notch" and more for "Go to Dumont Burger and try the most amazing Mac and Cheese ever." Foursquare will keep track of the things you've done, help you create To-Do lists and even suggest new experiences to seek out.

Sounds sort of neat. It's like Google Latitude on steroids.

Anyways, the APIs for the Foursquare system are evidently public, like Twitter. So third-party companies are filling in the platform gap and making clients for other OSs like Windows Mobile. That company is Touchality, their app is called WinMoSquare and is currently entering beta testing. Eventually they plan on offering via the Windows Marketplace.

Check out the site if you want to sign up/be notified about beta testing and the app itself. Could be fun. And read more on Foursquare here.

[via TechCrunch]

IM+ Lite coming soon? Update: New paid version now available

By Daniel Rubino, Monday, Jan 25, 2010 at 10:43 pm

While we gave IM+ a fairly positive review months ago, a lot of folks balked at the hefty price tag ($39.95), especially compared to free IM clients like Palringo.

Well, it looks like maybe the folks at ShapeServices, who make IM+, are going to do something about it as a "lite" version is floating around. More importantly, it appears to be free.

The main difference between "full" and "lite" is the latter doesn't have that "push" feature for IMs, GPS-MyLocation, Facebook chat or Twitter.

However, it still supports AIM, Google Talk, Yahoo!, MSN, ICQ, Jabber and MySpace (hah!). In addition, there's a green bar on the top that scrolls about the "full version" with an arrow to download it. Overall, not to shabby.

What's curious is the build date: September 29, 2009 Version 7.1.1 Lite. So either this is an old build or perhaps IM+ abandoned the idea? ~~We're also hearing an update for the paid version is coming soon~~. Thanks goes to CaliBoyPhillip for originally posting about about this version here.

For those with MS Tag, just scan and download below ;-)

Update: Speak of the devil, the paid version just got updated (bumped to v. 7.6.1) Early reports indicate that it finally includes Skype chat. More later.

OpnMarket: Freeware marketplace alternative

By Phil Nickinson, Wednesday, Jan 20, 2010 at 2:30 pm

One of our favorite pocketpc freeware sites, Freeware for PocketPC, has released a pretty darn good marketplace app dubbed OpnMarket (hey, it's freeware, they evidently have to pay for extra "e"s).

In fact, dare we say, it's snazzier than Microsoft's own attempt? Best analogy is it feels similar to the Netflix Mobile Manager application, with kinetic scrolling and tight graphics. Of course, it only works on touchscreen devices. Sorry WM Standard.

So do we recommend? Heck, yeah! For one, it showcases a lot of hobby developer software and number two, it's all freeware. The store itself works well enough, and did we mention free?

The application does require registration, which can be done on the device or on their website. This will allow you to manage your programs via a "dashboard" interface as well as keep your software up to date.

Use MS Tag to download now and give it a go. Read more on it here.

[Thanks, Veselin N., for the tip!]

NetFront Browser 4.0 "Concept Version" gets released

By Daniel Rubino, Friday, Jan 15, 2010 at 9:54 pm

Remember NetFront? Made by Access, they were the original must-have browser on Windows Mobile, going back years ago when Mobile Internet Explorer was even worse (and called PIE). (See the v3.5 review as a refresher).

While Opera Mobile and Skyfire have mainly taken the lead, it seems Access is making an attempt to woo us back, releasing NetFront 4.0 "Concept Version". We imagine the concept part makes this a beta, so not everything will be peachy.

The big thang that Access is pushing is their new JavaScript engine, which is suppose to be way faster than....the one in version 3.5. So how this racks up to Opera Mobile and Skyfire is anyone's guess at this point, though we'll take a look soon enough.

Our initial opinion of 4.0? Meh.

Read their full press release and info here. Go through the download process here.

And look for a full review from George, coming up next week. In the meantime, why not comment on your experience with 4.0?

If you're hip and cool, you'll use your MS Tag app to just download directly to your phone, see below.

[thanks John Kreuzer!]

Resco Explorer 2010 Beta 3 Released

By Phil Nickinson, Wednesday, Jan 13, 2010 at 11:49 pm

Resco, creator of several quality applications for Windows Mobile including Resco Photo Manager and Contact Manager, has announced in our forums that the Beta 3 version of Resco Explorer 2010 has been released.

Resco Explorer is a File Manager that is packed with features. Explorer offers a number of tools to improve navigation such as touch optimization, search functionality, and favorites. Advanced file features such as FTP, Network Browsing, and encryption are some of the more complex functionality you can expect to find in Explorer.

If you like to have total control over your files, hit up Resco (or preferably our Software Store) for the full lowdown on what Resco Explorer offers you. To play with the beta version, visit the thread our forums.

SplashData acquires Iambic

By Daniel Rubino, Thursday, Jan 7, 2010 at 6:39 pm

Today it was announced that software developer SplashData (SplashMoney, SplashID, SplashShoper, Splash ad nauseum) have bought Iambic, who make the popular Agendus program as well as some other not so memorable apps.

What does this mean for Windows Mobile fans? Not much and perhaps even bad news, if you use Agendus.

SplashData used to be all about Windows Mobile software years ago. Then they went all iPhone crazy and never looked back, killing off or leaving to die all their "Splash apps". No kidding, their lineup is as fresh and hip as jokes about "Snakes on a Plane".

So if you're a fan of Agendus, we're sorry to say we don't have much hope that it will be re-vamped anytime soon (it's gone from 3.0 to 3.4 in fourteen months, already not a fast upgrade path).

Read the official press release here for more information.

Add Call History to HTC Manilla 2.5

Software

By George Ponder, Tuesday, Jan 5, 2010 at 6:50 pm

I've been running NRG's cooked Leo ROM for a few weeks now and while I like the features and appearance of HTC's Manila/Sense 2.5 I really miss having the Missed Call notification on the Home Tab. If you're in the same boat, XDA Developer Member netdrg may have the solution.

Netdrg has worked up a plug-in for Manila versions 2.5.1921.XXX that will not only add the Missed Call notification but will also increases the quick links on the Home Tab from 9 to 16. The plug-in also applies any wallpaper changes to all your tabs, not just the Home Tab.

In reading the comments over at XDA there may be some compatibility issues with the more recent version of Manila, version 2.5.1922. Just keep in mind that this is home cooking and it may not sit well with some phones. If you're interested in giving it a try, you can find the cab file here.

Read: Pocketnow

HD2 finally gets HardSPL; Custom ROMs a go

By Daniel Rubino, Tuesday, Jan 5, 2010 at 2:09 am

It's been awhile in the making with lots of false releases and half-fixes (Soft SPL anyone?), but at last the full Hard SPL is now available by the DarkForces Team (bepe and Cotulla) for the much coveted HD2 (see hands on and review)

(And yes, it should work on the U.S. T-Mobile version, but we'll have to actually wait for its release to verify)

Get it here.

Not much else to say except find your favorite chef and forum and start browsing for some custom goodness. As usual, be aware there is a risk with flashing a Hard SPL and using custom ROMs, so feel free to wait on the sidelines for 48 hours, m'kay?