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And speaking of trendy black slabs, HTC's much anticipated and feature packed Touch Pro has been picked up by Expansys.com for a expected release date of August 4th.

Hey, that's pretty close.

But sit down for the price. Thanks to our awesomely weak economy and dollar, this puppy will set you back just over $1k ($1,047.38 to be exact).

Yikes.

Perhaps if you're a CDMA user, you'd best sit back and wait for the U.S. debut, which we're hearing will be around December on Sprint.

Not wanting to be swallowed amid a sea of Apple hype, Microsoft's Scott Rockfeld sat down with ComputerWorld to remind us all that the iPhone is far from dominating the cell phone world, and enterprise in particular.

In Eric Lai's article, Rockfeld mentions:

• 325 enterprises bought at least 500 WinMo phones in the last fiscal year. (That's 162,500 devices).
• Seven of the 10 biggest companies in the world bought WinMo devices, and one unnamed company purchased 100,000 on its own. (CW's thinking that could be Wal-Mart. But AT&T's on the list at No. 10, and we've seen numbers fudged worse.)
• 20 million WinMo licenses sold in the last fiscal year.
• 500 iPhone apps at the 3G launch, versus the more than 18,000 apps available for WinMo.

And, yeah, BlackBerry's still mentioned as No. 1 for business. There's no denying that. But it appears, at least to Rockfeld in this article, that Apple is still just nipping at the heels of the big dogs.

Read Microsoft: Forget iPhone; we're still No. 2 in business

[Via]

Update 2: The HTC download site seems to be intermittently displaying and hiding the official 6.1 download info. Don managed to grab a direct link to download when it was last up -- we share it here for you now: direct download. Thanks, Don!

Update: Don writes in to say HTC has taken the download down and, indeed, they have. Guess you'll have to wait until Monday for your legit 6.1 action.

Happy ROM day, Sprint users! Following up on the availability of the 6.1 ROM update for the Sprint Touch, we hear from Lucas that if you head to HTC's support site for the Mogul, here, you'll find the update for the Mogul as well. The update list is a bit shorter than what was available for the Touch:

1. Upgrades the operating system from Windows Mobile® 6.0 Professional to Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional
2. Adds Sprint TV
3. Includes all enhancements incorporated in previous software upgrades including:
   • EV-DO Rev. A functionality for faster download and upload speeds when utilizing data services wherever EV-DO Rev. A coverage is available.
   • Advanced GPS functionality including the Sprint Navigation application.
   • Adds a Task Manager to the Today screen for easier access and management of running programs.

Lucas adds that Sprint and HTC probably intended for this release to be officially available come Monday, but you clever WMExperts readers can go grab it right now.

Likely you've already managed to snag your update because we caught these upgrades early as they were posted (early) late last week (Here's your Mogul Update and here's your Touch Update). If you haven't or if you're the sort who rigorously follows the rules, now you can get the official Windows Mobile 6.1 update for the Sprint Mogul and the Sprint Touch. Both will get you EVDO Rev A, A-GPS, and some Sprint TV Action, but strangely the Touch gets an on-board Opera browser while the Mogul is left out in the cold, freezing (literally?) winter of PocketIE.

Anybody applied this yet? We'll hit up the official update ourselves in just a bit, but we're curious to know exactly which version of Opera the Touch is rocking, let us know in the comments!

It's time for this week's Software Wrangle. We're featuring several apps this week for you to check out. This week we are featuring new software for WM Standard, Just Tones and Elecont Launcher. Updated software includes Pocket Informant 8 and Extreme Agenda - Your Organizer. Free software is Beyond Pod.

WM Professional new software is Message Alerts for WM and MASPware Checklist. Updated software includes Shopping List Deluxe and HiCalc - Your Trusted Calculator. Freeware is MSS Converter.

Saddle up for this week's Wrangle!

WM Standard: New

First up is Just Tones v1.0 by 1TouchMobile.

Just Tones lets you search for and set ringtones for contacts using a simple and efficient interface. Search for a contact using a T9 search. Play an existing ringtone for a contact. Search and select multiple contacts from the main screen and set a ringtone for them. Once a contact is selected, the search term is reset and ready for a new search. Just Tones supports playback of midi, mp3, wma and wav files.

Want to set a ringtone for a 'Company'? You can do that with Just Tones. You can also set a ringtone for a particular 'Category' (Personal, Business, Holiday etc.). Contacts can be sorted by Firstname or Lastname.

Features: - Set Ringtone for Single or Multiple contacts in one operation - Group ringtone using the 'Company' or 'Category' field for a contact - Sort contacts by Firstname or Lastname - Play/Stop ringtones from the main screen as well as the ringtone selection screen - Contacts are displayed along with their ringtone - Supports mp3,midi,wma and wav formats - Search contacts using a T9 search

Get Just Tones v1.0 for $7.95 here.

Next is Elecont Launcher v1.0.62 by Elecont. There may be a lot of launchers out there to choose from, but at this price point, this one is worth taking a look at.

Elecont Launcher allows you to start programs, documents and sites directly from Home screen. You can start your favorite shortcuts with one click. Optimized for finger usage.

Features: - Windows-like quick launch on Home and Today screen. - Starts for any applications, URLs, documents and control panel in one click. - Animated forecast on Home and Today screen. - Compatible with Windows Mobile themes. - Free full-functional 3-day trial version. - Free updates.

Get Elecont Launcher for $9.95 here.

WM Standard: Updated

Pocket Informant 8 v8.1 by Web Information Solutions, Inc. is our first updated software for WM Standard this week.

Pocket Informant 8 brings a new level of ease of use to your mobile device. Version 8 introduces a new Roles based user-interface that lets you scale the user-interface and feature to your needs offering you just the power you want. A fully one handed interface lets you use Pocket Informant without ever touching the stylus - or if you prefer finger control Pocket Informant brings finger touch scrolling, a touch ABC bar in Contacts, and new finger friendly time pickers.

Features: - Smartphone version - Same codebase for SP and PPC - Fully one handed interface - New! Events View lets you track tasks and appointments as they come - New! Journal View gives you both dated and parent groupings of all journals - Roles based UI lets you scale the featureset from a basic "Pocket Outlook with = Benefits", to "Task" and "Appointment" focused modes as well as a power user mode - Contact links/Phone numbers in the subject of appointments/tasks - Franklin Covey Goals, Mission, and Compass/Roles added - Completely redesigned settings - Month View has a new FilmStrip mode - Smooth Scrolling and Touch modes - Touch A-Z side bar in Contacts - Many other new features and improvements

Get Pocket Informant 8 for $29.95 here.

Extreme Agenda - Your Organizer v3.3 by Birdsoft is the next updated application this week.

Extreme Agenda is the premier Personal Information Manager for your Windows Mobile Smartphone. It features Powerful Agenda Views, Photo Contacts, Todos, Search, and even Notes and a Secure Wallet in one easy to use package.

Extreme Agenda Version 3.0 now includes a Project view, Innovative Spinner Selection screen, timeline week view, and so much more. Also included are features like Linking, Templates, Notes, and friendly one-handed operation.

Get Extreme Agenda - Your Organizer v3.3 for only $24.95 here.

WM Standard: Freeware

This week's free app for WM Standard is BeyondPod at www.smartphone-freeware.com.

BeyondPod is FREE, Open Source, RSS feed reader and podcast manager (podcatcher) for Microsoft Smartphone and Pocket PC.

Using BeyondPod you can subscribe for RSS feeds, read the feed content, download and listen to associated podcasts (enclosures) directly on your mobile device.

BeyondPod also provides a convenient way to play downloaded podcasts using a built in media player with features like configurable "TiVo style" commercial skip, tracking of played time, easy cleanup of played podcasts and many others.

You can get BeyondPod for Free right here.

WM Professional: New

The first new WM Professional application for this week is Message Alerts for Windows Mobile v3.1 by WebMessenger Inc.

WebMessenger Message Alerts puts you back in control of managing communications on your mobile device by providing powerful rules and filters for your mobile email and SMS Messages!

Define your own filters using rules that are automatically applied to your incoming E-mail and SMS Messages and be alerted to just what is needed through user defined alerts to include your own MP3 audio files. Includes custom alerts for low battery and low memory on your mobile device.

Features: - The Message Alert application runs in the background on your Windows Mobile device and is automatically launched with the OS. You can control the time of day and week when the rules/alerts are active with the settings screen. Rules - Can be defined based on the Subject:, From:, To: , CC: fields or the message content. - Can also be created through the context menus in the Inbox and Address Book applications. - Continuous alert - Customized audio and vibrate notification - A pop-up dialog notification - And many more features!

You can get Message Alerts for Windows Mobile for $24.95 here.

Next up is MASPware CheckList v5.01.4 by MASPware, a great way to keep track of what you need to get done!

MASPware CheckList lets you more easily and quickly administrate all kinds of checklists. Starting from your shopping cart up to a subject list for your next meeting.

You are supported by a Desktop PC program to edit your lists quick and easy. Furthermore, CheckList provides exporting and importing lists and data records to and from Pocket Outlook.

Features: - Easy, fast and comfortable - Administrate unlimited number of lists - Unlimited number of listentries - ViewMode for realistic view - Categorized lists - Listnotes - Treeview - Auto-Update Option - Desktop-PC tool for editing (Microsoft .NET Framework necessarily) - Backup-Function - Desktop synchronisation - Import and export of outlook-textnotes

You can get MASPware Checklist for $19.99 here.

WM Professional: Updated

The first updated WM Professional app this week is Shopping List Deluxe v4.0 by Lakshmi Solutions LLC. Shopping List 4.0 will help you to organize, plan and manage the different items that you need to buy.

Our man Dieter got some hands-on time with a couple of Velocity Mobile devices back at CTIA, and he reported that the 103 was, in fact, "a sweet device."

And Dieter knows sweet devices.

Anyhoo, Crunchgear spied the 103 as it made its way through the FCC, which means it might well make its way to a carrier near you. We'll let you know.

A recap of the 103:

• Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro.
• HSDPA (850, 1900 and 2100 MHz bands).
• 128 megs RAM, 256 megs ROM
• 640x480 screen.
• 1450 mAh battery. 4 hours of talk time, 200 hours of standby, 2.5 hours of navigation.
• WiFi.
• Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR
• Mini USB connection.
• Assisted GPS.
• Micro SD card.
• 2MP rear-facing camera, 0.3MP on the front for video conferencing (though don't expect any U.S. carriers to leave that intact)

On Wednesday we brought news of Microsoft's Live Mesh cloud-based storage service, giving you 5 gigs of space for your files to come and go as you please.

Today, the big M unleashed mobile-optimized access to the service, meaning you can get to your data while you're on the run.

It's not the full-on Windows Mobile client we're hoping for, but it's certainly a step in the right direction.

If you're already signed up for the tech preview, point your favorite mobile browser (yes, even the iPhone's) at https://m.mesh.com - note the secure site - and have at it.

Via MSDN