Software Reviews

If you have ever been sitting an a doctor's waiting room for an hour or hanging around an airport terminal for 3 hours waiting for your delayed plane, I bet you would have loved to have a small portable TV in your pocket to help pass the time.  Many carriers offer TV services, like SprintTV.  The problem with these services is they usually cost around $10 a month for the basic service and then an extra $5 to $10 for each add-on package of channels.  If you have kids who like cartoons, a sports fan, and then want to watch a movie channel, you can then be looking at an extra $40 to $60 a month to have access to these channels.  Another option is to Sling it to your phone, but it can cost over $250 to get set up. 

Now if you want to watch TV on your phone, you can with no monthly fee and a minimal cost for the program.  DiamondTV ver 2.2 will stream online TV channel feeds directly to your phone.  There are 358 predefined channels from 37 countries.  If you have children that have access to this program is it important to note that there are also 125 adult channels included, which are protected by a password that you can set.

SPB Software has released SPB TV, a mobile client that allows you to view television channels on your Windows Mobile phone. SPB TV is compatible with both Windows Mobile Professional and Standard. SPB TV is finger-friendly supporting touch navigation as well as button navigation for the non-touch screen devices. Follow the break to see what all this new software title has to offer.

Last week we reviewed GuardMobile, a security application that controls your Windows Mobile phone through SMS messaging should it get stolen or lost. Since then, we've discovered two other similar applications, and GuardMobile has been updated. WMExperts reader Kelvin Kang pointed us in the direction of Flexilis, a beta security application, we took a look at RecoveryCop. Follow the break to see what changes the updated version of GuardMobile has to offer, as well as the lowdown on Flexilis and RecoveryCop.

One of the more unique story lines coming from the Mobile World Congress was when a HTC prototype was pick-pocketed from Telstra Chief Executive Sol Trujillo. We all breathed a sigh of relief when the Australian Communications Exec was able to have Microsoft remotely wipe the phone clean.

While our Windows Mobile phones might not have Microsoft or HTC trade secrets on them, what data is on the phones is equally important to us. With identity theft a constant concern, we ran across an interesting application that allows Windows Mobile users to protect their phones just like Microsoft and HTC did in Barcelona.

Software developer Maspware offers GuardMobile that not only allows you remote access to your Windows Mobile Phone should it come up missing. Follow the break to see how secure GuardMobile made us feel.

SBSH  recently updated it's popular Calendar Touch to version 2.1. We looked at the previous version of Calendar Touch (v2.0) a few months ago and found it to be a feature-rich alternative to the stock calendar application of Windows Mobile. There was little we could find wrong with version 2.0, with the minor nit that returning to the current date was a little cumbersome. Readers reported a few bugs, including not being able to navigate easily with a stylus and that swipe navigation stops when you are on a day where the appointments extend beyond the single screen. Follow the break to see how version 2.1 shakes out.

For geeks like myself, there is only one thing better than free software – open-source software. The reason for this is fairly obvious. In addition to being free, the source code is available for you to view and modify or reuse. The open-source movement has led to some of the most popular software in use today. The Firefox Web browser is a result of the open-source Mozilla browser, and Mac OSX is based on the open-source family of UNIX Operating Systems.

Over the next couple of weeks we're going to look at some of the open-source software available for Windows Mobile. If you have an open-source app you'd like us to cover, let us know in the comments.

Pocket Sudoku, developed by Emil Andersson, is an application that I’ve used for a number of years. Currently in Version 1.0, it allows you to play several Sudoku style games within one interface.

Read on for the full review.

Vito Technologies recently announced the release of an updated version of their popular Windows Mobile interface, Winterface. The updated version, v1.3, reportedly has fixed bugs associated with SMS notifications and the weather icon. It also adds a brighter skin with "stylish" icons (Vito's words, not mine). We've downloaded the updated version of Winterface and loaded it on to the HTC Fuze to see how it performs. Follow the break to see what lasting impression Winterface has made.

Torch Mobile has announced a free "commercial release" of its Windows Mobile web browser based the open-source WebKit browser. The Iris Browser, version 1.1.0, includes "big performance gains," Flash Lite support, reduced memory usage and accelerometer support, according to the company. In a market that's suddenly become crowded with third-party web browsers, the latest Iris version joins Bolt and Opera 9.5 (and eventually Firefox) in the mobile browser race. Iris isn't exactly a newcomer to the field, with the original Beta version having been released about a year ago.

Version 1.1.0 features performance gains and reduced memory usage. The release adds support for Adobe's Flash Lite ActiveX control, and for the accelerometers found on HTC phones. It also includes "preliminary" RSS (really simple syndication) and SVG (scalable vector graphics) support, according to the company. According to WindowsForDevices.com Iris is touted as performing well even on devices with minimal resources, thanks to a fast rendering engine, efficient storage of bookmarks and cookies, and a cache optimized for low disk usage. Follow the break to see how well Iris v1.1.0 version 1.1.2  performed on the HTC Fuze along with a few screen shots.

Note: I wrote this review on Feb. 21, 2009, originally using version 1.1.0. While testing this version, an update (version 1.1.2) was released by Torch Mobile. We have just learned that yet another Beta version of Iris has been released, version 1.1.3 that Fuze Mobility is reporting corrects the screen freezing problems experienced with previous versions. Read on for our impressions over this rapidly changing mobile web browser.