John at myITforum.com

For those of you who really get in to weather, you may already be using Tropic Designs Weather Pulse.  If not, you really need to try this FREE desktop weather program. 

The latest release is Weather Pulse 2.04.3, however they have released a beta that is version 2.05 build 18. They have really enhanced the user interface, and it appears to run much faster than previous versions (but it IS beta).  For more information on Weather Pulse, go here.

For the downloads:

Weather Pulse v2.04.3

Weather Pulse v2.05 Build 18 Beta

Microsoft calls its MapPoint software a business mapping and data visualization product. But for sales people and sales executives, it's more than that. Sure it can show you important marketing and business data based on geography. But it also can help you run your routes better.  

Sales people want to optimize any activity that will help them get a jump on their territories by reducing travel time between accounts -- one of the ways in which they most often try to optimize their sales is by physically trying to traverse their geographies to hit more accounts in less time. Depending on the layout of their territories, this can be challenging. Microsoft's MapPoint software makes it less challenging.   By combining your own customer and prospect databases with MapPoint's enhanced visualization tools, MapPoint can help you plan your route -- whether it's local or requires air travel.

If you use a Windows Mobile device such as a personal digital assistant or a Smartphone, you can then download your route to your portable device, even have it read to you while you're on the road -- or combine it with a global positioning system to make sure that you don't miss your mark as you're driving.

Full story.

Say what?  Yep, you read it right.  Employees caught surfing porn at work were awarded $40k from the judge. 

Norway's Supreme Court supported decisions refusing Conoco Phillips the right to fire two workers who surfed the Internet for pornographic images on company time.  The two workers on the Ekofisk field lost their jobs after being caught peeping at porn on the job in the summer of 2002. The pair took their case to court and won at both the municipal and appeals level, NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting) reports.

Conoco Phillips appealed the decisions to the Supreme Court in order to have a clarification of what employees can do on company time and what employers can do to enforce violations of company policy.  The Supreme Court has ruled that the firings were not justified and have awarded the two NOK 250,000 (USD 40,000) each in compensation.

Can you believe that?  Do I even need to comment?

The Handmark Kaplan Mobile SAT/PSAT-ACT 2005 software is based on the Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions materials. Versions of the software are compatible with nearly all smartphone/PDA devices and operating systems. The test preparation package works with Palm OS-powered devices, Windows Mobile-based Pocket PCs and smartphones, along with Symbian, BREW and Java mobile phones.

Full article.

Samsung Electronics and Microsoft Corp. have announced an alliance to elevate gaming to the next level through high-definition technology. Microsoft has chosen Samsung as the exclusive HDTV worldwide marketing partner for the next-generation Xbox high-definition (HD) gaming platform. The announcement was made at the Home Entertainment Expo at the New York Hilton.

The next-generation Xbox/Samsung HDTV combination is designed to deliver the most advanced and realistic high-definition experience to gamers worldwide. To promote the HD Era, the companies plan to place over 25,000 Samsung high-definition televisions in Microsoft Xbox retail kiosk locations across the globe.

Following the successful launch of their PDA-phones the Xda IIs and Xda II mini in India in December 2004, all eyes are now turned to the latest Smartphone from O2, the premium mobile data devices and service provider.   The O2 Xphone II joins the Xda IIs and Xda II mini to provide India’s professional users with greater choice in powerful and stylish mobile productivity devices that can facilitate their work and enhance their social needs.

At only 102 grams, it is the slimmest Smartphone in the market, claims a company release. Even as its size rivals those of regular mobile phones, information displayed on the O2 Xphone II is showcased on a comparatively larger 2.2-inch, 65K-colour TFT-LCD screen that is now brighter and with higher contrast. A graphite-colored, ridged keyboard is provided to compliment the phone’s black casing, the release informs.

First rolled out in Mumbai and Delhi, this device from O2 is now available also in other major cities like Chennai, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

And in those results…

Mobile and Embedded Devices revenue grew 31% over the prior year as Windows Mobile(TM) products experienced strong demand. Windows Mobile license sales for connected devices were more than double prior year levels while the Windows Mobile software platform continues to experience strong momentum with developers. There are currently over 380,000 active Windows Mobile professional developers and over 18,000 Windows Mobile applications.

At its Automotive Summit in Detroit, MI Microsoft's Automotive Business Unit announced the official name of its telematics software platform and reference design. Previously referred to by its code name T-box, Windows Mobile™ for Automotive will be available in 2006 and become the latest addition to the Automotive Business Unit’s family of products.

According to Microsoft, Windows Mobile™ for Automotive will help automakers and suppliers develop a quick-to-market, low-cost in-car solution, fulfilling an industry need for a consumer electronics gateway that delivers a range of benefits to OEMs, suppliers and ultimately drivers and passengers. It will allow the automotive industry to utilize a standardized hardware reference design and complete software stack to significantly reduce cost, complexity and time to development for telematics systems. Similar to how automakers build several car models off of the same chassis, Windows Mobile for Automotive will allow them to develop telematics systems with varying features and functions based on a software stack and reference design that can be re-used in different models.

Full story here.

Finding the right mobile solution is not easy. That's why Microsoft has partnered with a number of systems integrators to provide a simple route to deploying, managing, and supporting successful large-scale mobile solutions.

• Download the Windows Mobile Solutions white paper

• Download the Deploying Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Mobile Messaging white paper
• Download the Deploying Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Mobile Messaging Appendices

While many cities are rolling out free wi-fi services, many vendors (including Verizon), are fighting it.  Wonder why that is?

Verizon Communications Inc. is turning off the free wireless Internet access it beams from New York City telephone booths for DSL subscribers who use laptops away from home or the office.   The company revealed the decision on Wednesday as its Verizon Wireless unit announced plans to accelerate the deployment of a fee-based cellular Internet service in the New York area.  The free service, which will be phased out over the next two months, was provided by installing short-range Wi-Fi transmitters in hundreds of telephone booths starting in May 2003.

Some day, companies will get back to their roots and put customers first.

According to an HP Customer Advisory, the Westtek ClearVue Office Suite on the Companion CD of the HP iPAQ Pocket PC hx2000 series handhelds incorrectly states that the CD has a trial version of the software. Only the text in the CD Wizard is incorrect; the full version of the software is included.

I blogged earlier on the Westtek product as an excellent PDF reader replacement.  Looks like hx2000 series handheld owners are in luck.  They don’t have to pay for it.

Are you an old Palm device user?  Do you have your favorite apps for the Palm that you just don’t want to give up?  Is that the primary reason you have for not switching to a Pocket PC?  Go ahead, take the plunge.  I have just the app for you.

StyleTap Platform for Windows Mobile yesterday announced the availability of their new product.  This product allows applications originally written for Palm OS handhelds to run on Windows Mobile devices.   

"With this product, users who decide to migrate from a Palm OS® device can keep running their favorite applications. And for the first time, existing Windows Mobile™ PDA users can access the vast array of popular, proven Palm OS® applications," said Gregory Sokoloff, CEO and co-founder of StyleTap Inc. "This is the first of a family of StyleTap™ Platform products that will extend this capability to other handheld operating systems such as Symbian OS™. StyleTap™ Platform is based on the idea that the same application software should run on many different kinds of handhelds, regardless of operating system. This not only benefits handheld users, but also allows developers to target a much larger customer base."

StyleTap™ Platform preview version is now available for a free 14-day trial. To download click here.

You can also purchase the preview version for the special introductory price of $29.95 (US). This price includes a free upgrade to StyleTap™ Platform version 1.0 when it becomes available.

http://www.styletap.com/index.html

There’s an article posted on Eweek detailing groups trying to develop guidelines to define spyware.  I don’t get it.  The opening quote reads “Even as the menace grows, security vendors are having increasing difficulty defining and identifying spyware, and their indecision is slowing efforts to assist frustrated IT managers tasked with keeping employees' PCs clean.”  Frustrated is a poor choice of words.  How can you not know what spyware is and why is there such difficulty in defining it?

“Leading anti-spyware vendors are working with the nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology to develop guidelines for defining spyware.” 

Why is this necessary?  It should be rather simple.  If there is a website or program on my computer that collects ANY information on my browsing habits WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE and can use that information or sell it to others, , I want to know about it and be given the option to remove it.  If there is a website that attempts to change settings on my computer without my knowledge (and the instructions are not clear on what the website or program is actually doing), I want to know about it and have the option to cancel it.  Seems companies that get “blacklisted” are appealing those listings and some companies are removing them from their databases during the appeal process, products like Gator, eWallet, ScreenScenes, and GotSmiley.  Those of us in tech support will recognize those names immediately.  Junk gets loaded on end-users computers without their knowledge, hijack internet explorer home pages and other computer settings (like startup programs), slow computers down, etc.  Removing them are sometimes rather difficult. 

If a vendor wants to load miscellaneous garbage on your computer, the install programs should tell you exactly what its doing, with the option to cancel installation.  They should also be required to simplify the uninstall process if you decide you don’t want it.  Putting something in small print you need a microscope to read, and burying it several pages back from the install program is NOT the answer to this.  Most try to do this with an option to “accept the agreement”, but the only way you see the agreement is to click another link that’s a bunch of legal verbage with the express intent of confusing users so that they STOP reading.  I wasn’t even aware of everything some programs do until I loaded Microsoft’s AntiSpyware beta.  Why is it so hard to define this?  Could it be some get kickbacks from the collection process?

Overview

System Requirements

• Supported Operating Systems: Windows CE

Nokia launched three new handsets, all members of their new N series high-end multimedia smartphones. The new N90 clamshell phone is a photo/video oriented device that makes use of Carl Zeiss lenses in an auto-focus system that backs up a 2 megapixel camera sensor. The N90 should be available in the second quarter of this year.

The new N91 is Nokia's "mobile jukebox" device, which houses a whopping 4GB internal hard disk drive for music file storage. it has dedicated music control keys and a high-quality digital camera.  Can you imagine a phone with 4GB of internal storage?

The last new handset is the new N70, which Nokia is touting as the world's smallest multimedia "computer". The N70 also includes a 2 megapixel camera.

Original posting.

The article floating around the internet on Gartners’ take on the Symbian/Microsoft are generating waves from Palm users, particularly the Treo.  They “notice” that the Palm device is not even mentioned in the Smartphone space wars.  I blogged on the report myself here.

While not wanting to irritate the Palm users any further, there’s a definitive reason Palm One Treo’s weren’t mentioned in the reports.  THE BIGGEST LOSER amongst suppliers of smart mobile devices in Q1 2005 was PalmOne.   Its share of the market slipped from 16.8 per cent to a mere 9.4 per cent. Palm has become heavily reliant on sales of its Treo smartphone which does well in North America but poorly elsewhere.  So, you tell me why they weren’t mentioned in the OS wars.

 

2 Products in ONE :

Productivity - Enter data quickly into your mobile device using your desktop/notebook computer keyboard and mouse Presentation - An Ideal tool for training/presenting mobile software or mobile devices by projecting your desktop/notebook computer screen Note: For more advanced applications such as providing remote support and administration to your mobile users you might be interested in Pocket Controller-Enterprise.

Feature Summary: View and control your Pocket PC/Smartphone from your desktop, using your desktop screen, keyboard and mouse. Enter data at high speed using your desktop keyboard Enlarge or shrink the Pocket PC/Smartphone screen to suit your taste Create recordings suitable for software training or demonstrations Use the Remote DOS Box tool to remotely execute DOS commands View your Pocket PC in a skin. Skins for most Pocket PCs are available Full Screen Background Mode, allows users to use solid color or HTML backgrounds, ideal for presentations Wysiwyg printing, print screens at various zoom and rotation levels, portrait or landscape modes, with/without a skin Capture Pocket PC/Smartphone screens and save them to disk Save Pocket PC/Smartphone screen to desktop computer clipboard Integrated Clipboard, transfer data between Pocket PC/Smartphone clipboard and the desktop clipboard. Automatically Synchronize desktop and mobile device clipboards. Explore Tool, allows file transfer with ActiveSync or TCP/IP connection Macro Recording/Playback, record keystrokes and mouse events to a macro file that can be played back. Macro files are text files that can be edited and customized. View Pocket PC/Smartphone screen in portrait or landscape modes Activate/Stop applications and processes, view detailed process information (i.e. DLLs loaded, threads information etc.). View Pocket PC/Smartphone utilization and system information, from your desktop computer Can be configured to automatically start/stop when you dock/un-dock your Pocket PC Full keyboard support, including support for hardware "Application Buttons" Online documentation Connect via ActiveSync or Wired/Wireless TCP/IP Configure multiple Connection profiles, multiple TCP/IP addresses, control multiple Pocket PC/Smartphone devices simultaneously by running multiple instances of Pocket Controller Support for English, English(UK), French, German, German(Swiss), Portuguese(Brazil), Spanish(International), Spanish(Latin American), Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Dutch, Norwegian, and Italian keyboards. Pocket Controller is compatible with Nyditot Virtual Display version 2.0 and later 6 months of free upgrades and 1 year of free technical support There’s a trial version for you, $30.95 to keep.  If you’re involved in training, demo’s, presentations, etc., I think this will quickly become a must-have application.

I currently use two Spb products, Spb Weather and Spb Time.  Both are great applications for a low price.  What can I say, time is important to me and I’m a weather freak.  Anyway, Spb has now release Spb Diary.

Spb Diary is a feature-rich Today plug-in for your Calendar, Tasks and Contacts. This software is a powerful replacement for the standard Today plug-ins for appointments and tasks.  When using Spb Diary the most of actions related to appointments, tasks and contacts can be performed even without leaving the Today screen at all.

Features include:

• Three PIM Today plug-ins in one
• Tabs for Calendar, Tasks and Contacts
• Integration with Pocket Outlook
• Integration with Agenda Fusion
• Integration with Pocket Informant
• Up to 31 days of upcoming events
• VGA resolution (480x640) and landscape screen support

There’s a 15 day trial  to check it out, and $14.95 if you decide to keep it. 

 

I may have to give this a shot and see if it adds clutter (what most Today screen plug-ins do) or adds functionality. Never been a big fan of Today screen plug-ins. Built-in Today screen modifications are typically enough for me. I change them to see all upcoming appointments, and overdue tasks.

Spb Software House conducted a Pocket PC Survey from September 6th to September 17 last year.  They surveyed 11764 Pocket PC users.  Some of the results are below. 

Average Age of a Pocket PC user: 35.5 year old
Gender: 94% Male
Country: 32% US; 8% Netherlands, 8% Russia, 7% Spain
Current Pocket PC: iPaq h2xx 17%, iPaq h41xx: 9%
Current Pocket PC by Brand: HP iPaq 57%, Dell Axim 15%

Also of note in the survey: Pocket PC owners have used the device and average 2.4 years, and 53% are former Palm users.  39% of the survey takers also say there are other members of their household that also have a Pocket PC.

You can find the entire survey here. 

 

 

 

 

The wxWidgets project has released a new version of its open source C++ GUI framework for cross-platform development. Version 2.6.0 of wxWidgets, which adds support for Windows CE and Windows Mobile devices, provides an API that enables console and graphical applications to be compiled on various target platforms with a native look and feel on each.

According to the project, wxWidgets (formerly known as wxWindows) comprises a set of libraries that allows C++ applications to compile and run on multiple operating system platforms, with minimal source code changes. There is one library per supported GUI platform, such as Windows, GTK+, Motif, and Mac. In addition to a common GUI API, the package provides functionality for accessing some commonly-used operating system facilities, such as copying and deleting files, and socket and thread support.

wxWidgets is licensed under the "wxWindows License", which is nearly identical to the LGPL (Library General Public License) from the Free Software Foundation, according to the project. (The only difference is an exception stating that derived works in binary form may be distributed on the user's own terms, the project says.) The wxWidgets download page is here.

wxWinCE, the Windows CE version -- which also supports Pocket PC 2003 and Smartphone 2003 -- uses embedded Visual C++ as its development environment. Complete instructions for building wxWinCE for a Pocket PC are found here.

Even if you can't make it to next month's MEDC (Mobile and Embedded Developers' Conference) in Las Vegas, you can still participate "virtually." Microsoft's mobile and embedded teams will be busy blogging and podcasting, and a live radio talk show will also be on tap.

http://www.windowsfordevices.com/news/NS3516937986.html

Although the title of the article is “What Can I Do With My Axim?”, I’ll change the title because it applies to almost all Pocket PC’s.  The list is WAY to long for this post, but I must say, it is one of the best all-in-one pages on the internet I’ve ever found.  Gigi Hsueh did a GREAT JOB!

Catch the page here, and be prepared to be a little overwhelmed with all the functionality.  Why would you select any other device?

In a press release, the Finnish mobile phone maker said the first Nokia devices with Yahoo Internet services are the Nokia 6680, 6681 and the 6630, which will be distributed in a large number of European and Asian markets.  The markets include Australia, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Spain and the U.K.

The existing Nokia 6680, 6681 and 6630 customers will be able to download applications over-the-air in the markets beginning in the second half of 2005. More Yahoo-compatible devices are planned to be announced on April 27. 

Nokia's Smartphone models offer advanced mobile capabilities including video editing and recording, video sharing capability, email viewers, Web browsing, multimedia messaging and other features. In February, Nokia said it expects the Smartphone market to reach around 25% of the total mobile device market in 2008.

Ramp Corporation announced that the CarePoint software offered by the company's wholly–owned subsidiary, HealthRamp, is now certified for the Cingular Wireless GPRS/EDGE network, the fastest national wireless data network in the U.S. 

The application is certified on the palmOne(TM) Treo(TM) 650 as well as on Pocket PC devices such as the Audiovox PPC 4100 and Siemens SX66.  Through certification, Cingular's sales force and corporate customers can feel
confident that the certified software will run over Cingular's wireless networks and on the targeted devices.  CarePoint enables electronic prescribing and related functionality over a wireless handheld device at the
point-of-care and beyond.

Subscribe to the Windows Mobile newsletter and learn how to get the most from your Windows Mobile-based Pocket PC, Smartphone, and Portable Media Center! This monthly newsletter highlights information on new devices, tips and tricks, cool downloads, special offers, and other resources to help you do more with Windows Mobile.

Automatically Enter to Win a Windows Mobile-based Portable Media Center

If you subscribe or customize your profile through May 13, 2005, you'll automatically be entered to win one of two Samsung YH-99 Windows Mobile-based Portable Media Centers—retail value est. $499 USD! With 20 GB of storage, the Samsung YH-99 makes it easy to enjoy your favorite recorded TV, movies, and music—wherever you happen to be! Click here for the Sweepstakes rules.

To subscribe to a customized Windows Mobile newsletter, simply click the Register button to get started. You must then sign in to Passport with your e-mail address. If you do not have a Passport account, you will need to sign up for one in order to get a newsletter.

After you sign in, fill out the form by selecting the type of content you are most interested in reading. You will receive your tailored Windows Mobile newsletter by e-mail as soon as the next edition is available. If you wish to change the type of content you receive, come back to this register page to update your profile.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/newsevents/newsletters.mspx

Fixes and Enhancements for the latest release:

1. Improved the compatibility with certain CF cards
2. Improved the power management within the CompactFlash driver
3. Improved the WLAN driver for the unrecognized card issue
4. Improved Bluetooth memory management
5. Enhanced the processor speed scheme (Auto) for better balance between performance and battery life
6. Improved the compatibility of Bluetooth FTP
7. Make the wireless button driver more robust
8. Improved the compatibility of Switcher Bar application
9. Enhanced the compatibility of Data Backup utility
10. Enhanced the WEP key security
11. Updated the Funk Odyssey client

X50 Update

X50v Update

Dell's Axim X30 models, which was introduced almost a year ago, will be discontinued in the next month or so.  The Axim X50, though, will be around for more than another year. This is a strong indication that Dell intends to release a Windows Mobile 2005 upgrade for this device. 

This fall, Dell plans to release a new handheld with a multimedia focus.   This device, whose name is unknown at this point, will be targeted at consumers. Dell will emphasize its audio and video playback capabilities, as well as its ability to play games.   To allow it to store large amounts of music and video, this will be Dell's first handheld with a built-in hard drive. Unfortunately, it is not known at this time what capacity this will have.  No other details on this model are currently available.

Catch the full story here.

Bill Gates displayed it at WinHEC…