Microsoft is letting developers know that the Windows Phone Marketplace will no longer accept Windows Mobile 6.x apps starting on July 15th. Developers will also no longer be able to change the prices or other information in the Marketplace after the 15th.

This isn’t quite the end of the road for Windows Mobile 6.x users though. You’ll be able to continue downloading apps from the Marketplace for the immediate future. You just won’t see any new apps in the Marketplace.

Of course, when Windows Mobile first hit the scene, there was no centralized app store. Instead users simply downloaded software from developer web sites or from third-party stores such as Handango or Mobihand. And you can still do that. But with Microsoft throwing its weight behind Windows Phone 7, killing off the Marketplace for earlier devices, and a diminishing number of Windows Mobile 6.x phones on the market, it might be time to consider upgrading if you want to be able to run the latest apps on your phone.

via GottaBeMobile

Microsoft is effectively killing the Windows Mobile 6.x Marketplace July 15th is a post from: mobiputing

Twitter has announced that starting by the end of this month third party apps will have to ask you for permission before they can access your Twitter direct messages. The move will certainly give users a little more control over the data shared with third parties, and it’s always good to be reminded that data you might think is private is actually in the hands of not only Twitter, but also the app developer. But odds are if you download and install a third party Twitter client you expect to include all of Twitter’s features including direct messages, replies, and retweets.

If developers don’t update their apps in the next few weeks it’s possible that you’ll stop seeing DMs in some third party Twitter apps installed on your phone, tablet, or computer.

But I get the feeling that this change isn’t entirely aimed at full-featured Twitter clients such as TweetBot or Seesmic. Instead it may be aimed at services that really don’t need your private messages at all, including services which allow you to post images or shortened links to Twitter such as bit.ly or yfrog.

via Mashable

Third party Twitter apps will have to ask permission before showing “direct messages” is a post from: mobiputing

The folks at Justin.tv have released an updated version of their iPhone social video sharing app SocialCam. The app was already pretty slick when I checked it out last month, but TechCrunch reports that version 2.0 now integrates with your camera roll, letting you upload existing videos and save videos to your local storage. A similar updated is coming soon to the Android version of SocialCam.

Here are a few other mobile app stories from around the web in brief.

• Adobe Connect brings online meetings to the BlackBerry PlayBook
  Adobe has released Adobe Connect Mobile for the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, bringing 2-way video calling, screen sharing, and other web conferencing tools to the BlackBerry tablet. [PocketBerry]
• Swiftkey launches new beta keyboard apps for Android phones, tablets
  A new Swiftkey beta apps feature the ability to learn from your Gmail, Facebook, and Twitter apps. The company also promises better battery usage and improved responsiveness. [Droid Life]
• FileMaker Go for iOS adds charts, signatures, and AirPrint
  The latest version of FileMaker now supports bar charts, are charts, line charts, and pie charts as well as digital signatures and AirPrint. The apps don’t come cheap though, at $20 for the iPhone version and $40 for the iPad app. [TUAW]
• The White House introduces Android app, updates iOS app
  The White House app is now available for Google Android, letting you get news alerts, blog posts, and behind the scenes media. The iPhone app also has a few new features including the ability to share updates. [PocketNow]
• ZDclock widget for Android with alarms, reminders
  There are plenty of home screen clock widgets for Android, but ZDclock packs a few extra features including birthday, anniversary and othe reminders. The app is customizable and offers three different
• Microsoft Photosynth Panorama App hits iOS before WP7
  Microsoft has a strange habit of releasing mobile apps for iPhone, Android, and other platforms before Windows Phone 7. That kind of makes sense, because those are more mature platforms, but it still seems silly. The latest example? Photosynth is an app that lets you stitch photos together to create panoramas. [SlashGear]
• CoverItLive comes to Google Android
  CoverItLive is a service for live-blogging events. Now there’s a new app in the Android Market for posting live updates from press conferences or other news events. You can create and manage live events, moderate comments, and upload photos and videos from within the app. [Android Central]

Mobile app news from around the web is a post from: mobiputing

The HTC HD2 is a touchscreen phone with a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, a large 4.3 inch 480 x 800 pixel display, and plenty of other features you’d expect from a recent Android or Windows Phone 7 device. But the HTC HD2 ships with Windows Mobile 6.5. Hackers have been installing Android (and other operating systems) on it for ages, but now a member of the xda-developers forum has released a simple tool that allows you to easily switch back and forth between Windows Mobile and Android.

The app is called RunDroid. The first time you run the app you’ll actually need to use a file explorer to launch the app from within Windows. But you can configure the app to auto-run at boot so tat when you reboot yourphone you can choose between operating systems.

The app works by leaving Windows Mobile installed on the phone’s main memory, but running Android software from an SD card. If you have multiple versions of Android, you can use the latest version of RunDroid to choose between them.

via xda-developers

Daul boot Google Android, Windows Mobile on the HTC HD2 with RunDroid is a post from: mobiputing

Just a day after launching an update to its voice and video chat app for iPhone, Fring has announced that it will no longer offer its apps for Windows Mobile, UIQ, or J2ME users.

The move shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. The number of phones and other devices shipping with Windows Mobile has slowed to a crawl, as Microsoft pushes its new Windows Phone 7 operating system and Android, iOS, BlackBerry, and Symbian continue to dominate the smartphone market. But it’s always a bit sad to see companies cease development of software designed to run on older phones.

Fring will continue to support existing users of its Windows Mobile, Java, and UIQ clients, but moving forward the company will only be offering downloads of its apps for iOS, Android, and Symbian.

Fring VoIP app no longer open to new Windows Mobile users is a post from: mobiputing

So you want to buy a Google Android phone, but you’ve spent the last 10 years loading all of your personal data info onto a Windows Mobile or Symbian device. SPB Software has a simple solution, called SPB Migration Tool. It’s a $10 app which you can use to copy your data from Windows Mobile or Symbian and export it to an Android device.

Scan to purchase

There are plenty of ways to export your contacts — especially if you already sync with Microsoft Outlook. But SPB Migration can also handle call history, text messages, and browser bookmarks.

You can either save your data to an SD card for transfer, or use a secure web interface. To find detailed instructions and find out if your phone is supported, you can check out the company’s Migrate to Android web site.

SPB Migration Tool helps Windows Mobile, Symbian users switch to Android is a post from: mobiputing

The Skyfire web browser has been getting a lot of attention lately. It’s one of the first browsers that brings Adobe Flash support (kind of) to the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. The company also offers Android app with support for Flash videos, an attractive browser tab UI for switching pages, and integrated tools for sharing web content with your contacts.

But Skyfire got its start making browsers for Windows Mobile and Symbian devices. Skyfire 1.0 was designed to load web pages quickly on devices with slow processors and slow internet connections by using remote servers to pre-render web content before sending it along to your phone.

Skyfire 2.0, on the other hand, uses your phone’s hardware to render web pages using a Webkit engine with support for HTML5 and Javascript. The remote servers are still used to convert Flash video into HTML5 for viewing on mobile devices, but all in all, Skyfire 2.0 is a very different type of browser.

The company has decided to end support for Skyfire 1.0 and focus instead on new technologies. Because of the way Skfyire 1.0 worked as a “proxy browser,” the end of support basically means the browser will stop working when Skyfire stops supporting it on December 31st.

Unfortunately Skyfire 2.0 doesn’t currently run on Windows Mobile and Symbian. That means that until the company ports Skyfire 2.0 to additional platforms, the browser will only be available for iOS and Android.

In a blog post, the company suggests that Skyfire could come soon to Windows Phone 7, MeeGo, or Blackberry 6. But there’s no official announcement yet, and it looks like users with older phones are going to be out of luck.

via Windows Phone Thoughts

Skyfire dumps Windows Mobile, Symbian is a post from: mobiputing

The Microsoft Zune HD is an excellent portable media player, but it’s capable of being much more. The Zune software is actually based on Windows CE, which means there are thousands of third party apps that should be able to run on the Zune HD — if only there were a way to install them. Now there is.

ZuneBoards member Netrix developed an app called Liberate which lets you run some Windows CE and Windows Mobile apps on the Zune HD by killing the Zune HD user interface and bringing up the Windows CE explorer.

Users have found that they can run a number of popular Windows CE apps including the Opera Mini web browser, Foxit PDF reader, CorePlayer and TCPMP media players, Pigeon IM app, ScummVM and even PockedDOS — a DOS emulator for Windows Mobile.

Unforutnately the FPSEce Playstation emulator crashes when you try to load games… but if someone can find a fix, you might actually be able to play PS1 games on a Zune HD. How cool would that be?

You can find out more about Liberate for the Zune HD at the ZuneBoards forum.

via Engadget and ZuneBoards

Liberate lets you run (some) Windows CE apps on the Zune HD is a post from: mobiputing

Avian Play is a music player for Windows Mobile. There’s nothing all that new about that. There are dozens, if not hundreds of media players for Windows Mobile. What makes Avian Play different is that it has a highly customizable user interface and the ability to use three different interfaces for three different types of audio files.

There’s a music interface, a podcast interface, and an internet radio screen.

This makes a lot of sense, since you probably don’t need all the same buttons when you’re listening to a streaming radio station as you do when you’re listening to an hour-long podcast. There’s also playlist support for internet radio stations with multiple URLs — something which is surprisingly absent from most playlist formats.

The app is skinnable simply by editing the images in the Skins folder and the settings in the skin.ni files.

Avian Play supports MP3, OGG, FLAC, WMA, and WAV audio files, as well as M3U, PLS, and AVPL playlist formats.

You can find out more about Avian Play at the xda-developers forum.

via xda-developers

Avian Player: Flexible music player for Windows Mobile is a post from: mobiputing

Spb has launched version 5.0 of the company’s Mobile Shell — a complete replacement for the home screen and app launcher on Android, Symbian, and Windows Mobile phones.

The app lets you arrange icons onto multiple home screens, and you can flip between screens using a pretty slick looking 3D animation. There’s also support for widgets, allowing you to do things like control media playback from your home screen. Many apps can be converted to widgets simply by sliding your finger across the icon on the home screen. You can also organize app icons into folders.

Spb Mobile Shell is one of the most customizable home screen replacements — but the biggest problem is that the mobile shell is basically just a home screen replacement. It might give a uniform look to the home screen — but it doesn’t change the look and feel of apps or deep settings menus on your phone.

Spb plans to bring its software to additional operating systems including BlackBerry, MeeGo, LiMo, and Bada.

Right now the latest version of Spb Mobile Shell available for purchase is version 3.5, which runs $29.95. Laptop Magazine reports that Spb is working with OEMs to preload Spb Mobile Shell 5.0 on upcoming smartphones which could be available in 2011. I suspect eventually you’ll be able to purchase and download the software yourself as well.

You can check out a demo video below, complete with some hyperbolic claims such as “Spb Mobile Shell 5 is the first mobile UI where widgets have been implemented correctly.”

Spb launches Mobile Shell 5.0 for Android, Symbian, Windows Mobile is a post from: mobiputing

The HTC HD2 is one of the most powerful Windows Mobile phones on the market today… unfortunately it runs Windows Mobile 6.5 and Microsoft has made it pretty clear it has no plans to issue updates that will upgrade any existing devices from Windows Mobile 6.5 to Windows Phone 7… including the HD2.

Of course, there are folks out there who view that kind of definitive statement as a challenge, so it’s not all that surprising that today the first video of an HTC HD2 running Windows Phone 7 was released.

Bear in mind, Microsoft hasn’t officially launched Windows Phone 7 and you can’t actually buy a phone with the operating system yet. So what we’re looking at hear is clearly a hacked build of the OS that’s been shoehorned onto the HD2 using some form of black magic. Unfortunately the video doesn’t actually show what happens after the operating system boots, so we can’t say for certain how well it runs.

The fact that it takes more than 90 seconds to load doesn’t bode well. Then again, this is just an early test build. Things could get better as the developers continue their work.

You can check out the video after the break.

Windows Phone 7 ported to run on the HTC HD2 is a post from: mobiputing

Online music service Spotify has launched a Windows Phone app which supports mobile devices running Windows Phone 6.0 through Windows Phone 6.5. A new version for Windows Phone 7 devices is expected soon as well.

The Spotify app for Windows Phone will let users stream millions of tracks from the Spotify web service. You can stream music over WiFI or a mobile broadband connection, and you can also cache songs to your device for playback when you’re offline.

The mobile app lets you browse or search for tracks. You can star songs to add to your favorites list, and wirelessly synchronize files between your phone and computer. When you create a playlist on a computer it will also show up on your phone, and vice versa.

Spotify is available in a number of Europena countries including France, Spain, and the UK. It’s not yet available in the US. The basic service is available for free, but you’ll have to sign up for a premium account to use the mobile app (you also don’t have to put up with ads if you go premium).

Spotify also offers apps for iOS, Android, and Symbian.

You can check out Spotify’s Windows Mobile demo video after the break.

Spotify launches streaming music app for Windows Phone is a post from: mobiputing

Online music service Grooveshark offers mobile apps for iPhone and Android users who pay for a Grooveshark VIP account (although the iOS version is only available for jailbreakers). There’s currently no official GrooveShark app for Windows Mobile, but a third party developer has built one and you don’t need a VIP account to use it.

SciLor’s GrooveMobile is available as a free download, and it lets you search for songs and stream them from Grooveshark on your mobile device. You can also save or delete playlists, or import playlists from the Grooveshark web service.

The app features a pretty simple user interface, with a search bar, playlist area, and pause button. That’s about it. You can also shuffle tracks or repeat a playlist.

via xda-developers

SciLor’s GrooveMobile: Unofficial Grooveshark app for Windows Mobile is a post from: mobiputing

Opera has launched an updated version of Opera Mini for Windows Mobile. Opera Mini 5.1 features a number of updates, including:

• Page layout improvements on high resolution screens
• Set Opera Mini as the default web browser
• Support for screen rotation on HTC and Samsung devices using a G-sensor
• Better kinetic scrolling
• Improved text input support

There are also a number of bug fixes, but one of the things I’m kind of psyched about is the alternate installer. While Opera Mini 5.1 officially supports Windows Mobile 5 and up, there’s an alternate installer that will let you load the browser on Windows Mobile 2003 devices. Previously you had to use an unofficial installer file to get Opera Mini 5 up and running on older Windows Mobile devices.

Opera Mini 5.1 is available as a free download by visiting m.opera.com from your phone. You can also choose the best installer file for your device from the Opera Mini & Mobile download page.

You can check out a promotional video after the break.

Opera Mini 5.1 for Windows Mobile now available is a post from: mobiputing

The Dell Axim X50v and X51v were ahead of their time. These PDAs were released more than 5 years ago, yet they had 624MHz processors, Intel 2700G 3D multimedia accelerators, and 640 x 480px VGA displays. Up until a year or two ago, you would have been hard pressed to find a smartphone with better specs.

Unfortunately Dell stopped supporting these devices ages ago. Fortunately, the hacker community has kept them alive. A few months ago a member of the xda-developers community released a “lite” version of Windows Mobile 6.5 Classic for the Dell Axim X51v. It takes into account the fact that the PDA has just 64MB of RAM, but still brings updates including Internet Explorer 6 mobile and Office Mobile 2010.

The unofficial Windows Mobile 6.5 build also supports the Axim’s graphics accelerator and comes with a few apps built in including the excellent TCPMP media player.

via Pocket Hacks

Unofficial Windows Mobile 6.5 build for the Dell Axim X51V is a post from: mobiputing

One of the things that’s always seemed a bit odd about Pandora’s excellent internet radio service is that it doesn’t sort music by genre. Instead, you pick a song or artist you like, and Pandora will populate a custom-made radio station with songs that are similar in one way or another. Generally this works pretty well and it makes Pandora an excellent service for finding unfamiliar songs and artists you might like. But sometimes it seems like it would be a whole lot easier to just pick a genre to get started.

Someone at Pandora apparently feels the same way, because tomorrow Pandora will launch new genre-based stations. For instance, you’ll be able to select stations such as “Love Songs,” “Classic Rock,” “Today’s Hits,” or “80′s Pop” to get started. You can further personalie the stations by giving songs the thumbs up or thumbs down.

All told, Pandora will be offering over 100 genre stations, which you’ll be able to find at pandora.com/genres or by clicking the “Create a New Station” panel.

You can access Pandora on the web at Pandora.com. There are also mobile apps for iPhone, Android, WebOS, BlackBerry, and Windows Mobile. The new genre-based stations feature should be available Wednesday, August 25th.

Pandora internet radio to add genre-based stations is a post from: mobiputing

Waze is a free turn-by-turn GPS service for mobile devices. There are versions for iOS, Android, Symbian, and Windows Mobile. And they’re all free. What sets Waze apart from other services, such as the free navigation tool that comes with Google Android, is the community aspect which provides real-time traffic, construction, and other information as you drive. You can also find Facebook friends on the road or check in to destinations using Foursquare.

Version 2.0 was released last week, and it adds support for Commuting Groups, ranking symbols for achievements, and new maps with 3D views and improved animations and movement.

If you bought into the Dash Navigation concept, as I did, you’re going to want to check out Waze 2.0.

While things didn’t quite work out the way we had hoped at Dash, Waze is carrying this torch. Heck, they’re more like Dash 3.0 at this point. Unfortunately, like Dash, the core navigation could still use a little work… as Waze was unable to find my weekend Calvert Cliffs destination by address and, in some cases, initial routing experiences haven’t matched the Telenav service I also use. But these guys are off to a great start and I dig what they’re doing.

You can find Waze in the Android market or download the free iOS app from iTunes. Windows Mobile and Symbian users can grab download links from the Waze web site.

A version of this article originally appeared at Zatz Not Funny

via Gizmodo

Waze offers community-driven GPS, real-time traffic, more is a post from: mobiputing

• Editing tools for resizing, cropping, color correction, and more
• Add GPS position to any image
• Upload images to Flickr, Picasa, Facebook, or Twitter
• Touch friendly controls
• Add cropped photos to your contacts

The only problem? Resco Photo Manager ain’t cheap. At full price it runs about $24.95, although you can often find it on sale for a little less. But today Handango is offering the app as a free download. All you have to do is visit the Handango Free App Friday site and use the promo code FAF813.the offer ends tonight at midnitgh

Resco Photo Manager supports Windows Mobile 5.0 and up.

Resco Photo Manger for Windows Mobile available as a free download (Today) is a post from: mobiputing

Facebook has rolled out an update to its mobile web page that lets you control your privacy settings on mobile devices. Up until now, you could only adjust your privacy settings using a desktop browser.

In order to access your mobile privacy settings, you have to visit m.facebook.com/privacy on your phone. You won’t find the link if you just go to m.facebook.com.

But once you do find the page, you can adjust your settings to allow everyone, friends, or friends of friends to see information you post from your phone. You can also create custom settings. For instance, you can allow everyone to see your website and bio information, but only allow your friends to see posts, contact information, family, or relationship status.

Unfortunately, the settings only apply to the Facebook mobile web site. If you use the iPhone, Android, WebOS, or other mobile apps for Facebook, there’s still no way to adjust your privacy settings — although I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw that feature in future updates.

via ReadWriteWeb

Facebook adds privacy control settings to its mobile site is a post from: mobiputing

Google has launched a new feature for its mobile search engine that might not seem all that exciting, but which can actually be quite handy. When you visit google.com in a mobile browser, you can now click on the “history” link near the bottom of the screen to bring up a list of your recent searches — and not just searches from your phone, but from any machine you’re logged into.

In other words, say you’re trying to remember the name of that restaurant you looked up before you left the house. Just grab your iPhone or Android phone, go to Google.com and hit the search history button and you should see a list of recent searches you made from your desktop browser — which could help you find the right place.

If you actually visited a web site in your last search, you’ll even see thumbnail images of that web site next to the search history results.

You can remove history items by tapping the edit button at the top of the page. You can also see results that you’ve starred, either on your desktop browser or your phone.

If the whole thing seems kind of spooky, you can disable search history by selecting “do not save searches” under the settings menu.

Google Mobile gets a Search History view is a post from: mobiputing

I’m a big fan of keyboard-based app launchers such as Launchy for Windows or Quicksilver for OS X. If you have a large number of apps installed on your computer, it’s often easier to pull up the program you’re looking for by hitting a hotkey combo and then typing in the first few letters of the app than by sifting through the Windows Start Menu or OS X dock.

WiMoRun brings the same sort of experience to mobile devices running Windows Mobile 6.0 and up.

Basically, once the app is installed, you just select the Run app from the program list, and then type in the name of the app you want to launch.

Honestly, I’m not convinced that WiMoRun is much of a time saver, since it generally takes a lot longer to type using a Windows Mobile on-screen keyboard than a PC keyboard. But if you happen to have a ton of apps on your device, I suppose WiMoRun can save you a bit of scrolling.

The app also includes an auto-complete feature, and a dropdown list of available programs.

WiMoRun is available as a free download from the xda-developers forum, although you’ll need to register for an account to download the installer. You can also download it from Freeware Pocket PC, no registration required.

WiMoRun: Keyboard app launcher for Windows Mobile is a post from: mobiputing

One of the best resources for finding hacked firmware for modern smartphones is about to start getting stale. Shipped ROMS is a one-stop-shop for custom ROM images for dozens of mobile phones. These disk images let you do things like upgrade from one operating system to another or gain access to hidden settings.

Some have custom software built in to improve the experience of using the phone. And generally these ROMS offer a way to keep old phones up to date long after the manufacturer stops shipping updates.

Last month HTC contacted Conflipper, the force behind Shipped ROMS, and asked him to remove some cooked smartphone ROMS from his site. Today he announced that after a lot of back and forth with HTC, he’s agreed not to upload any new custom ROM images to the site — but all existing files will remain online indefinitely.

In other words, Shipped ROMS will slowly transition from a resource for new files into a museum of hacked smartphone firmware that will slowly become outdated.

Conflipper has also announced that after spending four years as part of the ROM cooking community, he’s going to call it quits and move on to other projects.

There will clearly still be other places to find custom ROMs, but Conflipper’s work will be missed — and given HTC’s apparent stance on ROM cooking, it’s unlikely that we’ll see another comprehensive repository of hacked Smartphone ROMs anytime soon.

via Cool Smartphone

Phone-hacking site Shipped ROMS is finished (mostly) is a post from: mobiputing

A few months ago SPB launched a free, ad-supported version of SPB TV for WebOS phones such as the Palm Pre and Pixi. Now SPB TV is also available as a free download for Windows Mobile and iOS devices including the iPhond and iPod touch.

SPB TV is an app that lets you watch live TV broadcasts from more than 17 countries. You’re not going to find major networks like NBC or Fox here. But you can get news from AFP or France 24, and a variety of regional content from around the globe. Other highlights include NASA TV and Sci-Fi TV, a channel that shows old science fiction movies. There are also some music video channels and the Spanish language CNN Plus.

The apps also have built in program guides and brief descriptions about each channel. And there’s a picture in picture feature that lets you view a snapshot of a channel before flipping away from the video stream you’re currently watching.

You can download SB TV for iOS for free from the iTunes app store. The Windows Mobile version is available for download from the SPB web site, and supports Windows Mobile 5 and up. There are also apps for Android and BlackBerry, but those versions run $9.95 each.

You can find a few more screengrabs of the iPhone and iPod touch version of SPB TV after the break.

via Just Another Mobile Monday

SPB TV provides 100+ free live TV channels for iOS, Windows Mobile, WebOS is a post from: mobiputing

The number one reason to install mobile voice, video, and chat app Fring on your smartphone was to be able to make and receive Skype calls on platforms that don’t have fully functional Skype apps. Even though there’s a Skype app for iPhone, for instance, it doesn’t support video chat. Fring does… or rather did.

A few days ago Fring launched an updated iOS app with support for 2-way video chat over the Skype and Fring networks. But due to network congestion issues, Fring announced it would temporarily disable Skype.

Today, Fring issued a few statements suggesting that Skype had blocked Fring from accessing the network altogether — something which Skype denies. It’s turning into a he said/she said kind of story. Skype says Fring was violating its terms of use, and Fring says Skype has shut the door on “openness.”

But here’s the bottom line: You can still use Fring to make voice and video calls — but not over the Skype network. And if you don’t have a number of contacts already using Fring, that means there’s not really much reason to install the app on your phone anymore.

Unfortunately this means there’s still no official Skype app for most Android users (except for those on the Verizon network). And there’s no official Skype app for any mobile platform that supports video calls.

Fring mobile app no longer makes Skype calls is a post from: mobiputing

Just a few weeks after launching a public beta, SofMaker has released SoftMaker Office 2010 for Windows Mobile.

SoftMaker Office is by far the most powerful office suite available for Windows Mobile devices. The app suite includes a word processor, spreadsheet app, and presentation app.

The latest version adds support for Microsoft Office 2007 files, opening multiple documents in tabs, and an improved spell checker. SoftMaker also says the PlanMaker presentation app is now four times faster, and supports presentation-quality charts.

A full SoftMaker Office 2010 license runs $79.95, but existing users can upgrade for $49.95.

For $20 more, you can add SoftMaker Office 2010 for Windows, a full-fledged desktop office suite which is compatible with docs created on Windows Mobile — and with Microsoft Office documents.

via Just Another Mobile Monday

SoftMaker Office 2010 for Windows Mobile now available is a post from: mobiputing

Google has rolled out an updated version of the Google Docs viewer for mobile devices that lets you view DOC, DOCX, PPT, and PDF on most mobile devices running Android, iOS, WebOS, BlackBerry OS, or other mobile operating systems.

The main difference seems to be that files uploaded in those formats now seem to feature better formatting on mobile devices. But you still can’t edit documents in those formats — although you can edit individual cells on spreadsheets using a rather clunky interface.

Honestly, Google’s blog post announcing the new viewer seems to have caused a bit of confusion, with some web sites claiming that Excel spreadsheets aren’t supported (not true), or that these features have been included all along (partially true). But Google is assuring us that something’s new… and I’m not 100% certain that you could view DOCX files last week, so that’s a possibility.

Have you noticed any new functionality in the Google Docs mobile viewer this week?

Google Docs updates mobile viewer for Word, PDF, PowerPoint files is a post from: mobiputing

Sure, Microsoft already has an app store for Windows Mobile, called Windows Marketplace for Mobile. But like most official app stores, the Windows Marketplace requires developers to submit apps for approval, pay some cash, and jump through other hoops that might turn off small, independent developers.

And that’s where XDA Market comes in. This is a brand new third party market developed by a member of the xda-developers forum. The idea is that anyone can upload apps for free, and they can even upload apps that will only work on one specific device — generally a big no-no in the official app store world.

The XDA Market consists of a web interface for uploading and managing apps and a Windows Mobile client allowing users to download apps. There aren’t any apps at the moment, because you know, the market is brand spanking new. But if the project takes off, it should become an interesting place to find third party, independent apps for Windows Mobile. And if it really takes off, I suspect the system will become really, really slow because it’s being hosted on the developer’s home server.

You can download the Windows Mobile installer file from the xda-developers forum.

XDA Market: New third party app store for Windows Mobile is a post from: mobiputing

Adobe’s press release drops a few hints about phones that are expected to be updated to Android 2.2 Froyo soon, including:

• Dell Streak
• Google Nexus One
• HTC Evo
• HTC Desire
• HTC Incredible
• Motorola Droid
• Motorola Milestone
• Samsung Galaxy S

Adobe is also making Flash Player 10.1 available for BlackBerry and WebOS devices as well as “future versions of “Windows Phone, LiMo, MeeGo, and Symbian. Noticeably absent from the list of supported platforms is iOS, but that was Apple’s choice, not Adobe’s.

Ultimately, you’ll be able to download and install the app on phones running supported operating systems, but it will be up to device makers to make the software available. Adobe is also working with device makers to pre-install Flash Player 10.1 on smartphones, tablets, and othermobile devices.

I’m running Adobe Flash Player 10.1 beta on my Nexus One and haven’t been prompted to update yet, but I suspect the new version should be available soon.

Adobe Flash Player 10.1 for Mobile now available… for select phones is a post from: mobiputing

Like the look and feel of Microsoft’s new Kin phones, but don’t feel like buying a phone that won’t actually let you run third party apps? No problem. KinLauncher is an app that provides a Kin-like program launcher for Windows Mobile.

The user interface sort of falls apart once you actually click a link on the program launcher and realize that you’re still stuck with the default Windows Mobile (or HTC Sense) web browser, email, phone, and other apps. But at least KinLauncher makes the home screen a lot… greener.

You can also customize the buttons on the program launcher, although the default options look pretty decent with messaging, phone, email, browser, music, camera, settings, alarm, recent, and The Spot buttons.

KinLauncher is available as a free download for Windows Mobile. You can check out a video of the app in action after the break.

via xda-developers

KinLauncher makes Windows Mobile look like a Kin Phone for some reason is a post from: mobiputing

SoftMaker Office 2010 beta was released this week, and it includes a number of new feautres including support for Microosft Office Word 2010 files. You can even access password protected Office files.

The latest version also adds support for document tabs, making it easier to open multiple docs and keep them organized on a small screen device. There’s also improved PDF export functionality and an improved spell checker.

SoftMaker Office 2010 includes a word processor, presentation app, and spreadsheet app. The office suite is free while in beta. That’s the good news. The less good news is that SoftMaker typically charges around $90 for a full license for its Windows Mobile software, so once the beta ends you’ll probably have to come up with a bit of cash if you want to keep using the office suite.

Update: SoftMaker Office 2010 is now available for purchase for about $80.

SoftMaker Office 2010 beta for Windows Mobile supports Office 2010 files is a post from: mobiputing

Technically, Google has always been a place where people go to answer questions. But now if you’re using a mobile web browser, an Android phone, or the Google app for iPhone, you can get answers to some questions without even bothering to click a link. Basically, Google will provides answers to some search queries at the top of the results page.

For instance, you can search for state our country capitols, movie release dates, musician birthdays, and other similar information. Not all questions will give you a result, not by a long shot. But anything that can reduce the number of clicks you have to make on your phone when looking up information is a good thing. Even if it doesn’t always work. The good thing in this case is that even if you don’t get a Google Answer, you do get a list of web sites that very well may have answers to your question.

Google Mobile now provides short answers to (some) short questions is a post from: mobiputing

HTC’s Sense user interface for Windows Mobile phones replaces the custom Windows Phone user interface with a series of widgets and menus that make it easier to navigate with your fingertips and see your information at a glance. But if you want a really customizable UI that crams virtually every possible bit of info onto your home screen, you might want to check out MaxSense, tweaked version of the HTC Sense software that supercharges the home screen.

MaxSense is built on HTC Sense 2.5. But it adds a number of features, including:

• 3 home screens, which you can access by dragging left and right like you would on an Android phone
• A ridiculous number of icons in the taskbar for accessing WiFi, Bluetooth, network info, sound profiles, and so forth)
• Support for widgets including clocks, alerts, and weather)
• 75 quick links panel
• Task Manager shortcut

The MaxSense user interface is starting to show up in custom ROMS for phones including the HTC HD2 and HTC Touch Pro2.

The folks at PocketNow have put together a pretty detailed walkthrough of the MaxSense user interface. You can check out the video below.

MaxSense UI crams the kitchen sink onto HTC Windows Phone models is a post from: mobiputing

Now there’s another option. A new browser called uZard is on the scene, and among other things, it supports full-screen Adobe Flash video playback. Members of the xda-developers forum report it even works with Hulu (although it’s probably just a matter of time before Hulu blocks the browser).

The browser also reportedly supports Silverlight and audio and video codecs including WMV, MP3, and AAC. That’s because uZard uses server-side rendering the same way Skyfire does.

It looks like there are actually three versions of the uZard web browser. uZard P relies on server-side rendering, while uZard S is a WebKit-based browser. uZard H combines the features of the other two browsers.

via PocketNow

uZard web browser for Windows Mobile supports Adobe Flash is a post from: mobiputing

Pocket Informant is one of my favorite apps for Windows Mobile. it’s a complete replacement for the default calendar, contact, and task applications, and as far as I’m concerned, the calendar app alone is worth the $20 asking price.

It offers 5 or 7 day calendar view that is vastly easier to read than the default Windows Mobile calendar, and you can even show mini-text for calendar appointments on the month-view screen if you have a phone with a high resolution display.

You can also show tasks in the calendar and link your contacts to appointments.

Handango is offering Pocket Informant for windows Mobile as a free download today only. The promotion ends at midnight Central Standard Time tonight.

Pocket Informant 9 requires Windows Mobile 5.0 or newer.

via Windows Phone Thoughts

Download Pocket Informant for Windows Mobile for free – today only is a post from: mobiputing

Zillow has released a Windows Mobile version of its mobile real estate search app. The company has a popular web site that lets you search for properties, see locations and photos on a map, and check out Zillow’s estimate of what the proper is worth based on Zillow’s algorithms.

You can filter search results by price, the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, and other details. You can also save searches and view them from your favorites tab, and email home listings to your contacts.

There are already Zillow apps for Google Android and the iPhone.

Zillow for Windows Mobile is available as a free download from the Windows Phone Marketplace.

Update: The app is only available for Windows Mobile 6.5 and up.

via PocketNow

Zillow launches real estate app for Windows Mobile is a post from: mobiputing

The folks behind the FPSECE playstation emulator have been building software that lets you play classic Playstation games on Windows Mobile devices for a couple of years. I remember playing Final Fantasy VII on my Dell Axim X50v and it looked beautiful. The only problem is that the frame rate was just a little too slow for the game to be considered truly playable.

Flash forward a few years and FPSECE has made some serious progress — and so have mobile phones. FPSECE 0.10.1 is now available to supporters who donate a few bucks to the cause (The latest free version is FPSECE 0.10), and XDA-Developer forum member Audio Oblivion has posted a video of the new emulator running on a shiny new HTC HD2 Windows mobile phone.

He says he was getting frame rates of 40 to 50fps on most games, and the on-screen controls look like they work really well for most, if not all games.

In order to run most PlayStation games with FPSECE, you’ll need to track down an SCPH1001.bin file and have a compatible Windows Mobile phone. You can find out more by checking out the user manual. And you can check out 10 glorious minutes of Playstation gameplay on the HD2 after the break.

via PocketNow

FPSECE 0.10.1 Playstation emulator for Windows Mobile is a post from: mobiputing

After months of beta testing, Microsoft is officially launching Office 2010 today. And as part of that announcement, Microosft is adding Office Mobile 2010 to the Windows Phone marketplace.

You’ll need a Windows Mobile 6.5 phone in order to download the free update. The new version adds support for Microsoft SharePoint 2010, a tool that lets you control PowerPoint presentations using your phone via a Bluetooth connection, and a bunch of improvements.

Office Mobile 2010 also has an improved touch-friendly interface, and support for OneNote synchronization with OneNote 2010 on the desktop. Outlook Mobile 2010 also adds support for conversation views in your email. And you can now copy and paste content from one Office application to another. This makes it easy, for instance, to copy text from an email into a spreadsheet or Word doc.

Microsoft releases Office Mobile 2010 for Windows Mobile 6.5 is a post from: mobiputing

Microsoft is the latest company to add free turn-by-tun directions to mobile devices. Google Maps can already turn some Android phones into mobile navigation systems. And now if you have a supported Windows Mobile phone, you can use Microsoft’s Bing App to do the same thing.

The new Bing App is available for download from m.bing.com.

In order to use the navigation feature, you just fire up the Bing app and hit the Navigate button. As you drive, Bing will track your position by GPS and give you up to date directions as needed. If you don’t feel like looking down at your phone while you drive, don’t worry. This is voice-guided navigation, meaning you’ll also hear a voice through your phone’s speaker telling you where to turn.

Bing has a few neat features up its sleeve, including the ability to select a route that will avoid toll roads or traffic.

Ready for the catch? The new navigation features is only available for US phones on the Sprint, T-Mobile, and AT&T networks. It looks like Verizon customers are out of luck for now. You’ll also need Windows 6.x to play. You can find a list of supported phones at the Bing blog.

While free navigation is a pretty nifty feature on a mobile phone, it’s not a complete replacement for a dedicated GPS unit — at least not yet. That’s because the maps aren’t actually stored on your phone. They’re on the web instead, and your phone pulls them down over a 3G network as needed.

If you stay on the path your phone draws out for you at the start of your journey, that’s not really a problem as your phone should keep providing directions whether your 3G coverage is spotty or not. But if you have to take a detour or if you miss a turn, your phone won’t be able to draw down fresh data if you’re in a 3G dead zone. Not that this has ever happened to me… like last week.

The new Bing app also has a redesigned home page, which makes it easier to search for directions, maps, movies, or other information from the main page.

Bing App for Windows Mobile now supports turn-by-turn navigation is a post from: mobiputing

Mobile app developer and musician Steffest decided to create a simple music app that would run on Google Android, Windows Mobile, and the iPhone. It turns out that he couldn’t code once and use the same app on each platform. Instead he had to use three different programming languages to get the job done, one for each platform.

But the end result is that he managed to take to Android devices, two Windows Mobile devices and an iPhone, strap them to piece of wood, plug in a speaker, and create one of the strangest musical instruments I’ve ever seen.

You can check out a video of contraption in action after the break. it may look kind of silly, but it sounds surprisingly decent.

via Gizmodo

5 mobile phones strapped together to create one odd musical instruement is a post from: mobiputing

For the last 10 years, Microsoft has been shipping its mobile operating systems with mobile versions of Internet Explorer. But as mobile web browsers go, the Internet Explorer tends to be sluggish and up until recently, the browser was hard to navigate with your fingers, instead relying on stylus input.

But Internet Explorer isn’t the only game in town. There are a number of popular third party browsers available for Windows Mobile, and the folks at xda-developers have written up a rather detailed overview of 5 Windows Mobile web browsers (including Internet Explorer).

If you’re looking for a good comparison of Skyfire, Internet Explorer, Firefox Mobile, Opera Mobile and Mini, and Dorothy, you should definitely check out the xda-developers article to see how the browsers stack up against one another in terms of page rendering speeds, user interface, and other criteria.

Windows Mobile web browsers rounded up, judged is a post from: mobiputing