Pocket PC Thoughts - Daily News, Views, Rants and Raves

"Wow, that was one hell of a wait, wasn't it? Some eight months after its February announcement, X1s are finally available for sale in some parts of the world -- and naturally, any retail availability comes with the distinct possibility of a properly-documented unboxing. The packing materials don't look like they're anything terribly special, but to the Windows Mobile faithful of the world, the contents certainly are. Ain't that black, brushed metal casing awfully purdy?"

Holy Xperia News Batman! The Xperia is starting to make the rounds as an actual, real device that you could order (You know, as opposed to one of those announced yet not in your hands yet devices). Engadget has a couple of pieces on it, and Phonescoop specifically is interested in the possibility of different versions of the X1. I suppose it's only a matter of time before we see real reviews start to come through the wires!

It was recently announced that Firefox Mobile ("Fennec") was going to be a reality, and it appears that development is now steadily progressing. :) Brad Lassey has a bunch of screenshots up at his blog, including some basic pages as well as Acid3 run to demonstrate he has the full browser running!

Exciting stuff, especially as Firefox Mobile is likely to support kinetic, touch-based scrolling as per this concept video. As far as I can tell, these are just development snapshots, and no public binaries are actually available for download... yet.

Yesterday was the 8th anniversary of Pocket PC Thoughts being launched, and since eight years is quite a long time in the chaotic Web world, I wanted to do something a little special to celebrate. Thanks to Archive.org, you can go back and see the very first post I made when I launched Pocket PC Thoughts on Thursday, October the 12th, 2000. I also see that my email address is on every post - I guess that's why I get so much spam - oh the sweet, naive early days of the Web. It's been a great ride - this site, and the community of people that sprung up around it, has enabled me to do Thoughts Media Inc. as a career, something for which I'm extremely grateful. I have the best job in the world: thank you.

Thanks to all of you, our readers, for coming back to this site over and over again - for posting comments in our forums, for clicking on the ads, for buying things through our affiliate store, for helping others with their problems or questions, and for supporting us in other ways. A big thanks to all the Contributing Editors who have devoted countless hours of their time over the years to this site - I couldn't have done it without all of you, and I've been blessed by the many friendships that have come from that. Thank you to everyone who has helped with our servers, our graphics, our templates, our forums, our reviews...there are too many people to name, but if you helped this site in some way, I thank you for that. Also, my gratitude extends to the companies that have supported and continue to support this site and what we do here: Microsoft, Spb Software House, PPC Techs, WebIS, and others.

What's a party without gifts though? Tomorrow, I'm going to kick off a series of giveaways to celebrate our anniversary. Why tomorrow? This is Thanksgiving weekend in Canada, and today is a holiday, so I'm spending it with family. What am I giving away? I've got a few devices I'm not actively using and I think it's time they move on to a better home. And I've got a grand prize that I think someone will enjoy quite a bit...stay tuned the rest of the week!

It seems like the iPhone has breathed new life into the ideas behind Windows Mobile (WM) user experience. With its attractive graphical user interface and smooth visual effects - the Apple device is not only eye-pleasing but also intuitive - it's not surprising to see these features migrating to Windows Mobile. Especially since the Microsoft mobile OS is quite capable of imitating much of the eye candy, while also packing in a ton of programs and applications that iPhone still lacks.

The iWindowsMobile Communication Suite available at www.iwindowsmobile.com challenges to combine eye candy and intuitiveness of iPhone with rich functionality of Windows Mobile.

The Suite offers four finger-friendly applications in one package only for $39.95, not $70 (the total cost if purchased separately): mobile shell Winterface, contact manager FunContact, texting application SMS-Chat, and soft keyboard ZoomBoard.

These applications are focused on finger-friendly control. The idea is to let Windows Mobile users feel the same freedom of controlling their devices without stylus, just with fingers as on iPhone. After users install the apps, they will essentially have a better mobile experience; one very close to what the iPhone community is always raving about. The contacts, SMS texting, keyboard - the entire UI becomes more convenient, responsive and intuitive. Read more...

"The VC6096 all-in-one in-cab solution is designed to help transportation and logistics providers achieve cost-effective compliance, maximize driver productivity, improve safety and vehicle utilization, reduce costs and improve customer service. Built to handle the rigors of the road, the device provides drivers with the comprehensive simultaneous wireless voice and data capabilities needed to maximize operational efficiency - including wireless WAN (WWAN), wireless LAN (WLAN), Bluetooth, GPS and telematics support. An open-platform solution, the VC6096 gives you the power of choice, allowing you to select and control the applications and peripherals that best meet your business needs."

Not your father's Moto Q, the enterprise-focued VC6096 is designed to be fixed in a vehicle and provide both information to the driver, as well as to the company, such as mileage, location, driver performance and hours and times of vehicle operation. The Windows Mobile 6.1 device offers an integrated GPS can provide directions and also give updates for fleet dispatchers. One of my many previous part-time jobs was doing some job dispatching to repair technicians and we had to rely on their word regarding location; not always the most reliable when it's close to quiting time! The VC6096 also offers 3.5G WAN voice and data connectivity over a GSM network. One significant benefit for fleet maintenance is integrated SAE J1708 and SAE J1939 telematics support. According to the news release, Motorola expects it to be available 4Q this year.

"Have you ever wondered why your mobile phone can alert you to new voicemail without having ever rung? Or why a text message can get through when a call can't? Maybe you've traveled across continents and been amazed at how calls still manage to follow you? Or perhaps you've noticed that sometimes your battery only seems to last a fraction of its normal life? And why can the iPhone 3G figure out your location in 3 seconds when it takes takes your car GPS 3 minutes?"

This is a pretty interesting article on layman's terms on how the cellular phone system in general works and why odd things seem to happen from time to time. After reading this, you'll know how your IMSI on your SIM is transmitted to the VLR and is then shared with the HLR at the MSC. Piece of cake.

"An updated Beta version of DivX Mobile Player is now available for Windows Mobile 5.0+ and Symbian OS 9.0+. DivX Mobile Player version 0.91 offers a few improvements and some nifty new features."

The last few versions of DivX Mobile Player have shown a lot of promise as far as free DivX media players go. This new version of the DivX Mobile Player adds new features such as an option to disable thumbnail display, improved handling of corrupt video files, improved playback position memory and easier access for DivX Video-on-Demand playback. You can download the new version of DivX Mobile Player here.

"Some older phones get some fresh colors. For those of you who don't want to upgrade to the LG Renoir but want to spice things up, you can grab yourself an LG Viewty in white. You will have to hit up your favorite importer as the snow white Viewty is only available in Korea. If white is not your style, then you can check out the HTC Touch Diamond in a rainbow of colors spotted at Phone & Phone's website. Hit the jump to catch a glimpse of the colorful Diamonds that the French seem to fancy."

With a splash of fall color, the HTC Touch Diamond and the LG Viewty have added options. Beyond the basic black, HTC recently added white to the lineup, and now Rose, Mocca, Blue, Purple, Red and Yellow join the list at French retailer Phone&Phone. While not a new phone, the LG Viewty adds a white color option (Model LG-SH210/KH2100) for those who live in Korea. The original press release page in Korean offers a video news report and pics.

I am sure more than a few of you have ListPro installed on your device, and some of you for many years, and you are probably aware of the ListPro Exchange but may have forgotten about it over the years. You should go back and check out some of the lists available, or sign up for the RSS feed to get updated info on the latest lists.



There are a ton of travel oriented lists, like the Hong Kong bus guide, which has close to 1,000 items. One list that I have is my travel checklist so I don't forget to carry all of my necessary chargers, cables, toiletries, etc. I've added a new item - check the List Exchange to see if there is a list specific to the area I am going to. If you have your own list that you think would be of use to others, or if you find some outdated info on a list and update it, send it back to Ilium to be added to the List Exchange.

To keep my device from filling up with so list files, I created one list file called "Informational Lists" and I cut from the lists I've downloaded and paste into this one file. You can do this on the desktop or on the device. The desktop client will also allow you to import multiple lists from a file through the Tools|Import Lists feature.

"GapiDraw is the graphics platform to use when creating applications with high demands for fast graphics on Windows Mobile devices! GapiDraw comprises a framework and a set of C++ classes that together provide everything you need to create state-of-the-art applications such as games, navigational tools and advanced user interfaces for Windows Mobile devices."

If you develop applications that require graphics processing or other displays of graphical goodness, then GapiDraw may fit the bill to save you a bit of time and effort while giving your users a nice experience overall!