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MobilityMinded Reviews SPB Mobile Shell 3.5

08.10.09

My good friend Remo has posted a great review of the new SPB Mobile Shell 3.5 Windows Phone Interface over at MobilityMinded.



This is a great review covering the latest version of Mobile Shell.  Remo provides plenty of device screenshots along with detailed information of what this latest version has to offer.  In particular he covers the new widgets for Facebook and Twitter as well as the 3D Email and SMS reader.  It is a great review worth the read.

Read the full article at MobilityMinded

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Windows Mobile 6.5 officially launches

08.10.09

Today marks the official launch of Windows Mobile 6.5.  This updated version of Microsoft's mobile OS has been long awaited and given the HUGE amount of leaks around it, most everyone has seen a screenshot of it I'm sure.

It's a significant day as several new services and features launch with the new OS today as well.  First is Windows Marketplace, an online application store where you can try or buy applications directly from your phone.  Windows Marketplace is only available for Windows Phones running 6.5 but a version for older 6.0 and 6.1 phones is expected next month.

As I reported yesterday, MyPhone, the online backup solution for Windows Phones has been updated and is no longer a beta product.  MyPhone backs up many things on your phone including SMS, pictures and videos.  You have 200MB of storage space in this free service.

Finally, if you are looking for a good comparison chart of what the differences are between Windows Mobile 6.0, 6.1 and 6.5, take a look here.  

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Save 20% on Top Applications for Windows Phone

08.10.09

As I do every quarter I have updated my selection of top applications for Windows Phones, both touchscreen and non-touchscreen versions.  These applications are the applications that I feel every Windows Phone owner should have or are the most popular purchases in the store today.

To see the top applications list visit this link.  There you will find a listing of the applications which will link you directly to that application in the store.  When you check out, enter the coupon code CFTOPAPPS and you will receive a 20% discount.  The discount can be used multiple times but cannot be applied to items already on sale.

Some of the new additions to the list this quarter include:

* SPB Quads
* SPB Mobile Shell 3.5
* SPB News 2.0
* WebIS Pocket Informant 9
* SPB Radio

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Top 50 Applications - New Additions!

20.12.08

This morning I added a handful of new applications to the Top 50 Applications that I feel are worthy of everyone's attention.

These application are selected by the staff of the site as being the best and brightest available for Windows Mobile devices. Some of the applications below are free-of-charge while all of them include a trial period for you to see if the application fits your needs before you purchase it.

The Top 50 list this quarter has several significant changes so if you haven't visited this list in a while, be sure to go through and check for a title you are interested in trying or buying. We have also changed the layout of the list to represent the manufacture of the software, a request that many of you have made. If you see the designation (NEW) by the title, that means the software has been updated. If you see (NEW)* then it is new to our Top 50. As you will see there a lot of new titles!  Each title is linked to the application in our software store.

Now through the end of 2008 you can save 20% on all of these applications when you use the coupon code CFTOP50 when you check out.  There is no limit to the use of the coupon (other than it has to be one of the Top 50 applications to apply) and you are free to pass this around to friends as well.

Click here to visit the Top 50 Applications list!

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MobileTechReview covers the Xperia X1a

20.12.08

My good friend and fellow Mobian Lisa over at MTR has released a great review of the much anticipated Sony Ericsson Xperia X1a.

Lisa writes, "Well folks, it’s finally here: the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1a. That’s the US version with 3G HSDPA on the US bands. The Xperia will be sold in the US at SonyStyle stores in silver and at Best Buy stores in black. The phones are otherwise identical. Don’t confuse the Xperia X1a with the overseas version Xperia X1i (no “a” for America) that lacks AT&T’s 3G bands. The Xperia has a very high resolution 3” display, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, GPS, Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR, WiFi 802.11b/g, push email, full web browsing, a microSD card slot, an FM radio and GSM 3G HSDPA. Its casing is mostly metal, and fit and finish are suitable for a James Bond movie. Sony Ericsson designed the phone and its software and the phone is made by HTC. In fact, there are some HTC goodies here like their Comm Manager and Streaming Media Player."

You can give the full review a read here

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VITO Technology launches their new website

20.12.08

I received word from VITO Technology that they have relaunched their website today.

Here is the Press Release:

December 2nd, 2008 - VITO Technology announces the Holiday Season open by launching the new rebranded company site www.vitotechnology.com with site wide 15% discount for all applications. Come visit vitotechnology.com and get a present for he coming holidays.

The refreshed site www.vitotechnology.com offers Windows Mobile and iPhone software. The new site has become more user-friendly and less cluttered. Enjoy browsing and don't forget to pick yourself a product.

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Sling.com opens!

20.12.08

New York, NY and Foster City, CA — December 2, 2008 — Sling Media, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ: SATS), announced the public launch of Sling.com (http://www.sling.com), an online video entertainment destination. Users can go to Sling.com to watch a huge selection of clips, TV shows, films, news and sports in high quality, for free, anytime they want. This includes video programming from over 90 content providers spanning 150 content brands.

“Sling.com is a wonderful combination of premium video content, television viewing, robust editorial and consumer-friendly access and socialization features,” said Jason Hirschhorn, President, Sling Media Entertainment Group. “Users will have a blast watching great clips, full length shows and movies while customizing the viewing experience to their liking."

Sling.com features:
Robust editorial programming:  Sling.com’s editorial team creates great content including blogs, playlists and clip collections.

Socialization features:  Users can subscribe to any channel, show or user to create a feed of programming and activity that reflects your personal tastes and those of your social network.

Slingbox access:  For the first time, Slingbox owners can now access and view their home television (cable, satellite receiver) and DVR via the Sling.com website, making their Slingboxes available without a software client download.

“Our mission from day one was to enable access to content regardless of screen or source,” said Blake Krikorian, co-founder and CEO of Sling Media, Inc. “Sling Media will continue to link and meld video solutions from the television, computer and mobile device to create seamless experiences for consumers.”

Sling.com is now available to the public, and will include content from the following providers now or shortly after launch:  

23/6

60Frames

A3/5th & Ocean

Agility Studios

Animal Planet

Anchor Bay Entertainment

Archaeology Channel

Arena Football League

Australian Food TV

B2 Networks

Bloomberg Television

bnqt.com

Break.com

Car and Driver

Cinetic

CollegeHumor

Collegiate Images

Comedy Time

Comedy.com

Comedynet

Crackle

Discovery Channel

Diva.AG

Documentary Channel

E!

ELLE

FEARnet

Fight Network

Film Roman

Flow TV

G4

Golf Channel

GolfTV-powered by Golfweek

Hachette Filipacchi

Handmade TV

HearItFirst.com

here!

High School Sports TV

Horror Channel

Howcast.com

Hulu:

20th Century Fox

Bravo

Chiller

CNBC

Fox

Fox Movie Channel

Fox News

FOX Reality

Fox Sports

Fuel TV

FX

MSNBC

myNetworkTV

NBC

NBC News

NBC Sports

Oxygen

SciFi Network

Sleuth

Speed Channel

Universal

Universal Media Studio

USA

iaTV

IMG SPORTS MEDIA

Inside the Huddle

ivideosongs.com

Kentucky Derby

Kentucky Oaks

Lifetime Television

Lifetime Movie Network

Marvel Entertainment

MGM

MOJO HD

Mmarated.com

Motocross.com

MQM

My Damn Channel

My Yoga Online

National Geographic Channel

Newschoolers.com

NY Financial Press

ON Networks

Ovation TV

Pac-10 Conference

PBS

Playboy

Players Network

Reuters

Revision3

Ridemonkey.com

Ripe Digital

Road & Track

SI TV

SimplyME

Skateboard.com

Snowboarder.com

Sony Pictures Television

Starz Media

Studio 4 Fitness

Style

Swimnetwork.com

TenduTV

TENNIS.com

The Knot, Inc.

The Minisode Network

TheStreet.com TV

The Onion

TLC

Trackshark.com

trailersfromhell.com

Travel Channel

TV Guide Broadband

TV One

TVG

Versus

Voy

Wallstrip

WatchMojo

Wetsand.com

White Chocolate

WildTV-hunting&fishing

Wine TV

For a full list of shows available on Sling.com go to: http://www.sling.com/show/list

For a full list of channels available on Sling.com go to: http://www.sling.com/network/list


About Sling Media
Sling Media, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ: SATS), is a leading digital lifestyle company offering consumer services and products that are a natural extension of today's digital way of life. Sling Media's product family includes the internationally acclaimed, Emmy award-winning Slingbox™ that allows consumers to watch and control their living room television shows at any time, from any location, using PCs, Macs, PDAs and smartphones and the revolutionary new SlingCatcher™, a universal media player that seamlessly delivers broadcast TV, Internet video and personal content to the TV. Sling Media is also the company behind the video entertainment web site, Sling.com, offering consumers a wide variety of popular TV shows, movies and other entertainment free for viewing online or on the TV using SlingCatcher. For more information on Sling Media, the Slingbox or the SlingCatcher, visit www.slingmedia.com. To watch your favorite TV shows and movies, check out www.sling.com.

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HTC announces new design partner

20.12.08

Taoyuan, Taiwan and SAN FRANCISCO, December 3, 2008 – Furthering its reputation as a global leader in mobile innovation and design, HTC Corporation today announced the continuation of its design focus with the acquisition of San Francisco-based lifestyle design firm One & Company Design, Inc. (One & Co).  Recognized for its award-winning work with some of the world’s best known and most design-savvy lifestyle brands, One & Co will maintain its name and client base while it joins forces with HTC to create an unparalleled force in global mobile design.

“Design is key, it is why you love or hate something,” said Horace Luke, Chief Innovation Officer, HTC Corporation. “Integrating iconic design into HTC products is an inspiring and dynamic challenge that requires a unique combination of consumer insight, creativity, innovation and an appetite to take risks; attributes that embody One & Co.”

HTC and One & Co first began collaborating in 2006 on the initial incubation and creation of the HTC Touch Diamond, a highly touted phone with iconic design that blended unprecedented use of material and industrial design.

“One & Co is excited to bring our lifestyle, user focused approach to HTC and we look forward to creating iconic, compelling products together,” said Scott Croyle, partner of One & Co. “Knowing about HTC’s cutting edge technology and proven track record of innovation, we are excited to collaborate with HTC as a global lifestyle brand.”

In addition to its work with HTC, One & Co has broad design experience in a variety of industries that range from footwear, snowboarding and skiing, furniture, packaging, houseware, timepieces and more.  One & Co has been recognized by the design and business communities by winning numerous BusinessWeek/IDSA IDEA Awards, the Good Design Awards, CES Innovation Awards, and ID Magazine awards.

About One & Co
Privately held, One & Co is an internationally recognized design leader that delivers design and engineering services to some of the world’s best known and most admired companies. With expertise in areas ranging from ethnographic research and design forecasting and manufacturing technologies, One & Co is committed to bring the highest level of creative talent to every endeavor and provide an unmatched attention to detail.

About HTC
Founded in 1997, HTC Corporation (HTC) designs innovative, feature rich smartphones. Since its establishment, HTC has developed strong R&D capabilities, pioneered many new designs and product innovations and launched state-of-the-art PDA Phones and smartphones for mobile operators and distributors in Europe, the US, and Asia. These machines are available as HTC devices and as products individually customized for operator and device partners.

HTC is one of the fastest growing companies in the mobile device market. The company is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange under ticker 2498. For more information about HTC, please visit www.htc.com.

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Spb GPRS monitor shipping with Samsung WiTu

20.12.08

St. Petersburg, December 04th, 2008 - Spb Software, world's leading Windows Mobile software developer is proud to announce that Spb GPRS Monitor is shipped in Samsung WiTu - a version of Samsung i900 (globally known as Omnia), specially customized for the Russian market. Spb GPRS Monitor (now Spb Wireless Monitor) is a software tool that measures incoming and outgoing data traffic and calculates network usage costs, according to configurable data plans.

Samsung WiTu is an advanced multimedia handset, offering an array of appealing online services and widgets, such as quick access to popular social networks, photosharing, and instant messaging.  The preinstalled Spb GPRS Monitor enables Samsung WiTu users to monitor and control their data traffic, which is especially important when mobile Internet is so accessible, and incautious online activity entails high costs.



"We want our customers to be happy with their handsets, and we want to safeguard them from generating unexpectedly high data charges," - comments Mr. Kim, Yoon Soo, Samsung Russia Telecom Department Director, - "This is exactly why we chose to preinstall Spb GPRS Monitor in Samsung WiTu, a proven data usage monitoring tool, that has been on the market for years and is loved by end-users."


*** Further Information and Downloads ***

Spb GPRS (Wireless) Monitor for Pocket PC webpage (http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/wirelessmonitor/)
Spb GPRS (Wireless) Monitor for Smartphone webpage (http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/smartphone/wirelessmonitor)
Samsung WiTu (SGH-i900) webpage (in Russian) (http://www.samsung.ru/products/phones/communicator/sgh-i900/)


*** About Samsung Electronics (http://www.samsung.com) ***

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2007 consolidated sales of approximately US$105 billion. Employing approximately 150,000 people in 134 offices in 62 countries, the company consists of four main business units: Digital Media Business, LCD Business, Semiconductor Business, and Telecommunication Business. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, memory chips, mobile phones and TFT-LCDs.


*** About Spb Software (http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com) ***

Spb Software is the global leader in the design of Windows Mobile applications, with R&D and design centers in Russia and Thailand, and presence in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the USA. Spb combines a unique line of popular consumer products and cooperation with the world's leading OEMs and carriers, such as Acer, ASUS, Gigabyte, HTC, O2, Palm, Pharos, Samsung, SingTel, Sky Link, Sony Ericsson, Swisscom Mobile, Toshiba, T-Mobile, and VimpelCom.

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Unable to turn of T-Mobile G1 Data?

20.12.08

I found this article over at Pocketnow.com and thought it was an interesting read.  Apparently if you have a T-Mobile G1 phone, you better not take it overseas.  Apparently the device will stay connected to the Internet - even if the data connection is disabled - causing you to run up a nice bill by the end of your trip.

Read the full article here.

Thanks to the team at Pocketnow.com for posting this.

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AT&T wants a single OS to support

20.12.08

An interesting article from Tech Yahoo! this morning about AT&T and their desire to have one mobile operating system that they support so they can develop applications and not be fragmented.

Based on the article it seems that Symbian is the leading candidate but others are still in the running.  So what does this mean for Windows Mobile AT&T subscribers?  Not much other than they may not be subsidizing the devices in the future and would have no support from them on setting up your unlocked devices.

Give the full article a read

Thanks to fellow Mobian Sascha Segan for point the article out.

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Heading to Mobius

20.12.08

This morning I am heading off to Seattle for Mobius 2008.  Mobius is a group of web site owners, writers and journalist that focus on mobile technologies, their future and the marketplace in general.  It is a group that I was invited to join in 2005 and I have enjoyed the friendship and honest banter that the group has had over those years around mobile technology.

Although Microsoft is one of the primary sponsors of Mobius, other platforms are represented as well as manufactures and carriers.  Much of what we discuss will be NDA so I won't be able to share specific details about what we hear and see.  Of course I will share what I can!

Over the course of the next few days I will be updating the Mobius 2008 section of the site (see the 2005 section for a feel for what Mobius is about and what we do).  Be sure to stay tuned.

For more information on Mobius, visit http://www.mobiussite.com

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Winter Mobius 2008 Update

20.12.08

This morning I began posting on the events of Winter Mobius 2008.  You can find my posting on the site under the Mobius 2008 menu.  

This will be updated throughout the next couple of days so check back often!

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5th Annual Top 10 Applications List

20.12.08

2008 marks the 5th year that I have published a end-of-the-year Top 10 applications for Windows Mobile. I enjoy doing this little round up each year as it allows me to take a look back at all of the new and exciting applications that came out in 2008 and narrow them down to the ten applications that I think every Windows Mobile owner should have on their device. The trick, however, is narrowing it down to 10 applications! 2008 marked a banner year for many developers in the community as virtually every major application available at the beginning of the year had been updated once if not twice by the time December rolled in. This is impressive by any measure and the quality of the applications and improvements continue to stretch far beyond minor updates or "facelifts" of the interface.

Read the full Top 10 list for 2008 here!

All of these applications are on sale for 20% off at our software store. Just use the coupon code CFTOP2008 when you check out.

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Complete Winter Mobius 2008 Review

20.12.08

Mobius 2008 is being held in Seattle, Washington on December 8-11, 2008 and this will be my second invitation to join the annual meeting. It will be a great time catching up with friends and colleagues in the blogging and media community!

You can read my full review of events at Mobius 2008 here!

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