March 2009 - Posts

SPB TV
Tue, Mar 31 2009 19:06

SPBTV

SPB is now turning to on-line services. The latest one is called SPB TV, and just has the name suggest it allows users to playback TV channels content on your device. With more than 70 subscription free international TV channels and a TV guide, this IP-TV solution seems quite interesting.

More info on SPB’s website and you can also check out the review of SPB TV at WMExperts.

My weekly Top Ten favorite applications - Updated
Tue, Mar 31 2009 13:12

kbshot1  fingermenu2  Screen05

This week I have two new entries on my Top 10: Fingersuite (number 2) and File Explorer Extension (10):

  1. WKTask
  2. Finger Keyboard and Finger Suite
  3. Batti 2.4
  4. Microsoft MyPhone
  5. File Explorer Extension
  6. Call Firewall
  7. Windows Sideshow
  8. Logmein
  9. Group SMS
  10. My Diarist
FingerSuite – WM 6.5 menus style!
Tue, Mar 31 2009 12:56

fingermenu2

I must say that typical Windows Mobile menus are not very finger friendly. I guess this though is shared by many since it seems to have reached Microsoft, and the next version of Windows Mobile will see this improved.

While we are waiting for Windows Mobile 6.5, we can already have much more user friendly menus and message boxes, being the cherry on top of the cake the possibility to create your own skins!

Download Fingersuite here.

More over Xda-Developers, via WMPoweruser.com

More news on the Windows Marketplace
Tue, Mar 31 2009 12:24

The last days have been quite rich in news about the upcoming Windows Marketplace for Windows Phones, but the following video will for sure clear many of the doubts on how it will work.

Another interesting bit of news for developers is that they can submit applications for free!

File Explorer extension - a must have!
Sun, Mar 29 2009 19:17

Screen05

This is surely a must have software, and I advise everyone installing this add-on that provides some very nice enhancements to the default Windows Mobile File Explorer:

  • Resizable header for easy sorting by file name, date of last modification or size
  • Tree view of folders; you can now jump easily from a location to any other on your device in one step
  • Show extension option for those who ask themselves the same question I do: “What type of file is this?
  • Icon view that enables the display of files as icons similar to your desktop computer
  • Real time image preview; now you don’t have to open several files in order to send the one you desire
  • Open with Program allows you easily select an application to open the specific file you select (useful in case you don’t have the correct file associations or when you want Album app to open your images instead of Windows default picture viewer.
  • File property context menu for easy renaming and attribute changing
  • Open all executables with Parameters in case you need a special parameter when launching an application
  • Sending shortcut to Programs for instant shortcut creation of executables placed directly in Programs folder in Start Menu.

Download it for free here.

HTC Touch Pro 2 in images
Sat, Mar 28 2009 1:12

These images have been around for a few days now, but I just had to share them with you.

Trust me these are worse seeing :)

200902181417HTC-touch-pro-2-live-7  htc_touch_pro2_handson14

This is the coolest looking keyboard plus touch screen device I have ever laid my eyes on :)

Check out more images here and here and the full specs here.

by Nuno Luz | with no comments
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Most widely used Smartphone in the enterprise in 2009?
Fri, Mar 27 2009 20:27

Capturar

Well what do you think about this?

It seems clear to me that Windows Mobile still has the advantage over the consumer focused iPhone and the BlackBerry (due to the great ecosystem around the WM platform).

But never mind what I think, just tell everyone what you think in this pool.

by Nuno Luz | with no comments
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Handwriting recognition software roundup
Fri, Mar 27 2009 13:41

Screen02

I have been asked by several people which is the best free and commercial Handwriting Recognition Software or HRS for short.

So I just made a list of some of the solutions I know:

Title Link Remarks License

MobileWrite

http://www.inkmarksoftware.com/page5.html free if you evaluate the new Pocket PC product and provide feedback commercial
Microsoft Transcriber

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=a8b343c3-2eee-41e3-9339-f7b303f4b386&displaylang=en

QVGA only free
Phatware Caligrapher

http://www.phatware.com/index.php?q=product/details/calligrapher

  commercial
Penreader

http://www.penreader.com/pocket-pc-software/PenReader.html

  commercial
  

If you know any other solution please let me know so I can update this information.

Exchange Server Remote Connectivity Analyzer
Fri, Mar 27 2009 12:44

ExRca

This is a great tool to test your server and services like Exchange Activesync and also Autodiscover to check out what could be wrong on your server settings and is making your devices connection to the server fail:

“The Exchange Server Remote Connectivity Analyzer is a web site for IT Administrators to validate and diagnose end-to-end Exchange scenarios.  The site simulates multiple Exchange client access and inbound service related scenarios from outside the customer’s infrastructure and reports whether the test was successful.  If the test fails, we tell the IT Admin exactly where in the process it failed as well as provide troubleshooting tips on resolving the issue.”~

To test your server just visit https://testexchangeconnectivity.com/ and select the service you wish to diagnose.

Slideshare goes mobile
Tue, Mar 24 2009 11:56

Screen01

 

The famous on-line presentation sharing tool now supports mobile devices, including off course Windows Phones.

To access Slideshare from your Windows Phone just enter this url on your favorite browser:

 

http://m.slideshare.com

 

Another new feature of this fantastic free service is the possibility to upload presentations using the Office 2007 formats: pptx and docx.

So start sharing your presentations now at Slideshare.com

Portuguese mobile operator to open AppStore for Wimo
Sun, Mar 22 2009 21:40

tmn_logo_hp

Portuguese mobile operator TMN, has recently started accepting submissions from programmers who wish to sell their software for Windows Mobile devices directly to TMN customers via their tmn AppStore.

With no submission fee, anyone can create an application and easily sell it for 0€, 1€, 0,50€, 2€ or 4€.

All the software must be in Portuguese and TMN will charge 50% commission for each sale.

You can check out the rules here, and submit your application here.

In case you need help translating your application to Portuguese, ask for help on the following e-mail: microsoft@wmobiletek.com.

My Top 10 applications for Windows Phones
Sat, Mar 21 2009 18:56

top10

This is a recurrent question that people ask me, so I will post with regularity my Top 10 applications or connected services for Windows Phones.

At the moment I am actively using the following applications:

  1. WKTask
  2. Finger Keyboard
  3. Batti 2.4
  4. Microsoft MyPhone
  5. Logmein
  6. Call Firewall
  7. Windows Sideshow
  8. Group SMS
  9. My Diarist
  10. WifiRouter

 

What’s your favorite app?

by Nuno Luz | with no comments
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Exchange Server 2007 Visio Stencils
Sat, Mar 21 2009 17:48

stencils

Ever needed to exemplify an Exchange Server 2007 Messaging solution arquitecture using Visio and felt the need to have specific shapes for the diferent Exchange Server Roles?

Well here you can download those stencils and import them to your “My Shapes” folder so you can start making your Visio projects with more detail and more attractive.

Windows Mobile Emulator images and Exchange 2007
Sat, Mar 21 2009 17:39

exchange 

Say you want to test drive Exchange Server 2007 SP1 security policies on an emulator image?

You won’t be able to do it.

When preparing my Lab on Exchange Server 2007 SP1 Security policies for Windows Mobile 6.1 devices, I got discovered that the emulators come with the EAS feature disabled.

It took me a while to find out what was causing the failure to sync between the XP VM with Visual Studio 2008 with the Windows Mobile 6.1.4 emulator images and the  Exchange Server 2007 SP1 VM I had setup on my laptop.

I then got my hands dirty on the registry of the emulator, only to realize that Exchange Activesync was disabled by default on all emulator images :(

So if you ever need to test security policies against the emulator, please edit the following values using PHM regedit:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Security\Policies

"0000100d"=dword:64 (decimal)

"0000100e"=dword:64 (decimal)

"00001017"=dword:180 (decimal)

"0000101c"=dword:1 (decimal)

"00001021"=dword:3136 (decimal)

"00001024"=dword:0 (decimal)

"0000102d"=dword:4096 (decimal)

"0000102e"=dword:4096 (decimal)

Now you’re setup to test the Exchange 2007 SP1 security policies on the emulator :)

Second Mobile IT PRO & DEV in Lisbon
Sat, Mar 21 2009 17:16

 

After a period of some inactivity due to my involvement on the biggest Portuguese mobility event, the Second IT PRo & DEV, I am now back.

As for the seminar, this year we had two full days, the first one dedicated to the developer community and the second day for the IT community.

On the first day, for developers we had a panel of speakers that included Radu Motisan from Teksoft, Alexander Shargin from SPB, and Renato Haddad, a Brazilian MVP, that joined us via Live Meeting.

We also had Francisco Chaves local MCB leader and portuguese MVP’s João Paulo Figueira and Alberto Silva.

Sessions ranged from LINQ programming for Windows Mobile (by Renato Haddad) to extending a Windows Mobile device functionality by connecting it to a microcontroller in order to turn on or off an led (by Radu Motinsan).

 

On the second day, we had Carlos Oliveira, responsible for the MyPhone product and the new Microsoft R&D center in Braga – Portugal.

National operator Optimus also participated, as well as device distributors MDevices and Brighpoint.

We also had a very interesting session on OCS by Miguel Teixeira with some new interesting features of Office Communications Server for Windows Mobile.

If you wish to see some photos of the event, click here.

by Nuno Luz | with no comments
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