Windows Mobile 6.5 coming mid-year?

Microsoft may begin offering Windows Mobile 6.5 to mobile device manufacturers by the middle of 2009, which means we could see cellphones running the operating system start showing up in the second half of the year.
DigiTimes reports that sources at Taiwanese companies that make handsets expect Microsoft to introduce the updated operating system at Mobile World Congress next month.
There's not a ton of information available about Windows Mobile 6.5. As we reported a few months ago, this will be a bit of an incremental upgrade to hold cellphone makers and customers over until Windows Mobile 7 is ready. But based on the leaked screenshots we've seen, Microsoft certainly has made some changes to the user interface. Will it be enough to keep Windows Mobile devices competitive with the iPhone and mobile devices running Palm's new WebOS, Google Android, or Symbian? We'll have to get back to you on that one.

[Via: Download Squad ]
[Tag: windows-mobile, windows-mobile-6.5 ]

Opera Mobile 9.5 Reviewed (Verdict: Even Better Than Safari Mobile)

Matthew Miller from ZDNet loaded up Opera Mobile 9.5 on his HTC Advantage, a Windows Mobile device, and thinks it's even better than the iPhone's Safari browser. Why? Because he can select text, copy and paste, save passwords and even email individual images from a page. He says it's the best mobile browser he's ever used (even though Google Docs doesn't work correctly). It's definitely even more like a desktop browser than Apple's offering. You don't need to take his word for it—you can see for yourself in his video.
[Via: Gizmodo, The Gadget Blog ]
[Tag: ]

Opera Mobile 9.5: Coming soon, and probably worth the wait

It's been a few months since Opera announced the company was working on a version of Opera 9.5 for Windows Mobile devices. And while Opera has historically been kind enough to offer public beta versions of their commercial software for download, Opera Mobile 9.5 has been pretty elusive so far. But ZDNet's Matt Miller managed to get his hands on a Windows Mobile device with Opera 9.5 preloaded, and suffice it to say he's pretty impressed. Here are some of the highlights from his review:

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  Smooth scrolling and panning with your finger (no stylus needed)
  
  
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  Context-sensitive zooming
  
  
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  Tabbed browsing (this has been available in every version of Opera Mobile that we're aware of)
  
  
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  Save pages for offline viewing
  
  
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  Quick page rendering
  
  
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  Flash Lite 3 support
  
  
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  Supports text selection, copy, and paste
  
  
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  Password manager
  
  
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  Save or send web images

There were some problems. Miller says he could open Google Docs spreadsheets for viewing, but not Word documents. This isn't surprising, since Opera's desktop browser has had compatibility issues with Google Docs and other Google services for a long time.

No word on when Opera will be ready to release Opera Mobile 9.5 for general use. It looks like you may be able to get purchase a phone with the software preinstalled in the not too distant future. But what we're really waiting for is the day when you can download the software and install it on any device. Opera Mobile 8.65 currently has a $24 price tag. We're assuming Opera 9.5 will eventually be available for $30 or less.

[Via: jkOnTheRun ]
[Tag: ]

DivX Mobile Player 0.90 released for Windows Mobile

For years TCPMP was the reigning champ of Windows Mobile video players. The program is light weight, customizable, and can handle practically any video codec you can throw at it. But the developers of TCPMP have moved onto the commercial CorePlayer. So when we saw that there was a new version of the DivX Mobile Player, we figured we'd take it for a spin and see how it stacks up.

The application is pretty. Like really pretty. When you load it up, DivX Mobile Player will automatically detect any videos on your device which it can play. It will then create thumbnail images form the files to make your video list easier to navigate. Unfortunately this can take a while and the program doesn't respond to taps very quickly while your phone or PDA is busy grabbing thumbnails.

The video playback screen is sparse, which is a good thing if all you want to look at is the video. You get a black background, a scrollbar, two menu buttons, and your movie. You can watch your videos in fullscreen mode and get rid of the toolbar buttons. And you can adjust your colors and a few other settings. But there are some important features that are missing, like the ability to adjust your aspect ratio. Seeking also takes an excrutiatingly long time.

We're not quite ready to throw away TCPMP yet, but the DivX Mobile Player is worth keeping an eye on. The latest version features improved power management features, which should help improve battery life while watching videos. The DivX Mobile Player is also available or Symbian devices, but the latest version is 0.89. An update shoul be coming soon. You'll need to register for a free DivX account to download the mobile player.

[Via: Pocket PC Thoughts ]
[Tag: ]

DupeDeDupe removes duplicate Windows Mobile contacts

Have you ever read an article where the title pretty much tells you everything there is to know? Yeah, this article is basically one of those. DupeDeDupe is an applications for Windows Mobile devices that searches for duplicate contacts from your address book.

Paul at MoDaCo wrote the utility, and it's designed to work with AppToDate, which means you can automatically download any future updates.

DupeDeDupe compares each contact's "file as" and email fields as well as home, work, and mobile phone numbers. If all of those fields match, the application considers your contact to be a duplicate.

Overall, the tool is easy to use, fast, and best of all free. It should work on any device running Windows Mobile 5.0 or newer.


[Via: Jason Langridge ]
[Tag: ]