Okay, okay. This isn’t really news and I am a bit slow. If you did not catch the news earlier, like me, here it goes!

SoftMaker released a new beta of their TextMaker for Pocket PC 2006 on July 21, 2006. This new beta will expire on August 31, 2006. You can find out more here. The list of new features in TextMaker 2006… Read More

“Idruna Software Inc. has released Pocket Phojo 4.0, the smallest and most effective solution for editing, captioning, and transmitting images from anywhere in the world. With customers including AFP, The US Marine Corps, and The Associated Press, Pocket Phojo has proven itself as the ideal replacement for bulky laptops, successfully getting images back to base from Mount Everest, the middle of the Atlantic Ocean in a rowing boat, and a few football matches in Germany. Pocket Phojo 4.0 has unique new features designed for covering large events such as the World Cup, where it was used to great effect. Simply connect your Pocket PC to your Canon 1D Mark II, Mark II N, or 1Ds Mark II via USB, take your photos as normal, then all you have to do is press the Protect button on the back of the camera to transmit a fully captioned and press ready image via WiFi, Bluetooth Phone, or BGAN satellite modem, while you keep shooting! Pocket Phojo has become an extremely powerful yet easier to use alternative to the Canon WFT-E1 WiFi transmitter, and greatly extends the capabilities of the supported cameras.”

If you’re a professional photographer, then you may be interested to hear what new features Pocket Phojo 4.0 has to offer. Alongside support for real-time photo snapping and transmission, Pocket Phojo 4.0 allows you to geotag photos with a GPS receiver connected to a Pocket PC, and also open RAW files in their entirety. As far as Pocket PCs are concerned, some of these concepts haven’t been explored much, so it’s great seeing Idruna taking the first steps forward. The application itself isn’t cheap, but then, you’d be hard-pressed finding features like this elsewhere.

“The next time you see a guy sitting poolside here furiously tapping away on a PDA, don’t pity the fool’s inability to leave work. It may be the blackjack table he can’t get enough of. This year, field trials will begin at the Venetian Hotel-Casino for the nation’s first mobile gambling devices, handheld gadgets that will enable guests to play video slots, poker, blackjack and roulette from almost anywhere on the property. The development promises to be the next big innovation in casino technology since the advent of coinless slot machines, an opportunity to allow gamblers to keep playing through lunch at the buffet, during a meeting in the convention center or perhaps while waiting for “Blue Man Group” to start.”

Last year, we saw Nevada’s legalisation of the use of mobile devices for gambling within the casino spaces. Now it’s all set to take off. Check out the article, then let us know your thoughts. How well do you think it’ll work?

Imagine this: you?re working in Outlook in your home office or kitchen, just as you do several times per day, and you add a new contact, then mfake an appointment with the new contact for a meeting later. It?s time to head out for the afternoon, so you grab your Smartphone in the other room, look down at the screen, and see that your meeting already shows up on the screen. Since your device has just… Read More

Here’s a simple contest. All you need to do is head over to the Ilium Software Blog, come up with a great caption for the picture (and also ask them why only one person has a mobile device on show ), and you’ll be in the running to win an Ilium Software application or stylus pen (if you already have all the applications).

Millions of RAZRs with new models on the way and a hot new profitable smartphone in the Q make the improbable seem plausible — The world’s number two mobile phone company may now be in a position to the challenge the Finnish phone giant for the top spot.

“Handcrafted silver 925 appliqués highlight the external display, logo and mesh protector, giving your RAZR a unique look. Made from the highest quality leather, available in several colors and featuring an ultra slim design, camera cutout, and access to external display & USB port.

Get smart with the Vaja Silver Collection, available only at http://www.vajacases.com.”
Read More

“Quanta will be using the 3G-324M Toolkit to develop a handset based on Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system, running on an Intel PXA270 application chip and a Qualcomm MSM6280 baseband chip. The RADVISION 3G-324M Toolkit is uniquely adept to run in environments as this ? equipped with easy to use APIs, optimized CPU usage, patent-pending multiplexing technology, and innovative optional features that reduce time-to-market while optimizing interoperability. The 3G-324M Toolkit also uses a wide range of server equipment because of its feature-rich capabilities and robust performance.”

Quanta, the creators of the O2 Xda Atom and HP iPAQ rw6800 series, is busy working on a new 3G mobile device running Windows Mobile 5.0, as indicated in this RADVISION press release. The client is still a big question mark, though. Could it be O2 or HP again, or perhaps Acer, which has been suggested in recent news?

When you get a speeding ticket in certain locales, the officer may be using a Pocket PC to handle the entire process….

The South Games has released Simon Says, a Pocket PC version of the classic memory game. The trick is to follow the sequence of flashing colours and notes, which gets longer on each turn….

Traffic tracking and route saving key additions to Google’s wireless mapping service.

Those of you using Spb Weather 1.5 may have noticed Spb’s interesting decision to remove the popular weather.com source. The end-result? Close to zero support for cities worldwide. That has now changed with today’s release of Spb Weather 1.6 with support for over 4000 cities using the GisMeteo source. I just tested it out by plugging in a few cities around my area, and its accuracy is comparable to that of the weather.com source. The update also features improvements in the download engine. Spb Weather 1.6 is a free update for existing v1.x users. If you’ve yet to try it, you can download a free trial version and purchase the full version from our affiliate software store.

With update, service now automatically synchronizes documents, photos, contacts, bookmarks, calendars, etc. between PCs and smartphones.

“Last month we shot 2 video reviews of Sony’s latest UMPC-like wonders, the UX50 and the UX90. Sony then released a limited version of the UX90 (1.2GHz CPU) with 16GB of flash RAM HDD, so we decided to take this device for a spin and check if the few additional bucks are really worth spending. We won’t spoil the pleasure of watching the 14 minutes video review but what we can tell you rightaway is that despite our mixed feelings about the UX50 and UX90, we are now really impressed by this flash RAM based version and we are really looking forward to see more devices like this !!!”

Here it is people! Sony’s latest UX Micro PC nicely sweetened with 16GB of integrated flash memory as opposed to the traditional, boring, moving-parts-infected hard drive. Check out the 14-minute video review that Akihabara News put together, and as a courtesy, we politely request that you contain your drool while viewing! We’re trying to run a germ-free shop here.

Here’s a list of various Pocket PCs listed in Pricegrabber’s database, and the lowest price on each model. Clicking through to the vendor selling the product helps support this site, so if you’re interested in learning more about the product, click. Here are the five most popular Pocket PCs and their prices according to Pricegrabber searches:

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If you’re a Battery Pack user or former user, you’ll want to take a look at this latest version. Omega One has added a load of new features and enhancements including a newly designed program / battery / power bars, a calendar bar allowing you to see your next 50 appointments, a search bar for a variety of web-related searches, enhanced start button functionality, and a memory saving feature they call Power Task which automatically closes programs after several minutes of inactivity.

If you are a registered user of any older versions of Battery Pack / Battery Pack Pro or even any other battery monitoring product, you’ll want to visit Omega One’s update page for details on how to obtain the latest version for $9.99. Otherwise, the standard price is $29.99 which you can get at our company store. Trial download is available. Let us know your thoughts if you decide to give this a try.

Product Category:Utility
Manufacturer: Unwired Software
Where to Buy: PocketGear
Price: $29.95 USD
System Requirements: Pocket PC: Windows Mobile for Pocket PC 2003 or above, 1.5 Megabytes of storage space, and the program may be installed to main or expansion memory. Desktop PC Requirements: Windows 98 or higher, 4 Megabytes of hard drive space available, constant Internet connectivity, and ActiveSync 3.7 or above.

Pros:

• User friendly interface;
• Allows sharing and syncing a Pocket PC with a desktop PC or with other registered Pocket PC users;
• Supports syncing ?on the fly? via the Internet;
• Can be synchronized with as many desktops as desired without additional licensing;
• Includes useful templates, and it is also very customizable.

Cons:

• Configuring the desktop to work with the Pocket PC can be confusing;
• Syncing between Pocket PCs requires text messaging;
• Each Pocket PC that the user wishes to sync with requires its own registration number;
• Removing a desktop from the sync list can be cumbersome.

Summary:
Unwired Software’s InfoShare v1.3 eases the creation of everything from a grocery list to tracking expenses while on a business trip. In addition to list creation and tracking, it also enables the user to share his or her lists with other users and synchronize the list with a desktop or multiple desktops that have a constant Internet connection. Whether you’re a parent on the go who needs to keep up with a ?to do? list, or a frequent traveler who needs to share information or track expenses, InfoShare 1.3 may be a valuable addition to your Pocket PC.

Read on for the full review! [more]

“ThumbMagic is designed for complete one-handed operation of the Pocket PC device. You can create appointments, tasks, contacts in an extremely intuitive manner without using your stylus! Completely redesigned interfaces for text entry such as a built in qwerty keyboard, sequential data input for making the process much simpler makes it a perfect companion on the go! You can also send Emails (multiple POP3 accounts/ Outlook), SMS messages, MMS messages all through a SINGLE unified 3 step messaging system. Not to forget, all of this can be done without the need of a stylus! Besides, a powerful plugin system which currently comes with two default plugins (a scientific calculator & a device statistics plugin) which takes the potential of expansion to the next level.”

ThumbMagic 1.4 is out, with new features and the plugins available. ThumbMagic, if you haven’t had a chance to play around with it yet, allows you to speed up routine tasks on your Pocket PC by simply using your thumb - no stylus required. To celebrate the release, San (The developer) has graciously offered to give 3 Pocket PC Thoughts Readers a free copy!

All you have to do to be considered for the contest is to post a reply to this thread, answering the following question: What task on your Pocket PC do you wish was completely stylus-free by default?. Post your thoughts by August 2nd at 2 PM TDT! (Thoughts Daylight Time, a.k.a. Mountain Daylight Time)