Compared to the capabilities of desktop multimedia players (see for example the excellent WMP vs Winamp vs iTunes vs MediaMonkey for more info on their capabilities), the mobile ones certainly lack when it comes to fetching, searching for, editing, storing and, in several cases, even accessing / displaying different kinds (album art and/or other images; textual genre / composer / title etc. info; lyrics etc.) of information in audio files.

We’ve recently redesigned our web site, and I’m impressed. It must be among the best Windows Mobile/Smartphone sites on the Internet. This week we’ll also note a video review of the Samsung and other device news, as well as a new version of Google Maps for Windows Mobile.

Nicky Boom is a port of a famous Amiga platform game. It's one of those games that makes me wish I had an Amiga back in the day. (I still remember that trip I made to Warren Radio in Peoria, IL back in the 80s and they just happened to have an Amiga on display. It almost seemed like a magical experience. Where have all the good times gone?) 

Along with tags and cover arts, lyrics are also highly sought-for and widely used metadata, particularly with non-English folks who would like to know the lyrics of the songs they listen to.

"July 30, 2008 – VITO Technology is proud to present Task2Gather - a brand-new free service for online task management. Task2Gather is one place for all your tasks and projects: family, social, business, and private. Task2Gather lets you put your tasks online and invite family members, colleagues, or clients to participate and achieve common goals."

I've reviewed a number of new software input methods this year for Windows Mobile touchscreen devices. They have all generally used the standard qwerty layout that would be found on a hardware keyboard. Fitaly throws you for a loop because it uses a non-querty layout, and incidently the name is derived from the arrangement of letters on the keyboard (just like querty).  The fitaly layout was designed in the nineties for pencomputers, when Jean Ichbiah thought that writing with a stylus required a different type of keyboard.

  I used to be a devoted FlexWallet user until it was subsumed by Ilium Software’s eWallet. I was always too lazy to try to convert to another wallet application. But, eWallet made it seamless, and I’ve never looked back because eWallet is by far the superior product.

Did you know that you can get free technical support on Windows Vista SP1 until 18 March 2009? 

Free, unlimited installation and compatibility support is now available for all worldwide customers using Windows Vista SP1, until March 18, 2009. Telephone support is available worldwide.

The built-in Windows Media Player has always suffered from a major flaw: it didn’t support resuming the song from the last position after restarting the player. XDA-Devs forum member Wolfman-XP (the same guy that has also developed AVRCP support for GSPlayer) has fixed this: he has released a plug-in that remembers the last position where you press(ed) the Pause button.

So what is the RedFly?

Following is an update to my previous article on the CPU usage of the audio player applications. Please consult the old article on how the data should be interpreted.

"It's been awhile since we released our last new title, but for a very good reason. Our latest title, Jaybot's Catchy Cadence is an amazing game, and it's now ready to play!"

Over the years, I have extolled the virtues of Resco File Explorer in its many iterations. Somehow I neglected to mention the recent release of the 2008 version.

Reviews of the Treo 800w, iPAQ 910, and Samsung Omnia are popping up, so I want to note these and give a bit more info about these and other new devices. Also, this week we’ll touch on the new mobile version of Live Mesh, Microsoft’s new approach to cloud computing.

Treo 800w and iPAQ 910

I’ve been giving so much coverage to the exciting new touch devices that I sort of forget that there are other form factors that continue to be popular, including those like the BlackBerry with a front-facing keyboard.

GSPlayer is a well-known, excellent, free (!!!!), constantly updated audio player application I’ve very frequently elaborated on (search my blog for my related articles).

"The efficiency of the Fitaly on-screen keyboard lies in its layout and its enhanced features. Most people think 10 fingers are necessary to do extensive texting. Fitaly allows 10-finger speed with a single pointer. As one user puts it: “Simply nothing better. I’ve tried many different input programs and fitaly stands out well above the rest."

It has been quite some time since Palm has come to the table with a new Windows Mobile Professional device: enter the Treo 800W, WM 6.1. At first glance it doesn’t appear all that different than its predecessor, the Treo 750W. But there are some subtle and not so subtle differences.
The new Treo is much thinner, the screen is the same size, there is a Sprint logo on the top, there are two new hardware buttons—one for mail, one for calendar, the keyboard keys have a new look and feel-they are flat instead of rounded and therefore seem to have less definition.

Have you ever wished you could be notified automatically on your phone what’s happening on your Facebook site? Better yet, what if you could see what’s transpiring and be able to interact with Facebook on your phone just as you would on your desktop? A free application from Macrospecs, Inc. called FriendMobilizer makes this possible. It only works on Windows Mobile 6 and higher phones. But if you don’t have one, you should not consider anything less.

There is an updated version of Windows Live for Windows Mobile and it is available for download. Enter the following address in your mobile browser to get the latest version: http://wl.windowsmobile.com

In my last Bible of Windows Mobile, Symbian and Blackberry webcamera applications directly usable in desktop messengers like Live Messenger, I haven’t elaborated on the apps that are a bit different: they let for using your camera-equipped handset as a camera for your messaging application running on your desktop PC (connected to your handset).