When Microsoft launched Windows Mobile 6.5 earlier this month, the latest version of the company's operating system for cellphones and mobile devices was met with lukewarm (if not hostile) reviews. In a nutshell, the biggest complaint is that the operating system was essentially unchanged from the previous few versions and didn't offer much to convince users to stick with the platform instead of switching to an iPhone, Blackberry, Google Android, or Palm device.

But there may be hope. Windows Mobile 6.5 does have a new and improved web browser and home screen, even if the calendar and contacts applications haven't changed in half a decade. And now it looks like Microsoft is working on an incremental update that may or may not be called Windows Mobile 6.5.1 that will bring a number of minor but significant improvements.

Unofficial builds of Windows Mobile 6.5 have been leaking onto the web for the past few months, and blogger Long Zheng reports that among other things:

• There's a new contact application that's more finger-friendly
• The start menu and close buttons have been moved to the bottom toolbar, which allows the toolbar at the top to be thinner and hold status icons only
• UI elements including buttons and check boxes have received a visual refresh

Windows Mobile 7 is expected out next year, and it will reportedly represent a major shift by including more finger-friendly controls and a new version of Office Mobile. But until then, it sounds like Windows Mobile 6.5.1 might be the way to go if you're stuck with a Windows Mobile device. Long Zheng reports that early builds are already available for download for some mobile phones in the shadier areas of the internet.

Microsoft has pulled back the thin veil that was covering Windows Mobile 6.5 and launched its next generation operating system for mobile phones. And it's pretty much exactly what you would expect based on all the information that's been coming out over the past year or so. That's to say, it appears to be a minor, mostly cosmetic update to Windows Mobile 6.1.

A number of tech news sites have published detailed reviews of Windows Mobile 6.5. And here's what they generally have in common: Microsoft has tweaked the home screen to make it more attractive and more user friendly. The program launcher has also received a minor cosmetic update that makes it easier to navigate with a finger and no stylus. But there's no good way to sort programs or arrange them the way you like them. And when you actually launch the applications you're often greeted with programs that haven't changed much since Windows Mobile was called Pocket PC 2002. For instance, the calendar is as ugly and feature-free as it was 7 years ago.

The web browser is actually a pretty major improvement. It's based on Internet Explorer 6, which may be incredibly out of date when it comes to desktop browsers. But for a mobile web browser, it's pretty good at rendering most of the web content you'll encounter. It also has improved navigation buttons that don't take up as much on-screen real estate. Those buttons disappear when you're not using them. The browser supports Flash, and you can zoom in and out of web pages to see the full page or just the text area you want to read.

• Windows Mobile 6.5 review - Engadget says not much has really changed
  
• Windows Mobile 6.5 1st Look - Mobility Site has what is probably the most extensive walkthrough of the bunch
  
• Windows Mobile 6.5 Review: There's No Excuse for This - Gizmodo has lots of pictures, lots of complaints
  
• IE 6 for Windows phones: Interface improved - CNET suggests that Internet Explorer 6, at least, is a welcome update
  
• Windows Mobile 6.5 disappoints; no Start customizations and stylus still required - ZDNet decides Windows Mobile 6.5 fails to live up to even relatively low expectations

The long and short of it? If you're leaning toward getting a Windows Mobile phone anyway, Windows Mobile 6.5 has a few features that you might like. But it's hardly a home-run hit that will help Microsoft compete with Apple, Palm, Google, Symbian, and other mobile platforms. We'll have to wait for Windows Mobile 7 to see any major changes in the platform.

Long time Windows Mobile developer WebIS have announced on their blog the forthcoming release of Pocket Informant 9, their brilliant PIM replacement product, cementing their commitment to the platform despite recent BlackBerry and iPhone releases.

The update, which can be downloaded in CAB form from the WebIS site as part of a 'soft launch', is 100% complete, awaiting supporting documentation and translations before making it's full debut.

Originally released in 2001, Pocket Informant consistently scoops up Windows Mobile software awards and is one of the best selling applications on the platform.

Version 9 adds features specifically tailored for Windows Mobile 6.5, as well as being backward compatible with previous Windows Mobile releases. New gesture support built into WM 6.5 enables swiping left and right in Day, Agenda, Month View, Week, Task View, and Date Picker to navigate between time periods and swiping left and right in editors to navigate between the tabs.

As well as the new gesture functionality, the new update adds new events and journal views, GTD support in tasks (Inbox, Context Groups, Project Groups, Next Actions), starred tasks, 'bounce scrolling', contact links directly in task / appointment subjects, a one month date picker based on the full month view, a month view free time finder, touch friendly editors, much improved touch support, full PNG support for icons and a free add-on pack of over 1200 icons.

Pocket Informant 9 is expected to receive a full release around 28th September, $10 cheaper than version 8 at $19.95, but if you'd like to try it out in the meantime, head on over to the Pocket Informant download server to grab a CAB format release.

Twitter's phenomenal growth means that people are posting updates to the service faster than ever. Earlier in the year, the number of tweets posted to the service hit a wall: more specifically the number 2147483647 which was the maximum size of an integer in a fair few programming languages.

Tomorrow morning, however, Twitter will be forcing through Twitpocalypse II where the number of tweets pushes past the unsigned integer limit of 4294967296. And that may cause issues for unprepared Twitter applications.

In a mailing to the Twitter API developers list, the Twitter API team have reminded developers that their applications need to cope with numbers of this size - and if you're wondering why your favourite mashup isn't working after 11:30am Pacific Time tomorrow, this may well be the culprit.

Palringo, the multi platform rich messaging client for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux (via WINE), Windows Mobile, Android, iPhone, Symbian, Blackberry and Java (phew!), that we first covered back in 2007, has just received an update to it's Windows and Windows Mobile iterations.

Palringo is an IM client with a twist - as well as supporting a multitude of instant messaging services (Windows Live, AIM, Yahoo IM, Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber, iChat / MobileMe, QQ, Gadu-Gadu and Facebook chat), Palringo provides some features not seen in competing products such as chat groups, location sharing, picture sharing and push-to-talk speech.

Changes in the new release include support for contact avatars (although these can be disabled if required), flick / kinetic scrolling, the ability to toggle the status bar (useful for devices with small screens!), variable font size, the ability to set online-status for all services at once, an improved installation process and many other improvements and fixes.

The Symbian client was also updated last week, adding a host of new languages, reduced data usage which also results in a speed increase and a number of bug fixes including improved compatibility with the Samsung i8910.

Palringo is free to download (a premium version is available on iPhone) from the Palringo website or from your mobile device's application store.

ShopSavvy, the application which allows users to scan a barcode and find the best local and online prices, is coming to Windows Mobile.

Already available on Android and coming soon on iPhone, the free ShopSavvy application has proved incredibly popular - at the time of writing it is rated the 8th most popular download in the Android Market.

Images from the developers website show the application running on a Touch Diamond2 equipped with Windows Mobile 6.5 - the application will be one of those available immediately (again for free) from the 'Windows Marketplace for Mobile' when it launches in October.

Although initial availability will only be for Windows Mobile 6.5 devices, owners of 6.0 / 6.1 phones will be able to download the application at a later date.

Stealing a jump on Microsoft's own 'Windows Marketplace for Mobile', Samsung have opened the doors to their application store for i900 Omnia owners (provided you live in the UK, France or Italy). We first heard about plans for the Samsung App store a few weeks ago.

Containing around 300 applications that can be purchased by credit / debit card, the application store is installed by downloading a CAB file from the Samsung site. Operator billing is planned for a future update to the store, as is support for newer Samsung WinMo handsets such as the lustworthy Omnia II i8000, the even more lustworthy OmniaPro N7610 and the not so lustworthy OmniaLite B7300.

Applications can be searched and filtered in a user interface that is intuitive and very familiar to anyone who has used a rival application store. One feature we are very pleased to see is the ability to try applications before you buy.

Developers who would like to list their applications in the Samsung store should visit the 'Samsung ​s​e​l​l​e​r​ ​s​i​t​e'​ launched earlier this year.

[via EngadgetMobile]

A new version of Total Commander for Windows is available - version 7.50.

Total Commander is a file manager / windows explorer replacement that is positively packed to the rafters with features such as side-by-side windows, compression and decompression of most popular (and unpopular formats), a fully featured ftp client, file and folder comparison, parallel port linking (remember that?), directory synchronisation and much more.

In Beta / Release Candidate since April, the updated version adds a host of new functionality including full Unicode support, an enhanced help file, improved 64 bit support, improved synchronisation and a powerful search function. The user interface has also been improved with subtle yet effective tweaks.

You can view the full feature list and a massive, massive changelog on the Ghisler site but I think it's fair to say it's a pretty complete toolkit for power Windows users.

Total Commander is available in 64 and 32 bit versions, a historical 16 bit version (hey, I don't doubt there's SOMEONE out there who still needs to use Windows 3.1 for something) and even a pocket version for Windows Mobile devices.
First made available in 1993, it's easy to dismiss Total Commander for its slightly 'old school' user interface, but behind that interface lies a seriously powerful piece of software with a huge following.

Total Commander is shareware with a 30 day trial, after which a licence is priced at $38.

Hat tip to Remo for the heads up!

Many of us change our phones regularly.

The phone world moves on quickly and with carrier subsidies, upgrading to a new device is often cheap or even free, particularly in Europe. While physically transferring your phone number to the new device is usually as simple as swapping in a new SIM card or getting the device activated by the carrier, migrating data can sometimes be a real chore - particularly if you're switching to a different type of phone.

With the arrival of Android in the Smartphone space and it's continuing growth, this is a pain point that is being felt by many users who are switching to Google's new baby from other Operating Systems such as Microsoft's Windows Mobile, Nokia's Symbian OS or RIM's Blackberry OS. Thankfully, there is a solution if you are in one of these camps!

Sprite Software, makers of 'Sprite Backup' have just released a Beta version of their 'Sprite Migrate' tool into the Android Market as a free download. Sprite have a very good reputation in the mobile space, and rightly so. Their products are relied on by millions of users worldwide, shipped by carriers on a number of devices and Sprite certainly have a glowing pedigree!

Sprite Software was founded in 2001 by two former employees of Binary Research, developers of the well known Ghost software that was sold to Symantec in 1998. Any computer technician that has been in the business a few years will tell you how vital Ghost was to their toolkit, and how infallible it was!

How well does it work? For me and my test device, it did exactly what it said it would... everything made it across intact!

Been holding off on buying a new phone until Windows Mobile 6.5 devices are available? It looks like the wait is almost over. Microsoft announced today that the first smartphones running the next generation of Windows Mobile (which will just be called "Windows Phone") will be available on October 6th.

Of course, Microsoft also admits that the odds of you holding out for that new OS before buying a new phone are pretty slim anyway, since the company "discovered that most people who carry a Windows phone don't realize it's running Windows Mobile" anyway.

The new phones will apparently come in a variety of configurations. Some will have keyboards while others will not. Some will have touchscreens, GPS, accelerometers, or high resolution cameras, and others not so much.

In North America we should see devices from HP, HTC, LG, Samsung, and Toshiba carried by AT&T, Bell, Sprint, TEULS, and Verizon. For information on Europe, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific region, check out the Windows Team blog post.

You know what the world really needs right now? Another mobile application store. Because it's just too hard to find good applications for your iPhone, BlackBerry, Google Android, Palm Pre, Symbian, or Windows Mobile phone. Wait, what? It's not? Well, tough noogies. You're getting another app store anyway, this time courtsey of Samsung.

The store will launch for customers in the UK, France, and Italy on September 14th, and it wil open up to additional countries later. At launch, the store will support the Samsung Omni and Samsung I8910 HD phones. There are plans to support additional smartphones later.

The thing is, the Samsung Omnia runs Windows Mobile, which means that the Samsung app store, which will let users download, purchase, and install mobile applications directly from their phones, may eventually wind up competing with the Windows Marketplace for Mobile application from Microsoft. But since Windows marketplace isn't available to the public yet, it looks like Samsung will beat Microsoft to market.

On the other hand, Samsung says a whopping 300 apps will be available at launch. There are already tens of thousands of applications available for Windows Mobile phones that can be downloaded from various sources on the internet. I'd be surprised if Microsoft didn't manage to launch its mobile app store with at least a few more than 300 applications.

[via Engadget]

While Lee has been lamenting the lack of attention to the latest desktop version of Opera, the browser's mobile version is far from obscure. In fact, Opera Mini is burning up the mobile market: not only is it the most-downloaded mobile browser, it's the most-downloaded mobile application, period. This is according to open apps repository GetJar, which has recorded 25 million downloads of Opera Mini. The number is so high partially because Opera Mini is so versatile, with versions available for Java, Android, BlackBerry and WIndows Mobile.

The 25 million figure might not be quite right, though, as GetJar's download page for Opera Mini only shows a little over 18 million downloads. According to a GetJar press release, Opera was only the 3rd most-downloaded app on the site in July. Perhaps the higher figures are a combination of Opera Mini and Opera Mobile, or there's some other reason why they don't mesh with the number I see on GetJar, so I'll give Opera the benefit of the doubt. Even 3rd place and 18 million downloads is a stronger showing than most people imagine when they hear "Opera."

On the other hand, it's interesting to see Opera claiming Most Popular Mobile Application status when there's still some debate as to whether it has more users than the mobile version of Apple's Safari. Of course, Safari wouldn't be included on GetJar, so this popularity contest is already rigged in Opera's favor. Opera recently retook the #1 spot in the mobile browsing market from the iPhone browser, but that's not including Safari users on Apple's other mobile device, the iPod Touch. All in all, Opera Mini is definitely popular, but to call it the most popular might be misleading.

[via ReadWriteWeb]

Microsoft has been making a mobile version of Office for years. But it's only been available on devices running mobile versions of Windows (what we now call Windows Mobile or Windows Phone, and what was once called PocketPC). Today, Microsoft and Nokia announced a deal that will bring Office Mobile to Nokia smartphones.

This is the first time Office Mobile will be available on handsets that don't run Windows Mobile. The two companies have announced plans to work together on a range of mobile solutions. One of the key points is that is that Nokia's Symbian powered smartphones will be able to run mobile versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote. Users will be able to "view, edit, create, and share" Office documents from their mobile phones.

Nokia is also working on improved Exchange ActiveSync support, and expects to roll out support for other features including mobile access to intranet portals build on Microsoft SharePoint Server.

A few days ago we let you know that NewsGator was planning to shut down its once-popular web-based RSS reader. But it looks like the NewsGator web client isn't the only product on the chopping block. The company is also killing off NewsGator Go! and NewsGator Inbox.

NewsGator Inbox is an application that works with Microsoft Outlook to let you read and manage your feeds from the email client. NewGator Go! is a mobile application for BlakBerry and Windows Mobile phones and PDAs, as well as other Java-enabled smartphones.

NewsGator will be launching a new iPhone app soon, but for Windows Mobile and BlackBerry users, the company has this bit of advice: Find a new application that syncs with Google Reader. The company's existing products like the FeedDemon and NetNewsWire desktop RSS readers will be able to synchronize your feeds and read/unread items with Google Reader. It looks like the company decided to retired Inbox and Go! rather than build the same functionality into those apps.

How do you get your news on the go? Do you use a mobile RSS reader for BlackBerry or Windows Mobile? Or do you just use the mobile web interface for Google Reader? Let us know in the comments.

[via The::Unwired]

Lucky Rob Kerr got a little face time with Windows Mobile 6.5 running on a HTC Touch Diamond2. During the demo you'll thrill to the very Zune-y interface, marvel at the nascent Market Place and plotz when you see the My Phone sync. Yep, My Phone backs up your phone's data to your Windows Live account. The iPhone can't do that, can it? More hot icon and web page rendering action over on the Inquirer.

While we're looking forward to 6.5, we hear WinMo 7's premium hotness will be all multi-touch-y feely and totally awesome. Either way, this whole "competition breeds innovation" thing seems to be working.