Touch the Future Now at Staples
Send a file to a buddy in Skype 3.0 beta.
(Credit: CNET)Skype's latest mobile beta for Windows Mobile phones graduated to version 3.0 on Tuesday. Skype 3.0 beta for Windows Mobile integrates two big features from the desktop version--file transferring and SMS. Both are welcome additions that bring the mobile VoIP application much closer in line with the newly updated desktop version, Skype 4.0 for Windows.
The SMS feature has been seamlessly added as a shortcut icon on the contact list page (it's the black circle encasing a tiny cell phone), but you can also initiate a text message by selecting "Send SMS" from the Menu options--the cost will come out of your Skype Credit. The file transfer feature is a bit more buried. To use it, select "Contact Options" from the Menu choices, and then "Send File." This will incur a data charge, so it's best to have a data plan in place before going wild with transfers.
As soon as you ship your image, song, or document out to your buddy, a new tab opens in Skype for Windows Mobile 3.0 beta that keeps track of the transfer and lets you know when your contact has accepted the download. File transfers work both ways, of course, so you'll be able to accept files sent through Skype while you're on the go--crazy photos and important business documents included. File transfer worked without a hitch over our 3G network, as did SMS. Wi-Fi will make them even faster.
Update your status message and buy Skype credit in Skype 3.0 beta.
(Credit: CNET)After SMS and file transferring, the next biggest change is a technical one that most people shouldn't notice--the fact that you won't have to decide between downloading the version for Windows Smartphones or for Pocket PCs. A single one-size-fits-all download makes installation blissfully brainless. In addition, the beta has undergone a few understated, but useful changes to its layout, like being able to update your status, add hyperlinks to chat messages you may have missed, and the option to buy more Skype Credit.
Skype 3.0 beta for Windows Mobile 5.x and 6.x phones is available to try for free. Download it to your PC here or get the CAB file over the air. We're expecting to see the full release available in the next few months, but some of Skype's timeline may depend on the kind of user feedback they get. For our two cents, the additional features have been integrated well, and we hope to see more mobile-specific features in the future, like the capability to snap a picture from within Skype and transfer or SMS it to a pal.
(Credit:
Skype)
Skype for Windows Mobile 2.5 beta, released on Tuesday, essentially brings changes made to Skype's desktop VoIP client (download|review) to Windows Smartphones and Windows Pocket PCs.
The application's display is compact, intuitive, and full-featured.
The mobile version places tabs for your various actions at the bottom of the app. By switching among them, you'll be able to change your online status and see missed calls and instant messages, initiate IMs, or place a call to your contact's Skype account, mobile number, or land line if you've purchased Skype Out. There's also a dialing pad to directly dial a call using an international format.
Like Skype's desktop beta, this Windows Mobile version highlights instant messages. It supports emoticons, but file transferring is what we'd really like to see, and what competitor Fring (downloads) already offers on Symbian phones.
The call quality is going to vary based on your phone model, your headphones, and how fast and stable your data connection is. Test calls were excellent on the Samsung Omnia. The app's biggest drawback--on the touch-screen Omnia at least--is that the tiny icons and links are difficult to accurately press.
As a whole, however, Skype's Windows Mobile beta is good enough to recommend to Windows Mobile users with overseas connections who may have been on the fence about opening a Skype account.
Not every social networking concept strikes gold, even when the coalescing factor is the common interest of finding a good Internet cafe. In the case of WeFi, a hot-spot-finding application with a social community tacked on, various CNET editors have raised a collective eyebrow at some of the more intense methods of attaining human connection, but largely agree that being able to chat with verified friends or nearby Internet surfers adds a useful dimension to the search for reliable Wi-Fi access in comfortable coffee shops.
This First Look at WeFi for Windows laptops and WeFi for Pocket PC tours WeFi's easy-to-use interface and automated hot-spot-sniffers from two Internet-thirsty devices.
Zagat To Go for BlackBerry
For 29 delicious years, the Zagat Survey (pronounced zuh-GAT) has been compiling restaurant ratings from user reviews all over the globe to help foodies and regular people find the perfect spot for a first date, romantic meal, or celebration. For considerably fewer years, it has made its renowned services available for mobile phones.
I reviewed the trial version of Zagat To Go (see all downloads) on a BlackBerry Curve (download) and Windows Mobile Palm Treo (download).
Zagat To Go for BlackBerry may have been custom-built for BlackBerry, but features a surprisingly basic home menu that's still stuck in the dinosaur days of Web 1.0 and doesn't feel suited to the BlackBerry's navigational pearl. If you can get past that, you'll find quick access to Zagat's flagship product of cleverly cobbled user reviews, plus pop-up ratings while in list view for food, decor, service, and average meal cost.
Zagat To Go for Windows Mobile streamlines with a tabbed interface, but lacks hyperlinks.
You would expect extras for a mobile edition, and Zagat To Go offers some. BlackBerry users can click to call an establishment, and pinpoint the location on a map. They can also get directions to and from the restaurant, e-mail the location, and add it as a calendar item or contact. However, the app doesn't take advantage of SMS or link to the restaurant's Web site.
The Windows Mobile version of Zagat To Go looks like a distant cousin with its ratings tiles, notes section, and tabbed windows. Like the BlackBerry version, you can plot your selection on the map, get directions, and add it to your contacts list or calendar. However, click-to-call is completely absent, and there's no Web site listed, let alone hyperlinked.
In both products, Zagat is passing up two opportunities. The first is mobile Web usability in the form of hyperlinks; the second, a chance to revamp its pricing structure and offer a free-to-use product that scoops revenue from ads and coupons rather than from a subscription fee. Zagat To Go would be an appropriate outlet for targeted advertising, and a way to reward existing subscribers to Zagat.com with an upgrade to an ad-free version of the app.
We love feedback, and this great tip describes the behavior of the new Opera Mini 4 mobile browser on one phone, in a way that challenges iPhone browsing.
This from Marion in Texas:
"Good review on Opera Mini 4, but you should try it on a Pocket PC, too! The interface (using Java midlet) has "the O" working like the iPhone! You tap on the screen and the Web page enlarges, and you can scroll with your finger left to right or top to bottom to view the larger page, as well...who needs iPhone?! Opera Mini 4 is great on my HTC 8125 (review) with Windows Mobile 5.0."
Sweet!
(Credit:
Sue RB)
Getting lost isn't for everyone. While some people thrill from the challenge of navigating unknown geographies, the non-orienteering among us pout, or worse, panic. Vacations, with their endless opportunity to discover new territories, tend to spark the maddening frustration of getting, and staying, lost.
Take these mobile apps with you this extended Fourth of July weekend, or on any vacation, for seeking and finding your current location and future destination.
Loki for Firefox and Loki for Internet Explorer are browser toolbars that can act as a laptop GPS by locating your whereabouts. In addition, Loki can help you find businesses and landmarks nearby. Loki for Mobile performs the same trick for Windows Mobile devices.... Read more
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
SnagIt is great for taking screenshots of your PC, but why should stationary users have all the fun?
After all, handset screens may be smaller, but are they any less worthy of digital capture? If you're still using your digital camera to take said screenshots of your Windows Pocket PC or Smartphone, it's time you discovered Screen Capture, a free, friendly app you can load from your PC that takes stills of your mobile screen. Unlike other screenshot programs, you open Screen Capture before shooting your image and close it when you're through, jumping from the program Start menu to the desired screen to grab those shots. Because the app snuggles into the Start menu, it's painless to toggle between screens.
The options menu lets you customize which hardware button becomes your shutter's hot key. "App 1" is the default, but you can choose your favorite of four button triggers. The biggest trick is working out which app number corresponds to which button--on our HP iPaq, "App 1" is the handset's leftmost key.
Click away, and lo and behold, screenshots save as bitmap (BMP) files, accessible through File Explorer. Saving screenshots to your PC is as easy as copying files from the device via ActiveSync (Tools-->Explore device.)
Screen Capture conveniently supports a wide range of Windows Mobile and Windows CE platforms, beginning with Windows Mobile 2003 and above in both handsets. You're also in luck if you've got Windows CE 4.20 and above on your Pocket PC, or Windows CE 4.21 on your Smartphone. Get ready, small-screen shutterbug.
- prev
- 1
- next
