Enjoy the Show!

John O'Donnell Microsoft Dynamics ISV Architect Evangelist
Microsoft Corporation
http://blogs.msdn.com/jodonnell
http://blogs.msdn.com/usisvde
http://www.twitter.com/jodonnel

The up-and-coming app dubbed MySquare looks to have it all: check-ins, tips, friend lists, the ability to explore points and badges, GPS access, and more. It will be available in two versions: a free, ad-supported client and a premium, ad-free version with full map services integration.

MySquare is still in alpha, so if you want to be notified when it launches, you have to sign up here.

MySquare will work on Windows Phone version 6.0 and higher and requires a touch display. We hope they port this app to the new Windows Phone 7, too – it looks great!

Enjoy the show!

John O'Donnell Microsoft Dynamics ISV Architect Evangelist
Microsoft Corporation
http://blogs.msdn.com/jodonnell
http://blogs.msdn.com/usisvde
http://www.twitter.com/jodonnel

With the new software, you can easily send files via email, of course, but you can also save and share them with SharePoint Server 2010 via the new SharePoint Workspace Mobile 2010. You can also update Excel data on the fly, sync your mobile copy of OneNote with OneNote on your PC, copy and paste across applications, and a lot more.

Users interested in trying the new mobile Office software can download it for free from the Marketplace on your phone.

The first beta will be available in just a few days, announces the Ruttensoft website where the work is being tracked. (The client is being developed by Fuze Mobility under Ruttensoft’s license.)

The beta will be free but the final version will cost $6.99 US.

Dropbox for Windows Mobile will support 6.5.x phones that have high-end VGA and HVGA resolutions only. Later, more resolutions will be added.

(Via Redmond Pie)

The next version of the theme will add more hubs, better animations, and more social network integrations, Jaxbot says. He’s also asking for feedback as to what, specifically, users are interested in regarding these features. Additionally, Jaxbot posted info for developers who may be interested in making their own live tiles, too.

To install the new beta theme to your 6.5 device, perform the following steps:

• Install the .CAB file from here
• Click on the icon in the Start Menu to launch the theme
• You can also exit the theme using a long top on the right side of the screen, if desired.

To see the theme in action, check out this video on YouTube.

However, this update is for standard edition phones only, users of touchscreen mobile devices will likely prefer touch.facebook.com for now.

(via/img via PocketNow)

Designed for enterprise users and heavy texters, the phone has a full QWERTY keypad and includes Microsoft Office Mobile, Outlook Mobile, and a PDF reader.

As for what’s new with WiMo 6.5.3? The OS now offers improved support for capacitive-touch screens and multi-touch support, better navigation, horizontal scroll, and better touch controls so you can use the device without a stylus. You also drag and drop applications on the homescreen. There are other bug fixes and general improvements in the OS, too – ZDNet has a full feature list here.

• MSDN eBook "The Best Technical Articles of 2009" (pdf or online)
• MSDN eBook "The Best Technical Articles of 2008" (pdf or online)

Thanks for listening.

Now those users can also access the 800 or so apps offered in the new “Windows Phone app store,” as some are calling it. That 800 represents over three times the apps available when the Marketplace launched a month ago, notes a post on the Windows Team Blog.  

In order to get started, users of 6.0/6.1 devices need to launch their mobile phones’ web browser and go to http://mp.windowsphone.com to start the download. Alternately, users can shop via the desktop website at http://windowsphone.com/getmarketplace which allows you to download and sync applications to your mobile phone wirelessly, thanks to a new feature launched just last week.

As of now, you can use the My Phone service to share your photos directly to social networks and photo-sharing sites like Facebook, Windows Live, MySpace and flickr either using the My Phone online portal or by using your phone itself.

You can also tap into your phone’s GPS to help you find your lost or stolen handset. The My Phone service will display your phone’s last known location on a map. However, this feature isn’t enabled by default – you need to turn it on. To do so, select "Send phone location" in your phone's My Phone settings.

Finally, My Phone introduced some premium features for paying users. But for a limited time, you can try them for free. These include the ability to lock your phone remotely, post a message on your phone from the web, or remotely wipe all your personal data from the device. (All phones should offer this sort of protection! It’s amazing the sensitive data our mobile devices contain these days.)

To learn more, you can visit http://myphone.microsoft.com.

The Windows Mobile version of the application will be what’s called a “freemium” app. That means the free version will include all the basic features, but a premium version called Shazam Encore gives you more, including unlimited searches (aka “tagging”) and recommendations. It will also provide access to popularity charts, artist and band bios, discographies, and album reviews. The premium app will be available for a one-time fee of $4.69. New users can try Shazam Encore for free for 7 days and then they can choose to purchase or revert to the basic, free version.

In Windows Mobile 6.5, the next version of the mobile operating system, Microsoft is debuting our new mobile application store called the Windows Marketplace. Offered on all the new phones, this mobile store lets you browse, search for, and download both paid and free applications directly to your handset. The apps are broken down into categories for easy access, plus there are sections like “what’s new,” “most popular,” and “showcase,” which highlight the various applications available in different ways.

When you’re ready to purchase an app, you’re prompted to enter in your Windows Live ID prior to download. Besides featuring a plethora of great apps including a search app from Bing, apps for Facebook, MySpace, AP News, and tons more, you’re also able to easily receive refunds on app purchases if it turns out that the app you bought wasn’t for you.

The phone’s home screen, while no longer featuring the outline of a honeycomb grid, still keeps apps and icons separated and spaced out perfectly for navigation with a single finger. You can scroll up and down with just a flick and you can press and hold any icon for the option to move it up to the top or down to the bottom of the screen.

Also getting a revamp is the lock screen which provides you with easy access to voicemails, text messages, and email.

Of course, since these are Windows phones, integration with Microsoft Office software is included out of the box. Not only can you view Office files on your phone, you can also modify and create new files too.

It’s also worth noting, especially in light of Adobe’s recent announcements, that Windows Phones support Flash content (and have for some time). However, the phones will come with a new version of the Internet Explorer browser which offers more of a desktop-like browsing experience than before.

Coinciding with the handsets’ launch is the launch of the new MyPhone service which lets you backup your phone’s data including contacts, calendar, and photos to the web. Once there, you can use the provided tools to organize your phones, search through your messages, and post content to other social networking sites. The service also lets you remotely wipe your phone, lock it, locate it using GPS, or call it.

To get more details on the models being offered, check out PressPass which list the different phones and availability dates for the handsets being launched.

Introducing Windows Mobile Marketplace

Mobile application to browse, purchase and download applications directly to the mobile devices this fall.

Pre-Installed on Windows Mobile 6.5
Free download for Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1

Submissions have started, read more:
http://developer.windowsmobile.com/Marketplace.aspx

Initially, the Windows Mobile application will be available for all 6.5 phones and eventually, it will be made available for all 6.1-7.0 devices. Stay tuned to the company’s blog for release details. 

For starters, the new client is designed to make it easier to join conference calls. Instead of having to use dial-ins and entry codes, you can now join a conference call with a single click of a button notes the Communicator Team blog post about the update.

Also new is a feature that allows users to configure whether or not Communicator should log in to a roaming network when the phone is no longer in the provider’s service area. This will be useful for those who still have to deal with roaming charges.

With an enhancement to the feature called “Call via Work,” Communicator users can place an outbound call using their work identity. In other words, you can now dial extension numbers to call your office colleagues. Using this feature was also improved as you no longer have to make a call then answer an incoming call to complete the connection – Communicator now completes the connection for you.

Finally, in preparation for the launch of Windows Mobile 6.5 later this fall, there’s a new plug-in that shows you status and the number of active conversations right on the home screen.

The update is now available for download from the Microsoft Download Center here.

Since the company was acquired by Microsoft a couple of years ago, it’s no surprise that the application will be more deeply integrated into the new 6.5 software than your typical pre-installed application would be. It also will exclusively use Live Search as its search provider and those searches will be able to tap into the phone’s GPS if available. If the phone doesn’t have GPS, it will use cell tower triangulation for searches that require localization – like weather queries or movie listings.

The application is available now to manufacturers that want to load it onto Windows Mobile 6.5 phones. Later this fall, it will be made available as a standalone application for download in the Windows Mobile Marketplace.

(via CNET)

Since the announcement, the My Phone team has received a lot of feedback and requests about what people want to see in this new service. At the top of the list, understandably, is tighter integration with Windows Live. Already a great cloud+desktop suite of services, adding Windows Live to mobile phones would just complete the experience of seamlessly connectivity.

According to a recent post on the My Phone blog, they’re listening to your feedback and have announced that indeed, tighter integration with Windows Live is definitely on the list of things they’re working on. In addition, the post mentions that they’re also planning to look into other requests like supporting syncing of other types of data beyond what was announced and syncing Contacts, Calendar, and Tasks even when they’re managed by Exchange/Active Sync. That should make a lot of folks happy.