Blog entries about Windows Mobile Smartphone

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.

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.

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).

As has been explained in the Remote Desktop Control Bible, in the pre-WM6.1 days, Windows Mobile was clearly worse than WindowsCE .NET running on clamshell devices in that the Remote Desktop Mobile client couldn’t make any file transfer in the former, while it could do in the latter (for years).

Many of you may already have heard of Another World (also known as Out of this World in the US and Outer World in Japan; Wiki page HERE; Abandonia page HERE), which was one of the best vector-graphic action-adventure games back in 1991-1992.

Compatibility

Not all notebooks or desktop computers have a built-in web camera. With desktop PC’s, this isn’t that big an issue: as you don’t carry them around, you can just buy an inexpensive, clip-on USB camera and you’re set. Not so with notebooks, UMPC’s or Tablet PC’s – with them, purchasing (and carrying!) a cabled solution might be overly suboptimal. Then, just using your camera-equipped smartphone may turn out to be the best solution; preferably over a wireless connection like Bluetooth.

Nicky Boom was a nice platformer game released for the Commodore Amiga and MS DOS back in 1992 (Wiki page HERE).

In my latest Misc News collection, I’ve already recommended Towers Trap, a brand new game on two mobile (Windows Mobile and Symbian S60) and desktop Windows platforms. GameZoneProject’s official page is HERE. No matter what platform you have, I really-REALLY recommend giving the trial a try and play through the (initial) tutorial. (Again, you’ll have text rendering problems on VGA Windows Mobile devices).

Now that I’ve become a proud owner of a super-mobile HP TC1100 Tablet PC, using mobile devices (smart phones) as external modems have became essential for me. Up until now, I’ve done most of my Web browsing, YouTube watching outdoors with some of my mobile devices.

I’ve long been promising a full comparison, benchmark and (compared to alternative solutions) pros/cons list of SHAPE Services’ RDM+, a really decent, multiplatform remote desktop controlling / accessor solution. Now that they have a MASSIVE rebate, I dedicated some time for some thorough testing on no less than four different mobile platforms: Windows Mobile Pocket PC (with touch screens), Windows Mobile Smartphone (without touch screens), Symbian S60 (Nokia N95) and BlackBerry (BB 8800). Sorry for being four-platform again: a geek like me just loves toys and wants to play with all the major gadgets and major mobile operating systems available (not only Windows Mobile).

Note that SHAPE Services have another, purely Java-based (meaning there's NO native Windows Mobile client and you must use a MIDlet manager) remote access client, TSMobiles. I'll review it VERY soon.

Please note that this isn’t a full review, just a “list” of the pros and cons and my benchmark results and a complete comparison of the (in some respects, pretty different) implementations on the different platforms. You’ll want to read my previous Windows Mobile Remote Desktop Controller Bible to get more information on what for example the benchmark results stand for, what the different features really mean etc. Again, I will NOT explain anything in here already explained in the Bible. Read it to get a picture of what I’m referring to in the current article.

Note that the current, tested versions are as follows: 3.6.6 (Windows Mobile); 3.6.8 (Symbian / Java; BlackBerry). By the time you read this review (probably months or even years later), it may be heavily outdated. Of course, I’ll try to keep it up-to-date by constantly posting “UPDATE” sections at the bottom. Make sure you check them out. Also make sure you check out the links in this article: they link to a lot of screenshots.

1. Bandwidth usage benchmarks

Using exactly the same method as with the old benchmarks, with exactly the same set-up so that the bandwidth usage results can be directly compared:

(On Windows Mobile [on Blackberries, it's 24 bit], default) 8 bit color depth; measured twice

8k/970k (up/down)
6k/966k (up/down) (both quite good)

(exactly the same results with smooth scrolling – this is excellent)

1 bit color depth (that is, monochrome): 5k/556k (that is, almost half of the bandwidth required in the default, 8-bit mode)
24 bit color depth: 6k/1MB

Idling (without anything happening: no visible animations, cursor etc): 3k/10k a minute (excellent result – compare it to the very bad results of, say, GoToMyPC or, even worse, PPC Tablet)

Cursor blink test: 2k/11k a minute (again, excellent – compare this to the very bad results of I’m InTouch)

The transfer speed is excellent on Pocket PC’s via a Wi-Fi connection; I had no screen refresh problems even with 0.5s waiting between the page down events on a VGA (!) device, in Landscape mode, using 800*600 desktop resolution. The Java client running on the Nokia N95 was pretty fast, too. It’s only on (current) BlackBerries that you might encounter somewhat slower screen updates, it seems.

1. There’s another, new demo video (thanks to the PocketPlayers Reloaded folks) of the forthcoming, kick-butt FPSEce 0.010 Playstation emulator:

Coolboarders

(See THIS and THIS for the earlier videos)

2. Mobile2Day.de has some GREAT game rebates until 02/10; most importantly, the brand-new Revival (see reviews linked from HERE), Spb AirIsland and the great multiplayer title Explode Arena. You can save about 40% of their price – don’t hesitate to go and purchase! (I’ve already purchased Revival for Pocket PC in there: yes, I’ve saved some 7 euros compared to, say, the current ClickGamer price.) Note that the portal is German-only; please see THIS for more info if you don’t know the language.

The titles offered:

Revival: 11,95 euros (PPC version) / 7,95 euros (MS Smartphone version)

Mahjongg Deluxe 3D: 5,95 euros

Explode Arena: 5,95 euros

Spb AirIsland: 12,95 euros

Chess Professional: 5,95 euros

(news source: PocketPlayers Reloaded)

Note that the pretty much recommended Arcade Park 1.4 (from the same folks as Revival) is also sold at a some (8,88 euros instead of 10,45) discount – it’s also worth at least giving it a try.

Opera Mini (see review, comparison & tutorial HERE) is my favorite Web browser now that version 4 added seamless bookmark synchronization and full page view capabilities.

Up until now, it had problems with pages having several images: it didn’t show them in their entirety / flashed them all the time etc.

1. As has been announced in excellent Windows Mobile site MoDaCo, you can, if you’re living in the UK, get the class 4 (!) Sandisk 8GB microSDHC with a free high speed Sandisk USB reader for £44.41 shipped. If you’re living outside the UK, the price will be somewhat (about 3 pounds) higher. It’s a very nice price, particularly if you’re situated in the EU, where no additional taxes / customs will be added to the price.

1. as promised by the developer, currently, the, in most respects, best multiplatform game console emulator for both Pocket PC’s and MS Smartphones, SmartGear, has received tap area touchscreen support.

You may already know I’m working very hard on my forthcoming Multimedia Bible. The first “sneak peek”, on radio station streaming, has already been published and got pretty good feedback.

Now, I present the second installment: a vastly enhanced version of my previous, well-known and, for example, Pocket PC Thoughts-frontpaged article “Everything you will ever need to know about the power consumption of Pocket PC audio players”, with battery life tests of ALL compatible (and more widely used) formats of all major media players, on all the three major (consumer mainstream – hence no Linux or Blackberry) mobile platforms: Windows Mobile, Symbian S60 and Palm OS. I also present a detailed elaboration on the media format compatibility of these players (and platforms), paying special attention to the new and freaking good and storage-friendly HE-AAC v2 format. You’re REALLY supposed to read that article to get a complete picture of what the percentages in this guide are all about and how you can further reduce battery usage.

That’s not everything! I also present thorough reports on crossfade and gapless playback. This subject has been widely discussed in the mobile community and a lot of misconceptions and plain bad info flying around. Here, I present a 100% dependable and reliable, full overview of everything you need to know about this question.

Mavec

As can be seen in THIS MoDaCo thread, there’s a brand new Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) title out there, Mavec. It’s quite a barebones game; you may still find it interesting, particularly if you would like to take part in content / mission creation.

(VGA screenshot)

No wonder Atomic Cannon was the winner in both the Pocket PC: Games: Classic Arcade and the Smartphone: Classic Arcade categories. It’s a far cry away from “traditional” strategic artillery simulations where you only have a handful of (or, in cases, a single) weapon type(s). Even the, during judging, still current pre-3 versions had a lot of contents and depth; for example, they had 86 different weapons. Yes, WAY more than any Windows Mobile Worms clone.

Now, with version 3.0, major updates have been done. First and foremost, a (lounge-based) multiplayer mode supporting 2…16 players, which also displays the creator’s name (as opposed to, for example, the last-reviewed lounge-based MP title, the otherwise excellent Rabbit Wars by AIM Productions) and lets for chatting, has been added. (More on this later.) In addition, the new version boasts the following:

• 18 all new weapons
• Supply drops which contain credits, health, weapons, or traps
• Walls and bunkers
• Airburst weapons
• Jetpacks
• Mines
• Sentry turrets
• Hazmat armor
• Balanced weapons
• Fixed beam weapons

UPDATE (04/06/2008): The native C++ version of the invocation script has been updated to be compliant with 4.1. In addition, badbob001 has updated his MortScript to be compatible with 4.1 and he is also doing automatic (!!!) descriptor parsing & discovery to automatically find the current position of the OM deployment (just like the JZ SmartMort's brand new script I've reported on above), which, so far, needed to be done (once) by hand. See his updated script HERE. Both advancements are discussed HERE, starting with page 10 (post #91).

UPDATE (04/05/2008): XDA-Devs user JZ SmartMort has released a very promising title making Opera Mini the system-level browser much simpler and offering a LOT of additional functionality. See his thread HERE. Note that he also posted a somewhat shorter post HERE (in THIS thread, should you also want to read the possible, future discussion of his app).

UPDATE (04/04/2008): Now that Opera Mini 4.1 beta has been released (see THIS) with a, by default, slightly modified address input field, you’ll need a modified version available HERE.

Also, there’s a full native (C++), MortScript-free implementation of the invocation script HERE. It’s (still) not compatible with 4.1 unless you untick "Direct address input" in Settings.

UPDATE (12/15/2007): XDA-Devs forum member shlomki has just released the different hacks in CAB format so that they’re very easy to install. They’re available HERE. Comments are welcome. (Note that, due to lack of time, I haven’t checked them.)

UPDATE (12/13/2007): I’ve also made available the Registry import file you’ll need to use when reverting to the original, Internet Explorer-only associations. It’s HERE.

UPDATE (12/12/2007): upon the problem reports of several Smartphone users (see the posts for example HERE), I’ve released a slightly modified version of the script that, instead of pasting, uses keyboard emulation. This makes it possible to use the script on some Smartphones that are incompatible with pasting.

The script is available HERE. Remember to remove the SP.2 extension before deploying it. Note that, again, it's ONLY meant for Smartphone users that previous script versions didn't work with!!!

Note that while it works on for example the I3 Beta of WM6 of the Samsung BJ, it doesn’t do the same on the (original) WM5 version of the same device or the HTC Vox (s710). It seems it’s impossible to support these devices with the current MortScript version. I'll also try to reimplement the script in nScriptm (another, less widely used scripting language / interpreter) - hope it is able to paste / send characters to these, still incompatible MS Smartphone models.

UPDATE (12/04/2007): Major WM6-related updates have taken place in the meantime.

In the meantime, my blog reader badbob001 has refined the script. Now, if you click a link, you’ll be presented a choice list, where you can select whether to pass the given URL to Internet Explorer Mobile, Opera Mini, just copy to the clipboard or just cancel the operation. This will help you in selecting the right browser if you (still) plan to use IEM (or other native Web browsers like Opera Mobile, Netfront or Minimo).

Cool, eh?

Remember that you don’t need to deploy this script if you don’t need this kind of functionality but always want to be redirected right to Opera Mini. Therefore, I’ve also included the older version of this script in the ZIP file. It’s in the NoBrowserSelectionDialog subfolder. Note that this script has also been updated a bit: it checks for Jbed already running; if it is, then, it doesn’t wait that much. Again, thanks for badbob001 for refining and performance-tuning my initial script.

Note that the usual stuff applies: if the script doesn’t invoke Opera Mini but invokes something else, edit both occurrences of s0 and appropriately change 0 to a greater number.

Finally, note that, these updates & bugfixs being all WM6-related, I haven't edited the old, WM5-related, working MortScript file. If you need some speedup and/or dynamic, runtime selection of the browser you'd like to use, you'll want to copy either of the two new MortScript files - it'll work.

2. Upon HowardForums forum member volwrath’s bug report, I’ve enhanced the Registry import file to support invoking Opera Mini from all applications, not only Messaging and Notes. I wouldn't have thought WM6 is so half-baked (that is, half of the apps still depend on the pre-WM6 (that is, the HKCR/http/Open/Command) way of invocation). That is, the WM6 Registry import script has also been enhanced (basically, I've just added the contents of the old WM5-related Registry import file to it), not only the MortScript file.

Note that reading local files will still default to the system-level browser as I haven’t redefined the default application for opening .htm(l) files. That is, by default, Internet Explorer Mobile will open these.

Again and again, it can’t be stressed enough how much these hacks enhance the usability of Opera Mini under Windows Mobile! I really recommend giving Opera Mini a try – you certainly won’t regret it!

UPDATE (11/29/2007): thanks to badbob001 on my blog, now, as opposed to the initial case, WM6 devices (both Pocket PC's and Smartphones) are FULLY supported!!!!!!!

This all means there is no longer a difference between how WM6 and pre-WM6 operating systems behave. You only need to make sure to get the right .MSCR and Registry import files from the already-updated ZIP file, depending on your operating system version. That is, for WM6, get the files from the WM6 subdirectory, for pre-WM6 operating systems, from the WM5 one. And, of course, modify the scripts if Opera Mini isn't deployed as the first app under Jbed, the, by default, supported (and highly recommended) MIDlet manager.

Again: Under WM6, manual link copying to the clipboard is no longer needed and, again, it works 100% on WM6 Smartphones as well!

(original article follows; note that the WM6-related parts are now outdated. Again, WM6 is fully supported now and there's no difference between the usability on pre-WM6 and the WM6 platforms any more.)

You, hopefully, already know Opera Mini 4, which, currently, I recommend the most for all Windows Mobile users as the primary browser. It’s especially useful if you are on either a slow (say, GPRS) or expensive (non-flat rate) data plan and/or you also use Opera on the desktop and, therefore, can make use of the excellent, remote (!) favorite synchronization offered by Opera Link.

So far, it was impossible to quickly invoke Opera Mini from any mailer applications by just clicking / activating Web links in them. This was a major stumbling block for many, which is quite understandable. Yes, it’s a major pain in the back to having to rely on Internet Explorer (Opera Mobile, Netfront etc.) for displaying the given Web page - instead of the much faster / cheaper / prettier Opera Mini.

Of course, Pocket PC (using the new terminology, Windows Mobile 6 Professional / Classic) users have always had an escape route. They still could highlight the link and, then, copy it to the clipboard. After that, they could still invoke Opera Mini, go to Menu / Enter Address and paste the URL there. (Assuming, of course, they use a copy/paste-capable MIDlet Manager. The outdated and, unless you have specific needs or an old operating system, in no way recommended TAO isn’t one of them; the recommended Jbed is.) An example of highlighting a link and copying to the clipboard is depicted in the following screenshot:

In Part I of this series, I’ve elaborated on how quickly switching the 3G and GSM modes to prolong battery life. In this article, I discuss an equally important question: forcing the connection to be closed after a predefined time.

Note that the two situations (and solutions) are radically different:

Switching between 3G and GSM bands is highly recommended even if you don’t use data connections, “only” phone calls. This is because the radio module of the phone needs a lot more power to maintain a connection with the higher-frequency 3G towers. Again, this has nothing to do with data connections being used or not.

Switching back to GSM, of course, can’t be utilized on non-3G-capable handsets like all TI OMAP-based Windows Mobile phones. The reason for this is that phones of the latter type don’t have access to 3G networks at all and are all operating in GSM networks.

Terminating data connections, on the other hand, is absolutely independent of the band you use and can (should), therefore, be used in both 3G and GSM (pre-3G) modes. This also means terminating a data connection is usable on non-3G-capable handsets too. Remember that switching back to the GSM band don’t work on these handsets as they can’t even use 3G bands.

1.1 Why no auto-disconnect when I exit the program using the connection?

First, some theory, which will be of extreme importance to people coming from other operating systems. Windows Mobile uses the following approach: “when you establish a data connection, it’ll stay on unless you manually disconnect it”. (Fortunately, it also offers a built-in and, by default, inactive timer that does allow for disconnecting and, therefore, preserving battery life. More on this later.)