Category Archives: Pocket PC/Phone Edition

Pocket PC or Pocket PC Phone Edition

Windows Mobile PowerShell Provider

I haven’t taken a close look at this yet, but this sounds very very cool! I found it mentioned in Jeffrey Snover’s blog…

PowerShell Access to Windows Mobile Devices

…and then hopped over to the Nivot Ink blog to learn more…

Windows Mobile PowerShell Provider

Here’s the feature list from that blog entry…

  • Copy, Move, Delete items between folders on your device (including Storage Card) with standard PowerShell Cmdlets
  • Move/Copy files to/from your device and your desktop with ConvertTo-WMFile and ConvertFrom-WMFile
  • Get device information and manipulate and explore the registry with a rich device object returned from Get-WMDevice
  • Invoke-Item against remote items to or execute or trigger their associated applications
  • Invoke-Item with -Local switch to attempt to execute a remote file in the context of your local desktop (e.g. office docs or images/videos)
  • New “Mode” attributes specific to Windows Mobile file attributes: (I)nRom, Rom(M)odule
  • File/Folder objects’ attributes can be modified with .Attributes properties just like FileInfos etc.
  • Tab completion with MoW’s PowerTab Download

Windows Mobile WiFi Fussiness

Windows Mobile WiFi stability seems to have hit its peak with Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition. My Dell Axim X51 could connect to pretty much any unsecure or WEP wireless access point (WAP). It did not support WPA. My Windows Mobile 5 devices seemed a bit fussier about which WAPs they would connect to. Older WAPs seemed to cause the most issues. Windows Mobile 6 devices (all of mine are upgraded devices, I don’t have any native WM6 boxes) supports WPA. And, connecting to WAPs seems like a real hit-or-miss proposition here. It again looks like older WAPs (even with the latest firmware for the model) cause the most problems. But, it seems like my iPod touch doesn’t have the same problems I’m having with my Windows Mobile devices. It is pretty frustrating to see the SSID for a WAP and then watch my WiMo devices flail about trying to connect and fail most of the time. Some WiMo boxes are better than others. But, I’ve never quite figured out which ones work best under what conditions.

Apple MobileMe: What About the Rest of Us?


My first opinion of Apple’s MobileMe was: OK, so they renamed .Mac, it has more storage, it costs the same (US$99/year), and… wait… It is what I wishes Microsoft Live would give Windows Mobile users like me.

I used to sync my WiMo smartphone daily with my PC. But, that has become such a chore and a statistical probability rather than a sure thing that I don’t do that anymore. I still sync a couple of times a week to make sure I have a backup of my current calendar and contacts. But, it is a chore. I hope the Windows Mobile and Windows Live team can get together and provide similar functionality for WiMo smartphone users soon.

The one big iPhone issue for me is still the lack of a physical keyboard or a Bluetooth keyboard option. I still can’t type worth a darn on my iPod touch. So, I still can’t use it effectively use a email or data entry device.

Google Maps Mobile Adds Bus and Train Directions: But Not for Windows Mobile

Google announced Google Maps for Mobile 2.2 which adds bus and train information. However, it is not available for Windows Mobile devices yet. If you try to download it on a Windows Mobile device, you will get version 2.1. The blog item announcing 2.2 says that it is available for the Blackberry and many Java-based phones.

If we Windows Mobile users feel left out now, just wait until next week when the geeksphere is abuzz over all things iPhone which will also NOT work with Windows Mobile smartphones. Sigh.

What is the Best Windows Mobile Twitter Client?

I’m trying to figure out what is the best Windows Mobile Twitter client for me. I wonder if touch (Professional) vs non-touch (Standard) WiMo phones have different best clients? The Twitter Fan Wiki has a bunch listed under…

Mobile Apps

Any opinions out there? What is the best Twitter client for a WiMo smartphone (non-touch) or Pocket PC (touch) in your opinion?

Ilium Software Turning 11 Years Old (free stuff and sales to follow :-)

I can probably count the number of commercial apps I have kept up to date from 1997 on one hand. Let’s see: Microsoft Office (ok, that is cheating a little since that is one hand by itself), JASC (now Corel) PaintShop Pro, and, hmm, that might actually be it. If you know me or have read this blog in the past, you know there is one other app I have used for a long time: Ilium Software’s eWallet for Windows Mobile. In fact, Handheld PC Magazine (now Smartphone and Pocket PC Magazine) published my Top 10 Products list back in their July 1998 issue. And eWallet was my favorite app then (followed by Ilium’s ListPro) too.

Ilium turns 11 years old next week (Happy Anniversary!) and is celebrating by giving stuff to you! Head over to the Ilium Software Blog between June 2 and June 6 to learn how you might get one of their great anniversary freebies.

Here’s hoping Ilium hangs around for a long time because I’ve been using eWallet since version 1 and want to keep using it for many more years to come.