Microsoft to provide Marketplace access to WM6 & Wm6.1 phones

It was previously announced that the Marketplace would be accessible from the yet-to-be-released Windows Mobile 6.5 phones. According to a report by Mary Jo Foley, Microsoft has announced that it will allow users of Windows mobile 6.0 and 6.1 to access Marketplace. This move will allow Microsoft to tap into a much larger market estimated at 30 million users than rely on the sales of Windows mobile 6.5.

Todd Brix, Senior Director of Mobile Services said that Microsoft is working with its partners to devise a way to provide access to Marketplace for older mobile phones. Maybe an opportunity here to use Windows Update on the phones.

Read more here.

Bing.mu hacked by…Google!!!

The title is just a joke (Relax Sergey and larry:)). However, when you type www.bing.mu you get a screen with a  Google text box. Go figure.

Skyfire 1.0 is here.

Here’s a snapshot of some of the  highlights:
Thumbnail interaction.  Click on links immediately after the page loads without having to zoom in. This is especially helpful for high resolution phones, and for familiar sites where you know right away where you want to click. It makes getting to the content you want on the page simpler, quicker and more efficient.
Improved zoom. Double-tap or double-click to zoom over any element, including links, images or videos. The zoom interaction is smoother and more responsive as well. Best of all: when you zoom in you will get readable text instantly.
Enhanced navigation. When  you  navigate back or forward, you return to the last viewport (e.g. zoom level and portion of the page). Thus eliminating the need to pan and zoom into the section you were viewing on the previous page. We remember even the viewport when you select a page from your history. We have also added shortcut keys, (9) for forward and (7) for backward navigation.
Improved page handling.  AJAX-intensive sites such as Facebook and Gmail work smoothly. If larger parts of the page get updated then the client will more quickly and accurately reflect this.
iFrame handling. We have a solution for full-width iFrames in Skyfire
Fast start.  Put Skyfire to work before the start page is even loaded . Now, you can  type  a search or URL in the Superbar while Skyfire is connecting in the background.. Plus, we’ve improved connection performance.
Reconnect to last state. Leave Skyfire in the background Skyfire will disconnect to preserve battery life. Once you come back to it (after minutes, hours, days) it will reload the same page to the same zoom level and focus. Thus you can continue right where you left off. When you exit and start again, Skyfire you will always land on the start page.
Connection helper.  Skyfire provides suggestions when a network connection cannot be established. If it’s due to a network configuration (common in GSM land), then we provide suggestions to help out. This is especially useful if you are with a carrier/data plan that places restrictions on certain APN configurations, which interferes with Skyfire.
Enhanced search results.  Google results now include video, news articles, local results all blended on a single results page and ordered by relevance.  Vertical search categories are still available.
Improved RSS feed search.  Find your favorite custom RSS feeds through the improved Add-Feed feature, found under the Customize menu on the start page.  Search by site domain, feed URL, or even topical keywords.
Easier sharing of RSS items from start page.  We’ve exposed a simple “Share this article” link below each RSS story displayed on your start page to make it easier to share interesting items to Twitter and Facebook
Remember last connection (Symbian only). Skyfire can now remember the last connection for you, so you will not have to choose a connection every single time. In addition if you want to change the connection type while you are in Skyfire you can do so.

http://www.skyfire.com/

Fun Contact 3x released.

Fun Contact 3x gives a whole new experience in managing your contacts with its new and exciting features:

• New User-friendly interface

• Categories support

• New Favorites with photos: grid and list

• Start calling or enter contact card from Favorites

• Call history editing: filter or delete

• Individual call history: filter or delete

• Full-screen Dialer

• Quick keypad contact search

• 3 skins available: Dark, Clear and Bright

New FunContact 3x is simple, straightforward and quick to use. With less tabs and more built-in functions it makes your contacts' list more useful and fun. You can manage individual contacts grouping them in the editable categories, selecting and filtering individual call history and add pictures for your favorites.

Alongside with all these new functions FunContact 3x preserves unique features that none of the competitors have, for instance, you can edit and add new contact info straight in FunContact without going to standard WM interface.

The major upgrade is paid for all current users of FunContact and Communication Suite.

FunContact is available for $19.95 at http://vitotechnology.com/contact-manager.html.

Free Fireworks for Windows Mobile

Today, the Americans celebrate the 233rd anniversary of the independence and Handmark is offering free fireworks applications for Windows Phones and other phones. Go to http://store.handmark.com/products/detail.php?id=2689&&&#product_reviews to download a free copy.

Happy Independence day to my American friends.

Roman characters converted on the fly to Arabic

Microsoft Maren, developed by Cairo Microsoft Innovation Center, is an extension that lets you type Roman characters and have them converted on the fly to Arabic. This is a great tool and hopefully we’ll see the technology ported to other languages as well and Windows Mobile. Did I say that it’s free???

www.GetMaren.com

Google now available in Creole

It made me laugh when my brother sent me an email containing a snapshot of Google’s search page in creole. At first I thought it was a joke and did not pay much attention to it. Out of curiosity, I started my preferred browser and typed www.google.mu. Lo and behold, Google really had their search page in Creole. This is awesome. Of course the search results are still in English but it’s a start and I cannot help from feeling a sense of pride at seeing our mother tongue on Google. Good job Google.

New: Skype 3.0 for Windows Phone released

If you are a Skype user, go ahead and download the new free version here.

Features:

Send files.
Free to send spreadsheets, photos, music and other files Skype-to-Skype.

Send texts (SMS).
Great value texts to mobiles abroad, and a great way to avoid roaming charges abroad if you text on Skype from a WiFi zone.

FaceBook IM client for Windows Mobile

By now, you have probably downloaded the official Facebook application from Microsoft site. I blogged about it on it’s release sometime back. And by now, you may be asking why they did not include the chat feature. I do not have the answer, but I did come across an application named Facebook Instant Messenger for Windows Mobile. It works well and wish it could be integrated with Facebook mobile. The one thing both apps have in common is the free availability.

To download, point your mobile browser to www.mosko.mobi.