Save my scalp! Help me save myself from patchiness! Read on and then throw your opinions at me in the comments (and don’t be afraid to have fun with it)!

Windows Mobile

I have a love-hate relationship with Windows Mobile. Love, due to the inherent flexibility for modding that I enjoy. Hate because of the inherent bugginess, and the fact that the OS, while constantly re-skinned, hasn’t actually seen a real update in years. Don’t get me started on the Windows Mobile app store, either. It’s getting better, but is still a pain in my butt and practically useless aside from my discovery of TouchTwit. Still, they are improving… and Windows Mobile 7 isn’t far away. I hear the Omnia II is pretty good, and I know I could mod the crap out of it via my good friends over at XDA-Developers, PPC Geeks, and the fun over at PointSense/PointUI. Could be fun — but the reason I keep modding Windows Phones is, fundamentally, because I am trying to get them to act like and iPhone or an Android phone. Hnh. Perhaps there is a fundamental flaw there?

Blackberry

I am not really familiar with the Blackberry, Crackberry, or whatever else the kids are calling it these days — never owned or pwned one (annnd there goes my commitment to never use -that- “word”, ever… *sigh*). From watching numerous others with them though, people seem to love them. In fact, they seem to love them in spite of a fairly weak app store and a tendency to lock up inexplicably. What am I missing here? Do Blackberries cook you dinner? Do they provide some other form or mental or… other stimulation that I am unaware of? What’s the draw?

Android & iPhone

This is where I am having the most trouble… My partner at Bluetoque Marketing (also a once-dedicated Windows Mobile modder — more so than me, in fact), has recently gone iPhone crazy. He got one a month or so ago and, I swear, his wife should be jealous. He describes the experience in one word: “Fluid“. It just does what it is supposed to and it does it very, very well. I hear the same from my sister and others who have been yelling for me to come over to the “dark side” and give up my staunch anti-applefanboy stance. Don’t get me wrong, I respect Apple as an innovator, but I have a problem with their innate elitism, which they (I admit) use quite well to pander their product to the lifestyle-craving masses. However, as has been noted recently here on 40Tech (and here, and here too…), Apple is not necessarily playing nice. Then there is the lack of certain features, like multi-tasking, that could be a deterrent for me — though that may (may!) be fixed in the upcoming OS4. And what about the whole modding aspect of the iPhone? While it may truly leave me in a comfortable place where I decide to never mod again, I’m not sure I’ll be able to help myself! I like doing everything with a device I can possibly do, even if I never fully use what it can do — if that makes sense. I’m a closet geek: I just like to know that I can. The iPhone seems to discourage modding in favour of tight control, which balks me. The Android OS, on the other hand, is almost too open. I may never sleep again if I get one of those!

And what about the Android, anyway? Bell Mobility really only has the Samsung Galaxy, which is only Android 1.5 and has received questionable customer reviews — though I have heard that there are Android 2.0 feature ports/mods for the Galaxy. Do I really want to go that route though? Sounds like my Windows Mobile days all over again…

The big question is, how does the Samsung Galaxy compare to the iPhone for performance and such? I have some familiarity with Android OS from running it on my HTC Touch, and I like it, overall. I am a Google apps user (the regular ones, not the business) and I really like the smooth integration of those into the Android OS, but do I want to invest in a piece of hardware that is inferior to the iPhone? After all, there’s no Motorola Droid or Nexus One at Bell — or even in Canada, those bastages!

Android definitely calls to me from a few different wavelengths, though — but I am still unsure as to the inherent level of Evil that may or may not be at the core of Google. How much do I really want them in my pocket? Do I really want to be on either side of the rumoured Google vs Apple (or vs Apple and Microsoft!) war? Maybe I should get a *gasp* Palm Pre??

So, there you have it. It’s a conundrum — but it’s nice to actually have the choices that I do have. What are your thoughts? Who wins? Who gets my money? Please feel free to comment liberally…

Here are some related posts that might interest you:

• Google+ for iPhone and Android Sharing — Too Little Too Late?
• App of the Week: PressReader [Mobile]
• Text Messaging for Super Spies
• Let Google Goggles Do Your Thinking For You
• Posterous Digest – Affordable GPS, and Google Voice Improvements

There are several Twitter apps for Windows Mobile, some of which we covered here, but the one that generally won out with WinMo Twitter users was PocketTwit. PocketTwit is incredibly powerful and very easy to use, incorporating finger friendly swipes and multiple menu options into a very decent user experience, overall. Like any software, there are hiccups, but the functionality and and the whopping -free- price point, are hard to turn away from. It’s even prettier than many Windows Mobile applications — though it is still somewhat unfortunate to look at. A few software developers have made attempts at nicer looking clients, such as Twikini and moTweets (both of which maintain a pretty decent featureset), but for visual appeal, ease of use and features, combined, TouchTwit blows them out of the water.

PocketTwit

Twikini

moTweets

The interface of TouchTwit is easy on the eyes and follows the same graphic design principles as the best iPhone apps. TouchTwit’s navigation is extremely finger and thumb friendly and getting to the screens you want is as easy as a few swipes. It supports multiple accounts, retweets, Twitter Trends, photo and video recording and uploading, URL shortening, conversation view for a threaded "chat"-like experience, GPS location, and much, much more. According to the developers, support for Twitter Lists and the new Twitter-developed retweet system will be added soon.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ez7VGzIPJvo

TouchTwit is available only in the Windows Marketplace for Mobile and costs (at least in Canada) $6.09 plus tax. It’s still hard to argue with the free of PocketTwit, and both moTweets and Twikini cost a few dollars less than TouchTwit, but TouchTwit more than makes up the difference with a superior overall user experience.

What Twitter app do you like best for Windows Mobile? Have you tried TouchTwit? What’s your experience been like?

Here are some related posts that might interest you:

• Plume: My Android Twitter App of Choice [App of the Week]
• App of the Week: PressReader [Mobile]
• Skymarket THIS Windows Marketplace for Mobile!
• 5 Adobe AIR Apps I Can’t Live Without
• Be a (HTC) Hero — Android-ilize your Windows Mobile Phone with PointSense

Google Sync works via the Microsoft Exchange protocol and, on the surface, is fairly easy to configure and get set up (set up for iPhone/iPod Touch | setup for Windows Mobile). Setting it up is only half the battle though, as getting it to work is a job unto itself. The main issue that is plaguing most users is that the server, at least with Gmail, often won’t connect at all. You may have several emails ready to be synced over to your mobile device, but there will be no transfer, no hint of activity, no nada. This is a platform agnostic problem, as the complaints from iPhone users are as loud and often as those on Windows Mobile. There are several potential causes to the lack of mail sync, among which are hardware, folder/label structure, and just general stubbornness on the part of the Google Sync program.

Hardware: Not all Windows Mobile phones are supported. Don’t think you’re safe if you have a more modern phone, either. HTC Diamond Pro and HTC Touch HD users both report problems, for example, while HTC Touch (Vogue) users have been able to get a decent degree of functionality.

Folder/Label Structure: This is a problem that results from using Gmail on a desktop mail client like Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird. If you set up multiple folders on your client, and give them a nested hierarchy (i.e.: Tech-Geek Stuff/Blog Subscriptions/40tech), these folders will be turned into labels in Gmail that reflect the hierarchy and have “/” in the name. Gmail push does not like this. Until you resolve the /’s, you will never be able to sync more than the folders (no content). TIP: Delete your exchange server connection from your device first, resolve your label names, then create a fresh connection. Hopefully that will solve your connection issues and your email will begin to sync.

General Google Sync Stubbornness: Unfortunately, there is sometimes nothing that you can do but keep trying. Seriously. You can delete and reassert the Exchange connection over and over using the exact same settings — and one time it might actually work. Reportedly, this has been the case for many people. Remember: Beta software. Beta often == weird.

If you do actually manage to get your phone connected to Gmail Push, you may then find that the Push feature is not quite pushy enough. This is to say it is only slightly (if at all) better than IMAP, at this point. Sometimes, the messages will appear on your phone within a few seconds, sometimes it takes up to 15 minutes or more. Also, messages that are opened on your device often take a long while to be marked as read within Gmail itself. The most common postulation for this lack of push in Push is that Google is upscaling slowly, as demand increases, and that the demand currently outstrips the capability of the servers. Due to these issues, unless you wish to add to the testing process, you may be better off sticking with IMAP and setting your phone to check for new mail every 15 minutes. The overall effect will be the same and you will (possibly) save some battery life. Push Gmail plays hell with your battery.

It should also be noted that, if you are currently using Exchange, you will not be able to use Push Gmail anyway, as you are only able to sync with the one server (if this has changed, please feel free to comment and we will update the post).

A final issue that many people are having with the current iteration of Gmail Push is that, while they can get mail in their inbox, they cannot get mail to populate in any of their label folders on their phone. For some, they have fixed this problem by doing a send/receive from the folder itself — but that didn’t work for everyone. If someone has a fix for this issue, please post it in the comments.

If you are having problems with Gmail Push, you may discover it is hard to find answers. For any query you type in, in Google Search anyway, you will have to wade through the miles of posts or articles telling the world that “Push Gmail is available for the iPhone!! (and windows mobile too…)” — no matter how specific you are in your search. You may find yourself better served to contact Google directly via their help forums.

Have you tried Google Sync with Push Gmail for your iPhone or Windows Mobile phone? Share your experiences! Do you have possible fixes for the issues noted above? — Let us know in the comments!

Here are some related posts that might interest you:

• Bye Bye Google Buzz On November 14th 2011
• What to Do If Your Email Account Gets Hacked
• 3 Ways to Safely Share Your Email Address (and Beat Spam Scrapers)
• Do You Organize Your Emails With Labels, Folders, or Search? [Reader Feedback]
• Sparrow – Finally a Desktop Email Client That Nails Gmail (But Only On the Mac, Dangit)

You may think from the title that I am a bit less than enthused with Skymarket, the new Windows Marketplace for Mobile app store. You wouldn’t be wrong, either. This may come as something of a surprise to some of you, considering how much I have obviously been looking forward to the release of Skymarket, but my bitterness, and thus bitter message, is a direct result of keen disappointment. 

Skymarket was bundled with the release of Windows Mobile 6.5, which, itself, was greeted by a general sigh that was followed by barely contained laughter. The final version was not nearly as advanced as many had hoped and is apparently no more than a barely re-skinned Windows Mobile 6/6.1 — which is a barely re-skinned Windows Mobile 5.2/CE. In fact, ROM cooking devs from sites like PPCgeeks and XDA Developers have actually advanced Windows Mobile further than the official 6.5 version could hope to; but to take advantage of their advancements you will have to unlock your phone and learn how to flash a ROM. Considering the history of Microsoft, maybe this shouldn’t be all that surprising, but my love of Windows 7 and my excitement at finally jumping into the modern mobile app world must have skewed my judgement.

As I perused Skymarket for the first time, I was excited at the prospect of seeing the 600 or so apps that were originally promised — and when I found out that the number had been cut down to 200, I paused and then shrugged, thinking “Still 200 modern apps that I may not have seen before — apps that might compare with iPhone or Android!” Imagine my disappointment, then, when I was only able to see a grand total of 42 apps. 42! Apparently, this is due to the fact that I am in Canada and using an HTC Touch. The Windows Mobile Marketplace automatically filters apps by location and hardware. But… 42??? I am certain that a large number of the filtered apps could very likely work on my phone and in my location, as I have run many other software apps that are supposedly beyond my phone’s rating. Don’t get me started on locale filtering. Overall, I am not a fan of this “feature”. I would much rather be told by the developer what the recommended specs are for the software and give it the old college try. Big fan of making up my own mind, here. I suppose I should just be glad I’m not in Norway, where they were only able to access three apps on the marketplace.

More apps are being added daily, but this leads me to the next problem: pricing. There are some apps out there that are observing the pricing styles of iPhone and Android publishers, but many of the publishers either don’t understand the nature of a centralized app store and the concept of competition, or they do understand and are just trying to make as much money as they can before their prices are forced to lower. The most common prices I saw in the first week of Windows Mobile app-store-dom were $19.99 and $29.99. This was especially from Ye Olde Thyme Windows Mobile publishers that didn’t even bother to update the look and usability of their software to modern standards. I find it hard to believe anyone will pay these prices when they could get a free alternative, or a cheaper, prettier alternative as developers (hopefully) jump in to fill this gap.

To exacerbate the pricing problem, once again, Microsoft enters the fray. Microsoft offers Mobile Office on the marketplace for a whopping $54.99! Pick your jaw up off of the floor — and stop laughing iPhone users! — you heard me right: $54.99 for software which, incidentally, is free on any phone with Windows Mobile Professional (pretty much any touch screen WinMo phone at this point) and has an outdated, barely touch-enabled UI. This is the new version of the software that supports Office 2007, and it is supposedly free to users that already have Mobile Office — oddly though, when I tried to test this, it asked me to pay $54.99. Either way, free upgrade, no free upgrade, whatever, Microsoft offering software on their own store for that ridiculous price only invites other publishers to do the same.

What will make the difference in the price issue, over time, is more and more developers jumping onboard and publishing their software at industry standard prices — with higher price points for apps that are truly exceptional and cannot be supported any other way. Even if the smarter publishers offer subscription models, which will provide more money to them in the long term, this is more acceptable that the throat-choking prices which have classically accompanied Windows Mobile applications. I suppose it will depend entirely on whether or not the developers actually see the demand and jump onboard. There is always the possibility that they will ignore Windows Mobile outright and stick with sexier platforms.

One major issue that may interfere with Windows Mobile app demand, and the overall success of the app store, is an extremely HUGE technical flaw: Windows Marketplace for Mobile applications can only be installed to internal memory. Anyone who knows anything about Windows Mobile Phones knows that internal memory is not their strong suit. In fact, unless you have some of the fancier and ridiculously priced handsets (that are generally only available outside of North America), the most internal memory your Windows Mobile phone probably has it about 512mb. Again, stop laughing iPhone users! *shakes fist* This is a huge problem if you want to start downloading apps, especially as the price points (again, hopefully) get more enticing. My phone only has 256mb of internal storage, plus a bit for program-running memory. Not going to get me very far, is it? And I have one of the beefier versions of my handset’s model. I ask you: how do you use a service that supposedly inspires you to download a lot of applications when every application you download eats away at precious space and potentially slows down your phone’s operation? Easy answer: You don’t.

The positive thing here is that, according to their forums, Microsoft has realized their idiocy in this regard and will fix the market in future updates to allow installation to SD Cards. In the meantime, if you get a hold of software like Pocket Mechanic, you can move the app to your SD Card and it will update registry entries and everything for you. Expect to pay at least $30 bucks for this software though *sigh*, and understand that Skymarket will then display your apps as downloaded but not installed.

It is also nice that they allow apps to be installed on up to five handsets… I guess, anyway. I’m not planning on having 5 handsets in the time it will take for these apps to upgrade, so… yeah.

The crux of it all is this: in order for Windows Marketplace for Mobile (and maybe Windows Mobile itself) to survive, they need a sexy app-list on a sexy app-store, and they need the apps for sexy app-prices. This will create demand for both publishers and users and we will have a nice, balanced ecosystem of mobile computing. In order to get there, though, the problems noted above need to be addressed, and soon, before even the lacklustre shine fades away to nothingness.

Have you tried Skymarket? What are your thoughts on its current limitations and needs?

Here are some related posts that might interest you:

• App of the Week: PressReader [Mobile]
• You need Tripit! So We’re Giving Away a Pro Account.
• Opera Mini for iPhone: First Impressions
• TouchTwit Brings Pretty AND Functional to Windows Mobile
• Be a (HTC) Hero — Android-ilize your Windows Mobile Phone with PointSense

Video, screenshots and installation tips below.

PointSense, developed predominantly by BlueOcean, with the help of several other key figures in the Pointui community, takes the already very robust Pointui even further by adding additional pages, applets and widgets; centering the functionality around the design concept of HTC’s Sense UI. As is apparent in the images below, PointSense does a very good job of matching the Sense interface of the Hero. The image on the left is the HTC Hero, the image on the right is my lowly, but very moddable, HTC Touch. See the cute, chubby face in the background? I’m here to tell you… She gets it from her mother.

BlueOcean is already hard at work on his next version (2.0.0.6), which will bring the two UI’s even closer. Due to the incredible flexibility of Pointui, it is even possible that PointSense will, at some point, fully match, and maybe even surpass its inspiration. Check out the video, to see PointSense in action.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PuZBzkPNr4

The only issue with Pointsense, aside from a minimal amount of lag on lower-end Windows Mobile phones, is the relative disorganization of the Pointui Community forums. There is a lot of information on those boards, and much of it is spread out and assumes a certain level of technical expertise that is not, shall we say, common. A few brave souls have tried to corral the important information into FAQs and such, and the world at large thanks them for it. BlueOcean has also been fairly organized with his releases, especially since version 2 of PointSense. With a bit of perseverance and patience, the average user should be able to get things installed and configured to his or her liking. In an effort to speed this process, however, and mitigate the sort of stress levels that could potentially cause a rapid increase of baldness and/or greying hair, the most relevant links and tidbits of information borne of experience with this UI’s install can be found below.

Installation Tips

Step 1: Download an install Pointui’s latest version (2.1.0.6c as of this writing). There is a Pro version for $19.99 that gives you some extra functionality, but it is not necessary. Bear in mind that this latest version of Pointui now includes a nag screen on start-up. If you do not wish to purchase the software, just press cancel whenever it appears and be on your way.

NOTE: To enable Pointui as your default home-screen/launcher, simply access your Today screen settings from the Windows Mobile System menu, select Items, and check the box beside Pointui Home 2. Click OK and Pointui will replace your current Today screen.

Step 2: Register for the Pointui forums and log in. Registration is free and is required to download any of the items posted there.

Step 3: You will find the latest version (currently v2.0.0.4) of the PointSense Suite here. The FAQ is here. Read the first post in its entirety. Read the FAQ in its entirety. It will make your life easier. The FAQ has a very nice walkthrough on the installation and use of the Pointsense Suite. No need for me to recreate the wheel here. Read the FAQ.

Step 4: Download and install the Pointsense Suite. The links are at the bottom of the first post. Make sure you install the correct version for the resolution of your phone.

• QVGA – Screen-size= 320X240
• VGA – Screen-size= 640X480
• WQVGA – Screen-size= 320+X240
• WVGA – Screen-size= 640+X480

Step 5: Refer to the FAQ to load the theme and configure.

Customization

Aside from adding new applets and widgets, there are a few other, relatively simple, customizations you can do to personalize your installation of PointSense.

1. Add a custom logo for your cell phone carrier in the top-bar
   • You can do this by adding a .JIF file that has the same name as your carrier (e.g. Bell Mobility.jif) to the folder located in “..Programs/Home2/PointSense/Theme/operator/”.
   • You can create the .JIF file from a .PNG file that is 63 pixels X 15 pixels in size. Download a small program called Win_png2jif, located here, open it, open the .PNG file with the program and you are done. The .JIF file will be created in the same directory, and with the same name as the original .PNG. Batch conversion is also possible if you select multiple .PNG files.
2. Custom Icons for your Shortcuts.
   • Download icon-sets from here, or create your own using the method above. 48X48 pixels is the recommended size. Store your icons in a folder on your main memory, if possible, not your storage card. This way, they are always there, even when you remove your card.
   • Change your shortcut icons by pressing and holding on the icon until the navigation screen comes up (a black box with an up, down, left, and right arrow centred around an OK button). There is a red X in the bottom left — do not press this unless you wish to delete your shortcut. Instead, press the starburst-like icon on the bottom right of the black box. Choose the Custom Icon item from the menu and navigate to the icon that you wish to use. Done.

NOTE: This only applies to shortcuts created in PointSense. Icons for regular Pointui shortcuts must be changed at the program’s source.

Additional links

PointSense Help:

Pointsense Forum – Set up as a forum specifically for PointSense, outside of the Pointui Community boards.

XDA Developers PointSense thread – These guys are some of the best Windows Mobile customization devs out there. You can often find great info here on anything Windows Mobile related.

Other Sense UI Ports for Windows Mobile:

Throttle Launcher Sense UI Theme

SPB Mobile Shell Sense UI Theme

Wisbar Advance 2 (WAD2) Sense UI Theme

And for you iPhone fanboys:

A very complicated, but very slick Sense UI port for the iPhone (requires Jailbreak).

PointSense and Pointui Home 2 can be installed on Windows Mobile 5 and above and is recommended for touch screen devices only. Try it. It is a massive improvement on even the new Windows Mobile 6.5 native Today Screen and Start Menu UI.

Do you use Pointui or any other Home/Today screen mod to enhance your Windows Mobile phone’s usability? Let us know in the comments.

Here are some related posts that might interest you:

• App of the Week: PressReader [Mobile]
• Plume: My Android Twitter App of Choice [App of the Week]
• Has Your App Store Made You Its B!#&h?
• Text Messaging for Super Spies
• Managing Life On The Go With Astrid [Android]

This new announcement provides some small amount of hope that the Windows Mobile App store (Windows Marketplace for Mobile) will bring with it some of the better iPhone apps when it launches this fall. To that end, I have made up a short list of iPhone apps that I have always wanted to see properly ported to the Windows Mobile platform. Some are already there, in some semblance or other, but could use a better design and more robust functionality. Check them out below:

photo remixed from respres & Arjen Toet

BeejiveIM

This is truly one of the best multi-messenger programs I have come across. Very slick and easy to use, supports threaded conversations, and works with AIM, iChat, MobileMe, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, Facebook, MySpace, GoogleTalk, ICQ and Jabber. There is a Windows Mobile Client available, but it has, much to my extreme annoyance, been discontinued and will remain forever in beta. That’s alright BeeJive. I’ll wait for the Digsby iPhone app to come out — then I can be mad at them instead…

Quicken Online

I use Quicken Online to manage and keep track of my finances. Like Mint, which may be better known to most due to the buzz about them this past year, they provide you with a slick and intuitive interface to keep an eye on your funds, complete with projections and a very visual look at where your money is going. Great service. They have an iPhone app. I do not have an iPhone… I had originally tried to use Mint, actually, but the service is not available in Canada. You can bet your last dollar that they have an iPhone app, though.

Evernote 

We talk a lot about Evernote here at 40tech — that is because it is awesome. Having that kind of powerful note-taking ability in your pocket, combined with the sync feature that keeps entire filing cabinets with you; and completed by geo-tagging and image/voice/document attachments (and an innumerable amount of other very sweet features) is enough to leave us just a bit giddy over here. There is a Windows Mobile application for Evernote. It has been updated regularly and has improved 300% since the first iteration, however, it still lacks when compared to the iPhone, which seems to take precedence in Evernote’s mobile development (updated just this past week, actually). The new iPhone version even has a browser built right in, for easy web-clipping, and the user interface is much better than Windows Mobile, overall.

Tweetdeck

Tweetdeck is one of the best applications for connecting you with all of your Twitter Accounts – and your Facebook account for good measure. It does other stuff too, like actually helping you manage the accounts, connecting you with other Twitter-based services, and showing you trending topics and so forth. Great for personal and business use. I use it on my laptop. Now it has an iPhone app. Unfortunately, Windows Mobile is nowhere in sight, and to add insult to injury, Seesmic, Tweetdeck’s main competition, is also coming out with an iPhone app sometime soon.

iFood Assistant

I’m a new daddy. I am home with the kid a lot. I am not a fan of cooking, but I hear tell those little people have to eat. This app is an awesome idea. 7000+ recipes? In your pocket? Many of them different ways to use Kraft Dinner, maybe? I am so there.

There are so many more that come to mind, and so many Windows Mobile apps already out there that would do well to look at the standards set by iPhone, and now Android, developers. Mobile applications in today’s world should be pretty, easy to use and navigate, and, if at all possible, cheap. Clever would be nice, too. Who wouldn’t love to see something as interesting as Ocarina (an app that actually turns the iPhone into a flute of sorts!) on the Windows Mobile platform? I know I would…

What apps would you like to see for Windows Mobile?

Here are some related posts that might interest you:

• App of the Week: PressReader [Mobile]
• App of the Week: Planets, Free Stargazing App for iPhone, iPad [iOS]
• App of the Week: Photo Stack [iOS]
• Has Your App Store Made You Its B!#&h?
• Word Lens: Real Time Language Translation (iOS)

Just as with a Windows desktop operating system, you can install many types  of applications on your Windows Mobile device. In fact, there are many applications available that are specifically designed for Windows Mobile devices, such as Twitter applications to enhance your Twitter experience.  With these applications, you can stay updated with the latest tweets from your friends, and you can update your status  by tweeting from your device.  These applications are a great help and fun when you are traveling, as they allow you to stay in touch with your followers and friends.  Some  of these applications even will allow you to do more then what you can do from your PC.  Here are a few of them.

Photo by kenjimori.

TinyTwitter

TinyTwitter is the most popular Windows Mobile Twitter application.  Although  it works on any java enabled phone, TinyTwitter is particularly popular with Windows Mobile users.  It has a simple user interface. and has limited but essential functionality.  Using this application, you can tweet directly to your friends and followers, view  friends, and view a public time line in separate pages. This application does not allow  you to follow new users, but apart from this you can do everything that you could do if you were sitting at your computer.

Twobile

This Windows Mobile Twitter client supports each and every service that  Twitter provides.  Twobile will work on Windows Mobile 5 and higher devices and works only on touch screen devices. This application runs when your Windows Mobile device starts. You have the option of downloading Twitter profile images or not, which is very useful if you want to save on data usage. You also can enable or disable images in the public timeline. Using this application, you can re-tweet by modifying the original tweet. Using your mobile phone’s GPS hardware, this application will automatically update your location.  The user interface of this application is very handy, allowing you to separate pages and time lines in tab form.

ceTwit

ceTwit is another Twitter client that can be used to tweet from your Windows Mobile device.  This application is written in C programming language and runs on the .net compact framework.  This application has many cool features, such as allowing you to separate or merge both friends and the public time line, and it automatically updates your status. You can store multiple accounts on this application, and launch the required account at any time. With one click, you can send direct message and reply to a tweet.  This application also enables you to share photos with the support of Twitpic and ping.fm.  Avatars in the time line are cached locally so that they do not reload every time you refresh the page, saving you bandwidth on your data plan. This application works fine on Windows Mobile 6 on HTC and the Samsung Blackjack.

PocketTwit

This is another popular Twitter client for Windows Mobile devices.  PocketTwit works on Windows Mobile 6 devices with touch screen functionality. This application has all of the features that are available on the  regular Twitter home page, and in addition has functionality such as a URL shortening service, photo sharing via Twitpic, GPS location updates, and the ability to use multiple accounts. The interface of this application is very interesting.  It has three columns, and the user menus are available on either side of the screen, which makes tweeting very easy.

Twikini

This is a multimedia Twitter application, and is very easy to use, while still being very effective.  Twikini is relatively fast compared to other Twitter applications for Windows Mobile.   It is written in c++ code that enables faster load times and maximum performance. The user interface of this application is completely customizable, which allows you to have a pleasant Twitter experience on Windows Mobile.    You can post tweets in a full screen mode, and you can also update your location using the GPS device on your mobile phone. You can share photos directly from your camera, or load photos from memory card to share with your friends. Like in the web browser, you can reply to tweets, retweet, and email tweets.  This application integrates with the Windows media player so that you can tweet the songs and playlists to which you are currently listening. This application works on all kinds of Windows Mobile devices, including both touch screen and non-touch screen phones.

Jitter

Jitter is a Java based application that is sure to run on any Java enabled phone. Most Windows Mobile phones are Java enabled. This application is very simple and does not have any flashy features. It only supports text, so that you only can read and write text, and cannot view fancy Twitter avatars at all. Because of this, it works very well even on low bandwidth networks. This is very useful if you need to save on your data transfer plan.

TwitToday

TwitToday is a brilliant Twitter client for Windows Mobile devices. This application only allows you to read and post tweets, and does not have any extra features. This application is great if you want to get right to the point.  It works on Windows Mobile 5 and 6.

Twitter Mobile Home

This is the official mobile web page for Twitter. It is useful if you don’t want to install a dedicated application on your mobile device.   Just point your mobile web browser to http://m.twitter.com/login to login with your Twitter username and password.  It is similar to the normal PC web version.

Guest blogger Srikanth writes on the Tech Inspiration blog about tips, gadgets, and technology. Check out his blog or Linkedin profile for more.

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