Smartphone Thoughts - Daily News, Views, Rants and Raves

"I never thought I'd write this, but our "Freeware of the Moment" is Windows Vista Business and Office Professional 2007. Really! You'll have to sit through three Microsoft webcasts or virtual labs on the products, but that's a small price to pay considering you'll actually learn about the software features. There are some relatively minor restrictions, however this is an offer you just can't refuse. These packages can cost you upwards of $300 or more out-of-pocket, so I'd consider this time well spent."



Now you can't say anymore Microsoft never gave you anything! It might be worth the price of admission so if you are interested, go check it out.

"System utility that greatly simplifies managing your Smartphone. CopyPaste does exactly what its name says in any editable field � edit box. Copy or cut the info from an edit box and paste it to another one. You can also select the necessary part of the edit box contents for copying or cutting to another editable field. CopyPaste saves your time and ink."



Vito has just released a new freeware application - CopyPaste. As you might guess, it allows you to copy and paste information on your Smartphone. This is one of those features that everyone has been asking for and can't believe that it's not a standard part of the OS. Well, you don't have to run out and buy a third party solution any longer. Vito's CopyPaste program is free for everyone to enjoy.

A word of advice for those going to try this out. There is no installer for Vito CopyPaste. Instead, just copy the EXE to your phone (\Storage Card\Program Files\Vito\CopyPaste\VitoCopyPaste.exe) and then using your phones file explorer, create a shortcut in the Start Menu. (\Windows\Start Menu\Accessories) Then you can create a speed dial entry for it. :D

"Designed for Windows Mobile Smartphone 2002 and 2003, Smartphone File Copy allows effortless file sending from your PC to Smartphone Device all with a simple "right-click" of the mouse."



Now that 1GB miniSD cards are available, you need an application that makes the job of copying the files a snap. Simple Smartphone File Copy makes that task really simple. :) Check out the nice animated demo over here. There is a trial version for this product and you can buy it for $9.99 from here. [Affiliate]

There's a new version of Tweaks2K2 .Net coming out soon - version 1.1. And the developer has offered up three free copies to the first three people who correctly guess the number of hacks that will be included in this new version. Here's a hint: version 1.0 had twelve hacks. How many will 1.1 have? No one knows but the developer, so post your best guess in this discussion thread! Only one post per person allowed, and no editing of your posts - you've got one guess, so make it good. :-) The contest closes tonight at 11:59 PM, or when three people get the correct answer. Good luck!

Last Friday I got ahead of things and announced the new version of Personal Vehicle Manager from Two Peaks. The problem was that the Smartphone version wasn't quite ready. Two Peaks were still working on getting the application signed. I am now happy to report that the application has been signed and it's now ready for you to enjoy!

To top it off, Two Peaks has offered up 10 licenses for Smartphone Thoughts readers! So, over the next couple days you have a chance to win your own copy of Personal Vehicle Manager. All you need to do is reply to this thread and tell us what vehicle you have (or are dreaming about owning), and let us know what feature you like the most about that vehicle. If you like, you're more than welcome to post a picture of it too. :) You have until the end of day Friday (March 25th) to get your entry in. The 10 lucky winners will be randomly selected from the responses to this thread.

You can download a trial version, or if you can't wait to see if you'll win, then you can purchase a full copy for $24.95 here. A big Thank You goes to Two Peaks for such a generous offer. [Affiliate]

"Somethin' dont smell right in El Paso. Gucho 'Leroy' Gambino and his gang are on the run. They are hiding out in a few abandoned toilets in Shadow Creek. You know where they are, and it is your job to flush them out!"

Your aim is to...

• Collect as much loot as you can carry
  
• Shoot the Gringos before they draw their guns!
  
• Don't gun down people with white flags!
  
• Avoid shooting the civilians else you will lose a life
  
• Upload your high score to the Gringos High Scores table
  
• Specially composed music score"

Gringos is available for 2002 and 2003 based devices and it's free. Yes, you read that right, I said free. Follow the link to download your copy and instructions on how to generate your unlock code. Free is always nice. :D

Do you transfer Music files or Photos to your mobile device frequently? Do you wish for an easier way to transfer the CAB files to the 'Start Menu\Accessories' folder? Do you copy documents or files to a specific folder on your mobile device? Do you perform one-way file sync, i.e. transfer files from your PC to device? If the answer to any of the above questions is true, you may want to read this Step By Step article.



When you are done reading this article, you will be able to setup the right click shortcut menu options on your PC. You can configure them according to your needs, set them up so that you can easily transfer files to the mobile device folders you access frequently. Once these right click shortcuts are in place, you will no longer have to Copy-Paste the files manually and also don't have to navigate through a maze of folders to get to the target folder, at least not for the frequently used folders.

Let�s get started!
I have two methods, the first one is simple to setup, and the second one is a little tricky but adds context sensitivity. Let�s say you want the right click shortcut to show up only for .CAB files or for .MP3 files, then the second approach is the one that you need. The first one works well, but don't you want the computer to be smart enough to sense what you want to do :-) This article will focus on the first method. Stay tuned to SPT for another article on method 2, coming soon. :wink:

The requirements for this solution are:
- Windows 2000/XP based desktop
- Windows Mobile Smartphone or Pocket PC
- Must be proficient with Notepad :-)
- WindowsMobilePowerToys.msi must be installed

The heart of this solution is CECopy a free utility provided by Microsoft in the Windows Mobile Power Toys. CECopy enables command prompt based copy of files from PC to device. In this article we will learn to utilize its functionality without getting into the command prompt or DOS hell.

The only limitation I am aware of (and it may be a big one for you) is that you cannot select multiple files and copy them to the device. You will have to Right Click each individual file and copy it to the device one by one. Or copy the whole folder.

Method 1:

This approach adds a Copy to Device shortcut to the 'Send To' menu.

Once you have installed CECopy (it gets installed when WindowsMobilePowerToys.msi is installed). Locate the CECopy.exe, and note its path. On my machine its path is C:\Program Files\Windows Mobile Developer Power Toys\CECopy. Depending on your system drive, the path or drive letter may vary. Check out the ReadMe.txt in the CECopy folder, if you want to learn more about the CECopy functionality.

Next let�s launch the friendly editor, the Notepad. And add the following line.
"C:\Program Files\Windows Mobile Developer Power Toys\CECopy\CECopy.exe" %1 "dev:\<devicefolderhere>"

Replace <devicefolderhere> with the mobile device folder that you frequently write files to. e.g. If you want to copy CAB files then you may want to replace <devicefolderhere> with \IPSM\Windows\Start Menu\Accessories. If you copy MP3 files then maybe you can replace it with \Storage Card\Music. Or for documents and other miscellaneous files - \Storage Card\My Documents.

Following are the valid examples:
1.
"C:\Program Files\Windows Mobile Developer Power Toys\CECopy\CECopy.exe" %1 "dev:\IPSM\Windows\Start Menu\Accessories"

2.
"C:\Program Files\Windows Mobile Developer Power Toys\CECopy\CECopy.exe" %1 "dev:\Storage Card\Music"

3.
"C:\Program Files\Windows Mobile Developer Power Toys\CECopy\CECopy.exe" %1 "dev:\Storage Card\My Documents"

Make sure that the path is valid. And do not forget to include the double quotes (") around the CECopy.exe path and the dev: path.

Now save this file as a Batch (.BAT) file. Give it a descriptive name, like Copy 2 Mobile Device - <shortfoldernamedescription>. The <shortfoldernamedescription> can be Music, My Documents, or Accessories depending on the command being saved or performed in the file. So the following are valid examples of the file names:
Copy 2 Mobile Device - Music folder.bat
Copy to My Smartphone - Accessories folder.bat
Copy to My Documents on Mobile Device.bat

Once the .BAT file is saved, create a Shortcut link for it by right clicking the .BAT file and then selecting 'Create Shortcut' option from the popup menu. You may want to edit the shortcut file name, so that the prefix 'Shortcut to' is removed. You may want to pretty it up, by assigning an icon to the shortcut file. Right click the shortcut, select 'Properties' and then select 'Change Icon'.

Now its time to move the shortcut file from its current location to the following folder. C:\Documents and Settings\<loggedInUserName>\SendTo

Depending on the way Windows is installed on your machine the drive letter may change. The <loggedInUserName> is the Windows login name for whom the shortcut is to be created. In most cases it will be your login id.

Copy the shortcut file to the above folder. And its time to test our little utility. Right click on any file and select the 'Send To' option from the popup menu. And you will see your shortcut in the list. Select it and you will see a command console window popup that will transfer the selected file to the target folder on the device.


Method 2:

I will have the method 2 published soon. Don't change the channel and keep watching this site. :-)

"Responding to our post the other day about how AT&T Wireless keeps an archive of every text message sent by its subscribers, the guy who designed and implemented the SMS text messaging systems for Sprint and a large part of what is now Cingular gave us the scoop on how both carriers offer considerably more privacy than AT&T Wireless: While the Sprint system is MUCH more sophisticated and does retain some data for a long time (billing and usage info, and similar) neither of these systems retain the actual content of SMS messages."

Holy privacy concerns Batman! 8O And to think, people are up-in-arms over Google's proposal to keep your email. At least they told you about it. AT&T has been keeping your personal messages and you didn't even know. :?

"With an eye to capturing a larger share of the budding market for online music and movie distribution software, Microsoft is announcing a new version of its copyright protection software this week. The software will allow users to play rented content on portable devices, such as mobile phones, and networked devices within the home. The new version of Microsoft's Windows Media software contains DRM (Digital Rights Management) technology, which is designed to protect, deliver, and play subscription-based digital music and video content on a wide range portable devices, including those in homes connected via wireless networks, the company says in a statement."

"The O2XPhone doesn't come with a SIMManager program that allowed people to quickly copy their contacts on their SIM card to the Outlook Contacts database on the phone. Since the phone DIDN'T come with the program users had to copy the contacts manually one by one, and was giving people a lot of headaches..."



Most of the phones I have used in the past had a SIM Manager application. I was a little surprised that there was no SIM manager application on the Smartphone. For most people this might not be a big issue because we run Outlook on the desktop. However; not everyone runs Outlook, and not everyone buys a Smartphone looking to Sync contacts with their desktop.

Marauderz has written a great little SIM Manager appliaction for the Smartphone. You can check out this application and others on his website.