Smartphone Thoughts - Daily News, Views, Rants and Raves

Hey everyone! This is a quick heads-up for you to check Digital Home Thoughts if you're interested in winning some free stuff. It's by far our #1 site when it comes to contests, largely because it covers a broad spectrum of topics which makes it easier to get giveaway items. We've been running a hard drive giveaway (3350 GB in total storage) for the past five weeks, giving away a variety of hard drives, and this week we're giving away a 500 GB Western Digital hard drive. Also going on is a giveaway for a Skooba Design Checkthrough Brief bag, and on Monday we're launching a contest giving away 10 copies of Corel Digital Studio 2010. Watch for it!

One giveaway down, another to go! Thanks to Eltima Software, we have two copies of SyncMate 2.0 Expert Edition (each valued at $39.95 USD) for you to snag. The sync application is compatible with Mac OS X, and offers a plethora of sync options between Windows Mobile (and other smartphones), Google accounts, and Mac OS-based applications such as iCal, iPhoto, iTunes, Mail, Address Book, Safari, Firefox, and Entourage.

So, what do you have to do to win? Read on and get commenting. Good luck!

• Leave a comment in this thread, stating the editions that SyncMate is offered in. And here's a hint: there are two editions, and we've already named one of them in this post. Still stuck? Perhaps the SyncMate web page will help you.
• Only one comment per person. Any more and your entry will be deemed invalid. Note that if you're registering and leaving a comment for the first time, your post probably won't appear right away as it needs to be approved by our friendly moderators.
• The giveaway is open to anyone and everyone, regardless of where you are in the world.
• Entries will be accepted until 11:59 PM GMT on September 18, 2009.
• A total of two winners will be selected randomly and notified via e-mail, so please ensure that a valid e-mail address is linked to your Thoughts Media account. Each winner will receive a single copy of SyncMate 2.0 Expert Edition.

Without further ado, we're announcing the five winners of our Handy Weather 4.0 giveaway. And here they are, in alphabetical order:

• Cornelius, eliefrancis, toen, Trapperjohn, tsaojam

If you're one of the lucky five mentioned, keep an eye on your inbox (and your spam folder, just in case) for a message detailing how to claim your prize. Thanks to Paragon Software for their generosity. Stay tuned! We'll have another giveaway for you in just a tick.

Giveaway time! Thanks to Paragon Software, we have five copies of the new Handy Weather 4.0 (each valued at $17.95 USD per month) for you to snag. The weather application is compatible with Windows Mobile 5.0 and later, and offers a plethora of features such as detailed 7-day weather forecasts, satellite weather maps, a touch-friendly user interface, GPS/SMS/e-mail integration, and support for over 40,000 cities worldwide.

So, what do you have to do to win? Read on and get commenting. Good luck!

• Leave a comment in this thread, stating today's weather wherever you are in the world. You can be as basic or as detailed as you wish.
• Only one comment per person. Any more and your entry will be deemed invalid. Note that if you're registering and leaving a comment for the first time, your post probably won't appear right away as it needs to be approved by our friendly moderators.
• The giveaway is open to anyone and everyone, regardless of where you are in the world.
• Entries will be accepted until 11:59 PM GMT on August 16, 2009.
• A total of five winners will be selected randomly and notified via e-mail, so please ensure that a valid e-mail address is linked to your Thoughts Media account. Each winner will receive a single copy of Handy Weather 4.0.

Okay, we're a little late announcing the winners of our Ringtone Expressions giveaway, but better late than never, right? Without further ado, here are the lucky twenty in alphabetical order:

• bellor, bulldogdude, Certs, DaViD_BRaNDoN, Dyvim, eviktus, fone_fanatic, GreatDay, hacqua, looneytoone, Lucy, mafaquem, maxnix, NathanBaron, rombo, srsabu, the_matrixx, timmy, timtam, triplegems75

If you're in the list above, keep an eye on your inbox (and your spam folder, just in case) for a message detailing how to claim your prize. Thanks to Gx5 for their generosity. Stay tuned! We'll have another giveaway for you in just a tick.

Remember the iZel review that I published a few weeks back? Well, the makers of the iZel have offered us three to give away to lucky Thoughts Media readers! This contest is open to anyone in the US or Canada (sorry rest-of-world). Entering the contest is really easy: all you have to do is post a message in this discussion thread telling me what kind of device(s) you'd want to use with the iZel. That's it! I'll randomly select three entries and each person will win an iZel. Nice and easy! The contest is open until the 16th of July, at 12pm (GMT -7). Enter now!

UPDATE: Only one entry per person, and if it's your first post, please allow up to 48 hours for it to show up.

UPDATE #2: The contest is now over and the winners have been randomly selected. iZel has a little consolation prize for everyone though. If you use the coupon code 5OFFIZEL you'll get a $5 discount off the normal price of $24.95 from Amazon.com [Affiliate]. The coupon code is valid until midnight July 31st, 2009.

Giveaway time! Thanks to Gx5, we have twenty copies of Ringtone Expressions (each valued at $4.99 USD per month) for you to snag. The Windows-based application offers a quick and easy way for you to convert your music, YouTube videos, and self-recorded audio into ringtones for your Windows Mobile device.

So, what do you have to do to win? Read on and get commenting. Good luck!

• Leave a comment in this thread, stating your favourite music genre. Rock, R&B, psychedelic trance, or something else? Let us know. It's that simple.
• Only one comment per person. Any more and your entry will be deemed invalid. Note that if you're registering and leaving a comment for the first time, your post probably won't appear right away as it needs to be approved by our friendly moderators.
• The giveaway is open to anyone and everyone, regardless of where you are in the world.
• Entries will be accepted until 11:59 PM GMT on June 24, 2009.
• A total of twenty winners will be selected randomly and notified via e-mail, so please ensure that a valid e-mail address is linked to your Thoughts Media account. Each winner will receive a lifetime subscription allowing unlimited use of Ringtone Expressions.

Our Pantech Matrix Pro giveaway contest is completed, and the randomly selected winner is arm. Here's what he wrote in response to my question of how the Matrix Pro is better than his current mobile phone:

"I am with At&T and have old Cingular 8125. My contract has expired but I do not want to sign up for new 2yr contract: cutting my expenses ever since i was laid off. My phone is barely breathing and my girlfriend threatened to dump me since she can barely hear me. The phone is really old and I NEED replacement. I need a phone that can have decent call quality, have syncing with my Outlook calendar and contacts, has a keyboard and can play music. That is all I need from a phone, nothing very fancy. This phone is just perfect."

He also wins a $100 AT&T gift card. Thanks to everyone that entered, and thanks to AT&T and Pantech for sponsoring this contest. There are still a bunch of sites giving away this same package, so be sure to enter their contests while you can!

Remember that Pantech Matrix Pro mega-giveaway that Rocco announced a bit over a week ago? We're it's now our turn: Smartphone Thoughts is giving away a brand new Pantech Matrix Pro, and a $100 AT&T Wireless gift card, to one lucky winner. Because this device is carrier-locked to AT&T, the $100 gift card is for AT&T, this contest will be limited residents of the USA.

Our contests starts today and runs until May the 2nd, midnight (GMT -7). All you have to do to enter is post a response to this post, telling me which mobile phone you're using now, and how the Pantech Matrix Pro would improve your daily smartphone experience. Does it have a feature that your current mobile phone lacks? If so, what is it? That's it! I'll selecft a winner the morning of May 4th, with entries counting as long as they were posted before midnight on the 2nd.

UPDATE: Please only post once. Multiple posts will disqualify you. If it's your first post in our forums, it will be held for moderation, so it may take up to 48 hours for you to see it.

"We are busy building the next generation features for Mobile Phone Backup. Completely re-engineering backup to make the most of the features offered in Microsoft's new Windows Mobile 6.5 and 7. We would like to invite you to take part in a massive prize contest we're calling the Sprite Backup 7 Feature Hunt. You can win some great prizes..."

The crew over at Sprite Software are busy working on the next version of Sprite Backup, and they're interested in hearing from users of their software about what feature they'd like to see the most in version 7.0 of Sprite Backup. That's it - talk about an easy contest! The contest starts today (April 21st) and goes until May 8th. The prizes? Two winners will get the first prize, which is a Touch HD! Five winners will get the second prize, which is a Bluetooth GPS, and 30 winners will get the third prize, which is an 8GB microSD card. Nice! Winners will be announced on May 15th. Jump on over to their contest page and enter now.

"The Matrix Pro by Pantech has a new home online: pantechmatrixpro.com, the first place to go for all you need to know about this exciting new smartphone. See the Matrix Pro's unique dual-keyboard design in action; get the lowdown on all of the Matrix Pro's great features; read blog entries highlighting the latest Matrix Pro news and reviews; get information about the upcoming Tweetstakes featuring a grand prize of $25,000; and follow handy links to purchase your very own Matrix Pro online. Visit pantechmatrixpro.com to experience the site for yourself."

Raise your hand if you like winning free stuff. Exactly! Everybody loves free stuff. Head on over to the official Pantech Matrix Pro Web site and have a look-see at their Tweetstakes page. All the info is there - once they start (they haven't yet - no date is announced) they'll be giving away a Matrix Pro smartphone every day, and at the end of it all, they'll do the $25,000 grand prize giveaway. Sweet!

Good news everyone! Yours truly has come into possession of two registration keys for Microsoft's My Phone Beta program! Since I'm such a nice guy I thought the best thing to do would be to give them away to our readers! For those of you that are unaware - "Microsoft My Phone syncs information between your mobile phone and the web..." - Basically it can best be described as a very simple and easy to use cloud syncing solution for Windows Mobile handsets. Exchange services for the rest of us!To qualify to win one of these two never before used registration codes, all you have to do is post a reply telling us about a time when data syncing has failed you miserably. It can be anything; like having your phone stolen and not backing up your contacts or getting the phone number of an attractive member of the opposite sex seconds before your waiter spills a cup of water on your Samsung Blackjack... Whatever you can think of!The contest will be going on now until Sunday April 12th, 2009 at 11:59PM PST, at which time I will go through and randomly select two entrants to be announced Monday April 13th, 2009. As I mentioned before the winners will be selected randomly so unfortunately bribing me with cookies will do you no good - but you are more than welcomed to try!

Last month, we offered 25 copies of Pocket Watch Software's ActivePrint Traveler to you, dear readers. And without further ado, here are the winners, selected randomly and presented in alphabetical order.

• bhphotovideo, Catman51, Deemo, deenoo, dyrtnapr, freddiemac, hogger_jeff, Ha11y, Hx4700, Joel Crane, kerrins, laubin, markhartman, MikeStanley, psyjohn, SpriteGF, srsabu, stephen_yfc, tcassidy, tpeazy, twcook, Vapor03, WhyldMan, yawanag, yvilla

If your user name is in the list above, congratulations! Keep an eye on your inbox for an e-mail with your ActivePrint Traveler license. A big thank you to Pocket Watch Software for their generous contribution! Stay tuned as we bring you more giveaways here at Pocket PC Thoughts and Smartphone Thoughts.

If you missed the ActivePrint Traveler giveaway thread that was posted a little over a week ago, now's your chance to check it out and get your entry in before it's too late. There are 25 copies of ActivePrint Traveler up for grabs, which makes for pretty good odds. Simply head over to the giveaway thread, check the rules, and leave a comment. Winners will be announced next week.

Some of you may be familiar with ActivePrint. Well, not too long ago, Pocket Watch Software (the folks behind ActivePrint) released ActivePrint Traveler, which they say is their easiest-to-use mobile printing solution yet. Want to know how it works? Scoot over to their Web site to find out, and grab a free trial version while you're at it.

But why settle for a trial version when you can have the full version? Yes, as promised, we have more swag to give away to you, dear Thoughts reader: not 5, not 10, but 25 copies of ActivePrint Traveler!

And now for the rules:

• Leave a comment in this thread, stating the brand and model of your home or office printer, and the version of Windows Mobile you're using (either Standard or Classic/Professional). It's that simple!
• Only one comment per person, because we're advocates of fair play.
• Note that if you're registering and leaving a comment for the first time, your post probably won't appear right away as it needs to be approved by our friendly moderators.
• The giveaway is open to anyone and everyone, except maybe the folks at Pocket Watch Software. So, whether you're in the United States, snowed under in the UK, or sweltering in yet another heatwave in Australia, give it a shot and you may just get lucky.
• Entries will be accepted until 11:59 PM GMT on February 15, 2009.
• Winners will be chosen with the aid of highly complex genetic algorithms. Just kidding. Winners will actually be chosen randomly, and subsequently announced on the front-page.

Good luck!

"SpaceTime 3.0 by SpaceTime Mathematics is a revolution in mathematics software with 2D, 3D, and time graphing with MobileCAS® for algebra and calculus. With features only available in Mathematica and MATLAB, SpaceTime is the most powerful cross-platform mathematics software ever developed for computers and mobile devices."

We're back with more copies of SpaceTime 3.0 to give away! Just like the contest that was held in May, we have one all-platforms license and two platform-specific licenses up for grabs. And, as always, the rules are simple. We've adopted a back-to-school theme for this contest, so to be in the running, simply make a post in this thread telling us how you'd use SpaceTime in an educational setting (or a commercial setting, if you're not a student or academic), and also the answer to "cos (0 degrees)", because we know you love number crunching. ;)

You have until 11:59am (GMT) on Monday, September 1, 2008 to get your entries in. Winners will be announced the following week. Good luck!

"I get more gadgets and stuff than I can shake a stick at, and frankly, I'm getting run out of my office with it all. So, I'm going to pass them on to you - the GBM reader. I love all of this stuff, but I figured it would be best to spread the love around. Here is the loot: 1 HP TC1100 Tablet PC + Docking Station + rubber flap, 1 Samsung Q1P Ultra-Mobile PC with extended battery and organizer case, 1 BatteryGeek.net Portable Powerstation, 1 HTC Tilt (unlocked), 1 HTC Advantage (unlocked), 1 Vista Ultimate..."



Rob Bushway over at GottaBeMobile has an office full of gear and he's giving much of it away - the complete list of prizes is too long to publish here, so jump over and take a look. The contest is underway, so stop on over and check it out!

Just a quick reminder: our HP Dragon giveaway ends today. Tonight at 10 PM mountain time (GMT -7) I'll be shutting down the entries and picking the winner. So if for some odd reason you haven't yet entered your name to win this $5500 retail-value laptop and software bundle, today is your last chance to do it.

That's right - another contest! Thanks to Astraware, we have two copies of Hexic (one for Standard, and one for Classic/Professional) and two copies of Mozaki (again, one for Standard, and one for Classic/Professional) to give away to you, lucky readers. Do these titles sound familiar? Yes, you've probably seen them on MSN Games and the Xbox 360 before. The Windows Mobile versions are just as brilliant. We published a review of Hexic just yesterday; in case you missed it, click.



Okay, so you want to win. Here's how you enter the contest:

1. Being the colourful games that Hexic and Mozaki are, make a post in this thread stating your favourite colour. Be as creative or as plain as you like. Red, green, yellow, fuchsia, maroon, baby blue?
2. Please also include your device type in the post: Windows Mobile Classic/Professional (Pocket PC) or Windows Mobile Standard (Smartphone).

Entries are limited to one per person, and you have until 11:59pm (GMT) on Monday, May 19, 2008 to get them in. Four winners will be randomly selected from the pool of entries and announced the following week. Good luck!

Update: The contest has closed. Thanks to all who entered. Winners will be announced in just a few hours!

In case you didn't check Digital Home Thoughts over the weekend, we've launched our 31 Days of the Dragon contest where we're giving away an HP Pavilion HDX9200 notebook PC, and a software bundle that if purchased at retail, would total up to a bit over $5500 USD. This is a huge contest where 31 Web sites are taking part, each giving away their own Dragon prize bundle - you can check out all the details over on the 31 Days of the Dragon Web site.

The contest officially launched on the 10th, and will end on the 17th of May. Check out the contest details and enter to win!