Vito Technology Launches Rebranded New Site

 

Vito Technology, a long-time leader in innovative Windows Mobile software, has announced the launch of a completely new site in time for the holiday shopping season offering 15% discounts as a incentive to visit www.vitotechnology.com.

You may already be familiar with their product line, which includes the following applications: AudioNotes, Suite, GoodWin, SS-Chyat, VoiceDialer, ZoomBoard, AudioNotes Touch, Eye Photo, RingtoneEditor, Task2Gather, Weather, AstroNavigator, FunContact, SoundExplorer, Voice2Go, and Winterface for Windows Mobile.

Most of these applications are finger friendly in the iPhone fashion. And now, Vito is beginning to develop actual applications for the iPhone. Its first two offerings are Star Walk and Task2Gather.

Protect yourself from telemarketers

Apparently the rumors about cell phone numbers being released to telemarketers is unfounded, and there is no deadline to register. However, I have been receiving quite a number of telemarketing calls and prerecorded messages on my mobile phones lately. In my opinion, telemarketers are the lowest life forms in the food chain and should be hunted down and exterminated. There should be a bounty on them.

Whenever I get a telemarketing call, I politely say, “Wow, that’s really interesting. I’d like to know more about it. I’m busy right now, could you please give me your home phone and tell me when you eat dinner so I can call you back?” Click. They hang up.

The FTC and FCC have provided a modicum of consumer safeguard with its DoNotCall program. Call 888-382-1222 from the phone you wish to put on the do not call list. Or, you can go to www.ftc.gov/donotcall and register up to three numbers at a time. You will receive an email for each number and you must respond within 72 hours to complete the registration, which is good for five years.

[Read more]

Winterface version 1.2 now available

It seems Vito Technology never rests, and as a reviewer I have a difficult time keeping up with their updates and innovations. Not long ago I wrote a review of Winterface when it first appeared. Most of the operational and layout features are the same in the new version. For a detailed discussion of the features, I refer you to my previous review.

Here are the new features, improvements, and bug fixes reported by Vito in a recent press release:

• Today plug-in
• add favorite web sites
• Portrait\landscape mode icon switch
• Screens rotation with joystick
• “Close All” button in “Running”
• Clock icon shows indicator when the alarm is on
• SMS-Chat icon shows number of new text messages
• Bluetooth status icon toggles Bluetooth on/off with one press
• Battery icon shows when there is low charge
• Alphabetic ruler for quick scrolling when adding a file

• Bug with notification not visible under the lock screen
• Bug with power icon on HTC Touch HD/ PalmTreo Pro/ Samsung i900
• Winterface lock screen no longer interferes with the default lock screen
• Day of the week is displayed below the date on Calendar icon and the indicator of upcoming events doesn’t close the date

I installed Winterface on two WM 6.1 devices to test it: Palm 800w and WMg Zinc II. On neither device could I get the Lock Screen to appear. That is an opening page that is supposed to appear when you turn on the device; it displays the day, time, date, with a padlock that you must slide to the right to unlock the screen. It appears in the screen shot above, but, it didn’t appear for me. [Read more]

New PhoneWeaver 1.3.1 release

Whatever could be a phone weaver? Someone who weaves phones? If you consider the profile configuration elements of your phone as warp and woof, and the resulting profiles as phone fabric, then you will welcome PhoneWeaver for its amazing functionality whether on autopilot or manual operation.

PhoneWeaver is a Today Screen application that allows users to configure a phone’s profile settings based on such variables as time, appointments, and phone state. These profile settings will automatically control Wi-Fi, push mail, Bluetooth, ringer, and vibrate state. From the Today screen PhoneWeaver panel you can manually turn on/off Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Phone, and email. You can see how many new messages you have in voicemail, email, and SMS/MMS. It also logs missed calls. A tap will call them up for viewing. Launch the settings menu from the Today screen panel where you can control all the inner workings of the beast. For instance, you can create profiles for Mute, Night, Day, Flight, and Car as well as create custom profiles for certain circumstances to which you may assign specific icons that display in the panel.

A variety of skins are available for customizing the look of the PhoneWeaver panel and icons. Optionally, you can place an icon on the tray bar to invoke the program from outside the Today Screen if you wish.

The program is designed to be controlled with one hand and is finger friendly being receptive to thumb gestures for control.

PhoneWeaver is a program you could live without if you didn’t know any better. It’s like being happy with a Chevvy, if you didn’t know you could have a Maserati. Once you’ve experienced the functionality of PhoneWeaver, there’s no going back.

Try it for free, and you will surely want to keep as one of the missing tools not supplied in Windows Mobile. It’s available at http://www.sbsh.net/products/windows_mobile_pocket_pc/phoneweaver and costs $14.95. If you hurry, there’s a special offer that will save you $4.48 and cost only $10.47.

SHSH Pocket Weather 2:1–just released

There are many good Today Screen weather programs available these days. I have probably reviewed them all at one time or another. But, Pocket Weather is my favorite. I was disappointed recently when it would not install on a new WM 6.1 unit no matter what I tried. But I was heartened when the new version worked on my Palm Treo WM 6.1 with a 320 x 320 screen.

Weather is certainly a central issue for most people. It can be a matter of life and death sometimes. It is always the first thing I look at when turn on my pocket pal in the morning, and I appreciate its being displayed prominently on my Today Screen. I also like being able to have immediate access to other cities where friends, relatives, and associates reside or cities where I travel. It’s nice to have forecasts and more detailed information should I wish it and weather alerts as well.

In my experience Pocket Weather has always had the most in-depth weather information, enough to please the most demanding meteorologist. For instance, you can view daily forecasts that cover visibility, humidity, dew point, sunrise/sunset times, weather maps, radar images, METAR feeds used by the aviation industry, and even earthquake tracking. [Read more]

New: Sandisk Sansa Clip 8MB

Sandisk has announced a new Clip with an 8 GB capacity. This tiny MP3 player has been immensely popular for good reason, but one of the limiting factors has been that it only came in 1, 2, and 4 GB capacities and no expansion card.

The new version should quell the objections, for 8GB is certainly a respectable capacity. I still wish it had a expansion card though like its big brother the Fuze.

Nevertheless, it is a great value with a suggested retail price of only $99 making it even more attractive. It comes in your choice of silver or black. That optional clip really makes it more likeable and practical. Why hasn’t anyone else though of this obvious but simple feature?

For more details, see my recent Sansa Clip review; all the other features are the same.

SPB’s new keyboard

I think I have probably reviewed all of the on-screen keyboards for Windows Mobile devices by now; But, I am always glad to see a brand new one. SPB’s new keyboard is a welcome addition to the stable of inputting workhorses.

It is a straightforward QWERTY style so that there is no learning curve. Just pop it up and go to work. It comes in two modes: half-screen and full-screen.

The half-screen mode is designed for both stylus and finger use. I found that I could type just fine even with my largish paws. To increase accuracy and to eliminate typos, hold key, and it will light up and enlarge. If you are on the wrong key, you can slide to the right one, and it will light up too. Release it for the correct input and avoid a mistake.

As you can see, the keys are commodious for fingering with easy access to caps and symbols. Notice that there’s even a Control button. How cool is that? [Read more]

Windows Mobile 6.5

While the arrival of Windows Mobile 6.5 for the year 2009 was announced here and there, then confirmed by Steve Balmer himself at the PDC 2008, Smartphone France is very pleased to present exclusive World 2 first screenshots of what should be Windows Mobile 6.5.

If, for the moment, there is no real information on the new version of Windows Mobile, what is happening is that Microsoft has finally decided to redesign the interface of the aging systems to try to catch up with its competitors.

In the above visual, we can see that Windows Mobile 6.5 is very close to what should be Windows Mobile 7. Does it mean that Microsoft has decided to revise Windows Mobile completely and that WM7 will simply be an intermediate version? Whatever happens, it is a case to be closely monitored before seeing a new version of Windows Mobile on the market.

WCI Foreign Language Translation System

This language translation system is the one you will want to take with you when you travel. It is far more powerful than a mere dictionary, for it has the ability to translate whole steams of text. It handles English, French, German, and Spanish translations between any pairs.

It is simple to use. Simply select the language pair, input the text to translate in the upper screen panel, and tap on the Translate button. The translation will appear in the lower panel of the screen.

The question is how accurate is it, and how well does it handle complex sentences? I suppose the best answer is that you can make yourself understood using simple sentences without any kind of vernacular whatsoever. If it doesn’t understand a term, it will use the original word in the translation. This seems to happen regularly if you use slang, 50-cent words, or abstract concepts.

[Read more]

Turn your pocket pal into a Web cam

If a picture were ever worth a thousand words, it is certainly the one above, which tells the whole story of the Mobiola Web Camera application. This is an amazing program that will turn your pocket pal into a PC Web camera. It connects via USB, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth.

It addition to the normal Webcam functions, it also offers screen captures that can be displayed on the PC monitor, saved to file, or transmitted with instant messaging. Needless to say, saved files may be shared with MMS, email, and in social networks as well.

The instant message icons on the right side of the graphic above show the various networks that Mobiola Web Cam supports. It also supports AOL, by the way.

[Read more]

New: SPB Traveler

Even if you’re not a globe-trotting road warrior, this multi-functional conglomeration of useful tools is worth some room on your mobile assistant. It will give you a myriad of information at your fingertips, as any good pocket concierge should do.

The program offers four icons at the bottom of every page that include Cities, Trips, Tools, and Globe. From these buttons, you can access the various functions of this application, which include Cities, Time, Weather, Trip Assistant, 3D Globe, Flight Search, Tools, and Geo Games.

[Read more]

New: SPB Online

There are several online aggregators out there, but SPB’s is the latest, and the first one with live TV that I’m aware of. SPB Online features live TV, radio, news, weather, shopping, games, ringtone downloads, and themes. Each selection is housed in a colorful grid of large, user-friendly buttons that are so a la mode these days.

The TV feature offers an array of 20 preset channels, the majority of which are in English, but some are in Russian, German, and French. There are TV guides and the ability to change screen orientations. While the ability to select new channels not already listed is unfortunate, there is an interesting choice available. The system works well, and the change between channels is smooth and rapid using onscreen or hardware buttons. I liked the picture in picture capability too.

[Read more]

RoboForm for Power Surfing, Shopping, and Auto Logins

One of the most tedious aspects of online shopping and logins is the laborious process of going through the shopping cart hoops and filling out the forms with all the required information. Well, that’s no longer an issue with RoboForm. This handy application remembers all your stuff and will automatically complete all the fields in any form with the single click of a mouse. I honestly think I would give up online shopping if it were not for RoboForm. All you have to do is complete a RoboForm profile. It stores your info and can regurgitate it next time you need to fill out a form. It’s a pleasure to behold.

It even remembers stuff like credit card information and expiration dates and puts it in the proper field flawlessly. It allows you to have several profiles of completion data for your personal forms and another for you business, businesses, or another for your spouse. It conveniently provides for multiple users too. What about security you say? No problem it is a multifaceted, secure, encrypted system that you can password protect. It will generate a secure password for you if you wish. You can actually password protect any fields you specify. You can create a master password before you enter the program if you wish. RoboForm also has a Safenotes utility where you can store sensitive information securely. This is like having a secure electronic wallet for safely storing credit card information, bank accounts, passwords, insurance, IRS information and more. People pay good money for standalone programs like this, but it’s included free with RoboForm. Form completion is not the only function that RoboForm fulfills. It will put your passwords on speed dial and automatically log you into a Website. For this purpose it creates a set of Passcards with the appropriate data for even multi-step login sites. It will also adjust for turing fields that you have to complete manually before submitting. All you have to do is complete the login procedure as you normally would, and a Passcard window will automatically popup giving you the choice to password protect the login information or not. RoboForm creates a Passcard for this login and adds it to the list. [Read more]

Japan’s Banking Crisis

Following the problems in the sub-prime lending market in America and the run on Northern Rock in the UK, uncertainty has now hit Japan. In the last 7 days Origami Bank has folded, Sumo Bank has gone belly up and Bonsai Bank announced plans to cut some of its branches. Yesterday, it was announced that Karaoke Bank is up for sale and will likely go for a song while today shares in Kamikaze Bank were suspended after they nose-dived. While Samurai Bank is soldiering on following sharp cutbacks, Ninja Bank is reported to have taken a hit, but they remain in the black. Furthermore, 500 staff at Karate Bank got the chop and analysts report that there is something fishy going on at Sushi Bank where it is feared that staff may get a raw deal. But Samsung Bank plans on pocketing its profits.

XM/Sirius Merger Sucks Seriously

When I first learned of the impending merger of Sirius and XM satellite radio companies, I feared that my investment in equipment and subscriptions would be adversely affected. Accordingly, I contacted both companies and was assured that the functionality of my equipment would be protected. I was also assured that the prices would not increase because of a monopoly and that I would experience greater programming benefits from the merger.

I more or less dismissed it as a non-issue and continued to pay for dual subscriptions. My car has Sirius and so does our bedroom. My wife’s car has XM and so does my office. That involves four radios and two subscriptions with two reduced rate secondary subscriptions.

This morning I received an email announcing that I could now get the best of Sirius on XM. The best of Sirius was described as Howard Stern, NFL, Martha Steward, NASCAR, and Playboy Radio. Let me assure you that I would never in a million years waste my time listening to any of the “best of Sirius.”

Curious, I called XM to see how the merger had actually affected me. What I learned is that while the merger had transpired successfully, XM and Sirius virtually remain two separate companies because of conflicting technology. That means that I must continue to maintain separate subscriptions to support my radios instead of being able to merge my accounts into a single account, which I had been promised would happen. There is no programming advance and no merging of content other than the so-called “best of Sirius,” which, as far as I’m concerned is a joke.

Nice going FCC. You really protected the consumer’s interest by creating this monopoly. I can’t wait for the price gouging to begin. This will probably soon be followed by discontinuing one form of technology creating the obsolescence of one platform over the other without compensation. Keep up the good work FCC.

FCC has created a monopoly with the merger of XM and Sirius. As a result, I must continue to maintain separate Sirius and XM accounts instead of merging them into a single account. There is absolutely no benefit whatsoever for the consumer as a result of this ill-advised merger.

If you also feel that there is cause for concern, I suggest that you visit ConsumerAffairs.com where you can voice your complaint and experience. https://www.consumeraffairs.com/CA/do_datarpt.php