Freeware World

Were you getting excited about the forthcoming Windows Mobile version of Firefox? Well, forget it kid, because Mozilla has just announced that it’s scrapping the whole project. Despite being in the works for some time, development of the Windows Mobile version Fennec (a.k.a Firefox Mobile) has now stopped - and it’s all Microsoft’s fault, says Mozilla.

According to Stuart Parmenter, technical lead, Firefox Mobile, it will be impossible for Mozilla to develop the app for new Windows Phones 7 platform due to the way Microsoft has closed off development to native applications. In a frank blog post, Parmenter says that Mozilla had been expecting a native development kit with the new OS, and now that’s not been forthcoming, Fennec for Windows Mobile is being put on hold.

While we think Windows Phone 7 looks interesting and has the potential to do well in the market, Microsoft has unfortunately decided to close off development to native applications. Because of this, we won’t be able to provide Firefox for Windows Phone 7 at this time. Given that Microsoft is staking their future in mobile on Windows Mobile 7 (not 6.5) and because we don’t know if or when Microsoft will release a native development kit, we are putting our Windows Mobile development on hold.

In a subtle dig in the ribs of Microsoft, Parmenter goes on to say that he and his team will use the knowledge they gained from working on the Windows Mobile version to help with development of Fennec on other mobile platforms. Perhaps when Microsoft sees Firefox running on Maemo and Android it might rue its decision not to open up to native development. Or then again, it’s plan all along could’ve been to wipe out anything that might compete with the native IE app in Windows 7 Phones.

Are you on Facebook? We’ve added another way for you to follow posts at OnSoftware, with the Softonic (EN) Facebook group. Join us, and you’ll be updated as soon as new posts are published, and we’ll also share links to cool software and games.

As it’s a Facebook group, all members are free to start discussions and talk to other members too. It’s also a great place to share your thoughts on software on our wall, so if you’ve got something to say, get involved! You can join our Facebook group here. Don’t forget you can also follow us on Twitter!

This afternoon I claimed ownership of The Pentagon, Windsor Castle, and Camp Nou, home of FC Barcelona. Don’t worry, I’m not part of some evil terrorist plot, I’m just playing the new Buzz graffiti game that’s sweeping the World*. The object of the game is to be the first to tag a famous building, government office or monument, using the new Google Buzz feature within Google Maps for Mobile.

Google’s new Buzz geo-tagging feature has today been added to the latest versions of Google Maps for iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile and Symbian devices. It allows you to post details of where you are and what doing, for the whole World to see. Your phone will auto-detect your location and you can simply hit the ‘Add Buzz’ button to put your comment on the map.

More interestingly though, you can now search Google Maps for any company or famous building and get an option to ‘Buzz about this place’. And this is where the game comes in. According to the rules of Buzz graffiti, if no one has buzzed about it before, you can claim control of it simply by tagging it with a comment to the effect that you’re the new owner. OK, so go get the new Google Maps for your mobile and start tagging. I’m off to take over all the Starbucks in my town…

*Actually, I’m the only competitor in Buzz graffiti at the moment, but all the more reason for you to start playing, before I take over the planet - mwah hah hah hah!

Next week, Microsoft will unveil its latest mobile operating system at the Mobile World Congress. Windows Mobile 7 presents the company with a chance to gain ground on iPhone and Android. On the other hand, if it’s poorly received it could seal the fate of Windows Mobile, an operating system which has sunk to just 9 percent of the total market share. Of course, most mobile blogs have come up with their own theories about what we can expect from Windows Mobile 7. Some are seemingly credible, while others are quite incredible. I’ve picked out the gossip that I think has the most substance to keep you going until Microsoft reveals all next week.

PPCGeeks has published a comprehensive round-up of the new features of Windows Mobile 7. It stresses that the information is not official, but the “closest information we have heard on actually being real”. Whatever that means. According to this information, there’s good news and bad news. The bad news is there will be no multi-tasking, although it says that apps will pause in the background, which is at least a little better than the iPhone can manage. PPC Geeks also reckons that WM7 will not support Flash or Silverlight within the browser, although it claims Silverlight will be supported out of the browser.

All the rumor sites seem to suggest that the new OS will be very focused on media and gaming. PPC Geeks is predicting full integration with Xbox Live, including the ability to purchase games.  Apparently Windows Mobile 7 will use the Zune software to handle music, videos, and photo syncing, which could be a positive step towards challenging the iPhone’s supremacy as the leading MP3 and video phone. With talk of push notifications and support for social networking in the new OS, WM7 could be a great platform for keeping in touch.

Elsewhere, WMExperts has thrown its theories into the mix. It claims that there will be two versions of the platform: a Business Edition and a Media Edition, the latter of which will include support for HD video, a Zune-esque music player, and potentially even streaming TV. The Business Edition will apparently be big on syncing, allowing users to share data across multiple devices through the cloud.

Gizmodo is always keen to throw tidbits onto the rumor mill. It says the SDK will be available in early June, and slates September as a potential release date for the operating system. The post also talks of a new gesture-based input system, which would allow users luxeries such as pinch-zoom, rotation and twisting that aren’t currently possible with Windows Mobile 6.x. Speaking of the previous incarnation of the OS, Gizmodo reckons that WM7 will support apps designed for version 6, although Russian mobile phone guru Eldar Murtazin claims that it won’t.

We’ll be at the Mobile World Congress next week, so we’ll be able to confirm or deny all of these rumors as soon as we see Windows Mobile 7 in action. In the meantime, if you have any ideas about what you think will be in the new version, or what you’d like to see, please let us know.

Chrome users have been rejoicing this week as Google officially opened the door to extensions on its web browser. Just as you can with Firefox, you can now power up Chrome by installing add-ons that improve the functionality of the app and boost your productivity. There are already more than 500 extensions available to download for free from the Google Chrome Extensions site.

In order to install extensions in Chrome, a little prep work is involved first.

• Start by getting the latest developer build of Google Chrome from here.
• Right-click on the Chrome icon on your desktop and click ‘Properties’
• Add the text “--enable-extensions” to the end of the ‘Target’ field. Click ‘Apply’

Now you’re ready to start installing extensions. Here are my favorites so far, along with a link to the download.

Wikipedia - Perform searches on the internet’s Oracle from within the Chrome browser

Feedly - Latest content from your Reader feeds in the form of a magazine-style start page

Google Calendar Popout - Check you schedule on the fly with this simple, yet essential add-on

Chromed Bird - Instant tweeting with the best Twitter extension for Google Chrome

Google Translate - Entire web pages translated with just the single click of an icon

Google Mail Checker - Access your mail from anywhere with this pop-out Gmail add-on

Chromepad -Handy pop-up textpad that’s ideal for jotting down notes as you browse

Chrome FM - Listen to Last.fm from inside the Chrome browser

AccuWeather Forecast - Check the weather forecast where you live with one click

Google Similar Pages - Find sites that are pertinent to the one you are currently looking at

Windows Mobile users have had top put up with limited, stripped-down versions of Microsoft’s Office tools for years. Finally, Microsoft seems to pumping up the power of its mobile productivity suite, Office Mobile 2010. Released at the same time as Microsoft Office 2010 for PC, the latest version adds some powerful new functionality to the suite and harnesses the capabilities Windows Mobile 6.5 to deliver a more comfortable user experience.

The overall look and feel of all the apps within Microsoft Office Mobile 2010 is much improved on the previous version. The drop-down menus are sexier and more touch-friendly, and the apps support touch gestures for zooming in and out of documents and flicking through files. That said, the toolbar icons within the apps still look very outdated compared with the desktop versions. I was also disappointed to learn that you still can’t drag over text with the stylus to select it for copying, cutting and pasting.

In terms of the utilities themselves, Word, Excel and PowerPoint are definitely more functional than they’ve ever been on a mobile. For instance, Word Mobile 2010 now includes more formatting options, a whole bunch of new preset formulas have been added to Excel Mobile 2010, and PowerPoint Mobile 2010 adds a feature for hooking up to your PC via Bluetooth and flicking through slides from your phone.

SharePoint WorkSpace Mobile is a new addition within Microsoft Office Mobile 2010. This neat app lets you hook up to a SharePoint server to view and open documents before editing them in Office Mobile and saving them back to the server. Its syncing capabilities mean that whenever a file is updated on the server, the version on your device will be automatically synced.

Another newcomer in Microsoft Office Mobile 2010 is OneNote Mobile. This very simple organizational tool lets you add voice, picture or text notes and store them as reminders. These notes can also be synced with your PC.Microsoft Office Mobile is still in Beta, and it’s free to try until 5 April 2010, after which time you’ll need to pay for it.

Microsoft Office Mobile 2010 is the strongest release of the suite to date, though it’s still a long way off the power of the desktop version. The UI is still pretty patchy and looks a bit like Word for Windows from about 10 years ago. Hopefully, the shell will be given a makeover when the next version of Office hits Windows Mobile 7.

The latest version of Windows Mobile rolls out today, as Microsoft tries to put a spring in the step of its aging mobile OS. Windows Mobile 6.5, which we previewed back in February, is designed to freshen up the hopelessly dated shell, making it more touch-friendly and improving on the browsing capabilities within the operating system. But can Microsoft really expect to make ground on its plusher, faster, and more functional rivals, such as iPhone, Android and BlackBerry? It’s a big ask, but there are a few new additions that might help. In fact, I’ve counted six and a half.

Today screen - It’s actually called a ‘Home’ screen now, but this is still the page where everything begins in Windows Mobile. Revamped to make it more touch-friendly, the screen consists only of text headings for the various apps and tools. The shortcuts on the Home screen are much neater and more intelligent than previous versions of the Today screen in WM. Now you can even launch individual Internet Explorer favorites directly from this screen.

Unlock specific tools - The phone unlocking capabilities are much improved in Windows Mobile 6.5, making them much more akin to the likes of the iPhone and Android systems. You can now slide to unlock specific items such as messages and missed calls.

Honeycomb interface - The new honeycomb-style Start menu interface is the flagship feature of the new Windows Mobile. It’s a vast improvement from the archaic-looking menu screens of the previous incarnations, and has been designed specifically for touchscreen use. Icons are spaced out much more, and can be scrolled up and down rather than having to fumble between different screens.

New Internet Explorer - Finally, a usable version of Internet Explorer within Windows Mobile! It’s still not as classy as using Opera Mini or Skyfire but at least Explorer now displays more of the page on screen. It also comes with finger-friendly controls and an intuitive zoom function. What’s more, there’s a new engine in there that permits access to more functions and actions. It even promises Flash support in certain cases.

Windows Marketplace - OK, so Microsoft wasn’t very quick off the mark in launching its app store, but better late than never I guess. The store isn’t as well organized as some of its competitors, but with so many Windows Mobile apps floating in the ether, the store should never be short of content.

My Phone - You’ve probably noticed that Steve Ballmer is a big advocate of the concept of using the cloud to manage your life across multiple devices (he shouts loudly enough about it). My Phone is designed to give Windows Mobile users the ability to sync their contacts, calendar, tasks, text message, photos, etc. with an online account, so this content can be accessed from anywhere. From what we can see, it works pretty well, too.

General ‘look and feel’ - And here’s where the .5 comes from. The overall appearance of Windows Mobile 6.5 is definitely better than it was, and it’s much more conducive to finger use. However, there’s still something about the UI that makes it feel like it’s only half finished. The Home screen and the Start menu don’t sit very well together, for instance. Also, when you quit a program from the Start menu page it automatically boots you back out to the Home screen, which can be annoying. Windows Mobile 6.5 isn’t really much more than a shell enhancement and we’ll have to wait until version 7 to see if it really has a chance of stealing back market share from its new, leaner and meaner rivals.

By the way, if you fancy trying out the new OS, you can download the emulator as part of the Windows Mobile 6.5 developer toolkit. Let us know what you think.

Winterface has long been one of the best ways to pimp your Windows Mobile, ridding it of that weedy frame it sits upon. Good news for fans of this app - there’s a new version out that adds even more customization possibilities. Winterface 2.0 includes a number of neat enhancements that bring the style and usability of other mobile operating systems to Windows Mobile. For instance, you can now swipe through menu pages like you can with Android, and there are clickable, iPhone-style dots beneath each page. There’s even an iPhone-esque feature whereby if you tap and hold the screens the icons wobble around and you can move, rename, enable or disable them.

Perhaps the juiciest editions though are the new skins, and there are some truly gorgeous new faces as you can see from the screenshots below. There is now also the option to download new skins from Winterface. The great thing about Winterface is that it also lets you tweak backgrounds within these skins and customize the headings for yourself. This app has got to be the best way to make Windows Mobile look and feel like a modern mobile operating system. And heaven knows it needs it.

Fed up of waiting for the Windows Mobile Marketplace to open its doors? Then use this time to check out the best of the existing apps for Pocket PC and Smartphone devices. Microsoft’s new mobile app store will launch with 600 applications but we shouldn’t forget that there’s already a ton available to download now […]

Pocket PC: Generally speaking, tennis sims for mobile devices are pretty lame. Fiddly controls and jerky animation are often the main culprits in the failings of these titles. Not so in VT Pocket Tennis though, which proves to be one the most enjoyable games of its kind on the Pocket PC. It has a wonderfully […]