Hey! Just read over at Sprite Software that they're in the midst of completely rebuilding their Sprite Backup from the ground up! It will be completely reengineered to make the most of the features offered in Microsoft’s new Windows Mobile 7 (and most likely 6.5). But, hang on - there's more.

Sprite Software is really interested in hearing from the folks who actually use their software, so they're holding a massive prize contest! Over 12 million people have used their Sprite Backup and they're holding a Backup 7 Feature Hunt, with some great prizes:

• 1st prize (2 winners)
  Each receives a HTC Touch HD
• 2nd prize (5 winners)
  Each receives a Bluetooth GPS Unit
• 3rd prize (30 winners)
  Each receives an 8GB MicroSD Card
• PLUS other exciting prizes!

All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is suggest your one most wanted feature for Sprite Backup 7! If you've never used Sprite Backup, don't hesitate to enter anyway! I've yet to use the program, but after reading about Sprite Backup 6 in the treocentral store, this program sounds pretty darn awesome! I'll delve into some of the features of version 6 and let you judge for yourself!

Read on for the full article

Just read an article over at New University.com about a study to track teen drinking, using cellphones as tools.

According to the article, researchers at the University of California have instituted a study in which select teens are given Palm Centros and their texts are to be used to collect data on substance use among preteens. Candice Odgers, UCI assistant professor of psychology and social behavior, is set to begin the study this summer. Focused on children between the ages of 10 and 13, the study will examine preteens exposed to drugs and alcohol in situations where peer pressure may influence them to drink.

It seems that of 1400 children to be interviewed, approximately 200 will be given Palm Centros to collect data and keep in touch with experimental groups through text messaging to capture their lives in "real time." This age group has been selected because substance abuse is very common in this age range and because previous studies indicate that "Exposure to substances prior to age 15 may lead to especially poor outcomes in teens, including substance dependency, school failure, contracting STDs and criminal involvement," Odgers said.

UCI students will be involved as case managers in an effort to build relationships with the youths and help them to realize that any data they relay is completely confidential and can't/won't be traced back to any particular individual. The purpose of the study, according to Odgers is to gather information about their social support networks, emotions and daily experiences. She also stated that "We also want to identify factors that may be triggering risky behaviors or protecting young teens in the face of difficult environments and situations. To accomplish this goal, we will be." Although the researchers are interested in understanding young teen experiences with substance use, the researchers will also be collecting data on other types of health behaviors, including diet, exercise and sleep according to the article.

Read on for the full article

Hey amateur sleuths! So, you pride yourself in being able to solve a good mystery, eh? Well, eSoft Interactive has a new game that you will probably love! It's called Hot Pursuit and it's an all new mystery-puzzle game that sets you on a thrilling chase of crime solving action - right at the palm of your hand!

In Hot Pursuit you catch the most sinister thieves by travelling from one country to another (over 42 in total) and climb along the Interpol ranks by solving hot cases! Hot Pursuit will keep you glued to your device for hours of crime-solving fun and challenge!

Are you a trivia buff? Then, Hot Pursuit may interest you, as well! Hot Pursuit contains tons of geographical trivias! Well, that puts me out, as I am HORRIBLE at any history or geography trivia - hence my always struggling at the classic game of Trivial Pursuit! But, I did learn a lot from missing my questions and perhaps the same might be true of Hot Pursuit!

Hot Pursuit Features:

• A different kind of mystery-puzzle gaming!
• Travel over 42 countries right on the palm of your hand!
• Includes tons of geographical trivias
• Cool sound effects and music
• Save/Load your game anytime/anywhere
• Online score ranking!
• FREE lifetime updates!

Wanna learn a bit more about Hot Pursuit? Check out this page from eSoft Interactive's Blog. There's even a teaser video about Hot Pursuit that you can watch while you're there!

Hot Pursuit was released on April 14th and a demo is available for both Windows Mobile smartphones and Pocket PC. Registration for both is $9.95. Check it out today!

I've never messed with a machine running MacOS, but I've read what a headache it can be to try to sync your Mac with your Windows Mobile device/Pocket PC! I've even heard some of the paid software that is designed to ease the pain of syncing your Mac with your WM device may or may not run into new problems on machines running Leopard. Well, I read over at PalmAddicts that Eltima Software has released version 1.4 of its SyncMate software!

SyncMate is referred to as the missing link between your Mac and your Pocket PC. With SyncMate, you can synchronize Contacts and Calendar with their analogs Address Book and iCal via USB cable or WiFi. Also, with SyncMate, no matter where you are and what device you are using, your address book will always be synchronized, and your calendar will be always within reach!

And, these features are available in the FREE edition of SyncMate! Let's check out some of the other great features of SyncMate!

Full Feature List:

• Synchronize Favorites, Contacts, Calendar, Notes in mobile device accordingly with their analogues Bookmarks, Address Book, iCal, Stickies on Mac OS
• Ability to work with iTunes and iPhoto (Expert Edition)
• Simple installation of applications to your mobile device
• Synchronize separate folders (Expert Edition)
• Resize images while copying (Expert Edition)
• Ability to synchronize time in mobile device with TimeSync plugin (Expert Edition)
• Easily get device info (type of device, OS, owner's name, memory status (internal memory and flash card), battery state, time, alarms, etc.)
• Examine memory status diagram and its legend
• Track all operations which SyncMate handles by actions log
• Ability to manage Drafts, Sent and Deleted items, Inbox and Outbox SMS (Expert Edition)
• Build-in converter, which compresses video to MPEG4 (Expert Edition)
• Synchronization via USB cable and WiFi
• Compatibility with Windows Mobile Pocket PC 2005/2006, Windows Mobile Smartphone 2005/2006

Then, there's the Expert edition of SyncMate, which gives you even more control over what you can sync! Synchronize iTunes and iPhoto to keep all your favorite music and pictures within a click of a button. Manage all text messages without even touching your Pocket PC! Send, receive, create and delete SMS when working at your Mac - that's what SyncMate Expert gives you.

For a full comparison of features of the free edition versus the expert edition, head over to the SyncMate home page and click on Expert Edition!

By all means, head to the SyncMate page anyway and check out SyncMate for yourself! After all, there is the FREE edition, so what do you have to lose??

After reading Jennifer's post about some details on AT&T's 3G MicroCell back in January, I've kept an eye out for more information about this awesome-sounding development! Like Jennifer, there is no 3G available in my area, either! :-(

In fact, there are times when I must stand by a window or actually walk outside to get a signal strong enough to make a call or to keep from losing a call I'm currently on! So, I'm anxiously awaiting the actual arrival of AT&T's 3G MicroCell, too! After hearing reports that the MicroCell will cover up to 5,000 square feet and allow up to four simultaneous voice or data connections which are locked down to keep out nosy neighbors - I was even more intrigued!

For those who haven't read about or even heard about the AT&T 3G MicroCell, the MicroCell acts like a mini cellular tower in your home or small business environment. It connects to AT&T's network via your existing broadband internet service (such as DSL or cable) and is designed to support up to 10 3G capable wireless phones in a home or small business setting. With AT&T 3G MicroCell, you receive improved cellular signal performance for both voice calls and cellular data applications, like picture messaging and surfing the web for up to 4 simultaneous users. Sounds sorta like a home broadcasting station? I suppose it is. So, let's take another look at the features of the MicroCell.

Read on for the full article

Hey gamers! Are you like me and love games of logic that require good memorization? Then, check out Twice, by HeroCraft!

Twice is an amazing logic game AND memory training tool in one! Flip the face-down mosaic tiles and remember the pattern on the other side. When you find two similar patterns, you score points. Twice - when simplicity and genius go together!

From reading the description on the HeroCraft Website, Twice sounds very similar to the old Match game!

Twice combines the main principles of a classic game: an attractive appearance, popular and simple rules and a variety of game modes. Its rules are well known: you have to flip the face-down tiles in the puzzle one by one and remember the pattern on the other side. When you flip two identical tiles, you score points. To complete the level you have to find all of the pairs.

Twice combines the main principles of a classic game: an attractive appearance, popular and simple rules and a variety of game modes. Twice has 3 game modes so you can pick the game that suits your tastes — race against time, limited number of attempts or no limits at all. The game really does sound addicting!

Check out some of the screenshots!

Twice's Features:

• Colourful Oriental style graphics
• Pleasant, relaxing music
• Three game modes for all tastes
• Excellent memory training tool
• Captivating gameplay

Twice is available for Palm OS, Windows Mobile, iPhone and Symbian (S60 v.3 & UIQ v.3) platforms!

Head on over to the HeroCraft Website and check it out!!

On March 16th, 2009 VITO Technologies released version 1.8 of iWindowsMobile Communication Suite. Want your Windows Mobile device to look stunning? With new graphics and finger-friendly interface, iWindowsMobile can reveal the real potential of your Windows Mobile device! Combining 5 of VITO Technologies' best sellers, iWindowsMobile Communication Suite has it all!

With iWindowsMobile you get the new version 1.3 of Winterface, the Next generation shell for Windows Mobile which includes the options of a launcher, a task manager and a multitude of Today plug-ins. Winterface is intended to virtually replace the default interface of your touch screen Windows Mobile device, allowing you to lay out your icons exactly the way you want them! Winterface 1.31 offers you the possibility to choose between black skin with white stylish icons or bright one with colorful icons and 3d images. Furthermore, what makes Winterface even more attractive is the ability to switch on or off Windowed mode. This mode allows you either to show or hide the standard top WM bar that shows the essential info like start button, time, profile, mobile operator, etc.

iWindowsMobile also includes:

• FunContact for managing all your contacts in a fun way with clear and stylish icons.
• SMS-Chat for threaded SMS on your device where all SMS written and received appear in a very user friendly way.
• ZoomBoard for finger-friendly typing with options to add any language you need.
• Weather gives you regular updates on weather of the day and weather forecasts. The new Weather gives the option to choose how frequently updates should appear: every hour, 3 hours or 12 hours. The skin of Weather app changes together with the Winterface skin. All major bugs have also been fixed.

iWindowsMobile Communication Suite is available here for $30! That's a savings of around $30 compared to purchasing the individual applications! Interested but want to test it out first? Perfect! Just download the 14-day free trial and see if iWindowsMobile is for you! What do you have to lose? Try it today!

Hey folks, I was reading about Next Generation Smartphones Players, Opportunities & Forecasts 2008-2013 by Juniper Research and found the article particularly interesting!

According to the article, by the year 2013, smartphones will account for 23% of all new headsets sold per annum! What's driving the interest in smartphones? According to Juniper, the proliferation of online stores selling specialized applications that make these devices better suited to the individual users' needs!

This isn't really surprising to me! Take the typical iPhone user, for example. These users loved their phones so much that the Apple's App Store reportedly sold 300 million applications within five months of its launch!! And, watch out - other players are jumping in on the bandwagon! Look for similar trends from Google, Nokia, etc.!

I look for games to be one of the biggest selling points of the availability of mobile applications and perhaps a driving force behind smartphone sells! Being someone who enjoys playing games on my PC, I can see why people would love to be able to play some of their favorite games which make the transition to the mobile platforms! Sure, the screen is smaller and the graphics aren't always top-notch, but being able to play that particular arcade classic on the go has its merits to me!

According to the article, other findings include:

• By 2013, annual smartphone sales will reach around 300 million
• Sales of smartphones will remain healthy during the recession as fewer mid-range devices compete for buyers’ attentions and pricing becomes more attractive, while consumers will come to believe that they will be getting more for their money by buying high-end devices
• Device vendors are seeing falling margins on handset sales and need to diversify into service provision with high-value content from which they and their network operator partners can profit

Juniper Research provides research and analytical services to the global hi-tech communications sector, providing consultancy, analyst reports, and industry commentary.

I hope the percentage of sales is even higher as folks are exposed to and learn to love smartphones!! Get back to me in 4-5 years and let me know how it all turns out!!

According to Kris Keilhack over at Palm Infocenter, 2009 has been a busy year, so far, for mobile published Handmark when it comes to Palm OS entertainment titles!

He goes on to mention that the latest Handmark promotion is focused on 4 new entertainment titles for Palm OS devices, all of which are based on licensed media properties or existing console game ports. The 4 games are: Who Wants to be a Millionaire 2009, Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader, American Gladiators and Resident Evil Degeneration - all of which were developed by Capcom - a giant in the gaming industry! Let's look briefly at each game!

In Who Wants to be a Millionaire 2009, players are challenged with 1,000 mind-bending questions. Just like the show, players utilize four lifelines and their wits to work their way to the $1 million question, and the real sound effects from the show keep the action tense, fun and fast-paced. Of course, I always would have won the $1 million if I were the contestant on tv! Not!! But, I love that game!

In Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?, all the charm, humor and deceptively difficult questions that made the show a household name are present! In the game, players are asked a series of up to eleven questions ranging from subjects like U.S. history, math or social studies. Perform well, and you can work your way to the $1 million question...choke and you'll be forced to utter the unenviable phrase "I'm not smarter than a 5th grader." I love the television version of this game and hope the charm and humor do make it through to the mobile edition!!

Handmarks version of American Gladiators for mobile pits everyday amateur athletes against action stars and stunt professionals in contests of physical strength and endurance. Test your mettle in seven classic gladiator events such as The Joust, The Wall, Assault, Powerball and the Eliminator as you compete against 12 of the toughest gladiators from the 2008 season, each with unique strengths and abilities! The actual show American Gladiators was cool and I hope some of the charm of the television show makes it through also!

Resident Evil Degeneration is based on the DVD and CG-animated movie. Resident Evil: Degeneration allows players to assume the role of Leon Kennedy as he fights his way through an airport overrun with an army of undead. In the game, players take control of an arsenal of bone-shattering weapons in order to combat a horde of zombies, infected dogs and horrific tyrants through 50 pulse-pounding missions! The movie series was awesome and, again, I hope some of the original charm and feel of the movie make the transition to the mobile platform!

Head on over to the Handmark Website and check out all of their products for the mobile platform!

Hey folks, are you like me and wonder just WHERE did you spend ALL that money on when it comes to data charges? Wow!

Well, Spb has just the answer you need! With their Wireless Monitor 3.0, Spb gives subscribers control over their mobile data spending by measuring data traffic, calculating the network charges, warning of costly data usage, and reporting which application exactly generates what kind of data traffic!

In 2002, Spb GPRS Monitor accounted for the lack of a built-in data tracking tool in Windows Mobile devices. A four-time prize winner in the Smartphone and Pocket PC magazine's Best Software Awards, shipped in over a dozen devices by ASUS, HTC, O2, Samsung, and T-Mobile, the Spb Wireless Monitor has over 3,000,000 loyal customers worldwide. Now known as Wireless Monitor 3.0, it comes with massive enhancements in features and abilities.

Read on for the full article

Phil Nickson over at WMExperts reports that Sprint Treo Pro is reportedly dropping in January as reported here. One would assume this is all just speculation, but who knows what may have been leaked?

Also, it seems that after much speculation, the projected date is set to Janurary 11, 2009, according to BGR. Sprint customers will surely be delighted if the Treo Pro is offered, but those of us with Verizon or AT&T will surely be jealous!

Back in mid October, our own Jennifer Chappell also reported that Malatesta over at our sister site WMExperts had come upon something very interesting in his search at Sprint's website. While looking for a download for his Treo 800w, he was looking at Sprint's device selector and saw the Treo Pro listed.

With all the speculation and the reliability of the sources for the above information, I don't doubt that the Treo Pro is coming to Sprint! Only time will tell, but I'm betting Sprint customers are keeping their fingers crossed!

Hey, ever wish you could play games with/against persons using different networks and platforms?

Well, you're in luck! At CTIA WIRELESS I.T. & Entertainment 2008, Mytopia Inc., the leading innovator of real-time cross-platform gaming, announced the expansion of its online social gaming community from leading social networks such as Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, hi5 and Friendster to MOBILE DEVICES, including iPhone, BlackBerry, Symbian, PalmOS and Windows Mobile! For the first time ever, Mytopia members from social networks, widget communities, mobile devices and EVERY smartphone operating system will be able to seamlessly play games and chat together in REAL-TIME!

"For example, you could join a game of Texas Hold 'Em on your Treo, and play with a friend who's using an iPhone, a co-worker who's using a BlackBerry, and a family member who's logged in through Facebook or MySpace- all in real-time!"

Read on for the full article

Hey, was looking around at Palm Addicts and ran across this great looking program, Nexave! Check it out!

Nexave is an iPhone look-alike keyguard replacement for all Hires Palm OS devices.

The transparent Nexave keyguard window times out after 5 seconds, which results in your device powering off - which can be quite the battery saver if you're apt to accidentally hits keys (like I am). You can 'wave' it away by swiping it down with your finger or hit the center button. It replaces the built-in keyguard window. Note: Be sure to set the Auto-Keyguard to "When power is turned off".

Nexave displays the time, the date, battery meter, phone signal meter, beaming status, amount of physical ram including amount in use, basic smart card information and even your phone carrier and phone number - that's quite a bit of information for a freeware program!

Nexave can be set to display todays weather, tomorrows weather, todays and tomorrows weather, 3 day forecast or no weather information at all. I've been using Nexave on my Centro for the past week. My only problem so far has been getting the weather to actually show up even though I do have the 4Cast plugin enabled.

Sammy even has a video of Nexave in action. Check it out!

Saw a VERY interesting article at jkOnTheRun that mentions the scenario of converting your everyday movements into charge for your mobile phone battery, awesome! Read on for more info!

The project sounds to be in it's infancy, but from what I read - sounds VERY promising! Imagine going through your everyday routine: shopping, vacuuming, washing dishes, just playing with your children and at the SAME TIME, charging your phone battery in the process.

That's just what M2E Power proposes with its new technology! As Katie Fehrenbacher over at GigaOM points out, some of the countries with less than ideal power grids and where cell phones are booming could really stand to benefit by just such a technology!

I mention it's in the early development stages because, while the technology does work, it translates at the rate of one hour charge time for every 6 hours of movement. I, for one, wouldn't mind this trade-off in the least! In fact, it's an incentive of sorts to get me up and moving! I could stand to shed a few pounds anyway. Grin.

Stay tuned!

After unveiling Wednesday that it plans to directly compete against rivals such as RIM (Researchers In Motion), manufacturer of the Blackberry, there is speculation about Palm's lack of an agreement with U.S. carriers. How does this transpond to us, the U.S. buyers? Read on.

The fact that the Treo Pro comes unlocked does away with the carrier specific deals, such as the Centro which can be purchased for $319.99, minus $150.00 for entering into a 2-year contract with AT&T and then mailing in a $100.00 rebate form - which nets you the Centro for $69.99. An awesome deal! Now, since the phone can be purchased elsewhere and is unlocked, there is no incentive for AT&T to lure you into the deal. With the Treo Pro, this leaves you paying $549 for a phone which, while it may be awesome, still means you're paying a LOT for features that are available on less pricey smartphones.

Read on for the full article

Hey, are you an Club Astraware member? If not, now is a GREAT time to join, as Club Astraware members can get Big Box of Blox FREE during July 2008! Existing Club Astraware members just need to log into their account to get their free copy of the game!

Big Box of Blox is a blox-stacking game taken to outrageous extremes! Players arrange the three-blox-high stacks as they fall. Match blox in groups of three or more, vertically or horizontally, to eliminate them - but that's not all! To me, this sounds like a hybrid of Tetris and Connect Four, or would that be connect three, hehe?

Don't just stack the blox. Smash them, blast them, mutate them or explode them in a shower of flames! Use special blox including jokers, bombs, frogs, mushrooms, fireballs and slot machines to clear the board before it reaches the top! This game really sounds exciting and I'm going to join Club Astraware just to get this game!

Read on for the full article

Weather Beta, by DeluxeWare is no longer in Beta and is now a subscription service.

I've received quite a few emails from the TreoCentral community asking me if I had any word on the recent error message when trying to update the current weather conditions.

Anatoly Terebilov contacted me, thanking me for Beta testing the program and letting me know about the change to the subscription service. I hope those of you who, like me, have enjoyed Weather will support DeluxeWare and purchase a subscription!

There are 3 subscription levels:

• Purchase 3-months subscription for $4.95
• Purchase 1-year subscription for $14.95
• Purchase infinity subscription for $19.95

Read on for the full article

The Palm Centro is quickly making its way around the globe. Palm Inc. and Rogers Wireless today announced the Canadian launch of the popular Palm Centro smartphone, available at Rogers Wireless, the country's most reliable wireless network. The Centro is Palm's smallest and lightest smartphone and has sold more than one million units worldwide. And Palm says that they expect to sell 2 million Centros by the end of 2008.

From Palm's press release:

"Traditional cell phone users are stepping up the Palm Centro in droves because of its cool design, full keyboard and ease of use," said Brodie Keast, senior vice president of marketing for Palm, Inc. "More and more people need voice, text, email, web, contact and calendar capabilities all wrapped in one compact device so they can stay connected with everyone who is important to them. Centro delivers all that and more."

The Centro on Rogers is the Cobalt Blue that Verizon just launched on Friday. It's nice to see more people getting the opportunity to buy a Centro. I have one and I've been really impressed with it so far.

On June 10th 2008, Spb Software House, the leading Windows Mobile applications vendor, released Spb Backup 2.0. Spb Backup is a tool for making reserve copies of personal data and system settings for Windows Mobile phones. Spb Backup safeguards from data loss, eliminates the pain of reinstalling applications after a hard reset, a ROM or device upgrade, and delivers a flawless restore experience.

Spb is the choice of ASUS and Gigabyte and thus became the best-sold backup utility for Pocket PC in 2007. The new and improved Spb Backup 2.0 is smarter, twice as fast, and makes moving data between Windows Mobile phones as easy as unpacking an archive.

New in version 2.0

• Device and ROM upgrade modes
• Spb Backup Sync
• Spb Backup Unpack tool
• Smartphone version
• File Black-list or "Ignored Files"

Read on for the full article

TreoTown has renamed their TreoSpot app to Centroid. I mentioned TreoSpot, which was then in version 2.4, in a Treo Software Roundup last month. Centroid is now up to version 2.8.

To refresh your memory, Centroid is a Location Based Reminder and Phone Profile Settings utility for Palm Centro GSM smartphones. Once you set-up the Centroid database, you can enable alerts and phone profiles when you are in a specific area. This is useful in case you need to remember something (e.g., buy groceries, etc.) when you are in a particular place.

Centroid will work only on Palm Centro GSM Smartphones.

Features of Centroid:

• Automatic collection of GIDs.
• Change phone settings when you arrive at a particular location. (e.g., forward calls to your home land-line when you arrive there).
• You can set the Theme, TimeZone (experimental), Mute Phone and System Sounds and Call-Forwarding.
• Alert at a particular location (e.g., set-up an alert to purchase groceries on the way back from work, when you are near your favourite store).
• Timed phone settings profile cancellation.
• True one-handed operation.
• Tiny PRC (~ 55 KB).

Centroid is still Free so go check it out!

Version 0.58 addresses the 'white screen' bug that would sometimes pop up and then you'd be unable to run the program.

I've downloaded, installed and ran the program with no problems now - after personally experiencing the white screen with the Palm OS version on my Centro.

In corresponding with lead programmer Anatoly Terebilov I've been told that "The project is freeware so far. We are planning to add a lot of new features and fixes. And all is free." I sure hope it stays free!

I'm staying in touch with Anatoly and will keep you informed!

Want to give v.0.58 a look?

Download it here for free.

Neal turns his Centro into a mobile weather station with Weather, a fun and feature packed program that is Free!

Read on for the full review!

Astraware fans and fans of the Idigicon game Platypus rejoice. The game has come to the Palm OS and Windows Mobile platforms!

Platypus has been dubbed "The squishiest shoot-em-up ever" - hehe!

Based on the cult classic for PC and Mac, Platypus is a fast, frantic and fun side-scrolling arcade shooter with a difference - the entire game is made from clay! The vast continent-spanning city of Collosatropolis has finally reached the limits of its expansion, and tall buildings cover every available space...

You get to be a hero and save peaceful Mungola as you fly over squashy fields and trees, avoiding snowy mountain tops and protecting your planet. Enjoy 4 massive worlds, each with several challenging levels.

Platypus is optimized for play with 5-way or stylus and is available for Palm OS and Windows Mobile smartphones and PDAs, priced $19.95, from Astraware.

Stay tuned for my upcoming review of this fun looking game!