Database Develop

WM6 Programming Question

This is my first post, so to all of you out there, my name is Joe and I have been following this forum since I decided on buying an ATT Tilt (Kaiser) and you all have been a tremendous help in a lot of decisions I made with my phone.
Now onto the question at hand, I have some programming knowledge in the world of computers (C++, VB, etc...) but I was wondering the differences in trying to make a program for my phone. If someone can direct me to maybe a tutorial or another post that might help me, please do (I looked but couldn't find anything), I would like to start giving back to the forum that helped me out.

There isn't much difference between C++ and VB in general, just some prefer the less strict 'grammar' in VB and some prefer the clear 'grammar' in C++. Speed wise, if you were to be using M$'s classes, both ought to be the same, while if you were to write in pure C++ native language, C ought to be better compiled.
Another alternative would be the .Net thing. If I'm right (haven't been really using one), is a class package for both VB and C+ which seemingly make it easier to program.
Depends on what you have (i.e. the programming software), if you were to have Visual Studio 2003+ (or later, no sure), you can download the WM6 SDK, which includes tutorial on how to get started.

Well what I have on hand right now...nothing at all...I'm at work at the moment and in my freetime here would like to work on a few things, I've been analyzing some other pieces of software since I posted this and noticed the use of XML files for the setup.
I have no preference in what language I use (hell one I don't know yet would work for me...knowledge is a blessing in IT). Just wish to be able to take some of the programs I use at the moment (ex HTC Home, BatteryStatus) add a little more functionality for my own personal use since I really don't feel like copyright lawsuits.
Basically Hanmin, I guess it just boils down to what would you suggest to use with the available "tools" at hand or suggestions, I'm up for anything, new to this game, I figured I would get wisdom from the pros here to make myself useful in my downtime

"There isn't much difference between C++ and VB in general," - now there's a statement to launch a major debate! But I'll resist the temptation and move on to a more constructive response - PPL. PPL (Pocket Programming Language) is a great little package which gives you an IDE for developing pocket pc apps in a C like language on either the pocket pc itself or on a pc. Read about it and get a free trial download here:
http://www.arianesoft.ca/

Applications that just excel over the rest?

I guess I'm hitting on a topic that has had endless discussions and has just plain been posted thousands of times, so it's probably a big annoyance for most of you; however, I have yet to see a concise and informative post or even a website anywhere that helps me get applications for my first Pocket PC, an AT&T Tilt. So if it's not too much trouble could you guys please help me out here? Please follow this format for each application you post:
[Category] - Pricing/Freeware
Application:
Description:
Positives:
Negatives:
Rating: 1 being worst - 5 being best
Where to get:
Example...
[Scheduling] - Freeware
Application: TodayAgenda
Description: TodayAgenda displays appointments and tasks on your today screen up to 30 days in advance. It replaces the default Outlook plugin with a lot of more features. (Straight from the site)
Positives: Great features, Very customizable.
Negatives: Can lag a little bit sometimes, Some features that Spb Dairy has that it lacks.
Rating: 4
Where to get: http://tiews.info/index.php?show=&lang=en
I think if we follow this format, we can give this thread a longer life expectancy as well as alleviate many of these types of posts. Even though I expect this to be an thread for great applications, if you feel the need to criticize another application please do so in a thorough manner following the format. Thank you for taking your time to read this and I hope to see some amazing applications!

[PIM Manager]: $29.95
Application: Manages your contacts, tasks, diary & Todo lists.
Description: An impressive all round product to help assist with managing your data in a simple but complex interface. Pocket Informant doesn't just simply let you work with your daily events through lists and grids, but with the new Events and Journal views you can look at your life's past and future in an easy cohesive environment. Even create contact links within your appointment or tasks' subject and notes let you quickly access a named contact without having to resort to links or a search. Most suprisingly, this power doesn't come at the cost of a complicated, cluttered interface.
Positives: Very customisable, easy to use, all in one management.
Negatives: None that I can complain about
Rating: 4
Where to get: http://www.pocketinformant.com/

For me the best application which in fact has prevented me from shifting to Symbian is SoftMaker's Office.
Category = On purchase. This is a suite of Spreadsheet and word processor.
Positives = So powerful that it can do almost what the PC counterpart can do. I need extremely complex spreadsheets even including conditional formatting and drop down lists. Never once I have encountered a situation where there was a mismatch between the desktop and the device. Round trip integrity of documents is just perfect.
Negatives = Not really many except for the steep price but I guess I do not mind this much as the overall functionality it provides is just great.
website = www.softmaker.com

[Category] - Pricing/Freeware - $40.00 - $60.00
Application: - CalliGrapher
Description: - Writing Recognizing Program
Positives: - Actually works...It has a function call Write Pad which allws fast printing across the bottom of the screen. I can take meeting notes very quickly during meetings. I gave up my Palm TX to go back to a PPC speciffically because of this ability.
Negatives: - There is a learning curve.
Rating: 1 being worst - 5 being best - 5
Where to get: http://www.phatware.com/calligrapher/index.html

[Taskmanager] - Freeware
Application: wkTask
Description: Task- and discrete Batterybar
Positives: Very nice and customizable, uses almost no CPU (especially compared to MagicButton which does the same but is quite ressource hungry)
Negatives: Notification icon might get hidden behind the taskbar (just set it such that there's enough space, still automatic would be nicer )
Rating: 4.5
URL: http://soft.photoracer.net/docs/wktask_en.html

Business (power user) - Worldmate FREE Worldmate Pro $74.95
Application: Worldmate
Description: Multiple apps for travel..Weather, Conversions, flightinfo and organiser
Positives: All of it.
Negatives: renewable yearly license (covers data subscriptions for weather and realtime flight info)
Rating: 5
Where to get: Online.
UTIL - Freeware
Application: MOJOPAC
Description: Used in conjunction with Softkick card export, gives a carry around vitual PC.
Positives: Carry more than just a Pocket PC
Negatives: Really needs a large SD card to be fulfilled.
Rating: 5
Where to get: Online

Tomeraider
oops - doublepost

Tomeraider
[db / ebook reader] - £19.95
Application: Tomeraider
Description: "TomeRaider is a text database browser and reader for handheld devices and Microsoft Windows made by Yadabyte"
Positives: Not just an eBook Reader but SO much more. On my SD card, I have a file containing the whole of wikipedia - it is very, very fast too. You wouldnt know that there were literally millions of articles. I also have IMDB on it too - lots of files available (4000 according to the site) - you can even author your own
Negatives: None found as yet
Rating: 1 being worst - 5 being best: "5+"
Where to get: http://www.tomeraider.com

[GPS navigation] - around $150, depends on country
Application: iGo MyWay Plus
Description: excellent GPS navigation software
Positives: Best interface that I've ever seen in any GPS software. Extremely convinient and easy to use. Fast, reliable. A lot of infromation on the screen, yet nothing is ever covered by anything, you get the whole view. Has a very large selection of maps. Not sure about others, but California map is very well detailed - last update was in Jan 08 with over 2 million POIs. Nevada map is ecellent too, other states probably the same. Supports TMC, internal/external GPS, speed cameras, excellent voice guidance, day/night skins, various transportation devices, toll road avoidance, and much more stuff.
Negatives: Does not get traffic updates from the web. Rest is minor glitches: If device goes to sleep, it may not return from it if iGo is running (happens very rarely). If phone is on vibrate - switches it to "silent" mode... although maybe this bug has to do with my config/device.
Rating: 1 being worst - 5 being best
Where to get: http://www.i-go.com/en/

Excellent idea! Should hopefully curb the "Just got my HTC xxx - what programs should I put on it?" posts!
My contributions
[Synchronisation] - £16.00/Free trial
Application: Easy Sync by Pocket Wizards
Description: Excellent program that lets you sync any files from any location on your PC to any location (including microSD) on your PPC
Positives: Much better than Active Sync file transfer. Leave all your files exactly where they are on your PC. Set up a sync partnership for that file using the straightforward wizard and choose where on your device you want to sync the file to. Choose your update frequency and job done - whenever you change the original file, the synced copy also updates. Can set up uni or bi-directional sync, so changes made to PPC version are automatically transferred to your PC file at next Sync. Can be set to trigger when ActiveSync starts up for a fully automated process. Also allows for sync of entire folders.
Negatives: The only one I can think of is that it is compatible with .NetCF 2.0 only, not with 3.5. Other than that, very smooth and stable. Well worth the money.
Rating: 5
Where to get: Handango etc
[Utilities] - Freeware
Application: GroupSMS
Description: Easy way to send SMS to multiple contacts
Positives: Allows you to choose multiple SMS recipients by ticking the boxes, rather than choosing them one by one. Can set this up for different contacts groups too.
Negatives: Can only set up groups via Outlook, although this function is on the creator's To-do list
Rating:4
Where to get: www.shubaroo.com - lots of other great little apps on this website too!

App Launcher
[App Launcher/Today Plugin] - $15
Application: UltimateLaunch 1.2
Description: Tabbed app launcher and today plugin. Animated tab transitions, unlimited tabs, gestures.
Positives: Very customizable, unlimited tabs, custom icons, low memory usage.
Negatives: Learning curve to configure, uses icons instead of png.
Rating: 4
Where to get: http://handheld.softpedia.com/get/System-Utilities/Launcher-Applications/UltimateLaunch-56169.shtml

[SIP Keyboard] - Usually $19.99. But at the moment, $12.98 for two licences. Give one to a friend like I have!
Application: TouchPal 2.0 Professional
Description: Finger/thumb-friendly predictive keyboard with a special technology called T+ where you tap and slide each key in a different direction for different symbols, letter, case, number etc. Many many features including multiple languages, dynamically-resizable keyboard, fast custom word input. Innovative design.
Positives: way too many to list. accurate and quick predictive input due to design of two letters on one key, powerful, looks great, excellent support people who will consider your feature requests VERY quickly, excellent value. Still looks like a normal qwerty keyboard.
Negatives: Some people not used to predictive input may undergo a little learning curve. Try it, it's much faster and with this one, it usually has the word you want as the first one so you can just keep on typing!
Rating: 5+
Where to get: http://www.cootek.com/
Pros:

a good "Note" application ?

I don't like the microsoft note application I have. It's very slow (it takes a long time to open, and each time I close a note it takes again a long time).
Does anyone know a good "Notes" application other than the microsoft one ?
Thanks !

Are you talking about the default note app that comes with Windows mobile, or Microsoft's One Note? One Note used in conjunction with the desktop app is hard to beat.

I'm talking about the default note application that comes with Windows Mobile.

Look into Onenote, unless your looking for a cheap/free app. You can get a free trial to see if you like it. Onenote on the phone by itself isn't that valuable without the desktop app. I do a lot of research and I like to compose on the desktop what I might need in the field. Onenote fits my needs perfectly. It might not be a fit for yours though.

Or consider phatpad, phatnotes or Daynotez
OneNote Mobile is too basic for me, although the desktop version looks astonishing.
You may also consider Phatpad, Phatnotes or daynotez. All three are excellent applications, but all with a twist that makes each of them great, depending what your needs are. I've bought daynotez and phatpad. Would've bought phatnotes too, if the integration with phatpad was just slightly better

Vito Audionotes is also fantastic. That's what I use. You can even record phone conversations.

Webis note2self is great. Talk your note and mail it to yourself ;-) Easy as that.

spip72 said:
OneNote Mobile is too basic for me, although the desktop version looks astonishing.
You may also consider Phatpad, Phatnotes or daynotez. All three are excellent applications, but all with a twist that makes each of them great, depending what your needs are. I've bought daynotez and phatpad. Would've bought phatnotes too, if the integration with phatpad was just slightly better
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried both "phatnotes for outlook" and "phatpad", they are very good but there's a big problem : you can't sync the notes using Outlook.
Even the "phatnotes for Outlook" application needs to first import all of your notes (with tabulation or comma problems ...) before syncing them with Outlook.
In fact I need a "notes" application which would be able to simply use the same notes as the microsoft notes application and sync them with Outlook...
But with no "import" needed (because imports caused me many problems).
Does anybody know one ?
Thanks again for everyone answers ...!

Here's my fav: http://free.hostingjava.it/-frusso/pda/frNotepad
It saves notes in plain txt (.txt) just like Notepad on your pc.

Evernote ?
The app is free (but to a certain storage level a month) and the ink note taking is OK. Text one is sub-OneNote Mobile however. Killer is that it syncs up to "the cloud" so your notes arevailable on web, windows or mac as well as Mobile.
Worth a look. IMHO nothing can touch PhatPad/Notes for function, but in today's world of connectivity, it is poor on being able to sync and share.

dizzy33 said:
I tried both "phatnotes for outlook" and "phatpad", they are very good but there's a big problem : you can't sync the notes using Outlook.
Even the "phatnotes for Outlook" application needs to first import all of your notes (with tabulation or comma problems ...) before syncing them with Outlook.
In fact I need a "notes" application which would be able to simply use the same notes as the microsoft notes application and sync them with Outlook...
But with no "import" needed (because imports caused me many problems).
Does anybody know one ?
Thanks again for everyone answers ...!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because you didn't say what the long-term use of the application might be, I'd second the vote for PhatNotes. I use it on desktop and PPC and love it. The notes do, in fact, synchronize. However they do it on their own, not within the confines of Outlook. For this "inconvenience" it offers a very robust feature set, with only the one-time trouble of having to do some reformatting.
So, if you can get past that, I think that PhatNotes may be what you want.

best project management and time tracking software for wm?

hey hey,
i found a few, but i wanted to ask you what you think is
the best projektmanagement and timetracking software for
windows mobile. the best would be if it integrates with the
default calender and tasks.
btw. i do not _need_ groupware. most time i work alone...
thx for every hint!!
kws

Pocket Informant 8.5 is amazing, don't know exactly what features you're looking for, but here is the features list:
http://webis.net/products_info.php?p_id=pocketinformant&tab_id=features

looks interesting! but on the first view i do not see any timetracking.
it´s obviously possible to sort tasks in some kind of hirarchy but nothing
to record worktime per project/task.
but i´ll test the demo, thx
anything else?
kws

The best Project Management and Time Tracking software I have found so far is ValleySpeak Project Server which Share Microsoft Project schedules with team. Includes Project Portfolio Management, Issue Tracking, Risk Management, Timesheet Management, Document Management, Calendar Management, Forums, Reports and Project Dashboard.
A good hosted Project Management software that suits my EPM needs is called valleyspeak project server, which I found at http://www.valleyspeak.com. One of the main reasons why I like the software is the fact that I could continue to work in Microsoft Project 2007 while sharing my Microsoft Project plans with my teams.
ValleySpeak Project Server is a hosted project management solution which can be used by Project Managers to publish, control and execute projects in real time, while continuing to make full use of Microsoft Project 2007.
Because it is a hosted service, I did not have to buy expensive software or deal with installation and maintenance headaches. The functionality that I have with valleyspeak to manage my geographically dispersed teams works well for me. We also evaluated Basecamp and some other solutions but were not impressed.

why does this sound like advertising to me?
but anyway: as i sayed: most time i work alone
so i don´t need to share anything. when i work
with someone, that someone is probably a mac-
user anyway. so i guess, a server would be far
to much for me.
something that integrates with outlook or
thunderbird+lightening (tasks ans dates)
would be nice. but not necessary.
i just want to hirarchly organize the things
i have to do and track how much time i need
for what. would be nice if the timetracking
would go easy with start and stop-buttons
(like a stopwatch) and if it could output
detailed reports...
hand
kws

Hi I use timetracker mx software and it work well for me.
have a look here http://www.rfcons.com
Cheers

thank you..
this looks quite flexible. hope it´s not too much. i´ll see.
nite
kws

I would like to recommend you for timesolv. It provides secure web-based time, billing and practice management solution for profession services firms. It has lots of facilities rather than other applications.
For more information you can visit: http://www.timesolv.com/
Hope this will work out for you.
All the best!

There are many time management software's available for mobiles mostly iphone...

Sorry to revive this old thread, but there's a lot of alternatives you can choose if you were to search it on the Internet. Here are some of the best time tracking apps for Windows Mobile:
softpedia.com
exaktime.com
systenomics.com
timecardtour.worktrack.com/
Time Tracker Pro
Time tracking is useful for anyone who wants to manage time and work habits especially if you want a social life at the end of the day..
You may also want to check out Time Doctor software (http://www.timedoctor.com). A free employee time tracking software for desktop, and frankly, one of the most advanced time management software I have come across.

thanx
but meanwhile i switched to android and use harvest.com
hf
kws

I would also suggest these 3 project management software with great time tracking feature:
1. Basecamp - works great for project and task management as well as an event calendar for schedules
2. Zoho Project - this one has great functionality in task and time tracking too. UI is also great
3. Central Desktop - good for collaboration within the projects and among the team.
If I were to choose, I'd prefer basecamp. That's because it's simple to use and very user-friendly. Doesn't need lots of time to learn from it. You may also check these basecamp alternatives and see which ones you like. The list and comparison of features will help you choose which one suits your preference.

I tried this time doctor
I actually used the tracking software on my site for wealth generators and it had a small glitch, I'll see if I get this fixed by an expert developer and then I'll keep you updated.

My suggestion for eyes preventing and back health

Helllo! I am Russian, my English is not very good, but I have not success with my idea in my country (nobody cares about health).
I want to talk about absolutely another way for health caring, if you compare this with traditional design and usability.
Now we have a LOT of people with glasses. People take their first glasses in childhood, and most of them using tablet or PC very often, and this is really bad. Also, we can see something like this (it's not me , and it's very bad to.
Why his back is a curve? It's not only "bad habbit" of one man, it's a problem of many people . I think that the reason of bad back and glasses is very simple and stupid - he (we) physically can not see text well, and glasses or curve back it's a trying for compensation!
So, if we want to have health people, developers should rebuild old methods of text displaying, because they are not compatible with our health!
Most of Russian spend a lot of time for sitting in our social network. VK.COM . If we talk about PC (not mobile phone or tablet), it uses 11px font by default! It's not only very small font, it's very low detailed font, especially, if we remember, that "program" DPI is 96 (in paper this is 300). Really display DPI in windows does not matter - font drawing in 3 times less.
I want to say we should use 16px/12pt font size by default, and stop use small font size. It's something like this (if we say about detalization)
Why 16 px? Firstly, it is compatible with 12 pt (12pt*96dpi/72=16px). So, we can use 16px not only in web, but also in Window interface. Secondly, I want to say that "bigger is better", but 18px (for example) in most of font look absolutely different (bolder) with 12-17px, it is unusual for some people.
Also, I want to say about features of human text perception. Long line length (more 100 symbols) is not good for us, and text understanding becomes worse. If we read books, line length physically can not be very long, but in the Internet a lot of text (for example, Wikipedia) do not consider this. Bigger font size can reduce line length, but developers should to consider it.
I mean, that most of children hate reading, because this associated with big eyes's strain (small font-size), curve back and inability to get text well (loong line-length).
Also, some rules are existed - if we use bigger font and shorter line-length, we should reduce line-height. Default line-height is 150%, I think we need to reduce it to 136%.
So, these principles can be simple realized in CSS:
*{font-size:16px;
line-height:136%}
I called it ESI - eyes saving interface, and it have realization in plugin, which load custom CSS for sites. There is not only font-size and line-height, it includes rebuild site rebuilding. I does not make it good, but something like this:
It's usual VK
It's ESIed VK
It can looks unusual and bad, if compare it with traditional representation of design, but I believe it's better for health.
ESI is better, than scaling, because we don't lost information, and ideally we can control base FONT-size.
It's YouTube
It's ESI YouTube.
Ideally, user need to have an opportunity for manual tuning of base text parameters.
It's wikipedia's control (prototype). You can choose font-size, line-height, max-width, and you can change font-family (for big texts it's preferred use serif, but apply it for every element it's too global)
Also, ESI realized to Windows in themes, you can download it and try. You can apply it correct to the Windows 7 (maybe Vista) only, because Windows 8 has independent font setting.
But Windows have some "bug" - you can set 12pt for icon's text, but horizontal spaces are not in theme. It means, that icon's names will look like
«Wind...» int 12 pt, not «Windows» in 8(9?)pt. In Windows 7 you canenlarge horizontal spaces to 85 (I prefer numbers that are divisible by 17) or something, but in Windows 8 you can not control it, maybe in registry.
So... I think that ESI idea should have some support. Suppose I can rebuild every program and site for comfortable of my eyes, but it's quite hard and eats my time. I'll still see people with poor eyesight and curve back, who hate reading, and I believe, that some developers can affect on it.
Now, you can test ESI with my plugin (it's Stylish with little mod) and give your opinion. You can install it using google chrome bit.ly/esi_c or bit.ly/esi_o for opera. Then you can find esi styles for some sites, Facebook (I did not work on it), Wikipedia, YouTube...
I can not post external link for images...

It's good someone's passionate about this and I think it would be a good idea. I hope one day you vision is achieved (no pun intended)

you can do it!! :silly: