Database Info

REVIEW: Bluetooth chatter / Bluejacking app Sniper

Ever wanted to use the Bluetooth capabilities of your Pocket PC for local (text) messaging and file transfer, including local broadcasting? Take a look at Sniper, which is a comparatively new, constantly updated native Bluetooth messenger utility.
Unfortunately, there are very few local Bluetooth-based applications on the Pocket PC platform. As has pointed out in my article on Microsoft (MS) Portrait, the only really usable, Bluetooth-capable, internet-less text messaging / file transfer application, Portrait isn’t able to work over the Microsoft Bluetooth stack, only over real TCP/IP networks (including BT PAN and Wi-Fi P2P), which the Microsoft Bluetooth stack doesn't support because it lacks support for the Bluetooth Personal Area Network (PAN).
The same stands for the very similar but already abandoned Gphone . Finally, the other two, similar applications, ProximityMail and Bluetooth Chat, are no longer supported and have never really worked. (Note that I elaborate on the latter two apps and, particularly, the current, similar project of the developer of the former in the Appendix at the end of this article.)
At last: native Microsoft Bluetooth stack messaging solution; on the other hand, some compatibility problems
The new application is definitely good in that it supports the Microsoft Bluetooth stack, as opposed to Microsoft Portrait. If you have a device with the Microsoft Bluetooth stack, you’ll certainly welcome the new application – at last, a local native Bluetooth messaging solution that doesn’t require Wi-Fi peer-to-peer networks or an active Internet connection.
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Unfortunately, it has some severe problems. First, while the homepage of the application advertises the app as PPC2k2+-compliant, it doesn’t seem to work with pre-WM5 Windows Mobile operating systems. I’ve tested all the available versions with both Pocket PC 2002, WM2003 and WM2003SE. I've made some example screenshots (see this and this) to show you it doesn't work: as can be seen, the installer can’t even install the WM5-only CAB files.
Furthermore, it’s incompatible with Widcomm/Broadcom Bluetooth stack-based devices like all HP iPAQ Pocket PC's (an example screenshot of it refusing running on the hx4700 is here), the Fujitsu-Siemens T800 series, the Acer n series and, of course, the Widcomm-hacked, WM5-based Dell Axim x50(v)/x51(v)'s. This is a very bad problem: developers of Bluetooth applications should at last notice that, as has already been pointed out in my articles (example here), Broadcom has in the meantime made its WinCE SDK freely available.
Available versions and differences between them; Bluejacking support in the trial version
There are two versions worth mentioning; first, of course, the latest one, 1.2.368, available here.
Bluejacking (see this article for a complete description), one of the most important and innovative (no other Pocket PC application is capable of this) feature of the application, is completely disabled in the latest, above-linked version. Older versions (for example, version 1.1.237 available here at ClickApps), however, still support this functionality in the demo, except mass-sending more than one file at a time. That is, if you want to give this functionality a try in the demo version (I certainly recommend it), get the older version.
Some examples of it in action
A Pocket PC device discovering two other Pocket PC’s.
Compared to MS Portrait or any other TCP/IP-based chatter application (including IRC clients), its chat feature is a bit more complicated to use. This is how it happens in practice: Sending a message: step 1, step 2. On the receiving end, you get it (note that if you see it this way, it means you’ve forgotten to disable the auto-receive of incoming beam) and save it. If you answer Yes, you’ll be taken to the messages; it's only then that you'll be able to read it. There, you can, for example, reply to the sender.
Examples of file transfer (sending files) 1, 2 3 (sending multiple files like this doesn’t work in the demo). At the receiving end, they’re saved in the pre-set save directory.
An example of bluejacking.
Verdict
If you want local chatting with other Microsoft BT stack-based Pocket PC's or non-Windows Mobile Bluetooth phones, give it a try. If you can’t use a Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connection (or full Internet connectivity) between your WM5 Microsoft BT stack-based devices, give it a try. If you want to do some bluejacking, give it a try. Otherwise, particularly if you have a pre-WM5 or Widcomm/Broadcom-based device, stick with the free MS Portrait.
Appendix: What about ProximityMail and Bluetooth Chat?
Unfortunately, the other two native (non TCP/IP-based, unlike MS Portrait and Gphone) Bluetooth messaging applications, ProximityMail and Bluetooth Chat (latest, tested, still available versions 1.44 and 0.5b, respectively) are both useless and no longer developed.
The former, ProximityMail, will never be updated; the developer, Inventop Corp, has removed all references to the product, including even the old download link (also see this). Its successor, BUZZeeBee (see the homepage for more info), still only has a desktop PC version. (They have been promising the Pocket PC version for months; there is still no sign of it).
The latter, Bluetooth Chat by Andrey Demidov, hasn’t been updated for three years and also seems to be completely abandoned. Needless to say, it has never really worked either.

personal i find it odd whne somebody who have that many posts
deside to make something i can only describe as a commercial

Rudegar said:
personal i find it odd whne somebody who have that many posts
deside to make something i can only describe as a commercial
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If there were a REAL alternative to this app, it wouldn't sound a commercial (check out my other, comparative reviews - I "trash" many apps I test). Unfortunately, when there is only one program for a given purpose, it's hard to write an article that doesn't sound like "musch as it has its share of problems, go get it".
As soon as there will be another, directly comparable alternate to this app, I promise to write a decent comparison

not working on omnia T_T

is there anything similar for android?

Enigmo-alike Gloop Zero ported from the Palm/Zodiac to the Pocket PC!

Ever played Aspyr’s Enigmo (note that Aspyr has removed their Enigmo page in the meantime, this is why I’m giving you a Handango link. See for the 3D Accelerated Pocket PC Games and Demos Bible Part II for more info and the alternative review in German here)? Wanted something similar for the Pocket PC, running on all Pocket PC models, not only on Intel 2700G-enabled ones? (Unfortunately, you must have a 2700G-based Pocket PC – that is, currently, a Dell Axim x50v or x51v – to run Enigmo.) AeonFlame’s Gloop Zero may be of interest to you!
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Availability, compatibility
It’s available here. The full version costs $14.99; there is also a trial version.
The game is compatible with WM2003+ operating systems (this means it’s NOT compatible with PPC 2002 – I’ve tested this). I had no problems running it on my QVGA/VGA WM2003(SE) / WM5 test devices – it ran OK on all of them.
Visuals
Pretty good, albeit nothing extraordinary. There’s no Hi-Res VGA support. The game is Landscape-only.
Sounds / music
Absolutely nothing. This is a BIG problem – the Zodiac version has nice in-game music. The developer should implement music as soon as possible. However, with the hack I've found out, you'll be able to play the original music in the background - see the next section.
Do you still want the original music on the Pocket PC?
If you have a compatible (Palm OS 5 and HiRes(+)) Palm OS device too, download the original Palm OS demo, install it onto your Palm device (installing will ONLY work through HotSync; direct PRC install off a storage card doesn't work), go to \PALM\Programs\GloopZero-GLPZ\data\other\music\ on your storage card and copy the files to your Pocket PC. These are midi files; this means you'll need to have a midi-enabled local player on your Pocket PC if you want to listen to just these files while playing the game. Please read the Midi Bible for more information on all these questions. Fortunately, the game lets for playing anything in the background - so, this hack will work.
This will only work if you have a Palm OS device - the Pocket PC version doesn't have these files and, as far as I know, it's not possible (without some elaborate hacking) to extract the original files from the given installer file.
Compared to Enigmo...
There is, in my opinion, no comparison as far as graphics and sound / music are concerned. Enigmo has very nice music and sound effects and is, of course, high-resolution. Even after dumbing down (which unfortunately, I don’t think will ever happen as Aspyr doesn’t seem to support the game any more, let alone release a new, non-2700G-only version of it) not to require hardware OpenGLES support (2700G, GoForce), it would still remain, in my opinion, better than Gloop Zero.
Playability-wise, on the other hand, Gloop Zero is a bit easier / faster in my opinion – with Enigmo, you need to position the gadgets far more thoroughly than with this title. With Gloop Zero, after deciding for a strategy on a given level, sometimes you “only” need to do some drawing with the stylus and all is set. With Enigmo, this takes far more time. That is, if you find Enigmo requiring far too much time to solve a given puzzle and want something similar, you may find Gloop Zero very cool.
Compared to the Palm OS version...
Unfortunately, the regular Palm OS version (I've played it on my Palm Tungsten T3) also lacks both sounds / music and HiRes+ graphics (it uses 320*320 in Portrait - that is, HiRes, without the + - only).
Verdict
Well, if you’re lucky enough to have a Dell Axim x50v or x51v and have already given Enigmo a try (if you haven’t, do it now – it’s a masterpiece!), I think you’ll be disappointed with Gloop Zero at first – Enigmo is definitely better-looking and -sounding. It's only because of the much faster gameplay that you may want to prefer this title to Enigmo.
If you, on the other hand, don’t have any 3D accelerated Pocket PC devices and want to have an entertaining game that will keep you and your brain occupied, you definitely want to consider giving the trial of this game a try – it is pretty cool, despite the major flaws (no music / sound and, to a lesser degree, no high-resolution support). Remember, again, that you can "hack" the original midi music files out of the Palm OS version if you really want to listen to them while playing.
(News source: PocketGamer.org.)

RMVB plug-in released for Windows Media Player Mobile & Intel Xscale

Ever wanted to play your RMVB videos without converting them? Now, you’re taken a little bit closer to the solution – a RVMB plug-in has just been released for Windows Media Player Mobile, which makes it possible to play RMVB videos on Windows Mobile devices.
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No, don’t think everything is OK now. The plug-in, while it’s indeed compatible with RMVB videos, won’t play back the currently available, high(er)-res videos without severe slowdowns. As it’s only “old” RM videos that are, generally, encoded at low (say, QVGA at max) resolutions and RMVB files are, generally, encoded with the width of at least 576 pixels, you will encounter very choppy (2…5 fps even on the fastest devices) playback. Therefore, you might want to forget playing back this format entirely and transcode them into either MPEG-4 Part 2 (DivX / XviD) or, if your handset is powerful enough, MPEG-4 Part 10 (H.264 / AVC) for seamless playback in either TCPMP or CorePlayer. Please see THIS for more info on these target formats and THIS for more info on RMVB-compliant transcoder tools.
Furthermore, it only runs on devices using the Intel Xscale PXA-27x CPU’s. This itself rules out most of current models based on other CPU’s like the TI OMAP (I’ve tested the plug-in on my HTC Wizard; it exits at once upon activation), Qualcomm 7200 (HTC Kaiser, Touch Dual etc.) or Samsung (Trinity etc.). That is, you can only run it on some scarce or somewhat outdated models like the HTC Athena (x7500), the HTC Universal, the Dell Axim x50/x51 series, the previous-generation HP iPAQ’s etc.
Note that it isn’t even compatible with the previous, PXA generations (25x, 26x). I’ve tested the plug-in on my PXA-255-based HP iPAQ 2210; after activation, it started to endlessly buffer. I, however, don’t know how it behaves on the latest-and-greatest, Marvel PXA-3x0 Xscale generation.
Should you still want to watch them on your handset but would still like to stay compatible with the earlier .RM videos and sound files, you’ll want to (re)install the official Windows Mobile RealAudio player (available for download HERE as a convenient – you won’t encounter install problems – CAB file) after installing this title. This is because the plug-in also associates itself with these file extensions. There isn’t much point in its doing so because it’s not able to play back any non-RMVB file. If you don’t want to reinstall, you can just restore the .RM and .RAM file extension associations by importing THIS Registry import file I’ve created for your convenience.
Nevertheless, should you still want to give it a try, it’s available HERE for download.
I’ve tested the plug-in with several publicly available test movies and sound files, all available in the official Mplayer test sample archive. In the following compatibility chart, I list my compatibility test results with the plug-in run on two (!) devices (the Dell Axim x51v running the official A12 WM5 AKU2.3 ROM and the HTC Universal running WM6). In addition, I’ve also tested the original RealOne player running on the x51v, the RealOne player coming with the Nokia N95 and, finally, RealAlternative running on desktop Windows. As it has turned out, the latter is pretty much compatible with everything I’ve thrown it at – this means you will want to stick to it, should you want to avoid installing RealOne’s bloatware on your desktop Windows computer.
(If you want to follow the clickable links, see THIS).

i need help
when play rmvb
the windows media player auto close,
my xda's os is wm6

i need help too
i download the rmvb file in my phone that i bt download from internet, after it load 70% buffer in memory, it auto closed out, is anything i did wrong? i just install the Q8_real.cab only

Legendary game Another World (& Flashback) released for Windows Mobile – for free!

Legendary game Another World (& Flashback) released for Windows Mobile – for free!
Many of you may already have heard of Another World (also known as Out of this World in the US and Outer World in Japan; Wiki page HERE; Abandonia page HERE), which was one of the best vector-graphic action-adventure games back in 1991-1992.
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Compatibility
It’s only compatible with WM5+ and QVGA devices, it seems. According to iPmart(R) Network, it’s also compatible with touchscreen-less MS Smartphones– I’ve left my HTC Vox at work so I couldn’t test this.
It won’t run on VGA devices (tested on the VGA iPAQ 210) because of major screen distortion. Note that it uses landscape mode by default. You can also switch to Portrait mode (which is preferable on models with serious Landscape polarization issues) in the menu, which is definitely a plus.
Unfortunately, it isn’t compatible with WM2003(SE) (I’ve tested this). I had no speed problems running it on even the slowest, 195 MHz TI OMAP 850-based HTC Wizard. That is, it runs OK on all platforms. Unfortunately, as is the case with most Windows Mobile titles, it uses the CPU at 100%, which means heavily decreased battery life on most CPU platforms. If you do need to run it on non-QVGA or pre-WM5 devices, you’ll need to find one of the console ports (for example, the Sega Mega Drive version) and use, for example, SmartGear (currently, the best non-SNES / non-GBA emulator compatible with practically everything and using very little battery) to run it. Note that I haven’t tested the compliance of the MegaDrive version with SmartGear; if it’s incompatible,give a try to other Mega Drive emulators (see the dedicated Bible HERE). You may also want to give a try to the SNES version (see the SNES Emulation Bible HERE) in these cases. However, I seriously doubt the latter will work flawlessly on slower systems – if at all.
Downloading, getting
Interestingly, the official homepage of the original developer doesn’t have it (not even the French version – I’ve checked it because the second-language versions sometimes don’t have the same info as the original-language ones. For example, the French version of pocketpcfreewares.com lists the also-free FlashBack, the successor of Another World; the English version doesn’t). Neither does Telcogames (who bought the original creator, Magic Productions) – they only have the commercial Symbian version online.
I couldn’t find it on ClickGamer, PocketPCFreewares or Handango either. The only places I could find it for download are XDA-Developers and iPmart(R) Network – see THIS and THIS threads, respectively.
If you download it from the XDA-Devs thread, all you need to do is just tapping the CAB file to be installed.
The desktop version
I’ve also tested the (commercial) upgraded, Windows-conpatible and high-resolution desktop version on my HP TC1100 tablet. Worked flawlessly – if you’re a fan of the game and would like to play it on your desktop in high resolution (unlike the 320*200 resolution of the original), make sure you give it a try. The trial version is available HERE.
The sequel – Flashback – is also available for free!
I’ve already pointed out the PocketPCFreewares page of Flashback, the successor of Another World (Wiki page HERE). I have some good news for you: it’s also available for free for Windows Mobile (even for WM2003(SE)). The only difference is that you’ll need the original game files in order to run it (which are already included in the Windows Mobile version of Another World). Should you not have them, they’re available HERE. Note that the – discontinued, which may mean it gets closed sooner or later – English page of the latter title is HERE. I haven’t personally tested it – hope it works OK.
Verdict
Go get it even if you don’t know the original game – it’s an excellent title, you’ll love it! Also remember: it’s free, unlike on Symbian or desktop Windows.

unfortunately it doesn´t run on my xda diamond

techred said:
unfortunately it doesn´t run on my xda diamond
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yup, it doesn't, as has been explained in my article (see the VGA-specific remarks)

Hello!, I am a new user. Sorry for my bad english. I tested Flashback on my HTC Jade and it runs OK but I can't make Conrad to run and other functions because i can't configure the buttons of my HTC. any solutions, maybe a patch or something to use de volume buttons, etc.?

i dont understand why you posted it here, when i already had a thread for it?...then on my original thread you linked to your new (copied) thread...lol, kinda lame don't you think? trying to claim ownership. especially for a mod to do this.
Original Post:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=409521
-C

You've been holding that in for a while, eh? Feel better, lol?

I didn't find this until just the other day...I guess I didn't think I needed to make a habit of checking up on other users to see if they were copying my posts...not exactly a common practice.

REVIEW & COMPARISON: Spb Online

The Spb folks have just released their online portal, Spb Online. Three other reviews have already been published (some hours ago) on it. Therefore, I've paid special attention to elaborating on issues not discussed in the other reviews, particularly when it comes to comparing Spb Online to the competing alternatives – after all, I've published several articles on several areas Spb Online implemented: radio and TV streaming, podcasting and multiplayer games.
That is, first, read the linked reviews (links below); then, you can safely read on to see what additional, comparative (!!) information I have for you. You will NOT want to read further without reading the other review first as I have only concentrated on the areas they didn't discuss (for example, multiplayer games, streaming compatibility, CPU usage, adding non-implemented functionality via Registry hacking etc.)
Let's start with the multiplayer games.
Multiplayer games
Spb Online (SO for short) uses a central server-based approach, which means you must have a constant Internet connection to play opponents. You aren't allowed to select your opponent; that is, you will be assigned an opponent (or, if there aren't any, just the CPU) in a completely random fashion as soon as you start the game. Unfortunately, there aren't other goodies like in-game messaging / chatting either.
An in-game screenshot of checkers played against a human opponent and showing his data:
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In the game options, in addition to the sound volume, you can set your level (what opponents the game should look for upon startin a new game):
In addition to the (few) built-in board games, SO also offers the possibility to purchase applications and games from their online store, right from the program, without ever having to fire up a Web browser.
The built-in support for directly browsing and purchasing software is very nice and easy-to-use. However, currently, it only offers very few titles. For example, as far as games are concerned, it only offers - in addition to Spb's games – titles by Concerte Software, SimbSoft and, in general, the not very good OmniG Software:
Fortunately, it also allows for over-the-air downloads of trial versions whenever available. See the Download Trial link in the following screenshot:

Unfortunately, there's no way of changing the download / saving path from inside the app; this may cause problems if you, by mistake, provide it with a volume not even having 4-5 Mbyte free space:
Fortunately, this can be fixed by simply deleting HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Spb Software House\Spb Online Shell\DownloadFolder in the Registry and restarting the app (this hack has been found out by me). Then, you'll be asked again for the target path:
It, of course, has a built-in dialog for entering credit card info; that is, you in no way need to depend on an external Web browser:
Unfortunately, there's no PayPal support at all.
Note that the non-gaming part of the online shop contains some other third-party apps; for example, those of Conduits in the Multimedia category:

and that of SBSH in the Business category:
News (RSS) Reader
This module is almost the same as Spb Insight, Spb's RSS reader. It's a solid reader but in no way as powerful as, say, Newsbreak. For example, it has absolutely no podcatching capabilities (see THIS for more info).
TV
The TV module has the best features when it comes to picture-in-picture, TV guide and quick preview. However, the lack of the ability of adding new TV channels certainly decrease the usability of this module. Sure, I know accessing the guide needed to be "wired in" to SO; however, the Spb folks may want to either provide an API (via, say, XML or plain text config files) to be able to configure the program to add new streams.
You can disable any of the (few) wired-in TV stations:
Remember that you can still watch other TV streams – in other apps like CorePlayer or the built-in WMP. Please see my dedicated articles on this.
As a quick summary, the pros of the TV module:
Moderate CPU usage (in no way worse than the alternatives). For example, I've very thoroughly benchmarked the WMV-based Sky News mms://live1.wm.skynews.servecast.net/skynews_wmlz_live300k stream. I got the following results: Spb Online: ~36% (vertically stretched to full screen); WMP: ~40%; CP: ~41% (both 320*180). That is, the results are excellent.
PIP (excellent!)
Quick preview (excellent!)
Advanced TV guide functionality (excellent!)
And the cons:
There's absolutely no way of adding new channel URL's. This is quite big a problem as there are very few streams in the app. Just look at the sheer number of available channels at WWITV - about half of them are WMV and, therefore, can be directly streamed on Windows Mobile, using the built-in WMP! Hope this bug will be fixed in the next version. Adding URL's will only work with the Radio program.
Radio
It also has support for radio streaming, using the same finger-friendly interface. Unlike with the TV module, this support adding URL's:
Stream compliance-wise, it's not compatible with SHOUTcast HE-AACv2 and MP3 streams (THIS, THIS) (aac+) and THIS (MP3): the player either stalls at Opening or displays Invalid header information. That is, it's only compatible with WMA streams like THIS - you won't be able to listen to for example SHOUTcast stations at all. (Links HERE and HERE for more info & links)
The built-in station directory is pretty nice and has about the same number of well-structured stations as the competing, (in this regard) comparable products; most importantly, Resco Pocket Radio and LCG Jukebox (see THIS for more info; as you can see, the third product in this category, Mundu Radio, as far fewer pre-defined stations).
The recently-released Kinoma Play, the (current, at least before the release of CorePlayer 1.3 with the new channel support) king of connected streaming players is, of course, much better. Kinoma's built-in station list just can't be compared to that of SO: in addition to WMA stations, Kinoma also lists SHOUTcast stations, covering both MP3 and AAC+ (but, being not compatible with the format, not OGG) – and, of course, a LOT of TV stations. Opposed to this, SO only lists WMA radio stations (it being completely unable to stream SHOUTcast stations) and the pre-defined, very few TV streams. Add the non-existing compatibility with the widely used SHOUTcast formats: you'll still want to keep other radio streamer clients (Kinoma Play, GSPlayer etc.) on your handset if you're a radio fan – there will be a lot of stations you won't be able to listen to using SO.
Other stuff
There's also a weather and a ringtone purchasing module in SO.
Verdict
I agree with the other reviews: this title is a bit expensive if you already have an RSS reader, a weather or a radio app. Otherwise, you may want to give it a try, particularly if you love playing multiplayer games or want to use the advanced capabilities of the TV module.
Other reviews
Spb Online Review - Verdict: Too Expensive for What You Get (pocketnow; very terse)
Software Review: SPB Online (mobiletechaddicts)
Review: SPB Online (wmexperts)

I have to say, I've been waiting for them to release this publicly so I could try it. But, I was very dissapointed in it personally. The TV part of the app looked like a great MobiTV replacement, until I saw the channel lineup.
I guess it's not half bad, considering it has the same great UI as Mobile Shell, but I think it's a bit too much packed in to one app, considering I've already purchased Insight.
If the Catalog & Themes features weren't included, I'd consider the purchase.