Panoramic Software updates Calc Pro and Converter Pro

Panoramic Software Inc. has updated Panoramic Calc Pro to version 3.4.0 ... this is a big update from 3.3.0:

New Icon

Added Tax+/Tax- buttons to standard calculator

Added Flow Rate to Unit Converter

Added Feet of Water and Inches of Water to Pressure Conversions

Added Tangents to graph screen

Added message box response when saving constants

Added email menu icon to View Tape

Added additional flag images for new currencies

Improved stability

Improved performance

Improved calculator accuracy

Fixed %T button when using RPN

Updated labels in several worksheets

Improved constants calculator button labels

Mortgage worksheet properly loads in payment terms

Worksheet regression calculation bugs fixed

TVM worksheet properly loads settings

Conversion buffer setting is properly loaded in options

Flags update when switching currencies

You'll definitely want to update if you're still running an older version.

Converter Pro was also updated to 3.6.0 which has equivalent updates to Calc Pro 3.4.0.

If you're looking to purchase these applications for your Windows Phone 7 device you can find them on the marketplace, in Zune or linked directly from the Panoramic website:

http://www.panoramicsoft.com/mobileproducts.php

Proud owner of a Samsung Focus

And clearly I like it as it's kept away from my blog.

For those that are curious I bought the Samsung Focus in mid December from the Best Buy in Vancouver, Canada. I'm sure supply is no longer an issue and it should be quite easy to buy them on or off contract North of the boarder.

It seems that its not as easy in the US; Microsoft is addressing that issue by working with Zones.com to provide carrier locked but off contract Windows Phone 7 handsets. It's worth checking out if you're looking for a phone with no strings attached. Be prepared to pay between $500 and $700 depending on the model.


Back on topic - I wanted to write a few quick notes on my impressions of the Samsung Focus after using it for 2 months.

Its a great phone and I wouldn't trade it for anything currently available but there's still a little room for improvement.

What I like:

Amazing, bright 4" OLED screen

VERY responsive touch

VERY thin

VERY light

Ability to add additional storage via micro-SD

It runs my Windows Phone 7 applications

In a sea of smart phones you can still show this one off

What I don't like:

16 bit display - meaning you will see color banding on occasion but its not a big issue

Plastic shell - mine has collected a few chips already. Not even close to the durability of an iPhone or even my old Palm Treo Pro

Physical buttons are to sensitive. You only have to swipe over them to activate but because they're close to the screen they're often accidentally hit

Adding a micro-SD card requires a hard reset


Overall its a great phone and its probably the best Windows Phone 7 device currently available in North America. The Samsung Omnia 7 is nearly an identical phone but I've been told its more durable but unfortunately its only officially available in Europe.


And if you're looking for software head over to www.PanoramicSoft.com. I've fallen behind on reporting releases so here's the catch up - Calc Pro, Converter Pro, Scientific Calc, Guitar Suite, FreeCell, Blackjack and Ultimate Sudoku are all available now and moTweets should be for sale before the end of the week.

Continuing the search for a Windows Phone 7 device

After reading several reviews and first impressions of the retail Windows Phone 7 handsets I decided that I wanted to get my hands of a couple of the devices before shelling out $500 for a new phone.

Yesterday (being the last day of December) I decided to check in again with Future Shop, Best Buy and a Rogers Wireless retail store to see if anyone had any stock of the Samsung focus in Vancouver - still nothing. I did notice that Futureshop is now selling the LG Quantum with a slide out keyboard for Bell customers. Its a start but it still doesn't help me.

Today I took a trip down to Redmond to see if could get my hands on a phone south of the border. The Microsoft retail store in Bellevue Square is currently selling 5 phones for various carriers - and all of them are turned on and setup for display.


Samsung Focus: Thin, light and responsive. The color accuracy and brightness seems a little off but that could have been from the overly bright lights in the MS Store

LG Quantum: Looks like a good device but I'd like a larger screen and I'd prefer a thinner phone without a slide out keyboard. The display and responsiveness seemed good.

HTC Surround: I've used one of these devices before and its good (although a little thick) but I do notice just a bit of ghosting when scrolling through menus.

HTC HD7: A beautiful and thin device but substantially heavier than the Focus (its closest competitor feature-wise). I also has VERY vi sable ghosting on scrolling text, so much that I wouldn't buy the device which is unfortunate because it was my favorite of the phones on paper.

Dell Venue Pro: Another good phone but the weight and thickness make it uninteresting and I personally don't like the bottom slide out keyboard. The keys are smaller than the onscreen keyboard so I don't see the need for it.


After deciding that the phone I wanted to buy was the Samsung Focus I quickly discovered that the Microsoft store doesn't sell any phones unlocked nor will they provide any assistance with unlocking the phone. I was told that if I used AT&T service for 3 months they would then provide an unlock code.

I walked over to the AT&T retail store to see if I could get a different answer and they claimed complete ignorance and simply stated they don't sell unlocked phones.


It also looks like expansys.ca is no longer selling the Samsung Focus so I think my next step is to try ordering one online from Rogers.com for the inflated price of $599.99 Canadian ...

Panoramic Software Windows Phone 7 Applications

Panoramic Software Inc has released several products for the new Microsoft Windows Phone 7.

All the software is fully translated English, French, German, Italian and Spanish (all of the languages the wp7 marketplace currently supports).


Rather than list off all of the features your best bet is to go to the website (or take a look on the Zune Marketplace):
http://www.panoramicsoft.com/mobileproducts.php


The currently released and certified applications so far are:

Calc Pro
Guitar Suite
Ultimate Sudoku
Converter Pro
Scientific Calc


FreeCell and Blackjack are also very close to being ready and there's more coming for Windows Phone 7 before the end of the year.

Windows Phone 7 Development

I just wanted to write a quick post to let any readers know that I haven't stopped updating my blog. I'm currently in the process of learning Silverlight and trying to master C# to prepare for Windows Phone 7 development.

If you read this blog for Windows Mobile software updates, check back soon as there are updates for Panoramic Calc Pro, Guitar Suite, and Ultimate Sudoku in the works.

And for any developers out there, the transition from C++ to C# isn't quite as simple as you may be lead to believe but C# is a great programming lanugage and it will reduce your development time.

Cheers

How to emulate the HTC HD Mini in Visual Studio

(Windows Mobile 6.1 & 6.5)

With the release of HTC's HD Mini, Windows Mobile developers now have another resolution to worry about. And its not unreasonable to assume that HTC will be able to move a large number of these devices with the popularity of the HD and HD2.

You can take a look at the specifications here:
http://www.htc.com/www/product/hdmini/specification.html

What's important to note is the screen resolution of 320x480 - this is the only Windows Mobile device that I know of that uses this resolution. What's also important is the screen DPI - which is most likely 128. QVGA devices like the Touch are 96dpi and VGA and WVGA devices are 192dpi.

Its also worth noting that this device has a height to width ratio of 3 to 2 where normal devices are 4:3 and the wide devices are 5:3 so you may need to make some minor alternations to your GUI code when supporting the mini.

Now I haven't been able to find an emulator for this device but fortunately we can fake it using the Windows Mobile 6 SDK. I had a clever friend that works in Redmond help me out with this so I big thanks to her.

Fortunately we can use the Microsoft Device Emulator to launch a recompiled emulator image and change the display properties. Now remember I mentioned 128dpi? There is only one emulator image that supports this and that is the 320x320 Square QVGA emulator image. You can try other images but the resources will be incorrect and the sizes of menus, icons, etc will be either too big or too small.

So lets cut to the chase, assuming you have Visual Studio 2005 or 2008 installed and the Windows Mobile 6.1 SDK you can launch the emulator from the command line or by using a Batch file with the following command:

"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Device Emulator\1.0\DeviceEmulator.exe" "C:\Program Files\Windows Mobile 6 SDK\PocketPC\DeviceemulationV610\0409\PPC_USA_GSM_QVGA_VR.BIN" /memsize 256 /hostkey Left-Alt /video 320x480x16

or for 64 bit systems:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Device Emulator\1.0\DeviceEmulator.exe" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Mobile 6 SDK\PocketPC\DeviceemulationV610\0409\PPC_USA_GSM_QVGA_VR.BIN" /memsize 256 /hostkey Left-Alt /video 320x480x16


(Launching the emulator at 320x480 - Windows Mobile 6.1)

You can also try the 6.5 image but I wasn't able to get the start menu working, presumably there are additional resources needed for the 480 high screen:

"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Device Emulator\1.0\DeviceEmulator.exe" "C:\Program Files\Windows Mobile 6 SDK\PocketPC\DeviceemulationV650\0409\PPC_USA_GSM_320x320_VR.BIN" /memsize 256 /hostkey Left-Alt /video 320x480x16


Once you have it up and running, you can cradle it just like any other emulator, it will show up in the Device Manager at the bottom with an ID string in the "Others" section.


(Custom emulator shown in the Device Manager)


(Debugging Calc Pro with the custom launched emulator)


Good luck and feel free to post questions

Further reading:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb630224.aspx

Panoramic Guitar Suite updated to verion 1.3.0

Panoramic Software Inc has just released a new version of Guitar Suite for Windows Mobile.

The big news is Guitar Suite now supports Dutch, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Japanese.

If you haven't checked out Guitar Suite in a while it supports more than just Guitars now, you can also select Bass Guitar, Banjo, Lute or Ukulele tunings.

Check it out here:

http://www.panoramicsoft.com/mobileapps/guitarsuite/GuitarSuite.php

Panoramic Calc Pro for Windows XP/Vista/7

Panoramic Software has finally brought Calc Pro to desktop PCs. It has been carefully developed to work on desktop PCs, laptops, net books and tablets.

Along with all of the features of the Windows Mobile version:

• Standard calculator


• Scientific


• Financial with 10 worksheets


• 130+ daily updated currency conversions


• Thousands of Unit conversions


• Thousands of scientific constants


• Graphing


• Multiple skins


• Highly configurable calculator settings including RPN


• Much more

The Windows version also allows for 4 size selections which allows it to work great on 1080p displays and tiny net book displays as small as 640x480.

For more information, purchasing or a free trial go here:

http://www.panoramicsoft.com/desktop/calcpro/CalcproDesktop.php

Windows Mobile powered Blackberry? BlackGrape i9000

We recently dealt with a support issue for one our games and the user was reporting very odd behavior (random screen orientation changes, touch screen not working, etc). I finally asked what device they were using and they curtly responded "BlackGrape 9000". Wow.

A quick google search and I was able to find some basic information. It appears to be running Windows Mobile 6.1 and the device is a poor copy of the Blackberry Bold.

I DO NOT recommend buying these devices, this is an obvious infringement on RIM's intellectual property and I am confident that Microsoft would not give permission to create this device so it most likely means that the operating system (Windows Mobile) and any software installed on the device are not being legally obtained or distributed (ie pirated).

And if you morally don't have an issue with it, remember that this device will not run software designed for the Blackberry Bold and it sounds like it won't even run Windows Mobile software correctly either.

That being said I find the concept quite entertaining.

You can read more here and buy what appears to be a LOT of other bootleg phones running Windows Mobile .... just terrible.
http://www.fastcardtech.com/goods-3671-BlackGrape+i9000+ARM9+524MHZ+CPUBuilt+in+GPSQWERT+Full+Keyboardorbit+ball.html

Panoramic Guitar Suite released for Windows Mobile Phones

Panoramic Software Inc has just released Guitar Suite for Windows Phones with touch screens.

Guitar Suite includes a comprehensive guitar chord look up engine capable of displaying over 25,000 chords in any of the included 20 tunings. Its also able to play any displayed chord.

It also includes a Play mode allowing you to tap on the screen and play any note at any onscreen fret. You also have the option to overlay 50 different scales in any of the included tunings.

Guitar Suite also helps you tune your guitar with a high accuracy digital tuner. And if you phone's microphone isn't sensitive enough for tuning, you can also tune by ear.

Finally, Guitar Suite wouldn't be complete without a precise Metronome with a range of 30 to 240 BPM.

For more information or to purchase go to:
http://www.panoramicsoft.com/mobileapps/guitarsuite/GuitarSuite.php

Updating Windows Mobile

Having your phone look "cool" is really half of the enjoyment of owning a smartphone. If you read my blog at all its obvious that my current phone of choice is a Palm Treo Pro which I think is still quite a good looking device.

However the operating system on it has been looking dated for quite some time. If you own a Treo Pro or another HTC made Windows Mobile phone you could always head over to XDA developers and install a "cooked" version 6.5 ROM but its risky and I'm sure violates at least once of your license agreements. Besides, Windows Mobile 6.1 works great and now I can dress it up a bit.

1st - Panoramic Launch Pad 1.6 (currently beta)
Its receiving a major visual update along with some usability improvements and the option to add contacts to favorites. The retail version should be released very soon but the beta is fast and stable.
http://www.panoramicsoft.com/mobileapps/launchpad/LaunchPad.php

2nd - iSS Battery Monitor
It was recently updated to version 1.5 and includes a few new features but most importantly it has 5 new skins including that great blue color.
http://www.implicitsoftware.com/mobile_battery.html

3rd - Pocket Digital Clock
Another gem in the world of free Windows Mobile applications that a colleague of mine came across. Its pretty, its customizable (color, size, display, etc) and it works great: I love it.
http://www.freewarepocketpc.net/ppc-download-pocket-digital-clock.html

4th - iSS Task Switcher
Its also been updated to version 1.5 which includes visual enhancements but the new colors really make the application more appealing and allows it to match most color schemes on your phone.
http://www.implicitsoftware.com/mobile_taskswitch.html

Background:
The background is from http://www.digitalblasphemy.com, definitely go check it out if you haven't done so already. They have a great free section which is where this image is from and you can subscribe to access the paid section. I've been using the backgrounds for years, fantastic work. I used Paint.net on my desktop PC to crop and re size the background image.

Worth Mentioning:
I also have Fizz Traveler and customized version of Calendar+ and Live Search installed on the today screen. And I use Illium Software Screen Capture to create the screen shots.


For just over $10 you can give the same visual treatment to any touchscreen Windows Mobile device (5.0 or newer).

Should you install the 32bit or 64bit version of Windows 7?

www.w7forums.com has a great article to help you decide which version of Windows 7 to install.

To cut to the point, if you have more than 3gig of ram and don't need to run old software or install old peripherals 64 bit is the way to go.

Take a look here:
http://www.w7forums.com/windows-7-64-bit-vs-32-bit-t484.html

I personally have Windows 7 x64 installed on my main development system which has 4 gig of RAM installed. However I end up using my laptop with the 32bit version installed because I have a number tools I need that don't work in the 64 bit version. But I should be honest, I also still use my 5 year old Dell laptop with Windows XP for those really picky applications.

PocketMusic - a must have free music player for Windows Mobile

This application is by no means new, but its new to me. If you ever listen to MP3s on your Windows Mobile and you don't already have a 3rd party player - get PocketMinds PocketMusic.

It looks great, its intuitive to use, and its quality exceeds many commercial applications - and did I mention it was free?

http://www.pocketmind.com/pocketmusic.htm



Also worth noting, it supports Winamp 2.x skins free available online (although I haven't tried this feature yet).

Panoramic Software releases Ultimate Sudoku for Windows Mobile

First - why another Sudoku game?

Two reasons: its more than just Sudoku, it also includes full implementations of Killer Sudoku (or Samunamupure) and Kakuro, making Panoramic Ultimate Sudoku 3 games in one.

Second, Panoramic felt there wasn't a Sudoku game available for Windows Mobile that took full advantage of the platforms features. This game includes 10 skins, customizable backgrounds, a and responsive, finger friendly interface. Overall its an excellent gaming experience.

And its only $2.99 US

Check it out here: http://www.panoramicsoft.com/mobilegames/sudoku/Sudoku.php

moTweets for Windows Mobile now supports Lists

Panoramic Software Inc is about to release version 1.5.0 of moTweets, its popular twitter client for Windows Mobile 5.0 and newer devices (including 6.5).

Along with a handful of improvements and fixes, performance has also been improved. However, this version contains two major improvements:

Support for Lists - although they can't be created from your device you can easily select and view lists

Translations - moTweets is now able to translate posts into your currently selected language. Language detection is automatic so you don't need to know what you're translating from.

Also worth noting, moTweets now supports Korean and Italian languages. And by popular demand, yFrog support has been added for posting and viewing images.

Get it from Panoramic's website or the Windows Mobile marketplace. If you already have an ealier version of moTweets installed it will prompt you to upgrade next time you launch moTweets.

http://www.panoramicsoft.com/

Panoramic Software releases Video Poker for Windows Mobile

I'm a little slow on this as it was released last week but Panoramic Software Inc has released Video Poker for Windows Mobile 5.0 and new touch screen devices.

Why is this interesting? Besides being a visually impressive application with excellent sound effects, Panoramic Video Poker is more than just game. It includes six Video Poker variants, multi-hand play, and casino accurate payout tables which makes it an ideal tool for testing out Video Poker play strategies. It also includes highly accurate statistics tracking for each game mode allowing for deeper analysis of your playing style. Its also a lot fun.

You can get it here:

http://www.panoramicsoft.com/mobilegames/videopoker/VideoPoker.php

or find it on the Microsoft Windows Mobile Marketplace

Panoramic Software releases FreeCell for Windows Mobile Professional & Standard

Panoramic Software Inc has released FreeCell for Windows Mobile Touch devices (5.0 and newer).

Its an excellent implementation with great graphics, touch friendly drag-able cards and over 2,000,000 games.

And just in case you're on the fence - it only costs $1.99

Get it here: http://www.panoramicsoft.com/mobilegames/freecell/Freecell.php

Panoramic Software releases titles on the Marketplace for Windows Mobile

Panoramic Software Inc has released most of its Windows Mobile library on the Marketplace for Windows Mobile. This means you'll have quick access to Panoramic products when you buy a new Windows Mobile 6.5 device.

And for those of you that are resourceful and already have a Windows Mobile 6.x device - you can probably find a version of the Marketplace to download to your existing phone (it works well on the Palm Treo Pro and HTC Touch Diamond .... so I've heard ... ).

Troubleshooting an unreliable smartphone phone

As a software developer who uses his personal phone for testing and debugging software I've had plenty of practice crashing and locking up my phone.

Instability is usually fixed by removing the offending program and doing a soft reset (or a hard reset if I've really messed things up).

More recently I've had problems with my Palm Treo Pro - it would frequently lock up, sometimes 2-3 times a day. I'll save the long story but I wasn't able to find a cause for the problems and eventually concluded I had physically damaged the phone.

Two nights ago my phone locked up and when I rebooted it refused to read my 8gig memory card. After a bit of troubleshooting I discovered the card itself was bad - and its now completely unreadable. I swapped in a new one and my phone behaving perfectly.

Boring story? Yes ... but I've never had a memory card go south on me and I certainly never thought it would cause my phone to crash. Hopefully this saves someone some frustration.

Cheers

Windows 7 Move Window Tip

I've been running Windows 7 for several weeks now and I love it. However there has been an adjustment period as several features and functions have been changed.

One thing I rely on quite a bit is moving windows by right clicking on them in the task bar. The "Move Window" option no longer shows up in Windows 7.

However you can get the old style context menu by holding down shift while right clicking on the task bar.

If you use multiple monitors and/or remote desktop you'll likely find this useful.

Cheers