I have been a portable electronic gamer since the Mattel LED handheld system era, though the last handheld dedicated gaming device I owned was an Atari Lynx, having less interest to play on a tiny screen with the advent of rapidly evolving PC gaming titles.  However, that focus changed with the advent of the Windows Mobile platform, especially as I used the PC more for programming and network administration and less for pixel blasting.  This especially became a reality once Microsoft provided API's specifically designed for improving the Windows Mobile gaming experience. 

As readers of my blog know, I have been a Windows Mobile user since the early days of Windows CE 1.0. As a result of that long history, I maintained a nervous habit on the platform until the release of Windows Mobile 5, that being playing whack-a-mole with my running applications. Due to an early Microsoft design decision, most Windows Mobile applications do not inherently have an exit application function.

Features I would like to see added to Windows Mobile - It's Time for a Change! Let me preface the following blog entry by saying I am not an embedded systems hardware designer. I occasionally write programs for the Windows Mobile platform, though mostly using high-level languages and frameworks. With that disclaimer out of the way, I can say with all honesty that I'm so glad the iPhone has been such a success for Apple. Microsoft badly needed serious competition to reset the playing field.

After prodding my iPAQ and HTC Advantage for a while, looking for one of the many tweaks I use every time I power on the screen, the answer stared me straight in the face. SBSH's iLauncher is one tweak/utility I simply can't live without. I've become so used to its flexible features that any other Windows Mobile device lacking this exquisite application simply feels naked and clunky, like sewing with chopsticks.

I have been a Windows Mobile user since the days of Windows CE 1.0 and have used WinCE-based devices too numerous to list. I have eagerly anticipated the release of each successive version of the operating system, seeing it evolve from a mere Palm knock-off with a confusing Windows-like GUI tacked on to a refined always-on Internet-connected mobile business organizer and occasional recreational device that the Windows Mobile 6 has become.

As a consequence of this evolution, I believe I currently own the most advanced Windows Mobile device that has culminated in this trajectory.

I didn't have to think very long and hard about which applications are the coolest ones available on the Windows Mobile platform today. There's no question in my mind that The Core Portable Media Player, known as TCPMP for short, is the coolest must-have Windows Mobile application available today.

While some may relegate creativity to the features of software or hardware installed on a Windows Mobile device, I prefer to think literally outside of the box and encompass the modality and principles upon which portable, mobile computing is based. I am also a fan of the Green IT movement. Combining these two intentions along with my preference to ride my trusty Infinity recumbent of 20+ years as frequently as possible to my intended work or play destinations has resulted in the configuration shown in these accompanying images.

There has always remained a fine line between security and convenience and the Windows Mobile platform offers no exception to that axiom. Depending on the level of sensitive data, I rarely rely on the basic internal functions of the Windows Mobile OS to secure my data. For one thing, a majority of it resides on a removable media card that demands open access to be able to write and read to and from file systems outside of Microsoft's operating systems.

I was fortunate enough to write a Bluetooth article for the June/July 2007 issue of Smartphone and Pocket PC Magazine which examined a broad array of Bluetooth devices optimized for the Windows Mobile environment. Consequently, I was able to test some amazing cutting edge technology. Of all the devices I had the opportunity to highlight in that article, the one Bluetooth device that continues to amaze me is the Gennum Z-E-N nX6000 Bluetooth Headset.

The third party Windows Mobile application I use literally every time I turn on and look at my Pocket PC is SBSH's iLauncher (http://www.sbsh.net/products/ilauncher/). This extremely flexible app launching utility allows me to customize the Today screen just the way I want it, assign different icons to applications and set them to small or large size, add multiple tabs for app categories (utilities, games,
etc.) and generally lets me feel like I'm not enclosed in the standard cookie-cutter Microsoft themed environment.