Windows Mobile Marketplace and MyPhone Shutting Down
Last Updated on Wednesday, 8 June 2011 05:19 Written by Alan Wednesday, 8 June 2011 05:19
Windows Mobile had a nice long run, through 6.5 versions, but the release of Windows Phone 7 last year spelled the end for Mobile. Now that inevitability has been given dates. Both the Windows Mobile Marketplace and MyPhone service will be shut down over the next couple of months. Microsoft is notifying users by email beginning today.
Here is part of the text, including dates, from the email users are receiving.
The Windows Marketplace for Mobile web site at http://marketplace.windowsphone.com will no longer be available starting on July 15, 2011. After July 15, 2011, you will no longer be able to browse, buy or download applications for Windows Mobile 6.x phones via the Windows Marketplace for Mobile web site.
The Windows Marketplace for Mobile service will continue to be available on your phone, however. You will continue to be able to browse, buy and download applications for Windows Mobile 6.x on your phone.
On August 7, 2011, the My Phone service will stop saving content from phones to the My Phone service. If you rely on the My Phone service to back-up the content on your Windows Mobile 6.x phone, you will be affected.
Starting on August 7, 2011, Microsoft will begin moving your My Phone content to Windows Live SkyDrive. SkyDrive is Microsoft’s free online storage service that helps you access and share your files such as photos and Microsoft Office documents. Contacts, calendar entries, text messages and photos will be moved to SkyDrive for you. Once moved, you will be able to access this content by logging into SkyDrive using the Windows Live ID that you used to register for the My Phone service.
Other content types, including videos, music, documents and favorites will not be moved from My Phone to SkyDrive for you. If you want this content, you must save it from the My Phone service to your local PC.
On October 6, 2011, the My Phone web site at http://www.microsoft.com/myphone will no longer be available. On this date, you will no longer be able to log in to the My Phone service to access your content stored to the My Phone service. Microsoft will continue to store your My Phone content for one (1) year. Physical copies of your content can be shipped to you upon request until October 5, 2012.
To get additional information on the MyPhone service shutdown, Microsoft is directing customers to the Knowledge Base article 2557520.
We knew this day would eventually come, but I expected to be a bit further off. Microsoft has a habit of supporting old technology long beyond what most people would consider reasonable. And give the number of businesses on Windows Mobile a longer run would have seemed to be a given. That said, I can’t say that many people will be sad to see this mobile OS fade into the past.
Soocial Followup Review
Last Updated on Thursday, 12 August 2010 10:52 Written by Alan Wednesday, 11 August 2010 08:00
A while back I wrote a review of Soocial. At the time I was using it with Gmail and a Windows Mobile 6.1 phone. But now that I am on the verge of switching phones to an Android I got to thinking about moving over my contacts and making sure everything goes as smoothly as possible. And, given that, I figured maybe I should really put some of the services Soocial offers through their paces. After all, I have Outlook installed, although I don’t really use it, and I have a Windows Live account, which I do use. So I thought I would take a second look at the service and see how well it can link up with the other programs I use.
First, it seems that they have not added anything new since my previous review. There may a few stray phones added that I didn’t notice, but for the most part it seems pretty similar. But, then again, what more is there to add? Well, maybe…ANDROID! From what I have been able to learn, they are testing an Android app and it works fine. Although it appears to be a third-party app, it was recommended on their forums by a Soocial rep – you can find it here.
As for syncing with Outlook and Windows Live, it went quite smoothly. I had no contacts in my Outlook previous to this test. They were all in Gmail and backed up via Microsoft My Phone and Soocial. The Windows Live sync went just as well.
I am happy to report that my contacts now exist in five different locations so I feel safe in their redundancy. I last looked at this service when it was pretty new on the scene and I am happy to find it alive and thriving. With any luck it will soon natively support Android. And once that hurdle has been jumped it will be, perhaps, the best contact backup service on the web.
Tethering Windows Mobile With PdaNet
Last Updated on Wednesday, 23 June 2010 08:36 Written by Alan Tuesday, 22 June 2010 08:00
First the disclaimer: This isn’t necessarily something your mobile service wants you doing…and it may actually violate their terms of service. So, of course, I am speaking hypothetically about what I have heard…from a friend…
If you aren’t familiar with the term “tethering” then let me give a brief explanation. Tethering is simply plugging your cell phone into your laptop and using the cellular data network to access the internet on the laptop.
So let’s get started with PdaNet.
1. First, make sure you have ActiveSync installed on your laptop. If you don’t, then you can download it HERE.
2. Download PdaNet to your laptop (PdaNet works, not just with Windows Mobile, but also with Android, PalmOS, Blackberry and iPhone)
3. At the end of the installation you will be prompted to plug your phone into the laptop.
4. Once installed, there is not ore setup necessary (although you can make changes if you want). Now just plug in your phone wherever you are and right-click on PdaNet tray icon and choose Connect.
