Ilium Software Blog

No, I’m not quoting one of the Microsoft-bashing sites. It’s not from one of the articles that says Microsoft’s lost their vision, is years behind Apple, or will never catch up with Google. It’s from Microsoft’s site - in fact, it’s from the biggest graphic on Microsoft.com’s top page today.

Here’s a screenshot of the page, in case it goes away by the time I finish writing this. The top graphic says:

I’m delighted that Windows Mobile is being featured by Microsoft. Really I am. But that headline - even with pictures of Windows Mobile devices and screens behind it - just doesn’t seem to me like the right approach.

I may be wrong. I’m a marketing professional only in the broadest definition (I get paid for it), but I’m not an expert, or even close. And I’m sure that the Microsoft spot has was made by very highly trained, experienced, knowledgeable people, who know way more than I do.

But I still don’t think it’s a good idea. Anyone else? I’d be very interested in hearing what other people think.

The next time you head on over to your neighborhood newsstand, bookstore, or wherever you go to grab the latest copies of your favorite magazines, be sure to pick up the June/July issue of Smartphone and Pocket PC Magazine, which recently hit the shelves. Just look for the fancy pictures of the iPhone and the new Sony XPERIA X1 on the cover. The issue takes a look at the new device and sizes it up to the Apple iPhone.

But wait, there’s more! If you flip on over to page 34, you’ll find a wonderful review of a little something we like to call eWallet. It’s written by none other than expert reviewer Clinton Fitch, whose Windows Mobile news and reviews can be found all over the web, including his own site ClintonFitch.com and the Smartphone and Pocket PC Magazine blog.

What’s that you say? You can’t run down to the corner store right now, and you’re just dying to read the review this second? Well, you can click this link right here, and read Clinton’s full article on the magazine’s website. Whether you read it online or in print, the article is packed with information about all the cool new features in eWallet 6.0, tips for using the program, as well as some nice screenshots and a shout-out to our world class tech support. We’re all pretty excited about this review, but quite frankly, eWallet has been acting like a bit of a diva around the office since it came out. There’s talk of it moving out to Hollywood now to start its own reality TV show, but I think that’ll go away after some of the newness dies down. Let’s hope so anyway.

A big thanks to Clinton and the magazine!

May is here, and it’s time to pick another winner out of our Blog Contest Hat. Well, there really is no hat, but I think I might start referring to it as the Contest Hat, because that sounds fun and exciting, and I really like this new graphic I found.

For April, the lucky winner is Chris Baggott, for commenting on the post eWallet for Apple Newton. Congratulations! I just sent you an email explaining how to get your prize. If you don’t receive it, reply to this post and let me know.

Honestly, I don’t know why everyone seemed to think that post was so funny - I mean, we were going to put eWallet out for the Newton, but we got such an unexpected response from our commenters that we just decided to pull the plug…. What? Oh, April Fool’s Day jokes don’t work in May? You don’t believe me? Oh, okay, moving along - to everyone else out there, keep the comments coming, we love to hear what you think. And next month, the winner could be you!

I’d been reluctant to have off-topic posts in the blog when we started it (way back in May 2006), but I’m changing my mind, at least as an experiment, primarily because I realize that the off-topic posts in most of the blogs I read tend to be a lot more interesting than the on-topic ones. Though that maybe that just means that I should start reading other blogs.

But we’re going to try it anyway. We’ll keep it tech or at least geek related, so it won’t be stories about our cats (unless they’re doing something geeky), or our opinions about politics (no matter how tempting) and I’ll wack the category if it gets too silly, but for now, here’s the first official off-topic post.

If I Never Get Any Work Done, It’s the Internet’s Fault

Just this week, linked from work-related pages, I ran into:

The most brilliant (and entertaining) marketing video I’ve ever seen (and yes, I saw the similar Honda one)

Another good place to buy funny, and geeky gifts. I know there are a lot of them, but this one’s new to me. I’m fighting the tempation to send a few of these to our friends and partners. Or maybe to our competitors.

A great site to learn about and get discounts on software. For people who take software seriously, and I do, the intelligent reviews and forums are really helpful. And for any size donation, you get a discount on quite a few useful tools.

A really inspiring response to an attempt at legal bullying by a large company. There’s way too much of this - we’ve been a victim of it more than once - and I am so in favor of people fighting it. And the letter, though long, is a great read.

OK, back to work. Really.

Yes, the iPod Touch is very easy to use right out of the box. But I’ve been frustrated, both by the on-screen keyboard and by using it as an mp3 player while I was walking. And I thought - it’s supposed to be easy to use; I must be missing something. So I poked around, and found some slightly hidden features that really helped.

I figured everyone else knew these already, so wasn’t going to publish them, but it turned out that wasn’t true, at least around here. So in case anyone else might benefit from them, here are the 5 most useful things I’ve learned about using an iPhone or iPod Touch. In the tradition of top 5 lists everywhere, they’re in reverse order, so you might want to read bottom-up if you’re impatient.
Read the rest of this entry »

So you’ve decided to export some of your ListPro lists in HTML format to publish on the web but you’d like a bit more control over how the published lists look… If you don’t mind getting your hands dirty with a bit of HTML and CSS, then check out the article in our new Knowledge Base on customizing ListPro for the web.

Let us know if you find this type of article (or others) useful; we want to continue to add information that you’ll find helpful.

Windows Mobile 6.1 is officially out and we’re pleased to report that all of our products for Windows Mobile 6.0 are 100% compatible with Windows Mobile 6.1. We’ve put the products through their paces, tested the software, and verified that when you move to Windows Mobile 6.1 you can count on your Ilium Software products being there for you.

NTT Communications has announced a pilot test of its new Mobile
Fragrance Communication service. Apparently this lets people download a “Fragrance Playlist” of recipes for specific smells, and then transfers the fragrance data to a dedicated device similar to a plug-in air freshener that is loaded with a cartridge of base fragrances.

I know it’s tempting fate to call this the worst new mobile idea ever - it’s like calling a movie released in January the worst of the year; you just know something even nastier will come out and prove you wrong - but if someone’s going to come out with something worse than this, I really don’t want to know about it.

If this takes off, I may as well go turn myself in to the nearest police station, because the first time someone sits near to me in a restaurant, plane or theater and starts broadcasting their favorite smell, I’m going to get violent.

No, it’s not an April Fool’s joke, I checked.

It was not some strange or intentional April Fools’ trick that our monthly blog contest went unannounced yesterday. I was out at a conference, learning lots of great stuff. Incidentally, it was all about you - the user, the reader, the site visitor. But one thing I know, without needing to be taught, is that if there’s a winner to be chosen, you just want me to get right down to it and tell you who it is. So, here we go:

For March, the lucky comment came from Sumo, on the post Thanks for Asking. Congratulations! I just sent you an email explaining how to get your prize. If you don’t receive it, reply to this post and let me know.

To everyone else, don’t go away! Keep visiting and leaving those comments, because I’ll be picking another winner in May. Somebody’s got to win, and wouldn’t it be great if it was you?

It’s April Fools’ Day, but this isn’t a joke: there’s a great new Windows Mobile site officially launching today. It’s called My Today Screen, and is run by Doug Goldring and Tariq Bamadhaj, two people with a lot of experience in the area. Their mission is to:

provide users with an all-in-one resource for Windows Mobile, providing reviews, tips, guides, and other expert analysis, all designed to help you realize the full potential of your Windows Mobile device.

I’m delighted to see a new Windows Mobile site - it seems like lately there haven’t been many new ones, and at least a few of the old favorites have gone away. This one looks very promising, and they’re giving away over $1000 in total prizes this week, so stop by and check it out! Maybe you’ll win something!