For those of us who use Outlook and Windows Live, Microsoft just released the latest version of the Outlook Connector that finally supports two-way sync of calendars. Now you can sync your mail, contacts, and calendars across multiple PCs. To add your windows mobile device to the mix, you can use Windows Live for Windows Mobile which currently only syncs mail and contacts (the last version didn't perform well on my device, but I think I'll give the latest version a try). Once Windows Live for Windows Mobile gets calendar sync, I might finally be able to move away from PC based syncing (Vista mobile device center, formerly ActiveSync). I wonder if Windows Live will add a task list or if that wil be integrated into Live Calendar. Also wondering how Live Mesh will eventually integrate with all of this.

I just installed the Windows Live Search for Mobile app on my T-Mobile MDA. It is VERY cool. It appears to do pretty much everything Virtual Earth Mobile does, but also adds map integration with its generic web searching. So I can finally use my phone to search for something and then get an interactive map to locate it.

I just installed Virtual Earth Mobile on my new phone and it rocks. Now I just need a GPS.

I totally agree with Chris Sells regarding phone support.  I was quite pleased with my Pocket PC phone, which at the time I purchased it, was running the Windows Mobile 2003 OS.  After some time (probably a few months), Microsoft released Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition.  Naturally, I wanted to upgrade my phone to the new OS release, which had major usability enhancements.  I would have no problem spending more money to purchase the OS upgrade (assuming it was reasonably priced, ie. cheaper than buying a new phone).  I totally ran into a brick wall with all of my attempts to upgrade.  The phone's hardware manufacturer directed me to the cell provider, and the cell provider directed me to the manufacturer.  With phones increasingly becoming more like PCs, a better support model is much needed.

I know, I know…it’s a two year old dinosaur, but my Pocket PC Phone Edition still meets my needs and T-Mobile has yet to come out with their next Windows Mobile device.

I am still overall very pleased with the functionality of my handheld.  Things I like:

• Great synchronization with the Windows platform
• Expandable memory with SD/MMC cards
• Great for listening to podcasts (using Windows Media Player)
• The phone works well
• I always know what traffic is like
• I always have access to my RSS feeds

The only complaint is that since its Internet access is built on GPRS technology, it can be a bit slow.  Hence, the purpose of this post.

I’ve gotten into RSS and have been reading a collection of RSS feeds for about a year now.  I did some research and tried out a number of RSS reader apps built for the Pocket PC platform.  Many of them required heavy use of a network connection, some required a subscription fee and others just plain stunk.  And then I found Bloglines.  Aside from their main site, Bloglines has a fantastic site tailored for a handheld sized web browser.  Not only is the web interface easy to use, it is lightening fast!  Their PDA site is, by far, the quickest loading site I’ve used over my GPRS connection which makes navigating my feeds quite nice.

I’ve been using RSS Popper to ready my RSS feeds in Outlook, which advertises synchronization with a Bloglines account.  I tried it out and the synchronization is weak.  In fact I didn’t really find it useful at all.  RSS Popper is not to blame though since the Bloglines web services API is not very rich.  So I use RSS Popper as my primary feed reader and then when I’m done reading all my feeds I use a .NET command-line process that I wrote that tells Bloglines (via HTTP GET) to mark all feeds as read (can’t seem to find the code around, so I’ll try to post that later).  At any rate, the system is definitely not perfect but it works fairly well and allows me to read my feeds wherever I am (or at least wherever T-Mobile has coverage).