Windows Phone Italy

This week I'm taking over our weekly column in English because due to an emergency our host Bambi could not make it in time for the usual deadline: I hope our International audience won't complain.

This time we'll be covering topics such as the BlackBerry Application Suite, the Palm App Store, Winter Möbius 2008 and a new cool device: the Windows CE-based PMP MAXXIAM M1T.

OK, let's kick off with the first hot topic of the week, BlackBerry Application Suite, a very promising way to turn a Windows Mobile device into a BlackBerry.

Yes, the whole thing does have some limitations (for instance you cannot make some applications work and constant use may be way too heavy on the battery of a WinMo smartphone) but basically the BAS lets you use most of all the BlackBerry functionality on a touchscreen stylus-driven device, which is kind of weird indeed.

During this week we have also come to know that Palm Inc. has sort of launched its own downloadable application store, named Palm App Store, something that is still missing in the whole WinMo ecosystem, while a good example of an efficient application store can be found at Apple's iPhone App Store.

While rumors tell us that Microsoft may be really working on its Skymarket app store for Windows Mobile (it's never too late, Microsoft, isn't it?) we have discovered that the Palm App Store is basically nothing more than just a website powered by Palmgear (and not a stand-alone application like the iPhone's one) so really nothing new and nothing stunning at all.

As most of you know already I am a member of Möbius and, although I could not physically attend the second Möbius conference of 2008 - unofficially dubbed Winter Möbius 2008 - I have nevertheless been invited to attend a couple of LiveMeeting conferences summarizing the most important topics covered during the 2-day event.

For those interested I have compiled a 2-part article covering the highlights of such event. Unfortunately it's available in Italian only but I am positive that Google Translate may help you understand most of it (Winter Möbius 2008 - part 1, Winter Möbius 2008 - part 2).

Last but not least here's my personal choice of what I call a kick ass mobile device. Its name is MAXXIAM M1T and it's a Korean-made PMP based on Windows CE which can virtually play all multimedia formats, thanks to its complete range of inbuilt video and audio codecs, and integrating a "digital TV" DMB receiver.

While we won't likely see the MAXXIAM M1T on the American or European market (in fact my friend Alex of Akihabara News is actually responsible of giving us the eye candy) I am really looking forward to seeing something similar imported or produced by a local distributor or vendor. I know I want one!