Useful software

Your HTC Wizard came with a basic set of programs pre-installed. They are either part of Windows Mobile 5, or were added to the Extended ROM by the manufacterer.

In this part of the handbook we gather what members have written about additional software they installed and use. Their experience can be positive as well as negative, that does not influence wether their writings end up here in the handbook.

If you are a member of the HTC Wizard Web and have written an article about some piece of software that you think should be in the handbook, please send me a private message. I or one of the other contributing members will review your article and either add it to the handbook or ask you to make the changes that we feel are necessary before adding your article to the handbook.

2.xx ExtendedROM unlocker

Just read at Buzzdev there is a program for unlocking the extended rom for version 2.XX of the wizard. Could be intresting for tweaking a bit more. origenal post is here : Forum post Link to the file - unpack - copy it over to your device - run it This will make your ExtendedROM writable, NOT visible. Sometimes, files in ExtendedROM are marked as READONLY and you have to clear that bit. Use TotalCommander CE to display content of your ExtendedROM for now.
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Only Heroes Live forever!!

Battery Pack Pro, Pocket Zen Phone, Magic Button

I tried out Battery Pack Pro for a few days. While all of the stuff on there looked cool, I started getting annoyed at the lady with a British voice letting me know that my "Memory Is Low" and so forth (I never found a way of disabling this). I also found myself having to do soft resets several times daily because the device would lock up and figured that this program was the problem. I uninstalled it and I haven't had to do a reset since. I can't seem to get it to work properly. I'm wondering if anyone has had a pleasant experience with this program or perhaps some tips on getting it to function properly. [adsense:300x250:3:3]I just installed Pocket Zen Phone this morning because I need something that will silent and enable sounds according to time/day. The user interface is somewhat easy to figure out without having to read the instructions. This is a great program if you want your ringer silenced while sleeping but need to have it come back on automatically. I've also installed Magic Button and I don't know why I didn't install this earlier. This makes opening/closing programs much easier to manage. I originally installed Battery Pack Pro because I wanted something that would close out programs from the memory without having to click a bunch of times to get to the memory through Settings.
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BlackBerry Connect

So some may say that with a device like the HTC Wizard, that there is little or no need for a service like BlackBerry Connect. Just in case you were not aware, RIM has software called BlackBerry Connect that runs on non-BlackBerry devices, devices that run Windows Mobile, Palm or Symbian. Anyway, the software exists and has been released in some European and Asian countries that RIM operates the BlackBerry service. Now that the NTP legal battle has been settled, there may be a chance that BlackBerry Connect for Windows Mobile makes it's way to the US and other countries. [adsense:300x250:3:3] From some recent Googling, I've learned that T-Mobile Germany has the software available for their version of the HTC Wizard, the MDA Vario. There is a great discussion over on XDA Developers on the installation of the software, and unfortunately few are having success at getting it to work. One thing I think many may not understand is that RIM themselves manage the BlackBerry service through their many Network Operations Centers (NOCs) located around the world. Each carrier and corporate customer has a unique account, and PIN code for their devices. This way a corporate customer can have devices from many, many carriers and still provide service through one system. Knowing this, it is absolutely critical that RIM support the software on the device that a person is trying to run it on. My hope is that RIM starts supporting the BlackBerry Connect software with their corporate customers, who's employees may want to purchase a Palm, Windows Mobile, Symbian or Linux based device instead of a true BlackBerry. I for one can't live without the functionality of my Windows Mobile 5 based T-Mobile MDA varient of the HTC Wizard. [adsense:468x15:3:3]


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My Device: T-Mobile MDA
Visit my blog: RickMahn.com

Blogging from your HTC Wizard with Pocket SharpMT

Not too long ago moblogging was an enormous hype. Maybe that hype came a little too early, mobile devices just were not up to the job. That has now changed. Devices like the HTC Wizard offer everything you need for moblogging. A camera, networking through WIFI, GPRS or EDGE, and a full fledged operating system. [adsense:300x250:3:3] On March 4th, Pocket SharpMT 3.2.1 was released. The program was tested on a Cingular 8125, and according to the author is works perfect. Pocket SharpMT supports the Moveable Type blogging API which is well supported by several blogging systems. Pocket SharpMT is available as donationware. HTC Wizard Members will find the program attached at the bottom of this article. The program requires the .NET Compact Framework version 2.0, so you should download and install that first. I would love to hear if people can use Pocket SharpMT to blog here on the HTC Wizard Web as well. The HTC Wizard Web supports the Moveable Type blogging API, which is available in the web root as xmlrpc.php. You should change the configuration for Pocket SharpMT accordingly. I am not sure if posting images will work. You'll have to specify the upload location in the configuration, thah should probably be files/. I can here you all thinking. "Why the hell does he ask us to test, can't he do it himself?". Well, I could and eventualy I will. However, I promised my girlfriend that I would do some housekeeping tonight. If she finds me with my Qtek 9100 in my hand and the dishes still in the sink, I will be in big trouble. So not tonight, maybe later. If you manage to post a blog entry using Pocket SharpMT or if you run into problems trying, please let me know in the comments. Try to remember the exact time you tried it, I might be able to get some information out of the server logs. [adsense:468x15:3:3]


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HTC Wizard Web, aiming to become the number 1 resource for information for HTC Wizard owners.

Create your own tiny launch tray

There are a lot of Today plugins available out there, some of them good, some of them not so good. Most of them come with a lot of features, and in a lot of cases at the cost of rather hefty use of resources. PHM TrayLaunch is a very small application that does only one thing. Only one thing, but it does it very good. It lets you creat one bar filled with launch icons of your choice at the bottom of your screen. [adsense:300x250:3:3]Installation of this application is simple, just upload the file that you'll find attached to this article (only visible to members of the HTC Wizard Web) to your device. A subdirectory within the Program Files directory is advised. Then place a shortcut to the .exe file in \Windows\Start Menu\Programs so you can start the application from your Programs menu. Configuration of the program requires you to manualy add the path to your favorite applications. You can even add launch icons for specific items in your Settings menu’s, but that requires some more knowledge about the path and command to be used and about how to assign the icon of your choice to appear on the tray bar. I you are interested, I suggest you have a look at the thread on the XDA Developers Forum.
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HTC Wizard Web, aiming to become the number 1 resource for information for HTC Wizard owners.

Flits Nav, (Dutch) mobile speed cameras as POI in TomTom Navigator

If you are a TomTom user, then you know the Point-Of-Interest that really has your interest are those annoying mobile speed cameras. FlitsNav is a cute little app that will fetch the current list of Dutch mobile speed cameras as a POI file. [adsense:300x250:3:3] It can do it once, or at fixed intervals (e.g. every 15 min.). The files are small (usually less than 1 kB), so one need not fear high bills for GPRS datatraffic. TomTom will pick up the POI file on the fly. And of course, don't forget to configure TomTom to sound a sirene when approaching a speed cam. Definately a killer app if you ask me! You can find more info on FlitsNav (in Dutch) here
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GameBoy Advance on your Wizard!

I recently got my Wizard (T-mobile MDA), spent a few days configuring my device. Syncing with MS ActiveSync via Bluetooth, installing all nifty utility software on board (Resco, Spb Software, etc..). Did all the registry hacks possible and even clocked my CPU. After this was all done and said my device was extremely functional as a PDA but there was no fun! The games on board were mediocre. I went searching on the web and I wasn’t too impressed with the selection of action games that were out there. So I started to look for any possible GameBoy emulators that could be out there. There weren’t too many and the few that were out either didn’t quite run to well or didn’t run at all on WM5 (Windows Mobile 5.0). I finally ran into one and I’ve been happily playing Mario Kart and other games that I’ve found the ROMS for on the web. [adsense:160x600:3:3]Note: A video game ROM is just and image of the game that can be copied over to your device so that the emulator can load for you to play. So I wanted to outline in this article the steps for you to get this up and running on your wizard… 1. Download these files to your PC:    Note: Must be signed in to see files attatched to this article a. fmodce.zip b. PocketGBA.zip c. MarioKart ROM could not be uploaded due to some potential copyright issues, however there are many ROMS are available on the web. Unzip all files to there own respective directories. 2. From the decompressed fmodce.zip file, Copy files fmodce.dll and fmodce.lib to your \Windows directory on your wizard. 3. Create a folder on your device (\Program Files\GameBoyAdvance) and from the decompressed PocketGBA.zip file copy all files gsgetfile.dll, PocketGBA.cfg, PocketGBA.exe to this folder you’ve created. 4. Create a folder on your device (\My Documents\My Games\GameBoyAdvance) and from the decompressed MarioKart.zip file copy all files to this directory. 5. Navigate to where you copied PocketGBA.exe to (From Step 3) and execute. The interface will load up, now with your stylus touch the “load” icon. Navigate to where you saved the MarioKart ROM to (From Step 4). Click Ok in upper right hand corner. Now click the “Run” icon on the emulator’s interface. Game will Load! Your wizard should display something that looks like this... Emulator view set to full screen: 6. This is just an extra tip that I’ve done to simplify navigating to the GameBoy emulator executable through your file browser, just simply create a short cut to GameBoy Advance and put it in your “\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Games\” folder and your GameBoy Advance emulator will now show up there from now on. Happy Video Gaming! -Le
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Le

IIWPO: Let your HTC Wizard phone home

Imagine how you would feel if someone stole your HTC Wizard. Wouldn't you do anything within your power to get it back? Well, IIWPO empowers you a little more. Originally written for the HTC Himalaya it turns out to work on the HTC Wizard as well. [adsense:300x250:3:3] From the XDA Developer Wiki:

If someone steals your device, they probably want to either change the name of the owner, or cold boot it altogether. Either way, with IIWPO installed the device detects that the owner name doesn't contain the name that you have set at the next wakeup, and sends one or more SMS messages to a number you have set. In the best case, the new 'owner' provided address and all other relevant information. If he/she didn't, at least you have the new phone number of your device.

Installing and configuring IIWPO takes a little effort, and a little extra effort is needed to nicely hide IIWPO in Extended ROM. But hey, it will give you the phone number and/or address of the thief if your HTC Wizard ever gets stolen. You can find the instructions at the aforementioned link. Do mind that your Extended ROM may not be accesible for you. The Extended ROM in older ROM versions could be accessed with Total Commander by navigating to \Extended_ROM\. In newer ROM versions you will still be able to navigate to the Extended ROM, but you will not be able to make changes to it. Bummer... Registered members of the HTC Wizard Web will find IIWPO attached at the bottom of this article. [adsense:468x15:3:3]


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HTC Wizard Web, aiming to become the number 1 resource for information for HTC Wizard owners.

Keep an eye at your device stats with this Today plugin

I recently found THIS great freeware Today plugin in the XDA forum for the HTC Prophet. Although ment for the Prophet, since it features the same OS (WM5) and processor (OMAP) it runs equally well on the Wizard. I won't describe all the features in depth, but limit myself to this (impressive!) list: [adsense:300x250:3:3]
• Battery status, both bar and percentage
• GSM network name and cell broadcast
• Current speed of the processor, and CPU speed management
• Total time called today and this month, total SMS-es sent this month
• GSM signal strength
• Free program memory, free data memory, free Storage memory
• Battery temperature in C or F
• Power consumption in mA or mW
The plugin is still actively developed. Currently under development is a CPU speed autoscaler. Also, Spanish, German and Dutch localization is available. You can download the plugin here.
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Mobile Registry Editor

I found a cool little program the you run from you PC that accesses your Wizard's registy (and favorites). It's called Mobile Registry Editor and is a whole lot easier to make changes to your mobile's registry.
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Personal Mobile Vault from 1800Message.com

A new piece of software I found today was "Pocket Mobile Vault" which is an online archive service for your photos, your text messages and your calls. In combination with the pocket recorder, you've got an online archive service for your *PHONE CALLS* as well! This software comes direct to you from 1800message.com and is definately now going to be one of the first bits of software I install on my phone when I reset it! [adsense:300x250:3:3]Some stuff about the software itself. Installation is in CAB form only, with no exe installer, which I think is a shame as I have been hard-resetting a fair amount just recently (for various reasons), and having the ability to just tick a box which says "install me" rather than copying a file to the device, would have been much better... but I digress. The software identifies itself to the server by phone number which it identifies for itself when you install it, with a password you provide for authentication. If you forget your password, you can ask 1800message.com to resend it to you, so therefore you must provide an e-mail address as well. The program can be set to auto-archive your text messages, pictures, contacts, phone calls and voice "notes" (aka calls I think) every x hours (which is configurable). It's got a funky psychadelic colourscheme and I guess after the first time its loaded, you shouldn't need to touch it again (to the extent, I think I'd like to see it as a Today plugin and also maybe loaded on startup? - comments I'll be making to them after I finish this post). With the pmRecorder, you can tell it to record a voice note, or set it up to record every phone call you take on there. I guess if you're using it as a police officer, private investigator or... well, anything else like that where you need to a) record the fact you've taken a call and b) keep more than "detailed notes" of the call, I guess it's perfect for you. If you don't need that much detail, I guess you'll be trashing more than you keep! It's definately not a program to be running without either a data-intensive scheme or Wi-Fi access for your phone, although you can make the pmVault only sync over ActiveSync. Perhaps this should also be something that pmRecorder could be encouraged to do? You can create an RSS feed from the photos you upload, so you could use this application as a automatic pictureblog, perhaps using that and hubdog (www.hubdog.com), combined with a blog of your choice to create a full mobile blog??? Something I could see done to it is to be able to run in "stealth mode" for undercover cops or having an auto-insert tool for insertion into the extended rom, so that it will install automatically with a defined password (perhaps) if the phone is hard-reset once stolen (honeypot?) to identify who is using the phone and what is being done with it? - although this could be seen as a breach of certain rights I guess! Anyway, get it if you want it and give it a shot. It looks good!
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Jon "The Nice Guy" Spriggs

Pocketmax Redial (Software)

Pocketmax redialer is a good program for automaticly recalling someone that would not pick up the phone. You can activate and deactivate it whenever you like. here is a link : PocketMax Redialer * Redial a busy number automatically at scheduled interval * Pop-up quick dialer * Activate / Deactivate via tray (visual feedback of current state) * Simple installation
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Only Heroes Live forever!!

Redirect audio to your Bluetooth headset

Bluetooth profiles for streaming and stereo audio are not in the ROM updates that we all have been impatiently waiting for. Untill A2DP becomes available for the HTC Wizard, we'll have to do with the much lower quality of the current profile. That doesn't mean however, that we can't do nifty things with it. [adsense:300x250:3:3] If you are a Skype user, there must have been moments when you wished that you could use Skype with your Bluetooth earpiece. Well, that turns out to be possible. In this forum topic I found a .zip file containing 3 executable files that you should place on your device. The three files and their functions:
• BTAudioOn.exe redirects all audio to your paired headset
• BTAudioOff.exe stops redirection of all audio to your paired headset
• BTAudioToggle.exe toggles between redirection on and redirection off
Be aware that the current Bluetooth profiles are simply not capable of streaming audio in high quality, so you should only use this trick when you don't have a wired headset to listen to your audio. For use with for example Skype however, this might be exactly what you have been looking for. You can make access to this program easy by creating a shortcut in \Windows\Start Menu\Programs, for example with Total Commander [adsense:468x15:3:3]


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HTC Wizard Web, aiming to become the number 1 resource for information for HTC Wizard owners.

Registry Wizard for your HTC Wizard updated

The excellent Registry Wizard by XDA Developer's nicodekker has been around for quite some time, and is still under active development. Nico released a new version yesterday, and I thought it was about time to get up to date with the version here on the HTC Wizard Web as well. [adsense:300x250:3:3] Registry Wizard is a nifty little program that lets you make several changes to the registry from a Graphic User Interface. Registered members of the HTC Wizard Web will see two files attached to this article. You need to install the OpennetCF SDF before you install Registry Wizard. Just put it on you Memory Card and execute it. Make sure you install it into Main Memory, it will not work when you install on your Memory Card! The last file is Registry Wizard itself. Install it by putting the file on your HTC Wizard and executing it. After you installed Registry Wizard, run the program and select the tweaks you want to apply. Registry Wizard will perform the required soft reset for you. Several new options have been added to this last version of Registry Wizard. There are 28 tweaks now, problems with recognizing the HTC Wizard type have been solved, and Registry Wizard now detects if you are running an AKU2 ROM.
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HTC Wizard Web, aiming to become the number 1 resource for information for HTC Wizard owners.

SBSH Clock beta

You ever wanted some clocks on the today. And want a free program wel here is a beta realesed bij SBSH (Creators of the PocketBreeze program. Looks prommissing. Clock Program Comments are welcome.
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Only Heroes Live forever!!

Smartskey for your HTC Wizard

Smartskey is a great little program for your HTC Wizard. It was written and is stil being actively developed by water, a user on the XDA Developers Forum. You can follow the development in this topic on that forum. Smartskey lets you remap your volume slider so you can use it to scroll, and lets you remap you D-pad so you can use it to open the application of your choice. Furthermore it makes your left Soft Button open the Start Menu by pushing and holding the button, and makes your right Soft Key function as a Close/OK button by pushing and holding it. Last but not least, Smartskey comes with configuration options for the OMAP overclock tool. You can now overclock your HTC Wizards processor and have the overclocking work when your HTC Wizard comes back from standby as well. [adsense:300x250:3:3] Installation and configuration of Smartskey is a real breeze, especialy since its functions are well documented in the PDF file you'll find inside the .zip file. In the archive (attached below, only visible to members), you will find Smartskey itself, the smartskey.ini file with the configuration settings and a manual in PDF format. Read the PDF file and you'll get it working, it's real easy. Just pay attention to the following:
• You should edit the smartskey.ini file on your desktop PC. Do that with Notepad, editting in other text editors will probably brake the Unicode the smartskey.ini file needs to be saved in.
• When you want to use Smartskey to control overclocking through OmapClock (attached below, only visible to members), you should install Smartskey and OmapClock somewhere in Main Memory. If you were to install them on your Memory Card, you would be confronted with error messages after your HTC Wizard comes back from standby. This is because your HTC Wizard cannot access the Memory Card in the first few seconds after coming back from standby.
• Finaly, if you want to use OmapClock, dont forget to remove the ";" sign at the beginning of the configuration lines for OmapClock in the smartskey.ini file. You may also want to lower the value of 264 for OMAPCLOCK in the smartskey.ini file to a somewhat lower value. I use 240 myself, but it may be wise to start with an even lower value, just to make sure that your HTC Wizard remains stable at your chosen speed.
Smartskey is a great lightweight tool. Windows Mobile 5 is missing functionality that allows you to completely control your HTC Wizard with only one hand, Smartskey adds that functionality. Install, and you can put your stylus on Ebay!
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HTC Wizard Web, aiming to become the number 1 resource for information for HTC Wizard owners.

The Core Pocket Media Player for your HTC Wizard

The Core Pocket Media Player is the ultimate replacement for Windows Media Player. The software formerly known as BetaPlayer supports a broad range of audio and video codecs out of the .cab, and there are additional codecs available on the TCPMP website. [adsense:300x250:3:3]TCPMP is the ultimate companion for your Orb account. Windows Media Player has problems with playing multiple songs from a streaming playlist, replacing Windows Media Player with TCPMP as the standard application for streams works around this. Some tweaking is required to have your streams played by TCPMP instead of Windows Media Player:
• Associate TCPMP with Windows Media (.asx) in the TCPMP configuration (Options > Settings > Select Page > File Associations)
• Use Total Commander to navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\ Shell\Rai\:WMPLAYER
• In the String Value 1, replace wmplayer.exe with the path to TCPMP (“\Program Files\TCPMP\player.exe” when you have TCPMP installed in main memory, “\Storage Card\Program Files\TCPMP\player.exe” when you have TCPMP installed on your memory card. Include the quotes!
• Perform a soft reset by holding the Power button for 5 seconds
Of course, if you like TCPMP better than Windows Media Player, you can go to the TCPMP configuration to associate more or even all media types with TCPMP.
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HTC Wizard Web, aiming to become the number 1 resource for information for HTC Wizard owners.

The Opera Web Browser

One of the nice features of a device like the Wizard is the ability to browse the web anywhere, anytime. Unfortunately, the pre-installed Internet Explorer browser is very substandard. My main objective is that it doesn't support Javascript, so many websites won't work. The other Big Missing Feature are multiple windows or tabs. But there is a very good alternative, the Opera Webbrowser for PPC. [adsense:300x250:3:3]Pros:
• Superb rendering of webpages on a small screen.
• Supports Javascript.
• Tabs.
• Status bar showing progress of page being loaded.
Cons:
• This Beta expires in June, the final version will not be free.
• There's no keyboard shortcut for going back a page. You either need to navigate through the menu (Menu>Navigate>Back) or get your stylus out to click the Back button. Hopefully, they will implement the backspace shortcut in the final version.
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Total Commander

There's frequently a catch with free software for Windows platforms: it comes with limited functions, with built-in expiry, or some sort of malware attached. Imagine my surprise when I loaded Total Commander's CE/PPC version onto my HTC Wizard. It's neat, powerful...and there are no strings attached. It may look like a return to the early 90s (all 'Commander' software seems to be based on the legendary 'Norton Commander' of yesteryear), but hidden inside that bit of code is probably the most useful file-management utility ever for the HTC Wizard: cross-LAN access. [adsense:300x250:3:3] Having run into all kinds of problems transfering files back and forth from my PC via bluetooth, infrared and USB, the ability to directly access my desktop's 'Shared Documents' folder was a godsend. No more connection problems with ActiveSync when you can do it all the easy way via wifi at superfast speeds. Other useful function are the FTP client, the registry editor and the built-in text editor. Thank you Christian Ghisler!
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Working NES/GBA Emulator

Actually 4-in-1: NES, MasterGear, Gameboy, and Gameboy Advance: From http://fms.komkon.org/MorphGear/ Install the trial (see attached zip) and see for yourself...it works quite well! Sound is emulated well and it has good, smooth graphics (once you overclock ;-) ) [adsense:300x250:3:3]Tips: 1. Note that you first install the MorphGear host application (for PocketPC 2003), and THEN install MorphGear plugins (basically an exe that installs one dll for each console). See attached zip. 2. I run my wizard overclocked (OMAPCLOCK.exe -clock 260) and then games run smoothly with sound. 3. This program doesn't detect landscape mode. Solution: I set global video settings to east orientation. I then open the keyboard halfway. Don't forget to remap up/down/left/right. Since MorphGear still thinks it's in portrait mode you need to set Up to be Left, Down to be Right, Left to be down, and Right to be Up. You'll see what I mean. NOTE: this is only if you want to use the keyboard keys and/or play in landscape mode. Updated: after playing a bit, i realized you can just use the multidirectional control without remapping anything (i still use the keyboard for A/B, and the two menu buttons for start/select). 4. Cool features: there is also a virtual gamepad viewable in portrait mode, kinda fun for testing purposes (basically a SNES-like controller that u use with the touch screen). Also: once you get everything up and running you can tap the screen and all the menus disappear leaving just the game screen with black borders. It's pretty cool playing Mario, Double Dragon II, and Contra on my phone. I think I may get the licensed version of NES. (Although I think the demo runs fine and only seems to display "unregistered" at the bottom. *shrug*). Second Update: The demo version apparently quits out after five minutes--seems a little inconsistent in the time it allows though. $20 to play all the NES games (that you legally own in original ROM format of course ;-) ) isn't too bad. I've been playing it with my Chainpus bluetooth gamepad (a little geeky I know but it works great).
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Writing software for WindowsCE/PocketPC/Windows Mobile Devices

Roll Your Own Software Having downloaded every application, plugin and theme for your phone under the sun, you may be thinking about writing your own stuff. Here are some hints and tips for you: [adsense:300x250:3:3]
• Do you know C++? If so, get the Embedded Visual C++ software from Microsoft at this link - Take a note of the Serial Number at the bottom of this page!
• Want to use a .Net language? For that you'll need at least the Pro versions of Visual Studio (2003 or 2005)
Do you want to write a today plugin? You will have to do this in C++, you can't do it in VB.NET or C# (edit: Well, OK, so you can use a combination of C++ and C#, but to get it, you'll need the code and walkthrough from here). Looking for some forums with good information about software development? Try the forums at xda-developers.com - specifically the Hacking and Development forum (where you'll also find an interesting post about one software author's tools).
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Jon "The Nice Guy" Spriggs