Google finally came through, knocking out the competitor to its YouTube player.  The Windows Mobile YouTube application that could be found on xda-developers for was by far superior to what Google was offering.

The look and feel of the un-official app was much more pleasing to the eye and sported better features.  However it was still lacking the ability to interact with your own personal YouTube.

New with Google’s version, 2.4, you are able to view your videos and subscriptions.  You can also view and add favorites with just one button all the while still being able to go quickly to the top rated, most viewed, and most recent videos on the site.

Maybe we can safely assume that Microsoft isn’t going to abandon Windows Mobile in favor of Windows Phone after all.  Or maybe could it be that all these developers are just pushing out what they have left to work on to get them off their desks.  What’s your take?  Only time will tell for sure.

Either way, ” thank you Google” for making a big improvement to our Windows Mobile and S60 devices.

Thanks to Engadget for the heads up.

SPB Software has just released another of it’s Windows Mobile games as a port to run on Symbian phones equipped with a touch screen.  SPB Quads is an interesting game, asking users to find enclosing corners to clear a section of the playing board.  You can check out our review for the Windows Mobile version here.

The full press release is below:

March 11^th, 2010 – SPB Software, a leading mobile applications and games developer announces the release of the Symbian version of SPB Quads – an extremely addictive mobile game created to help killing time with use. Now the users of touchscreen Symbian phones have a good way to spend 5 boring minutes in line or challenge their Windows Mobile and iPhone rivals’ dominance in our online score table.

Based on SPB Quadronica game, SPB Quads is the new arcade game for Symbian in which one has to put together all his/her pattern-finding skills to succeed. A player’s goal in this game is to reveal and mark rectangles’ corners of the same colors in a field filled with color bricks, thus “destroying” them and earning scores. There are two modes in the game: a time-limited mode and an endless, “strategic” mode. This effectively creates two different scenarios of playing.

SPB Quads for Symbian Main Features:

• Addictive game play
• Two game modes for different gaming scenarios
• Attractive graphics
• 6 different types of bonuses
• Online high scores

Pricing and Availability

SPB Quads for Symbian is compatible with Symbian S60 v.5-based touchscreen phones only. A free, 15-day trial can be downloaded, or SPB Quads for Symbian may be purchased for 9.95 USD from www.spb.com. The application can also be purchased from OVI store.

Further Information and Downloads

SPB Quads for Symbian page

SPB Quads for Symbian downloading page

SPB Quads for Symbian screenshots

SPB Brain Evolution 2.1 for Symbian

March 2nd, 2010 – SPB Software, a leading mobile software developer, announces that the Symbian version of its famous developmental game SPB Brain Evolution has received a major update and now reached version 2.1. The version for Symbian-based smartphones had been released over a year ago to become a significant selling success for SPB Software. The new version brings support for touchscreen-based devices with OS Symbian S60 v5. Controls in version 2.1 were reconsidered to ensure seamless, finger-friendly experience.

SPB Brain Evolution is a set of addictive mini-games which have to be played in sequence: only good results in a game unlock the next one. The game allows hundreds of thousands of users worldwide to improve their mental awareness and maintain their newly achieved brain fitness.

The excercises included in SPB Brain Evolution are Sudoku, Numbers, Arithmetics, Quadronica, Guess Who, Memorica, Encyclopedia, Minesweeper, Matches, Balltracker, Geometry and Pairs, the latter two being new. They help user to exercise such basic mind activities as logic, arithmetic and memory. While the training mode prepares you for the battle the marking mode allows you to register your progress. The game also allows tracking the progress in your personal brain evolution which immediately becomes available in the form of a diagram or a score.

*** SPB Brain Evolution 2.1 for Symbian Main Features: ***

- Support for S60 v5-based touchscreen devices
- 12 excercises
- Brain Marking and Brain Training modes
- A new scoring and progress tracking system
- Multiple user profiles
- Share your achievements online via SPB server and Twitter

*** Pricing and Availability ***

SPB Brain Evolution 2.1 for Symbian is compatible with Symbian 9.1, Symbian 9.2, Symbian 9.3 and Symbian 9.5. A free, 15-day trial can be downloaded, or SPB Brain Evolution may be purchased for 14.95 USD from www.spb.com. The application can also be purchased from OVI store.

*** Further Information and Downloads ***

SPB Brain Evolution download page
http://www.spb.com/symbian-software/brainevolution/download.html

SPB Brain Evolution OVI store page
http://store.ovi.com/content/680C42A2A379F8CCE040050A85325203

SPB Brain Evolution screenshots
http://www.spb.com/symbian-software/brainevolution/screenshots.html

*** About SPB Software (www.spb.com) ***

SPB is a leading brand in mobile software, standing for a unique line of popular consumer products and partnerships with the world’s most innovative handset makers and wireless carriers. SPB’s software solutions deliver richer smartphone experiences and enable subscribers to do more with their mobile data connections. SPB Software is the maker of the world’s single number one bestselling mobile application – SPB Mobile Shell. For more information, please visit www.spb.com.

Follow SPB Software on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/spb_software

Connect with SPB Software on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/spbsoftware

SPB Software announced today, amid the Windows Phone 7 Series news, that SPB Mobile Shell 5 will be appearing soon on Windows Mobile (6.5 and below) as well as the Android and Symbian operating systems.  This looks like a very smart choice, as Microsoft is proving that diversity is good for application portfolios.  Check out the full press release below:

February 15th, 2010 – SPB Software, a leading mobile applications and games developer announces the release of SPB Mobile Shell 5.0, a major upgrade to the world’s bestselling mobile application, popular among both end-users and OEMs. Unlike all the previous versions of SPB Mobile Shell available exclusively for Windows Mobile smartphones with touchscreens, version 5.0 is to be released for Android, Windows Mobile and Symbian. Thanks to the new portable SPB UI Engine, SPB Mobile Shell is planned to be spread to more mobile platforms.

Major updates to the new version include a new 3D engine and an improved social networking integration. The former means support for new types of eye candy effects such as 3D Media Player, 3D Photo Viewer, 3D Weather, dynamic 3D widgets and more, while the latter involves message, contacts, photo and status sync with popular services, namely Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

One important innovation in SPB Mobile Shell 5.0 is the Natural Interaction Engine which includes support for G-sensor and multitouch, a dedicated Feedback Engine providing realistic visual and haptic responses, and a Physics Engine responsible for the real-world behavior of all objects.

SPB Mobile Shell has been publicly recognized as the best-selling mobile application across all smartphone platforms for three consecutive years: 2007, 2008 and 2009. At the same time SPB Mobile Shell enjoys popularity among mobile carriers and OEMs. It’s been shipped to over 15 device manufacturers, including Sony Ericsson, Toshiba, and O2. To make implementation process even smoother, we have added SPB UI Builder 2.0 – a tool-chain for easy customization of SPB Mobile Shell and other products that are built using the SPB UI Engine. It includes APIs for pluggable components, the skin builder and a set of plug-ins for integration with industry strength design products such as 3DMAX and Microsoft Expression Blend.

*** What’s new in SPB Mobile Shell 5.0: ***

- New 3D engine
- Natural Interaction Engine
- 3D widgets
- Tight integration with Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networks
- SPB UI Builder 2.0
- Multi-platform support: Android, Windows Mobile, Symbian

*** About SPB Software (www.spb.com) ***

SPB is a leading brand in mobile software, standing for a unique line of popular consumer products and partnerships with the world’s most innovative handset makers and wireless carriers. SPB’s software solutions deliver richer smartphone experiences and enable subscribers to do more with their mobile data connections. SPB Software is the maker of the world’s single number one bestselling mobile application – SPB Mobile Shell. For more information, please visit www.spb.com.

Follow SPB Software on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/spb_software

Connect with SPB Software on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/spbsoftware

Question Of The Day:  What is the best program you have ever used, on any platform?

Simple, I don’t even have to think about this one.  Merlin, made by Neuon, which ran on the EPOC 32 operating system.  For those of you that don’t know what EPOC is, it is simply the best, most robust operating system for mobiles of all time and also the precursor to the current Symbian operating systems.  It was developed and used by Psion.  By robust, I mean truly threaded multi-tasking (this doesn’t exist in mobile OS’ today… you can’t open more than one instance of a program on Windows Mobile, etc).  By robust, I mean only ONE soft reset of the my device in over one calendar year, and this was necessitated by installing an incompatible third party program.

Merlin, by Neuon, for the EPOC 32 OS

Merlin, customizable, collapsible task manager extraordinaire truly highlighted the multi-tasking capabilities of the operating system by providing user defined toolbars for any program of your choosing.  Users could have a system toolbar that provided shortcuts to applications, folders and documents.  The battery and free memory could be monitored easily.  Another toolbar could be defined and become visible when entering a specific program.  For example, the controls and options might become more text editing centered, with specific scripts and caps lock indicators included when launching the word processing application.

Truly customizable.  Truly diverse.  Nothing like it available on any current platform, that I’ve seen.  If there is, LET ME KNOW!  I’m getting all nostalgic just seeing screenshots on the web…

So, what is the best program you have ever used, and why?  Hit the comments below to share your program with us!

By the way, I included the following links in case anyone wants a brief history lesson on EPOC and Psion:

EPOC:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPOC_(computing)
PSION:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psion