Most of us think of visual search, as Google image search, but visual search can be so much more. SearchMe is an search application that I’ve not come across before, because it’s only just become available in Beta for WinMo. In short, it’s a search engine for your mobile phone that selects website’s for results to your search terms. So if I search for”just another mobile monday” the visual results are filtered for the site, Cool.

Now it’s a Beta, optimised for WinMo Pro 6, and it’s finger friendly, you can swipe to view more search results, but as yet it doesn’t support DPad navigation. It’s a big miss to not include keypad navigation of any kind. On the Tilt, the directional keys on the QWERTY keyboard don’t let you navigate through the app either.

Then again SearchMe does provide a rather random search, it also brought up sites that had linked to JAMM as well. That’s landscape mode pictured above, testing the Tilt’s keyboard for functionality.

The app is somehow disjointed, the key pad works for typing, but not for navigation.

Program options are really simple, and self explanatory, very hard to go wrong here. Probably the best feature of SearchMe is it’s ability to collect tags and categories from web sites, and provide you with an internal filter for those.

SearchMe is a different, and novel, mobile search engine, that works. Rather well! I found it surprising, and refreshing, I liked a different approach to a search engine. This is actually the first specialised mobile search engine application that I have tried, or become aware of. What I don’t like at the moment, it doesn’t recognise my default browser, and opens MIE [Mobile Internet Explorer] if I click on a search result page. This is really looking like a great add on for your WinMo device, some things need a bit of work, but I Like it!

SearchMe is available for other phone OS’s, and is now in Beta for Windows Mobile Professional

SearchMe Mobile Home Page

Resco announces the arrival of the Resco Contact Manager 2nd Edition Beta

Say hello to the new, fresh look of Resco Contact Manager, which sports plenty of enhanced features.  Resco Contact Manager 2nd Edition Beta has improved on an already amazing application.  It is now possible to integrate your contacts with Facebook and Google Maps.  Other new features include a customizable Today plug-in and also a Group Operations feature, that makes it easy to configure ring tones for contact groups and also makes it possible to send group SMS.

Scroll past the images for the full press release from Resco.

Here is an overview video showing Contact Managers Basic Features:

June 18, 2009, Resco, a supplier of Windows phone applications, announces today coming of Resco Contact Manager 2^nd Edition, follower of popular application managing your contacts, calls and SMS in a fast & pleasant way, now with enhanced Facebook integration.

Since its official release the application has gained strong attention and now many users find it to be the right contact managing tool they were looking for. 2^nd Edition is planned to be released at the beginning of July 2009.

The application allows you to easily navigate, search quickly using letter navigation, view text message conversations in a chat-like view and much more to make your phone calls and sending text messages a fun and easy activity.

“We understand the growing popularity and strength of social networks, and therefore, we tend to make it easier for mobile users to stay in touch with the most popular one — Facebook” said Marcel Šaffa, Resco product manager. “Facebook means great potential that should be utilized. Huge amount of available information about our friends such as birthdays or addresses can be really helpful in the future. Integration with Resco Contact Manager means a strong tool in each user’s pocket.”

Complete article about Facebook integration in Resco Contact Manager 2^nd Edition can be found at:

New features provide functions hard to beat:

• Enhanced Facebook Integration
  Get all available information from your Facebook friends to the phone and message them straight to Facebook.
• Support for Google Maps Application
  Locate contact on Map supports the application instead of online Google Maps.
• Customizable Today Plug-in
  Add or remove phone tools, applications, documents or simple contacts. Changing of phone profiles is also available now.
• Group Operations
  Determine a group of contacts and set a ringtone, delete or SMS to all the members.

Resco Contact Manager 2^nd Edition will be available soon! In the meantime, a 14-day trial of the BETA version can be found at:  http://www.resco.net/pocketpc/contactmanager

One of the greatest variations from the norm with the Pre and WebOS, is the idea that you are not traditionally tying your phone to a particular computer for Data Sync. The Pre breaks out of the Box in that way, not committing to any OS for sync. It relies on what ever Cloud services you want to tie it to, to maintain your personal data.  This great article from Ars Technica will explain it way better than I ever could.

One thing that becomes evident though, especially after the woes over Toodle-Do’s Toodle-Down, that Doug posted, are you completely happy to commit your Data to the Cloud?

Read More …

Twitter is slowly taking over the universe as we know it, in the last couple of months it usage has skyrocketed, and with that escalation, the need for better ways to incorporate it in your mobile life have been developed. Not long ago, after using a couple of Twitter apps, I came across another that eclipsed anything I had seen before, Pocket Twit. 

Of course I came across Twikini via a tweet, but don’t get me started, who comes up with these names anyway. Twitter is so hot at the moment that there have been multiple worm attacks over the last couple of days. I fortunately have avoided infection, but many haven’t, the best way to avoid it is with a good client, be that PC/Mac side or even more effective on your mobile/iPhone!

Twikini has popped up at just the right time to be taken advantage of, but of course you want to know how it performs…

Read More …

One of our good friends in the Windows Mobile community is Dom Masters, owner of Mastersoft Mobile Solutions.  He has made some phenomenal mobile games, including one of the few good mobile versions of Kakuro.  For some time, Mastersoft has talked about bringing their offerings over to the iPhone, and that transition is finally starting to happen.  Although it is still in the very early Alpha stages, Mastersoft is hard at work bringing both Sudoku and Kakuro to the iPhone and iPod Touch.  So…what does this have to do with you?  Well, a game (or games) this big need to be thoroughly tested before anyone can be expected to shell out their hard earned money, and as Brandon hinted the other day, Mastersoft is actively seeking Beta testers.  If you interested, just send your iPhone or iPod Touch UDID to betas [at] mastersoftmobilesolutions.com (don’t forget to replace the “at” with “@”.