Firefox is now?five, however if, like many, you've found yourself having to leave your favourite?browser?because of constant crashing there are plenty of ways to get your Firefox groove back and save yourself from Mozilla hell.

Here are three steps to insuring you can surf the Web with the friendly fox once again:

Disable all your apps

With so many Plug-ins available for the browser, one of the reasons you could be experiencing crashes is that one of them has gone rogue. If this is the case, the best way to find out is disable all your apps and then slowly turn them back on to see which one is causing the issue.

Safe Mode

Firefox comes with a Safe Mode for exactly this reason - trying to fix bugs. buried within the inner workings of Firefox is a handy box that when accessed will allow you to reset your browser to its "factory" settings.

On the Mac you can access this via the Terminal application in Utilities (/Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox -safe-mode) while on the PC you'll find it by accessing the Run command within the Start Bar ("C:Program FilesMozilla Firefoxfirefox.exe" -safe-mode)

Once you've run the application you get to disable all the add-ons in one swoop, reset toolbars and controls, reset bookmarks back to the Firefox defaults, reset all user preferences to Firefox defaults and even restore the default search engine, giving you a fresh start.

Starting from scratch

If none of the above has worked, you've got to take drastic action and make your computer believe that you've never seen or heard of this Firefox browser program. First off you've got to delete it completely.

Unfortunately just deleting or uninstalling the browser from your Mac or PC won't solve your problems, as the browser buries itself into your computers profile and user settings. It's like pulling out a weed, you've got to get right down to the roots to clear out the infection.

Mac

For Mac users drag the Firefox app into the Trash and then remove the Library/Application Support/Firefox folder. This will remove Firefox completely, your bookmarks, browser settings, plug-in details the lot.?

PC

For the PC it's just as simple. First remove the program via the "Add or Remove Programs" tool then delete the Firefox Installation directory located at C:Program filesMozilla Firefox

Reinstall

Now you've removed all the traces of the browser on your computer you simply visit the getfirefox browser website, download the right version for you and reinstall.

If you've done the above, your browser will reinstall and you'll be able to use Firefox like you did before you became a constant crash victim - hopefully for another 5 years.

?

Tags: Software PC software Mac software Firefox Browsers Mozilla Quick Guide

Firefox keeps crashing? Here's how to fix it originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:28:53 +0000

Twitter Lists has now come to the masses?and with it a host of new questions on what they do, how you can benefit from them, and more importantly how they work.

Let Pocket-lint guide you through the new features whether it's creating, managing, deleting or just following them. Here is our quick guide to the new offering.

What are Lists

Twitter Lists are basically a list of users grouped around a central theme. They could be people that work for Pocket-lint, they could be a group of actors, or maybe people in your local bowling club. The idea is that you can then follow the list and get all the messages of the people on the list filtering out the noise of twitter.

?

Creating a Twitter List

Simple. Login to your Twitter account and if you have Lists enabled then you'll see a new Lists element in your right hand nav column. Click on New List and a pop-up window appears.

Here you get to name your list and choose whether or not you make that list Public or Private.

Now you've got to populate your list with Twitter folk. You'll be able to search the twittersphere for people to follow or add them from your following page or anyone's profile page.

Once you've found who you were looking for you can then add them to the relevant list and your done.

?

Editing your Twitter List

So you've started a list, bully for you, but what if you want to add more people to it? Easy, you can edit your list by clicking on the "Edit List" button on the list page. The button isn't in the nav bar - that would be too easy - instead it can be found at the top right of the page. However, not that the Edit List button is any help, all it will do is let you change the name of your list and opt to make it Public or Private.

?

Editing other people's Twitter List

Blocking a Twitter user will remove you from inclusion on any lists the blocked person has created. Handy in the fight against spammers or people that have created a "These people suck" list.

?

Adding more people to your Twitter List

That's easy to, all you have to do is find them and then click on the list icon that appears next to their name. A drop down appears and you just check the box next to the list that you want them to appear in.

?

Removing people from your Twitter List

Yeah we all hate to admit it but people can get boring after a while. Luckily you can remove people just as quickly as you can add them. It's the same icon and drop down menu. All you've got to do is bring yourself to uncheck the box.

?

Deleting a Twitter List

So you've created a list of your local club and then promptly left the club. Luckily you can delete the list you've created. Found in the same location as the edit list button you can hit the delete link. Twitter will fire up a "Are you sure" message at which point you say yes and then it's gone. There is no going back.

?

Viewing your Twitter Lists

With the ability to create an almost infinite number of lists you get a dedicated page to see what lists you've created and more interestingly what lists you feature on. If people have added you to a private list you won't see it. To get to this page type

twitter.com/username/lists and twitter.com/username/lists/memberships

?

Following a Twitter List

Following a list is easy, find the list you want to follow and then click on the "Follow this list" icon at the top of the stream.

?

Tags: Software Online Twitter Quick Guide

Quick guide to Twitter Lists originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 05:42:35 +0000

What is Windows 7?

Er, ok. You really need this one answered? Well, Windows 7 is Microsoft's eighth consumer focused operating systems for personal computers. Don't ask us why the company chose 7 - possibly because it's a suggestion that we forget about either Windows ME or Vista or perhaps because someone miscounted. Either way Windows 7 it is and after quite a long run up it's finally been released for purchase by both consumers and businesses.

Why do I want it?

There's plenty of reasons to want the latest version of any OS, not least of which is that it's most often more secure than the last version meaning that your system is less likely to become compromised and your data and ID should stay exactly where you want them - with you. The slightly sexier reasons for wanting to upgrade are because it has a more modern look and feel, it runs smoother and quicker and it gives you a whole bunch of new bits and pieces to play with. In fact, the only real downside is having to part with some money for the privilege.

So, what's new?

At its core, Windows 7 has improvements to the kernel, which is at the heart of all operations, better performance with multi-core processors to get the most out of new CPU technologies and a more efficient boot too. What that translates to is a faster start up and shut down, a faster resume from sleep mode, a more responsive performance and more better use of processing power. That's the theory, anyway. To make it happen, Microsoft used a set of tracing tools to identity all the slack code and dysfunctional pathways of previous versions of the OS to work out exactly where the majority of the tweaks needed to be. There's also been special attention paid to laptops specifically by fitting a series of power saving functions like auto-screen dimmers and such. So, two reasons to make the switch is to get your battery to last a little longer and your PC running like the hot rod it promised it was when you bought it.

And what about the differences I can actually see?

Windows 7 continues the shell design first implemented in Vista - Windows Aero. Much of it will appear similar to many users. A lot of focus has been given to the taskbar with the addition of Jump Lists, bigger icons and even just the ability to move them about at will in the knowledge that they'll stay in whatever order you left them. If you hover the mouse over the icon of an open application in the taskbar, then mini full screen previews will pop up for each window that that program has running. So, if you have three Word documents open, then you'll see three small versions of each one when the curser is over the Word icon in the taskbar. From there, you can click on the one you want to go straight to it or just move the mouse away from the taskbar and go back to whatever it was you were doing on the desktop.

If instead, you right click on icons on the taskbar, then a Jump List will pop up. These lists contain all the recent files that you might have been accessing for that specific app. It doesn't remember all your browser pages but if, say, you right click on your media player icon, it'll come up with a list of all your recently played video and music files for you to shortcut straight to and in the case of media, you'll also be offered a degree of playback control straight from the taskbar too, but the level of access will vary from app to app. You can also choose to pin files to these lists for good or even pin them to the taskbar itself which might be handy if it's something you use all the time or at least repeatedly over a small period.

The windows themselves have also had a bit of a functionality twist too in a feature called Aero Snap. If you drag any open window up to the top of the screen it automatically maximises it. Likewise, if you throw them to the sides of your display, they'll take up exactly half the desktop. Drag one to the opposite edge and now you can compare two open windows in a split screen view. Very useful if you're taking notes from information online, for example. Finally, if all your open windows are beginning to take over your desktop, you can press the small button at the bottom right hand corner of the screen on the taskbar called Aero Peek which makes them all translucent, and if you actually click on the button, it minimises everything on the screen and shows you your desktop and any gadgets you might be running.

Any new applications?

Naturally, there's new versions of Windows Media Centre, which now comes with its own gadget, and Internet Explorer, if you really must. IE8 features a revamped address bar which can be used for search, there's new tabs and a make-over for the favourites bar as well. Web Slice allows users to be updated of any changes to sites they're monitoring without actually having to switch back to the tab in question. For example it would display updates to an eBay auction or a web mail inbox up on the favourites bar at the top of the browser. The final addition is the IE Accelerator which offers contextual menus for selected pieces of copy within a web page. So, you might be able to right click on the name of a shop and the options could include links to reviews, its online retail site or a map with its location.

One of the more impressive improvements is to the desktop search function which has now gone truly universal. Located at the foot of the Start menu, the search starts working as soon as you start typing and will bring up a string of results immediately from all corners of your machine including external devices and any shared PCs on the same network. It groups the suggestions by file type - be they docs, images, e-mails, applications etc - and highlights the part of the titles that responds the letters of your query. The whole process is also given a slight extra speed kick by suggesting frequently selected results from familiar search enquiries too. If you want to get deeper into it, you can open out the panel further and use the dynamic options with graphics to help you sort by date, size, name and other criteria in a much more simple way that was often quite painful in Windows packages of days gone by.

Windows 7 also sees some consolidation of functions too. The old Windows Security Centre has been renamed the Action Centre and works as an issues and problem solver to do list including requests from Windows Defender as well as any other tasks as recommended by your machine for you to deal with when you have a moment. Each is listed with a warning of how important it is. Finding an anti-virus program, for example, qualifies for the top of the list.

The other area of consolidation is of device management. Printers, phones, MP3 players and pretty much anything you can plug into your PC are all now dealt with in one specific area. Of course, each offers slightly different options of action but the place to find them has been homogenised and should be far easier for viewing and transferring the content off and onto them. One neat feature particular to printers is an auto-detect default which will recognise where you are based on the network connection and automatically select the appropriate default printer from your list without you having to chop and change manually.

And what about multi-touch?

Yes, probably the most high profile addition to the Windows OS is the added support for touchscreen PCs and more specifically multi-touch as well. There is a slew of computers set to arrive that take advantage of this. There's also some added fun with the trainable handwriting recognition software built-in, as well as smaller apps like post it notes and graphical add ons too. At its most basic though, the touchscreen allows you to scroll, zoom and navigate your way around the operating system using your fingers. You will, of course, require a touch enabled computer or PC tablet for this to work.

Anything else?

Naturally, there's a bunch of new desktop themes, there's better support for SSDs and virtual hard disks, there's a redesigned calculator with a statistics mode and the return of internet connected versions of the games Spades, Checkers and Backgammon, all of which had been apparently mistakenly dropped for Vista. Networking has been made easier with WindowsHome and DirectAccess which allow an automation of the set up of sharing content across Windows 7 machines in the home and intranet set up for businesses. A particularly useful feature called Play To lets users choose which machine in their network they'd like to stream any particular media onto.

Is it any good?

Well, early reports indicate that Windows 7 will be a winner. It's essentially a refined version of the unpopular Vista which should give the new OS a head start in a lot of departments, not least of which is general public feeling. It has a greater user-centric experience with performance improvements for far smoother day to day running. There's even a a few bits of fun left for the future with an upcoming patch for USB 3.0 support expected very soon and all the high speed data transfer that should allow – fingers crossed.

Can my PC handle it?

A 32-bit version of Windows 7 will require a machine with a minimum of a 1GHz CPU, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of disk space. If you want to go 64-bit, then obviously you'll need a 64-bit CPU, a minimum of 2GB RAM and 20GB of space to put it.

How much is it?

That all depends which version you go for. There are a slightly confusing six different variants but actually only three different names to take care of. The standard consumer version is Windows 7 Home Premium for ?149.99, then comes Windows 7 Professional for ?219.99 intended more for businesses and finally Windows 7 Ultimate at ?229.99 for those in need of serious data protection and computing in 35 languages. You can also buy upgrade packages of each version for ?79.99, ?189.99 and ?199.99 respectively but they'll only work if you already have Windows Vista installed. Officially speaking you can't even upgrade from the Windows 7 release candidate but there's a way around that one for the more adventurous.

Related links:

• Feature - Five touchscreen Windows 7 PCs to look out for
• Review - Microsoft Windows 7 - First Look review
• Read - All things Windows 7
• Feature - A brief history of Windows

Tags: Software Microsoft Windows 7 Operating Systems Quick Guide Features

Quick guide to Microsoft Windows 7 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:13:31 +0100

Perhaps the number one killer of any mobile phone is its operating system. We've all made the mistake before. We get seduced by the hardware spec of a handset, teased by its touchscreen, mesmerised by the megapixels but after just 3 days of using the thing a bad OS can make you want to bring something heavy down onto it over and over again until a substance resembling guacamole comes out of its ports. The bottom line is that if a mobile's not a pleasure to use, it makes no difference how many codecs it supports, how pretty it looks or whatever other tricks it says on the box.

The Palm Pre isn't the world's sexiest looking phone. It's not unattractive by any means. Probably more akin to the phone next door as opposed to the sexy supermodel that is the LG Chocolate BL40. What we have known about the talk of this year's CES is that it's supposed to have staggeringly good software. The thing is that you'll have never used it before. No one will until they buy the thing because it's brand spanking new. So to help you agonise over whether or not the Pre's for you, here's a quick guide to its webOS and reasons for and against taking that leap into the unknown.

What is webOS?

Probably an important place to start if this has all been gibberish to you so far. Since 1996, Palm devices have used the company's very own Palm OS whether they've been PDAs or smartphones. There's been the odd link up with Windows Mobile but on the whole it's been the old faithful. Palm's history has been fraught with takeovers, splits and mergers and, eventually, the software side of the company was sold to a Japanese firm from which the Palm OS was licensed back.

With the fresh start and new mass market charm offensive, Palm has decided do develop the software in-house once again to help create what the company feels is the perfect device - give or take a few tweaks for later iterations, naturally. It was with the handwriting recognition software, Graffiti, that Palm's founders initially began, so they've plenty of credentials in this department.

webOS itself is a Linux-based operating system but with Palm designed components on top of it. It gives it a rather curious mix of open source foundations and very effective proprietary guts at the same time, and the result is an agnostic way of integrating your social networks and other forms of communication. It's the default and entirely locked-in operating system for the Pre and will also be at the heart of the Palm Pixi which we'll probably see before the end of the year.

What is Synergy?

Being part Linux, part Palm specific, you might expect to have a few problems getting the Pre and webOS to sync up with your home computer and, unlike the old Palm PDAs, there's no HotSynch type function or cradle or anything like that. Instead webOS is designed to sync up with the cloud. It not only allows easy access to Gmail, Microsoft Exchange servers and Facebook but it'll also bring these messages together with all your communications with the same friends and colleagues on your phone contacts list. So, any conversations you've been having with any one person will all be threaded together in the same chat whether over e-mail, SMS or IM.

That's really the heart of Synergy with the idea to make using the phone as a seamless communicating device. It's not the only OS to do this kind of thing. Motoblur and HTC Sense aim for similar ends, but it's the simplicity and ease of use that's the selling point here.

What else has it got?

Probably the biggest wow factor on the Pre is the graphic interface and the way it handles multitasking. Each application you use, and even the windows within them, become what Palm calls Activity Cards. These cards are displayed in a row on the screen whenever you press the touch sensitive main button on the handset. You can then shuffle through them, change their order and select the ones you want to work on with the multi-touch screen. And, when you're done with them, you can flick them off the edge of the screen to close them with a very satisfying kind of swish. Other OSes like Android and S60 allow multitasking but, so far, webOS seems to have provided the best most usable solution.

What about the browser?

Again, it's another selling point for the Pre. The browser used is based on WebKit much like Chrome and Safari as well. With the aid of multi-touch and the browser works a treat allowing you to pinch and stretch and zoom your way in and out of the finer details at excellent speeds. Another big tick here.

webOS supports HTML 5, Javascript and CCS, so most parts of the Internet should run as they do on a computer. Adobe has also announced that they're working on Flash support for webOS which should fill in most of the important gaps - particularly in the way of embedded video.

Any other features to persuade me?

webOS also features quite a neat search called Universal Search. When you start putting a search term into the field, it immediately starts presenting you with options. First of all it searches the handset for matches - anywhere on the handset - from your e-mails and texts to phone options, like where to turn on and off your Bluetooth. As it realises that what you're looking for isn't on the Pre, it'll ask you whether you want to begin searching the Internet as well.

webOS's ability to sync with iTunes has been a bonus but also something of quite serious contention between Palm and Apple. The phone gets by the Apple software by spoofing an iPod and coming up with ID protocols that iTunes recognises. There's been something of an arms race between the two companies - one patching the software and the other finding another way round it. It's up for debate as to how it will settle in the future but if this is a big point for you, then either don't update your iTunes software to version 9 or beyond or choose another phone. Naturally, the Pre has its own perfectly good media player which includes video support for codecs like H.264 but we all appreciate the desire to keep it the same and simple on the software front.

And what about the apps on offer?

Yeah. Well, this is the one area currently letting the side down a little. webOS itself is set up very nicely to work with both first and third party apps. The trouble is that there aren't many. There's no need for developers to learn a new language to write applications for the Pre with just a one phone solution that's only been out in the States until now, it doesn't seem to have proved the most lucrative draw. Consequently, the Palm App Catalog, as it's known, only launched with 18 apps earlier this year and only features just over 40 today. Glaring omissions are Facebook, Skype and Flickr among many others, so it's really a question of how important apps are to you and how much you trust the Catalogue to grow in the future.

On the plus side, one of the available apps is called Classic and is an old Palm OS emulator which allows you to run tens of thousands of old school programs on the Pre either for nostalgia or hopefully because they've stood the test of time. There is also a growing community of homebrew apps which you can get access to through sideloading from your PC. There's a fairly healthy set of 250 or so at the moment but there's a good chance that many of them will be pretty rough around the edges.

Related links:

• Feature - A brief history of Palm
• Feature - Palm Pre: 5 reasons to want, 5 to avoid
• Review - Palm Pre mobile phone review

Tags: Phones Mobile phones Palm Palm Pre Features WebOS Palm Pixi Quick Guide

Quick guide to webOS originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:46:59 +0100

You may have heard this morning that foursquare is launching in the UK. And if you haven't, shame on you for not having Pocket-lint open all day. If you don't know what foursquare is on the other hand, then that's a whole lot more forgiveable seeing as the service only started in March this year at the SXSW technology, music and film extravaganza. So, for the majority of us...

?

What is foursquare?

In a nutshell, it's a location service-based social network-come-game. What it does in effect is to tell you where your friends are and add a little fun to going out in the evening. It's like Google Lattitude meets a little bit of Facebook, a touch of Twitter, a dash of Qype and even a twist of World of Warcraft. And if that's not a cocktail for hopeless addiction, then we're not sure what is.

How does it work?

The whole system is based around what is known as "checking-in". You check-in from bars and restaurants and any kind of nightspot or watering hole, perhaps with a little message about where you are and what you're doing - all very brief - and the system will then register what you're up to. People who you're friends with will then get pinged a message to let them know your whereabouts and activities, and the idea is that they can then join you if they fancy or just be pleased that you're out having a good time. From the other side of things, if you're out on your own somewhere, suddenly mateless in town or stuck at home and bored, you can see where everyone's at and get yourself down to the party. All pretty simple. The other two things you can do are create a to-do-list of places you've always wanted to go and add to a Top 12 list of your recommendations for other people.

And what about the game?

The clever, or clever-er, part is that you get points for checking-in. The idea is that it encourages you to do so, which then gets the system running and propagates the idea and the fun even further. It's all rather new, even for the developers, and much of the system is still evolving but, at the moment, you get a point for checking in, you get five points if it happens to be from a place you've never checked-in from before; a further point if it's the second, third, fourth etc place of the evening; and another still for checking-in multiple nights in a row, you old booze hound, you. You can only get points for checking-in outside of work hours - presumably to prevent potential mass job loss and alcoholism - but you're always eligible for the five discovery points no matter what time of day it is.

Naturally, the points aren't good for anything other than bragging rights but that's currency a-plenty with a leader board on the site with the top users. Also, if you check-in from the same place more times and more regularly than anyone else, then you might find yourself crowned Mayor of that gaff on the site - an honour that many may try to wrestle from you but then, that's part of the fun. You'll probably begin as rivals and end up the next week amassing 50 points together on some all night bender.

You can also earn badges as you check-in which is where the parallel of World of Warcraft and its Achievements system lies. Firstly, there are badges for the number of times you've checked-in to new establishments from Newbie up to Superstar, plus all sorts of random and more cryptic titles to earn. Word has it that this is where the real addiction lies, especially with the team working on and taking suggestions for all sorts of new badges.

The really clever part

That's basically the fun side of foursquare and what you'll appreciate as a user, but while all this is going on, the owners of the service are also gathering some very considerable review and guide data for all the best spots in a whole bunch of major cities all over the world. It's the kind of user-generated content that Qype specialises in but in a much less in-depth way. What foursquare then decides to do with that is up to the business but there's certainly plenty of commercial scope, if only for the desire of new bars and restaurants to get themselves listed or even to have a badge made just for them.

How do I start?

Like all social networks, just head to the foursquare site and sign up with a free and very brief profile which will ask you for your mobile phone number so it can ping you. Then add a photo and find your friends.

Can anyone use it?

Well, yes and no. Firstly, the system has to be city specific, so there are different networks for a number of different locations. If there doesn't happen to be one in your location then, it's not going to work for you. So far you can play in: Amsterdam, Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas / Fort Worth, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis / St. Paul, New York City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, DC and now London as well. You'll need a mobile phone to check-in from and a decent SMS package on your price plan or, better still, there's an app for Android, iPhone and soon ones for BlackBerry and the Palm Pre too.

Related links:

• News - Foursquare launches for London

Tags: Software Websites Online Foursquare GPS software Social networking Quick Guide

What is Foursquare? originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:45:54 +0100

Want to know what all the fuss is about? Read our quick guide to find out more about what the changes are, what they mean, and how they affect you. We'll also give you a run down of the good and bad points.

What is Windows Phone?

It's the rebranded name of Windows Mobile. As part of Microsoft's long term strategy the company has chosen to ditch the Windows Mobile title as of the release of version 6.5 and just refer to it as Windows Phone. On the one hand it's supposed to simplify the OS and extend the software to handsets such that people refer to them as Windows phones but it's also not a bad way to try to drop some of the stink surrounding what has never quite been the platform that it could be. It also helps to refer to the operating system as something in its own right like the iPhone OS rather than being a squished down, mobile version of what you get on a full size PC.

What's changed from Windows Mobile 6.1?

Sadly not as much as we'd all like. Windows Mobile 6.5 was announced back in February at Mobile World Congress but only as a stop gap while the delayed Windows Mobile 7 was put back to 2010. As a result, there is no multi-touch to keep the Windows phones up with the likes of Android, S60 and iPhone and you still have to use a stylus for certain applications. The biggest change is the GUI on the front of the system which has been simplified considerably, made much more user-friendly and more like the Zune interface. It's less fiddly and goes to an Android/iPhone/S60-like menu screen of three columns of app icons when you press start rather than folder expansion. Everything from e-mail to Bluetooth is now set up through better looking wizards and the whole thing is really targeted at users looking to make the step up from a feature phone to a smartphone. The back end of the software is largely the same.

What about apps? Do we finally get apps?

Yes indeed. Microsoft announced a codename project to go with 6.5 called SkyMarket which has in fact turned out to be the long awaited Windows Marketplace for Mobile expected to go live as the OS is launched. There are currently 731 developers working worldwide on more than 200 initial applications that will be available when the marketplace opens. Developers get a 70% cut of the profits after paying a $99 fee for a year's licence unless they're registered as students from Microsoft in which case the licence will be free.

Apps so far include a number of business solutions as well as Facebook, MySpace, Netflix, Twikini, WunderRadio, Zagat and games like Revenge of the Fallen, Sudoku, Transformers and the Pac-Man series. Browsing the Marketplace is a straight forward affair with the usual lists of genres and top sellers and the Zune-look menus also have a section for your operator's app store which is sure to please the networks if no one else.

What else?

Microsoft's mobile synching cloud service is the other main area of note which is known as My Phone. It's been in beta for 7 months but on launch users will get 200MB of storage where they can save SMS, contacts and images which they can also publish on Flickr, MySpace and Facebook straight from their phones. Much like another smartphone service out there, you'll also be able to remotely lock your phone should you lose it, locate it on a map from its last synch, send out a "please return to" message, make it ring even if on silent and, if all else fails, wipe the data. There will also be a premium service with more storage available.

The final update of significance is of the Internet Explorer mobile browser which works in a standard desktop view mode as well as a mobile format and there are other Microsoft applications you'll find on-board include Windows Live, Bing, Mobile Office Communicator and Microsoft Online Service (Exchange and SharePoint).

Good points and bad points

Well, it certainly looks better and the simplification and face lift appear to be a definite step in the right direction. The fact that 6.5 has come as a stop gap doesn't really help with the biggest disappointment of all the missing multi-touch and the fact that certain programs, such as Windows Media Player, still need the use of the stylus. HTC has added a multi-touch front to the OS but many of the applications like Explorer will still not support it. It's a fairly low cost option which should make it a competitive option for those making a step up and it will coexist in the market when Windows Phone 7 is released next year.

How do I get it

Unfortunately, you can't just upgrade your version of Windows Mobile 6.1. It would require an update of the firmware as sent by your operator who will not necessarily do this for free. Your handset might also not be able to cope with it but, of course, there are always more shady unofficial ways of making the switch yourself. For most, it will be a case of buying a specific handset. The platform will launch on the HTC Touch2 but there will also be Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Motorola Windows Phones coming soon, as well as an upgrade for the HTC Touch HD Pro.

Tags: Phones Quick Guide Windows Mobile Windows Phone Operating Systems Mobile phone apps Mobile phones Windows Marketplace Microsoft

Quick guide to Windows Mobile 6.5 - Windows Phone originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:00:00 +0100

You may have noticed a rather annoying message on your TV screens for the last few weeks getting right in the way of Ian Beale, Holly Willoughby, Jeremy Clarkson and most of the United midfield. If you've taken the time to read the message, rather than scowl at it until it disappears, then you'll have noticed that there's something going down on Wednesday 30 September, and yes, there's a very good chance that it applies to you, so read on for all the info you're going to need.

What is this the Freeview retune all about?

Will I need to retune?

When do I need to do it

How do I retune?

What will I find after I've retuned

Will the retune work for everyone?

Err, Pocket-lint, it still hasn't worked?

Related links:

• Link - Retune homepage
• Feature - The five best value Freeview set top boxes
• News - No answer from Freeview for those still without TV

Tags: Home Cinema Freeview Freeview+ Features Quick Guide

Quick guide to the Freeview retune on 30 September originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:30:00 +0100