Bejeweled 2 is undergoing a major update and the new version should be available on March 19th.

"We have a new version of Bejeweled 2 which will be released on Wednesday 19th March. As well as a big behind-the-scenes update to move the game to our newest framework, this update also adds support for square screen Windows Mobile Professional devices and marks the first ever release for Windows Mobile Standard devices."

The Daily Gadget has come to an end, which is very sad news, but understandable. Take a look at the final post and maybe post your thoughts.

"Over the past few years I have had the distinct pleasure of "leading" a small group of extremely dedicated, talented and loyal people. When we started down this road, you could not have told me that these people would have done so much for so little in return...and always so happily.

The Daily Gadget has always been a labor of love. Not just for me but for the whole crew. We always knew we weren't the biggest nor the most updated gadget site on the web, but if you knew these folks like I do...you'd all say that they have the most heart. Be it for their gadget-obsessions or some misguided sense of loyalty, I could not have asked for nicer people to be with. It makes it all the harder to announce that the Daily Gadget will be ceasing publication and shutting down on Friday, March 14th.

There are some of you who have been with us and reading since the beginning. To you I say thank you. Thank you so much for your continued support and patronage over the years. You guys are what made us keep coming back crash after crash, hack after hack, day after day. You were the community we had always hoped for.

That's what the Daily Gadget has been to me, a community. With so many other gadget sites on the web, I just never really got that feeling. My hope was that we could be something for all of you that you'd come to appreciate...that we'd become something worthy of that fellowship.

The sad truth is that I'm tired, gang. Between my family, my health, school a full time job...the Daily Gadget has been suffering. The staff all have full time jobs and families as well, everything they gave to this site was given freely and often. I know that if I can't give the DG the time it deserves that I can't run the site anymore. After talking to the staff we agreed that it was time to turn off the lights and call it a day."

Switching mobile platforms can be a troublesome experience, and one that is highly dependant on third party software. If you have been using a particular third party application for many years, chances are that you will feel more lost without it than you do getting used to a new device and a completely different way of working.

Today we will look at finance applications and the best ways to ensure that if you switch platforms, you will still be able to use your historic data and keep organised without too much interruption.

Palm OS

For me, SplashMoney has proved to be the ideal solution to managing finances on the move. Indeed, it has proved to be so flexible and complete that the vast majority of my financial tracking is done on my Centro and not a desktop. SplashMoney does come with an excellent desktop companion though and this ensures that your data is backed up and usable when tax return time arrives.

Over the past few years, I have used SplashMoney to track everything financial and the reporting included is more than powerful enough for my needs. It may not have all of the advanced functions included in dedicated accounting programs, but it is ideal for the vast majority of users.

Windows Mobile

Up until recently I would have recommended Spb Finance as the best Windows Mobile financial application, and in many ways it still is today. It is very powerful and easy to use, but not quite as quick when entering new information. It also does not have a dedicated desktop companion, but rather the ability to sync with Microsoft Money and Quicken. Some will see this as an advantage, but for me it is overkill.

SplashData has recently released SplashMoney for Windows Mobile Professional, and crucially for Windows Mobile Standard. This is by far the best solution available for Windows Mobile standard and on the whole both work well. They are very similar to the Palm version, but still have some quirks in the initial build. For example, changing column widths works when you do it, but the next time you open it up they are back to the default setting. This is a minor quibble, and it is a positive move to see SplashMoney (with the desktop companion) released for the Windows Mobile platform.

Symbian

Tracking bank accounts, credit cards and other vaguely complex financial arrangements under Symbian is not really worth attempting at this point in time. Neither Symbian S60 3rd Edition or UIQ 3 have an adequate solution for this, and the market is merely littered with small applications designed to help you manage expenses and little else. Some of these applications are good, but for true money management the Symbian platform currently does not deliver.

SplashMoney gets my vote as the best mobile money management tool for it’s included desktop companion and the fact that there are versions available for both Palm and Windows Mobile. As I look at each genre of mobile use, I will build up a table showing which applications make the switching process easiest. They still have to be top quality to be recommended, and in the finance area SplashMoney is both top quality and incredibly versatile.

Next up will by third party PIM applications. In the meantime, the Switchers guide can be accessed here.

I had to replace the invisible shield on my TyTn today as it had got scratched. (How something that is supposed to protect helicopter blades can be scratched by a cardboard art folder is beyond me, but thats another story).

For anyone who has not used one of these shields, this involves spraying the plastic shield with some liquid they supply and then squeeging the liquid out once it is applied. It takes a bit of time, and can be tricky to get all the bubbles out, and this time I had to reapply the liquid a few times to get it right. Imaging my supprise when trying the device after the shield had dried when I found the touch screen no longer works!

You can clearly see bubbles of liquid under the glass screen on top of the LCD, which can't do it any good, and I can only assume that this is the reason it no longer works. No amout of switching of and on cured it, and it remains completly useless. At the moment it is in the airing cupboard to see if the liquid will evaporate.  There is no warning in the instructions of being carefull how much to spray on, and  as yet no one from Invisible Shield has responded to my emails.

I think I may have killed my phone..... DAVID

VITO Technology releases a new version of AstroNavigator. It has become faster and more user-friendly. Updated AstroNavigator provides a wealth of new features. While setting up time you can immediately observe the star sky changing in accordance with your location and the time you set up. Pointing your location on the Earth is much easier on the scalable map and can be also done by selecting a town.

The users will be pleasantly surprised at how fast new AstroNavigator works. The loading time has been sped up significantly, the search of stars, constellations, towns is realised much quicker. The information about a star, constellation or planet can be seen in a separate window, where the animated image of the chosen object is provided together with the astronomical data. This prevents the main window from cluttering with info.

The possibility to watch stars not only above you but from any place on the Earth has been realized differently than in previous version. Now besides a more thorough scalable map of the Earth where you can choose any place there is an opportunity to choose a town from where you want to gaze at stars. The list of town names is pretty huge, so there is T9 search available. In a matter of seconds you find yourself in any place on the Earth and watch the stars that are seen from this place.

What is more, you can choose the moment for star gazing. The special setting for changing time allows you to put the year, month, date, hours and minutes. Isn't it cool to travel in time and space seeing the changes around you? Watch the stars at any time from any place on the Earth!

AstroNavigator is available for $19.95 at http://iwindowsmobile.com.

the gadgeteer has written a lengthy review of the Pantech Duo (C810) Windows Mobile 6.0 Smartphone- "The Duo's built in camera is crummy. I mean really crummy. The images are out of focus, with blotchy colors and sometimes the outside edges of the snapshot are warped. The camera works in a pinch, but only barely.

The Duo does not have WiFi or a built in GPS. I guess this isn't a shocking revelation, but it seems that a lot of smartphones these days have those feature as standard. I can forgive the lack of WiFi on this phone due to the fact that the screen is so tiny that I wouldn't really care to take advantage of that feature anyway. An iPhone it is not.

Another thing to consider is that the Duo only has Bluetooth 1.2 instead of 2.0. Version 2.0 is more robust and allows for faster speeds when tethering the phone to a laptop. The Duo does have A2DP though, so that means you can listen to your tunes through Bluetooth earphones.

The worst problem with this phone though is call quality. When I first started testing it a few weeks ago, I would receive calls where the person on the opposite end could hear me, but I was unable to hear them at all. I've also had an occasional dropped call in areas where the signal is typically very good. People have even commented that I sounded like I was talking with a sock in my mouth. I'm often hungry, but I assure you that don't eat socks. ;o)"

Best TaskMan for Pocket PC is a good solution for those of you not running a new HTC unit.

When you start TaskMan you can see 4 main views: Running applications, Start, System information and Processes. You can switch between them with left/right cursor keys or by selecting the needed view from 'View' menu.

Running applications view
This view shows the information about running applications. You can see currently running applications, switch to the needed application, get information about any running application, close an application or all applications at once.

All applications displayed in this view are sorted by usage, more recently used applications are on top.

Next to every application you can see its memory usage.

Please note that some applications belong to one and the same executable (e.g. Contacts, Calendar, Tasks belong to poutlook.exe; Desktop, Programs to shell32.exe). Amount of memory usage for such applications is shown as their process memory usage. So if Contacts and Calendar show, say, 47kb each, it means that their executable uses 47 kb, i.e. 47 kb is for both Contacts and Calendar.

You can explore each application (window) and get various information about it: executable name it belongs to, window name, class, styles and position. You can also spy into all child windows/controls it owns.

Start view
That view allows you to start any installed applications just in some finger taps. It displays list of all applications. You can scroll down to start needed application or just type its name (or part of it) to search for it and start.

In this view you can also get brief information about any application, like shortcut file name, where it targets (where application executable is located), command line used to start application, etc

One way to save money and the planet simultaneously is to ditch the fossil fuels and electrical leash and seek alternative sources of power. That's where our new sister site SmartPlanet comes in: it reviews products on their quality, value, ethics and greenness, so inconvenient truths are balanced by conveniently thrifty products. We've picked you out an elite bunch of the best money- and power-saving gadgets our eco-expert buddies have rated."

Probably Handango (the online store with mobile software) didn’t get enough from Vulture Capitalists - "only" $9.5 million - so that’s why they take more from the developers !

Handango writes presumptuously:

Handango, the world's leading provider of smartphone content, today announced that it has raised an additional $9.5 million in its Series C round of financing, which will be used to support the company's new and innovative distribution deals, improve the scalability of its infrastructure, and expand globally. Additionally, Handango plans to enhance the consumer experience to make smartphone content easier to browse, find and purchase online and directly from a mobile device. Participating in the Series C round are Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), Advanced Technology Ventures (ATV), Centerpoint, Neo Carta, Pharos Capital Group and SSM Partners.

"Securing this round of funding further proves our leadership position in the distribution of smartphone content," said Bill Stone, CEO, Handango. "As the demand for smartphones expands from early adopters to mainstream consumers, we are confident that Handango's new distribution platforms and expanded content offerings will only further our dominance in this industry."

Conclusion: Handango rips off developers even more with latest changes in commisions - even though they get money from investors - so both Microsoft and users of Windows Mobile phones should never purchase any software at Handango... compared to 30% that Apple... More at msmobiles.