Although not officially announced, Microsoft have begun rolling out Exchange ActiveSync support to the Hotmail / Windows Live email service.
If you want to give the service a try, use the following details:

• Server Address - m.hotmail.com
• Username - your full hotmail email address
• Password - your hotmail account password
• Domain - leave blank

Currently the service supports the synchronisation of email, contact and calendar data but not tasks.

When choosing a remote email solution there are a number of approaches that you can take: you may have decided on a client device type and wish to know what solutions are compatible; you may have a specific feature set you need to be available to your users; or similarly a set of features you don't want to be available. You may have specific security concerns or may have a policy regarding which manufacturers you are able to consider.

Afaria is Sybase's device management solution for the Enterprise market, arguably the solution to choose if you need to manage a large fleet of remote devices running a variety of different operating systems and provide mobile integration with back-end line-of-business applications.

I have looked at Afaria in a previous article here - http://blog.brightpointuk.co.uk/sybase-afaria . In this post I shall look at the new features available in version 6.5 of the product.

With the official release of Microsoft Exchange 2010 (http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/2010/en/us/default.aspx), as promised Microsoft have released an update to the Outlook Mobile client for Windows Mobile 6.1, which will provide similar functionality (when used with an Exchange 2010 server) to devices running Windows Mobile 6.5

New features include:

• Conversation View - the ability to group messages by common subject thread
• Conversation Actions - the ability to perform actions on whole conversation messages groups (move, forward, delete, etc)
  

Excitor (http://www.excitor.com) is a Danish software development company specialising in remote device management and cost control solutions for the enterprise.
The DME Mobile Solution Suite is Excitor's modular framework that provides a feature-rich, multi-platform device management solution combined with state of the art security tools as well as an optional mobile email and PIM manager.

The Touch 2, as its name suggests, is the successor to the hugely popular Touch, and shares its beautifully-crafted ergonomics and form factor. The Touch 2 is also one of the first devices to feature the new Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system, including such new features as the Windows Marketplace and Microsoft's MyPhone service. To quote the HTC web site:

The MyPhone service from Microsoft allows you to synchronise your personal data with the cloud, effectively enabling you to securely backup your data to your personal area of Microsoft's online storage. Data can be backed up automatically on a schedule, or manually as you prefer. Once backed up, your data can be restored to any device of your choosing or accessed directly online via your web browser. Data sources that can be backed up include:

• Contacts
• Calendar
• Tasks
• Text Messages
• Photos
• Videos
• Music
• Documents

When Exchange 2010 is released, it will include an enhanced Server ActiveSync capability that when used with a device running Windows Mobile 6.5, will include the ability to synchronise not only email, contacts, calendar entries and tasks, but also SMS test messages (http://blog.brightpointuk.co.uk/exchange-2010-features).

SOTI (www.soti.net) have been developing remote-control and device management solutions for the Windows Mobile platform for many years. At the time of writing their portfolio consists of three principle products:

• Pocket Controller - provides remote control, file sync, registry editing and screen capture / video recording direct from your Windows PC
• Pocket Controller Enterprise - aimed at helpdesk environments, provides remote control and diagnostic tools for over the air troubleshooting
  

Finger Keyboard is an application for Windows Mobile Professional (Pocket PC) devices that provides a replacement to the standard keyboards that are available as part of the operating system.

The application can be downloaded from the XDA Developers web site - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=501122