Samsung released three new Windows Mobile devices in October and November, and each includes an optical touchpad mouse.  When I first heard of this feature in mid-2008, I poo-pooed it; a mouse on a Windows Mobile device?  No thanks.

But then I began my review of the Samsung Epix (and more recently the Samsung Saga), and saw that the inclusion of a mouse and pointer made a lot of sense for Windows Mobile, at least as it exists today. 

The reason is simple: in the face of touch friendly mobile operating systems from Apple, Google, and most recently RIM, Windows Mobile just can’t compete for those users who want a touch-centric, finger-friendly device.  The WinMo OS was and is designed to be used with a stylus, a keyboard and other hardware controls in addition to a touchscreen interface.  I have high hopes for the future of Windows Mobile in the touch-only navigation department, but the realization of those hopes is likely a year away.

A mouse and pointer in Windows Mobile replaces the stylus, and allows a user to interact with Windows Mobile entirely with their finger(s).  Where on-screen touch commands are made simple (usually in third-party software), you can still touch.  But when Windows Mobile presents a drop down menu or other such software components which rule out dependable onscreen finger control, the mouse becomes an easy and precise interface option, and one with which all users are already familiar.

On the Samsung Epix, you can click the Start button on the Windows Mobile Today Screen with the touchpad mouse.  You click your selection from the menu.  There’s a learning curve, but after a day or two, it’s not only quite natural, but fast and effective. When you’re browsing the web in Opera’s excellent Opera Mobile 9.5, you can click a link with the precise tip of the pointer arrow.  Need to move to a specific place in a Word Mobile file to add or edit text?  The mouse and pointer makes text selection and cursor placement easy and exact, even easier than excellent touch-centric OSes like the iPhone’s.

Windows Mobile is dated and in desperate need of a serious refresh in order to be competitive going forward – that is beyond dispute.  But it is also true that it remains the best choice for many users (mainly those with business needs).  I am not arguing that the inclusion of a mouse makes Windows Mobile better than its newer competitors, but I am arguing that the mouse makes Windows Mobile better. 

WinMo must evolve to make better use of finger-only touchscreen navigation, but until that evolution is a reality, Samsung’s touchpad mouse efforts represent the best interface improvement I’ve seen in Windows Mobile since the inclusion of QWERTY keyboards.

The Pocket PC Central Hands-On Review of the Samsung Epix SGH-i907 Windows Mobile Smartphone has been posted in the Windows Mobile Device Review Center.

Some of our favorite retailers are offering savings this Black Friday and throughout the weekend. Get great prices on holiday gifts from:

Amazon.com

Buy.com

PCMall

The Apple Store

BestBuy.com

But hurry; offers end today, this weekend or Monday.

The HTC Touch Pro has come to Verizon Wireless. 

The Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional touchscreen smartphone sells for $349 after a two-year service agreement and a $70 mail-in rebate.

Head over to our Verizon Wireless HTC Touch Pro XV6850 Information Center for more information or visit the Verizon Wireless web store to get one for yourself.

On November 26, 2008, Verizon Wireless will begin selling the Samsung Omnia SCH-i910 in their online store, but users will have to wait until the second week in December to see the Omnia show up in brick-and-mortar stores around the U.S.

This information comes from BGR, as do new details on the Omnia’s price.  According to the report, the Samsung Omnia will have a final sale price of $249 with a two-year service agreement and a $70 mail-in rebate.

The Samsung Omnia is a Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional touchscreen smartphone with a touch-centric design.  Features include 8GB of internal flash memory, a 5MP camera, Wi-Fi, GPS, EV-DO Rev. A mobile broadband, and Samsung’s now-standard optical mouse touchpad control system.

Verizon Wireless has posted the BlackBerry Storm, RIM’s first touchscreen smartphone, to their web store. 

The BlackBerry Storm is $199 with a two-year service agreement and a $50 mail in rebate in the form of a debit card.

Read more about the BlackBerry Storm…

It’s rare for a new Windows Mobile device to debut with one of the major wireless carriers without much information being known beforehand; but LG and AT&T Mobility have managed to keep a very tight lid on the new LG Incite.

We have known the Incite was coming since mid-October, but we didn’t know much about it or when it would be available.  Now that the LG Incite has launched with AT&T, we finally have all the details.

The Incite runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional and features a 3” wQVGA touchscreen display.  Other features include 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, aGPS, 3G mobile broadband, a microSD memory card slot with SDHC support, and a 3MP digital camera.

Head over to the AT&T Mobility web site to order or find out more.

The Pocket PC Central Accessories Center has been updated with accessories for the AT&T Samsung Epix SGH-i907 Windows Mobile touchscreen smartphone.  Here you can find batteries, cases, sync cables, and more for the new Samsung smartphone.

Visit the Pocket PC Central Samsung Epix Accessories Center…

Microsoft announced today in a blog post that service pack 2 for Office 2007 will becoming between February and April of 2009. Microsoft has also confirmed that Vista service pack two will be coming, but did not say when.

In an interview last week, Microsoft VP Brad Brooks said that the company had not, at that point, started outside beta testing of SP2. However ZDNet blogger Mary Jo Foley said that Microsoft has started to recruit testers for Vista SP2. Microsoft also posted a support document earlier this month that suggested a beta version exists.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)issued preliminary guidelines today for thousands of new domain name suffixes. This is the first major change to the Internet's 25 year old address system, and one that is long overdue! But there's a catch; the application fee for a for a new suffix is rumored to be around $200,000!

The application fee, scheduled to be disclosed Friday, is expected to approach $200,000 partially refundable only in limited circumstances to help cover the potential $20 million cost of crafting the guidelines and reviewing applications.