Feeling a little left out after yesterday's Mac-based Pwnage Tool festivities, Windows users? Fret not, because the ever-vigilant, ever-studious hacking community has managed to come up with a series of steps to get you back on your feet again with a fully pwned first-gen handset. The whole shebang isn't necessarily for the most casual jailbreakers -- let's just say it isn't quite as straightforward as the Mac procedure yet -- but it'll allegedly get you going if you're starting with an iPhone running 1.1.4 (there are additional steps if you jumped the gun on 2.0, you impatient son of a gun, you -- think of it as penance). As always, exercise extreme caution, understand that this could cause your iPhone to spontaneously combust into a useless pile of metal, plastic, and ash, and let us know how it goes in comments.

[Thanks, Z-]

Given the sheer bulk of press Meizu's M8 has received over the course of its young, controversial life, it'd seem likely that even the slightest trickle of units onto Chinese store shelves would lead to unboxing shots, videos, and reviews within hours, wouldn't it? Reports are starting to flow across the 'nets that M8s are now being made available through several of Meizu's suppliers, but without a single in-the-wild picture of a fully functional, final spec unit -- from Meizu, much less a paying customer -- we're not buying it. For one thing, there aren't any "zomg I just picked up my m8!" posts on MeizuMe; secondly, MeizuMe's Err0r says that his site will be the "first place" we read about a release (and frankly, we believe him); and third, after the trials and tribulations the handset has gone through on its long journey to retail, you'd think that we'd at least see it at a trade show before it hit the streets. So, anyone want to prove us wrong by posting shots of their M8?

C'mon -- hop in this nifty time machine here and float with us back to December of 2006. That month, friends, is when Palm initially stated that it was cooking up a Vista-savvy iteration of its Desktop synchronization software, and yet, here we are some 13 months later wondering what took so long. Nevertheless, a finalized version of Desktop 6.2 for Vista has finally been loosed (half a year after the beta was revealed, mind you), and even though it does play nice with 32-bit editions of Basic, Home Premium, Business and Ultimate, 64-bit Vista / XP users are still left out in the cold. For Palm (and Vista) users out there willing to forgive the tardiness, go on and hit up the read link to get the 65.2MB file headed over.

[Via PDAStreet]

Yeah, it's Windows. Doesn't look much like Windows Mobile though, does it? That's 'cause it's not -- Intrinsyc's Soleus platform is a new software stack for phones based on Windows CE, not Windows Mobile, and the company has scored a huge win in signing up mega-ODM Quanta. The firm has committed to using Soleus to produce some sort of HSDPA device that is "expected to be a breakthrough in the design concept and user experience of today's wireless communications electronics" when it launches some time in the third quarter of next year. That sounds like a little bit of PR spin to us, but hey, if it means we get a totally fresh skin atop Microsoft's mobile core, we're all about it.

[Via jkOnTheRun]

Word on the street (er, internet) is that Microsoft's oft-ignored Vista component, SideShow, could be making its official way to your favorite Windows Mobile-flavored device before long. If you'll recall, SideShow acts as a kind of mini-OS which is distributed to devices separate from a PC, such as remotes or external displays on laptops, and can be used to access information like contacts, maps, calendar appointments, and e-mail messages in a low-power, always-on state. Apparently, in a new SDK beta which the SideShow team "showed" off recently, features like a UI designed for portrait QVGA displays, a universal driver that supports USB and Bluetooth communication, and new Bluetooth menu commands have led some folks to speculate that the system could be coming to mobile devices sometime soon. Of course, this all unconfirmed rumor at this point, so don't feel compelled to believe it.

[Via the::unwired]

Trust us, the irony of someone needing to sync an Apple device through Windows that's running on a Mac is glaringly obvious, but hey, some folks just can't escape Outlook no matter how hard they try. Nevertheless, the new Parallels Desktop beta (which is available now) does add iPhone support in Windows XP and Vista along with a newly fortified Image Tool / Explorer and coherence windows that now work with Expose. Of course, you should recognize that this stuff is indeed still in beta, but if you're the daring (or overly trusting) type, feel free to hit the read link and get your download on.

[Via AppleInsider]

We know, this whole Vista-friendly Palm Desktop software was supposed to be launched, you know, about the same time as Vista itself, but we suppose late is better than never in this scenario. Without further ado, users yearning for a Vista-compatible flavor of Palm Desktop can finally claim their prize -- if you're down with betas, that is. Thankfully, Palm has made sure you're well aware of the limitations found in the software's current state (at least the ones it knew of), so be sure and give those instructions a once over while the 59.2MB file transfers over to make sure you don't fudge anything up.

[Via The Official Palm Blog]

We're not sure why Willcom would feel the need to ever look beyond Sharp to supply it with badass Windows CE-based phone after badass Windows CE-based phone -- but now that we've seen the result, we're glad they did. The "nani" from Sophia Mobile (who?) rocks a glorious 800 x 480 WVGA display, WiFi, microSD expansion, a TV tuner (one-seg, we'd imagine), and Windows CE for Willcom's PHS network in Japan. We'll refrain from calling this one a hands-down winner until we see its user interface -- customized, we assume, since it's not using Windows Mobile proper -- but it ain't a bad effort, that's for sure. "Free Thinking & High Performance," indeed.

[Via SCI FI Tech]

Remember that little file synchronization debacle we told you about for owners of Windows Mobile 6 Standard devices running Vista on their PCs? Yep, well, we can officially close the book on that one. Microsoft has rolled out Windows Mobile Device Center 6.1 which fixes several niggles present in the Vista RTM build of WMDC, most notably the inability to synchronize files to smartphones (a feature that's available to ActiveSync users on XP). Check after the break for Microsoft's official rundown of the changes.

[Via MoDaCo]

Thanks to a festering mix of bugs and reduced functionality, it frequently doesn't pay to be on the bleeding edge (unless you're like us, that is, in which case your willingness to be on the forefront of tech frequently outclasses your common sense). Such is the case for the lucky... well, not so lucky few that are rocking both a Vista-equipped PC and a Windows Mobile 6 Standard handset (like an upgraded T-Mobile Dash, for example). As we know, Vista throws ActiveSync to the wayside in favor of Windows Mobile Device Center, which is all well and good -- we don't really care what it's called, as long as we can sync our device -- and therein lies the problem. It seems WMDC loses the ability to sync files between Standard handsets and their partnered PCs, something ActiveSync gladly handles. Microsoft advises customers to continue using ActiveSync for the time being as a workaround, but fortunately, a real, honest-to-goodness fix for WMDC is promised by mid-June.

[Via the::unwired]

There's no doubt that The Network gives its customers plenty of options, especially when it comes to traveling across the pond -- and the latest addition to its ExpressCard lineup is no exception. Enter the Merlin XU870, which rocks triband 850 / 1900 / 2100MHz HSDPA and quadband EDGE and GPRS support. Yes, that's right, this is a GSM piece meant exclusively for Verizon's global roamers. The XU870 is expected to support Windows, Apple, and Linux operating systems and is expected to cost $370 with no contract, $299 with a one year contract and $249 on a two year indentured service contract on Verizon's GlobalAccess plans. You should be able to buy this around April 12.

[Thanks, HTC Kid]

Users of BlackBerry and Palm devices have been enjoying getting detailed directions, traffic, and information through Google Maps, and now the software is being extended to another platform, Windows Mobile. Users can now visit the Google's mobile site and download the CAB file required for installation. Now only if we were able to get high speed data on our BlackBerry Pearl we wouldn't be so jealous.

[Thanks, Sunny]

Some of us are still trying to keep straight in our brains the difference between Windows Mobile Smartphone, Pocket PC, and Pocket PC Phone Edition devices, but with the impending arrival of Crossbow, that ship has apparently sailed. In the realm of new Windows releases, Vista has obviously been garnering the lion's share of the attention, but Windows Mobile 5 is about to ride off into the mobile platform sunset in favor of Windows Mobile 6 -- codenamed the aforementioned Crossbow -- and the naming convention to differentiate between its various flavors is riding with it. Smartphone (read: phones without touchscreens) is rumored to be replaced by the slightly less colorful "Standard," Pocket PC Phone Edition becomes "Professional," and the plain ol' Pocket PC becomes "Classic," perhaps to reflect the fact that phoneless Pocket PCs have been all but shunned to niche markets in recent years. With all due respect to Microsoft and its hardware partners, they could call it "The Stopgap Version To Hold Us Over Until Photon" for all we care; let's just get some product moving in the pipeline, eh?

Quoting unnamed sources, DigiTimes is reporting that HTC is aiming to release its first second third UMPC sometime during the second quarter of this year. The only other quoted specification is a 7-inch display, which suggests that this model will stray somewhat further into UMPC territory than its earlier relatives were rumored to have done: otherwise we can expect one very odd Windows Mobile device. Beyond the 7-inch display spec, the only other information about this device is its "Mobile Office Device" codename. What with HTC's reputation for giving its products weird and wonderful names before they head off for rebranding, we feel pretty sure that this won't retain its codename for much longer.

It's been a short time since the ASUS Pegasus was first shown to us and at that time, details were few and far between. Since then, more intel has been uncovered for the Nokia 6600 lookalike. It turns out that the device runs Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC, sports a 2 megapixel shooter, and has GPS. It's possible that it may come stateside as there is no 3G radio on this badboy. Still no word on whether or not it will have expandable memory or just how much onboard memory will be available, but we'll assume there's going to be something to differentiate it in the growing sea of Pocket PC devices.

[Via Unwiredview, thanks Staska]