Looking For Beta Testers Using Windows Mobile

Considering the great success I had with asking Lockergnome readers to help me review a new beta Linux application I had a hand in “getting out there” into the wilds of beta testing, it only made sense to do the same with a newly crafted application for Windows Mobile. Direct from WeatherBug Labs, this latest effort was created to better support Windows Mobile users with live, local weather information.

Interested in helping to beta test this application, provide usable feedback and helping to track down any bugs that may have been missed? Great, here is what you need to know.

1. This is beta software, this means that it may very well behave as such. It is not advertising supported and is merely a means of providing live, accurate weather data to Windows Mobile users. WeatherBug recently utilized their mobile application experience to make this Verizon deal possible. Now, should you opt to remove this application for a newer version later on or simply decide that it is not for you, just uninstall it like you would with any other Windows Mobile application from “Remove Software” under settings. Also remember to delete the installer program if it was downloaded directlyto the phone.
2. Also, I would highly suggest that you make sure you are either using an unlimited data plan or have an established connection to a wifi access point before running this app. While this app uses very little bandwidth, I do not want to hear someone coming back later saying that their mobile phone bill had unexpected data charges on it. I do not know about you, but these are the kind of surprises that I think we can all do without.
3. Be honest. If you try this and simply find that the UI is not jiving with your needs, you are not sure how to set something up, or whatever - tell me about it. So long as it is constructive feedback, it is feedback I want to hear. So do not worry about sugar coating your thoughts after trying it out.
4. Feedback should be submitted to this forum, however I understand that most people will likely just want to post it here, in the comments area.

Again, thanks ahead of time to those of you who are willing to help me out with this. My guess is that if we can work together to understand what is working and which areas of the app that might need some polish, the end result will be a tightly integrated weather application for Windows Mobile 5 and 6 mobile devices.

First possible bug: The one thing I am specifically trying to duplicate is whether this application will work with those devices using MS Exchange server access. Most notably those who have it set to connect to Exchange periodically. This is a problem area I ran into some issues with, would love to see if this can be duplicated.

Symptoms: Weather data not being updated throughout the day and ActiveSync on the device trying to connect constantly during all of this.

[tags]Windows Mobile, mobile software, active sync[/tags]