Hi WinMo Cool readers! I’d like to introduce the first of a series of posts where I will be taking a moment out of bringing you the latest in Windows Mobile news to talk about how I do this – my set up, resources, the software I love the most, video and audio editing programs, browser plug-ins I use, as well as the software I can’t live without on my Windows Mobile phone and much, much more!

Today’s Tools of the Trade post, as the title suggests, is about the hardware I use!

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Lenovo ThinkPad X200: I’m a laptop blogger. I love my laptop! I rely on it heavily for every day work – writing, audio and video editing, social networking, research, and more. You might notice that this laptop lacks a trackpad. I love that it has no trackpad. I hate trackpads! I’m a huge fan of the nipple mouse, I wish those had stayed standard on laptops. With a trackpad, I’m always accidentally tapping it with my thumbs when typing fast and ending up somewhere else on the page finishing my sentence only to look up and notice my mistake – grrrah! It’s super ultraportable, too. Which is a big deal when you have to lug your laptop back and forth to work, on business trips, to coffee shops, etc.

Check out Laptop Logic’s review of the Lenovo ThinkPad X200 right here! They’re a great source for any and all news and information related to laptops. They’ve got some great how-tos and their reviews are quite solid.

Check out their favourite laptops here and their laptop accessory reviews here – great work guys!

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With the year drawing to a close, it’s time to pull out the best that WindowsMobile Cool had to offer our readers this year in the way of comprehensive guides on everything from personalizing your WinMo phone to using your phone as a wireless modem.

Let’s take a look at WindowsMobile Cool’s most popular how-to guides of 2008:

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1. How-to: Setup, configure, and personalize your device – a comprehensive guide – Configuring your device involves making some one-time settings that personalize the device for your use. It’s super easy! Check out this in-depth how-to on setting up, configuring, and personalizing your Windows Mobile handset and get started now!

2. How-to: Get Wikipedia on your phone without an internet connection – Being a history graduate (go on, make your nerd jokes now), I pride myself as being the Queen of Trivial Knowledge – but even I need a refresher now and again. If I’m lucky enough to be sitting by a computer (which I’ll admit is quite often) the internet has almost every answer I could possibly need in seconds thanks to Wikipedia. But what if I’m not in front of my computer? Here’s the perfect solution: Wikipedia… on your Windows Mobile phone! I know what you’re thinking. Data. Data is expensive! And Wikipedia is full of images and links and then you have to worry about having the right browser to view it in properly… grah! So here it is…

3. How-to: In case of theft, enable ’self-destruct’ mode – So you just bought a brand new WinMo phone. Does the idea of some thief getting their grubby little hands on your new baby and all its private information (text messages, contacts, credit card numbers, private emails) make you absolutely sick? This walk-through will help you protect yourself against information theft by showing you how to turn your Windows Mobile device into a self-destructing data safe.

4. How-to: Getting Internet Sharing to work on your AT&T Fuze, Sprint Touch Pro, HTC Touch Diamond, and Samsung Epix – This one allows you to ‘enable’ (read: re-enable) Internet Sharing on your HTC Touch Diamond, Sprint Touch Pro, AT&T Fuze (Touch Pro) and the Samsung Epix! Now, this is a registry key edit so use at your own risk as we’re never 100% sure of how these things will turn out sometimes.. but if you’re desperate for Internet Sharing (or brave and up for a challenge) try out this trick…

5. How-to: Watch Digital TV on your Windows Mobile phone – This really cool compact accessory for your phone is called MOBio (MOB View) and it’s made by a company out of Shanghai called Permian. MOBio (MOB View) is an SDIO Interface Mobile Digital TV receiver which uses Bluetooth to provide digital TV services.

6. How-to: Get the YouTube app on your Vodafone HTC Touch Pro – If you’ve purchased a Vodafone HTC Touch Pro, one of the first things you’ll notice is that there is no YouTube application — but with this guide, you’ll have it in no time!

7. How-to: Stop ActiveSync from eating your valuable system resources (and your money!)

8. How-to: Internet Sharing – love between a laptop and a Windows Mobile phone – This how-to was born on a day that I had a bit of a scramble to find a reliable internet connection in order to bring my readers the latest Windows Mobile news so I decided it was a good time to use WinMo’s Internet Sharing application. If you haven’t tried this out – I suggest you do! It’s very easy and works better than you expect it will, I assure you.

9. How-to: Turn your favourite mp3 into a ringtone – A little birdy told me that putting a ringtone on their phone is one of the first things new phone owners look to do. So today, for your auditory pleasure, I’ll show you how to put a ringtone on your Windows Mobile device! You’ll be glad to hear that it’s actually dead simple!

10. How-to: Sync your Windows Mobile device with your Mac – Are you a Windows Mobile user… but a Mac user as well? Well, it’s not impossible to sync up these two devices – in fact, it’s very easy! This tutorial will walk you through installing, setting up and using SyncMate to sync your Windows Mobile device with your Mac.

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You’re right – I’ve already posted a how-to on connecting your WinMo phone to your laptop (see “How-to: Internet Sharing – love between a laptop and a Windows Mobile phone“) but many people are still confused as to how to get this up and running. The above video outlines the steps needed to turn your smartphone (the video uses a Samsung Jack Windows Mobile phone) into a wireless modem via Bluetooth. It’s very easy to follow and should have you connected in no time!

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*Important to note:

Even if you don’t have Bluetooth on your computer, you can still share internet between the two devices with a usb connection. It is listed as an option within the Internet Sharing menu. Check out “How-to: Internet Sharing – love between a laptop and a Windows Mobile phone” for more information!