While we gave IM+ a fairly positive review months ago, a lot of folks balked at the hefty price tag ($39.95), especially compared to free IM clients like Palringo.

Well, it looks like maybe the folks at ShapeServices, who make IM+, are going to do something about it as a "lite" version is floating around. More importantly, it appears to be free.

The main difference between "full" and "lite" is the latter doesn't have that "push" feature for IMs, GPS-MyLocation, Facebook chat or Twitter.  

However, it still supports AIM, Google Talk, Yahoo!, MSN, ICQ, Jabber and MySpace (hah!). In addition, there's a green bar on the top that scrolls about the "full version" with an arrow to download it. Overall, not to shabby.

What's curious is the build date: September 29, 2009 Version 7.1.1 Lite. So either this is an old build or perhaps IM+ abandoned the idea? We're also hearing an update for the paid version is coming soon. Thanks goes to CaliBoyPhillip for originally posting about about this version here.

For those with MS Tag, just scan and download below ;-)

Update:  Speak of the devil, the paid version just got updated (bumped to v. 7.6.1) Early reports indicate that it finally includes Skype chat.  More later.

Here's a price you can't refuse if you are looking to jump ship to T-Mobile: free

WMDeals is offering either the Touch Pro 2 or Dash 3G for free by starting a new line of service (sorry, upgrades don't seem to apply directly).

Going even further, you can trade in your old smartphone (including iPhone, Android) and get $100 back, which we suppose is good if you have an older device or are just plain too lazy to sell it on eBay. That's an official HTC/T-Mobile deal that lasts through January.

We have to admit, as far as price wars goes, this is a heck of a deal and if we were looking to switch carriers, this would be tempting.

Head to WMDeals for all the information on how to take advantage.

This is actually been at this price for about a month now, but it was news to us, so perhaps news to you.

If you're looking for a cheap and halfway decent Windows starter phone, the Snap is completely free at Best Buy (down from $149, then $99) with a 2-year contract. See our full review for a refresh.

We'd say the phone is about worth that with a 2 year contract and it's actually a fun device, especially if you slap WM6.5 on it before that official release comes down the road.

For geeks like myself, there is only one thing better than free software – open-source software. The reason for this is fairly obvious. In addition to being free, the source code is available for you to view and modify or reuse. The open-source movement has led to some of the most popular software in use today. The Firefox Web browser is a result of the open-source Mozilla browser, and Mac OSX is based on the open-source family of UNIX Operating Systems.

Over the next couple of weeks we're going to look at some of the open-source software available for Windows Mobile. If you have an open-source app you'd like us to cover, let us know in the comments.

Pocket Sudoku, developed by Emil Andersson, is an application that I’ve used for a number of years. Currently in Version 1.0, it allows you to play several Sudoku style games within one interface.

Read on for the full review.

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In keeping with our theme of looking at open-source software for Windows Mobile, we now focus on KeePass PPC. KeePass is similar to other open source projects in that it originally was intended for desktop operating systems and has since been ported to handheld platforms.

Similar to several applications that are commercially available, KeePass stores sensitive information such as usernames and passwords or bank account numbers. The concept is great: The portability of your Windows Mobile device paired with the data security offered by some of the most secure encryption algorithms publicly available.

Keep reading for more.

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Well check it out, our little free PointUI got itself a bit of a makeover (see previous review here)! Still free and still zippy (even more so now), the little Aussie program has all sorts of fixes and additions, including Smartphone (WM Standard) support. Yowza!

So what has changed, read on to check out a brief overview plus some thoughts and a couple of pics...

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