Here is some great news everyone. Blackberry has released the new and shiny Blackberry Connect 4.0 client for Windows Mobile devices, including support for Smartphones and Pocket PCs. It also supports Windows Mobile 6, along with 5.

Here is a brief features list from their press release:

– Complete, two-way wireless synchronization of email, calendar, address book, task and memo pad information;
– Enhanced attachment handling capabilities, enabling users to view images, footnotes and tracked changes;
– Remote look-up of corporate email address directory;
– Triple DES or AES wireless encryption;
– Internet and corporate intranet access via the BlackBerry Mobile Data System;
– Wireless device provisioning to allow devices to be activated wirelessly;
– Remote control of email settings to allow users to wirelessly configure out-of-office replies, email filters, and auto-signatures directly from their device; and
– Wireless IT policy enforcement and commands.

Previously, you couldn’t issue Wireless IT commands or activate wirelessly. There was no MDS functionality and mostly sync was limited to Calendar, Contacts (with some BBC versions) and Emails. Now all PIM info can be synced and you wouldn’t have to change your APN to browse the internet (blackberry.net APN does not allow Internet access, so to use Internet Explorer, you had to switch to your carrier’s APN, like internet.fido.ca and during this time you’d lose Blackberry connectivity), as you’d be using MDS. Also now you can password protect the device, remotely lock and disable it as well. You can also enter Owner Info to display on the Today/Home Screen.

With the new Blackberry Connect 4.0, after your setup completes and device is activated on your BES or BIS server, you’ll get a new folder called with:

Blackberry Lock Device
Blackberry Security – where you can see your IT policy info, set password, etc
Email Settings – to setup BIS
Internet Browser
Blackberry Browser

For the last two, there is new proxy settings added to the device and that’s how it connects to MDS.

I’ll be testing more, as I just installed in on my HTC Excalibur (Rogers HTC S621), running Windows Mobile 6.

So, if you are interested, grab the files below:

BBConnect 4.0 Smartphone
BBConnect 4.0 Pocket PC Phone Edition
ActiveSync_BBConnect_Desktop_Setup_4.0.0.17.zip
BlackBerry Connect 4.0 ppc user guide english.pdf
BBCWM Quick Start Provisioning Guide.pdf

You’ll be fine if you just download the cab appropriate for your device, as you can activate wirelessly. But if you’ll be using a BES server, I recommend the desktop component as well.

Update 1:

Forgot to write couple things.

When you first set up the client, it will ask what you would like to sync and once they are selected, it will delete those databases (such as contacts, etc), setup your connection and reboot.

Also of course on a smartphone, it will not sync notes.

Finally, if you receive "uncertified system software detected" error on your cab installation, make sure you have downloaded the correct file. For my HTC S621, I first found the Pocket PC version and it gave this error. Once I downloaded and run the smartphone version, all was fine.

UPDATE – June 4, 2007:

I also added a page with screenshots, for those who are interested, see it