Windows Phone Thoughts: Ilium Releases eWallet 7

eWallet 7.0 is now shipping from Ilium Software. There are two really significant changes to the product and a bunch of minor ones. The first significant change is the desktop client is all new, rewritten from the ground up. I've been beta testing it now since the summer and in many areas, it is a substantial improvement over the 6.x build. I'll get into those changes in a minute.

The second major change is pricing. You now only pay for eWallet one time. You no longer have to buy eWallet for your device. You buy eWallet for you. If you use an iPhone this week and switch to a Blackberry next month, you just download the new client for the Blackberry and enter your registration code. No more repurchasing when you change clients.

Now, on to the feature updates. Remember, this is mostly about the Windows client, but Windows Mobile users will see some welcome changes when syncing with a desktop client.

• Totally new interface with an all new look that fits right at home with Vista's and Windows 7's Aero interface. You can revert to "classic" though if you prefer.
• Auto-pass for Firefox users, something IE users have enjoyed for years.
• Recenly opened cards list lets you quickly access those frequently used cards.
• Full support for Windows 7. I'm running it on Win7 Ultimate x64 here.
• All of the new graphics options designed on the desktop will sync over to your WinMo device.
• Files attached on the desktop will sync over to a WinMo device. Don't get too carried away with this or you'll find yourself syncing a 50MB eWallet file.
• WinMo 6.5 touchscreen users will be able to easily flip between cards on their device.

There is a free trial available. If you purchased eWallet 6.x between August 30 and today, you get 7.0 free. If you purchased it before then, you can upgrade for $10. If you don't own eWallet, it is only $19.99. There is a catch for users that purchased it through the WinMo Marketplace store or the iPhone App Store - those locations only sell device specific versions. You'll have to pay $10 to upgrade to the desktop client or to gain access to other platforms. One other side note: if you are still nursing a PalmOS device, be careful. There will be no eWallet 7 update for that platform and 6.x cannot read the 7.0 files.