Ecpc version 1.1 has been just released and you can check out the list of the nice improvements in the new Updates page!
Then go straight to the renewed Download page and follow the links to get the new Demo and to buy the Full version from PocketGear or Handango.

I’ve also updated the FAQ page and as you can read in the question about my price policy, now Ecpc has a price which reflects much better its high quality and great features!
I hope to start an advertising campaign in September, since word of mouth is a drop too small in the vast ocean of marketing opportunities.
Enjoy the new version!

The moment many of you were waiting for has come at last!
I’ve just opened the swapping page, through which Ecpc users can share their collection files and then swap Euro coins privately among themselves.
I hope this will be enough to convince the many undecided among you about purchasing Ecpc that I’m working really hard to provide the best service to my customers!
The current low promotional price won’t last long, and Ecpc version 1.1 is already in the final testing…

I’ve just discovered that the only two 1 Euro coins from Portugal in my collection are both Type 2 variants, since their edges have 3 x 28 stripes, instead of the regular 3 x 29.
In the picture below you can see the two Portugal Euros on the top and on the bottom, while the center Euro is Austrian, which I’ve inserted between them to make the edge stripes comparison more clear. Just count the stripes!
I diligently put one of those Type 2 coins in my personal collection and the other one in my swap list, both lists in the Ecpc file format, of course.
Did I mention swap list files? Oh, there’s a surprise coming up in the next few days…

In this that’s becoming a sort of my personal Blog I’d like to share with you a little funny thing.
I love watching DVDs on my PC, especially films about military history, and while I was watching The Pianist by Roman Polanski I spotted this curious scene: here’s when the guy just asked Szpilman to stop playing the piano for a while because he’s checking the coins to see if they’re real or false by hearing their sound as they fall on the table… well, don’t they look like 50 cents Euro coins?
Just joking, they’re some Polish sloty coins I suppose, but… hey! That’s exactly the same procedure I used to record the coins sound effects for Ecpc!
By the way this is a film as much wonderful as tragic, really worth to be seen until the last note accompanying the last line of the credits…

Thanks to Andreas Biermann, who translated in German my press release and the product details page, Ecpc is now is available on Handango Deutschland here.
I hope to find soon some good guy who’ll help me translating Ecpc in German, a language pretty difficult for me.
Also Ecpc is now listed in the Pocket PC Magazine Encyclopedia of software and accessories.
A special greeting goes to anyone who’s working in spite of the infernal hot of the last days!

I fully recovered from the nice birthday toast with my friends thanks to a trip along the Via Spluga, from Isola (1283m) to Stuetta (1900m) passing through the spectacular Cardinello Gorge, the historical trail famous for the tragic mission of the Napoleonic troops of the Second Corps led by General Alexandre McDonald, who ventured into it in the late autumn of 1800 with the aim of meeting up with the Italian Army.
The funny thing was that on one of the steps dug out into the rock someone wrote his e-mail address!
Update: someone did actually reply at that e-mail address! Bye Federico!
Finally, congratulations to Carl F. Jensen, the Danish winner of the mini contest!!
His nice e-mail makes me happy to send him a Special Edition of Ecpc!

It’s going to be a very nice toast this evening, with lots of good beer!
In the meantime I’m still working and I’ve just added a simple as much as important question to the Ecpc FAQ page.
Then I’d like to propose this mini contest today: I’ll reward who will send me the best e-mail with his wishes for my birthday with a Special Edition of Ecpc!

So, don’t be shy, but be creative!

During this week I’ve also been busy with the organization of a small party for my birthday at the near Bi-du brew-pub.
Tomorrow 8 August I’ll be 28 years old and I thought this could be a very good chance to drink a toast with about a dozen of friends with the great beer they make at the Bi-du to properly celebrate the beginning of my career as an independent developer.
I got the proper authorizations a bit too late maybe, but the management of the brew pub has agreed to my idea to try to promote my recently released Ecpc, so here’s the deal:
I’ll have the pleasure to offer a beer to who comes to the Bi-du tomorrow evening with a regularly purchased copy of Euro coins pocket collector on his Pocket PC!
Visit their nice website to see how to reach the brew-pub, located in Rodero, in the province of Varese, north of Italy of course.
Update: the official discussion about the promotion party is available in the Italian Hardware Upgrade forum here and here!

While I’m busy testing the version of Ecpc built for devices with the Pocket PC 2000 operative system, which will also includes some minor but nice enhancements, I’ve updated my list of recommended software in the My Pocket PC page, adding the useful Freeware PHM Power Toys by Philippe Majerus and the excellent RepliGo by Cerience, the conversion and synchronization software which is rapidly becoming a standard to make documents really portable on multiple platforms.
As a side note, the emulator in the Pocket PC 2000 SDK is really ugly, but it’s much faster than the better looking one included in the Pocket PC 2002 SDK, at least on my desktop PC. Take a look:

        

I can’t believe it has happened in such a short time frame and in this holiday period!
My little website has almost hit the 1,5Gb of monthly traffic limit in just about a couple of weeks since its opening!
I’m simply amazed and also very happy since now my current Italian hosting provider has a promise to keep.
I wish to thank again the French visitors in particular since their contribute has been fundamental during this week to reach that limit.
I know, I know that you want to see Ecpc translated in French as soon as possible and you won’t be disappointed!
Also I’d like to remember that I’m still searching for help to translate Ecpc in the other European languages, as I wrote in the Wishlist.
Finally I forgot to mention that the announcement of the release of Ecpc also appeared on Mobigeeks, the SorobanGeeks forum, XDA-Italia and Palmio.