This edition of Mobile software Monday couldn’t have been timed any better as the next piece of software on my list was Ilium Software’s eWallet 6.0 for Windows Mobile devices. You see, today is also the kick-off of Ilium Software’s 11th anniversary celebration where they will be giving away Amazon gif cards and copies of their software. Check out their blog page each day from now until Friday for the daily contest. I see that the first contest is a MadLibs type of contest where the best and funniest entry will win a US$121 Amazon gift certificate. They are also offering a 55% discount of the regular price on ALL of their software.

eWallet 6 is an essential tool for keeping your passwords and vital data secure and protected on your mobile devices, while also being readily accessible for your own use. In this day and age when everything seems to require a password and/or PIN it is getting to be almost impossible to remember them all unless you set them all to be the same, which is not a good idea in case one is compromised. The mobile version of eWallet 6 is compatible with Windows Mobile and Palm OS devices with a Windows PC companion product available too. You can easily create your secure data cards on your PC and sync the data across multiple devices. You can check out lots of screenshots in my image gallery.

While eWallet 6 is designed for Windows Mobile and Palm devices I tested it out on the HTC Advantage and T-Mobile Shadow devices for this evaluation. The Advantage is a perfect device for an application like this because the large display and keyboard make creation of secure data cards quite easy. I think the preferred method for creating your initial collection of cards is to use the desktop version of the software. After that then you can easily sync that data to all of your devices.

eWallet is setup for you to create virtual wallets and in each wallet you will use categories to organize your cards. You can completely customize your categories (with icons for easily distinguishing them) for home, work, banks, credit cards, etc. The cards you create store specific information that you enter in the fields. There are 31 pre-made card types in eWallet, but you can easily step through the new card creation tabs and modify the existing ones or create your own. You can also delete the ones you will never use if you want to reduce the size of the template list.

After selecting a new card (either using a template or creating your own), you can then personalize the card with colors, borders, icons, and more. The fields that you enter data into can also be modified in case the template fields do not match what type of data you are attempting to enter. If you do modify the fields, then you may want to save this as a new card template too for future usage.

One option I don’t remember seeing before is the ability to link or attach documents, images and files. When you do this, the attached document is also encrypted so it remains as secure as your text data.

Speaking of security, this is a major feature of eWallet 6 and this version includes 256-bit AES encryption so you better remember the password to your eWallet wallet or you won’t be getting into this data anytime soon. There is some extra security settings too, such as when to lock your wallet and how the wallet will be locked after a set number of failed password attempts. You can also use eWallet to help you generate strong passwords for your bank and other accounts and I personally used this a few times because my passwords were a bit weak since I had to try to remember them. By relying on eWallet 6, all of my online passwords can be set to a higher level since eWallet will be remembering them for me and also helping me get to them on my device.

eWallet 6 data is live so if there is a URL then clicking on it launches the browser and tapping on a phone number initiates a phone call (with a compatible device). You can also use the AutoPass functionality to have your username and password entered on a site. Unfortunately, this only works with Windows Internet Explorer, which I never use. It would be great to see this feature added to the devices in the future.

It is a good idea to backup your eWallet data and they make this easy with the automatic backup functionality in the program.

In the past, the non-touch (aka Smartphone) version had some limitations compared to the touch screen (Pocket PC) version, but in eWallet 6 this distinction is no longer present and non-touch screen users get all of the same functionality. This is a great move as the non-touch screen market is growing and the devices are getting more complex with integrated QWERTY keyboards and better specs.

The application is not complicated, yet provides a vital service and if you are online as much as I am then I highly recommend you consider Ilium Software’s eWallet 6. eWallet 6 can be purchased for US$29.95 and includes both the mobile version (touch screen, non-touch screen or Palm OS) and the desktop companion software. You can also buy a single copy for your device or PC for US$19.95 in case you have other devices you want to add to your eWallet synchronization group or you don’t want the PC version.

Ilium Sofware is also looking to the future and has a new invite-only beta test going on for their eWallet Web Companion that lets you securely access your wallets via a web browser and internet connection. I tested this out on my Apple iPhone and the iPhone optimized site looks and works very well. With this new Web Companion service you will be able to access your data from an iPhone, iPod touch, Nokia S60 device, BlackBerry, PSP, Nintendo Wii, and more. They still use their 256-bit encryption so your data is safe. If you are interested in trying this out, then visit the Web Companion site and fill out the information to be considered for a beta test. They are still working on a pricing model for this web-based/server supported service so stay tuned for news on that when the beta period is over.