by Frank McPherson, author of How To Do Everything With Windows Mobile

 
I don't mention it much here, but I also have been writing a personal weblog for several years. Unfortunately, the hosting provider has either taken down the site, gone out of business, or had a server crash because it is no longer available. I have moved to a new hosting provider: WordPress.

If you are interested in my other writing, you can bookmark www.frankmcpherson.com, or use my handy Friend Feed.

Labels: 2008

posted by Frank at 1:42 PM 0 comments Links to this post

 
If you are interested in knowing more about the design decisions that HTC made with the HTC Diamond, I recommend that you watch this video of an interview with HTC's Chief Innovation Officer. About two minutes and thirty seconds into the video you'll see what I think is a really cool feature: the ability to mute the phone simply by flipping it over.

With some of the features being included in the Diamond it is going to be hard to resist, though I think I would prefer a keyboard like my T-Mo Shadow has.

Labels: 2008, devices

posted by Frank at 1:38 PM 0 comments Links to this post

 
Today HTC officially announced the HTC Touch Diamond. Check out the video, the device is pretty sexy, and with no keyboard I am sure it is very thin. The battery size is small, so I suspect battery life is going to be a problem. It won't be available in the U.S. until later this year, and I am wondering about how much it is going to cost.

Labels: 2008

posted by Frank at 11:10 AM 0 comments Links to this post

 
Another web browser has become available for Windows Mobile Professional devices. TouchBrowser from Makayama is mimicing many of the features of Safari on the iPhone. Check out the YouTube video, it looks interesting but it is too bad they don't have a trial version to download.

Labels: 2008, software

posted by Frank at 10:01 PM 0 comments Links to this post

 

Labels: 2008

posted by Frank at 9:46 AM 0 comments Links to this post

 
I just read this information on Microsoft's MSDN site about Windows Mobile 6.1, which provides more information about new features that corporations will like. Of the features, I think the on-device encryption and the bandwidth optimizations will be the most appealing. These features do require Exchange 2007, SP1.

Labels: 2008, Windows Mobile 6.1

posted by Frank at 12:59 PM 0 comments Links to this post

 
One thing that I lost when I gave up the Blackberry and switched to Windows Mobile was the ability to have custom alerts for email from specific users. By default a Blackberry either vibrates or plays a sound whenever you receive an email. I immediately found that behavior annoying and I turned off those notifications, however the downside is that then I may miss an important email.

A co-worker showed me how I could create rules using the Blackberry desktop software so that I could have the Blackberry vibrate whenever I received an email from a specific person. I therefore created rules to vibrate when I received emails from my boss, or when I received emails flagged for high importance.

Unfortunately, Windows Mobile does not have a similar feature built-in. You can configure text messages and email separately, and I played around with creating rules to have Exchange send me a text message whenever I received an email from a specific address, but I couldn't figure out a way to either not forward the entire message to my phone or not send a copy of the text message to the person who originally sent me the email.

Watchflag is a new program for Windows Mobile that provides the ability to create custom alerts for email messages. You can create rules that alert you for email received from specific addresses, or with certain words in the From field, and you can create rules that have certain words in the subject. The rules can also be specific to whether you receive email marked for high importance.

Watchflag provides several different alert options, including Light Up The Screen, Wait For Acknowledgement with or without a repeating alert, Vibrate, light the LED, or play a sound. You can define different sounds for different rules, and the sounds can be MP3 files in the /My Documents/My Music folder on the device. One thing I think the program should do is use the /My Documents/Ringtones folder for alerts as well since ringtones are usually smaller in length. The program also doesn't provide a way to only make rules active during specific times, though the program's author has stated this is a feature they plan to add.

I've been using this program for about a week now and have been pleased with the results. It does seem as though there is a small hit on battery life, which the program author acknowledges particularly if you have rules including Wait For Acknowledgement, which I have found seems to be needed to be sure you actually notice a vibrating alert. If you transitioned to Windows Mobile from Blackberry you might want to try this program out!

Labels: 2008, software

posted by Frank at 6:33 PM 0 comments Links to this post

 
One of the worst kept secrets has been the pending release of Version 6.1 of Windows Mobile. Today Microsoft officially announced it at CTIA, and according to reports new devices sporting this version may be available within a couple of months. The timing of the announcement with device availability is an improvement over the past where such an announcement came as much as six months in advance of one's ability to actually get your hands on the software.

PocketNow has a very comprehensive overview of the changes, which while not earth shattering are what I think are very useful and good improvements. No word on how much it will cost people who own devices targeted for upgrades, such as the AT&T Tilt, but if the upgrade is cheap or free it looks like it will be worth the upgrade.

To me the upgrade boils down to two major improvements: changes to the Today screen to make information navigation faster, and a new version of Internet Explorer to improve navigation on web pages. The Today screen changes are similar to the Neo changes that I have been experiencing with my T-Mobile Shadow. From what I read the improvements may be better than what HTC came up with. I am curious to know whether HTC will improve upon Neo or abandon it for what Microsoft provides.

Internet Explorer now has zoom out and zoom in capability so that you can see an entire page, albeit as a thumbnail, on one page. Obviously this change was inspired by the iPhone and it remains to be seen whether it as nice browsing with IE as it is using Safari on the iPhone.

Several smaller, but welcome changes are also included in 6.1. For example, you can now cut, copy, and paste in Windows Mobile Standard. (Finally!!) Heavy text messaging users will like the threaded SMS client.

Now the wait begins for when upgrades will be available as well as new devices. Matt Miller reports on the HTC Dual to be released in the U.S. that will sport 6.1 and will be sold SIM-unlocked via BestBuy. Very interesting, I am wondering how much it will cost? I am looking forward to getting the upgrade for my Tytnn II when it becomes available.

Labels: 2008, Windows Mobile 6.1

posted by Frank at 8:47 PM 0 comments Links to this post

 
I've been reading James', Kevin, and Matt's posts on the Celio Redfly with interest. As I read their experiences with the device I am finding myself thinking that it could be useful. Adding a full size keyboard and larger screen could increase my use of Windows Mobile devices from occasional use devices for looking up info, triaging email, or making a phone call, to a pro-long use device for longer text entry such as long email or larger documents. It sounds like the Redfly is small enough to carry around, just as I found my Eee PC to be a perfect size to carry to meetings. However, the big obstacle is price. I can't justify $500 for what amounts to a phone accessory. By this I mean the device is useless unless you have a Windows Mobile device in hand because it has no processor, no operating system, and no storage. It just has a display, keyboard, ROM chip with software to connect and handle the display and input and some USB and VGA out ports. Now, if the price drops to $200 I think it is a no-brainer basically as a replacement to a Stowaway keyboard. I wouldn't mind playing with one; I am particularly intrigued by the Bluetooth connectivity.

Labels: 2008

posted by Frank at 6:48 PM 0 comments Links to this post

 
It can be good sport right now to speculate on what Microsoft is going to do with Windows Mobile. First there was a leadership change, then the announcement that Microsoft was acquiring Danger, who makes a popular mobile device called the Sidekick that does not run Windows Mobile. The latest to chew on is Len Kawell's hiring at Microsoft and this bit of information:

Kawell is also working on scaling Windows Mobile to “new kinds of devices with larger screens and faster processors — also known as Mobile Internet Devices, or MIDS,” his bio adds.

Labels: 2008

posted by Frank at 6:41 PM 0 comments Links to this post

 
Yesterday I wrote about TrueConnect and how I discovered it could be used to copy and paste information from eWallet on my Pocket PC to my desktop computer. Wingman wrote a comment asking if I had tried MyMobiler, which I did not know about. One big benefit it has over TrueConnect is that it is free. Another big benefit is that it supports IP-based connectivity, meaning that you can connect the Pocket PC to a desktop computer using a LAN connection like Wi-Fi. It doesn't support connections via ActiveSync & Bluetooth, but a posting in the forums suggests that it works with Bluetooth PAN connections, which I have to try.

MyMobiler also has a built-in Explorer for transferring files and a skin that includes buttons for quickly accessing Messaging, Contacts, and more on the Pocket PC. I assume that the skin can be changed, which I may consider doing if I keep using this program because the icons are a light gray that is a bit hard to see on the black background.

The negatives of MyMobiler versus TrueConnect is that it doesn't have integration with SMS, so you can't use it to send SMS messages from Outlook. For me I find that to not be a required feature of TrueConnect, and I think there are some other options to provide such functionality. MyMobiler also doesn't provide a button for enlarging the display, but I think that can be changed by editing a text file for settings. You can maximize the display which puts the Pocket PC window at the middle of the desktop and blanks out the background, which is useful for giving presentations.

The big negative for me for using MyMobiler is that it doesn't work well with eWallet. In eWallet you can tap and hold on the user name or password fields and tap copy in the pop-up menu to copy those items to the clipboard, which TrueConnect transfers to the Windows desktop clipboard. MyMobiler doesn't work with these pop-up options, instead I have to edit a card, select text, and then copy it to get it on the clipboard and over to the PC, which is many more steps that I would have to take over TrueConnect. I have posted a message on the forum at the MyMobiler web site to see whether the program author is willing make the program work with eWallet.

I'll be keeping my eye on the forum to see what type of response I get. Nevertheless, if you are looking for a way to connect your Pocket PC with a desktop computer for transfering information I can recommend that you check out MyMobiler.

Labels: 2008, software

posted by Frank at 8:36 PM 2 comments Links to this post

 
I've written often of how Ilium Software's eWallet is perhaps the most important Windows Mobile application for me. I use it to securely store all bits of information, particularly passwords, to the numerous web sites that I subscribe to. Most often I will find myself at a web site that I need to log in to, reaching for my Pocket PC to retrieve my user id and password for that site. When this happens I am reminded of something that I really wish I could to, which is to highlight text in a card, tap-and-hold and use Bluetooth to transfer the text over to my desktop PC precisely at the cursor location.

Yesterday I discovered a program called TrueConnect that brings my vision for sharing information between my handhelds and desktop PCs closer to reality. To use the software you connect a Windows Mobile device to a Windows PC and after the connection is made you can do one of two things. You can move the mouse cursor off the right edge of the screen (or any other edge depending on how you configure the software) and the cursor appears on the device, where you can then manipulate the device using the mouse and keyboard. Imagine using this feature with a Pocket PC sitting in a cradle right next to your computer, it allows you to manipulate the device without ever having take the Pocket PC out of the cradle.

Another feature that TrueConnect provides is to display the Pocket PC screen on your desktop computer, again you can operate the device using the keyboard and mouse on the desktop computer. You can enlarge the display even as large as the entire size of your computer monitor, though at full screen QVGA displays are pretty pixelated. The 2x enlargement is very legible and about the right size for a window on the screen. I tested the full size display using my Tablet PC in portrait mode and it was decent, and a bit funky manipulating the device using the Tablet PC stylus.

Now, here is the feature I really like. TrueConnect allows the sharing of clipboard contents between Pocket PCs and desktop computers. So, back to the beginning of this article I described my vision for squirting information between my device and computer, with TrueConnect I can highlight text, copy it to the clipboard, then move the cursor over to the browser window on my desktop and paste the content. With eWallet I click and hold the mouse (simulating tap and hold) on the user id and password fields on the Internet site cards and click copy user id or copy password in the context menu that pops up. (Unfortunately, this only works on Pocket PCs, or Windows Mobile Professional devices because SmartPhones, or Windows Mobile Standard devices do not have clipboards to support copy and paste, an odd lacking given how so many SmartPhones now come with QWERTY keyboards.)

My vision is not completely realized, unfortunately, because to use TrueConnect you must have the device physically connected using a USB cable. So far I have not seen any documentation saying that you can use Bluetooth, but given how Bluetooth connections are made for ActiveSync connections, it may be possible but I have not had time to test it out. Ideally I would like a tap and hold feature that would just send the text to the desktop and insert it without further interaction on my part, but I can live with copy and paste.

Labels: 2008, software

posted by Frank at 5:54 PM 1 comments Links to this post

 
Recently my T-Mobile Dash started acting flaky. I was often draining the battery all the way down because I would forget to charge it. I have been using the Tytnn more since I have all my email forwarding to Gmail and have my personal T-Mobile number forwarding to my work AT&T number. So, I would recharge the Dash and then turn it on and it would start booting, get to the Windows Mobile startup screen, and then reboot again. First it would do this a couple of times then successfully start up fully, but last week it would just continually boot. Now, it probably just needs a new battery, but would be the fun in getting a new battery when I could get a whole new phone? So yesterday I went to the local T-Mobile store and "upgraded" to the T-Mobile Shadow.

Obviously, I have not used the Shadow enough to give it a proper review so right now all I can do is give my out of the box impressions. The Shadow is smaller than the Dash so that will make carrying it around even easier. I find the external appearance of the Shadow to be very elegant, even if the screen is a finger print magnet.

Aside from the hardware design, which includes a slide out 20-key keyboard, perhaps the big thing with the Shadow is the customized home screen that changes how Windows Mobile looks on a Smartphone. The Shadow has a scroll wheel on the front that doesn't work as I expect with the home screen because you have to press up or down to scroll throw the icons while I it seems more natural to me to actually use the scroll wheel to scroll through the icons.

One thing that I really don't like is location of the mini-USB port which is on the left side of the device. It might be a better location for using a headset (while I do tend to use a Bluetooth headset with my phones more than wired headsets) it doesn't work at all with my PowerStation recharging unit, which expects the plugs to be on the bottom of the device. The PowerStation grabs the device on the left and right side to hold it in place and that can't happen with the USB cable plugged in.

T-Mobile recently released an update to the Shadow's software so that is what I did last night. I've been using Windows Mobile since it's beginning (is it really more than ten years?) and I am amazed at how painful it still is to do a ROM Update. Somehow Apple has figured out how to do a ROM update of the iPod Touch without deleting all the data on the device, while Microsoft still wipes everything requiring the user to restore from a backup or find other ways to reenter data. Incredible.

I'll have more on the Shadow as I use it. Next up is to get it syncing with my hosted Exchange service and get the essential software installed like eWallet.

Labels: 2008, Shadow

posted by Frank at 11:44 AM 1 comments Links to this post

 
For me, I have long believed that "cloud computing" (the storage/synchronization of data to servers on the Internet) makes sense for mobile devices, but so far we have only really seen it implemented well for email. Google and others have made mobile versions of their web applications but most require Internet connectivity to use. Google has solved the problem for disconnected use with their Google Gears api, but up until now that has been only available for desktops. Today I have learned that Google has released a version of Gears for Windows Mobile and Zoho has used it to enhance their mobile application.

Labels: 2008

posted by Frank at 8:28 AM 0 comments Links to this post

 
The Mobile World Conference is going on right now in Barcelona, Spain, and apparently now is the time for all the big Windows Mobile news for the year.

First, Sony Ericsson announced their first Windows Mobile device, the XPERIA X1. Of course the fact that a big mobile handset manufacturer has announced they will sell a Windows Mobile device is big news, but I hope the pictures don't do the device justice because to me it just looks ugly. It does look like it will have an interesting home page UI akin to the T-Mobile Shadow. This year you will be seeing a lot of manufacturers trying to stand out by making different front ends to Windows Mobile, which is going to make support a tad of a nightmare. I wonder which U.S. carrier will sell the XPERIA and what it will cost. It looks like a high-end device, probably heading well north of $500. (We need cheaper devices not more expensive devices.)

The next big piece of news is the announcement that Microsoft is acquiring Danger. Seems to me that now that Bill is leaving Microsoft is spending that big stockpile of cash. Frankly, I don't understand this move. Could it be that Microsoft has finally decided after all these years that it needs to sell it's own device, possibly targetted at consumers? Over the years we have debated the benefits of Microsoft manufacturing and selling their own device to have total control over the experience like Palm had and Apple has with iPhone. But aren't the Sidekicks getting a bit long in the tooth, and does Danger really have developers that are better than what Microsoft has? Perhaps Danger can help in the vision area but I don't know, this thing seems too little too late. If Microsoft is planning on using Danger to compete with iPhone I don't think that pig will fly.

Besides the Danger announcement the next big announcement from Microsoft has been that they have made a version of MSN Direct available for Windows Standard (or the device previously known as the Smartphone) available for download. I downloaded and installed the program on my T-Mobile Dash and it runs ok, adding a new plug-in to the home screen. It's not a full implementation of MSN Direct though, as I have more info on my Abacus MSN Direct watch than this applet provides. The program needs to provide a way to configure what is downloaded and provide all the channels. The version of MSN Direct for Windows Mobile doesn't use the FM-based radio network that works with the watches, which I think is a bit of a mistake. OTOH, perhaps some of the devices that will have FM radios will be able to work on that network?

The final announcement that caught my eye is news that a Webkit-based mobile browser is being developed for Windows Mobile. The browser, called Iris, uses the same web engine as Apple's Safari browser. I use Safari on my iPod Touch and I can tell you that Iris is no Safari. Note to developers of web browsers for Windows Mobile: please provide a one button way to go back and forward to pages. I would like to use Opera on my devices, but I can't stand that Back requires two clicks while it's one click in Internet Explorer mobile. All this mobile browser activity is interesting, but I wonder how some of these companies are going to make money.

Labels: 2008, news

posted by Frank at 7:48 PM 0 comments Links to this post

 
According to msmobiles.com, Google has fixed Gmail's IMAP service so that it properly works with Windows Mobile. You may recall that last year Google released IMAP support for Gmail, however, there were problems with how it worked causing Messaging to download HTML messages as blank bodies. Apparently that has been fixed, so I have re-created the Gmail account on my device to check it out.

Labels: 2008, e-mail

posted by Frank at 11:03 AM 0 comments Links to this post

 
In the Windows Mobile news this past week is an announcement that Microsoft will be including Zumobi with Windows Mobile, and I see the point. I've installed the beta for Zumobi on my T-Mobile Dash, and I fail to understand why someone would want the software. It provides a different way to browse through little applets, but it doesn't provide a way to actually browse your device. The software is a huge memory hog, requiring 10 MB to run, an almost impossibility on most Windows Mobile devices. I don't see how Zumobi makes browsing any easier and it doesn't include a compelling applet that makes it worth the memory hit.

Labels: 2008, software

posted by Frank at 10:53 AM 0 comments Links to this post

 
Am I the only person who sees something wrong about the existence of an 80-in-1 card reader? Standards, where art thou?

Labels: 2008

posted by Frank at 10:46 AM 0 comments Links to this post

 
I just read over on Pocket PC Thoughts that FictionWise has aquired eReader from Motricity. eReader has a long history, originally starting as Peanut Press. It was aquired by Palm and renamed Palm Digital Media (at the time Palm did not sell Windows Mobile devices) and later renamed to eReader and sold to Motricity.

(Here is an interesting tidbit. I believe even to this day the books you buy from eReader are in an encrypted version of the Palm database format, indicated by the *.pdb file extension. If you aren't familiar with Palm, in the earlier days all the files on Palm were stored in the PDB format so eReader's file format shows their original roots of first being available for Palm OS handhelds.)

Next to Audible.com, eReader may well be the most popular electronic book publishing firm, and their success is due in large part to a straightforward DRM implementation that allows for moving ebooks to difference devices. The books that you buy are encrypted using the credit card number that they were purchased with as the key, and you can share books so long as you are willing to share your credit card number. They keep an electronic bookshelf of all the books you purchase, and you can download them at any time. If you change credit cards it is pretty simply to enter a new credit card and have new encrypted copies of the book generated, though of course you would need to download them to your device again.

Over the years I have probably spent a couple hundred books or more on books from eReader. Next to eWallet, it is probably the second application that I install on any new Pocket PC that I get. When I learn of a book that I am interested reading I check eReader first and either buy it or put it on my wishlist. Ed Hansberry thinks FictionWise, who has been selling ebooks on their own for some time. I don't know whether FictionWise's catalog overlaps with eReaders or is the same, but if they have titles originally not available that will be a bonus. My fear is that the continued reselling of eReader is an indication that the ebook market really hasn't matured, hopefully time will prove my fears wrong.

Labels: 2008, ebooks

posted by Frank at 9:20 AM 0 comments Links to this post

 
I've written here before about how I feel that voice interaction with Windows Mobile is a very useful, made possible in large part by Voice Command. Another voice service that expands the functionality of Windows Mobile is Jott. Here is how I use it. First, I created a contact called Jott so I initiate Voice Command by pressing the call button on my Bluetooth headset and say "Call Jott." Once the call is connected I am asked "Who do you want to Jott?" and I say, "Myself." After the beep I then say whatever it is that I want to remember and I hang up. Jott then translates what I wrote to text and sends it to my email address; it even sends me a text message using SMS. When I get to a computer and check my email my reminder is there in my inbox waiting for me, along with a link to the recording in case the speech to text translation isn't perfect.

You can use Jott with a number of other web applications like Google Calendar, or another one of my favorites, Sandy. Jott is free, I think a very useful tool to add to your mobile toolbox. Whenever I think of something that I want to remember, and I am on the go such as driving to work, I Jott myself.

Labels: 2008, tips

posted by Frank at 9:38 PM 0 comments Links to this post

 
CES is coming and Redfly's Mobile Companion looks really interesting. If I understand correctly, it enables you to use an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse with a Windows Mobile device, and the device connects via Bluetooth. In effect it enables you to turn a Windows Mobile device into a PC. I wonder how much it will cost?

Labels: 2008, products

posted by Frank at 8:11 PM 2 comments Links to this post

 
Recently I received my copy of the Sharper Image catalog, and it got me thinking about how far Windows Mobile has come and wondering a bit about where it is going. The reason for this thinking is the Sharp Image 101TSI, which is a Pocket PC. I don't think this is the first Pocket PC that Sharper Image has sold over the years, but I do think this is the first branded by Sharper Image and that got me thinking about how pervasive Windows Mobile has become. The two page spread in the catalog shows four different phones, the others are not running Windows Mobile. The 101TSI is the most expensive of the Shaper Image phones, which is unfortunate. The specs aren't too impressive and it doesn't appear to be a 3G phone, but I do find the hardware buttons interesting and I am wondering whether the Talk (green) and End (red) buttons are split in two with the top two programmable?

I haven't heard anything about this device, so I am wondering who is the manufacturer. I am guessing that it is HTC given that OEM phones for carriers such as T-Mobile and AT&T even as they are making a bigger effort at selling under their own brand name. Unfortunately the HTC-branded phones are more expensive than their OEM equivalents, which leads me to my other observation about this Sharper Image phone. The catalog emphasizes that the phones are SIM Unlocked, with the heading "New phone. No strings!" One of the benefits we may all realize from the iPhone is a heightened awareness to the tying of phones to a particular carrier and it appears there is growing consumer displeasure over the idea that if they want an iPhone they have to get AT&T's service.

Because of the tying of mobile phones to carriers there really isn't such a thing as a mobile phone market in the United States, instead there is a cell phone carrier market. The carriers use the phones as competitive advantages such as AT&T is doing with the iPhone. I think that in 2008 we will continue to see the emergence of a mobile phone market in the United States where the manufacturers of the phones compete against each other and you will be able to use the phone with whatever carrier you want. Clearly HTC sees this happening, which is why they are working hard to develop their own brand but for it to succeed the SIM Unlocked, HTC-branded phones have to be price competitive with the carrier tied phones. Geeks like me are willing to pay a premium for an unlocked phone, but the market will not.

A true mobile phone market will be good for innovation with mobile devices because it will force the device developers to be competitive. Today a device manufacturer can use the popularity of a carrier to help sell their device, but when that goes away the manufacturer will have to rely on features or improvements in areas such as battery life and the display. Competition between device manufacturers will create greater demand on the operating systems that run on the devices, which is the tie to Windows Mobile. Finally, features such as multimedia, web browsing, and installing third party applications, which have been the hallmark's behind Microsoft's mobile operating systems since the beginning, will be expected. All mobile operating systems will continue to push the feature envelope, but ironically what will likely become a key differentiator is simplicity. While Palm may slowly no longer exist, the vision of their leaders has been valid the problem is that they got sucked up in the corporate goals like stock value that caused them to bleed the cash cow dry and not investing in true innovation.

All told, I think 2008 will be another interesting year in the Windows Mobile and the mobile device world.

Labels: 2008

posted by Frank at 1:17 PM 0 comments Links to this post