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

 
As was suggested by the HTC tech support guy, the meltdown of my Tytnn II did have the side benefit of accelerating my upgrade to Windows Mobile 6.1. Given that I am about to head out of town for the week, I probably would not have done the upgrade until I came back, but the meltdown yesterday left me no choice but to do the upgrade.

So, what do I think? Well, it's really been too short of a time but I can comment on a couple of things. The Tytnn II runs Windows Mobile Professional, or what was previously know as a Pocket PC, and does NOT have the Today screen features that were all written about when 6.1 was first announced. I was speculating that I may be able to not install SPB Mobile Shell, but alas that is not to be. It is not clear to me why Microsoft made this decision. To me it doesn't make sense for the appearance between Smartphones and Pocket PCs to be so different, and Pocket PCs have navigation buttons that make the Today screen experience useful.

One thing that I have already found to be a positive experience is pairing my Jawbone bluetooth headset to the Tytnn II. Windows Mobile 6.1 automatically uses the most common pairing codes (PINs) so that you don't have to enter them. I had to do was make the Jawbone visible, then go into Connections, Bluetooth and tap Add New Device. The Tytnn automatically found the Jawbone, paired with it, and that was it; I didn't have to enter any codes. This is how easy Bluetooth should be, though for now you will only have this experience with headsets. If you pair with a notebook computer or another handheld device you will still have to enter codes.

Labels: 2008, Windows Mobile 6.1

posted by Frank at 12:09 PM 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 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