Smartphone Thoughts - Daily News, Views, Rants and Raves

"Multi-tasking moms, tech savvy young professionals, and entrepreneurs will be able to access e-mail, surf the net and bookmark their favorite Web pages right from their Smartphones with Verizon Wireless’ newest management solutions. Verizon Wireless E-mail and Web for Smartphone, available today, offers customers a host of features including an unlimited data allowance for e-mail and Internet browsing. The plan supports up to 10 personal e-mail accounts, including those from popular Internet service providers such as Yahoo!® Mail, AOL®, Windows Live and Verizon.net. Customers will enjoy e-mail provider branded inboxes on select accounts creating a familiar, convenient and easy-to-use e-mail experience."




Finally, unlimited data usage is becoming much more affordable! Adding to the unlimited voice plans announced in February, Verizon Smartphone users now have the option of unlimited data for an extra $29.99 per month on top of a voice plan. Right now, the plan is available for the Verizon Wireless SMT5800 (HTC Libra), the Verizon Wireless XV6800 (HTC Mogul) and the MOTO Q9m. Look for more devices to be supported in the coming months. Any Verizon users planning to jump on the new plans?

"I am on my 12th windows mobile device (not a novice user, just for context for this rant). I purchased the AT&T Q Global yesterday, being pleased with the specs, form fact etc. Then my disappointment and frustration with AT&T hit an all time high! They disabled, removed and otherwise made unavailable the VPN connection capabilities of the device! Thats right, when I contacted the AT&T biz tech support they pushed me straight into a corporate sales rep to try to sell me an enterprise connectivity solution. Now I admit I am not a true technology professional, but it appears that AT&T has hit a new level of incomprehensible arrogance with this move. Disabiling core WM6 functionality to drive enterprise solution sales?!? I hope I am wrong and I hope to see someone prove me wrong on this! I look forward to reading more about this."

A few days ago one of our readers, Mike Cioce, sent us this email to make us as well as our readers aware of this issue. Since that time I have spent a few hours on the phone with several of my contacts that are still working for AT&T as well as their Business technical support. Unfortunately, no one can give me a straight answer as to whether or not this is the case with AT&T's data network. While I am 100% positive that an account representative gave this information to Mike, from personal experience I have learned that AT&T's customer service representatives tend to be some of the most ill trained "experts" of any carrier... and I was right since no one knew for sure if this is the case or not! As a word of caution to any of our readers that are interested in purchasing this handset, especially for it's VPN abilities, prepare to pay out the nose for the Enterprise Connectivity solutions.

Now before anyone starts revolting in outrage, I can for the most part explain why a company such as AT&T might take this approach. When I worked for AT&T (formally Cingualr) it was common knowledge that the individuals that usually used these features did so for their business needs and would usually consume a large portion of data every month. Way more than the the standard consumer could every use. Realistically it would be a horrible business move for AT&T to not charge customers that are using those features an extra data cost! While I understand the frustration of being locked out of a feature your phone supports at the same time I understand that business customers can afford to spend more on their bills every month, especially with the amount of data they consume.

"Your Window Mobile smartphone is your connection to the people you know. Important clients, close colleagues, everybody who helps you do your business everyday. CallsToJournal helps you track the who, what, when, where and why of your phone conversations with these people. NEW! Upload your Windows Mobile call log with Outlook Journal. CallsToJournal provides accurate and reliable uploading of your Windows Mobile Smartphone or Pocket PC Phone�s call log to Outlook Journal "

If you're one of those people that really need to keep track of who you called and when, then CallsToJournal could be the solution for you. It will copy data from your call history log into Outlook's Journal when you sync. So you'll always have that data recorded. And don't forget, with our Splash into Summer Sale you can save 15% off the price! Download a trial or puchase a copy from out affiliate store.

"An AT&T employee who works on Operations tells us that the carrier ordered a last-minute beefing up of its EDGE throughput, latency and coverage in anticipation of the iPhone. The operation, internally referenced as "Fine Edge" will continue until June 15th, and has been going on for as many as 6 weeks. EDGE is slow, but at least at AT&T, the implementation isn't limited by the protocol itself. Rather, the limiting factor is, according to our source, the data backend and the way the towers are configured to allocate bandwidth to data and calls. And according to an internal doc, they're dropping in more T-1s in their poorest performing towers, hoping to get that paltry 40kbps performance to a new minimum of 80kpbs. (EDGE's real world max is about 200kbps.) That's still painfully slow, but we're not ones to look a gift WWAN upgrade in the mouth."



Sometimes I sit around and wonder why certain companies maker certain decisions. Today, I'm sitting around and wondering what the heck AT&T Wireless (formerly Cingular Wireless) is thinking! First they decided to sign a 5 year exclusive deal with Apple for the rights to sell the Apple iPhone on their networks, a phone in which they are not even able to sell extra batteries for. Lithium Ion batteries were the third top selling category for accessories in my store when I worked for Cingular and since you're losing a good chunk of money on each handset sold, accessories are the real bread and butter for most wireless retailers. On top of that, they take valuable resources to tweak and rebuild their dying EDGE network instead of focusing on their expanding 3G network. Seriously, I need to know, why in the world are we moving backwards instead of moving forward?! If I was in charge, instead of focusing on our slower speed data network, I would have just told Apple to stop being a bunch of cheapskates and add UMTS/HSDPA connectivity to the device. Problem solved.

The good news is, all existing customers with EDGE compatible devices should notice the speed increase on their handsets as well. So not all is lost! :)

"We just received more information about the HTC Census. The device will be used for collecting ... Census data. In order to cut down Census costs, U.S. Census Bureau started a five-year, $600 million project called Field Data Collection Automation (FDCA) program. The project should transition the usually paper process to wireless one. Harris Corporation was selected as the systems integrator, while HTC along with Sprint PCS are part of the support team. HTC is responsible for providing the mobile computing equipment, while Sprint will provide telecommunication services. HTC Census is the actual device which would be used in 2010 Census and will be carried by about 500,000 enumerators."



While the whole idea sounds pretty neat, I think it will be a safe bet to pass on this device... If it was available to the public that is. All in all, It is about time someone got on the ball and improved the the whole census process. :roll: ;)

"Symantec Corp. today announced it will offer Symantec Mobile Security Suite 5.0, a solution designed to provide customers with the same security and data protection capabilities on their Windows Mobile smartphones and PDAs as what has become standard for laptops and other computing devices. Symantec Mobile Security Suite 5.0 will include antivirus, firewall, anti-SMS spam, and data encryption technologies that are easy to deploy, manage and maintain. This kind of layered security can not only mitigate the unique security risks of mobile devices, but can also enable companies to more easily and cost-effectively comply with internal security policies and external regulations."



Well this is quite a security suite from Symantec. The question is: do we need it for our mobile devices? I personally don't use Symantec products. Their PC products seem a bit bloated to me and I haven't heard good things about their Mac products. The suite is scheduled to be released in May. So what do you think? Is this type of security suite necessary for Windows Mobile devices?

"I have been using a T-Mobile Dash Windows Mobile 5 smartphone for almost a week now and enjoying the seamless web integration that T-Mobile has put into the Dash. Push email, the T-Zones connectivity, even web browsing on the Dash has been a real joy. I have especially liked using the Mobile Google Reader to keep up with my RSS feeds when free time makes itself available. Until this morning, that is. Sometime this morning I lost all ability to connect to the web. Nothing is working, I get various error messages indicating the server is unavailable."

Have any of you experienced this? If you read the blog article it is theorized T Mobile is trying to stop people who are abusing their system. In the process they are snagging legitimate customers in the net. I hope this is not the case.

"Data On The Run is an easy to use database program for Windows Mobile devices. Data On The Run 5 brings many new features, includes an all new database engine and a new Synchronization Manager, and brings the power of mobile data to your Smartphone device in addition to Pocket PC devices. Data On The Run includes new features for both novice and power users."



If you're looking for an easy to use database program for you Smartphone, you might want to check out Data On The Run. It's got some nice features like a synchronization Manager that synchronizes Access files, password protection and encryption for sensitive data, and support for CSV files. You can pick up a copy from our Affiliate store for $14.95.

"News International, the arm of News Corporation in the United Kingdom, looked to offer top executives and editors a mobile solution that combined voice, data, and e-mail on a single device. The media giant considered a BlackBerry solution from Research In Motion, but decided against it because of concerns about cost, administration expense, and flexibility."

Nice to see another example of MS being chosen over RIM. I suspect we will see more of this now that the Blackberry Killers are rolling out. The Enterprise really needs to fully embrace Windows Mobile for it to really take off. I think now that this is now beginning to happen.

"Global revenues from mobile data services surpassed US$ 100 billion for the first time last year according to data sourced from the latest edition of Informa Telecoms & Media's World Cellular Data Metrics. The figure of US$ 102.1 billion is equal to US$ 52.9 per every mobile subscription throughout the year or US$ 4.4 per month. Putting the 2005 figure into perspective, it is on a par with the combined fees paid so far by European operators for 3G licenses (US$ 102.3 billion according to Informa Telecom & Media's World Cellular Information Service). Or put another way, it is greater than the entire GDP for New Zealand in 2005 (US$ 94.6 billion according to the CIA World Factbook)."



US$ 100 billion! That figure is insane! That is a one with eleven zeros after it! I'm flabbergasted! 8O

"The president and co-CEO of RIM, maker of BlackBerry devices, warned the industry on Monday that allowing people unlimited wireless data use will have a devastating effect on wireless innovation. In a keynote address given at GlobalComm, a telecommunications trade show in Chicago, Mike Lazaridis told attendees carriers need to be very careful how they roll out wireless internet services."



Very interesting article; while this article does seem to echo "Chicken Little" it still brings up a valid concern. Does offering an unlimited data plan actually hurt the growth of innovation? In my honest opinion, no. I personally believe that offering these services at a reasonable price is what in turn inspires innovation in the first place. You can't offer a really innovative product if no one is going to use it because it costs an arm and a leg.

This is a bit off-topic for this site, but I'm very passionate about the subject of data backup so please give this article a read. I've seen so many people lose their data; photos of the family reunion, important tax files, videos of the kids, and it all could have been prevented. Myself, I lost an Outlook PST file once with a lot of data in it, and I was determined to never lose data again. That's usually the way it happens - people don't care about data backup until their hard drive crashes, their laptop is stolen, or there's some sort of disaster; once they lose their data, then they realize how important it is. Imagine if you woke up tomorrow morning and all your computers and data were missing, but in their place was enough money to replace them. You still wouldn't be pleased, would you? Your data is uniquely yours, and it can't be easily replaced. I've finally found an affordable, "magic bullet" solution that I want to share with everyone.

I use several methods to back up my data: first, I use a free Windows Live service named FolderShare, which replicates the My Documents folder across my five PCs. If one goes down, I simply move to another one and keep working. But I also have a media server with 70GB or so of music and videos, which is too much data to replicate to my laptops, so I also have an external hard drive as one level of backup, and a network-attached hard drive as a second level of backup. The key to a good backup strategy is that it's fully automated - if you have a backup solution that relies on you remembering to connect a hard drive or burn a CD/DVD, sooner or later that system is going to fail.
No Off-Site Backups
The one flaw in my backup strategy is that all my data backups are on site, meaning in my home. If someone breaks into my house and steals all my computer gear, there goes my data. If there's a fire, there goes my data. I looked a several online data backup services, but for the amount of data I wanted to back up (at least 30 GB) it would cost me $400+ a month. For a few years I tried to get my own offsite system in place by having a friend set up an FTP server and I'd back up to it. I never got very far with that - his PC would crash, he'd lose his Internet connection, or the FTP server would break and it would take him weeks to fix it. The system just wasn't stable. I gave up and accepted the fact that local backup was the best I could do. Sure, I had a few DVDs worth of data off-site, but it wasn't automated or consistent.

A few months back, I discovered a service called Carbonite and posted about it on Digital Media Thoughts. They offered unlimited photo backup for $29.95 a month, but it was limited to photos. I started a conversation with them, and they told me they were launching a new service that would back up an unlimited amount of data for $49.95 a year. 8O I was hooked on the concept, because it was so ground-breaking, and shortly thereafter I began testing the service.

Almost Too Good To Be True
It works really simply - in fact, they've designed this for computers users that don't know very much. Power users may be miffed at the lack of options, but the basics are there: for $5 a month (or $49.95 per year) you get a software client you install on a single PC. By default it will back up everything in your My Documents folder, but you can manually select which files and folders you want backed up by right-clicking on them. Files tagged to be backed up have a small yellow dot in the lower left-hand coner of the icon. Once that file is backed up, the dot turns green. It's a brilliant way to know your data is backed up. The client isn't perfect - there are a few minor bugs and polishing that needs to be done, but the core functionality is there.

I know what you may be thinking - too good to be true? Try it out for yourself: they have a 15 day free trial that requires no credit card to activate - you just sign up with an email address and download the software (downloading the software helps support this site). I was determined to see if Carbonite would break with the amount of data I was uploading (sometimes "unlimited" is just a marketing term, not reality), so after I uploaded 30 GB of my documents and photos, I started a backup of an additional 70 GB worth of music and videos. Carbonite is taking it all! :way to go: Restoring the data is simple as well - it installs an icon in your My Computer folder, and you can browse and restore your uploaded data as if it were a local drive. Slick.

My highest recommendation for a product is when I use it myself, and Carbonite has finally given me a viable and affordable solution to back up 100 GB of my data. This thing is so good I'm installing it on family member computers, reccomending it to clients, and ordering my friends to install it so they never complain to me about lost data. ;-) Regardless of whether or not you have a backup solution in place, I urge you to give Carbonite a try. The trial is free, requires no credit card to start, and it's incredibly simple to use. [Affiliate]

[As a side note, if you'd like to sign up as a Carbonite affiliate yourself and promote the software to friends and family, you can sign up here]

UPDATE: It's come to my attention that there are, in fact, some limits to Carbonite's storage offering. From what I've been told by a Carbonite representative, "unlimited" is a marketing term that Carbonite uses to avoid questions from inexperienced computer users who don't know what "50 gigabytes" means. The Carbonite FAQ says you can back up "As much as you have". But they also state in the fine print that they will terminate the account of anyone they feel is abusing the service. What constitutes abuse? It seems, for now, anything over 125 GB will trigger an email from support stating that the user is trying to back up too much data - which is why I thought it was really "unlimited" when I had backed up my 100 GB of data and didn't get any type of warning. The 125 GB threshold is apparently a moving target that may change, and there's also some discussion from Carbonite about making a $99/year "pro" level plan with no limits. I evidently made a bad decision when I believed that "unlimited" really meant "as much data as you have". So for anyone with 125 GB of data or more, it seems Carbonite is not a good choice (for now). If you have less data than that, however, I still strongly recommend their service because for the price, there's really nothing out there that can beat it.

Jason Dunn owns and operates Thoughts Media Inc., a company dedicated to creating the best in online communities. He enjoys mobile devices, digital media content creation/editing, and pretty much all technology. He lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with his lovely wife, and his sometimes obedient dog.

"T-Mobile have been somewhat blazing-the-trail for Windows Mobile users of late, with their adoption of just about every HTC device under the sun (the Tornado being the unfortunate and notable omission), coupled with their impressive 'web-n-walk' and innovative 'FlexT' tariffs. ...With T-Mobile's current drive to recruit new customers, it looks like THEY aren't going to be April Fools, and a reworking of Web-n-Walk and FlexT is on the cards, to integrate the tariffs. All good I hear you say, but how does this shake up the UK Mobile Data market? Well, if our sources are to be believed, T-Mobile will announce - with some fanfare - a �7.50 per month flat rate data usage plan! Likely subject to a fairly relaxed 'acceptable usage plan' (1GB seems likely), the deal looks set to have Smart device users on other networks migrating in droves."

This is some good news if you're a T-Mo UK subscriber, or if you're able to switch your provider to be T-Mo. The 1GB limit is a pretty nice plus, I must say. The launch of flat rate data plans in the UK has been sorely missing for a while now.

"CRYPTECH� the crypto gsm phone developed by CASPERTECH
It's the most sophisticated and secure solution to keep private communications. The system perform an end to end encryption of the voice and of all the data stream. It's necessary to have at least two CRYPTECH that encodes the voice, encrypts and sends the data to the other device that receives the data, decrypts and reproduces the voice. All these operations are done in real time in totally automatic way for the users."




Worried your personal calls are being monitored? CasperTech has just released an update to their CrypTech solution making your communications even more secure. Now, you can order that Pizza without fear. ;)

"Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (Nasdaq: GRMN), today announced Garmin Mobile� 20 � an automotive navigation system that delivers Garmin�s voice-prompted, turn-by-turn directions using Bluetooth wireless technology on Nokia, Windows Mobile and Treo 650 Smartphones. Garmin Mobile 20 provides both data connectivity as well as hands-free capability and is packaged with the GPS 20SM�, a new mobile phone mount with a built-in, highly sensitive GPS receiver and Bluetooth-enabled speaker and microphone. Garmin Mobile 20 will also be the first Garmin product to use the Garmin Online� wireless data services that includes real-time traffic, gas prices, safety cameras, weather information, and other location relevant content."

It looks like everyone is trying to find their way into the drivers seat with you and your Smartphone. ;) The real-time traffic and gas prices could be very beneficial.

"Cingular will launch two new data plans next month for subscribers who often find themselves outside the US. The GlobalConnect plans provide unlimited EDGE and 3G data on Cingular's network and include 100 MB of data roaming per month. The plan is available in two different flavors, a $110 version that includes roaming in Canada and Mexico, and a $140 plan that includes access in most major countries."

Even though a bit pricey it's a logical step for Cingular to make. After all they do operate on GSM which is most of the world now.

"Visto Corporation has filed a legal action against Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) for misappropriating Visto�s intellectual property. The complaint asserts that Microsoft has infringed upon multiple patents Visto holds regarding proprietary technology that provides enterprises and consumers with mobile access to their email and other data. The company is seeking a permanent injunction that would prohibit Microsoft from misappropriating the technology that Visto and its cofounder helped develop nearly a decade ago."

Just when you thought is was safe to send a wireless email again.... :roll:

This was posted by Dave Conger over at Pocket PC Thoughts, but I think it's an important enough topic to warrant posting on all three sites. I'd encourage you to give it a listen.

This time, the ThoughtCast strays from just being Pocket PC or even mobile device related. Jason wanted to talk about a very important general computing topic, backing up. While the solutions do interface with mobile devices, they are more about keeping your data safe and synchronized so you can know it is safe and access it from anywhere.

Show notes:
� Common Methods for Backup
� Hosted Exchange: 4Smartphone [Affiliate]
� Accessing Files: FolderShare

Direct Link to this show: Download
RSS Feed: PPCT ThoughtCast Feed
Support the Show: Vote @ Podcast Alley

Talk back to us about this ThoughtCast or your other thoughts. Skype users can simply place a call to thoughtcast. If you don't have Skype, your phone works as well, just call: (425) 296-2462.

NOTE FROM JASON: Since the recording of this ThoughtCast several weeks ago, FolderShare has been acquired by Microsoft. So the good news is that the service is now free - it may not be free forever, but for now this is a great way to try out the service. The bad news, at least for those of us that have been using FolderShare for quite some time, is that the latest client software is actually less featured than previous versions. The ability to synchronize only the parts of files that have changed has been removed because it was based on an open-source library that has since been removed from the product. One can hope this feature will return, because having to sync a 2GB archive PST file to several computers every time Outlook is opened and closed again...is a pain. ;-) I still recommend FolderShare highly for file distribution and data backup.

I would have thought that a service like this would be illegal. However, for a price, LocateCell.com will provide you with Reverse Cellphone number lookup, current Cellphone number, or the call history of that cell number. 8O I'm sure that there are some legitimate uses for this service, but I think the majority of people using it are doing so with questionable intentions. So much for our privacy.

"Users are more likely to give up than seek assistance when they run into difficulties when using using mobile data applications, a survey released Thursday says. The survey, conducted by NOP on behalf of Olista, which provides services for cellular operators, found that 64 percent of respondents who actually tried to use mobile data services said they'd give up trying after one or two attempts if they ran into trouble. Only two percent said they would seek help from the operator. About 25 percent said they'd continue trying on their own."

Give up after only 1 or 2 attempts? That doesn't sound very geek-like to me. ;) This seems much more reasonable when you take into consideration the average cell phone owner. Still, 1 or 2 attempts is hardly trying at all. :roll: