Smartphone Thoughts - Daily News, Views, Rants and Raves

Last week a reader e-mailed me to ask a few specific questions about one of my previous articles. Amid a few comments about switching from Windows Mobile to other platforms, the pitfalls and the advantages, he asked about a feature I'd never really thought about. He wanted to know if there was a way to edit the call log on a Windows phone. Specifically, could he delete missed calls while still retaining calls he wanted in the log. I did a bit of digging and found a few demo applications that could dump the call log records into a database (from which you could edit them, however the original logs on the phone would remain unaffected), and a few suggestions on how to read the database off the phone (Which were way more useful for a developer than an end-user), but no one seemed to have any idea or simple program that would edit the logs directly (If someone knows of one, please share!).

This simple feature isn't something I think is planned for the future of Windows Mobile, and perhaps not something everyone would need. But then again, there are many features of my device I don't particularly need, but would be nice to have. Many of us install third-party applications in order to get these features, but perhaps it would be a good idea to start a 2009 edition list of the "missing" components to Windows Mobile. What feature, ability, or tweak would you make if you had the ear of the Windows Mobile development team?

Some of Windows Mobile 6.1's biggest enhancements include threaded SMS support and an improved UI, but there's a lot more in it that makes this a significant leap from Windows Mobile 5.0 and Windows Mobile 6. Jump the break for a look at what's new. Read more...

"Checkout the video screencast of the cool new business user features of Windows Mobile 6 that Jason Langridge and I recorded last week."

What can I add to that? Go check it out already! :)

"Thinking ahead, it becomes clear that we can extrapolate and work out most, if not all of the what Direct Push will evolve into or incorporate simply by taking a closer look into the features that can be found in upcoming or future versions of Microsoft Exchange. Now that Microsoft have finally announced that Exchange 2007 is being slated for release at the end of November 2006, it is a good time as any for us to perform a detailed appraisal of the Direct Push-related components in this new version of Microsoft Exchange."

There's nothing earth-shattering here in this article. It's all stuff that most people would expect to see as Exchange moves forward. Stuff like HTML support, Over The Air search, and Improved security features. I would love to see something different and new coming to my inbox. What about you - thinking outside of the box, what features would you like to see in future versions of Exchange & Outlook Mobile?

"We go through this exercise during the planning stages with customers sometimes. I like it because "to ship is to choose" - it's easy to describe things you want, but we have to ship the product eventually and some things don't make it. Deciding what stays and what goes is the hard (and painful) part of product development. So now it's your turn. You have $100 feature-dollars. How do you spend them? Anything we can do is in scope."

Here's an interesting exercise. You get $100 of Feature Dollars to spend on any features you want to see changed or added in the next release of Windows Mobile. The amount of money you put to a feature shows just how important it is to you. Keep the focus of this to the changes that Microsoft can actually do. That means nothing about more memory, smaller footprint, better backlight, jog wheel, etc. Once you have your feature dollars broken out across your various features, head on over to the Window Mobile Team Blog and share it with them. :D

"Advanced features aren't moving mobile phones off shelves in the U.S. even though more users are adopting them, according to a recent survey by research company J.D. Power and Associates. Price and design are the biggest reasons consumers give for buying particular handsets, said Kirk Parsons, an analyst at the Westlake Village, California, company. Few respondents said they chose their current phone because it had a particular feature. The company surveyed 18,740 users in two waves, one last October and one in February. They were allowed to give multiple reasons for the purchase, Parsons said."



In the Smartphone world, I wouldn't see this study holding much merit. Everyone I know that has recently bought a WM5 device has done so because the newer models sport EDGE as well as push email in select devices. Spending my days peddling out cell phones to customers, I can say that this would definitely apply to average Joe or Jane Consumer. Everyday I have a handful of customers that would love to grab a phone with feature XYZ on it but instead choose the RAZR because it is a sleeker looking device. Hopefully this will change as newer technology like DVB-H and UMTS/HSDPA as well as newer handsets like the HTC Star Trek become more steadily available in the US.

Omnisoft has just released the official update to John Cody's Alerts! version 2. The beta period is over and we're onto the final gold version adding support for changing the profile and your Bluetooth state, along with Windows Mobile 5 and QVGA screens to name a few.



For one week only, Smartphone Thoughts readers can save $4 off the price of Alerts! So, if you weren't lucky enough to win a copy of Alerts! in our Gigantic Giveaway last week then you'll want to check out the release of version 2 and grab a copy and save some cash in the process.

Who here is using Alerts! and what are your thoughts on the latest update? I'm really enjoying the new features, and I've even started using some of the alert suggestions from the Gigantic Giveaway. :mrgreen:

John Cody's Alerts! is easily one of my most used and favourite Smartphone applications. If you've never heard of it before, check out my review of version 1.0 over here. :) I have to admit that I was a little disappointed when I upgraded to a Windows Mobile 5 device and found out that Alerts! was not compatible. All that is changed with the release of version 2.0 (beta).



Not only does version 2 add support for Windows Mobile 5.0, it also adds a number of new features like support for powering off or restarting the phone, switching profiles, execute local file, and a number of other cool things, all on a schedule that you can setup easily. You can see from the screen shot above that I have my phone set to switch to the Normal profile when I leave the house in the morning, and switch back to Silent when it's bath/bed time for the kids. Isn't that great?! :mrgreen: The current beta release will work for the next 10 days or so. After which point there should be a final release and a small upgrade fee for existing users. It's well worth the cost for the profile management alone!

"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:

"Designed for MS Smartphone it can make calculations in Decimal, Hexadecimal, and Binary number system, work with Degrees and Radians. Wide range of operators and functions is available while short number of commonly used operators are accessible with phone's keypad. The distinctive feature of SCalc is keeping history of your calculations. If you made a mistake or need to change an argument, you do not have to calculate the huge formula again. Just press back button and change the operand, operator, or function you like. Want to recollect your calculations made some hours ago? Just get back to the application on your phone and look at it. All the actions you made are there."



Simple Calculator looks to be pretty powerful for something so simple. I haven't tried it, but from the screen capture, it looks to support Sin, Tan, Cos, and more. Could this be the Scientific calculator that some of you have been longing for? The best part is, it's free! :)

"Get a jump on the competition with an early view of the future of the Microsoft Windows platform. Even better, see some of the latest devices available, and some yet to be released. Learn about the enterprise-focused features that are provided by Microsoft Windows Mobile-based Pocket PCs, Pocket PC Phone Editions, and Smartphones. We'll demonstrate to you how to use these technologies together through scenarios that are enabled by Windows Mobile software for enterprise users."

This sounds like an interesting webcast. The presentation was recorded back in July and is given by Jason Langridge, a Business Manager at Microsoft. If you're looking to understand more about Windows Mobile 5.0 in the enterprise world, you should sign up and give it a watch. :)

"Whenever I write a newsletter item about a new cell phone feature, whether it's a digital camera, MP3 player, or even a GPS-enabled driving application, I always get a few e-mails from readers who say, "Bah! Just get me a cell phone that works for voice wherever and whenever..." (They usually don't actually write "Bah!" I added that for effect)."

Imagine this! Users want phones that actually work?? This must be a shock to some of the major manufacturers. I will not name them here of course. :grinning devil: Some great points were made in this article. Phone makers insist on putting more "features" into our phones that hardly anyone wants while neglecting the basics (like being able to actually hear the person you are talking to). What do you think?

"Greenlight Wireless today announced new address book and click-to-call features for its Skweezer service. This additional functionality enhances the e-mail solution integrated into Skweezer, making it easier than ever to send messages and keep in contact with friends and co-workers. The new address book found in Skweezer allows users to import contacts from a wide variety of applications such as Microsoft Outlook, Yahoo! Mail, and Plaxo. Contacts imported into Skweezer are dynamically organized to fit the device that's being used, in order to make finding and retrieving the information as easy as possible. Contacts are also accessible from Skweezer Mail, providing a fast and convenient way to address outgoing messages."

Maybe I'm not understanding this, but why would I want to use Skweezer for my email? My Smartphone already supports multiple email accounts, and all my contacts are always with me. Other than their compression, I don't see any benefits. In fact, I see more issues than anything else. What if you update an email address, does it sync automatically with Skweezer? I don't expect it would. I think this is aimed more at the dumbphones of the world. :wink:

All of you xBar fans will be happy to know that there is a new update available. It boasts better support for the HTC Typhoon line of devices, as well as a number of fixes. Anyone with a Typhoon, might be interested in playing with the new temperature sensor feature. I have never used xBar myself. I'm waiting to see how good the task manager that comes with my next phone is before I buy it. :wink:

You can download the update here. To purchase a copy of xBar for $5.99, click here. [Affiliate]

I spent a fair amount of time over the last couple weeks testing some pretty cool applications for the Handango Champion Awards, and it was a lot of fun. With everything said and done, I feel that, although these are great applications, there are some key features that they all should have to make the end users experience much more pleasing.

• Smart Filter/Search - If your application has a large list of items, the application should support a smart filter feature in the same manner as your phones Contact filter. At the very least you should support page up and down along with scrolling. Although a smart filter is preferred.
  
  
• 100% Clean Uninstall - When the application is removed, all files and folders should be removed. This includes the empty application folder. Also, if there are any settings or data files created by the application, the user should be prompted to keep or remove these.
  
  
• Sounds & Music - If your application talks, sings, beeps, or chirps, please check the active profile settings before making any noise. If the profile is silent, then the application should also be silent.
  
  
• Registration Codes - If your registration code is all numeric, then please set the input type to numeric and not mixed. The best solution I saw for this was when applications prompted you on your desktop during the install for the registration code.

Do these sound reasonable? I'm sure there are more features, but I feel these changes would offer a more pleasant user experience.

"It's been a busy week, not just for us, but for everybody in the industry at Cannes. Keynotes, panels, meetings, press conferences -- they all add up. While of course there's plenty of socializing going on, a lot of business goes on at 3GSM too. It's easy to blow the show off as the mobile business just going for a week-long holiday in a posh South of France resort, what with the yachts, and the beach, and the fancy hotels, but that's just a backdrop to the real action going on inside a convention center that's not different from any other, anywhere else in the world.

The optimism coming from the industry was almost overwhelming. Fueled by the global economic recovery and given a boost by a monster fourth quarter for handset sales last year, carriers and vendors alike are excited about this year's prospects, particularly 3G network launches. It's hard to know exactly what to take from their unbridled optimism, though, as their hype has burned so many people before, but it's hard to share at least some of their feelings. This is undoubtedly an interesting and exciting time in the industry. There were a lot of really cool things to see at the show, and there were some that weren't so cool. Let's take a look at some of the highlights and the lowlights...."

Not much in the way of Smartphone-specific news, but a good overview of the world's most important conference for mobile phones.