Smartphone Thoughts - Daily News, Views, Rants and Raves

"Thanks to an e-mail question from TaxMan, I wanted to give a little "Hosted Exchange 101" for a few reasons. First off TaxMan wanted to know what's the real benefit of this e-mail solution and who it's for. Secondly, the lack of native Exchange support is one of the few reasons I held off on an iPhone purchase and this gives me an opportunity to re evaluate my needs. My intention here isn't to provide an in-depth, technical overview of a hosted Exchange approach, but I'd like to give a quick high-level overview that might help readers understand if this choice is needed and viable for them."

I have been in both places on this one. I ran my own Exchange server and now use a hosted service. The main reason I stopped running my own is I didn't have the time to keep up with all the security issues. Ranging from free to $20-$30/month you can have your own Exchange service. With Push Email (and HTML email on WM6), I think it is well worth looking into.

"As you�ll see, on the SP platform, there�re far fewer really usable browsers and there are absolutely no Java and real Flash support. This, fortunately, makes one�s life far easier � generally, you only have two browsers to select from: either Opera Mobile or Opera Mini. They both are, as you may have already guessed, superior to the built-in Internet Explorer Mobile."

Menneisyys has been hard at work again. This time he's posted a great comparison of the 3 browsers available for Windows Mobile Smartphone along with their respective short-comings. I'm still using IE Mobile, while I would like to switch, I just can't justify the price of Opera Mobile. After reading Menneisyys's article, I might take another look at it. But it's still expensive just to view the web. :(

Please continue the discussion in the original article

"Another day, another city and another coffee shop which offers a public HotSpot. So far so good I thought and fired up my Smartphone since I wanted to do some E-Mails, etc. Doesn't matter if it is a free HotSpot or one which costs, most HotSpots requires a login on a web frontend which is generally fine for me even if completely useless if it is a free HotSpot (like the one bellow). Anyway - it's okay and not bothering too much except if you get what I just got when I've tried to use the HotSpot in the cofffee shop I'm currently relaxing:"



Arne Hess had an interesting experience while trying to use a local hot spot. Read the article to understand what it was. Has anyone else ever experienced this? Personally I not longer have any use for hot spots. I have been sticking to unlimited data plans from the carriers I use.

"Chargepod is a 6-way charging device that allows you to charge multiple cell phones, PDAs, headsets, and most other mobile electronics with a single power cord. Just pick out the manufacturer-specific adapters for your devices and throw away the dozens of power cords and wall warts that are cluttering your office and home. Chargepod uses voltage regulator technology and interchangeable power adapters to work with all of your mobile devices regardless of manufacturer or model."



This looks like a clever way of charging your devices in a more organized way. 500mA of power is supplied to each charging port, and power comes in via a USB port (presumably connected to some form of AC power adaptor). The product is reasonably priced at $49.95, but the adaptors are $9.95 each so if you need to pick up six different adaptors to use all six ports, you end up spending 20% more on the adaptors than on the Chargepod itself. Still, if you want to organize your charging station, this looks like a great way to do it.

"It is not an ordinary occasion when HTC�s and Samsung�s paths cross on the market today. In case with the former, development and production of communicators and smartphones is what the company counts on � it is HTC�s field of expertise. And Samsung only gives this market a go, the Korean manufacturer is moving very deliberately, which enables him to avoid critical mistakes and blunders. The today�s review is dedicated to the face-off of two smartphones: HTC S650 (codenamed Cavalier) and Samsung i600. The company�s apply totally different approach to the development of QWERTY-equipped smartphones and we are eager to figure out how these vendors see the ways of this segment�s expansion."



Yes, those devices are sitting in the snow. It's not my idea of fun - expecially when you're talking about two of the hottest devices around. But it does make for a cool picture. Aside from the snow covered devices, Mobile-Review does a great job at comparing these two devices from the camera down to the MicroSD slot. I think HTC is doing a great job, but I still prefer my Blackjack. If only it was Windows Mobile 6 enabled. :?

Crispeto posted about this review in our forums - let's continue the discussion in the original thread.

"...nearly seven years later, the tables have turned. Now Documents To Go 9.0 allows full document creation on Windows Mobile Standard/Smartphone devices, while Microsoft�s own Office Mobile requires the same lame template work around that Documents To Go used on the Palm back before the internet bubble burst. You heard me right. Despite all the trumpeting of how great it is that Office Mobile now exists across all Windows Mobile devices, Windows Mobile Standard devices still can�t create new documents."

I had to read this a couple times and rub my eyes. Office Mobile in Standard (please help me) devices will not create new documents! Between Vista's less than smooth launch and WMDC pathetic lack of improvement over ActiveSync, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

"This holiday season, shoppers are expected to spend a whopping $1.6 billion on extended warranties for laptops, flat-screen TVs, other electronics, and appliances. And almost all of it will be money down the drain. Retailers are pushing hard to get you to buy extended warranties, or service plans, because they're cash cows. Stores keep 50 percent or more of what they charge for warranties. That's more than they can make selling actual products."



Ekkie Tepsupornchai over at Pocket PC Thoughts has done a great post about an issue I love to talk about. Extended warranties. Usually the only time I get these things is for laptops and monitors. Over the years and 4 laptops later I have never used them. To be fair though, I never have had a laptop for more than 2 years. I used to have a 21" CRT that failed after 6 months. I had a contract, walked right into Fry's and they gave me a brand new one, no questions or hassles. How do you feel about extended warranties? I would never consider one for a Smartphone.

Microsoft has released the updated version of the Windows Mobile 5.0 Developer Resource Kit. The new kit, dated January 19th 2006, includes everything that a developer needs to start writing Windows Mobile 5.0 applications, right from developer tools and SDKs to samples and hands-on how to videos. :)



If you order the DVD, then you will also get the 90 day trial edition of Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition. Developers please note that the Visual Studio 2005 is not part of the downloadable resource kit, and it is needed in order to install the Windows Mobile 5.0 SDKs.

"I humbly submit that Ev is missing the boat in his list by not including a rule on mobility. Number 12 on his list should be �Make it Mobile�. Actually, I think it should be #1, but that�s just me be fanatical. Mobility is where the most opportunities lie for startups over the next few years. The next big success will be mobile, but also a lot of the next little successes will be mobile as well. There�s just so many possibilities right now - around the world and even in the U.S. with mobile penetration rates climbing over 80%. This is the market to focus on."

What is Russell Beattie talking about? Simply put, he's talking about a list of the top ten rules - plus 1 bonus rule, for web startups posted by Evan Williams, the co-founder and CEO of Blogger. While Evan's list is good, I have to agree with Russell on this one. If you're not focused on how your product/application can be consumed in a mobile environment, then you're missing the boat.

You want that smart looking i-mate SP5 or the cool SP5m. Or you are probably waiting for T-Mobile to quickly launch the SDA. Or maybe you're crazy about E-Mails and have your eyes set on the Moto Q. Basically you want a Windows Mobile 5.0 based Smartphone. And you have enough money saved in your piggy bank for one. But are really frustrated at the lack of choices. :roll: The fact that the carriers haven't yet picked up the new models. And some online retailers are teasing you by not providing a firm shipping date. :evil:

Our reader xultar has started a group therapy program for all of you folks. Together we can get through these hard times. :lol: So don't hold those ARGGGs, let them out in this thread and breathe in a sigh of relief.

"While firms' interest in smartphones is said to be growing, some barriers to widespread adoption remain. For IT administrators, managing small wireless devices that travel wherever the user goes is probably the foremost challenge, not to mention security."

I remember reading articles about how thin IT departments are stretched and how a lot of desktop machines go without security patches etc. Can you imagine the difficulty for these same departments trying to keep up with hundreds of handheld devices on the loose?

"An optimist might say that the jury is still out about cellular data. But a new survey has me almost convinced that clueless cellular operators could blow their multi-billion dollar investments in 3G. I've ranted frequently about how cellular operators are making a huge strategic error by overpricing 3G service. But overpricing fast cellular data is a symptom, I believe, of how the cellular operators simply don't understand how to offer those services."

This article brings up some very good points. I second them and let me add another thought here. While WiFi is not readily available on phones yet it is definitely popping up almost everywhere. I find myself quite often using my iPAQ with WiFi to check email and even post here instead of waiting for my slow GPRS connection on my phone to do it. I pay 19/mo for WiFi. Why would I pay 80/mo for a slower connection? True, WiFi isn't available everywhere but that is changing. What do you think?

"There may be times in your application you need to generate a new unique Guid. The System.Guid class in .NETCF v1.0 doesn't have the NewGuid method which is what you would normally use on the desktop. There are a couple of proposed alternatives, either generating one yourself by following the standards for Guids - using a few P/Invokes to Crypto API methods to get random numbers, using the GuidEx class which uses the same technique or indirectly using SqlCe to create a new identity value."

Peter Foot in his blog has provided an easy way to generate a GUID, which involves only a single P/Invoke call to one of the COM subsystem API methods. So in case you need a GUID in a hurry, you now know where to look. :-)

Infosync has information from a Jupiter Research report that Americans aren't too keen on spending extra money on smartphones. What matters most to Americans is cost (nothing is better than free) and size (bigger is not better). The population is not willing to pay extra, or suffer a larger handset for advanced features like digital cameras or PDA functionality. The report then jumps to the conclusion that carriers should not bother to carry any sort of converged devices (aka smartphones) and just carry small, free BlueTooth enabled handsets.

Instead of jumping to this "dump the smartphones" conclusion, I would like to bring up a study from Strand Consult done back when more advanced phones were starting to hit Europe. First they studied buying habits, but before jumping to conclusions, they studied selling habits too. They learned that most carrier-store employees didn't know enough to sell the advantages of smarter phones. They discovered that once customers knew what they could do with smarter phones, many of them were willing to pay more for those capabilities. Would Americans be just as likely to consider a smartphone if they were properly told what they could do?

I'd bet not as likely as Europeans as here we are spoiled by cheaper computers and cheaper internet access. We also lead a more sedentary lifestyle, and data on the go is not as convincing when on the go is just between work and home. However I do believe that informed sales people could significantly increase the chances that customers would be interested in smartphones. It works for Apple, it works for most PDA manufacturers. Don't you think it would work for phones as well?