Smartphone Thoughts - Daily News, Views, Rants and Raves

"Windows® SideShow™ for Windows Mobile® is an application for Windows Mobile 5 and Windows Mobile 6 Pocket PCs and Smartphones that allows you to use your Windows Mobile device as a Bluetooth SideShow-compatible device. This enables you to use your phone as an extra window into your PC. You can both access your computer’s information from your Pocket PC or Smartphone, and control the computer through a gadget interface. While the phone is out of range, or when your computer is off, you can continue to view content sent to the phone previously. This makes it easy to send information to the phone that you'll need later on."



Last year, I trekked over to Beijing with fellow MVPs and other technical community leaders to meet with the Microsoft Research and Windows Vista teams. There, we discussed the direction that Windows Vista was going to take over the next few years. Microsoft obviously wanted to make the user experience better, but they wanted (needed?) ideas. While a great deal of the week-long meeting focused on the product itself, we did spend some time discussing how it could better communicate with the rest of Microsoft's products, and most importantly, take advantage of them. For the most part, it was all about Windows Mobile, and I was brimming with ideas. Can you see where this is heading?

Yes, we discussed Windows SideShow, which at the time was one of Windows Vista's most impressive features, yet sadly, one of the most underused, too. Not everyone has a digital picture frame or a laptop with an in-lid display. But a lot of us have phones, and if you're reading this, it's probably a Windows Mobile phone. I often wondered why Microsoft didn't endow its own mobile product with SideShow support right off the bat. Some third parties cooked up their own solutions, but adoption was far from widespread, and I was sincerely hoping that Microsoft would realize their oversight and rectify the situation by releasing an official solution to bring SideShow to Windows Mobile.

So, here we are, a year later and Microsoft has heeded advice and finally released a developer preview. It's at v0.01, so don't expect it to be rock solid, but it'll still give you a taste of things to come. Our pal, Arne, has given it a test run and likes what he sees. Maybe you will too. Download it, install it, and let us know what you think.

So the other day I had the urge to change my homescreen and add something fresh and new into the mix. Searching around the Interweb, I ran across this Samsung Blackjack carousel inspired homescreen created by stellsit dubbed "Card Wheel Vista". While the homescreen contains none of the flashy animated goodness that the European Samsung Blackjack owners were blessed with, it is still pretty cool none-the-less. If you were looking for a new fun homescreen, I suggest giving this one a download! I should warn you ahead of time, the designers site is in Korean. For those that do not know Korean, I have created a a download link below!



DOWNLOAD: "Card Wheel Vista" Homescreen

"The Windows Mobile Device Center enables you to set up new partnerships, synchronize content and manage music, pictures and video with Windows Mobile powered devices (Windows Mobile 2003 or later). The Windows Mobile Device Center combines an efficient business-data synchronization platform with a compelling user experience. The Windows Mobile Device Center helps you to quickly set up new partnerships, synchronize business-critical information such as e-mail, contacts and calendar appointments, easily manage your synchronization settings, and transfer business documents between your device and PC."



Yay! We can now synchronize our smartphone files with Windows Vista! This includes touch screen and non-touch screen devices. It's about time this came out. And while we all realize this should have been included in the Device Center from the start, kudos to Microsoft for at least getting it out now. Ok, I'm off to download so I can be in synchronize heaven. :D

"You try to synchronize content from Microsoft Windows Media Player 11 to a Microsoft Windows Mobile 5-based device with AKU 2.3 or a later AKU. When you do this, the phone connects. However, only the internal storage on the phone is available in Windows Media Player as a synchronization target. This issue occurs because the canonical name for Windows Mobile 5-based devices with AKU 2.3 and later AKUs is truncated in Microsoft Windows Media Device Manager. This hotfix eliminates a bug that causes this truncation to occur."

Windows Vista is claimed to be one of the most heavily tested software developed by Microsoft. It is sad to see that problems like this one went unnoticed. If you are having trouble with the Media Player in Windows Vista being unable to recognise the storage card on your smartphone, then you must apply this hot-fix.

Syncdata has updated their ever popular SmartphoneNotes application. Version 2.1 is a free upgrade to any existing 2.x user. The latest version adds support for Windows Mobile 6 and Windows Vista. If you've upgraded and been having some problems, nows the time to get it fixed. ;) If you don't already have SmartphoneNotes, you can download the trial version or purchase a copy for $15.95 from our affiliate store.

"Jeyo Mobile Extender adds mobile text messaging capabilities to your Outlook application through a Windows Mobile Smartphone or Pocket PC phone. With this add-on program, you can exchange messages with other mobile phone users anywhere around the world directly from your Outlook. Jeyo Mobile Extender makes text messaging as simple and easy as email."



For me this is a must have application and now it works with Vista and Office 2007. This is the best way I have found to manage and save important SMS messages on your devices. There is a trial version and it is only 19.95USD. Well worth the price in my opinion.

"Since I installed Windows Vista yesterday, I had to set up the Windows Mobile Device Center. I use an Exchange Server (Which by the way works well with Outlook 2007) so I rarely sync anymore, but for when I do, I have to be ready. This walk through has over 25 screenshots, I hope you enjoy."



Chris Leckness is walking us through the Windows Mobile Device Center in Windows Vista. I haven't played much with Windows Vista's RTM version and somehow I am not compelled to run Vista on my daily use computer. What about you? Are you already running Vista RTM or planning to upgrade immediately once Vista is released?

"There�s a big blow-up about Microsoft �bribing� bloggers, so I figured I�d better get on the record now before someone accuses me of �hiding� something. On the 22nd of December I made a comment on my blog about receiving a new piece of hardware, but I mentioned that I wasn�t sure if I was allowed to talk about it yet - because the hardware wasn�t released yet and not up on the OEMs Web site for sale. Obviously now that this story has gone public, I can, so here�s the story."

This isn't exactly on-topic for Smartphone Thoughts, but I felt that the issue was important enough (since it involves my personal integrity) that I should step up and make sure everyone knows the history of this issue and my stance on it. It's a very long post (I started working on it yesterday), but I think it covers everything about this issue. Comments here (or there) are welcome.

"I never thought I'd write this, but our "Freeware of the Moment" is Windows Vista Business and Office Professional 2007. Really! You'll have to sit through three Microsoft webcasts or virtual labs on the products, but that's a small price to pay considering you'll actually learn about the software features. There are some relatively minor restrictions, however this is an offer you just can't refuse. These packages can cost you upwards of $300 or more out-of-pocket, so I'd consider this time well spent."



Now you can't say anymore Microsoft never gave you anything! It might be worth the price of admission so if you are interested, go check it out.

"The Microsoft � Windows Mobile � Device Center enables data synchronization between Windows Mobile � powered devices and Windows Vista�. The Microsoft Windows Mobile Device Center Beta 3 enables you to set up new partnerships, synchronize content and manage music, pictures and video with any Windows Mobile 2003 or Windows Mobile 5.0 powered device. Windows Mobile Device Center Beta 3 is only supported on builds of Windows Vista� RC1 or later."



It is about time! I have been waiting for this since I first installed Windows Vista RC1. Below you will find download links for both the x86 and x64 versions of the program. So far, I haven't had much lucky getting it installed, but my laptop is a little over three years old. Let us know how it works for you! :)

Download
Microsoft � Windows Mobile � Device Center Beta 3 for Windows Vista� (x86)
Microsoft � Windows Mobile � Device Center Beta 3 for Windows Vista� (AMD64)

"There was an announcement made this week about Visual Studio 2005 SP1 and support for Vista. In a nutshell, SP1 won't resolve all the issues of running VS on Vista. However, I want to point out that if you're developing Windows Mobile applications, there isn't much to worry about. I've been using Visual Studio on Vista for months now, developing and debugging both managed and native applications. Apart from a few setup issues, everything works great. The minor setup issues have workarounds that were mentioned on the VSD blog a while back. I've been told by the VSD team that these issues will be also fixed in SP1 instead of the post-Vista update, so that's great news."

Mel has also put together a 8 minute video showing demos Visual Studio running on Windows Vista. You can check out Mel's blog for links to the video and workarounds that he mentions.

"I've been using Windows Vista Beta 2 for a few days now. Someone posted a comment on my blog asking how to build a .NET Compact Framework 1.0 application on a Vista machine. It is possible to use Visual Studio 2005 on Vista, but there are a few additional steps if you want to target .NET CF 1.0."



Did you know that .NET Framework 1.1 must be installed on the desktop that is used to develop .NET Compact Framework 1.0 based mobile applications using Visual Studio 2005? :? Since Windows Vista does not include .NET Framework 1.1, developers will run into this problem. Check out Mel Sampat's blog to resolve the problem.

"Windows Mobile Device Center is the new name for ActiveSync in Microsoft� Windows Vista�, and provides overall device management features for your Windows Mobile-based devices in Windows Vista, including smartphones and pocket PCs. All of the features previously available in ActiveSync are available in Windows Vista, including synchronization and setting up your partnership. However, most of the user interface has changed in an effort to enhance your ability to easily and intuitively find device-related tasks and improve the overall usability of those tasks. Please note that only a portion of Windows Mobile Device Center is included in this release of Windows Vista. This primarily includes core device connectivity components, which allows the operating system to recognize that a Windows Mobile-based device has connected and load the appropriate device drivers loaded and services. Included with this is our Windows Mobile Device Center base application that enables some basic functionality, including the ability to browse the contents of your device, use desktop passthrough to sync with Microsoft Exchange, and change some general computer and connection settings."



Folks, we now know for sure that users of Windows Vista will not need ActiveSync to perform mobile device synchronization; Windows Vista will come with Windows Mobile Device Center that will enable all the ActiveSync tasks. Recently I had written the article "Inside Windows Vista: Windows Mobile Device Center and Sync Center," which demonstrated the new features for mobile device support in Windows Vista. In the article I had mentioned that I was unable to carry out some of the most significant tasks like synchronizing the Outlook data, and thanks to this Microsoft TechNet article, we now know that the Windows Vista February CTP is not feature complete. ;-)

Microsoft has released the Windows Vista February CTP (Community Technology Preview) release, also known as the Beta 2 - Build 5308. This release is being called by Microsoft as "feature complete," what it means is that all the key capabilities planned for the Windows Vista year end release are now officially available for testing in this release. There are bugs and performance slow-downs which will be fixed before the final release and the user experience will also be improved before Windows Vista hits the store shelves. But there will not be any drastic changes to the current functionality.



Windows Vista recognizes that nowadays everyone carries multiple portable devices: PDAs, media players and Smartphones, and that it is important to provide a central place for managing these devices, setting up the synchronization rules and viewing the conflicts/errors. Windows Vista promises to improve the user experience for mobile devices with the help of Sync Center. So let's take a quick look at the Windows Mobile device support in Windows Vista and see if the Beta 2 comes close to fulfilling that promise.

Windows Mobile Device Center

Figure 1: Windows Vista is a visual delight. Click on the image for the high resolution image. (313KB)

Every square inch of the user interface has been redesigned. Right from the Start button and the Start menu to the Control Panel have been redesigned. The translucent glass effect is quite refreshing. Windows Vista is supposed to enable a simple yet powerful user interface in a stable and secure environment. To learn more about Windows Vista check out the official site.


Figure 2: Let's plug in the Windows Mobile Smartphone. Click on the image for the high resolution image. (29KB)

Windows Vista detects and installs the necessary drivers; plug and play at work.


Figure 3: The Windows Mobile Device Center. Click on the image for the high resolution image. (95KB)

Without even installing the ActiveSync application or any other Windows Mobile related application, Windows Vista provides a simple user interface for synchronizing the media files and to explore the storage on the mobile device.


Figure 4: The pesky "Windows needs your permission..." dialog. Click on the image for the high resolution image. (103KB)

Windows Vista's emphasis on security means that even users logged in as administrators will be bombarded with prompts similar to the one above every time they try to change a system setting. In this case I had clicked on the "Mobile Device Settings" link.


Figure 5: Doesn't this dialog look similar to the Connection Settings in the ActiveSync application? Click on the image for the high resolution image. (104KB)

Folks, ActiveSync is not going away, a part of it is going to be an integral part of Windows Vista.


Figure 6: The File Management link in the Windows Mobile Device Center is similar to the File menu Explore option in ActiveSync. Click on the image for the high resolution image. (55KB)

Don't you like the way it shows the total memory and the available memory?


Figure 7: Another screen shot showing the My Documents folder on my Smartphone. Click on the image for the high resolution image. (63KB)


Figure 8: The Pictures, Music and Video link brings up the Windows Media Player 11. I have not played with the Windows Media Player 11 or its media file sync capability. Click on the image for the high resolution image. (73KB)

As you can see Windows Vista has made the process of pairing the mobile device with Windows easier and some of the commonly performed tasks have been made available in an easy to use applet, the Windows Mobile Device Center. But where is the email, contacts, calendar, tasks and notes synchronization capability. I tried a lot but could not find any screen that would let me configure it. You may have noticed that I was not asked to specify any names for the partnership. In Windows Vista, I believe, this form of connection is called the Quick Connect, it is very similar to the Guest partnership in the ActiveSync application. The help also did not provide me any guidance for enabling Outlook data sync. Either the Windows Mobile Device Center is missing some features (but Beta 2 is supposed to be feature complete) or I am missing some step.

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