MobileViews Blog

Author: todd

  • Zoho Writer + Google Gears Mobile + Windows Mobile = Winner

    Zoho Writer Google Gears Mobile enabled

    I installed Google Gears for Windows Mobile today and tried out the Gears-enabled Zoho Writer on a Windows Mobile 6 Professional Edition (an HTC TyTn) device. The result is not perfect but is far far ahead of what anyone else (including Google and Microsoft) have available for Windows Mobile.

    After installing Google Gears Mobile, I went to…

    mobile.zoho.com

    …and logged into my Zoho account. It showed my five most recently edited Zoho Writer documents. I clicked the Go Offline link and watched the documents download relatively quickly over a WiFi connection. Taking the TyTn completely offline (no WiFi, no cell data), I used Internet Explorer to navigate between the five documents very quickly. No editing is possible yet. So, it is all read-only. This is a great start though and I’m looking forward to watching both Google Gears Mobile and Zoho create more great connected/disconnected web applications to use on the go.

  • Google Gears for Windows Mobile 5 and 6 (this is huge!)

    This is huge news in so many ways…

    Google Code Blog: Power up your mobile web applications

    Google Code: Google Gears on Mobile Devices

    Google Gears is an API for creating rich web applications and provides the ability for taking those rich web applications offline. Google Gears on Mobile Devices supports Windows Mobile 5 and 6. A quick read of their documentation shows that it apparently supports both the Pocket PC (Classic/Professional) and Smartphone (Standard).
    Zoho (quickly becoming my favorite Web 2.0 service) has already announced: Zoho Writer Extends Mobile Support, Adds Offline Capability for Windows Mobile Using Google Gears. This release only allows viewing documents, but they are promising editing in the future. But, the big news is that their use of Google Gears for Windows Mobile means that you can take the online Zoho Writer documents with you offline (e.g., when you are on a plane or otherwise unable to get on the Internet). I’m planning on taking this feature for a spin soon and will report back here.

    Ironically, it looks like Google is Microsoft’s best friend in regard to saving their Windows Mobile platform from being obsolete as a web access device (compared to the Apple iPhone). Up until this announcement I had written off Windows Mobile as an obsolete web access device. Google Gears for Mobile Devices changes everything.

  • Bind Bluetooth to MyBlogLog? Sounds Scary

    If you head over to the mobile version of Yahoo!’s MyBlogLog service (I use the regular web version of their service here — look at the left sidebar)…

    http://m.mybloglog.com/

    …you will find they say this about their mobile service:  Bind your Bluetooth address to your MyBlogLog account and discover others nearby and find out if you have any shared interests. Keep track of time spent with others so you have a running log of people to meet and things to talk about.

    Is it just me? Or, does this seem like a this has the potential for really bad things to happen?

  • HTC Advantage 7500 Camera Went Bad

    HTC Advantage 7500 camera went bad

    The main camera in my HTC Advantage 7500 (1st generation) went bad about six weeks ago. The rest of the system is fine including the secondary camera next to the LCD. I’ve tried the obvious remedies like wiping the camera lens area and performing a hard reset. Never seen anything like it before. Switching to a 1st generation TyTn until I get an idea of how deal with this problem. Too bad, the HTC Advantage has the best digital photo quality I’ve seen in a Windows Mobile device so far.

  • 2008 Daylight Savings Time Fixes for Windows Mobile 5 & 6

    I thought this Daylight Savings issue was fixed in last year’s patch. Guess not. Here are the links for the CAB file download as well as the desktop (setup.msi) installer version.

    Update for Windows Mobile for PC (KB949168) (SETUP.MSI)

    Update for Windows Mobile for PC (KB949168) (WMDST2008-1.CAB)

    FYI: I just installed the CAB file installer version on my Dash. It restarted my smartphone without even giving a warning that it was about to do so.

  • MSNBC Reports AT&T Wireless & Sprint As 2 & 3 in U.S. ID Theft Victims Numbers

    MSNBC: Which firms have the most ID theft victims?

    MSNBC reports that Bank of America is #1 in U.S. ID Theft victims. But, what interested me was that A&T Wireless was #2 and Sprint PCS was #3. Verizon Wireless checks in at #7 while T-Mobile USA is at #11.