IÂ discussed moblogging using Google’s Blogger yesterday. So, it only seems fair to mention Yahoo! 360 today.
If you login to your Yahoo! account and head over to http://mobile.yahoo.com/mblog, you will see simple specific instructions on how to email text and photos directly from your cameraphone to your Yahoo! 360 blog.
Ok, I’m back on topic after my Microsoft Windows Mobile marketing rant yesterday. 🙂
Unlike the previous mobile blogging client-side products discussed, Blogger Mobile uses the more familiar mail-the-blog-in model. Actually, there is a twist. It actually uses a gateway instead of mailing directly to a specific blog address. If you use Blogger as your blogging service, head over to read the following two items.
According to the FAQ, the service works with AT&T/Cingular, Sprint PCS, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless in the US. An email or MMS message is sent to the address go@blogger.com to make the magic work. The message can include a photo as well as text.
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In response to a blog item about Microsoft Money being unavailable for Windows Mobile devices, reader Marcos asks: Good information but SPB Finance is only compatible with Windows Mobile 5 not smartphone. I had purchased Money 2007 and also SPB Finance and now that I upgraded my cell phone for a smartphone (Dash)I am in trouble with no sync. Any idea how can I have Money 2007 in my Dash?
Before discussing it in detail, let’s see what I wrote in my earlier blog that he is responding to:
If you plan to upgrade to Microsoft Money 2006 or 2007 and use it with your Pocket PC, don’t. According to the Microsoft web page Money for handheld devices and Palm Pilots, Money 2007 will not sync with any Pocket PC version and Money 2006 only synchronizes with Pocket PCs that run versions preceding Windows Mobile 5.
If you want something to help manage your finances on your Pocket PC and can sync with both Microsoft Money and Quicken, take a look at Spb Finance.
It would be easy to play the role of an uppity self-proclaimed expert and diss Marcos for not reading blog or to send him to Microsoft’s web site to explain that the Windows Mobile branding applies to both Pocket PCs and Smartphones. But, I’m aiming the real dissing where it belongs: At Microsoft’s marketing of the Windows Mobile brand and its effort to unify the Pocket PC and Smartphone platforms.
Microsoft Windows Mobile consists of two main branches: Pocket PCs with touch screens that may or may not have a cell phone radio (CDMA or GSM) and Smartphones without touch screens and always with some kind of keyboard for dialing and other input. Back when the first generation Smartphone 2002 launched, it was pretty easy to tell the difference between a Pocket PC Phone Edition and a Smartphone. In 2006, we have an entirely different story. Go take a look at a Treo 700w, Motorola Q, T-Mobile Dash, and Samsung BlackJack. Which ones are Pocket PC Phone Edition devices and which ones are Smartphones? Ding! Yep, only the Treo 700w is a Phone Edition among this very similar looking bunch of devices. No wonder Marcos is confused. Even Cingular appears to be confused. Take a look at their product page for the BlackJack. Their ad copy for the phone Mobile Word, Excel, and PowerPoint support. And, yet, Microsoft doesn’t provide those applications for their Smartphones. It may have a reader/displayer for those files, but you can’t edit Word or Excel documents on a Smartphone using Microsoft applications.With Windows Mobile 5, Microsoft even changed the bottom of the screen to require two giant softkeys at the bottom tied to two hardware buttons for both the Pocket PC and Smartphone. This took away an enourmous amount of screen real estate from developers who had used that bar of pixels to display menus, status, and other useful information. Now, we just have two giant softkeys wasting space most of the time on a Pocket PC device.
The Pocket PC/Phone Edition and Smartphone should be clearly differentiated so that people like Marcos and the vast majority of customers don’t need to become Windows Mobile experts to figure out which device they should buy and use. This lack of product differentiation is biting a lot of disappointed consumers. Look at my response to Meg’s question just a few blog items ago: Office Mobile for a Smartphone?
This is basically the same issue Marcos faces: People who are interested in or already bought a Windows Mobile Smartphone when they really need a Windows Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition. Why? Because most Windows Mobile Smartphones that were sold prior to the Motorola Q didn’t have QWERTY keyboards. That made them less than useful for applications that are data-entry intensive like Word, Excel, and Money from Microsoft as well as many third party applications. This means you don’t see as many data-entry intensive applications for the Smartphone since their numbers are probably still small compared to the Smartphones with more traditional dialpads.
So, Marcos. Please read my text again. There is NO Microsoft Money 2006 or 2007 compatible with ANY Windows Mobile 5 platform. And, if you want to perform that kind of task with a 3rd party application like Spb Finance, you should look at a Pocket PC Phone Edition or Pocket PC (no phone), not a Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone device like the T-Mobile Dash.
I guess this is my mobile blogging topic week. Here’s another mobile blogging client…
Pocket SharpMT and Phone SharpMT
…are freeware mobile blogging applications for Windows Mobile Pocket PCs and Smartphones (with .Net CompactFramework 2.0). As you might guess from the MT part of the app name, this client works with the MoveableType API.
If your child texts you to get your attention, you probably have a Blackberry Orphan according to the Wall Street Journal article…
Blackberry-ies, PDAs, and Smartphones’ ability to keep you connected 24×7 can produce addictive behavior that keeps you staring and typing at it all day (and night) long. Like most maladaptive addictive behavior, this can lead to personal relationship problems (though the people at the other end of your mobile device is probably equally addicted and feeds on your stream of email, IMs, and SMS messages). The WSJ article focuses on the impact Blackberry addiction has on the children of addicted adults.
I don’t think I’m that kind of parent myself, but, umm, ‘scuse me, incoming message, gotta attend to that 🙁 Seriously though. It is a good idea for gadget-prone parents to take a step back once in a while for a little self-assessment. And, yes, I include myself in that group.
Reader Meg asks: I am thinking of buying a HTC Dash but would like to be able to edit word & excel docs on the road. Is there a free software you would recommend? Even one I have to pay for?
Although there are Word and Excel viewers for Windows Mobile Smartphones and one third party spreadsheet for Smartphones…
Westtek ClearVue Office
Repligo for Microsoft Smartphone
…I don’t know of any actual Office Mobile alternative for the Smartphone that provides editing features. The real question here is whether or not a Smartphone is the appropriate tool for your requirements.
If editing Word and Excel documents on the road is a key requirement, you should really looking at a Pocket PC Phone Edition instead of a Smartphone. T-Mobile has a single PPCPE available: The T-Mobile MDA.
There is one other alternative. However, it requires buying two or three separate devices. You could purchase a T-Mobile Dash Smartphone and a Pocket PC with integrated thumb keyboard or a Pocket PC and a Bluetooth keyboard. This combination would allow you the convenience of a Smartphone with the application richness of a Pocket PC.
Finally, be aware that Office Mobile components are subsets of the full Microsoft Office components. You will not be able to do everything you can do on the desktop. And, formatting can be lost in a roundtrip from your desktop to the Windows Mobile device and then back to the desktop.