MobileViews Blog

Category: Mobile Devices

  • Why Do Techie Sites Give Up on Mobile Formatting?

    I read a lot of web-based news sites on either a Smartphone (240×320 resolution) or Pocket PC/Phone Edition (480×640 resolution). Over the past year or so general news sites seem to have really redesigned their websites for mobile devices to optimize readability and navigation. Three in particular come to mind.

    MSNBC http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

    Time Magazine mobile site

    Time Magazine at http://mobile.time.com/

    USA Today http://wap.usatoday.com/

    A number of tech sites, on the other hand, seem to have erased their mobile formatted sites in the same time period. Computerworld, PC World, and Wired come quickly to mind. I’ll guess that the rise of RSS awareness and tools may be used as a reason. But, anyone who uses their phone or PDA to frequently view the web knows that RSS is a great adjunct. It is not a replacement for interactively viewing a web site well designed for viewing on a mobile device.

  • Sony Playstation Portable (PSP) 3.01 Firmware Upgrade

    Sony released the Sony PSP 3.01 Firmware upgrade just days after the 3.0 release. The stated reason was to address a security vulnerability. I’ll guess this translates to the 3.0 was cracked by PSP enthusiasts who like to run their own apps on the PSP.

    Many of the new 3.0.x features tied into the recently release Sony Playstation 3 game console. It also adds the ability to access online (via WiFi) manuals for both the PSP and PS3.  Support for a Sony USB camera is also in this upgrade. But, the camera is not available in the US as far as I can tell.

    The most surprising thing about the upgrade to me is how long the download took over its 802.11b WiFi connection. I didn’t time it with a stopwatch, but I believe it took well over an hour over a relatively fast broadband connection.

  • US Copyright Office Gives Cell Phone Users the Right to Take Their Phone to a New Carrier

    GSM users (e.g., those with service from Cingular or T-Mobile) have been able to get their phones unlocked reasonably easily to let them put a SIM card from a different carrier to change their service. CMDA phone users (e.g., those with service from Sprint PCS or Verizon Wireless) don’t have SIM card that contain their identify and have had a more difficult time in moving their phone from one service to another.

    CNN reports that…

    Cell phone owners getting new rights

    …that this is changing now that the Library of Congress Copyright Office ruled that Cell phone owners will be allowed to break software locks on their handsets in order to use them with competing carriers under new copyright rules announced Wednesday.

  • ActiveSync Info for an Old Pocket PC

    Reader Phil Smith (in a comment to a previous blog item) asks: My wife has an HP IPAQ 1910 PDA, running the older version of ActiveSync that allows backups and restores. The battery died and it lost everything. Can you tell me what is the latest version of ActiveSync that includes backups and restores. Also, what is the extension on the backups. I have to hook up an old hard drive to find the backup and don’t know what to look for.

    I thought the response to this might be of enough general interest to merit its own blog item. So, here are my responses.

    • The most current production ActiveSync 4.2 actually provides Backup/Restore functions for pre-Windows Mobile 5 devices. It does not provide it for current generation Windows Mobile 5 devices though.
    • The extension for backup files created using ActiveSync’s Backup/Restore feature is .stg. In fact, unless you chose something different the default backup filename is backup.stg.
    • Click -> ActiveSync 4.2 web page for the current version. Veresion 3.8 seems to have disappeared from Microsoft’s site. So, if 4.2 doesn’t work for you, you can find version 3.6 here -> ActiveSync 3.6.

  • Yahoo! Mobile: The Unsung Mobile Portal Page

    Yahoo! MobileYahoo! Mobile gets no respect (with respect to the late Rodney Dangerfield). But, it should. Google Mobile gets a lot of press like most Google products. Microsoft’s Live Mobile is in a design transition phase (and it really needs to sync up with MSNBC’s mobile solution while it is at it). Yahoo! Mobile has a few beta-stage components. But, for the most part is a mature, simple to navigate, and content rich mobile portal site. It has much more content formatted for the small screen than either Google or Microsoft’s mobile portals. It also has a simple and fast news interface that makes it easy to go from story to story even on a relatively slow GPRS or EDGE connection. It’s only shortcoming compared to its two major competitors is that its web cookie does not stick properly on a Windows Mobile device. My login/password seems to be forgotten much more quickly after leaving the Yahoo! Mobile site. To be fair, Microsoft’s Live Mobile seems to have a similar problem. Only Google’s Mobile portable has the right amount of session stickyness. So, I find myself rarely using it on a QWERTY-less Smartphone while using it quite a lot on a Pocket PC (where login/password entry can be performed much faster).

    If you haven’t tried Yahoo! Mobile, head over to the following URL on your phone: http://wap.oa.yahoo.com

  • Craig Peacock (Microsoft Windows Mobile) Drops an Anniversary Note

    I mentioned Craig Peacock (now a member of the Microsoft Windows Mobile product group) and (as far as I call tell) his creation of the first non-Microsoft Windows CE site 10 years ago in an blog entry a few days ago. I asked him to jot down a few thoughts on the last 10 years of Windows Mobile and he was kind enough to comply. You can read his thoughts below…

    From Craig Peacock, Microsoft Windows Mobile Product Group

    The last 10 years have flown by at such a pace that it’s hard to believe. I remember with fond memories that day in November 1996 it was my first trip to the USA it was Comdex Las Vegas I walked into the exhibition area I saw the Microsoft stand and saw a group of ladies walking round with bright yellow shirts on asking if I needed helping finding any stands. The devices in their hands were Casio devices and so next stop the Casio stand, whilst waiting to see the devices (the lines were several people deep) I saw some people who looked rather out of place in their suits and one of them ordering the person at the other end of the phone to get as many of these devices to the stores in the Vegas area as the existing stores were all selling out.. Off I went to a sharper image store if I recall correctly and I was the owner of a nice new Casio A11.

    Then with the Microsoft SDK in hand (and the cezoom screen grab utility) I spent some time getting the device connected to the Internet – dialup in those days and figured that was pretty tricky stuff I think I want to document that with some screenshots. Login was via a terminal window and after login I was browsing the web on Pocket Internet Explorer and life was great. With hindsight of these last 10 years some of the challenges and problems that I saw users face with those early devices still happen today.. Questions like “Why doesn’t the documentation tell me this?”, “How do I get online easily?”, “How do I connect this up to my laptop and use it as modem?”, “how do I setup my e-mail?” – all familiar to most of you.

    Just for a trip back to those days of old – the original email setup page is http://www.craigtech.co.uk/ce-emailhowto.html and the getting connected page is taken from an HP 320LX from early 1997.

    I remember some of the criticism from around the time with people saying these gadgets from Microsoft and Casio would never catch on and why do people need to take their email’s or documents around with them – funny how things change – I can’t imagine not having my email pushed to my Windows Mobile device wherever I am on the globe these days..

    What’s changed – The software / The hardware / The number of ISVs & applications and of course the integration of Cellular technology into the mobile devices. Push Email and of course the Internet’s become a much bigger place.. I haven’t had time to update my website in about 6 years or so.. (www.craigtech.co.uk). The software – from those early days of keyboards which didn’t even support the uk pound symbol on them to Pocket PCs and Smartphones being available in lots of languages all over the world and now stuffed with lots of features and my oh my look how many different applications exist today.

    What’s not changed – Online support from MVPs and enthusiasts is still fantastic and provides the now multiple millions of users Windows Mobile devices with help and support. Manufacturer’s websites and support sites still aren’t the first place people think about when looking for help and getting answers. From those early days I remember seeing Iliumsoft (www.iliumsoft.com) & Bsquare (www.bsquare.com) at the original launch event and it’s great to see those early pioneers still doing great things with the Microsoft platform.

    If ten years ago Todd would have said to me – Craig in ten years time we’ll have devices with color screens, multi-gigabyte hard drives in them, cellular network speeds of over 1.5mbps, streaming media to the device and multi-gigabyte storage cards smaller than a postage stamp and all those with much better battery life and an even better Web Browsing experience I would have said maybe I can believe the Browsing one and the battery life but I’m not so sure..

    I wonder what the next ten years will bring in this vibrant and exciting mobile space – I just can’t wait to find out..

    Craig