MobileViews Blog

Category: Mobile Devices

  • Sigh… My Dash Looks Very Sick

    My T-Mobile Dash (Windows Mobile 6 smartphone) started acting oddly about 6 weeks ago. I turn it off each night and it started taking a while to cold start in the morning. It started cycling through the boot process repeatedly every now and then about a month ago. It locked up last night (WiMo screen visible but unresponsive to any button presses. I had to pull the battery to shut it down. Placing the battery back in and starting it up (pressing the power button works), it started cycling through the boot process but never completed. After pulling the battery and repeating this process a few times, I pulled the SIM out and tried it with two other phones. The SIM works with both phones. And, the Dash shows the same power cycling power without the SIM it. So, the SIM is not the problem.

    The odd thing, though, is that both phones show me as roaming even after verifying that I’m on the T-Mobile network. Not sure what is going on there yet since I’ve never seen this happen when switching to unlocked phones before.

  • Excellent Detailed Asus Eee PC 900 Reivew at EeeUser.com

    EeeUser.com has an excellent detailed (really detailed) review of the Asus Eee PC 900 at…

    EeePC 900 in-depth review

    It is scheduled for release in the US on May 12 (next week Monday). After watching the Eee PC 4G, Eee PC 8G, and HP Mini-note released, I think I am ready to make a purchase of some kind of low-priced ultraportable. I hope this thing actually ships in quantities that doesn’t cause an order backlog.

  • Intermittent Problems are the Worst: SIM Problem?

    My WiMo smartphone loses all connectivity every once in a while. Once in a while is defined as once every week or two. It has happened three times in the past month. I noticed that a SIM message was on my screen when it happened the other day. I opened the battery cover, pulled the battery, and reseated the SIM card. Actually, I did this about three times before my phone booted normally. It kept recycling through the boot process the first two times never displaying the Windows Mobile Today screen.

    The problem is too intermittent to test cleanly. I’ve been thinking about switching to another WiMo phone for a while to see if the problem is the SIM itself or the connector in my main phone (a Dash). The SIM is about 4 years old. So, it has been in and out of various phones over those years. It may be that its connector is wearing out. Ack.

  • Windows Live for Windows Mobile Not Available Until May 15


    Hmm, the Windows Live for Windows Mobile (Windows Live Hotmail, Contacts, and Spaces) download is unavailable until May 15. I wonder why???

  • Associated Press Mobile News Network: iPhone vs. Windows Mobile Format

    AP News
    The Associated Press (AP) launched what many are calling a mobile news site for the iPhone. And, while that is true, the site…

    http://www.apnews.com/

    …is actually smart enough to reformat itself for other mobile form factors too. The image on the left above is a screen capture from a TyTn Pocket PC Phone Edition while the image on the right is a photo of an iPod touch viewing the same site. Once again, web designers have been able to create a great looking site and user experience (navigation is a breeze and even the video links work) for the iPhone (iPod touch in my case) while the web experience for everyone else is old school. That said, the AP Mobile News Network site is very usable on a Windows Mobile smartphone. It just isn’t as attractive as the version for the iPhone/iPod touch.

  • Yahoo Go 3.0 Beta Earns a Tentative Thumbs Up


    I noticed that Yahoo! Go 3.0 Beta became available for two of my Windows Mobile 6 smartphones (non-touch): The Dash and the the Vox. None of my professional edition (touch screen devices) are supported by this beta release. After bad-mouthing the Go 2.0 release and suggesting it go away if the Microsoft-Yahoo merger happened (which it will not now), I have to say that 3.0 Beta looks and feels a lot better. It is still extremely slow after testing it over both EDGE and 802.11g WiFi connections. However, the navigation seems to make more sense now (though I still have issues with it) and the Widget technology looks reasonably good. It looks like Go Widgets are stored in the cloud since my widget add-ons moved over to my Vox after adding it while using the Dash. Go 3.0 is a much sticker app than 2.0 was. And, I’m giving it a tentative thumbs up. It is staying on my phones for the time being.