Category: Pocket PC/Phone Edition

Reader D.K. asks: not sure who to ask on this one, but on an htc device (imate sp5) – do you know if there’s a way to recover contacts on there if the device had them wiped off by outlook via activesync over usb? i have not done anythign to the device since it was wiped, im hoping that the data is still on there, but needs to be reassociated with its metadata.

First, ouch! I’m not even sure how something like that can happen. But, I won’t ask. I’ll assume some unfortunate accidental user error was the cause. Second, the data may or may not be there. But, I don’t know of any utility off-hand to recover from that sort of error. Third, this is a good time to get on the soapbox for a general message to my fellow users of Windows Mobile Devices…

Two weeks ago when writing about the recently released Windows Mobile 6 Reference Model, I noted that none of the four user categories noted in the manual included a consumer end-user group. Microsoft designed Windows Mobile for enterprise use, not for individual consumers. The by-product of this design focus means that there is an implicit assumption that the Windows Mobile user is part of an enterprise that uses Microsoft Exchange Server and has an IT staff that performs tasks like configuration, backup, and restore. If you, like me, bought one as an individual consumer without enterprise support, you need to be prepared to do things like think about issues like disaster recovery and business continuance as an individual without supporting staff. I plan to discuss how I’ve tried to plan for my own DR/BC in a post or two later this week.

Reader H.D. wrote: Just wanted to thank you for this post: ActiveSync 4.1 for Microsoft Windows Mobile 5 devices released. It might be old – but its just solved my Xda sync problem instantly. The MS site implied I was going to have to upgrade Zone Alarm.

Microsoft Windows seemingly unending exploits requiring firewalls, anti-virus, anti-spyware, spam filters, and other security bandaids causes all kinds of problems for its users. My old (November 21, 2005) advice for getting ActiveSync to work with PCs running the Zone Alarm firewall seems to still have some useful information. If ActiveSync stops working, take a look at your various security options to see if one of them might be interfering with ActiveSync’s network access.

I’ve found that after establishing a partnership between a PC and a Windows Mobile device, syncing wirelessly using Bluetooth seems to be more stable than syncing over USB for some devices (my i-Mate K-JAM locks ActiveSync when its syncs over USB but not over Bluetooth).

Microsoft bought the telephony company Tellme.com (best known for its VoiceXML work and early telephone speech recognition work). Tellme announced Tellme By Mobile during a keynote demonstration at the Web 2.0 Expo this morning. This client side software provides some added features when using it with Tellme’s backend voice server.

Couple of observations though. First, the service is only available to AT&T Wireless and Sprint PCS customers. The second observation is even more interesting for a Microsoft owned company though. Not being an AT&T or Sprint customer turned out to not be the main roadblock for me to try out this application. The problem is that I use devices based on Microsoft Windows Mobile which is not supported by the Microsoft owned Tellme application. In the immortal words of Homer Simpson, “Doh!” So, if you are fortunate enough to own a supported phone (including models from Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, LG, and RIMM (as in Blackberry)), check out the Tellme application. It looked pretty impressive during the demo this morning.

I never understood why Microsoft kept creating new maps with each new release of MapPoint/Streets & Trips that were incompatible with earlier versions of Pocket Streets. Now add one more data point to this sillyness. Microsoft stopped releasing Pocket Streets after the 2005 map editions. However, Streets & Trips 2007 can still create maps for Pocket Streets. The gotcha? It doesn’t seem compatible with the version I’m running on my Windows Mobile 5 devices. Ah well. I really do need to find an affordable map applications for the Pocket PC and Smartphone that works with a Bluetooth GPS. Any recommendations?

If you want to get a soft copy of the new 61 page (PDF) Windows Mobile 6 Reference Manual, head over to Jason Langridge’s blog (Microsoft’s Mr. Mobile) for a download link. The manual describes 6’s features in various categories. The New Features By Audience section starts on PDF page 4 and is categorized by Mobile Operators, OEMs, Business Customers, IT Professional, and Developers. Note Consumers is not a category considered at all. The bad news is that reading the first four columns of features may put you to sleep. The good news (features) tends to be in the Developers column. If developers take advantage like AJAX support, SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition, and the new Sound API, we should see some interesting 3rd party apps in the future. But, out of the box, 6 doesn’t look like anything to write home about (and remember, I say this as a person who likes Windows Mobile).

There are a lot of screencaps to illustrate the features as they are described in detail throughout the rest of he document.

Let’s hope we see something more interesting in Windows Mobile 7. Maybe, the Apple iPhone and Nokia  N95 will inspire Microsoft. Until then, 6 depends on the talent and marketing skills of 3rd party developers to make the platform interesting.