MobileViews Blog

Category: Pocket PC/Phone Edition

Pocket PC or Pocket PC Phone Edition

  • What’s the Difference Between Windows Mobile 5 & 6

    I just saw a comment about the Windows Mobile 6 SDK post ask what’s the difference between Windows Mobile 5 and 6?I guess the official statements can be found on the Microsoft web pages at…

    Introducing… Windows Mobile 6

    …and…

    Microsoft Reveals New Windows Mobile 6 Smartphone Software

    My irreverent answer is “1” (6 – 5 = 1). My slightly less irreverent response is: Not much unless you have access to Exchange Server for email (I don’t). I am, however, interested to hear what the Windows Mobile product group has to say to me and other Mobile Devices MVPs later this week to change my mind.

    I should also note that there are differences from a developer’s point of view. Changes to the screen form factors and inner workings make a difference to them. From the end-user point of view, however, there is not much that makes you say “ooh, wow”.

  • Yahoo! Go for Mobile 2.0 for (some) Windows Mobile Devices

    Yahoo! announced the gamma release of…

    Yahoo! Go for Mobile 2.0 Goes Windows Mobile

    You can find the Yahoo! Go site at go.yahoo.com

    How far it Goes on Windows Mobile is debatable though. The interface looks pretty and slick at first glance. But, then you start to notice things like the soft-buttons at the bottom don’t work. And, wow, is it slow! Of course, this was tested on a relatively slow SDA Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone. So, what about other devices?

    When I tried to install it on an i-Mate K-JAM Pocket PC Phone Edition (WM5), I got a message saying that it was not available for that yet but to check back. So, I tried it on a Dell Axim X50v running Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition (I have the WM5 upgrade disk but never upgraded it). The message there pretty much said that device would never be supported.

    If you have a supported device and want a pretty interface, try Yahoo! Go for Mobile 2.0. If you want a useful fast experience even at the relatively slow EDGE data rates, go back to http://wap.oa.yahoo.com/. Yahoo’s WAP text-based interface is fast and easy to navigate.

  • NewsBreak 2.0 Released

    Ilium Software released a new version of their RSS newsfeed reader client NewsBreak 2.0 on March 6. As I’ve mentioned before, NewsBreak is one of the few 3rd party applications I leave permanently installed on my Windows Mobile Smartphone (it works on Pocket PCs too). So, this latest release was of special interest to me. I’m going to resist the urge to download podcasts and vidcasts since it would probably take too long to download large files over an EDGE connection. However, the new navigation labels do seem much more intuitive and easier to use. I’m sure I’ll discover new things about NewsBreak as I continue to use it (daily).

  • Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition Access Database Synchronizer

    One of the many features that was lost when Windows Mobile 5 came out was the ability to sync Microsoft Access databases with a Pocket PC. A few weeks ago Microsoft provided a workaround that can synchronize data between Microsoft Access database on a desktop and Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition database on a device. You can find it linked below…
    Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition Access Database Synchronizer

  • Windows Mobile 6 SDK

    Read this on Microsoft’s Mr. Mobile (Jason Langridge) blog. Microsoft released…

    Windows Mobile 6 SDKs

    Wait a minute? SDKs? Plural? Yep, they have separate SDKs for the Standard (Smartphone) and Professional (Pocket PC/Phone Edition) devices. But, wait? I thought the whole point of this convergence (they took away the bottom menu bar on Pocket PCs in WM5 and replaced it with the screen real-estate wasting soft buttons) was to reduce the distinction between the two device types. Guess not….

  • Handwriting Recognition is Not Ready for Prime Time Either

    My previous blog dismissed Microsoft Voice Command as a useful tool under optimum conditions (something one blog reader disagrees with). Those of you use use Voice Command regularly and successfully probably also disagree with me. And, that is fine. I’ll chalk that up to differing user experiences.

    The more surprising thing that occured to me as I wrote a response to the Voice Command fan is that Handwriting Recognition has also failed. I’m somewhat surprised to find myself saying this since I often use HWR myself daily. However, I only use it for short entries (entering a short calendar appointment). It is too slow and error prone for taking notes at a conference or during some other information-rich (take lots of notes) meeting.

    The real slam against against HWR is the move towards mobile devices with thumb keyboards (following the lead of the Blackberry and Treo devices). The lack of update on the Tablet PC may be another indicator that the good ol’ QWERTY keyboard (whether full or thumb sized) still rules the input of data into computing devices.