Mobility Site » Julie

Windows MarketPlace for Mobile: Will you shop there?

Julie — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 04:23:07 +0000

After much anticipation and amidst much fanfare, Microsoft unveiled its Windows MarketPlace for Mobile devices last Tuesday. The Windows MarketPlace is now open for business for WM6.5 phones, with plans to make it accessible to WM6.0 and WM6.1 phones by the end of the year (NOTE: If you don’t want to wait, you can find a CAB file that can be installed to WM6.0 or WM6.1 phones at the XDA Developers forum).

Over the last year I’ve read numerous articles that discussed the Windows MarketPlace in regards to software developers, but I have not read any articles that discuss the MarketPlace in regards to end users like me! To get a better understanding of the MarketPlace from an end user perspective I spent several hours reviewing the “MarketPlace for Mobile Customer Service Agreement,” the “Windows MarketPlace Frequently Asked Questions for Customers” and the “Windows MarketPlace Frequently Asked Questions for Developers” documents that are located on Microsoft’s website.

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Why carry a smartphone & an MP3 player?

Julie — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 02:11:42 +0000

Yesterday this post by adamzea on Twitter got me thinking because most of the time I’m one of those silly people that carry a Smartphone and an MP3 player (specifically, a Zune). I used to wonder the same thing as Adam, but that changed last Fall when I was gifted with a Zune. So the question then is, “Why carry both?”

My answer to Adam’s question is “I know my Smartphone can play music too, but I carry a Smartphone AND a Zune for the following reasons (in order of priority)”:

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A portable scanner in my pocket! (or faxing from a mobile device)

Julie — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:13:02 +0000

I’ve been exploring creative ways to use the camera on my Windows Mobile device to boost my productivity. Qipit provides a way to copy and email or fax documents to anyone at any time from any web enabled mobile device.

Qipit works from any mobile device that has a web browser and is not limited to windows mobile handhelds, iphones or any other mobile device. Qipit is almost like having a scanner in my pocket.

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Comparing the IPAQ hw6900 Mobile Messenger and the IPAQ 900 Business Messenger

Julie — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 18:23:00 +0000

I’ve enjoyed using my IPAQ hw6925 for a couple of years but a few months ago the hw6925 went for a swim for a brief 2 seconds. Even though I removed the battery, storage card and SIM card immediately and left it under a hot lamp for 24 hours to dry, the hw6925 has been quirky ever since. Lately, I’ve been using an IPAQ 910c and thought you might like a comparative review of the two devices. In this article I discuss the hardware similarities and differences between the two devices as well as the pre-installed software differences. I also summarize the WM6.1 enhancements.

With a sleek new body and running WM6.1, the IPAQ 900 Business Messenger is the true successor to the IPAQ hw6900 Mobile Messenger. Notable hardware differences between the two IPAQs include:

The IPAQ 900 is 3G enabled
The IPAQ 900 has double the amount of System ROM and System RAM as the hw6900
The IPAQ 900 has a 320 x 240 pixel screen, with a default landscape orientation. There is no known way to change the orientation to a more standard portrait orientation.
Even though the IPAQ 900 screen is a larger pixel size than that of the hw6900, the viewable image size of 2.46 inches is noticeably smaller that that of the hw6900 image size of 3.0 inches. These screenshots are an accurate representation of the viewable screen sizes of the IPAQ 910c and the IPAQ hw6925.

IPAQ 910c	IPAQ hw6925

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Cooking in the Mobile Cloud

Julie — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 19:28:46 +0000

I’m a pretty good cook and, even though I don’t cook a lot, I enjoy trying out new recipes. I’ve clipped recipes, searched for recipes on the web, and amassed quite a collection of cookbooks over the years. Recently I decided to organize my recipes into an electronic cookbook. My requirements for an electronic cookbook included menu planning, automatic creation of a shopping list, and easy integration of recipes and shopping lists with my Pocket PC. After trying out a few applications I settled on Big Oven.

BigOven.com

Big Oven is more than just a recipe application. It it also a comprehensive website that encompasses an extensive, searchable recipe database of over 160,000 recipes and an online social network that you can join to swap recipes, trade tips and chat with other cooking enthusiasts.

When you join Big Oven, you get your own web page that you can personalize and share with your family and friends.

Information that you can put on your web page includes links to:

Try Soon Queue: an ordered list of recipes that you might want to try sometime within the next 30 days. When you browse the Big Oven recipe database, you can add recipes to your Try Soon Queue. Your friends can also add recipes to your Try Soon Queue by “suggesting recipes to you from any recipe page. Recipes in your Try Soon Queue are automatically removed from the queue after 30 days.
Recipes you’ve posted to Big Oven. You can publish recipes to Big Oven’s website from Big Oven’s desktop application (if you have installed it to your computer) or you can input recipes directly to Big Oven’s website.
Recipes you’ve rated
Favorite Recipes
Photos you’ve posted to Big Oven
Menu plans
Social groups (or BigOven Discussion Groups) you belong to
Videos you’ve posted to Big Oven

Your web page and all of the links included on the web page, such as posted recipes and menu plans, are all posted in Big Oven’s public web space and are viewable by all registered members. You can view and retrieve information from your chef page from any computer or from your mobile device.

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Email & Text Messaging on the IPAQ 910c

Julie — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 23:41:19 +0000

Windows Mobile 6.1 brings a substantial facelift and some significant enhancements to the IPAQ 910c:

Easier email setup and improved performance
Follow-up tags (doesn’t seem to work on the IPAQ 910c)
Enhanced Security that alerts you if you navigate to a URL or file link that is not on the device
Threaded text messaging
Blacklist (doesn’t seem to work)

HP has also added a few nice messaging-related features to the IPAQ 910c:

HP Voice Reply: allows you to email audio messages
HP Print Smart: allows you to print email messages to a Bluetooth or network printer

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Exploring WIFI and IE on the IPAQ 910c

Julie — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:49:51 +0000

Setting up my wireless network on the IPAQ 910c was very easy. When I turned the WIFI radio on, the IPAQ 910c detected my network and prompted me for my WEP encryption code. As soon as I entered the encryption code, the device was connected. I had hoped that I could copy and paste the code from a note I have stored on my computer (I can do this on my windows mobile 2003 device), but copying and pasting the encryption code didn’t work on the 910c.

The WIFI connection settings options and input screens are fairly similar to those on my IPAQ hw6925, which runs WM5.0, but there are some notable differences. WM6.1 allows you to connect to a network that uses WPA2 or WPA2-PSK authentication and AES data encryption.

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Exploring Bluetooth on the IPAQ 910c

Julie — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 02:06:58 +0000

The Bluetooth settings under WM6.1 are quite a bit different than earlier Windows Mobile operating systems. Setting up partnerships is much simpler, requiring a minimum of screen taps, but it is a bit disorienting. So far I’ve set up the following partnerships on the IPAQ 910c:

Two different Bluetooth headsets – one is a very basic Motorola earpiece and the other is a Sony A2DP headset.
Bluetooth ActiveSync partnership with my laptop (using a Bluetooth dongle)
With my IPAQ hw6925 to exchange information between the two devices

To access Bluetooth Settings, you’ll tap Start > Settings > Connection tab > Bluetooth. With Bluetooth Settings, you find six tabs called Devices, Mode, COM Ports, Printer, File transfer, Security, and Image transfer.

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Comparing PDF Readers

Julie — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 18:29:57 +0000

If you want to read PDF files on your Pocket PC, you have a couple of choices in PDF Readers. In this article I will evaluate and compare the three most popular PDF Readers for Pocket PC: Foxit Reader for Pocket PC; PocketXpdf; and Adobe Reader for Pocket PC 2.0.

Foxit Reader for Pocket PC (Version 1.1, Build 1230)

PLEASE NOTE: Before writing this review, I had checked Foxit’s website to make sure I was working with its latest version of Foxit Reader for Pocket PC. The review took a few days to write and during that time, Foxit released a beta version 1.2 that resolves many of the points I raised in this review. This is a significant update to this software. I was unaware that a software update had been released until some users here brought it to my attention in their comments to this review. I appreciate their comments and I have installed this beta version to my pocket pc and will be updating this review within in the next 24 hours, but my quick evaluation of the beta version agrees with the comments that others have posted here…..The beta version now reflows PDF documents, provides better zoom capability, and remembers your place in the document – when you exit the document and reopen it later, the Foxit Reader opens to the place where you left off.

Please look for an update to this article within the next 24 hours.
Foxit Reader is the lightest PDF reader – it does not consume near the resources as Adobe Reader. But I don’t think it is a very useful PDF reader.
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Finally! A way to block spam text messages on my AT&T cell phone.

Julie — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 18:43:25 +0000

Last time I checked, I could not find a way to block spam text messages through my AT&T account. Today, I received another spam text message, so I decided to look around again, and I was delighted to discover that AT&T now provides a way to selectively block text messages. I have no idea when AT&T started providing this option – I never received any kind of announcement of it and I haven’t seen anyone blogging about it, so I think it is a little known, probably recently released, option.

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Are there bugs in the WM6.0 implementation of the IPAQ 21x and 11x?

Julie — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 01:00:19 +0000

By the notice on their website, WebIS seems to think so…..

iPaq 21x, 11x users Notice:FlexMail is not compatible with these devices at this time. We believe there are bugs in the implementation of Windows Mobile 6 that HP has on these devices that cause data corruption and crashes with FlexMail. At this time we do not see any resolution until HP updates the ROM. (reference)

The IPAQ 110 that I reviewed was a loaner that I had for about a month. I didn’t experience any significant problems with it, but having a loaner for a month is not the same thing as owning and using a Pocket PC every day. Reading through the forums here and around the internet, these new IPAQs do appear to have some issues.

It is interesting that a credible Pocket PC software developer, like WebIS, has posted a statement like this one on their web site.

Have you encountered what you believe are bugs with your new IPAQ?

Technorati Tags: IPAQ 210, IPAQ 110

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A Pocket Full of Books

Julie — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 17:17:40 +0000

I have always been an avid reader. Every bookshelf in my home is filled to capacity (and I have a lot of book cases). Lately I’ve been exploring electronic options (no bookshelves needed :)), and I’m delighted to report that I have loaded up my SD card with books. Now, whenever I’m standing in line, waiting for an appointment, or just hanging out, I’ve always got a miniature library with me to keep me occupied.

The subject of electronic books (referred to here as eBooks) and Mobile Devices is quite large and somewhat complex. In this article, I’ve attempted to give you enough information to get you started. At a minimum you need to know something about eBook Reader software, you need a basic understanding of encryption and Digital Rights Management and you need to know where to go to get the books.

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Pocket PC Tech’s Lil’ Sync USB Mobile Power Pack

Julie — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 19:49:46 +0000

INTRODUCTION

The other day I took my IPAQ hx2415 out of my bag and it wouldn’t turn on because I had inadvertently allowed the battery to get too low. I was disappointed that I would not be able to use my Pocket PC that day until I remembered that I had the Lil’ Sync USB Mobile Power Pack in my gadget bag.

Pocket PC Tech’s Lil’ Sync USB Mobile Power Pack is a fairly simple little gizmo that packs a powerful punch. One end of the Power Pack has a mini USB port that is used to charge up its 4400 mA capacity Li-Ion battery and the other end of it has a standard USB port that is used to power a mobile device. On the front are three indicator lights and an on/off switch.

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A Guided Tour of the IPAQ Classic Handheld 110

Julie — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 16:15:08 +0000

In this video, I take you through several different screens and options as I explore this WM6.0 Pocket PC.

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Credits:

Pocket PC theme image created from the John William Waterhouse painting entitled “My Sweet Rose”

Video created using My Mobiler V1.2 & Windows Media Encoder 9.0

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The IPAQ Classic Handheld 110 – a Gem of a Pocket PC

Julie — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 02:46:32 +0000

INTRODUCTION

The IPAQ Classic Handheld 110 is a great, moderately priced Pocket PC in HP’s newest line of WM6.0 devices. The IPAQ 110’s 16 Bit 246k 240 x320 pixel screen is brilliant and beautiful and with its Marvell PXA310, 624 MHz processor, it’s performance is nothing less than impressive. Compared to the 64 MB of ROM and 32 MB SDRAM on the IPAQ rx1955, the 256 MB ROM and the 64MB of RAM on the IPAQ 110 is amazing.

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