10-08-2006, 05:00 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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We Need Profiles Built Into Windows Mobile for Pocket PC
The best thing I ever did in the world of mobile computing was switch to a converged device. The capabilities of my iMate PDA2K took me way beyond what I could do with my iPAQ 2210 and bluetooth linked cell phone. The "always on" data connection is perfect for keeping emails up to date - and a must for the push email of Exchange 2003. My K-Jam is even better since it, at the same time, has a larger keyboard in a smaller form factor. However, there are some serious drawbacks now to this all-in-one device and many could be resolved with a well thought out way to manage profiles.
Normally, I have my phone set to ring at the loudest level and all other system sounds are two notches above muted. The K-Jam has a trick where you can press and hold on the Comm Manager button (upper left side) and it will put the device in vibrate mode and mute all sounds. That's good for popping in meetings, church or movie theaters, but it is still very limited.
Guess what happens if I am listening to music or a podcast through earbuds and the phone rings? Instant deafness. The device should automatically detect Windows Media Player is working and replace things like alarms and ringers with gentle electronic tones, enough to let you know you need to look at the device and deal with something. Or pause the music/video playback and verbally tell you a phone call is coming in or an alert is going off. We already get that with Voice Command, so it isn't like the bits haven't been written for that. As it is, I simply don't listen to my device as a media player anymore because I'd have to manually mute the other sounds, and that can make it difficult to have WMP loud enough on an airplane or a busy street. So, I always carry an MP3 player with me for my music and podcast choices, which is a shame. I listen to a minimum of 2 hrs of podcasts/Audible each day on my commute. Why should I need to fiddle so much with the sounds to enable this?
I also use my device as an alarm clock, or at least I did until I got a converged device. Who wants the email tone going off all night long, or SMS news alert waking you up, or even the phone ringing? Not me. So, I mute the device totally. No sound at all and no vibration. This is two taps at night from the speaker icon, and two more in the morning, so not much of a problem, except now I can't use the alarm clock function. So, my 2210 still gets used for this. I should be able to put the device into an alarm clock profile and then have a variety of choices, because everyone is different. I would turn off all messaging sounds (email, MMS, SMS) and phone sounds. I'd leave the alerts working. Some of you may leave the phone ringer on, but perhaps at a much reduced level. You might even want one of your email accounts to remain on if an emergency message came through. The configuration for this would need to take all of this into account, but it wouldn't be too difficult to work with - which is not the same as saying it wouldn't be difficult to program. :wink: When you configure the alarm profile, a nice list of your messaging accounts, a box for reminders, and boxes for other apps that could plug into this would be listed - apps that run automatically and alert you for specific reasons, like NewsBreak. You simply check what you want to still work and then whether it works at normal or a reduced volume level. Your alarm would still be able to wake the dead, but the joke email from uncle Ned would just silently pass into your inbox for review the next morning.
I've tried a number of third party profile apps. Most do a half-hearted job of this, and one had the audacity to change my sound preferences with that of the developer! That app was gone as soon as I discovered that. I have no clue how well it worked. But it really doesn't matter. I suspect such a feature, if implemented well, would have to work deeply with the operating system and is going to work best if it comes from the Windows Mobile development group. Until then, I don't see how anyone can effectively take advantage of all of the features a Windows Mobile device is capable of.
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10-08-2006, 06:02 PM
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Mystic
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,520
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I completely agree with your post. Profiles are a major hole in Windows Mobile. This is the one reason that phoneAlarm is one of the first apps that I install onto my device. It doesn't cover everything you've got in your post but its a long way past WM out of the box. It has about 6 profiles that you can customize to your liking. It would also be nice if you could your own.
A diffinite wish list item would be to be able to set settings for individual applications in a profile.
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10-08-2006, 06:12 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 218
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Sadly, I've reverted to carrying a cell phone and a separate PocketPC for some of these very reasons. Even more sadly, I've stooped to using a palm for my alarm clock. :roll: I never found WM to be reliable. I love my Cingular 8125, but it just doesn't take care of all the problems.
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10-08-2006, 06:27 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 75
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I agree completely with your sentiments. Currently I also use PhoneAlarm to gain the use of profiles, but the sound control during music playing should be native to the OS. Microsoft should take a lesson from the Palm 700W(X) series as what could be done with some proper planning, and more consideration of ergonomics. We also need to improve the one-handed operation of these devices.
The ultimate experience would be a wireless connection to your watch (Bluetooth or the new Nokia PAN) which would allow calls to be observed, answered with your device in your pocket. The watch would also display upcoming appointments, and act as a remote for the PDA in its case. Now that would get me back to wearing a watch again!
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iPhone GS 16 Gb
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10-08-2006, 06:57 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Great post Ed. It's stunning to me that the devices still lack this - anyone that uses them day to day would SURELY have need to change certain things on the phone at different times. Myself, I'd like to have the ability to control the lights on my Smartphone as well. When I keep the phone by my bed at night for instance, I don't want the green and blue lights blinking - but I do want the phone to remain on. I'm fortunate to have what little profile support there is on my Smartphone, but it's still lacking in many ways.
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10-08-2006, 07:01 PM
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Magi
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,341
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I've always felt that profiles were a very important function that has been left out of Windows Mobile. I used to us PocketZenPhone, but it was always a bit on the flaky side. As its feature list has grown so has its unreliability.
A profile application does not have to do all the slicing and dicing. It needs to do a few things in a very reliable way. It needs to control sounds and notifications, and what applications run in any given profile. For instance, when I choose "car mode" I should be able to set it up so that Bluetooth turns on, iGudance or Audible opens, and volumes are on high, and shift the backlighting to high, if on powe. "Night mode" should allow me to have it turn off or mute notifications but leave my alarm app running at a high volume.
Basic, reliable, profile management is all that is needed. We don't really need the app to run off our Outlook schedule, and turn things off and on when meetings are scheduled to start or end. The world is not that rigid. This is where profile apps start to fall apart. They try to do far to much and become unreliable.
I'm actually quite surprised there haven't been more 3rd party choices for profile apps. If MS doesn't do it I would like to see one of the larger Windows Mobile developers with a proven record, such as SPB step up and do it.
Dave
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10-08-2006, 07:05 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 18
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I had similar problem when listening to music but now i'm using MSI BT headphones which doubles as BT handsfree. Now i have maximum volume level on PDA but it's on middle level on the headphones (it is still loud) - when call comes the headphones are biping and i can decide if i want to answear with the headphones or with device itself. Works really great.
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10-08-2006, 09:23 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 459
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I'm with you all the way one this one, Ed. It's the major hole in the OS - Microsoft still don't seem to have got their heads around the fact that these devices are 'phones as well, and they need to work as well as a stand-alone 'phone. I'd like a profile app to be able to forward my calls to another number (voicemail, landline etc.) as well. I'd also like to use Voice Command to switch between profiles. I used to be able to do both of these things on my old Sony Ericsson T610i :roll:
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10-09-2006, 02:35 AM
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Thinker
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 418
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rod3
Sadly, I've reverted to carrying a cell phone and a separate PocketPC for some of these very reasons. Even more sadly, I've stooped to using a palm for my alarm clock. :roll: I never found WM to be reliable. I love my Cingular 8125, but it just doesn't take care of all the problems.
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OMFG, alarms *still* don't work reliably?
After going PDA-less for many moons, I recently ordered an HP rx1955. Please, someone tell me that there's a fix for alarms that Rod3 doesn't know about...
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HP 48s, 200lx, USR Pilot 1k, Palm 3, V, M100, Handspring Visor, Sony N610c, T615c, T655c, HP iPAQ 1910, 2215, Palm T3, HP hx4705, Dell X50v, HP rx1955, Apple iPhone, 3G, 3GS, 4, Samsung Galaxy Nexus
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10-09-2006, 02:47 AM
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5000+ Posts? I Should OWN This Site!
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 5,616
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Deslock
After going PDA-less for many moons, I recently ordered an HP rx1955. Please, someone tell me that there's a fix for alarms that Rod3 doesn't know about...
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One word: MemMaid.
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