07-26-2007, 01:58 AM
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Executive Editor, Android Thoughts
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 3,233
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Why Do You Stick With Windows Mobile As A Phone?
Windows Mobile Pocket PCs and Smartphones seem to be the ultimate phone devices. After all, what other phone out there can sync directly to an exchange server, play pretty much any media imaginable, browse the web with several different web browser choices, and offer a seemingly unlimited amount of third-party software? But for some reason, it seems they miss the mark on some of the most important phone features. My Jasjar is sluggish to answer the phone more than 50% of the time, resulting in the need to call people back. My K-Jam's Send/End buttons were worn down within a few weeks, requiring more than a subtle push to answer the calls there. My iPaq Mobile Messenger frequently is chugging along too much with it's own internal nonsense that placing a call takes 5 - 10 seconds longer than it should. These are the ultimate phone devices?
Then again, I still stick with Windows Mobile for the reasons I cited above (e.g., the good parts). Why? Well, I truly believe that they are the best phone devices out there for my own needs. A "dumb" phone may be able to show my POP3 email box (...maybe...) but it can't get my email pushed to it, or easily sync my contacts, or make sending text messages ludicrously fast. So I stick with Windows Mobile, primarily Pocket PCs rather than Smartphones, despite the annoyances. It doesn't suprise me, however, that some get fed up and leave the platform while MS struggles to fix some very mundane things (In their defense, my Treo 750 is quite a bit faster at answering calls than my original i-Mate Pocket PC was!).
So what keeps you with this platform for a phone? (despite our frequent questions or complaints!) Or have you jumped ship and went to a dumb phone? And what are the deal-makers or breakers? (e.g., what does MS have to fix within the next year or you're OUT!)
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Dr. Jon Westfall, MCSE, MS-MVP
Executive Editor - Android Thoughts
News Editor - Windows Phone Thoughts
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07-26-2007, 02:11 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 196
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I agree with everything you said for why I continue with my pocket pc phone. I like the 3rd party apps the most, though. I love beta testing different software and participating in forums (like this one) to give/get feed back on software, hardware or just learning how to do various things.
I don't think it is just MS that has to fix things, though. It is the handest manufacturers as well. Yes - the whole "OK" button not really closing an app is a royal pain in the @#$, and the html e-mail issue is/was annoying that is now solved in Windows Mobile 6 (I have Cingular 8125 w/ WM5), etc.
What really ranks me is the handset manufacturers that continue to come out with units that take two steps forward in some areas, but one step back in others. So we get this wonderful handset with all the bells and whistles,... 520 mhz processor, memory that you die for, but then doesn't have Bluetooth 2.0. Or, it has BT 2.0 and then has a 195 mhz omap processor.
Just come out with something that has it all, but don't kill us on the price. I like the Kaiser, by the way.
Still,... I will never leave my ppc phone edition.
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07-26-2007, 02:45 AM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 104
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Overall as a PIM solution there isn't a better package than Exchange and Activesync. Yes, we all have our stories but the integration is tough to beat! I've looked at moving to Gmail for my domain and doing some other goofy syncing but it just doesn't do everything I want with ease.
Also, compared to my Palm based products the software generally has a much more rich feature set. WeatherPanel, SPB products, Pocket Informant, newsbreak, etc are great programs. I could never find such rich software on the Palm.
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07-26-2007, 02:58 AM
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Thinker
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 412
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So that I can easily provide high level, remote support. Terminal services, e-mail with a better keyboard, etc.
I rarely use the voice part of my cell, but I use the data part day in and day out.
I treat my phone as more of a computer with voice than the other way around. I just wish Telus wouldn't have crippled it so much and that they'd not price data plans so high -- did anyone read Michael Geist's rant in The Toronto Star last week? He was dead on.
http://www.thestar.com/article/238678
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From a technological perspective, most cellphones and wireless devices could manage email and text messaging, but were ill-suited for the full Internet experience including browsing and Internet video. That technology barrier has largely been eliminated, fuelled by popularity of devices such as the Apple iPhone.
The cost barrier still looms large, however. Canadian carriers have treated mobile Internet use as a business product, establishing pricing plans that force most consumers to frugally conserve their time online.
Indeed, the mobile Internet in Canada is reminiscent of Internet access in the mid-1990s, when dial-up access dominated the market and many consumers paid by the minute for their time online. Today, not only are cellphone data speeds comparatively slow, but they are shockingly expensive since cost is measured by the amount of data downloaded.
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...and
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The negative consequences of Canada falling behind even the African market should not be underestimated. Research in Motion has expressed frustration with Canadian pricing, predicting that carriers could sell "eight or nine times" more BlackBerries if they lowered data prices to levels found elsewhere.
Reduced sales are only part of the story. High data prices mean Canadians use the mobile Internet less than people in other countries, which Google has noted leads to lower Canadian usage of Web-based email or online mapping services from wireless devices.
Canadian carriers would do well to reshape their approach to mobile data by better servicing consumers, however, the longer-term solution lies in Industry Minister Maxime Bernier cracking open the wireless market by encouraging new entrants through a spectrum set-aside.
The prospect of a new national wireless carrier offering unlimited data � and perhaps even the red-hot iPhone � would do wonders for a once-proud market that now lags behind the rest of the world.
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It's embarrassing for Canada to be so far behind all these other countries. Together with the fact that the carriers ripping WiFi support out of their phones means that Canucks are getting the shaft in both directions - higher prices, less online access, and the dumbing down of our phones. It's no wonder that Apple isn't rolling out the iPhone in Canada. Going by carrier trends in Canada, it would probably be priced at over $1000 and cost about $500 a month to stay connected.
Oh, and Industry Minister Maxime Bernier is the same minister that believes that "market forces" will eventually kill off all spam, hence the fact that Canada is one of the last industrialized (oh, the irony) nations without a single piece of legislation protecting consumers from spam and telemarketers.
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07-26-2007, 03:10 AM
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5000+ Posts? I Should OWN This Site!
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 5,616
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Karen
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Along the same lines, this article hit my Google Reader yesterday.
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iPhone 4! ☠☠☠ Mid-2010 15" MacBook Pro! ☠☠☠ Gateway LT2102h! ☠☠☠ Dell XPS M1210!
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07-26-2007, 04:52 AM
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Sage
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 706
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One of the problems is that the WM platform is only part of the mobile phone puzzle. My phone of choice, at the moment, is a Nokia N95. Why? Because it supports sync with Lotus Notes out of the box, it supported on the Mac via some free iSync plug-ins provided by Nokia and it lets me read my PIM data and enter stuff easily.
Access to GMail is easy with the GMail Java app and, for me, it does a "good enough" job when looking web sites (I was able to remotely program my PVR with it last night).
When evaluating a phone you need to look at the whole package (size, shape, functionality, battery life, reliability). Your supposition that "Windows Mobile Pocket PCs and Smartphones seem to be the ultimate phone devices" is based on your personal view (which is fine as it's your editorial and you can say what you want to). However, some of the hassles you mention (sluggish performance) seem, in my experience, to be non-issues with most of the non-WM phones I've tested and written about.
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Get your Pocket Mojo. Anthony Caruana is the Mojo master. |
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07-26-2007, 05:37 AM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 541
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For me it's simple. WM provides the best third party software and I just can't imagine not using E-Wallet, List Pro, PI, MLO, PhatPad...
And since my device is also a decent (not great) phone, that gets the job done, the whole package is just great for me.
I just wish the prices would come down a bit and devices would have more memory, so the whole experience would be better.
Oh, and banning 200MHz OMAP CPU in newer devices would be a good move too...
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07-26-2007, 07:43 AM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 554
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I switch from SE P900 to WM many years ago, the reason for that was a software that I use for my work, but it didn't have symbian version, only Windows CE and Palm, and Windows version was more advanced. Since then I see windows mobile platform improvements comming every year, it becomes more managable, and user friendly, new devices that comming out are very interesting, so I stay with it.
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07-26-2007, 11:14 AM
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Sage
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 601
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Sort of on topic: I'm remaining on the trailing edge of technology... I just bought a new dumbphone this week because I can't get past the fact that I'd pay $300-$600 for a device then the company can give me a refurb if it goes bad. Plus if either my PDA or cell has to go for service I still have the other to use.
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07-26-2007, 11:32 AM
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Thoughts Media Review Team
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 599
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Having just finished an evaluation of devices in preparation for a corporate-wide deployment, it seems that the number one thing they have to fix is reliability. It isn't acceptable for the phone portion of the device to stop working ever (obviously there's got to be battery power & signal, but you know what I mean).
The consistent reply I was getting from the BB-lovers was that the devices just work. I know that it isn't entirely that simple - we've had BB users that have to reset their devices occasionally - but you do a Google search and there are plenty of reports about how BB devices are more stable than WM devices.
It isn't just being caused by the installation of 3rd party software either. It could be partly caused by the telco's software but there isn't much you can do about that.
So that would be my number one wish: a more stable, resiliant and reliable platform. I've got a horrible feeling that in 12 months' time when the contract is due for renewal, we might be getting more people switching from WM to BB ...
--Philip
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