MSN Mobile - No Canadians Allowed?

[Jason Dunn]

One of the new "features" in Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC is the addition of a Pocket MSN icon. This launches Pocket Internet Explorer and takes you to the MSN Mobile site, which technically isn't exactly new. I connected my iPAQ 2215 to my WiFi network using a Socket Wireless card, and the zero config was nice - it detected the network, then it prompted me for the WEP key in a nice pop-up window, and I was on. Nice! <br /><br />Here's what's not so nice: after I logged into MSN Mobile with my Passport account, I decided to check out the weather. It prompted me for my postal code (that's the Canadian version of a zip code), which I thought was strange considering that information is part of my Passport profile. I started to enter it in, then to my amazement, it stopped me after FIVE digita! Canadian postal codes are six digits long (T3L 2M9, etc.), so I am unable to check the weather, or do anything that requires my postal code. Bad Microsoft, bad! It's also cheesy that the Passport sign-in screen isn't optimized for the Pocket PC screen - big honkin' horizontal scroll bars. Doen't anyone at Microsoft actually use a Pocket PC to check their own services? :roll:

[William]

Yeah, not from Canada but I hate that too.
It's also cheesy that the Passport sign-in screen isn't optimized for the Pocket PC screen - big honkin' horizontal scroll bars.
Big scroll bars are good! It means you don't have to scroll too much. It's the small ones that I hate!
:)

[Birdman]

I remember a few months ago I sent an email to MS asking them if there was a way to get Canadian weather etc. from the MSN Mobile site using my Passport. After a few days I received an email from MS confirming that the information is not available to Canadian users!

[Paragon]

I think I read something the other day about Sympatico, and MSN joining forces here in Canada later in the year. Perhaps then we will be recognized......

Dave

[Wingnut]

Luckily I go to school in Windsor, so I just type in Detroit's Zip code for the weather.

[dh]

Luckily I go to school in Windsor, so I just type in Detroit's Zip code for the weather.

So no problem.
Live in Toronto type Niagara Falls, NY
Montreal - Burlington, VT
Calagry - Hmmmm.......??????

[igreen]

Worse than that Jason......www.pocketpc.com doesn't have a mobile version...for shame!!!!!!!!!!!

[Iznot Gold]

Same for UK post codes too!

David

[Trade Wind]

Pocket MSN isn't done yet...nor have any carriers rolled out the backend requirements for the service so far.

In the meantime...are you guys using a US version of Windows Mobile 2003? Are they even localized at all? (I'm not sure)

For Canadians, it should go to http://mobile.msn.ca/pocketpc/.

For Brits, it should go to http://pocketpc.msn.co.uk/.

[sweetpete]

Pocket MSN isn't done yet...nor have any carriers rolled out the backend requirements for the service so far.

In the meantime...are you guys using a US version of Windows Mobile 2003? Are they even localized at all? (I'm not sure)

For Canadians, it should go to http://mobile.msn.ca/pocketpc/.

For Brits, it should go to http://pocketpc.msn.co.uk/.

It doesn't matter if you go to the Canadian site. It asks for a Postal Code which is the right term, but it only accepts 5 charachter input and our Postal Code system uses 6! Someone didn't QA the mobile site properly. :devilboy:

[mc_03]

I noticed this a couple months ago when I tried to use the Canadian MSN Mobile site. (It isn't new, just it was not integrated, you had to type in the URL in PIE.) It gave every indication of being Canadian, yet MS seemed to think "Postal Code" was the same thing as zip code. :roll: :twak:

[Thinkingmandavid]

Wow, that sucks. You would think MS would be more tuned to who the users are of theri productds, which means knowing the differences of those users.
MMMMMMMMM, My girl friend lives in Canada. I love her with all of my heart. I just go to Canada.com:)

[OneAngryDwarf]

It says that w/ the "new" (not really) Pocket MSN you can work w/ hotmail online or offline... I see no indication of this... its only a webpage just like the one before and it can only give access to email when online... am I missing something? BTW, I am a paying MSN subscriber

[Trade Wind]

Dwarf: yeah...the PocketMSN client isn't ready yet. So it sends you to the web in the meantime.

[Andy Sjostrom]

I agree. But I think it is even more strange that the part of the world (Europe) that has the most number of mobile device users is also left out.

However, we are used to the treatment since twenty years, so we have stopped hoping. :mecry:

[OneAngryDwarf]

I think if you were a tech savvy american you would see that Europe really does have it good in the mobile department. The US sucks for mobile devices and services - nobody seems to use them and there just isn't much out there. European/Asian/etc... phones for instance kick US carrier's phone's butts. I only know of two available (widely available w/o jumping through hoops) bluetooth enabled phones. WiFi is scarce and almost non-existent if you don't live in one of the largest cities (I live in KC w/ a population of 2 million and Wifi can only be found in corps and homes). Once I got my new "3G" phone from Sprint I started scouring the internet for good mobile sites only to find the vast majority of them were for Europe and Japan. BTW, w/o living there i can't definitively say but 3G phones here are nothing like yours. Ours don't do anything. The internet access is quite limited and the companies make it very very difficult for u to do anything on it but use their stuff and buy their games/ringers/screensavers. The number of phones that can natively do any synchronization w/ a computer is close to zilch and usually the best you can do is sync your contacts (this alone will usually require a 3rd party cable and program). So even if MSN isn't working for all you Europeans, I'd be willing to bet there are a billion other much better services available to you and not to us. That said it is a shame that MS/MSN can't get their act together enought to provide simple services worldwide and i hope they fix it for all you.