Dashwire Finally Invited Me!

[Jon Westfall]

Way, way, way back in October (Well, I guess it wasn't too long ago, but it seems like it), Jason <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/index.php?action=expand,57056">posted</a> on <a href="http://www.dashwire.com/">Dashwire</a>, a service that promised everything and the kitchen sink for Phone users. I <a href="https://www.dashwire.com/account_requests">signed up for an invitation</a> and promptly forgot about the service, until today when I got my invite.<br /><br /><img src=http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/jd-dashwire.jpg><br /><br />Dashwire offers this blurb on their homepage:<br /><br /><i>"Some things are just easier to do on your computer - Dashwire automatically mirrors the content on your phone to the web, helping you access and share your mobile experiences–no cables required - Send and receive text messages from your computer • Automatically upload photos and videos from your phone Back-up your contacts • Single click phone set-up • Share mobile experiences with your friends"</i><br /><br />And from the looks of my service so far (I'm uploading my data now), it's pretty sweet. Obviously I'll have more info in the coming days, but I figured I'd publish my impressions now and if you're interested, you can email and ask how the service really works.<br />Read On for More <!><br />So my first impression of the service is "Gee this is slow!", of course it is uploading basically everything to the internet. Call logs, contact pictures, SMS messages, the who shebang. The client on my Smartphone is very minimal - it actually resembles Activesync's monotone progress bar and cryptic messages like "Looking for changes". <br /><br /> <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/dashwire1.PNG" /> <br /><br />Now the client on the phone shouldn't give you the impression that the service is minimal. When I logged into the desktop interface at dashwire.com, I was greated with a very comprehensive dashboard, listing my recent text messages, call logs, pictures and videos from my phone, and <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/dashwire-dashboard.jpg">more</a>. Where Dashwire really impressed me was the little things I could do with the interface. I could drag the boxes around to fit my tastes. I could hover over a contact and, if it were a cell number, send a text message. I could even open my pictures and rotate them if necessary.<br /><br />Dashwire also supports creating a "sharing" page so that you can easily share your content with your friends. This isn't a big deal for me - I can easily email my photos straight to my websites and such from my phone, but for a traditional phone - this could be a godsend. Lastly, Dashwire obviously is of best use when you have an unlimited data plan, and I can see where using it with a rated data plan would quickly run up charges - after all, it basically mirrors your phone to its servers. <br /><br />Overall the service looks very promising for mobile users, even power users like myself who can backup phone contents easily and automatically sync my contacts and such to an exchange server. In the future, I'd love if Dashwire introduced a desktop client that would sync the information on their servers to my PC so I can easily have an automatic backup of my phone's pictures and such, without having to use the Windows Mobile Device Center to import them. <br /><br />If you've got general questions about the service, their <A HREF=http://my.dashwire.com/about/help>FAQ</A> is quite helpful. Feel free to post specific questions below, and I'll try to answer them.

[CrashX]

It is an interesting service. I've had it for about a month now, and while I don't use it daily, I do launch the application on my device to let it sync about once a week.

One thing that I've found annoying so far is that the application continues to place a shortcut in the Startup folder on my device. I'd prefer that it not launch every time my device boots, but with Dashwire in Startup, my data connection is opened automatically for the sync to take place. I run Blackberry Connect on my AT&amp;T Tilt, and with Dashwire opening a data connection at startup, Blackberry can't connect to its network to check for mail.

It wouldn't be so bad if Dashwire would disconnect automatically after the sync was complete, thus allowing Blackberry Connect to establish a connection to its data network.

[tsahnocub]

I just got an invite yesterday myself. I installed everything on my MDA (running WM6), set up the account, and promptly could not connect.

Granted, I don't have a data plan with T-Mobile right now, but their service says it works over wifi and direct usb activesync, neither of which would work for me. I could get online fine with both methods, sync with my exchange account, etc. but DashWire just would not connect, either auto or manually.

They didn't seem to have any kind of a troubleshooting section in the FAQ or anything about connection problems. I think I might have to shoot them an email and find out what to do.

[blazingwolf]

I just got my invitation also. Promptly finished the sign up and uploaded everything. Seems to be working fine at the moment.

I have been playing with new ROMs here lately so I should be able to put this to work.

[Underwater Mike]

Got my invitation today as well. I never got the SMS with the download link, so I used PIE to snag it manually. Sync was uneventful, if slow. So far, I don't really see much use for the service, but I'll give it a month.

[Dashwire]

Hi - I work at Dashwire and wanted to jump in and address some of the questions and comments.

- There's a new version of the client software that was just released a few days ago (tap Menu->About, latest build is 253). It adds the ability to choose which info gets synced to your Dashboard (contacts, messages, photos, etc.) and also adds the option of syncing automatically or manually. If you choose manual it will not auto start when the device starts. Check your account activation email for a download link.

- Initial sync can definitely be slow since there is a lot of data to upload. Users can have hundreds or even thousands of contacts and messages, but the real big one is years worth of photos and videos sitting on a storage card. Good news is once the initial sync is done updates are quick and you really never even notice them.

- Dashwire uses any available internet connection so it does work over WiFi and USB. I can't say it works for every person on every phone in every situation but normally it does work. For the user who couldn't get it working please contact customer support directly and we'll get the situation sorted out.

Thanks for all your comments and feedback - we're just getting started and have tons of super cool stuff coming in 2008!

[Underwater Mike]

Hi - I work at Dashwire and wanted to jump in and address some of the questions and comments.

- There's a new version of the client software that was just released a few days ago (tap Menu->About, latest build is 253). It adds the ability to choose which info gets synced to your Dashboard (contacts, messages, photos, etc.) and also adds the option of syncing automatically or manually. If you choose manual it will not auto start when the device starts. Check your account activation email for a download link.

I had the "choose" box checked, but I never got the option of actually choosing what to sync. It just did the whole thing. Did I miss something?

[Dashwire]

Select (or tap) the "choose" control and it will pop up a new dialog where you can select the different content types. A little confusing but it will be improved.

[CrashX]

Hi - I work at Dashwire and wanted to jump in and address some of the questions and comments.

- There's a new version of the client software that was just released a few days ago (tap Menu->About, latest build is 253). It adds the ability to choose which info gets synced to your Dashboard (contacts, messages, photos, etc.) and also adds the option of syncing automatically or manually. If you choose manual it will not auto start when the device starts. Check your account activation email for a download link.
Thanks for the info! I'll check out the new version after the holidays...