The long awaited Apple iPhone software development kit is coming, it appears, on March 6. This is only a few days late. It’s not completely clear yet whether or not the kit will actually be released or whether it is just in beta and will be announced for testing purposes.
EDIT: Apple promises “exciting” new enterprise features. COULD IT BE? Might we soon have long-awaited Microsoft ActiveSync support? Only time will tell….
For those of us who use OS X in an enterprise environment, it can be difficult to make our Exchange calendars sync with our iPhones. There is an excellent workaround, however. All of the updated versions of Office for Mac include a synchronization service that makes it easy as pie.
In Entourage, go to Entourage > Preferences > Sync Services.
There you have an option to sync your address book, calendar, or both with Apple’s built-in software. This works great for synching the iPhone.
For those of you who use Windows Mobile, you’re likely no stranger to battery life issues that sometimes come up, especially if you are a power user, spend a lot of time on the telephone during the day or connect to your Exchange email via ActiveSync for “push” email. A Microsoft employee who runs a blog on the subject has a great write-up to get you started on preserving your battery life and getting through the day on your Blackjack, Treo 750, Motorola Q, etc.
Recent events have changed the field in which the iPhone is going to compete. Since it was introduced earlier this year, Microsoft introduced Windows Mobile 6. Far from innovative, WM6 is merely a .x upgrade to WM5 with a few added features (like HTML e-mail) that should have been around to begin with. TechBlog.TheVanguard.Org noticed something else, too: AT&T seems to be making its EDGE data service network faster. In some ways, EDGE data will always be inferior to 3G (HSDPA) technology at AT&T. EDGE cannot be used while in a GSM phone call. With HSDPA, users can have simultaneous data and voice calls. However, we’ve recently seen EDGE coverage not too far from our offices (we’re in a 3G area, so we have to do some traveling to see EDGE) begin to increase in speed from about 100kbps to 170kbps.
As some of you may recall, one of our biggest complaints about the iPhone was its lack of 3G. It’s clear why Apple decided to go with EDGE data, however. Windows Mobile devices that operate on AT&T’s 3G network suffer from terrible battery life. In a device with a screen as vibrant and large as the iPhone (and with as many capabilities) battery life is likely to become an issue.
We think the increased speeds (with more promised in the future) make EDGE viable for light browsing and heavy e-mail. We’re also a lot more excited about the potential for use by business people who are turned off by Windows Mobile’s battery life problems and lack of compatibility with the Mac.
With the explosive popularity of smartphones among ordinary people comes quite a few questions. One that was asked of me recently is “how do I browse all these java-laced web forums to view content?” Windows Smartphones sometimes have problems where the PDAs don’t. The culprit is Internet Explorer. There is a better way, however. Opera Mini is a handy Internet Explorer alternative that works fine on the Blackjack and the Q for this purpose. It is a free web browser that works on many platforms including Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone Edition. Until the iPhone comes out (which will have a fully-featured version of Safari) we’ll all have to make do. By the way, Java is pretty corny on the Blackjack. You might want to install IBM’s version to get rid of annoying messages that popup when running Opera Mini.
If you bought a Samsung Blackjack before they started shipping with extended batteries, you can go to this site to get a free one from Cingular.
Here at Techblog.TheVanguard.Org we had the chance to review the Treo 750 from Palm. The 750 runs Windows Mobile and functions on the Cingular network in the U.S. It is a GSM world phone, email device, broadband Internet browser and fully-functioning PDA. Perhaps the biggest draw of the new Treo 750 is its Windows Mobile 5 Operating System. Windows Mobile 5 allows hundreds of applications to be run on the device while providing enterprise-class push email for customers with Microsoft Exchange. We tried the Treo 750 on Cingular’s 3G (WCDMA 1900) network.
Industrial Design
The Treo 750 is a class-leader in terms of design. Its weight is comparable to most PDA Phones, it easily fits in the palm of your hand (pardon the pun) and its screen is nice. It’s not as bright as some smartphones, including the Blackjack and the Q. We were surprised that it isn’t as vivid as the Cingular 8525 PDA Phone, either. That said, the elimination of the antenna (its predecessor, the Treo 650, had one) makes it much easier to carry. The keyboard is spacious and crisp. Keys respond well. The only design problem we found was its thickness compared to the Blackjack and the Q. Understandably, the Treo is a fully-functioning PDA and requires more battery and more components. That said, it’s almost impossible to place in jeans pockets.
Call Quality
The Treo is unbeatable in terms of call quality. Palm scored another homerun with the model 750. The call quality on the Treo was better than the Blackjack, and comparable to many flip-phones. The speakerphone was nice, though it’s no better than other PDA/Smartphones on the market, though much better than the Cingular 8125.
Email
The Treo has Microsoft Outlook Mobile. What more needs to be said? It’s better than every other email platform for smartphones including Blackberry. It takes a bit of getting used to, especially for Blackberry users.. but, this does not mean it is inferior. We were especially impressed with ActiveSync, which allows for free push email for Exchange users. Our contacts, calendar events and tasks were synchorized along with emails. This makes synching with a PC almost unnecessary (a good thing for Mac users who don’t want to shell out the dough for a copy of The Missing Sync).
Software
This is where the Treo really excels. Because it has Windows Mobile 5, it includes Microsoft Office programs including Word Mobile, Excel Mobile and PowerPoint Mobile (along with the aforementioned copy of Outlook Mobile). Palm plans to release an upgrade to Windows Mobile 6 when it is available as well, which provides a neater user interface and HTML email. The ability to open and edit attachments is a huge improvement over other platforms. It is also a nice add-on if you’re used to Windows Mobile Smartphone Edition, which does not include the ability to EDIT office documents. The Samsung Blackjack and Motorola Q both use Windows Mobile Smartphone Edition.
Overall, we were impressed with the Treo but were discouraged by its price tag ($500 with a $100 mail-in rebate). We think this will prevent it from ending up in the hands of a lot of business users, who rely on budgets and departmental appropriations for their devices. Since the fastest growing smartphone market is for working professionals, Palm may see more territory go to RIM as a result.
The Treo is an enterprise class PDA and cell phone. Let’s hope they come down on the price tag a bit, though.
Cisco and Apple have extended negotiations on trademarks for the iPhone, a product both Cisco and Apple have developed. The purpose of extending negotiations is to finalize details on a possible deal. Cisco didn’t want to throw away all of their hard work for nothing, so they’ve elected to continue with the negotiations. They wouldn’t have done this if a deal wasn’t likely.
As I administer all mobile devices at work, I’ve had to learn a lot about how to mod them as well. I’ve accumulated quite a list of links regarding the Blackjack and wanted to link to some of my favorites here. It is my goal to make this blog post the one stop place for serious Blackjack linkage, as it is an insanely popular product. So, here ya go:
Home Screens and more Home Screens
Tether your Blackjack to Mac OS X as Modem
Tether your Blackjack to Windowns XP as Modem
Tether your Blackjack to Windows Vista as Modem
Syncing with your Mac - The Missing Sync
A Better Web Surfing Experience
I hope this helps someone! Please leave a note with any feedback or any links I need to add.
Microsoft has finally shown off its new Windows Mobile 6 for Smartphones and Pocket PCs.
Probably the most important change is the ability to view HTML emails through Outlook. Under Windows Mobile 5, Outlook Mobile merely extracts the text from HTML emails and presents it in that form. Smartphone users (Motorola Q, Samsung Blackjack) stand to gain the most, as Microsoft is finally going to allow Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint Mobile editions into that version of the OS. Previously, these users were hurt by a lack of this functionality. Most use something like Piscel Viewer to read office attachments. Editing was not possible without the purchase of third-party software.
Windows Live Messenger will also be included, now with the ability to send and receive files through messenger. Unfortunately, there are now three versions of Windows Mobile (instead of two) and more DRM is being added.
Over at Cingular’s customer forums, Blackjack users are already begging for an upgrade for their beloved Smartphones.