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[Originally posted Feb 8 2010]
Ok, I'm sure almost everyone here is independently wealthy and think nothing of tossing a few hundred bucks on a new phone every few months, and $100/month on a kajillion minutes plan with unlimited data. If so, I'm not talking to you. Take your HD2, and your "backup" iPhone you carry just to impress waitresses and move along to some other thread...
I'm talking to the other folks- the ones still carrying RAZRs and Nokia 6030s, and drooling over the features and capabilities of Windows Mobile devices with email at your fingertips, abilities to play music and video, etc, but deciding that those features just aren't worth tossing $25-30/month extra at, particularly in this economy.
Don't worry, kids, I'm here for you!
What would you say, if I told you that you could have your very own Windows Mobile Touchscreen device, with email and internet access for the amazingly low price of $5 a month?
"Gee, Todd," (you'd say), "I'd think you were full of *bleep*!"
Right you are! Because $5 is too much- I can show you a way to have it for $2.50 a month!
To qualify for this amazing offer, you simply have to lower your standards, and be accepting of yesterday's technology. You also have to live in the USA (sorry!)
There is a prepaid MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) called PagePlus, that resells Verizon service. While, like most prepaid service providers, they'll be happy to sell you a phone, they will also activate any Verizon phone that was not sold as a prepaid phone. (This prevents you from buying a prepaid Verizon phone at WalMart, Target, etc. and activating it on PagePlus.)
PagePlus offers fairly decent voice rates ($0.04-$0.10/minute depending on refill card purchased- as typical, the bigger the card, the lower the per-minute rate), and fairly decent SMS rates ($0.08), at least for prepaid. Nicely, PagePlus' smallest refill cards are $10, and good for 120 days- about 4 months (thus my claim of "$2.50/month.")
Here's the fun part, though. Via a weird Verizon loophole that's been open for as long as any PagePlus user can remember, PagePlus users have been enjoying free QNC data. Before you start dancing in the streets, let me deflate your excitement a little. Back in the olden days, when life was in Black and White, and cellular phones were powered by steam, the earliest digital cellular data methods were launched- essentially "dial up" data using a voice channel. This was called "CSD" on GSM and the now defunct TDMA systems, and "QNC" on CDMA systems, and gave you blazing speeds of 9.6-14.4kbps (yes, I said 9.6- less than a quarter of the speed of a 56k dial up modem!) This is "dog-slow" circa 2001 internet speeds!
For whatever reason, PagePlus phones connecting to Verizon's QNC network, which Verizon called "Quick2Net" (which is still operating, apparently for "backwards compatibility" reasons,) not only are not charged anything per KB for data, but the QNC data call isn't even counted against your minutes.
Sure it's slow, however, even these speeds are sufficient for email and light WAP/mobile web browsing. Since Windows Mobile devices can be set to periodically poll your POP or IMAP email, you can set the phone to check email every x minutes or hours, and have relatively up to date email anytime you check the phone.
Now, here's one of the many catches- while Verizon's QNC service is still operating, Verizon stopped supporting QNC on their phones sometime before the end of the last ice age, so those of you figuring they'll slap a nice new Omnia II on PagePlus are out of luck (you could do it for voice and SMS, of course, and use WiFi for data, but not the free, slow QNC data.) The trick is to find the best, ancient Windows Mobile smartphone that still supports QNC ("Quick2Net") that you won't be embarrassed to be seen with in public.
Fear not, friends- I've found two that I use personally on PagePlus, as a backup for my "real" smartphones on T-Mobile service. [T-Mo is cheap and a great company, but their rural coverage is a bit lacking, so I forward my T-Mo number to my PagePlus number when I know I'll be traveling outside T-Mo coverage areas. Thanks to Funambol service, all of my smartphones sync over the air with a server, so my PagePlus phone has the same Outlook Contacts/Calendar/Tasks data as my "everyday" smartphone, and up to date email, so my transition from the T-Mo phone to the PagePlus phone is virtually seamless.]
Anyway, my suggested cheapie phones for PagePlus are both from Samsung, and can be had on eBay for well under $50. For the touchscreen crowd, there is the Samsung i730- a circa 2003 Windows Mobile phone with a 2.8" QVGA touchscreen that slides up to reveal a QWERTY thumb board. It's as thick as a brick, and about twice as heavy (I'm kidding, of course- it's about the size of an HTC TyTn or XV-6700 but a bit thicker and just a bit heavier), but it's fast (a 526MHz processor), has WiFi and bluetooth, supports full sized SD cards up to 2GB, and actually has a WM5 update available, so you'll only be one or two OS revisions behind the state of the art. Mine set me back $50 on eBay in July 2009. I don't know if it's the faster processor, or that WM5 is just a little less processor-intensive than WM6, but the i730 feels as snappy or snappier than my AT&T Tilt/HTC TyTn II that's 4 years newer!
For the non-touchscreen fans, or those wanting a phone that isn't so heavy it tries to pull down your pants lower than a teenage mallrat's, there's the Samsung i600. It's a pretty standard WinMo 2003 smartphone- no WiFi, no bluetooth, no QWERTY, but it's a fairly small and sleek clamshell flip phone (small and sleek in its day: late 2002 to early 2003, that is!) but it works well for POP/IMAP email, supports Exchange, and is very inexpensive- I paid $35 on eBay for one a year ago- I've seen them for $20 or even less today. I even put the old freeware Core Media Player (TCPMP) on it to play .avi files for the kids! Sure it's old, but think about the economics for a second- you can have ubiquitous access to your email for a lousy $20 for a used phone, and $2.50 a month for service. That's email and "emergency" web browsing for less than, as the song says, "one thin dime" a day!
Now, to repeat the heavy disclaimers:
This relies on a "loophole" in Verizon's billing/accounting system that, while it's worked for a couple of years, could vanish at any time! Reports from users on HowardForums.com (a cellular phone hobbyist's forum) indicate QNC doesn't work in all areas- generally areas where Verizon recently bought out a smaller regional carrier (probably the old carrier never supported QNC, and Verizon obviously sees no need to add legacy support for a system they no longer support on new equipment!)
Having said that, for a lousy $20-50 you can pickup a "new to you" toy on eBay and ride it out as long as it lasts. Besides "smartphone on a budget," it's an ideal rural/travel backup for those of us with carriers with lesser coverage- e.g. T-Mobile, Cricket, MetroPCS, etc. Then you can find a PagePlus dealer to activate the phone for as little as a few dollar on eBay, and those new activations include $2 (20 minutes) in starter airtime, provided the phone you use has never been activated on PagePlus before (those that have been previously activated on PagePlus will be activated, but will not include the starter airtime, presumably to prevent users from getting the free airtime, letting it expire, and trying to activate again pretending to be someone else the next time they need a backup phone!)
In addition, even if QNC disappears or is just too slow for you, PagePlus sells Verizon high speed data at $1.25/MB- not a great price by any means, but for casual use, it's available, and cheaper than many other prepaid carriers' a la carte rates (I'm talking to YOU, AT&T GoPhone!) Make sure you set your smartphone to use "QNC" or "Quick2Net" ONLY or risk burning your airtime on data.
[Originally posted Aug 24 2010]
I was vacationing in Atlanta the week before last, and I took the kids to the "World of Coca-Cola," essentially a museum chronicling the history of the Coca-Cola company, and the refreshing brown liquid so many of us love. Among the displays was a small area dedicated to the accidental marketing brilliance called "New Coke." For a quick refresher course to those not well versed in soft-drink history, when Coca-Cola, the long leader in soft drinks, saw their market share being eroded by Pepsi Cola, Coke panicked and decided to reformulate Coca-Cola, pulling it from the market and launching "New Coke" amidst a giant marketing campaign after successful market research, consumer taste-tests, etc. New Coke flopped, and taught the world that what they really wanted was the good old Coca-Cola they always knew and loved.
While it was huge commercial failure, the reintroduction of "old Coke", renamed "Coke Classic" reversed the market trend, and Coca-Cola regained their lost market share. "New Coke," still sold alongside Coke Classic, was quietly pulled from the market a couple of years later, to no one's notice or dismay, and faded into obscurity.
I find an odd parallel between "New Coke" and Windows Phone 7. (Stop laughing and hear me out! ) Like Coca-Cola, Microsoft was facing the eroding market share of Windows Mobile, and like Coke, decided "reformulating" the product and replacing it with a new one is the solution. My question is, despite the vastly improved UI and exciting new features, will there be any type of backlash over the missing features WinMo offered, like an addressable file system, removable storage, multitasking, sideloading of music without Zune desktop, or installing apps outside of the Marketplace?
Take the hugely successful iPhone. Apple's "game changer" has actually evolved over the years to become a lot more like the mobile platforms it claimed it different from. "No third-party apps" became "web apps," then third-party installable apps (albeit from a central, controlled app store.) The lack of "unnecessary" and "complicated" niceties like cut-and-paste and multitasking have been added, (even a task manager, despite Steve Jobs once saying that a mobile OS' need for a task manager would be "a sign of failure." Well, enjoy your failure, Steve- double tapping the Home key brings up a task manager in iOS 4 last time I looked!) And while the iPhone still lacks a true File Manager, file sync via iTunes now works a lot like file sync via Activesync did/does, hopefully ending the ridiculous kludges needed before like emailing documents to yourself for access later, or turning your PC into a web server to retrieve apps from it via WiFi through third-party apps.
I'm not in any way suggesting Windows phone 7 will be a marketing failure like New Coke, but I'm wondering if, after we've all taken a big swig of WP7, will we miss the taste of "Windows Mobile Classic" and be asking MS to bring these features of Windows Mobile back, and integrate them into the new OS? Or will it all "just work" and we won't even miss what we're missing?
[Originally written Jul 5 2010 9:54 PM]
With apologies to Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross and her "Five Stages of Grief."
I'm not sure exactly what stage I'm at yet- probably somewhere between 3 and 4.
1. Denial: ("Microsoft would never really release a new version of Windows phone without copy/paste, multitasking, or a file system!" I experienced this stage when details of WP7 were leaked a couple of days before Microsoft's announcement at MWC.)
2. Anger: ("Are they serious? Why not just silkscreen a half-eaten pear or an orange on it! I'll buy an Android first!" I hit this stage when reading the coverage of the MWC announcement here at the Connection.)
3. Bargaining: ("Ok, I'll try WP7, but only if the UI is really good, and MS commits to adding the power user features eventually...")
4. Depression: ("I've used, supported and been an advocate for Pocket PC/Windows Mobile for ten years, and this iPhone-a-like is all I'm going to end up with?")
5. Acceptance: ("Multiple Exchange server support, Zune Pass compatibility, and these live tiles are actually pretty cool... Maybe I was wrong...")
And, since we're actually talking about a rebirth, rather than a death, I'll add a 6th stage:
6. Giddy with Anticipation: ("Integrated social networking, Zune, XBox... where was this phone three years ago?!?")
As a long time fan of Pocket PC/Windows Mobile, I'm a little nervous about the upcoming changes to the platform, but it's hard not to get swept up in the excitement coming out of Redmond; some really neat stuff seems to be in the next OS.
[Originally written June 30, 2010]
In light of the darling OSes of the moment, namely iOS and Android, when Windows Mobile/Windows phone gets mentioned in a tech article or blog (rare these days unless mentioning the upcoming Windows phone 7) the term "dated" is typically used to describe the "antiquated UI," and that is the reason often given for Windows phone's declining marketshare and lack of strong retail presence.
I, too, have fallen victim to that line of thinking recently, at least until this week, when I rediscovered what a "dated," "antiquated" UI really is; I picked up a Nokia Symbian S60 5th edition (touchscreen) handset to play with last week- the Nokia 5230, sold as the "Nuron" by T-Mobile USA.
My first "smartphone" was a fairly early S60 handset, the Nokia 3650, that I bought back in 2003 mostly to use as a GPRS modem for my Pocket PCs. (Back then I was still anti-"convergence" because I didn't want to compromise on the features standalone PDAs had that were lost in the transition to the early Pocket PC/Windows Mobile phones, like screen size, fast processors, and multiple memory card/IO slots.)
The 3650 was a good little phone- decent camera, an included email app, and fairly good browser (for its day) and there was a good amount of software available via either native Symbian apps, or Java (J2ME) apps, but nothing like the wealth of native applications available for Pocket PC/Windows Mobile. The 3650 had no touchscreen of course- you thumbed around the screen with a directional pad, selecting icons and moving through "radio buttons" and menus as needed.
Fast forward to 2010, and I'm, as anyone here who reads my posts knows, a die-hard, devoted WinMo user, watching in horror as WinMo has seemingly become marginalized over the last couple of years, and even starting to buy into the "antiquated UI" theories. Tempted by T-Mobile's expansion of 3G service into my neighborhood, I was dying to upgrade to a T-Mo compatible 3G handset, but I just don't like the 3G Windows phones offered by T-Mo (HTC's Touch Pro 2 and HD2) because HTC ditched the directional pad I love dearly, in an attempt, apparently, to "iPhoney"-up their current offerings.
So, I figured, why not just buy a cheap-as-dirt 3G handset I can tether to my current WinMo phone, (a Sony X1, a 3G phone incompatible with T-Mobile's oddball 1700MHz 3G network,) to give 3G a try? Enter the Nuron, purchased as a prepaid handset from a local "warehouse" store for $120, cleverly avoiding a contract extension. So far, so good- out of the box the Nuron supports Dial Up Networking over bluetooth, and it uses the familiar old Symbian OS I used for a few years. And, boy was it familiar- although fully "touchified," Symbian S60 5th edition seems little changed from the 7-year old version on my old 3650. The directional keys have been replaced by flick and scroll motions, and menu items are selected by an annoying double tap (single tap for icons and radio buttons, though- so much for "intuitive") instead of a selection/enter button, but it reminded me a lot of Windows phone 6.5- pretty icons and finger-friendly menus, but under that glitz the old OS was still hiding virtually unchanged. The mail app is virtually unchanged (and pretty primitive.) Even with the new Ovi app store, plus third-party sites, the app selection seems a little weak, probably due to some major compatibility issues with the new touch version of Symbian, rendering a lot of old Symbian apps uninstallable, but presumably that will fix itself with time.
Now, understand that I'm not writing this to pick on Symbian in any way- I'm actually pointing out the parallels between Symbian and WinMo- the relatively static "outdated" UI over the years, the very superficial changes to core apps like the mail client, the mostly unsuccessful "conversion" to finger-friendliness, and the breaking of old apps by new form factors (e.g. HTC's and Nokia's removal of directional pads!)
However, that comparison left a burning question in the back of my mind- why has Windows phone's market share been tumbling in the last two years, while Symbian, though its market share is eroding, is still, by a large margin, the best selling mobile OS on the planet? Why didn't it crash and burn under the Apple and Google juggernauts? Is it simply that it's so large it takes longer to crumble, or is it because Symbian is simply "good enough" for a large number of users, and is available at lower price points?
I've (tried) using this Nuron as my "main phone," to give it a thorough test, for four days, and Symbian S60 is less functional, and no easier to use than Windows phone. (Though I'd almost forgotten how much I love Nokia's hardware! If only Nokia had ever built a WinMo 6.x device...) Symbian seems to lack the power of WinMo, but has the relatively steep learning curve and inconsistent UI WinMo is "famous" for. Like WinMo (and Android,) however, it's available in a plethora of form factors, and multiple manufacturers. So why did Symbian rule the roost for years, while WinMo merely found a nice, stable, niche with the enterprise user?
Again, this isn't a Symbian bash- for $180 list (full unsubsidized price), or free with a contract, I wouldn't expect this Nuron to be the equal of a good Windows phone that costs hundreds more. If fact, because T-Mo considers it a "dumbphone" it's eligible for a $10/month non-smartphone unlimited data plan from T-Mo, and supports tethering out of the box- I'd be very inclined to recommend the Nuron for someone who wants to dip their toe in the smartphone pool without getting soaked in $300+/year data plan costs!
I'm just wondering how Symbian has thrived and survived over the years, while WinMo never achieved that type of success with a superior OS product, and as dedicated an ecosystem of third-party devs as Symbian ever had. After the frustrations of the last few days, attempting multiple times to sync my Contacts and Calendar OTA with the Nuron, (and getting two duplicate sets of each on my PCs, but ironically only 7 of my seven hundred contacts ever making it to the Nuron!) downloading countless apps that wouldn't install due to compatibility issues (made for older versions of the OS,) and not being able to access Windows Media streaming radio or video, I'm done with the experiment. My SIM is heading back to the Sony, unless I decide to party like it's 1999 again, and go back to carrying a separate phone and PDA! For the $120 I paid, however, I suspect I'll keep the Nuron as a full time standalone GPS, and part-time 3G "aircard" whenever needed, when stuck in the occasional hotel without free WiFi! For everyday email, and light browsing use, my good ol' EDGE service is good enough. Other than tethering or streaming video, I don't see any huge advantage in 3G for a device with a 3" screen- certainly not enough of an advantage to compromise and use a device I don't enjoy using, whether it's an alternate OS, like the Nuron, or a handset without a D-pad, like the HD2.
[Originally written Nov 14, 2009]
Today's tale is a spotlight on one of the unsung heroes of the Windows Mobile platform. Plant your tongue firmly in your cheek and learn of a man who predicted the future, even if he himself didn't know he did it.
Occasionally I play with my wife's iPhone and peruse the offerings at the iTunes App Store. As you might expect, any of collection of 90,000 of anything will have a quite a few clunkers, and the App Store certainly doesn't disappoint! While there are certainly some very good apps and games, the vast majority are tiny apps with a single feature that usually is already available in the core functions of the phone- an app that finds the nearest coffee shop, ATM or nail salon by pre-loading a Google Maps search with the appropriate keywords and displaying the results, for example, or an app that launches a single TV or radio station stream in the phone's media player.
With that on my mind, a couple of days ago while reading Microsoft's Windows Mobile support forum on Usenet to lend a helping hand, I came across an auto-generated posting I've seen many times before: an invitation from Vincent Collura, a Canadian self-described "inventor/engineer" to visit his site www.cebeans.com and check out the over 6,750 free programs for Pocket PCs and touchscreen Windows phones available there. While offering that number of programs is a mildly impressive feat for any Windows Mobile freeware site, what makes this one unique, is that the nearly 7000 programs are all written by Vincent himself! This guy has averaged writing two programs a day every day the platform has been in existence!
To be fair, these aren't complicated multi-functional apps- even Vince himself doesn't suggest that. He calls them "beans," presumably a reference to their small size, sheer number, and relative insignificance. They're simplistic apps like you'd expect from a Visual Basic 101 programming class: many are very similar (a DVD collection database app and music CD database app are separate apps for example,) many simply launch a single function that could be just as easily handled by an existing included program, shortcut or favorite (the "TVNASA" app that simply opens Windows Media Player and displays the NASA TV video stream) and many are absolutely, mind-bogglingly ridiculous (like the "BirdTeacher" app that randomly replays any of five .wav files you pre-record to train your parrot to talk, or the very similar "BabyProgrammer" bean that "allows you to record a word or phrase then place the headphones on the child and the sound file will repeat and train the baby to learn the word..." Um, "place headphones" on a baby? Has this guy ever HAD a baby?)
I've given Vince a little "constructive criticism" on the support group before about the usefulness of his beans (and his weekly auto-generated self-promoting posts have generated a bit of ire there over the years,) but in retrospect, I realize I had it all wrong! Vince wasn't just an amateur programmer/hobbyist pumping out a pile of a mostly useless, redundant programs, he was a man ahead of his time- a true visionary! He alone predicted a day when people would sift through pages and pages of ridiculous, redundant, tiny apps that no one actually needs. He was just a decade early, and therefore coding for the wrong platform! One can easily imagine "BirdTeacher," "BabyProgrammer," or "TVNASA" as iPhone apps- they'd probably even make it into one of those commercials; ("Say your parrot hasn't learned to talk... There's An App For That...")
"LoveSlave," however, probably wouldn't make it into the TV ads: ("This program can be used when making love. Place the headphones on your lover and use the joypad up/down to select a command and right/left to send it to your lover..." (Sorry you TouchPro2 users- you need a D-pad for this app!) If Vince has tried using this app himself, it might help explain his unfamiliarity with babies... (Yes, "LoveSlave" is an actual bean- I can't make this stuff up! In fact, there are 130 beans in the "Love" category alone, including a few that perform functions I can't talk about without violating this site's posting guidelines! Vince offers free email support for all of his apps. You might ask if he needs beta testers...)
So, let's tip our hat to Vince Collura, the One-Man App Store, who proved long before the existence of the iPhone, that there was a mostly useless or awkwardly implemented "App for That!" Or, as Vince himself says, "Did you get your beans today?"
[Originally written Mon, Mar 8 2010]
I know- all of us phone users out there who can both talk and listen at the same time are secretly jealous of PTT, Push-to-Talk, service, like Nextel uses here in the US.
I mean, who wouldn't be- the need to hold a button down when speaking, the voice clarity of childrens' toys, the loud annoying "chirp" right before or after you talk alerting everyone around you that you have the height of World War II-era technology built into your handset- this is the stuff communications dreams are made of! If your life to this point has been incomplete because you've been missing Push-to-Talk, do I have good news for you!
Ok, I'm (mostly) kidding- PTT does have a few advantages over normal telephony- the ability to "conference" with multiple callers simultaneously, and the ease of connecting to oft-dialed individuals or groups make it a good service if you have the need. Holding down a talk button to talk does bring me back to my "BJ and the Bear" toy walkie talkies of the 1970s. Ten-4, good buddies!
A company ostensibly called "Officeverse" (their phone number is an unlisted landline in California, and their company name has no Yellow or White pages listing) is offering a service called "Loudtalks" (http://loudtalks.com/) which adds PTT capability to Windows PCs and Windows phones. Based on the web site, it's still in beta, but the service does work (I just talked to my daughter- her on the laptop and I on my mobile) even on a phone as anemic as my HTC Wizard, suffering from the dual handicap of a slow (200MHz) processor, and a slow data (T-Mobile 2G EDGE) connection.
Although they apparently intend to sell this service to corporations, a free "Lite" version, allowing calls to groups of up to ten people exists, and any one can create a user name and get online- think of it as a voice IM service, or a nostalgic look back to the 70s!
[Originally written Feb 16 2010]
While the announcement of Windows Phone 7 Series is exciting, I can't help but feel a little sad that it is essentially the final nail in the coffin of Windows Mobile, née "Pocket PC".
The new user interface seems slick, but in many ways it tells us Microsoft themselves has bought into the press and validated their critics- that bringing the desktop Windows interface to the small screen was ultimately a failure, and only a ground-up re-imagining could save Microsoft's lagging mobile OS business.
While I'm apparently in the minority, I always felt Microsoft hit a home run with the Pocket PC/Windows Mobile Pro UI. The Today screen was a fantastic "at a glance" roundup of all the important info on the device, and the desktop-like start menu instantly evoked the familiar look and feel of Windows. From there, a set of evenly-spaced, easy to poke program icons took you into your applications. (Anyone want to tell me why the iPhone's UI was so "groundbreaking" when, frankly, if you replaced WinMo's Programs menu white background with black, you've essentially got the iPhone's grid?)
Sure, WinMo wasn't perfect- under the programs and applets were tiny radio buttons and menus that required a stylus even back when 4" screens were the norm, much less a 2.5" one! Even so, I'm not sure it was time to throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater. WinMo certainly needed a ground-up reprogramming, if only to get rid of the obsolete code most likely present through 10 years of revisions and upgrades, and to tighten up responsiveness, but I'm not sure anyone can declare that the UI was a complete and utter failure. No portable device (other than UMPCs running actual Windows itself) ever came as close to replicating a full computer experience in your palm than Windows Mobile. My wife, who is not a huge technology fan, was able to navigate the various features of her Windows Mobile phone without any help, based on the similarity to desktop Windows alone (though she happily switched to an iPhone eventually, which, while less capable, she considers far more "fun.")
So, looking toward the future with some regret, I wonder about the new iteration of Windows on phones- the strength of Pocket PC/Windows Mobile was that it could be all things to all people- it was a business class device, it offered a decent media experience, and tens of thousands of apps to meet virtually any need- it was a full-fledged PC in my pocket, hence the name . Will "7 series" be as malleable? Or, (with apologies to Steve Jobs,) will it simply be the "best Zune ever"- a media/browsing-centric device with a minor degree in social networking?
"The King is Dead. Long Live the King!"
