Microsoft Still Doesn’t Get Mobile

I thought I’d take today to rant about Microsoft a little bit regarding their mobile strategy. After all these years of Microsoft making Windows Mobile and it’s predecessors, one might think that they “get mobile”. That Microsoft has the design and engineering know-how to take the best of what’s currently out there and put it into one device and take the spare time to innovate – bring us new and exciting idea.

Take something as simple as the alarm on a “Pocket PC” or Windows Mobile Smartphone. One might expect that in this day and age, given that these devices are touted as the all-in-one converged device, that it could support more than one alarm clock and could work reliably. One look at all of the alarm programs out on Handango and SmartPhone.net, and you’d see that CLEARLY there is a gap here that Microsoft has served poorly. Many posts on sites such as PocketPCThoughts.com will tell you that people continue to have problems with failed alarms. That’s just not acceptable – you need to be able to trust your “system” to do what you need it to do. If your “system” is a smart-device, than that alarm needs to go off when it should.

Or how about audio & video? How about giving me a device that I can use to listen to audio where it remembers where in the track I was when I exited the program so I can pick up where I left off?

Fortunately for me, I can afford to purchase third-party applications that allow me to do these things. And one might argue that Microsoft is intentionally not creating these features in their operating system so as not to step on the developers toes. And that would be good, except for the fact that a vast majority of Windows Mobile users will never visit the third-party application sites or install an application unless provided by their carrier or employer. Buy the developers if necessary, but get these features into the next version of the OS. Its time.

Microsoft has been accused of copying other people’s software features in the past and incorporating them into their products. Why stop now?

Recent sales figures show Apple, being in the mobile phone market for little more than 6 months at this point, eating Microsoft’s lunch. That is, Apple, as a single developer and manufacturer, BEAT all other Windows Mobile-based smartphones for the last half of 2007. Microsoft needs to DO BETTER at creating devices that the average consumer can easily and predictably use. Only then will they increase their market share. They’ve been at the game long enough. Now its time to play to win.

Using Your Phone For Blogging On The Train

If you want a creative solution for doing blogging on the train, you can’t get more McGyver-ish than this simple solution.

My note taking solution is a Motorola Q9h and a Stowaway Bluetooth keyboard. Works great if I have a flat surface to rest the keyboard on, but working on the train is a bit harder. I can’t balance the phone in a position that makes it viewable while being able to type at the same time. What I really needed was a method for putting the phone on the seat-back in front of my while I type on the keyboard which sits on my lap. I toyed around with various thoughts for a few days before coming up with an ultimate, minimalist and yet workable solution.

So here are the details: as mentioned, I have the Q9h and I also have a hard plastic belt holster. It works by clipping the phone in screen in, so it protects your screen. You can flip the phone over to face screen out, but it will not clip in at the top. So I raided the top of my daughter’s dresser for two elastic hair ties and a barrette. I prefer the hair ties to rubber bands because they don’t tend to break nearly as easily as a rubber band. One of the ties goes around the holster to keep the phone in the holster (since it won’t clip). The second tie gets doubled up to shorten it and slipped into the belt clip portion of the holster. I then clip the barrette into that same tie and slip the barrette into the back of the train seat, between the cushion and the hard back plate. Presto, hands free phone holder that keeps the phone at eye level!

Total cost, less than $20 and that includes the holster! And totally portable! Look around for a solution similar with your device and make good use of your commute time. Enjoy.

Happy Holidays!

As we are drawing to a close the work-week before the Holiday Season, we just wanted to wish all of our family, friends and readers a Happy Holiday.  We’ll be off between tonight and January 2nd, but stay tuned for a special New Year message that will be worth reading and considering.  Thanks to all our readers for your continued support!