Chris Pirillo on the iPhone vs. Windows Mobile for Business Use

"I was a Windows Mobile device user for about seven years. I was against the iPhone at first, thinking my Windows device suited my needs just fine. Then Ponzi bought me the iPhone. MajorDef wrote in to ask which is better for business: a Windows Mobile device, or an iPhone? I am a product tester for Sprint, and recently got my hands on their new HTC Touch mobile device. It's not a bad device. It's very small and lightweight. It does everything I need it to do. But it just doesn't compare to my iPhone. I get frustrated trying to push a button that doesn't work on these Windows devices. After playing with this Sprint HTC Touch for about five minutes, I literally shook my head and said out loud. How did I ever DO this??. Keep in mind that for seven years, I was perfectly happy with my Windows devices. Enter my iPhone. It's not just an amazing media device, it's a joy to use. It's smooth, it's functional, it works the way I never thought it could work. It syncs perfectly with my Outlook, which is where I primarily live with my work. It can share my contacts, calenders and tasks. I can connect it to Exchange. It's just magic. Is it perfect? Hardly. But, it's the closest to perfect that any mobile device has ever come."



This is from last week, but I thought it was worth sharing - on a dedicated Windows Mobile site like this one, you might consider this flame bait, but I'm hoping we can have some intelligent discussion on what Chris is saying. As a long-time Windows Mobile user, I think Chris' criticism of the platform has significant merit - he's not just some random user that picked up a Windows Mobile phone for five minutes and said he didn't like it. He's used it for years, is aware of the good and bad, and finally decided he couldn't put up with it any more. That's significant.

From my perspective, I've only had about five minutes of hands-on time with an iPhone so I'm not the best person to compare the two. But in my hands on time with the product, it's impossible to deny the beauty and fluidity of the product. Apple did a great job with the design. But look deeper from a business user's perspective: can you process a significant amount of email with no physical keyboard? I know I can't - I absolutely need a keyboard. Can you use it as a business tool without third party applications? No, browser-based widgets are not applications. Perhaps some people can, but I know many of you rely on powerful third party software to get more done. And what about the whole Exchange issue? Chris' comments about how great Outlook/Exchange works with his iPhone were news to me - he didn't really go into details, but mentioned Plaxo. I know some people who won't use Plaxo because it's such a potential privacy nightmare. That's my brief take on the subject - what's yours?  (Windows mobile, Apple, Review)

How will Android affect the other mobile operating systems?

Like a number of my colleagues here at CNET, I had my ear pressed to the phone yesterday morning as the members of the Open Handset Alliance (OHA), including Google, Motorola, and HTC, revealed their plans for Android, a new open platform for mobile devices. I'... (Palm, Windows mobile, Blackberry, Apple, Android, Symbian)

Voice Recognition, BlackBerry Support Comes to Microsoft's Live Search

Microsoft has released an updated version its Live Search service for Windows Mobile devices that includes a number of enhancements. It has also released a beta version for BlackBerry smartphones.
 (Windows mobile, Blackberry)

iPAQ 610 and 910 Now Scheduled for 2008

An HP spokesperson has revealed that the two smartphones in his company's new lineup of iPAQs won't be on the market as soon as was first planned.

When these models were first announced early this fall, HP never gave specific launch dates, but indicated that the iPAQ 610 Business Navigator and iPAQ 910 Business Messenger would be on the market in the next few months.  (Windows mobile, Hp)

More iPaq Delays

"Looks like HP has still no luck with its Windows Mobile PDA and smartphone business. After the American PC manufacture caught some attention with its recently announced iPAQ line of PDAs and smartphone, TamsPPC Blog reports that the whole iPAQ line is delayed."



After the blow of having the 200 series delayed, it now appears that the 600 and 900 series are having the same problems. The 600 series looks like it'll only turn up in February 2008 and the 900 series in May 2008, or about 3-4 months after they were originally slated to be shipping. Bear in mind that this report has not yet been corroborated, but given the problems with the 200 series, I wouldn't be surprised if we get this confirmed pretty soon.

 (Windows mobile, Hp)

MobilityFlow's Touch Commander

"MobilityFlow.com today announces Touch Commander, a unique application for controlling PDA and smartphones by recognizing and responding to the touch and sweep of a finger across the screen. With Touch Commander in place, you get a one-touch access to phone calls, emails, SMS messages, calendar, appointments, applications and other commonly used content. The 'touchy-feely' effect provided by Touch Commander is much the same as the finger touch scrolling, browsing and spinning a three dimensional interface by the finger in the Touch phone by HTC TouchFLO or Apple iPhone."



If you don't have an HTC device with TouchFLO but want finger-based operation, this might be a product to check out. There's a neat little Flash animation on their homepage that quickly shows how to use the product. If anyone's given it a spin, feel free to post your experiences here. If you like the software, it costs $14.95.

AT&T scores Motorola Q9h Global

Motorola Q9h Global(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)

OK, it only took a year and a half, but I suppose it's better late than never. Tonight, AT&T and Motorola finally took the wraps off the Motorola Q9h Global, a long overdue GSM version of the Motorola Q. ... (Windows mobile)

Mobility Site Reviews The HTC Mogul

"In my opinion the Mogul has all the features of a great PDA and a pretty decent phone as well. Finally, I don't have to choose either one or the other! This is what convergence was meant to be. Overall, I'd give the HTC Mogul a rating of 8.5 out of 10. I'd put it on my highly recommended list of devices. In fact, it's now at the top of my personal 'Want' list."



Holy HTC Device Reviews Batman! Yesterday I posted on a HTC Titan/Mogul review done overseas, today we're looking at the Qwest Mogul, tested out here in the US. Overall I'm a big fan of this device, whatever you want to call it. If I wasn't a GSM customer (and darn happy I am), I'd probably pick a Mogul for my daily driver (It would be weird to have to stick to one device...!)

Run Palm OS applications on your Windows Mobile Device

Being a Palm OS user since the days of the Palm Pro, I was greatly disappointed with the amount of applications available to the Windows Mobile devices. So when I came across an emulation utility called StyleTap, I was estatic! (Palm, Windows mobile, Reviews)

Cingular 8525 a feature-rich Windows Mobile Pocket PC

The Cingular 8525 is a feature-rich Windows Mobile Pocket PC providing access to your personal or corporate email, Internet, and your critical personal or business applications all at broadband speeds. (Windows mobile, News, Pdabuzz)