My Digital Life

The week of April 30th in My Digital Life

Microsoft quarterly financial results exceeded Wall Street's expectations. seattlepi.com  analysis of the results points to the strength of Windows Vista and Office 2007. This is in sharp contrast to the pundits predictions that Vista sales would be lackluster. The results do include a substantial amount of deferred revenue from Vista coupons, however you have to count that revenue at some point. I think the next quarter will tell the tale, and from all indication Microsoft believes it will be a good one. The Entertainment and Device division posted a 21% revenue decline however narrowed its loss to $315M. I would love to know how the Windows Mobile devices faired.  The big disappointment which was telegraphed early was the Online Services division which had a loss of $200M vs $24M a year ago. I having been using Google and Live search with the same queries, the Live Search results are definitely becoming comparable.

This last weekend I did some minor adjustments to the blog's layout, I added two links to my Windows Mobile and Windows Vista application lists on the right below the Google search. I also plan to add  a link to my current Today screen layout in the near future. Over the last week I have been having Bluetooth issues with my T-Mobile MDA, it is time for a hard reset. I have not done one since last July and I afraid that the many installs and re-installs I do weekly, finally corrupted the registry. With three weeks to the debut of the T-Mobile Wing, it is too bad I have to rebuild now.

I have been wanting to use and comment on Ilium's NewsReader 2.0 and it will be at the top of list in my rebuilding task. This is a great solution for viewing RSS feeds and listening to podcasts.

On the mobile front, I also added a new page http://www.mydigitallife.us/mobile.html to my blog which formats entries for mobile browsers (a one column view), however all the links still point to the main site. Wordpress has a plug in which reformats the blog for mobile browsers, unfortunately Typepad does not which is really too bad. Also it looks like I can't run any server side scripts to determine which type of browser made the request. Apparently there is some way to work with css style sheets and a mobile media type which may be recognized by the mobile browser. It seems Opera recognizes this attribute, but I am not sure of Pocket Internet Explorer. Clearly more research is required...

On the Blackberry outage debacle, Jason Langridge posted a note about Cingular/AT&T offering customers a $2.50 credit for the outage. I know $2.50 multiplied by tens of thousands of customers can add up to a lot of money but still at the individual level I think it is pretty insulting. I think free minutes or free text messages might have been a better approach.

This week:

• Ilium NewsReader 2.0 is at the top of list once I rebuild my Windows Mobile Environment.
• My Verizon Aircard 595 Quicklook on pocketnow.com should get published.
• I will be starting a review of Prevalent Devices Phraze-It  keyboard 2.0 application using my Dell Axim X51v.
• I just received BlueAnt's SUPERTOOTH Light Bluetooth hands free unit for cars to review. Here is the link to a product video.
• I am running 100% on my new Lenovo X60 Tablet with Vista, it is now time to comment...

BlueAnt Wireless T8 Micro Bluetooth Headset

The trend for Bluetooth headsets is to miniaturizes them while adding functionality, increasing battery life and improving sound quality. In addition I would like the designs to be less obtrusive and more comfortable to wear. BlueAnt Wireless has recently released the T8 micro Bluetooth headset which follows their successful X3 micro Bluetooth headset we reviewed here. Read on for the full review!

Windows Mobile - Deepfish

This morning I woke up to find an invitation to download and try Deepfish, Microsoft Research's attempt to reshape mobile browsing. The Deepfish project was publicly discussed back in December of 2006, and at the beginning of April a limited beta/Customer Technology Preview was made available at http://labs.live.com/deepfish/ , however when I tried to download it I was too late, their initial download numbers had been exceeded. They now are expanding the program.

Deepfish is a front end to the current version of Pocket Internet Explorer (PIE) on Windows Mobile 5.0. Windows Mobile 6.0 is not listed. It provides the means to easily display and navigate web sites that are not designed for mobile devices.

Deepfish is only 158KB, a tribute to using the .NET Compact Framework 2.0.

The NY Times using PIE, it works but it is an ugly experience.

The New York Times displayed with Deepfish. Very nice.

The navigation is performed using the D-Pad. Clicking the center button brings up a movable zoom block.

Clicking the center button zooms into the block. A cue map can be displayed to help with navigation on the page (red arrow). Holding the center button zooms out. Clicking the center button allows you to switch between page navigation and link navigation modes. Page navigation mode allows you to move around the page freely while link navigation mode jumps from link to link (current PIE experience, if you don't you use an add-in like smartskey).

This is clearly a work in progress, but it feels very solid. The Deepfish project team has asked for feedback and  I plan to submit the following:

• Use the PIE favorites, it seems to have its own favorite list.
• Add tabs, like Multi-IE.

Deepfish will definitely make it to my Windows Mobile software list.

T-Mobile Wing (HTC Herald) vs T-Mobile MDA

It looks like the T-Mobile successor to the MDA is becoming a reality, phonescoop.com found the HTC Herald for T-Mobile USA in the FCC's application database. I decided to take a look at the specifications in the T-Mobile Wing manual and compare them to the ones in the T-Mobile MDA manual. Here are the key differences on the T-Mobile Wing (HTC Herald):

• OS - WM 6
• No IrDA
• No 1/8" quad plug for headphones (the headphone connection is integrated into the mini USB port)
• 2MP camera
• Heavier by 8 grams
• Thinner by 5.7mm
• Bluetooth 2.0
• Micro SD card slot

	MDA	Wing (Herald)
Processor	TI OMAP 850	TI OMAP 850
Memory	ROM 128MB RAM 64MB	ROM 128MB RAM 64MB
OS	WM 5.0	WM 6
LCD	2.8" TFT-LCD, back light LED, touch sensitive	2.8" TFT-LCD, back light LED, touch sensitive
Resolution	240 x 320 65,536 colors	240 x 320 65,536 colors
GSM Radio	GSM/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900	GSM/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900
WIFI	802.11 B/G	802.11 B/G
Bluetooth	1.2	2.0
Camera	1.3MP 1280x1024 SXVGA 8x digital zoom	2MP 1600x1200 UXGA 10x digital zoom
Dimensions	109mm x 58mm x 23.7mm	109 mm x 59mm x 18mm
Weight	160g w battery	168g w battery
Audio Codecs	AMR/AAC/WAV/WMA/MP3	AMR/AAC/WAV/WMA/MP3
Infrared	IrDA SIR	none
I/O ports	USB, mini SDIO	USB, micro SD
Expansion Slot	mini SD	micro SD
Battery	1250mAh	1130mAh
Standby Time	150-200 hours	150-200 hours
Talk Time	3.5 - 5 hours	3.5 - 5 hours

Clearly this is not much of an upgrade, however overall I think the HTC Herald is a step up from what was already an excellent device.

Spb Software House - Spb Phone Suite version 1.0 review

As with many of the core applications shipped with Windows Mobile, the Phone application only provides a basic set of functions. The power of Windows Mobile lies in the Application Programming Interface (API) which allows third party developers to innovate. In a follow on to its successful Pocket Plus application, which addresses some missing Windows Mobile core features, Spb Software House has just released the Spb Phone Suite version 1.0. Read on to see how it performed!

The week of April 23rd in My Digital Life

Yesterday, RIM, Inc. announced the Blackberry application suite for Windows Mobile 6. In the past RIM, Inc. has offered Blackberry Connect on various Windows Mobile devices, however this announcement goes further since it allows you to run Blackberry applications on a Windows Mobile device.  RIM may be realizing that they can only go so far with their current OS architecture and to try to catch up with Windows Mobile is futile in the short term. This is an interesting move since according to the Wall Street Journal, about 73% of RIM, Inc. revenue comes from device sales. This move could cannibalize their devices sales and also allow Exchange Server customers to migrate to Microsoft's integrated Direct Push or could they be positioning themselves to build their own Windows Mobile device as a Blackberry replacement...The latter would be a gutsy and risky move, but one that has potential.

From all the rumors it looks like May 21st will be the launch day for the MDA replacement for T-Mobile USA. mymobile911 has now posted a video of the T-Mobile Wing. The reported price for the Wing is $249 on a 24 month contract. Although the Wing is not much of an upgrade, I will probably end up going for it. I purchased my MDA last March, I have used it hard and it is starting to show. It will be nice to have an official Windows Mobile 6 device and a 2 MP camera. I noticed from the video that the battery is 1130ma, my current battery in my MDA is 1250ma. I wonder why they chose a smaller battery (they look to be the same size), hopefully it won't affect usage.

Spb Software House, Inc. has just released Spb Phone Suite. Yesterday I completed a review of the product and it should be posted shortly on pocketnow.com.

I received my replacement Vista compatible Uniden WIN1200 Microsoft Messenger 5.8GHZ phone and should have time to try it this week.

This week:

• I will commenting on Ilium's NewsBreak 2.0.
• I will be writing up my final blog entry on the Verizon Aircard 595 on pocketnow.com.
• I am 95% migrated to my Lenovo Thinkpad X60 with Windows Vista and will post my thoughts.
• Two reviews should be posted on pocketnow.com, one on the BlueAnt T8 Micro Bluetooth headset and one the Spb Phone Suite version 1.0.

My HDTV Adventure...Windows Vista Ultimate Media Center

One of my goals when I decided to purchase my Sony KDL46XBR2 LCD TV was to be able to use it with Windows Vista Ultimate and I wanted to connect the Sony via a single HDMI cable.

As part of my Vista upgrade I purchased an ATI Radeon X1650 Pro 512 AGP card using their trade up program. I traded in a very old card, sold my ATI AIW 9800 on eBay bringing my upgrade cost well below $100. The X1650 was my only real choice since my Intel D865PERL motherboard only has an AGP slot. The X1650 works fine, however I would have liked to have 2 DVI outputs rather than one VGA and one DVI so that I could run both of my Samsung 204B monitors in digital mode.

In order to split the DVI output of the X1650 I purchased a Gefen DVI EXT-DVI-144 splitter, one side goes to the Samsung monitor, the other is routed to a Gefen HDMI 4x1 switcher using a Gefen DVI to HDMI cable. This switcher allows me to control output to the Sony between Windows Vista and the Directv HR20 DVR. I will use the additional inputs at some point for an HD and/or Blue-ray DVD player. This allows me to use one HDMI cable to the TV. This setup does not come cheap, but I wanted to have the Sony decode the digital signal to get the best possible picture. I can attest that the picture quality with an HDMI is much better than one using a component connection. I am very pleased with the Gefen splitter, switch, and cables. Their customer support is excellent and I was able to get the equipment at a discounted price from kvmgalore.com.

Here is how the components are connected:

ATI Radeon X1650 analog -> VGA cable -> Samsung 204B (used as an extended monitor)

                                digital   -> Gefen EXT-DVI-144  -> Samsung 204B (used as the primary monitor)

                                                                                  -> Gefen 6' DVI-HDMI cable -> Gefen 4x1 HDMI switcher input 2

Directv HR20 DVR ->      ->      ->     ->      ->      ->    -> Gefen 6' HDMI cable        -> Gefen 4x1 HDMI switcher input 1 -> Gefen 30' HDMI cable -> Sony KDL46XBR2

One of the problems that has plagued the VGA world is how the display configures itself to the VGA card's output resolution. If you have ever done presentations using someone else's projector you know what I mean. With DVI and HDMI part of the information that is transmitted  to the monitor or projector from the video card is resolution and frequency. I quickly found out that what the Samsung monitor is willing to accept is different than the Sony TV. The native resolution for the Samsung is 1600 x 1200 while the Sony is 1920 x 1080. While it is possible to find a reduced resolution that works on both, it is a big compromise in picture quality. Since I did not need to have both the Samsung and Sony on at the same time I chose to create two profiles using ATI's Catalyst software. One for my desktop two monitor environment and the other for the Sony TV with 1080p  HDTV support. (Catalyst 7.4 seems to have an issue with Vista so I am using 7.3).

This setup works very well, Media Center is easy to use on and looks great on the Sony, however I am not very impressed with the default Internet based content. I clearly need to play around with it some more but for viewing my Photoshop Elements photo stories and videos it is great. It is a much better solution than the Directv HR20 media device feature which is limited to still photos and music. I can see the power of the media center interface, it is intuitive and flows nicely. All we need is Directv tuner hardware to put into our PCs and we would have a killer environment. Back in 2001 I saw a Directv PC card demoed but it never made it to market, too bad.

Push Email - Centralized vs Distributed architecture

As an architect the debate between centralized vs distributed is always an interesting one. It has been proved many times that distributed architectures have a better chance to withstand failure than centralized ones (the Pentagon thinks so), however in many cases they are much harder to implement.

Case in point the Research In Motion (RIM) Network Operations Center (NOC) model. The Blackberry failure might have affected less users if they had implemented a distributed architecture. It seems that all messages are fed to the wireless carriers via a primary NOC in Waterloo, CA and a backup NOC in the UK. Apparently the fail over never occurred and Blackberry users were left in the dark for over 10 hours. Over the years RIM has pushed the idea that using a NOC provided robustness in getting messages onto a cellular network. The NOC marketing push even forced Microsoft to offer an Exchange add on that interfaces via a NOC to cellular carriers. Well I guess the model is not as robust as they might have you think...

By its nature Microsoft Exchange is distributed since most corporate entities run their own servers. The Microsoft ActiveSync Server Direct Push technology is integrated in the Exchange Server. The Exchange Servers connect directly with your mobile device, any failure can be contained to an Exchange Server, Internet Service Provide, or Cellular Carrier. This model provides for the ability to architect multiple paths to the end user and cellular systems are distributed by nature so the likely hood of an all out failure is minimal. The bottom line is that the Exchange Architecture Direct Push architecture is more robust that what RIM has today.

The only feature left for RIM to hang it hat on now is the manageability of the devices, however Microsoft has closed the gap with Exchange 2007 and Windows Mobile 6. At this point I think the differences are negligible, the choice should become financial in nature rather than feature bound or ideological.

My Vista application list April 19th

Yesterday, I reported on Ilium Software's eWallet 5.0 here. I happy to report that the desktop component works well with Vista and the Sync Center/Mobile Device Center.

I am using Diskeeper 2007 on Lenovo X60. If you are a current customer follow instructions here. The current version is 11.0.703.0. I have not had any problems with it.

Office Accounting Professional 2007 was just updated with SP1 which updated the database and is working well.

I am also adding a category tag for My Vista Application list entries to simplify retrieval and show the evolution of my choices.

Applications that work

1. Office 2007 - Vista compliant application
2. Office 2003 - Seems to work without any problems
3. Money 2007 - an update is available and it works well.
4. SQL Server 2005 works fine with SP2.
5. Office Accounting Professional 2007 SP1- works well.
6. Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2007 - works well with Office Accounting 2007 and integrated database.
7. Nuance's Paperport 11 released an update which can be downloaded and works well. The update process is little cumbersome since you have to uninstall the old versions and then have to terminate multiple processes including SQL Server to enable the install to complete successfully.
8. ECTO blogging application seems to work well.
9. SmartFTP requires version 2.0 build 1002 or later.
10. ImgBurn version 2.1.0 works well.
11. Acronis 10.0 True Image Home backup works well. Read my backup scheme here.
12. Adobe Photo Elements 5.0 - An Vista update to 5.0.2 is available. The catalog was corrupted, salvaging the WMI repository seems to have allowed Elements to rebuild the catalog.
13. Sling Media Sling Player for Windows 1.4.0.206 is compatible with Vista, although it does not take advantage of the Vista Aero features. They are working on a version that does.
14. Kiwi Syslog Service version 8.1.3 works with Vista and records all my D-Link DFL-210 events. I had to create a firewall rule to allow port 514 through the firewall (same as in XP). Here is my post on the subject.
15. APC PowerChute Business Edition version 7.0.5 works well.
16. TyTool 10r4 to extract files from a series 1 Directv Tivo works. I was able create a DVD file structure.
17. Hyperterminal Private Edtion from Hilgraeve - This is the old version of Hyperterminal and works fine, too bad Microsoft left it out of Vista.
18. iTunes 7.1.1 - It still is not 100% Vista compatible but works ok, it still flakes out sometimes and won't play tracks, however a reboot cures the problem.
19. Ilium Software eWallet 5.0 - Works very well.
20. Diskeeper 2007 version 11.0.703.0 - Works well on my Lenovo X60.

Application that seem to work or I have not fully tested

1. VentaFax 5.71 - Fax function workThey are working on a Vista solution, however no date yet.

Application that do not work

1. Office Small Business Accounting 2006 (SBA), Not supported on Vista, move to Office Accounting 2007.

Driver issues:

Currently none. System is very stable.

My Windows Mobile application list as of April 18th

It has been almost three months since I last updated this list. I have created a category of My WM list for direct access to the evolution of the applications I use on my Windows Mobile device.

Addition:

No  additions to report, however I am testing a pre release phone application which I may start using.

Upgrades:

• Ilium Software eWallet 5.0. See my entry here.

Replacements:

No replacements on this list.

In the Wings:

• Ilium Software's Newbreak version 2.0 (this week or next)
• Phatware's Calligrapher version 8.5, version 8.4 did not work well for me.
• WebIs Pocket Informant 2007 revision 3

In Storage Memory:

• Spb Shell version 1.0
• ScaryBear Software CheckNotifications version 2.3 and Notification Clear Fix version 1.0
• PhatWare Calligrapher version 8.3 (I could not get version 8.4 to load correctly, 8.5 is now available)
• JetWare Bluetooth HFP Extensions version 1.20
• Stowaway Keyboard and Mouse drivers version 4.51
• Zagat To Go Version 5.0 (guides stored on SD card)
• Microsoft .NET CF 2.0 SP1
• Fizz Software Ltd Fizz Weather version 2.31
• Developer One ScreenSnap version 6.1
• WebIS Pocket Informant 2007 revision 2
• Omega One Battery Pack Pro version 3.03
• Omega One 1-Calc version 2.3.1
• PhatWare Phatpad version 4.1
• SBSH.net PocketBreeze version 5.1.02
• Ilium Software eWallet version 5.0
• SWC Ltd - MultiIE version v4.0-d72
• SOTI Pocket Controller version 5.05
• C. Ghisler & Co. Total Commander version 2.0
• Intent MIDlet manager version 2.0
• Smartskey version .56
• OmaClock version .02 startup with Smartskey at 240MHZ
• Windows Live Search version 1.0.2592.31374

On 2GB Mini SD card:

• Microsoft Office OneNote Mobile (comes with OneNote 2007) Version 12.0.4518.1010
• RandyRants.com Pocket SharpMT version 3.3
• Microsoft Pocket Streets 2005 version 12.0.07.0700 This is a nice small mapping application, too bad Microsoft has decided to stop development of this product.
• Ilium Software Newsbreak version 1.2
• Gougelet PE XnView Pocket version 1.35
• Sunnysoft's Backup Manager 4.0 (review here)
• SlingPlayer Mobile version 1.1
• Holux's GPS Viewer 1.5