Database Info

An Open Letter: Windows Mobile

Large post: full letter can be found: http://austechreview.zoomshare.com/files/Open_Letter/An_Open_Letter_WM.htm
AN OPEN LETTER:
TO the individuals working in the Microsoft Windows Mobile division, to the hardware vendors for the platform, to the many Windows Mobile communities, to the avid enthusiasts of the technology, to the new-comers, to the onlookers and especially to those frustrated users of old and new alike.
I address this discussion to you all, as diverse and wide ranging audience for we all share a common trend in our lives, which, regardless of the corner we examine, be it: our work environments; our social interactions; or simply our personal lives, we find ourselves using (or looking to use) what perhaps best represents the apex in the convergent technologies trend - the Windows Mobile device.
We are speaking of a device whose form today can take on the properties of a phone, a portable music player, a mobile media centre, a camera, a camcorder, a webcam, a high speed modem, a GPS navigation unit, a portable gaming device, a radio, a mobile CRM, web-browser, email client, information management center and as a mobile office. I don’t doubt more could probably be added to that list, but those are just some of the features these devices are largely capable of and all of this functionality rests right there populating our pockets, belts or briefcases.
Despite this unprecedented functionality in convergence and the leaps ahead these devices have made in quite recent times, the changes have been largely hardware driven and when they have been software driven it has largely been by third parties or by hardware manufactures doing the platform vendors job. It seems these changes have not gone unnoticed, consciousness in the community, due to years of the same pattern - in contrast with the events of this year - have finally began to demand answers to the why’s and where’s of the Windows Mobile platform. It is time for a discussion on the issues with this platform and where it’s heading [CSM forum discussion]. With that in mind let’s ask ourselves some whys:
Why is it 2007 and only now with the consumer rollout of Windows Mobile 6 this year (the later part for most of it) are we only now - after all these years - finally seeing support for VGA resolutions in Windows Mobile? It’s not like the technology to support it hasn’t existed, 3rd party workarounds are a plenty, but they are often tedious and have results which require the user to make compromises often combined with GUI deficiencies.​Why is it that this is now supported in WM6, yet my HTC advantage with WM6 still requires me to load this 3rd party software? Is Microsoft not giving you the code to activate the resolution options HTC? Or Microsoft do you not feel it prudent to work with HTC to encourage them to adopt such a simple capacity as letting us use VGA on our VGA devices?​
Why has it taken so many years to do something with the X button, despite an array of 3rd party applications demonstrating the productivity and ease of use gains from enabling options with this part of the software?Why have manufactuers like HTC had to release their own X button software? ​Why, have roll-out and constant updates been such a prevalent facet of Windows for PCs, yet you feel no need to roll-out updates for your WM line, contrary to the capacity of the platform to support it?
Why after all these years of Windows Mobile, are syncing issues still so prevalent?
Why, despite the obvious adoption of WiFi technology and its virtual inclusion in all WM devices can we still not Sync over WiFi? Did HTC not inform Microsoft that they had put WiFi onto virtually all of their Windows Mobile devices these days? I ask because from the hoops you often have to jump through to get wireless networking connection in WM one might wonder.​Why, has it taken HTC and O2 to give limited users a Media Centre application despite the popularity of Media Centre software on PCs and in the home, and despite the capacity of these devices being capable of viewing, pictures, video, music, radio and more recently TV?
Why have hardware vendors had to produce this software?​
Call it a crazy division of labour thing, but shouldn’t hardware vendors in this case be sticking to well, hardware?​Why has Microsoft not worked with them then to release better versions of the software or encourage them to release such software to the wider community? Media integration of this kind has been such a Grand strategy across the rest of the Microsoft divisions, did the WM division not get invited to the meetings for this strategy?​
Just because these devices are largely aimed at professionals doesn’t mean this functionality cannot be built on. Yes I largely use this device, like most, for its superior information management and touch screen functionalities. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to enjoy or use its other capabilities. ​Why after so many years of this platform being around, after so many operators adopting its hardware and after the recent popular release of devices like the Touch or last year the HTC TyTN series, why after all this do so few people still know about the capabilities of Windows Mobile devices?
Is this a problem limited to Australia? Apparently, it might be. You’re advertising on behalf of the hardware vendors in India, which makes sense having the second largest market, but while your off advertising in India, the IPhone is advertising (if it even has to) across the rest of the Western World!​
It never ceases to amaze me how few people know about these devices, even people in IT, if they do know about them they are largely unaware of there capacities, and secondarily associate them with all the bugs and problems of Windows.​
This lack of awareness is largely a marketing and promotions issue, but heres the kicker it’s a two party problem. If the hardware vendors and Microsoft haven’t noticed you’re futures are tied together. It’s in both of your interests to promote these devices. Microsoft you especially, because there are multiple hardware vendors but only one software vendor in this game, and the devices are by name Windows Mobile devices, which people will aptly associate with……Microsoft.​People have a million and one choices of mobile devices in the market, and more contemporarily a wider choice of touch based technology devices. People aren’t going to magically seek out the Windows Mobile products, especially with their price tag, if they aren’t aware of it, and further aren’t educated on its features.​

Why Why, did you allow the iPhone to gain such a hype and pre-eminent status? Hardware vendors and Microsoft, your devices have been largely capable of everything the iPhone can do, sans multi-touch, and much much more as we have discussed. They have had this capacity for years, why did you allow the IPhone to capture the mass market like this?
The answer most likely lies in the marketing as we have already discussed, but surely by now you’re picking up on my pattern here. That being, both the hardware and software vendors need to work with each other to promote these devices, enhance its functionality and use of the convergent technology.​
It’s a two way street too hardware vendors you need to encourage Microsoft, you both should be listening to users; hardware vendors chances are your hearing the gripes with WM more than Microsoft, are you communicating it back to them and encouraging these changes?​Why after so many years of Windows Mobile do I still have to install or buy 3rd party software to get half-descent time-management functionality out of these devices? Why are the tasks and calendar options barely more customisable or expanded then they were in Windows 2002 or earlier?
Why after so many years of Windows Mobile do I still virtually have the same basic interface? Why despite all this hardware power and the fact that we are using touch-screens do I have an interface that has remained virtually unchanged for all these years?
I know these are aimed at enterprise users (hi) but do we not deserve a nicer interface? The interface isn’t even all about aesthetics; it’s also about productivity, look at how much more the devices can be enhanced through 3rd party software like Wisbar desktop etc. ​
Are there plans to change this? Or will I have to buy a “Zune phone” to get some nicer interfaces? ​Why did it magically take for the iPhone to come out before we finally got some hardware (and software from the hardware vendor no less) that actually takes advantage of the fact that we are using touch-screen devices – referring to the HTC Touch of course.
Why isn’t there more collaboration between Microsoft and even 3rd party software vendors?
One of the greatest benefits this platform has over the iPhone and over symbion is the range of software. Why isn’t this more widely, promoted and encouraged? This isn’t perhaps so much a serious question that needs answering, since there are many community based sites that review and promote WM software but it’s a key and crucial benefit of the Windows Mobile platform and one that needs to be more readily promoted, advertised and enhanced.​I, like most fellow Windows Mobile users, have either enjoyed using my Windows Mobile device or had to use it because there was no alternative – most likely a mix. And the Why’s I have asked today are not likely to dissuade me or anyone else from buying a Windows Mobile device and I have no illusions that there are many more whys people would like answered.
The point has been to briefly illustrate the mediocrity and failings both Microsoft and its hardware vendors have settled for with this platform combined with a reiteration of the many benefits and possibilities of the platform as one of the pinnacles of convergent technology.
Furthermore as should be apparent now, encourage a closer and more importantly, public, strategic collaboration between the hardware vendors and Microsoft. Both of your futures are tied to this platform, it’s a robust hardware device with many software features and a tonne of uses, but these must be enhanced, visually and functionally.
Secondly the platform must be promoted. You have a technologically advanced and highly convergent device rivalled by no other platform. The devices despite being geared for enterprise have many features consumer users could gain from them, particularly since the cost of many of the devices has become comparably affordable (aka HTC Touch). Its time consumers were made aware from joint marketing between the hardware and software vendor.
The IPhone has done a good job (as was expected from the hype and the eye candy interface) of capturing the consumer market. Now despite a consensus that the IPhone isn’t ready for business use, don’t be naïve enough to think this will always be the case. I don’t want to give Apple any ideas, but it strikes me if they were to buy up Pocket Breeze or Agenda Fusion etc and adapt it to the IPhone platform, maybe add some functional word, excel and pdf viewing capabilities, and correct some limited (and quite fixable issues) with the interface, you would surely have a sleek stylish well known business rival to the Windows Mobile platform.
Apple has the easy job here, it’s the only face behind the iPhone, its not HTC producing a device and then powered by Windows, its just apple and its iPhone; it doesn’t have to worry about collaborating with a partner, only telecommunication carriers that are dying to supply the device to consumers.
It stands to reason that if Windows Mobile can do this and more, and without the restrictions of the iphone, it should be the HTC Touch et al, that carriers are dying to sell to consumers, yet its not is it?
More dangerously, as mentioned, the transformation to a business capable device is a lot easier than the task of making a business device (despite its many consumer features) appeal to the mass market, especially after Apple has stolen the thunder to appear like the pre-eminent technological device.
I hope this generates some discussion amidst the Windows Mobile users and perhaps even between the hardware vendors and Microsoft, who should together be hatching out a strategic direction for these devices and who perhaps would see fit to work more closely with the communities who use their devices, so that some of the basic issues mentioned at the start, aren’t taking years to respond to.
Regards,
Osiris.

[Q] Streaming the Phone

Hi,
We've all seen the Windows Phone presentations where the presenter streams the content of the phone on the projector or monitor using some sort of an internal Microsoft tool (as I've come to learn).
Any idea what the tool is? Where one can find it or what would it take to write one?

any answer to this? I need this info as well

Yes I can tell you why its not present on the consumer phones.
This is what I got as an answer to a related question:
The technology used to make this happen is patented and Microsoft is not allowed to distribute it into consumer devices. There are certain devices that are fully open (the devices they use to do the presentations with the TV-out) everything can be taken off those devices and can be added. The consumer devices have some remains of these things (for example in the registry). Only a couple of people own these devices and this technology may not leak for the above mentioned reason, that's why these devices are not widespread amongst developers outside of MS.
Correct me if I'm wrong, this is kind of what I've been told.

[Q] Making the jump from android to WP7! uncertainties arised? =[

Hello there, I'm about to make the big jump from android to windows phone 7!
I love android but I hate so much of it at the same time, for instance the lack of a decent media manager, doubletwist has too many issues and a lack of features!
Regardless I'm now making the switch to the Lumia 900 thought I've got a few uncertainties I'm hoping people can clarify for me.
1)Contacts- At the moment, I love google contacts, it works so seamlessly and gmail is a pleasure to use! However switching to WP7 is going to mean I have to use live, which is alright but it's a laggy mess in comparison to gmail I find. It's a mess to work around and it keeps shoving ****ty Bing in my face! Any way I can still use gmail or at least make the whole live experience less...crap?
2)Zune- I love the zune interface, one of the main reasons I'm switching but how are updates coming along for it? It's beautiful to look at however it hasn't been updated in quiet some time and there's vital features missing, for instance a repeat button! How well does this sync with WP7, I'm hoping beautifully with my entire library and all my custom playlists? One of the main reasons I'm switching
3)Docking- no docks i'm assuming, I want iphone docking abilities but since there's no feature on microusb to output audio that's a lost cause =[ However there's talk of a microsoft dock, what's that all about anyone know?
4)Updates- with talks of WP Apollo I'm worried about when to get a phone. I really like the lumia 800 and i'm holding out for the 900 just for those extra few features like a front facing camera since my contract just finished, not to mention my HTC desire is dead hence I'm using a replacement.
In fact would you say it's even worth waiting for the 900?? Since it's really not that different!
5)Bluetooth- I presumed this was standard but I can stream music via bluetooth to bluetooth speakers right with the 800/900???? I heard people saying it wasn't capable?
6)Dual-Boot?- Any hope of dual booting android?
7Free games/apps- Android had thousands of free apps and games, how does WP7 fare in this department?
Thank you for your help!

1) WP7 can use your Google contacts, Calendar, and sync your Gmail account just fine. You need to have a Windows Live account, but you don't really ahve to do anything with it. If you already have a Xbox Live account or Zune Tag, just use that. FWIW, I personally really don't like either the Windows Live or Google web interfaces, but prefer Bing over Google for first-try searching (I'll try the other if I don't find what I want right off the bat, but I usually find what I want faster if I start with Bing).
1.1) Be aware that Bing is pretty integrated into Windows Phone, while Google is not. In fact, Google has very few apps for the phone. Although the integration with Google services like Gmail and Calendar is good, others like Talk, Voice, Docs, and G+ is not. Google has (not a huge surprise) shown very little interest in developing apps for WP7.
2) Zune gets updates every now and then. The last was just before Mango came out, call it five or six months ago. It definitely supports Repeat though, both on the phone and on the PC... As for syncing with WP7, it's very good. You can choose what types of media to automatically sync, you can manually sync anything, and yes, things like custom playlists are certainly supported. If you've added a folder to your "Libraries" in Windows, the Zune software will see it and be able to sync it. You can also manually add additional folders.
3) I don't know anything here. There's a "Dock Mode" app on HTC, but as far as I know there's no standard dock interface on WP7. All the phones use MicroUSB, but they don't put the ports in the same place or anything.
4) So far, all updates have been available for all phones. I don't know how long that'll keep up, but Mango isn't even slightly laggy on my first-gen HD7 so I expect it'll remain true for a while. The only reason to wait for a newer phone is if you want new hardware features; the software is almost entirely the same across all phones and all generations. None of that Android fragmentation, where a device may be running an obsolete major version at its release, never be brought fully up to date, and abandoned six months later while there's still a long wait on your contract.
5) WP7 can stream music to A2DP BlueTooth devices, and can use Headset profile BlueTooth as well (of course). It's a little more limited than other smartphones in terms of BlueTooth - no native support for file transfer or BT tethering, for example - but it's generally suficient and MS has added capabilities in previous updates so hopefully that will keep going.
6) So far, no natively WP7 devices can run Android. It's theoretically possible, but you'd need both an unlocked bootloader and a port of Android to the device's hardware. The only phone I know of that can run both WP7 and Android is the HTC HD2, and that actually comes with Windows Mobile, not WP7 *or* Android. It's also a bit old and becoming hard to buy.
7) There are many thousands of free apps, or apps with functional trial versions, in the WP7 Marketplace. That includes games. It's certainly not as vast (yet) as iOS or Android, but those platforms have huge head-starts. It's growing very rapidly. Microsoft has also put some effort into "must-have" apps and games, although generally those end up costing a few dollars. Almost all paid apps have trials, though.

Thanks for the help. =)
How is tethering as a general? I love my wi-fi hotspot on my desire. One of the BEST things about the phone. How is it on the Lumias and WP7 in general?
Didn't realise Zune had been updated(updating after this post!)
So it is definitely possible to keep my WP7 contacts synced with google? if so YAY!
Also iOS jailbreaking, android rooting. What about WP7? And as bad as it is, is there a way to install 'free' apps. Not that one ever would partake in such criminal activities, I'm just curious I guess?

Most WP7 devices offer WiFi hotspot tethering. It depends on the carrier (some disable it entirely, others charge for it) and the phone (I've heard surprising claims that the Lumia 710 doesn't permit it, even though T-Mobile US generally does - hopefully they push an update soon to fix that). Where it's supported, it works well.
The last Zune update was, as I said, months ago... but yeah, if you don't have a Repeat button you're ona very old version. The current version is 4.8.something.
Yeah, syncing contacts with Google is very easy. When I create a contact on the phone, I get the option of storing it on my Google account instead of my Live or Exchange accounts.
So far, nobody has managed to root the Lumias or install custom ROMs, but they're still quite new. Until a month or so back, the same was true of the Samsung WP7 devices (at least for custom ROMs; they were rooted months ago). I'm sure that, as the Lumias become more popular, they too will be rooted and have their bootloaders unlocked.
Discussion of piracy is quite frowned upon here on XDA-Devs. The only legit reason I can think of for a potential user to ask about it is if they're also a potential developer and are concerned about their apps being pirated. That said, there are some protections but they can be worked around. Microsoft has said they're going to start encrypting the Marketplace apps though, and that will make it much more difficult.

If you're seriously interested in dual booting, I'll have a Telstra (fully AT&T compatible) HTC HD2 available for sale as soon as Internet Sharing becomes enabled on the Lumia 800. It's a hard to find version of the phone.

Android phone powered Desktop

Android devices are so powerful today, and the hardware is becoming so powerful that I don't think that the software is utilising that.
We already have much of the technology in devices of today to enable a desktop environment to be streamed from our phones.
Display output: Chromecast (wireless display), MHL (Wired display & charger), etc.
Input methods: Bluetooth Keyboard & mouse, Accelerometer (to emulate mouse input), etc.
UI: Separate Launcher for the desktop UI.
With Microsoft bringing Windows 10 later this year as one OS for both the Phone & Desktop, surely that will allow them to work better in sync with one another, but that will still require a separate desktop computer and phone to create this kind of experience.
But Google now has the chance to simply output a separate UI from the same device that can display a phone UI all at the same time.
If we look at past launches of major Android builds then this coming Google I/O would be the perfect time to announce something like this, since they say that they usually deliver one major build that focuses on UI, and then one that focuses on major feature integration.
And not only would this allow for us to take our desktop with us everywhere in our pocket and connect wirelessly to any compatible display but also it could enable people in poorer economies to buy one device which could give them better access to the internet with a portable display integrated into the device, and also they could connect to the larger displays to browse the web or work on office documents with apps such as 'Google Docs'.
This could really be useful for people who wish to use their device in the work place too.
With Android mobile now offering multiple user profiles on their phones, surely they could create one profile for work, with all of their work apps available in both their phone and desktop UI's, but also a personal profile with all of their media applications & games available when out of work.
The desktop tower may still be useful for a few years to enable support for legacy applications whilst we are waiting for those applications to be ported over to Android/Android Desktop, but that shouldn't take too long considering how quickly we are see'ing apps becoming available to Android offering the kind of services that many of us desire, and if the developers only need to create one application back end for both the Desktop mode & phone mode, then it will be much quicker to bring apps to market with a small bit of time required to make a UI which can be scaled between the phone & desktop mode well.
There are multiple projects trying to create this very experience, but if it was a major part of the Android OS then finally people will get the experience that many people are waiting for, you only have to look at the comments on the developer pages of these projects to see that many people want this kind of experience.
With 64-bit now supported in Android too there is less of a reason to hold back this kind of experience.

I agree totally. Is this the only thread on this subject? Was going to setup Chromecast for video and Bluetooth for keyboard, mouse and audio. Doing this on a Jiayu S3A which is very powerful. Would like one place to discuss what works and what doesn't. Launcher options also need to be discussed.

Advice on using Screenless Android Phone for IoT device

I would like to create an IoT device by buying new, cheap android phones, strip them down and remove the screen, rebox into my own physical box, install a custom ROM without any bloatware (and that will boot without a screen!), and install my android app on the device to do stuff.
An example of a purpose for this could be a GPS tracker for a car. The box would be placed in the car, and record GPS and accelerometer readings, posting these readings back to a central server via the cellular network. (This is just a random example, so don't focus too much on the detail of this, but there are thousands of uses for a IoT board with the sensor, CPU, RAM, storage, and connectivity capabilities of a budget android smartphone)
The reason I want to use existing phones is that they are wonderful, mass produced, cheap devices with a variety of sensors I can use.
The reason I want to use Android is because it is because of the customization ability, and the mature development ecosystem.
To me, it seems an obvious thing to do, but I don't seem to be getting much joy trying to search for examples of this sort of thing (either here, or on the internet in general).
So some questions:
1. General thoughts? (Good idea? Am I missing some fundamental problem?)
2. What are the challenges of running Android without a screen connected?
3. Are there any custom ROMs you know of that specialize in this sort of thing?
(I've seen Google Brilo, but it still seems a bit early yet, and I really like the idea of just using the standard Android SDK to develop the app - and the abundance of help and information that comes with it)
Thanks!