Database Info

IM Frustrations

For years now I’ve been standing firm by the pocket pc platform. In countless ways I think it is the way of the future for not only one’s phone, but the one device that we all carry around that does it all. I’m very pleased to say the platform has proven this time and time again. But there’s one grey area that just seems to be left in limbo with the improvements of everything else. This is IM! Back when I upgraded to my Cingular 8125 from my ipaq, I remember having the feeling something was missing. I had this new phone that could do it all, but it just wasn’t able to do it all correct, so I sought out on a search to find that perfect im app.
This was back in the days when agile was still in beta and was free. Aside from the ugly aim app that I had to download from the .uk site, this was pretty much the only option. But it was okay, it was a very good option. As time passed a few more came out, IM+ was around as well and a few other lack luster apps. I do remember paying for IM+ but wasn’t very happy with the UI and the way it worked with the soft keys so I kinda stuck to agile.
Then I got a whole of my 8525 when I came out. So I had this phone that could do it all (lol again) now with 3g included….and I still didn’t have an IM app to my liking. Agile and IM+ really started to look bad. Not to mention these were the days of the sidekicks! As much as I hate those things, one has to admit, they do what they’re supposed to do very well. The thing that really wowed me about the sidekick was its ability to switch to sms messenger for the aim when you’re on the phone. This was pure genius. It allowed you to stay connected while on the phone or not. Well….luckily we had a solution for that. It was called verichat.
Verichat had an option to enter your sms address and it would send you the messages via text if you were to be disconnected from the internet. This was all well and good, even though it worked…it was very slow. Not to mention the UI of the app itself was kinda slow as well…so I often got frustrated. So it’s about a year later and we have a few new comers. Among them are mundu, octrotalk and the latest and greatest palringo.
Once again I find myself paying for apps I’m not entirely happy with (no ones fault but myself.) But the life time membership for mundu wasn’t bad…it was only $11. Mundu has a very clean and welcome UI. Its features are definitely up to snuff, but it’s still missing what I think should be the basics. But overall this is a very good app. Octrotalk is still in beta….and by its rights a very good app. Even though I think the UI could use some polish and it’s still missing the “basics.” Now for my favorite of the bunch….palringo. This one is a almost a entire entity on its own, that just supports IM clients. The UI isn’t as pretty as mundu, but it’s still polished and the feature set is great….especially its support for push to talk and image I’m. But again….the basic.
What are these basics I keep rambling on about? Well…for one…lets start with displaying your contacts buddy icons. It kills me that none of these apps allow me to see my contacts buddy icons…and what’s even more annoying, I can’t set a custom pic for my icon in any app. This is such a huge feature and it needs these developers urgent attention. 2. I’d like to see support for fonts and colors. I should be able to import my favorite font to the phone and set size and color to be displayed to my contact when I’m in a conversation. Mundu touched on this a little but not enough. 3. Being able to read contacts away messages. Mundu and octrotalk does this but palringo does not….this should be a no brainier. 4. Just make it simple to navigate….there should be no reason I should have to take out the stylus. I should be able to scroll my list, start convos, switch between them, set custom away messages send images, so on and so forth with the soft keys.
Im not a developer, but I do know these few improvements shouldn’t be hard to accomplish. These are all standard on all desktop IM programs, other mobile platforms (like the sidekick and the iphone) and even web2 based sites (like meboo.com) And even if they’re difficult to develop….so what! Developers need to stop being lazy and get it done. I don’t care of if I have to pay $50 for the app. What really kills me inside is how the iphone came out, and within a few weeks it had 7 different I’m clients most of which had the basics down pat. Why does it take us 4 years in the ppc community? And we’re still not there yet. Anyone else feel this way? Is anyone out there listening???????

You need to re-format your post because it is not easy to read
What is your problem? Describe in 1 or 2 sentences ...

The new MSN Messenger mobile is amazing.
1. Intuitive and Easy navigation: Right/Left tabs between the conversations. Up/Down navigates buddies and messages.
2. Emoticons
3. Supports sending images.
4. (Amazingly useful) Supports sending Voice Clips. This is probably one of the most wow features about it.
5. Displays information about contacts, including the IM picture.

shaharprish said:
The new MSN Messenger mobile is amazing.
1. Intuitive and Easy navigation: Right/Left tabs between the conversations. Up/Down navigates buddies and messages.
2. Emoticons
3. Supports sending images.
4. (Amazingly useful) Supports sending Voice Clips. This is probably one of the most wow features about it.
5. Displays information about contacts, including the IM picture.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
while this is true. im looking for an all-in-one app. but you are correct...i did enjoy the msn live.

rzanology said:
What really kills me inside is how the iphone came out, and within a few weeks it had 7 different I’m clients most of which had the basics down pat. Why does it take us 4 years in the ppc community? And we’re still not there yet.
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Click to collapse
My current thoughts exactly. I'm crying inside.
I really hope that people at Palringo will get it "done" and not leave behind a client that will miss the important features. It's really amazing that some companies even charge for their poor inexcusable clients.
I also agree that those avatar images are more important than many would think. Last time i chatted with my ppc, i had three "Timo" persons online. Had to ask which one which was. I've gotten used to just look at the avatar.

I feel the same way! I LOVE having IM on my phone.. but it just seems like no single company can get it right on the PocketPC. I don't understand what the is the problem! My favorite two right now are Octrotalk and Mundu. I tried Palringo, but it lacked a couple critical things for me.
Octrotalk Pros
1. Today plugin that shows status
2. Doesn't crash... ever.. it stays connected for days
3. Fairly simple to change custom status text
Octrotalk Cons
1. No custom status text on the today plugin.. ARGH, so simple, I've requested it three times!
2. No profile pictures, come on... just add them!
3. Having Gtalk be the conduit for the other legacy IM clients still causes problems with my other IM clients like Trillian... I get duplicate contacts often
Mundu Pros
1. Supports profile pictures! Yippee
2. Displays custom status messages next to names on the contact list
3. Supports group conversations across IM mediums! woot!
Mundu Cons
1. No today plugin... I really like that feature in Octrotalk... just make a simple one line plugin that says status and custom message, ie. "Online - Mobile!"
2. No WM5 soft key support, I HATE tapping the screen.. even more so when the interface has a TINY menu bar.
3. Doesn't display the current custom status message for YOURSELF anywhere that I can find.

Also don't forget to read the IM Bible at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=295677 - it might contain info you aren't aware of.

Menneisyys said:
Also don't forget to read the IM Bible at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=295677 - it might contain info you aren't aware of.
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Click to collapse
i'll tell ya what....that disconnecting thing annoyed the hell outtah me. Im gonna try to check off the "always on" connection option in HTCustom and see what happens. I think thats the same reg hack.
But i've been through your post a few times...maybe one too many times.

gmail for mobile 2.0

Google has launched Gmail for Mobile 2.0, an application for mobile devices that allows users to continue working on their email even with low or no cellular signal at all.
The application supports some basic offline access on phones like the Nokia N95, Sony Ericsson W910i, and BlackBerry Curve. It also allows access multiple Gmail or Google Apps email accounts from the same application.
The company says the entire client was rearchitected to push all the processing to the background, greatly improve the client-side caching scheme and optimize every bottleneck piece of code they could find.
Users can expect an overall performance improvement, new powerful shortcut keys and support for 35 languages.
Users can visit m.google.com/mail from their mobile browser to download the new Gmail for mobile for your phone.
Thanks Mods for putting this at the right place
blog here

zocster said:
Google has launched Gmail for Mobile 2.0, an application for mobile devices that allows users to continue working on their email even with low or no cellular signal at all.
The application supports some basic offline access on phones like the Nokia N95, Sony Ericsson W910i, and BlackBerry Curve. It also allows access multiple Gmail or Google Apps email accounts from the same application.
The company says the entire client was rearchitected to push all the processing to the background, greatly improve the client-side caching scheme and optimize every bottleneck piece of code they could find.
Users can expect an overall performance improvement, new powerful shortcut keys and support for 35 languages.
Users can visit m.google.com/mail from their mobile browser to download the new Gmail for mobile for your phone.
blog here
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Have you tested it out yet? Sounds like a good deal.

works good with esmertec java 20080704.5.1

can you give me a link to the download? i couldnt find it
thanks

kidnamedAlbert said:
can you give me a link to the download? i couldnt find it
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you need to type this in m.google.com/mail to your mobile browser and it will download it for you.

zocster said:
you need to type this in m.google.com/mail to your mobile browser and it will download it for you.
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Click to collapse
oh. haha thanks.
ill try now.

*
-> Moved to general

I just use opera mini 4 to access gmail. they seem to have recently made some changes which make it work fine. No need to a separate java client, I can just leave opera mini running and check gmail along with all my rss feeds and news sites.
Offline capability does sound cool however. Can you just fire it up and work without a signal, or does it need to login on the server first?

patp said:
Offline capability does sound cool however. Can you just fire it up and work without a signal, or does it need to login on the server first?
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Click to collapse
yep, you will need to 'refresh' to send. I am enjoying this as my exchange can only go back so far I can use full gmail functionality with this.

zocster said:
works good with esmertec java 20080704.5.1
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Click to collapse
I have the Esmertec JVM from December and on a QVGA screen I only see two emails in the list.
This is no pleasure to use. Is there a chance to adjust the font?

FINAL STRAW with WM - why do we not have this app?

Im sick of the most useful apps being developed for the iPhone only.
Take this app for example
http://www.mobiletechaddicts.com/2008/11/16/tv-plus-sky-remote-for-iphone-updated/
This app would be SO useful to UK WM users. The ability to remote record programs on your Sky+ or Sky+HD box would be extremely useful, yet we are being left out in the cold yet again.
This is seriously the last straw, im almost ready to jump ship next gen of phones.
Does anyone know of a WM equivilant?

darthbane2k said:
Im sick of the most useful apps being developed for the iPhone only.
Take this app for example
http://www.mobiletechaddicts.com/2008/11/16/tv-plus-sky-remote-for-iphone-updated/
This app would be SO useful to UK WM users. The ability to remote record programs on your Sky+ or Sky+HD box would be extremely useful, yet we are being left out in the cold yet again.
This is seriously the last straw, im almost ready to jump ship next gen of phones.
Does anyone know of a WM equivilant?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As you might have seen on the "application" you linked in your post: it is again not a real application but a web service packed in an executable file for iPhones - something the world really does not need since service providers such as TiVo are launching their own stuff:
http://news.ebrandz.com/miscellaneo...e-for-programming-remotely-for-tv-freaks.html

omg
you want you diamond to be a your sky remote???
ill sell you a sky remote for £10.....better than £400...the cost of a diamond

Junner2003 said:
As you might have seen on the "application" you linked in your post: it is again not a real application but a web service packed in an executable file for iPhones - something the world really does not need since service providers such as TiVo are launching their own stuff:
http://news.ebrandz.com/miscellaneo...e-for-programming-remotely-for-tv-freaks.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im not talking about TiVO (which is not available in the UK), im talking specifically about Sky+.

dude you can alwys try slingplayer for slingbox users, duh

dortyboy said:
dude you can alwys try slingplayer for slingbox users, duh
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Click to collapse
you guys dont get it, this isnt a remote control app nor should I be required to buy a slingbox (expensive). The iphone app is simple, you sign in with your sky account username and password, you pull up a complete TV guide and you set recordings from the app. The app communicates with skys servers which then in turn send a signal to your sky box from wherever you are in the world and your box will record that programme.
Now, granted you can do this from the sky.com website, but typically its one of those sites that just doesnt work in Opera or pocket IE.

Tivo Mobile
Tivo Mobile was released last month but don't know if that helps you.

no hes lives in uk. sky+ is like a uk tivo.
theres an app for iphone that lets you sign into you sky account and record a show from you phone
he want an app that lets him sign into his sky+ account with his mobile

darthbane2k said:
you guys dont get it, this isnt a remote control app nor should I be required to buy a slingbox (expensive). The iphone app is simple, you sign in with your sky account username and password, you pull up a complete TV guide and you set recordings from the app. The app communicates with skys servers which then in turn send a signal to your sky box from wherever you are in the world and your box will record that programme.
Now, granted you can do this from the sky.com website, but typically its one of those sites that just doesnt work in Opera or pocket IE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I got you already in first place! Even the iPhone Application is nothing but a modified webbrowser control, so, basically, you're loading the Sky+ website into your iPhone - and this is why I always wonder then people talk about 'aplication on the iPhone', mostly these are nothing but web services!
Sky+ is promissing and promoting the MOBILE REMOTE RECORDING on their website and I can't believe that OPERA can't view the site properly! You might wanna contact their technical support in order to get it solved!

Actually mate, it is possible to get one of the java apps for the sony phone to work aparently. Though I havent tried it on the diamond, but i did get it working on my wizard.
So, just download one of the sony ericson java remote record apps and install and try. Have a bit of a google.
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=680256

You got 2 options to try here,
either just browse to the tv guide page on the sky page as normal, at the top it will give you the option for screen reader version. works a treat, bookmark it to save browsing the horrific sky homepage
you can always 1 up your iPhone freinds, grab skyfire browser, full web browsing including flash. just tried will check if it worked when I get home. Downside is skyfire needs good connection i.e wifi or 3g to work well.
either way less clutter on you phone, rather than the mess of utils you get on iPhone.
hope that helps.

That app has been around for time mate it was a java app and i had it on my symbian phone i think you can get it here they cover all versions
http://anytime.sky.com/mobile.aspx

It seems like owners of WM have to scour the entire globe to find software for their phones. While iPhone owners simply go to the app store and download them all in one place.

RubberDucky451 said:
It seems like owners of WM have to scour the entire globe to find software for their phones. While iPhone owners simply go to the app store and download them all in one place.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You forget 1 thing:
If you have only 1 single place then this single place will most likely make the decision for you which applications will be available to you and which not - this is (unfortunately) quite common in the Apple Store! I am quite happy that I can different stuff on different places! Often you get your stuff directly from the developer's website where you then find as well support and forums for the particular product.
Now, think about the following: each super market in the world would be Wal-Mart ... go a step further and try to determine what you might find in Wal-Mart if no other stores are around anymore ... go the final step and try to get support from an Wal-Mart employee for the product you bought ... brrrrr!

That java app (which I used to use on an old sony ericsson) does not and will not work on a touch HD with its lack of buttons

Good news http://www.sky.com/portal/site/skycom/tvguide/tvlistingsalternate works in opera.
Bad news - there is no way to login to your account. opera/sky site simply doesnt remember your credentials :-(

why don't you wait for a dev phone like compulab exeda

Speech Recognition API for Windows Mobile 6.1?

I've started developing an application that allows the user to compose and send an email completely hands-free... by voice command only.
However I'm having trouble finding a decent, open source (free) speech recognition (speech-to-text) engine / API to use.
Does anyone know of one? I tried PocketSphinx but had trouble compiling it in Windows using VS2008.
I'm wondering what API the Windows Live Search app uses? Its speech recognition capabilities are already decent, and if it's included with Windows Mobile or .NET Compact Framework 3.5 or Windows Mobile 6.1 itself, then I would prefer to use that. But I'm having trouble determining if this speech recognition is available to 3rd-party developers and, if so, how to interface with it.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

OMG I hate timeouts lol
So I had this nice long post about how I thought it might be one of three things and I whipped out my omnia and disconnected the network and blah blah.
When I hit post, I got a not logged in timeout.
So here's the short of it:
It uses a server, that's probably related to UC aka Office Communications Server aka Speech Server 2007... you can get to it (and all the Microsoft Speech technologies, including Voice Command) here:
http://www.microsoft.com/speech/speech2007/default.mspx
A little more searching lead me to read the MSDN Channel 9 blog on said subject:
http://blogs.msdn.com/speech/archiv...h-for-mobile-now-with-speech-recognition.aspx
which states:
"The speech recognition functionality for the application doesn't actually sit on the Windows Mobile phone. Instead, the phone takes your speech input, sends it to a server, the server does it's recognition magic, and sends the results back to the phone. "

Speech Server 2007
Thanks for the reply MerlinJim... sucks about the timeout! That's why on a long post I always copy the text to the clipboard... that way if it times out I can just paste it in! (It's happened to me too many times for me to not do that now!)
Yeah I've looked at Speech Server 2007 as well... and I was thinking that maybe Live Search offloaded the speech recognition to a server. There's a little lag between what you say and when it guesses what you said.
I guess something like that would work. If you're writing an email then you need an Internet connection, and so sending the voice data to a speech server would be plausible. The only downside would be if it used up a lot of data transfer/bandwidth, and the user was on metered bandwidth.
The lag would be a bit of a drawback, because if the Speech Server guessed incorrectly what you said, but you kept talking (due to the processing lag), then you would have to go back and correct what you had said.
And also sometimes the Live Maps speech recognition is WAY off. Like I'll say "1 Jefferson Parkway" and it will come back with something like "Did you say 'Parkstone Apartments?'"
It's also speaker-independent, so you don't do any training. I would rather train an app to recognize my voice specifically, because I would be the only user of it.
But it may be my only solution for right now. Thanks for the info! I was beginning to think that no one knew the answer.

acrosser said:
Thanks for the reply MerlinJim... sucks about the timeout! That's why on a long post I always copy the text to the clipboard... that way if it times out I can just paste it in! (It's happened to me too many times for me to not do that now!)
Yeah I've looked at Speech Server 2007 as well... and I was thinking that maybe Live Search offloaded the speech recognition to a server. There's a little lag between what you say and when it guesses what you said.
I guess something like that would work. If you're writing an email then you need an Internet connection, and so sending the voice data to a speech server would be plausible. The only downside would be if it used up a lot of data transfer/bandwidth, and the user was on metered bandwidth.
The lag would be a bit of a drawback, because if the Speech Server guessed incorrectly what you said, but you kept talking (due to the processing lag), then you would have to go back and correct what you had said.
And also sometimes the Live Maps speech recognition is WAY off. Like I'll say "1 Jefferson Parkway" and it will come back with something like "Did you say 'Parkstone Apartments?'"
It's also speaker-independent, so you don't do any training. I would rather train an app to recognize my voice specifically, because I would be the only user of it.
But it may be my only solution for right now. Thanks for the info! I was beginning to think that no one knew the answer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
perhaps, but there IS a speech application loaded ON a Windows Mobile 6.1 which has text-to-speech capabilities and speech recognition
(my Blackjack II loaded with Wm6.1 has this capability)
can't find any API to use it though... only way to activate this TTS capability is to
1) sms announcing
2) appointment announcing
3) call announcing
no actual program to do TTS...

Any progress on this or any other speech-to-text program? I'm really interested in finding one.
Wouldn't mind being a beta tester, either.

*Double Post*
DELETE

[Q] WP7: is it productive ?

it is interesting to follow the hype of WP7. i am not a fan of 'early adopter' idea. I am looking for a replacement of my good old HTC touch diamond and still searching some infos regarding WP7 from forums which received several negative feedbacks. I would like to hear from the WP7 power user how i could do the following equivalent tasks in the winmo 6.1 since i use it productively at work and rely heavily on them:
1. Excel Mobile: edit excel file either on the go or on pc to analyse the result graphically and sometimes show it to the client. a sync using mobsync would be done before switching the edit from mobile to pc or vice versa
2. Automatic Call Recorder (ACR): automatically record 2-way call conversation without pressing any button. Useful for recording phone number without taking notes (you could just replay the record many times) or recording directions given by the boss
3. GPS navigation app with offline map and rerouting function: I often lose GSM signal while driving to the clients in remote areas. rerouting is useful if i need to drive to new client which area is unfamiliar and easily to get the wrong turn :-(
4. Sync all outlook + backup SMS data: i am using Activesync for the outlook & PPCPimBackup for the sms. i can get the whole data back from the past to the the latest after the ROM is upgraded e.g. i have 3000+ text messages
5. No data in the cloud - company policy: company data is not allowed to be stored in the cloud whatever the reason. i know it is ridiculous because data could be easily taken if the mobile phone is stolen
6. File explorer: to organise all types of files in the internal storage

nope, wp7 will not fit your needs at all. I would look for a used hd2 if you want newer hardware.

budsant said:
it is interesting to follow the hype of WP7. i am not a fan of 'early adopter' idea. I am looking for a replacement of my good old HTC touch diamond and still searching some infos regarding WP7 from forums which received several negative feedbacks. I would like to hear from the WP7 power user how i could do the following equivalent tasks in the winmo 6.1 since i use it productively at work and rely heavily on them:
1. Excel Mobile: edit excel file either on the go or on pc to analyse the result graphically and sometimes show it to the client. a sync using mobsync would be done before switching the edit from mobile to pc or vice versa
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Has Excel.
2. Automatic Call Recorder (ACR): automatically record 2-way call conversation without pressing any button. Useful for recording phone number without taking notes (you could just replay the record many times) or recording directions given by the boss
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is potentially illegal.
3. GPS navigation app with offline map and rerouting function: I often lose GSM signal while driving to the clients in remote areas. rerouting is useful if i need to drive to new client which area is unfamiliar and easily to get the wrong turn :-(
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would have to buy an app for this. Google/Bing Navigation isn't offline. I don't think TeleNav is, either. Personally, I would recommend a dedicated GPS system if this is what you need. Nokia phones come with Offline Map capabilities, and there are some apps (may get released soon) which offer it. But it's not a stock function and don't expect Microsoft to offer such a thing in Bing. These things take up a ton of storage space on you device, as well.
4. Sync all outlook + backup SMS data: i am using Activesync for the outlook & PPCPimBackup for the sms. i can get the whole data back from the past to the the latest after the ROM is upgraded e.g. i have 3000+ text messages
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No ( <- forgot that important 2 letter word unintentionally) Sync via USB to outlook. ActiveSync/DeltaSync keeps everything in Sync, anyways. Dunno why anyone keeps that many texts, but Microsoft will roll out Devices.Live.com for WP7 which will allow you to do almost all of what MyPhone offered for Windows Mobile - that includes backing up text messages.
5. No data in the cloud - company policy: company data is not allowed to be stored in the cloud whatever the reason. i know it is ridiculous because data could be easily taken if the mobile phone is stolen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Company data does not get stored in the cloud. It's sync'd via the Exchange server the same way Windows Mobile, iOS, Android, and Blackberries Sync it. Windows Phone 7 supports Exchange Remote Wipe.
Your camera roll gets automatically Sync'd to SkyDrive, but why would you take uber sekret company photos on a smartphone, anyways...
6. File explorer: to organise all types of files in the internal storage
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't count on it. The OS organizes things for you into Libraries. This really isn't needed that much. I dunno why people keep asking for it when Microsoft made it pretty clear that it isn't coming. WP7 isn't the only smartphone OS that doesn't have a File Manager in it.
@ Thread Title: Productivity is subjective and depends on what the person does on his/her device. You haven't really give anyone a clue as to what you do on you device, so it's hard to tell if it'll be productive to you. All you've done was put a tacky title on yet another "this is what I want for WP7. Is it there, is it coming, why isn't it there, etc." thread.
That may sound a bit harsh. Not intentionally. But that's basically what it is.
Windows Phone 7 is way more productive than Windows Mobile, generally speaking. Anything except maybe Blackberry OS and Symbian^3 is more productive than Windows Mobile.

N8ter said:
Has Excel.
This is potentially illegal.
Would have to buy an app for this. Google/Bing Navigation isn't offline. I don't think TeleNav is, either. Personally, I would recommend a dedicated GPS system if this is what you need. Nokia phones come with Offline Map capabilities, and there are some apps (may get released soon) which offer it. But it's not a stock function and don't expect Microsoft to offer such a thing in Bing. These things take up a ton of storage space on you device, as well.
Sync via USB to outlook. ActiveSync/DeltaSync keeps everything in Sync, anyways. Dunno why anyone keeps that many texts, but Microsoft will roll out Devices.Live.com for WP7 which will allow you to do almost all of what MyPhone offered for Windows Mobile - that includes backing up text messages.
Company data does not get stored in the cloud. It's sync'd via the Exchange server the same way Windows Mobile, iOS, Android, and Blackberries Sync it. Windows Phone 7 supports Exchange Remote Wipe.
Your camera roll gets automatically Sync'd to SkyDrive, but why would you take uber sekret company photos on a smartphone, anyways...
Don't count on it. The OS organizes things for you into Libraries. This really isn't needed that much. I dunno why people keep asking for it when Microsoft made it pretty clear that it isn't coming. WP7 isn't the only smartphone OS that doesn't have a File Manager in it.
@ Thread Title: Productivity is subjective and depends on what the person does on his/her device. You haven't really give anyone a clue as to what you do on you device, so it's hard to tell if it'll be productive to you. All you've done was put a tacky title on yet another "this is what I want for WP7. Is it there, is it coming, why isn't it there, etc." thread.
That may sound a bit harsh. Not intentionally. But that's basically what it is.
Windows Phone 7 is way more productive than Windows Mobile, generally speaking. Anything except maybe Blackberry OS and Symbian^3 is more productive than Windows Mobile.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you spent way too much time on that response to someone who obviously has no intention of getting a wp7 device.
But a great response none the less...

nrfitchett4 said:
you spent way too much time on that response to someone who obviously has no intention of getting a wp7 device.
But a great response none the less...
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Click to collapse
Wrong attitude. He wants to know if he can use new OS and do things he needs to do.

doministry said:
Wrong attitude. He wants to know if he can use new OS and do things he needs to do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He could have read any of the 400 reviews on this OS in its infancy and figured that out.

cloudy cloudy
@N8ter: thanks for the explanation. WP7 is connection data intensive, it needs a good data plan
@nrfitchett4: wow, i can feel the heat from your replies. calm down... anyway, i think older gadget such ad hd2 is more suitable for me (though i don't like its battery capacity for the huge display). you are right
@All others: any other opinions ?
my opinion: i get the feeling that without a good network coverage & signal the newer OSes (android/wp7/iphone) will reduce its ability to perform even a simple task. we are getting dependent a lot on the cloud

budsant said:
@N8ter: thanks for the explanation. WP7 is connection data intensive, it needs a good data plan
@nrfitchett4: wow, i can feel the heat from your replies. calm down... anyway, i think older gadget such ad hd2 is more suitable for me (though i don't like its battery capacity for the huge display). you are right
@All others: any other opinions ?
my opinion: i get the feeling that without a good network coverage & signal the newer OSes (android/wp7/iphone) will reduce its ability to perform even a simple task. we are getting dependent a lot on the cloud
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry. Not trying to flame, just a lot of hate threads hear lately. Honestly for what you want to do, an hd2 is probably your best. Mature OS with high end device specs. Extended battery is available if you can stand the hump it will add, or carrying a spare battery is what I did with my tp2.

budsant said:
@N8ter: thanks for the explanation. WP7 is connection data intensive, it needs a good data plan
@nrfitchett4: wow, i can feel the heat from your replies. calm down... anyway, i think older gadget such ad hd2 is more suitable for me (though i don't like its battery capacity for the huge display). you are right
@All others: any other opinions ?
my opinion: i get the feeling that without a good network coverage & signal the newer OSes (android/wp7/iphone) will reduce its ability to perform even a simple task. we are getting dependent a lot on the cloud
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am poweruser of WM considering it's features as top.
And than I bought WP which I use for 3 weeks.
First, it's not true WP7 will not work without data transfer.
Mine works exactly like it should with data off. I mean it requires transfer for the things which need it anyway like email, browser etc.
I don't buy music from the marketplace...
Yes there are some apps which are connection based like translators ect. and I would love to see it offline too.
Now productivity - it's a question of what you really need.
In fact WP7 with Office and OneNote built in is very productive.
I love the platform for it's power and execution.
However I do miss things from WM. Android is unnacceptable UI wise....
So I am staying with WP7 if Microsoft will add more features to it.
If not - it will be tough call.
Now feeling how WP7 works I don't want to step back and everything else FEELS like a step backwards. And I hope I will not be forced to do it.
But my WM6.5 device is still with me ready to come back.

Well Said
doministry said:
I am poweruser of WM considering it's features as top.
And than I bought WP which I use for 3 weeks.
First, it's not true WP7 will not work without data transfer.
Mine works exactly like it should with data off. I mean it requires transfer for the things which need it anyway like email, browser etc.
I don't buy music from the marketplace...
Yes there are some apps which are connection based like translators ect. and I would love to see it offline too.
Now productivity - it's a question of what you really need.
In fact WP7 with Office and OneNote built in is very productive.
I love the platform for it's power and execution.
However I do miss things from WM. Android is unnacceptable UI wise....
So I am staying with WP7 if Microsoft will add more features to it.
If not - it will be tough call.
Now feeling how WP7 works I don't want to step back and everything else FEELS like a step backwards. And I hope I will not be forced to do it.
But my WM6.5 device is still with me ready to come back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well said. I still have my HTC FUZE, in fact the SIM card I used in my new Samsung Focus was the one I used in the FUZE. I can insert it back into the FUZE anytime I want to. But, even though I used WM for years, and tweaked it, customized it, loaded 4 new Radio ROMs and 5 custom ROMs, I am staying with the WP7 phone. For me, it is smoother, faster, and everything is well integrated. I am looking forward to updates and new features, but for now, it is an awesome experience. I now realize that I had loaded up my WM 6.5.5 phone with a lot of crap I never used and don't miss now. OK, I understand that people want the "right" to load their phone up with "Crap" they'll never use, and some "Crap" they will use, and for those, they'll have to wait on WP7 or remain with WM or some other OS, and that's fine. Personally, I would have loved WM still being upgraded on the latest hardware, I would have stayed with that, I think. But having moved to WP7, I won't go back.

nrfitchett4 said:
you spent way too much time on that response to someone who obviously has no intention of getting a wp7 device.
But a great response none the less...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it was time very well spent. N8ter's post answered my questions without me having to make a new thread.

thebranded said:
it was time very well spent. N8ter's post answered my questions without me having to make a new thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
its good to see wm users experiences and questions about a possible up/down grade to wp.
very useful stuff.

Touching on N8ter's point on libraries and file managers... If you think about it, those libraries ARE file managers, and are actually more effective than a file manager would be. The only thing, which will be fixed with W8 and Mango working together, is better SkyDrive integration so you have a much easier way of syncing your files. I mean, I honestly have never used my phone as a flash drive, and the only reason I ever used a file manager in the past was for .cab files... Which we don't need any more.
But, I can't wait for SkyDrive to work as it needs to coming up, I think THAT is my most important feature coming considering I'm a student and would make my life significantly easier. I do see an ability to hook up the phone to a PC in the future and Word automatically recognize your Word files on a WinPhone device though... Not as a mass storage, as an additional "library" for files... If you understand what I mean here.

Libraries aren't a file manager. It isn't a replacement, either. There's no control over a library. It's an automatic classification of media on the device based on the media type. You can't take a private file and put it somewhere on the device where it will not show up in a Library, and that's an issue for some people. If you have any private documents/images/videos on your phone, it's hard to let anyone who thinks the phone looks interesting play with it because all of those files are right there in plain sight in the Hubs, so you have to tell them to go to a Carrier store if they wanna play with one. That's not an issue on i.e. an Android phone because you can hide the file in a nested folder and set it so that the folder's files are not displayed in the Gallery.
Also, the lack of a file manager is keeping things like BT File transfer and File Transfer in IM applications out at the moment, and it make sit ridiculously hard to put files on the device and keep them organized.
One of the best features of Android Office applications is their integrated file manager and Cloud Integration.
SkyDrive will be nice, but without a decent file manager Office will still be worthless to me because there's no way I'm putting all my files on SkyDrive. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I have 5 computers here and do not need Microsoft to hold my files. I like my stuff to be organized, and I don't want everything on the internet... Skydrive also doesn't have the best file type support for Synching...
Do you back up your camera roll to SkyDrive automatically?

N8ter said:
Libraries aren't a file manager. It isn't a replacement, either. There's no control over a library. It's an automatic classification of media on the device based on the media type. You can't take a private file and put it somewhere on the device where it will not show up in a Library, and that's an issue for some people. If you have any private documents/images/videos on your phone, it's hard to let anyone who thinks the phone looks interesting play with it because all of those files are right there in plain sight in the Hubs, so you have to tell them to go to a Carrier store if they wanna play with one. That's not an issue on i.e. an Android phone because you can hide the file in a nested folder and set it so that the folder's files are not displayed in the Gallery.
Also, the lack of a file manager is keeping things like BT File transfer and File Transfer in IM applications out at the moment, and it make sit ridiculously hard to put files on the device and keep them organized.
One of the best features of Android Office applications is their integrated file manager and Cloud Integration.
SkyDrive will be nice, but without a decent file manager Office will still be worthless to me because there's no way I'm putting all my files on SkyDrive. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I have 5 computers here and do not need Microsoft to hold my files. I like my stuff to be organized, and I don't want everything on the internet... Skydrive also doesn't have the best file type support for Synching...
Do you back up your camera roll to SkyDrive automatically?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bluetooth transfer isn't implemented because Microsoft hasn't yet, not because of any other reason. You could go to any file, or picture, and select Share, and the option could be there, regardless of library. I mean, by that theory, there shouldn't be any method of sharing then. You do it in text messaging at the moment, and in Who's Near Me, it's just the apps haven't implemented them.
If things on your phone are that important, there is a password option. I personally don't let anybody touch my phone. I think my texts are far more 'secret' than any document I can put on my phone, to be honest, but that's just me. I would though like folders in Office to sort out my documents, this may come with the new integration though. I would also like to option to protect the documents as I do on my computer.
As far as putting files on the device, I'm for the whole "only supported files" allowed deal. But, look back at my post, I would like to see something along the lines of: Plug my phone into the computer, open word, and it's there as an extension. Same with other Microsoft applications. Pictures and Music are already done through Zune.
I think I'm also on a different end of the spectrum than you are. Personally I keep all my files on my home network. I also access it remotely. So, full SkyDrive integration would be amazing in my eyes. I'm already at risk connecting to the internet, pretty sure Microsoft can do a better job than me at protecting my files. I already use SkyDrive on my phone through the mobile site too, it's just a hassle in dropping them into the folder I created on my computer, and then downloading them on my phone. This being done automatically would be amazing.
But as far as using it as a storage device for files the phone has no need for, I don't like that idea personally. You have to remember the types of users that are being marketed here. I think something along what I suggested would be best. Security just needs to be upped a little. Let me password protect certain files and I'm fine.
And no, I don't automatically put them on SkyDrive... I think mainly out of habit. But 99% of my pictures go on Facebook the second I snap them. And I use Photobucket quite often... If my Live friends were large in number I'm pretty sure my SkyDrive would be full of public photos.

From all my research on WP7 and HTC HD7, yes it seems very strenuous to do the things we used could do on other 'smartphones' ... Ever since apple came out with the 'app' world... things are being followed(android, Ms).. But what i think is, that with Win 8 on the Horizon, the app world is here to stay, and it shouldn't be a surprise when it will come to, what you can run on your PC, u can also run it on ur mobile... I don't know if such interface has happened with Apple and the Macs and the pods n phones to do that... Google is doing more with chrome to do that with their android... so, will they still have to sit upon other os's to accomplish this or as I think I've heard they are making their own Os... Future stats shows, Apple is on a downhill trend and Android to follow... In reading in MSN today, Android phones are being introduced with viruses, such as the one that will sit on your phone and send all your data to some phone numbers in china... So Android glory days maybe not so great... As the veterans have stood longer then the newbies...
just a thought