Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Motorola Q - Virtual Earth Mobile
Finally, a pair of screens from the Virtual Earth Mobile software. One of the handier pieces of software to have on the Q which takes advantage of the always-on EVDO data connection.
Monday, November 13, 2006
MotoQ - Home screens
One nice part about the MotoQ (well, the SmartPhone OS) is that you can customize the "home" screen to match your tastes / needs. There are even programs (like "Facade") that will let you pull task / calendar information onto the front screen for a better view of "what needs done right now".
The best site that I've seen so far is www.kooldezine.com. The artist has done a huge selection of screens that work with or without requiring some popular add-ons.
Here's the one that I've settled on:
These two show how the "Facade" software can bring task entries onto the home screen.
And the default Verizon Wireless home screen:
The best site that I've seen so far is www.kooldezine.com. The artist has done a huge selection of screens that work with or without requiring some popular add-ons.
Here's the one that I've settled on:
These two show how the "Facade" software can bring task entries onto the home screen.
And the default Verizon Wireless home screen:
Sunday, November 12, 2006
MotoQ - More thoughts
So after playing with the Motorola Q for a few more hours, I have the following thoughts:
- No pocket quicken for the Smartphone yet (only PPC version of WM5). So there are 2 versions of WM5... One for PPC one for SmartPhone. Maybe Landware will get around to porting it one of these days.
This is something that I didn't know when I bought the phone (that there are 2 versions of the Windows Mobile 5 OS).
- In pictures & videos, go to Menu -> Options -> Camera where you can choose whether to save pictures in memory or on the storage card.
- Locking the keypad is "Home" then "Space", unlocking uses the left SoftKey followed by the [*] key (left side, middle).
- In Pictures & Videos, moving files requires Edit->Cut, Edit-Paste
- Found an SSH client (zaTelnet), but it doesn't do public key authentication. That's going to be interesting, because entering passwords on the Q is tricky. I'll probably buy either the "Think Outside" or "Freedom" Bluetooth folding keyboard.
- Still struggling with IM+ and our Jabber server. I have a trouble ticket opened to verify that they support SSL. OTOH, I managed to sign in to both MSN and Google Talk with no issues.
- As you'll see on most user forums, Motorola is positioning this as a cell phone first, PDA second. It's about half a step down from my old phone in functionality. But makes up for it with the EVDO data connection, the color screen, and a newer O/S. The old PDA was definitely more reliably responsive to input and menus then the MotoQ.
- Overall, I'd rate the phone as a B+/A-. Most of my complaints can be fixed by software updates.
- Lack of copy-n-paste functionality out-of-the-box. There are free utilities that are supposed to add this to the phone, but this shows that WM5/SmartPhone is primarily oriented towards being a cell phone first.
- Bluetooth seems to work very well. I was against the headset (ear piece) at first, thinking it was just a toy, but once I train the voice activation, it could become rather powerful.
- EVDO looks promising. I installed a free map program that pulls over EVDO and works a lot like Google Maps.
- Software availability for the SmartPhone version of WM5 is slim.
- No pocket quicken for the Smartphone yet (only PPC version of WM5). So there are 2 versions of WM5... One for PPC one for SmartPhone. Maybe Landware will get around to porting it one of these days.
This is something that I didn't know when I bought the phone (that there are 2 versions of the Windows Mobile 5 OS).
- In pictures & videos, go to Menu -> Options -> Camera where you can choose whether to save pictures in memory or on the storage card.
- Locking the keypad is "Home" then "Space", unlocking uses the left SoftKey followed by the [*] key (left side, middle).
- In Pictures & Videos, moving files requires Edit->Cut, Edit-Paste
- Found an SSH client (zaTelnet), but it doesn't do public key authentication. That's going to be interesting, because entering passwords on the Q is tricky. I'll probably buy either the "Think Outside" or "Freedom" Bluetooth folding keyboard.
- Still struggling with IM+ and our Jabber server. I have a trouble ticket opened to verify that they support SSL. OTOH, I managed to sign in to both MSN and Google Talk with no issues.
- As you'll see on most user forums, Motorola is positioning this as a cell phone first, PDA second. It's about half a step down from my old phone in functionality. But makes up for it with the EVDO data connection, the color screen, and a newer O/S. The old PDA was definitely more reliably responsive to input and menus then the MotoQ.
- Overall, I'd rate the phone as a B+/A-. Most of my complaints can be fixed by software updates.
- Lack of copy-n-paste functionality out-of-the-box. There are free utilities that are supposed to add this to the phone, but this shows that WM5/SmartPhone is primarily oriented towards being a cell phone first.
- Bluetooth seems to work very well. I was against the headset (ear piece) at first, thinking it was just a toy, but once I train the voice activation, it could become rather powerful.
- EVDO looks promising. I installed a free map program that pulls over EVDO and works a lot like Google Maps.
- Software availability for the SmartPhone version of WM5 is slim.
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Motorola Q - Initial thoughts
I picked up a Motorola Q cell phone today.
My old Kyocera PalmOS-based cell phone has held up well over the past 5 years (almost 6 years), but I've been thinking about getting something more up-to-date. The major driver at looking at the Q was that my co-worker and I have been discussing how to give our mobile folks more access to things like e-mail and Jabber (XMPP) without dragging along a laptop.
Some initial thoughts on the MotoQ:
- It took me about 45 minutes at the Verizon Wireless store to get moved over from my old phone to the new one. I was able to transfer my phone number, but I had to physically turn off the old phone in order for the transfer to succeed.
- Go with the "extended" battery because you'll want the extra battery life. The default battery is only 1130 mAh and the extended battery (sold at the Verizon store) is 1640 mAh (45% larger). The downside is that the extended battery changes the back of the phone from being nice and flat to a thicker profile (approximately 4mm thicker).
- Note the increased size of the battery. This will affect what cases that you purchase (make sure that they are designed for the extended battery).
- The phone takes miniSD cards. I'd recommend getting either a SanDisk 1GB/2GB or a Kingston 1GB/2GB, but stay away from the "Ultra II" cards as they reportedly have issues with the phone. After buying a 1GB card for $60 at the local store, I found out that I could've bought a 2GB card for a lot less (~$35) online at NewEgg. The big advantage to adding a miniSD card is so you can shove the camera's photo/video files to it instead of using up device storage. You can also choose to install applications to the "storage card" instead of using up memory on the phone. In a few weeks, I'll probably upgrade to a 2GB card and use the old one for backups.
- The miniSD card is difficult to insert. First off, the rubber cover is tricky to pry away from the phone without damaging it. Second, the rubber cover might loosen with wear, so it's not something that I want to fiddle with too often. I'd suggest that you insert the miniSD card into the phone and then not remove it. Once inserted, you have to push it in with a fingernail or other narrow object (like a coin) to get it far enough in so that it clicks into place. After that, it won't fall out, even if the rubber cover is not in place.
- In my case, the sales rep swapped the case for the extended battery. Which was fine since I plan on buying either an aluminum case or a nice leather case (probably from Vaga/Vaja?).
- The phone charges via the USB cable during synchronization. In order to extend battery life, I'd recommend not leaving it hooked to the cable except during synchronization. Most Lithium-Ion batteries that I know of only have a limited number of charging cycles before they start to fade.
- If, like me, you have a system that doesn't provide power to the USB ports (like my Toshiba docking station), then a powered external USB hub is a good investment. I picked up one that has 4 ports on the back and 3 on the top.
- The phone can possibly sync to the desktop via Bluetooth. Since my system doesn't have BT, I'll be looking to buy a USB Bluetooth adapter.
- NO editing of MS Office files. Not a big deal for me, but may be a deal-breaker for some. For the most part, I'm looking for a phone that gives me access to information. If I need more, I can always pull out the laptop in a few hours. Data entry will probably be into either tasks or e-mails.
- NO synchronization of MS Outlook's notes out of the box. A major and glaring oversight by Microsoft's Windows Mobile O/S for SmartPhones.
- I miss my stylus! Not having a touchscreen is going to take some getting used to. I was extremely good at entering notes using Palm's modified alphabet and being able to draw on the screen was useful. Plus, the PalmOS application designers had a lot more leeway to design useful interfaces where you could tap on the screen with a fingernail.
My old Kyocera PalmOS-based cell phone has held up well over the past 5 years (almost 6 years), but I've been thinking about getting something more up-to-date. The major driver at looking at the Q was that my co-worker and I have been discussing how to give our mobile folks more access to things like e-mail and Jabber (XMPP) without dragging along a laptop.
Some initial thoughts on the MotoQ:
- It took me about 45 minutes at the Verizon Wireless store to get moved over from my old phone to the new one. I was able to transfer my phone number, but I had to physically turn off the old phone in order for the transfer to succeed.
- Go with the "extended" battery because you'll want the extra battery life. The default battery is only 1130 mAh and the extended battery (sold at the Verizon store) is 1640 mAh (45% larger). The downside is that the extended battery changes the back of the phone from being nice and flat to a thicker profile (approximately 4mm thicker).
- Note the increased size of the battery. This will affect what cases that you purchase (make sure that they are designed for the extended battery).
- The phone takes miniSD cards. I'd recommend getting either a SanDisk 1GB/2GB or a Kingston 1GB/2GB, but stay away from the "Ultra II" cards as they reportedly have issues with the phone. After buying a 1GB card for $60 at the local store, I found out that I could've bought a 2GB card for a lot less (~$35) online at NewEgg. The big advantage to adding a miniSD card is so you can shove the camera's photo/video files to it instead of using up device storage. You can also choose to install applications to the "storage card" instead of using up memory on the phone. In a few weeks, I'll probably upgrade to a 2GB card and use the old one for backups.
- The miniSD card is difficult to insert. First off, the rubber cover is tricky to pry away from the phone without damaging it. Second, the rubber cover might loosen with wear, so it's not something that I want to fiddle with too often. I'd suggest that you insert the miniSD card into the phone and then not remove it. Once inserted, you have to push it in with a fingernail or other narrow object (like a coin) to get it far enough in so that it clicks into place. After that, it won't fall out, even if the rubber cover is not in place.
- In my case, the sales rep swapped the case for the extended battery. Which was fine since I plan on buying either an aluminum case or a nice leather case (probably from Vaga/Vaja?).
- The phone charges via the USB cable during synchronization. In order to extend battery life, I'd recommend not leaving it hooked to the cable except during synchronization. Most Lithium-Ion batteries that I know of only have a limited number of charging cycles before they start to fade.
- If, like me, you have a system that doesn't provide power to the USB ports (like my Toshiba docking station), then a powered external USB hub is a good investment. I picked up one that has 4 ports on the back and 3 on the top.
- The phone can possibly sync to the desktop via Bluetooth. Since my system doesn't have BT, I'll be looking to buy a USB Bluetooth adapter.
- NO editing of MS Office files. Not a big deal for me, but may be a deal-breaker for some. For the most part, I'm looking for a phone that gives me access to information. If I need more, I can always pull out the laptop in a few hours. Data entry will probably be into either tasks or e-mails.
- NO synchronization of MS Outlook's notes out of the box. A major and glaring oversight by Microsoft's Windows Mobile O/S for SmartPhones.
- I miss my stylus! Not having a touchscreen is going to take some getting used to. I was extremely good at entering notes using Palm's modified alphabet and being able to draw on the screen was useful. Plus, the PalmOS application designers had a lot more leeway to design useful interfaces where you could tap on the screen with a fingernail.
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