Brian's Brain

Maury's recent blog entry has prompted me to get off my rump and post a writeup I've been meaning to get down on cyber-paper for a long time now. Back in February I told you about my generally, but not completely, favourable experiences with an Audiovox SMT5600 Windows Smartphone. This summer I migrated to an iMate SP5m, a transition which has been quite pleasurable on a number of fronts.

The SP5m runs Windows Mobile 5, whereas the SMT5600 harnessed prior-generation Windows Smartphone 2003 Second Edition. The SP5m is only slightly thicker than its predecessor, but it squeezes in significantly more capabilities, such as Wi-Fi, EDGE data services (versus GPRS on the SMT5600), and a higher-resolution camera and display. The phone transition did not, however, involve a CPU migration; both units use TI's OMAP 850. And both phones contain the same amount of RAM and flash memory, although the Windows Mobile 5 memory model is completely different. More on that last point in a minute.

The iMate SP5m has a more robust DRM implementation, which is subscription music-compatible with both Windows Media Player Mobile and with third-party programs like Conduits' Pocket Player. The email client is upgraded and I therefore don't have the download glitches I had with the SMT5600 (which, actually, never did get completely solved). The Internet access speed boost from GPRS to EDGE isn't significant, but it is noticeable. I can, for example, reliably view Slingbox streams on the SP5m over EDGE; on GPRS I feel like I'm watching Max Headroom. And I can Bluetooth-mate the SP5m with both my Inspiron 700m and my MacBook, the latter (under OS X, to be precise), thanks to this writeup. Data transfer speeds are even better with Wi-Fi, although sub-1 hour battery life mutes my enthusiasm for this particular connectivity option.

Unfortunately, Pocket Internet Explorer isn't any more useable than it was before, and Opera hasn't yet released a Windows Mobile 5-compliant version of Opera for Smartphones. And, as this past blog post predicted, Windows Mobile 5's increased reliance on flash memory means that my nonvolatile memory allocation gets chewed up much faster than it did before (the fact that Windows Mobile 5 doesn't come with .Net Compact Framework 2.0 built-in, which the WM5 version of Connected Bits' Weather requires, doesn't help). As a result, I'm unable (for example) to run Sprite Software's Backup, which temporarily installs an additional 'stub' startup program prior to rebooting the phone and attempting to ActiveSync.

A few software thumbs-ups: a month ago I told you what a great program Gmail for Mobile Devices was. Add Windows Live Search for Mobile to the list; this piece of software is amazing. And believe it or not, coming from Microsoft, it's available both as a Windows Mobile application and as a Java applet (which isn't compatible yet with my Samsung phone, but then again neither is Gmail for Mobile Devices). Also, although Opera hasn't yet released a WM5 version of Opera for Smartphones, it did just release v3 of Opera Mini, which updated right on top of my v2 installation with absolutely no problems (Treo users, do research before you install, as the forum is full of incompatibility complaints). Great little browser.

Next, a few vendor thumbs-ups, particularly timely in this holiday shopping season. If you get a Pocket PC or Smartphone, you're also sooner or later going to want to invest in accessories such as cases, screen protectors, and sync-and-charge cables. Three excellent sources of these products are BoxWave, JAVOedge and Pocket PC Techs (who happens to be running a 20%-off promotion right now). I've bought gear from all three companies on numerous occasions, and I've had great experiences each time.

Finally, for more information on Pocket PC Phones (which I think are way too bulky and feature-limited, versus just bringing along a slim laptop and a Smartphone, but that's just my opinion) and Smartphones, point your browser at:

• Pocket PC Thoughts,
• Smartphone Thoughts, and
• Smartphone & Pocket PC Magazine.

'night, all.