Smartphone Progression: Additional Software And Other Thoughts

As I drifted off to sleep last night, it occurred to me that I should probably supplement yesterday’s post with a specific list of the Microsoft- and third party-supplied applications I’ve (currently…more to inevitably come) put on my T-Mobile Dash (i.e. those beyond the ones that came with Windows Mobile 5, along with additional T-Mobile-bundled apps such as its own HotSpot utilities, Esmertec’s Java front end, and Westtek’s ClearVue Suite).

Shareware:

• Conduits Technologies’ Timekeeper
• DataViz’s Documents To Go
• Fizz Software’s Fizz Traveler
• Drivers for my iGo Stowaway keyboard
• Opera Software’s Opera Mobile
• SBSH Mobile Software’s Facade and Payrus
• Sprite Software’s Sprite Backup
• Tweaks2K2’s Tweaks2K2 .NET for Smartphone

Freeware:

• Google’s Gmail for Mobile and Google Maps for Mobile
• Microsoft’s Daylight Savings Time Patch, Live Search Mobile (now with way-cool voice recognition built in!), and .NET Compact Framework SP2 
• Mike Calligaro’s RPNCalc and ToggleBth
• NewsGator Go! For Windows Mobile
• Opera Software’s Opera Mini
• Oxios’s Memory (CloseApps and Hibernate)
• A HTC-signed version of Philippe Majerus’ PHM Registry Editor
• Skype for Smartphone
• A very cool utility I discovered last night, called SetJogBar, which enhances the function of the Dash’s volume slider controls to mimic the capabilities of the phone’s near-clone, HTC’s Excalibur (S620)

When downloading CABs directly to the Dash, I sure love its built-in Wi-Fi capabilities (as well as those in its SP5m predecessor), particularly considering I only have GPRS data coverage here at the house. Can you recommend any other interesting apps for the Windows Mobile Standard (aka Windows Smartphone) platform, readers?

I mentioned yesterday that Lil is now using a Motorola Q9. The process by which she got to this point is fairly interesting (at least to me ), so I thought I’d share bits and pieces of it with you. She’d historically been using a generic Samsung SPH-N400 phone running on Sprint’s service. However, when she changed jobs, her new employer’s location was smack-dab in the middle of a Sprint coverage ‘hole’. Since I had GSM coverage via T-Mobile, we decided that it made sense for her to stay with a CDMA carrier, so off she went to Verizon. This change of service provider also presented an opportunity for her to follow in my Windows Smartphone footseps, since she also used Outlook as her PIM and was already familiar with ActiveSync by virtue of her ownership of a Pocket PC. She’d been previously using BitPim to sync a miniscule set of contacts to the limited-memory Samsung and was enthusiastic about migrating to a more robust and database-encompassing hardware-and-software successor.

Thanks to my PR contact at Verizon, Lil was able to test-drive both the Q9 and a Pocket PC Phone, Palm’s Treo 700wx, for a few weeks prior to making her final hardware selection. At first glance, at least from a feature set standpoint, it might appear to be no contest. The Treo 700wx was a far more capable platform, both out-of-box and appended with third-party supplements, by virtue of its Pocket PC foundation (versus the Q9’s Smartphone heritage). Neither phone had built-in Wi-Fi, but the Treo 700wx’s SDIO slot enabled the use of peripherals such as Spectec’s SDW-820. It had a built-in Mobile Office suite (remember that at this time, Windows Mobile 6 Standard didn’t exist), and its touchscreen enabled more numerous and more robust applications.

So why did Lil end up going with the Q9? It was much less expensive, for one thing; the Treo 700wx cost several hundred dollars even when bundled with a multi-year service contract. The Q9 was also much slimmer and lighter than its bloated Palm counterpart. The earlier-mentioned DataViz application suite was a passable substitute for Microsoft’s own Mobile Office programs. And frankly, the 700wx’s added capabilities (many of which were targeted at corporate users and therefore not of use to her, anyway) came with added user interface complexity that Lil understandably didn’t have the patience to struggle with and (eventually, presumably) surmount.

Readers, what phone alternatives have you evaluated over the years, and what criteria have guided your final selection?

In closing, I’d also like to take this opportunity to give another shout-out to BoxWave, a company that I’ve mentioned several times before. These folks inventory an amazing amount and diversity of gear for a tremendous number of portable electronics devices…including the T-Mobile Dash. I’ve just received a Dash-tailored shipment from the company containing Active Case and FlexiSkin cases as well as two different flavours of ClearTouch screen protectors; I suspect that I’ll be as pleased with them as I’ve been with everything else from BoxWave that I’ve used over the years.