WIND Mobile Only Just a Breeze After All

Late last year Canada’s newest wireless carrier stumbled on to the scene. WIND had been run through the wringer by the CRTC on its foreign ownership content even though Industry Canada had given it the green light. WIND finally won out and the gate was opened wide for them to get started. Unfortunately, WIND has seemed to stumble through that gate and has no idea which way to run.

While we don’t truly know how many people WIND has signed up there are estimates of 30,000. That is not even close to being an acceptable number for a multi-million dollar leap-of-faith that seemed to have things right. With a CEO that seems to be on the ball, an experienced management team and a good story to tell how is that WIND has done so poorly.

Most of what you will read is that WIND was just not ready, and that is true, but it isn’t about having the right billing system, customer service or bullet-proof network. Their problem is in marketing.

WIND’s marketing strategy for launch is one that sounds like a great idea but just doesn’t have a mass momentum to it. They decided to offer simple plans that included unlimited calls, text messages and data but the complicating portion is the network coverage and confusions over “Home Zones” and “Away Zones”. Basically, things in your plan are unlimited while in your Home Zone but once outside that relatively small area you are now roaming and are charged per call/text/kb. People just did now feel there was enough of a benefit to take a chance with WIND…if they even knew about them in the first place.

If you build it, they will come. Or not.
[ ..Read More.. ]

Microsoft’s Courier Delivers Where Apple’s iPad Falls Short

I’ve been a tablet user for a number of years now thanks to my Fujitsu T4215. While I’ve truly enjoyed the tablet and everything it offers, there is room for improvement in form factors, usability, and of course, functionality. The world looked to Apple in hopes their tablet device announcement would forever change how they looked at tablets. At this point, I think it’s fair to say that most people, myself included, are underwhelmed with what the iPad has to offer.

Enter Microsoft’s Courier device. This dual screen, foldable journal type device is amazing. According to the details leaked on Engadget, this device will be about 1 inch thick, sport two 5×7 LCD panels, and weigh in at about 1 pound. The screens support multi-touch as well as pen based input to provide the best experience for everyone.

Engadget has some really cool video’s on the Courier showing how it works and what you can expect from this device. In my opinion, this device connects with the tablet world far better than what Apple has done. Of course, there will always be people who say Apple has done it right and that the iPad is the be all and end all of tablet devices. For me, the Courier has much better potential. Only time will tell, but I’m looking forward to playing with a Courier much more than an iPad. Check out the video’s on Engadget and let us know your thoughts.

How to Turn off HTC’s Sense on the HD2

This may seem like a pretty straight forward tip to some, while others will find it extremely valuable. For me, I was playing with HTC’s Hero device running Android prior to picking up the HTC HD2. On the Hero, the Sense interface can not be disabled. So the thought never crossed my mind when I started using the HD2. Your home screen style can be yours to decide.

From the Start menu, tap on Settings. HTC does a nice job of simplifying the settings screens with Sense on Windows Phones and we need to change a setting that is not exposed in their interface.  Tap on Menu and then select All Settings from the menu that appears. When the settings menu opens, tap on Today and then at the bottom of the screen tap on the Items tab. By default the HD2 is going to load HTC Sense for the today screen plugin. Just tap on Windows Default at the top of the list and then OK to save the changes. That’s it, that’s all.  Now you can enjoy using Microsoft’s default Today screen for Windows Mobile 6.5.

PRESS RELEASE: MOTOBLUR™ Debuts in Canada

PRESS RELEASE: MOTOBLUR™ Debuts in Canada – Say Hello to the First Phones with Social Skills
Only MOTOBLUR organizes all your messages from Facebook, MySpace and Twitter along with your emails and texts, and streams them to a single live widget for immediate reply – right from the home screen

March 03, 2010

TORONTO, Ont. — March 3, 2010 — Motorola Canada today announced that MOTOBLURTM, its revolutionary social service for Android-powered devices, is coming to Canada with all three national wireless carriers in the first half of 2010.

MOTOBLUR is the only solution to sync all your friends, posts, feeds, messages, e-mails, photos and much more—from sources such as Facebook®, Twitter®, MySpace, Gmail™, Yahoo! and work email—with continuous updates, automatically delivering them to your home screen for immediate reply. MOTOBLUR delivers these updates in easy-to-view streams, so there is no need to switch between different mobile applications to keep up with the latest content, allowing you to spend less time managing your life and more time living it.

“We are thrilled to be bringing Canadians three unique MOTOBLUR handsets with all the major wireless carriers,” said Rick Gadd, Vice President and Sales General Manager, Mobile Devices, Motorola Canada. “With MOTOBLUR, we are differentiating the Android experience and delivering phones that are truly instinctive and socially smart.”

Life: Organized, Streamed and Delivered
Only MOTOBLUR automatically delivers conversation threads, friend updates, stories, links, photos and more, to live widgets on your home screen for immediate reply:

Happenings: View your social site updates in one spot with the live Happenings application. Every friend feed, status update, wall post, bulletin and photo upload is automatically delivered and ready for immediate reply, anyway you like.
Messages: Quickly scroll through the Messages application for a snapshot of current work or personal emails, social site messages, and texts, and view messages all together in the universal inbox or separately by source.
Social Status: Blast your status right from the home screen and even save time by updating your status to one or all your social networks at once.
News Feeds: Keep track of your favorite news feeds, sports scores or even celebrity gossip without leaving the home screen.
[ ..Read More.. ]

Windows Phone Starter Edition 6 Series Classic Edition Starter…Series…

Confession: I still like Windows Mobile, er, Windows Phone Starter…oh, you get the idea.

Just like everyone else, I have been pining for something new in Windows Mobile, anything new! Windows 6.1 is certainly quite old and at this point 6.5 is a facelift that didn’t quite work out. Actually, a ‘facelift’ is a perfect analogy for explaining what 6.5 is to 6.1, the only difference being that people are not shy about pointing out how obvious it is.

Windows Phone 7 Series (that name cries for a comma!) certainly looks fantastic and I can’t wait to get my hands on it! It is new and different – if you haven’t seen Zune HD – and is a great move by Microsoft to get back into the fight. It’s a UI that addresses the uniqueness of using a phone rather than previous iteration’s insistence on digging a PC-in-your-phone trench. I’m all for WP7S and feel like I can brag about Windows Mobile/Phone all over again.

Despite all this euphoria I still feel like I’ll miss Windows Mobile 6.x. There are a TON of applications available for it, a huge number of designs to cater to your phone preferences and the ability to change the look and feel in many ways.

Windows Phone 7 Series will not have much customizing, at least not anything that’s been announced yet. The user experience will be basically the same across all manufacturers and devices. I am not sure how much I am going to like that. Maybe I won’t mind at all because the UI will just be that good. Perhaps changing backgrounds twice a day will keep me interested. Sigh, I just am not sure.

With Windows Mobile 6.x you can use the default start page, third-party UI’s such as my favourite, SPB Mobile Shell or the UI skin that comes from manufacturers such as HTC’s Sense UI or LG’s S-Class UI. These can drastically change the look and feel of Windows Mobile since they can go fairly deep into the OS itself. I love having this kind of flexibility and it’s the reason I keep going back to Windows Mobile.

Perhaps I’ll need to start a support group (no, not technical support) to help us hangers-on with the transition away from our blankies…er, Windows Mobile.

One thing is for sure, prices for the Starter Edition phones will probably be relatively low, and a bunch of used units will flood eBay. It should be a hay-day for those of us that use our money on mundane things like paying bills, feeding our kids, heating the house…

How to Hard Reset the HTC HD2

The hottest Windows phone device available today is the HD2 from HTC. It’s beautiful large screen, fast processor, and ultra-thin design make it a joy to use. HTC’s Sense user-interface sure helps too. So there’s no question that this is the current smartphone that all the other Windows Phone devices will be judged against.

So you just picked up a device off ebay, or perhaps you’re getting ready to sell yours. Or maybe the unthinkable has happened – a 3rd party application is causing problems and the device will no longer boot. You’ll need to hard reset the device so it’s back to factory settings. Here’s the steps to get that done:

1. Turn the phone off
2. Press and hold both the volume up and volume down buttons
3. Press and release the Power / Hang-up button
4. The device will turn on – release the volume buttons when you see the tri-color screen. It flashes for a second or two
5. The device will then display a prompt asking you to confirm the reset of the device
6. Press the volume up button to continue with the hard reset, or press any other button to cancel.

If the device still boots up, you can perform the same reset using the software on the device. Just tap Start / Settings / Security / Factory Reset and then enter the 4 digit security code – 1234, and the hard reset will begin.

Be sure to charge the device prior to performing the hard reset. As well, it’s worth noting that all of your data will be erased from the device during the reset process. Be sure to backup any valuable files or information before following these steps.

HTC Announces Legend, Desire and Mini

At Mobile World Congress today, HTC announced 3 new devices based on Windows Mobile and Android operating systems.

The HTC Mini is based on Windows Mobile 6.5 and brings the experience of the HD2 to a smaller footprint. The HD2 experience is truly something special. If HTC can make this into a smaller device, it will be interesting to see and use. The single best thing on the HD2 is the screen. If they can pack the processor and power into a smaller footprint, will the device be as attractive? It’s a hard question to answer. With a smaller screen, they will need to make sure that the smaller screen is just as brilliant as it’s larger brother or it won’t succeed.

The HTC Legend and Desire are both Android based devices. The Legend is like version 2 of the Hero, adding a AMOLED screen LED Flash, optical trackball, a faster processor – 600MHz, and some more memory.  The Desire is HTC’s version of their Nexus One phone, but with an optical trackball and an extra button.

You can read check out the press release over at MobilityMinded – HTC Mini, and HTC Legend, Desire. And then let us know what you think of HTC’s latest devices.

Windows Phone 7 Announced by Microsoft at Mobile World Congress

The mobile world has been buzzing with talk about the future of Microsoft’s Windows Mobile operating system. After stumbling the last couple of years and allowing new comers like Google  and Apple to capture a significant portion of the mobile market, all eye’s were on Microsoft. They really need to pull an ace out or risk being left behind in the fast moving mobile space.

Many are looking to Mobile World Congress as the best time for Microsoft to share their plans with the world. And share they did. A couple of minutes ago, Microsoft announced the long awaited Windows Phone 7. Billed as “Windows Phone 7 Series”, the mobile operating system takes a new fresh approach to the mobile world. With custom “tiles” and “hubs” you can be sure to keep informed of the information that matters most to you.

Phones are expected from all the major hardware manufacturers by this holiday season. Initial rumors had devices hitting the market in April or September. They appear to be a little off the actual date, but not too bad.

The full press release can be found below. Give it a read and share your thoughts with us. My initial reaction is that Microsoft is hitting the mark with this release. There’s still a load of unanswered questions. Hopefully we can get all the details shortly.

UPDATE: Check out the live demo on http://www.windowsphone7series.com/

[ ..Read More.. ]

Microsoft MVP Global Summit Time

As you’re reading this, I’m traveling to Seattle to attend the this years MVP Summit. The summit is always a good time to get together with the other Mobile Device MVPs as well as the product group and various teams behind Windows Mobile.

This year, the summit falls at the same time as Mobile World Congress (and the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver). If Microsoft decides to share Windows Phone 7 at MWC, then I expect the product teams will have more to share with us. Unfortunately, a lot of what we talk about is under NDA. Rest assured, that whatever I can share, I will share. And I will also take with me a list of issues and questions that I have gathered from your comments posted on Mobile Jaw over the last while.

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again.

How To: Google Buzz from Windows Mobile and Android

Google’s Buzz is doing quite well so far, but in many ways it seems to have been rushed to market. It’s crazy that you can access a Google service from only a specific version of Android (2.X). While the iPhone has full support, if you own an Android 1.5 or 1.6 or a Windows Mobile phone you are out of luck. Well, that is until now…

Jay Glogovsky posted a link in a Google Buzz post that will actually allow you to use the service on platforms that are not currently supported.

I present the “Link of Golden Awesomeness”: https://m.google.com/app/buzz/#~buzz:view=nearby

So far I have tested this on Windows Mobile and Android 1.5 and it works well. For Windows Mobile it did not seem to work in the default browser; I was using Opera Mobile 10 beta 3 and it worked just fine. In Android I just used the default browser with no problem.

So, start buzzing from the road, even if you aren’t iPhoning it!

If you try this on another phone and it works let us know and we will mention it in this post.

Next Page »