Poll: Expanding Focus….

Within the dungeon that all the mods and editors here at Mobilitysite are kept in, there has been a little discussion of expanding the focus.here. We have deep Windows Mobile roots here and those roots will never leave the ground I am sure. The recent discussion brings me to believe that an idea that I discussed with Mr.Cook not so long ago would be a nice addition here. I am toying with the idea of creating a couple spin off blogs in Mobilitysite’s likeness. These would be something like “iPhone.Mobilitysite.com”. This would be just a blog covering iPhone news and reviews and would be linked with the core of Mobilitysite.com. I am thinking iPhone and Android to start with and maybe more later. What do you think.

This wouldn’t necessarily be different sites, but part of a mini network that covers other technologies a little more in depth. Something that you may or may not know about our staff is that MANY of them have iPhones. (more than I knew)

           

Widgets? Love them or hate them?

Ok, I have just started evaluating the Samsung Omnia. I have the Verizon, CDMA version with 3G support. I have had the chance encounter with the Omnia a couple times already, but now I have one to test myself. So far, I love the phone, but there are 2 things I don’t care for already. The 1st is the optical mouse. I turned it off and made it act like a 4 way dpad. I just don’t like the mouse thing. Didn’t like it on the Epix and I didn’t like it on the iPAQ HX4700. The other thing I don’t like thus far is the default “Today Screen”. It came basically with the “Samsung Widget” Today plug in enabled. While the widgets are kind of neat, It’s not my cup of tea. You can turn this off by going into the Today Screen settings and disabling this plug in. You need to enable the default plugs or use your own program like SPB Mobile Shell, etc. What I chose to do was use the other Samsung plugin that came on the Omnia, the “Samsung Today” plugin (Pictured to the right). It matches all the other custom menus that Samsung has done with the Windows Mobile Shell. The widget idea is cool, but kind of gimmicky if you ask me.

Well, if you don’t have an Omnia and want some widgets, Gil has posted about a program you can grab to give your WinMo phone widgets too. FEWidgetsLite is a Windows Mobile freeware which allows the creation of visual widgets. It brings a similar look and feel as Samsung’s TouchWiz UI.

Read on for a video and where to get this program…

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Windows Mobile 6.5 Opinions?

There are tons of opinions out there after hands on time and video demos of Windows Mobile 6.5 hit the streets at MWC last week. Some are optimistic, some are harsh, some are great. Me, I am not overly impressed, but I didn’t set myself up to be impressed. I never expected much out of 6.5 since it’s only a dot release. That’s something to remember. I am very disappointed with how slow the ball rolls at Microsoft, but I am sympathetic at the same time. Being somewhat of an insider as a Microsoft MVP, Mobile Devices, I know how painfully slow the process of getting things to market is at Microsoft. Our complaints and suggestions won’t fix that though. So we have to move on with knowing this.

Gil posted a poll on his blog, but I thought today would be a good time to hit you guys with a poll here at Mobilitysite. I made this basically a grading system. Give WM 6.5 your grade.

Here are some resources to help you assign a grade:

• Windows Mobile 6.5 Video from Microsoft (Video)
• Remember All Those WM 6.5 Screenshot Leaks? (Screenshots)
• Windows Mobile 6.5 Hands On: The New Interface Rocks (Gizmodo)
• Windows Mobile 6.5 walkthrough with Engadget

Kevin over at JKontheRun has chimed in with his thoughts as well as results from their own poll on the subject. More than 75% of the responses were either middle of the road or negative. If I would have voted, I would have gone middle. PocketNow has a slightly apologetic rebuttal of Engadget’s commentary online. I agree with some of what Adam has to say, but not all of it. This is a dot release of Window Mobile, so expecting big things is expecting too much. For those that expected Zune stuff in 6.5, show me where Microsoft “Officially” said this would be coming in 6.5? I don’t recall seeing this, all I remember is rumors and speculation.

You guys all know me and know that I support Window Mobile, but you also know that I have been known to enjoy other devices too. I look forward to actually using 6.5 and 7 whenever devices hit the streets, but I am not very optimistic at this time. Microsoft has gotten themselves behind in certain aspects of Windows Mobile, mainly in the GUI though.

What do you think?

           

Do You Want Your Phone to "Just Work"?

I used to love fiddling with my phones/pdas to make them look different using custom backgrounds and plugins, but in the last year, I have changed. Lately, I just want a phone that works without having to install a ROM, change the today screen, or tweak it in any other way. It’s still fun to tweak, but when life is so busy, sometimes you just have to go default. Some people just mod their phones to have something unique and that I can understand, but I just don’t have as much time to do that these days.

What are your thoughts? Do you like to tweak, tweak because you have to, or just prefer default?

I spent several hours customizing my Fuze to look like my old Tilt today screen only to return to TouchFlo the next day. Sometimes it’s just not worth the hassle.

           

How Much Would You Pay For a Hot Phone?

Here in the US, many of the hottest phones are linked to one of the Big 4 carriers and can be picked up for a good price with a contract. The carrier is subsidizing a good portion of the phone’s cost. Occasionally a phone comes along, like the Palm Treo Pro, that is unlocked and not linked to a carrier. A couple hot phones that have peaking the curiosity of many are the HTC Touch HD and the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1. Brighthand ran a story the other day saying that these two hot phones are easy to get in the US now. Yes, they are right, but the cost is outrageous. The Xperia X1 for almost $700 and the HTC Touch HD for around $800. I can’t say that I wouldn’t pay either of those prices, but how many would? I doubt too many would drop that kind of coin for a phone. Would you?

           

Poll - Which Mobile OS Will Be Hottest in 2009?

With all the buzz with Palm’s new OS, Android getting in gear, Apple’s iPhone 3G selling well, and Windows Mobile falling behind, which one will be hot this year?

The Contenders

• Windows Mobile - Even though WinMo is still doing well despite all the hurdles, it’s falling behind. The usability is being questioned every time you turn the corner. The OS is still quite powerful, but it needs to be dumbed down a little to make it more “friendly”. New developments seem so far away.
• Android - We’ve only seen a couple devices come out so far, but with HTC backing some development, Android could be a star still.
• iPhone - Well, it’s the innovative phone that everyone is comparing others too now. It’s here to stay. Does Apple’s over controlling hurt themselves down the road?
• Palm WebOS - It’s not out there yet, but it’s all the buzz after Thursday’s announcement and demo. I have to agree, it’s hot. Is it enough though? Like WinMo, Palm has many, many loyalists in their following. I think that is enough to keep it afloat.

           

How do you view Mobilitysite?

I am digging for a little info on what resolution and browser our readers use to view the site. A sample from our logs seem to indicate that 40% are using IE and another 40% are using Firefox, with the last 20% spread across other browsers. I am happy to see that the logs show that 95% of the readers that visited last month are viewing at better than 1024×768. This data shows that more than 400k visitors last month are viewing at 1280x or higher. That is awesome. Still, I want to do a little live poll as well.

Also, does anyone have any display issues with the current layout of the site? The reason I ask is that I had the unfortunate chance to view Mobilitysite on an old PC with an old browser at 1024x and saw some CSS formatting issues. This resolution and browser has a VERY VERY LOW percentage in last months logs, but still, I like to make sure every viewer has the chance to view the site correctly.

           

Do you Black Friday?

First off, I didn’t post a bunch of Black Friday info here leading up to today. The reason why is that there are great sites that cover Black Friday in obscene depth. I’ll leave that to them.

I had to work on Black Friday, so I didn’t get out there. Even if I didn’t, I don’t think I would have done it anyhow. Do you get out there an get the deals early?

If scored on Black Friday, tell us about it, what did you get? What was your best savings? I hear that someone had a $99 Wii today.

           

Poll : What OS is Windows Mobile’s Biggest Enemy?

Well, the easy answer is all of them. With all the new innovation going on in the mobile industry, Windows Mobile is seeing some big competition in all segments of mobility. Apple is pushing the consumer market hard, RIM is pushing enterprise as they always have, and Android is coming down the trail looking pretty nice. We all know and agree that Windows Mobile needs some new life. It needs to work on a better way to implement updates. It needs some GUI upgrades, but the phone manufacturers are doing a good job on that.

So, out of the major operating systems powering the hottest phones today, which one is the biggest threat for Windows Mobile. Which one could fire a deadly shot into the Windows Mobile Camp?

I know that I have been quite impressed with the iPhone, the Android OS is pretty fast running, but I absolutely despise the Blackberry experience. You thought WinMo had a lot of menus.

I realize that Windows Mobile is going to be ok, I am pulling for them. I also love that these new, fancy operating systems seem to have lit a fire under Microsoft’s tails.

Out of all the new phones that are “not” powered by Windows Mobile, I like the G1 and the iPhone equally. The iPhone gets a point for getting Exchange Server support, something the G1 can’t do right now. The G1 gets the edge on the keyboard, the iPhone onscreen keyboard isn’t bad, but I prefer a full qwerty “keyboard”. Of course, it goes without saying that I don’t like the G1’s looks overall.

           

What if there was only 1 Windows Mobile Phone?

Looking at how quickly Apple is throwing out updates for the iPhone makes you wonder why Microsoft can’t do the same. Well, you can think about it for a minute and then common sense tells you why. They just can’t. Too many models, too many variables, too many carriers, too much BS. Still, I can’t help wondering what the Windows Mobile Life would be like if Microsoft just made their own, single device. Would they still drag their feet like it appears they are doing if only looking at the surface, or would they roll out updates fairly fast like they do with the Zune? Can Microsoft learn anything for the positive reaction to the Zunes updates? I think so. I don’t think Microsoft will ever make their own phone. There are too many partners that would be a tad upset if they did.

Look at the Windows Mobile 6.1 update. It’s been out for quite a while already, but the current devices that are being updated to 6.1 are rolling out finally. Is this Microsoft’s fault? I am not 100% sure on this, but I am pretty sure that it is not. The updates are device specific and they responsibility of updating them is in the hands of the OEMs.

           

Poll: Digital Music, How do you Roll?

In light of a post I caught on PPCT today, I figure this would make for a good conversation. Before I ask the question, the article on PPCT is about Yahoo Music shutting their doors. I won’t speculate, but could it have something to do with Microsoft trying to buy Yahoo and having it’s own all you can eat music store? Any, Ed Hansberry reports that Yahoo Music users got an email stating that they were shutting down and their DRM licenses would expire September 30, 2008.

I love the concept of renting music. Sure there are albums you want to have forever and ever, but really, how many times can you listen to Shania Twain’s Up CD? Really. So I opt for the all you can eat plans that cost ~ $15.00/mo, that way I can download all I want, keep what I like and try some new stuff next month. I used Yahoo Music for 2 years before jumping into the Zune Pass all you an eat plan. In fact, Just yesterday there was a little Twitter buzz about how cool the Zune Pass is.

Don’t worry, If you steal music, I won’t tell. Your votes are counted but they don’t register against a user name, so you can be honest.

           

Poll: Are you sick of the iPhone News?

Many of you know where we came from, the roots of this site. If you don’t this site was a spawn off of Aximsite, which was called iPaqHQ and evolved into Mobilitysite. Our Windows Mobile/Pocket PC roots are deep. With changes in the times, comes changes in focus. While we are not abandoning Windows Mobile at all, we are covering Hot Mobility News. It would be unfair to ignore the exsistance of the iPhone. If you are tired of us posting news about the iPhone, I apologize, but it’s out there and it’s pretty nice. I caught a post over at Gizmodo asking the question, “iPhone 3G: How Do You Feel?” and thought it would be a good poll for this community as well.

I fully expect the results of this poll to be a different percentage wise from the Gizmodo poll. Just how different is the question. I personally feel that we’ve been lenient on the iPhone posts. Short of my own experience, there have only been a handful. This was by design. I really didn’t want to cram iPhone down your throats.

           

Going Back to Forum Commenting Only?

I have waffling back and forth on this. I have had a bunch of requests to allow for forum commenting again. The problem is, I really want to have one or the other. Having two conversations on the same story is tough to follow. I am considering finding the guy that helped me bridge the comment before and hiring him back again. What do you think? One thing to note, if I do go back to forum commenting, I will have it set up where there can be "unregistered user" comments too. The will be moderated, but it will keep people form having to register in the forums if they don’t want to.

What do you think?

           

Poll : Will you be buying the 3G iPhone?

I don’t think I am going to pull the trigger personally. Besides, I have 4 phones that I am evaluating right now already. I will upgrade my current iPhone to the new software and give it another spin though. I am really interested in seeing how well they implemented Exchange Server support. That is very important to me.

If you have any thoughts either way, by all means, share them!

           

Do All mp3 Players Sound Alike?

 

Recently I read a review of an mp3 player where the author purposely chose not to discuss sound quality because, in the author’s words, “The chosen player has a great deal to do with how you access your music, but very little to do with how it sounds…”  That got me thinking.  Do all mp3 players sound alike?  They are all digital, so it’s the same 1’s and 0’s playing the music, so how can there be a difference in sound quality?  

I have tested some mp3 players myself and have noticed drastic differences.  I have trouble believing that mp3 players don’t influence sound quality that much.  They have different components, circuitry, software and build tolerances, so how can there not be a difference?  I agree that other factors have an influence on sound quality, namely the quality of the music and headphones.  But if you test mp3 players using the same playlist and headphones, I believe you will hear differences.  This logic works with surround sound receivers, cell phones and recording equipment as well.  But that’s just my opinion.  Let’s explore a little further.

The Big Question

Do all mp3 players sound alike, or are there true, measurable differences that even the average user can appreciate? If a reviewer made a mix tape of high quality music and tested it with the same good headphones on several players, would they not notice a difference?  Read on to see what I have discovered.

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