Windows Mobile Worthless?
So thinks Gizmodo. You might have read about how they were biased in their browser wars. Word got to them and they redid it with more powerful devices and included Opera Mini 9.5 beta this time around. But what bothered me was this:
If you haven’t noticed in our reviews of Windows Mobile phones, we’ve basically ceased comparing to them anything but other WM phones, in a wishful attempt at dulling our totally appropriate disdain for the OS, lest the review essentially turn into one giant bitchfest. They’re clearly off in their own world of performance and function.
I won’t touch another Windows Mobile phone until WM7 or at least 6.5, no matter how awesome the hardware looks. Call me when it runs Android.
Seriously Gizmodo? Do you read what you write?
Is Windows Mobile really that bad? And you would rather use Android right now over Windows Mobile?
I guess you do not like to see your upcoming appointments and tasks at a glance but prefer to instead go into applications like Calendar and whatever it is you use for Tasks on the Android since it does not have a native application.
I guess you do not like to customize your device, instead relying on whatever the Android Development Team decides your device should look like.
I guess you have never heard of XDA Developers, a really vibrant Windows Mobile community that has managed to port all the great applications and features from other platforms onto Windows Mobile.
I guess you enjoy sliding up your keyboard to enter text every time.
I guess you enjoy installing only a limited number of applications on your Android device since those apps can only go onto the main memory.
I guess you enjoy the limited number of fields that Calendar and Contacts on the Android platform offer. That way, you have an excuse to tell your wife that you forgot your anniversary because you could not put that info in.
I could go on if you want me to but these are just some of my assumptions why I figured you would choose the Android platform over Windows Mobile. But in case I missed something, do let me know.
And before you take out the ‘Android platform is new and can only get better’ card, let me remind you that Windows Mobile can just as much improve. That’s like saying all the shortcomings I brought up can easily be patched by developers. I’ll believe it when I see it.
But, given the current state of Windows Mobile with it’s vibrant community and Android with its infancy status, my choice is obvious.
What’s yours?
Related posts
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
who cares what gizmodo & matt buchanan says, the guy is a retarded apple fanboy who’s happy to test beta safari on iphone which crashes most of the time but gets yellow belly when asked to compare it with superior opera mobile 9.5 beta!!
The whole site is totally biased against anything associated with any version of Windows or Microsoft. It’s rather pathetic…
You forgot corporate email. Unavailable on Android.
this is my first wm device. Long time Symbian user. compared to symbian windows mobile is hell. it’s not software for a smartphone, it only makes sense with PDAs. You guys can buy my HTC Touch Pro for 200 $ as soon as the Nokia N97 hits the street.
I used to be a long-time Symbian user too until 4 years ago when I switched to Windows Mobile. I have not looked back since to be honest. Granted, WM can be complicated to get started with but when you scratch the surface and look deeper, you might love what comes with it as well Victor.
Same here, I too was a symbian user till I got my first windows mobile this year & I’m not planning to go back. I still have my Nokia N70 ME but thats become my secondary device now which I don’t use much. Windows Mobile looks intidimating only in beginning, start using it & within 10 minutes you can get quite comfortable with it!
That’s weird, I had a Nokia E61 with Symbian 3rd edition. Everything went fine until i saw that mobireader looked better on WM. I sold my E61 and bought the HTC. Now mobireader looks slightly better but I have lots of problems:
- I have to recharge every 2 days or less (If i use Wifi y have to recharge the phone everyday) – I used to recharge every 5-6 days.
- I can’t see how to message 2 or more people at the same time.
- I can’t assign different ringtones for different people or groups.
- I can’t disable calls for some callers when I want.
- I can’t avoid to send my phone number when I need to.
- It takes a life to add a contact from received or lost calls.
- I had sometimes to reboot the phone!
- I can’t assing a key to block the phone.
There are more things but those are anoying me the most (but the memory issues also do)
And the worst is that everything I have in WM I had in Symbian! Office, PDF, wi-fi and so on!. The only new thing is the touch screen.
Maybe you guys can tell me something the manual doesn’t
Regards.
Well, the bigger screen (& touch at that) does take a bit more battery. I too charge my N70 in 5-6 days but my HTC needs charging in 2-2.5 days but thats not a nuisance with me as I keep my HTC plugged into my PC so it keeps charging!
Also, to save battery, don’t keep apps & wifi & data connection running if you don’t need them in next 10 minutes or more. And switch screen off by pressing power button once.
When composing a new message, just click on the menu & add recepient. When you have added one then again in the menu click “add recepient” in menu & select other contact & it will be added. If you are entering numbers manually then just seperate them with a semi colon (;).
In the contacts, open a contact & go into edit mode. There you will see a field called “Ringtone”. Select that & it will show you a drop down of all ringtones on your phone & you can assign anyone to your contact.
You mean to block some callers? Well, I don’t think its a feature in Nokia as well, or did it come in your E61? Its not there in any Nokia phones I’ve used so far. There are softwares to do this kind of thing & I used to use Smart Call Manager on my N70 for this. For Windows Mobile I think there’s a software called MagiCall which allows you to block both calls & messages from certain numbers, its not free though, costs about $20 I think.
Haven’t looked into this as my carrier doesn’t support this. Its a network dependent feature. If your carrier supports this then maybe you can try do a search on google & see if its there on Windows Mobile.
I don’t think so. It takes me just about the same time as it used to on my N70, hardly more than 2 minutes.
And if you have your mobile connected to your PC & if you use Microsoft Outlook then you can easily add it in Outlook instead & it will be synced to your mobile! 
Don’t tell me you never rebooted your Nokia?!
I had to reboot my N70 now & then (not regularly) when Opera Mini or something else hanged up or if the data connection was not disconnected even after closing app using it.
You mean to lock the phone? I don’t use Windows Mobile’s default lock system but a freeware app called S2U2 which is quite slick as well. You can set it to auto lock your screen after a set interval. I also have it mapped to a hardware button on my phone for 1 click locking of screen but then this depends on your phone model & number of hardware keys it has & which of them can be programmed. Go to Settings in start menu & in the Personal tab click on Buttons & there you will be able to see any buttons which you can program! Be careful on using this, you don’t want to accidentally re-map a button which you didn’t intend to!
Just about all that I’ve told ya should be in the manual as well, if it isn’t then that sucks! I ofcourse don’t remember if its all in manual or not!
These are really great suggestions Amit. Thank you for sharing them.
Give Windows Mobile some time Victor. It takes a while to appreciate it. Granted that there are loopholes in WM (just like there are in any system) but the beauty with WM is that the community that supports is really awesome and more often than not (speaking from experience), you will find a solution to your problem.
Hey amit Great!. Thanks.
Maybe an article like “WM for Symbian users” is a good idea Tariq.
Best regards
You are welcome Victor.
That is definitely a great idea. Anyone wants to chip in some ideas?
Hi all,
I’ll add a few things (never post but appreciate a few things I read and the details on this site and forum)
To lock via key: long key press END key (red to hung up), or search for end long press on XDA-developers if your phone is missing it (found in settings if installed)
To do hide caller id use #31# before the number; I have a few contacts directly saved with it in front.
Actually the phone lacks a few thigs but is getting better thanks to customizations by HW producers as of manually composed numbers prompted to be saved on my newest Touch HD.
To block some calls you can use call firewall 4 (logic-unlimited.com) or
do not disturb (trinketsoftware)
GroupSMS to send group based or list (simple tick on contact) to unlimited recipients, chat sms..
You can reach remote computers using
Windows Remote Desktop, ssh-Putty, zoomVNC clients
and vpn software like HAMACHI (us it it is great for servers or pc’s, the world in your hand!) or integrated vpn client.
Hamachi + PocketVNC server (sold for a few $) and you can control your phone over the air via internet or wireless,
TotalCommander file manager rocks too,
WMWifiRouter and turn your phone in a flippin unsecured or secured wep, WPA access point, with DHCP….
BT_DUN wm to use DUN bluetooth and laptop surfs net via cell (real fast but also nokia does this)
FUNAMBOL (complete over the air synch), email scheduler by gudensoft.de, real skype, real msn, OctroTalk to aggregate multiple of all of these (not as pidgin I’m waiting for) or the BEST: Fring which works on Symbian too anyway…
KeepRecording, hushsms, flashsms, PPCPimBackup (real full and customizable backup, scheduled and keeps 10 old backups if wished… only misses a send via email option and ftps upload), TaskManager THIS IS REAL SOFTWARE as this is a real machine.
You can have sqlserver lite on it too!!
FreewarepocketPC.net has a large collection with some good freeware.
Man you have the only actual mobile OS that does all of this. I love linux and also have a nokia n810 tablet (there is a chinese clone with phone too) but WM is unfortunately yet simpler (and I am biased against Microsoft as I want to see sources… plus miss a few linux apps like dd and rsync and cron ease of use but thats me.)
Android OSx from Iphone still have no port from TomTom…
Nokia has no touch screen as of today (not true… actually it is releasing a superb touch è qwerty HTC tytn 2 kaiser format clone running Symbian which I loved for ages)
People this post holds a lot, IT tech staff might change their lives with this phones. I had tytn2 and touch hd by HTC and started march 2008 (before communicators by nokia, e70 etc). This just rocks, give this OS a chance as it just has the largest potential and actually XDA does the biggest part (MicroSoft are you sleeping down in Redmond???).
Mobile computing is what you currently hold, do it well.
Ubuntu is (luckily;P) growing and OS sw to. Make things simple for users and let them choose the level of details of settings to see in an OS (OAPS, novices, middle or experts) and there is a chance to keep your leading position (which I do not like as stated, but this is for MS position).
Symbian has more users and is catching up (best competitor for the mid-future I suppose), Android might turn into a great alternative (linux scalability rocks, sorry
. iPhone could be great too but Apple Should put more effort in listening to users’ real needs.
Wow long post and a bit OT too maybe, sm1 might find it useful though
Cheers,
GG
GM3Cons, Milan, Italy
Like I said, its a network dependent feature, not something a phone manufacturer can do anything about. I tried this & it didn’t work for me as expected!
Yes, its not true at all. They announced 5800 XpressMusic in Oct 2008 & launched it in Nov. 2008, so its been out for more than a month now! And yes, its a full touch screen phone with just about no hardware buttons!! And its running Symbian S60 5th edition.
Hello, thanks for the suggestions, #31# works like a charm, thanks for the suggestion. I have been browsing the freewares and apps and now I have a decent collection. You people are a wonderful group, I’m in the middle of the transition but you have to remember that Symbian has all the applications and configurations you are used to have in WM. But now I don’t feel that I’m missing functionality, it’s just a different way to do things. I think you are talking about Nokia N97, wich will be released by Q2 this year, full touch screen and with QWERTY keyboard.
About the other applications you mention, all of them have Symbian equivalents and it’s very good news to see that they are available for WM. Thanks again.
Nice post keep the good working
Anybody know if it’s possible to change the function of the CONTACTS button the Today screen to access my Yahoo contacts instead of Outlook contacts?….
Thanks. Great post. I was looking at Smartphone Apps for Business Reviewed they have some cool stuff. Thanks again.
I think android is taking over for the os wars a lot of the coolest new smartphones are starting with android now and although linux made a pretty poor statrt it is getting much better I cant wait for the new first else smartphone to come to market as I believe it could herals a real upswing in the fortune of the linux os.