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Which Mobile Device should I get for Direct Push Email
to work with your System?
Arrowmail's email system uses Microsoft Exchange 2003 and so, in
order for Direct Push email to work, you need a device based on Windows Mobile 5,
Windows Mobile 6 or one which has a 3rd Party ActiveSync client installed.
Mobile phone operators offer many such devices which, depending on the
contract you enter into, can be supplied free of charge.
The same device can appear, with different branding, from
different suppliers.
Most of the world's current Windows Mobile-based pocket PC
phones and smartphones are built in the same factory in Taiwan, owned by HTC (High Tech Computer
Corporation), who also offer these devices under their own name.
HP's iPaq range
is also manufactured by HTC.
The following website shows the
devices that O2 offer and illustrates the basic choice of a small smartphone or
a larger Pocket PC phone with a touch-screen:-
http://www.my-xda.com
I use the term "smartphone" on
this page as a general term for all such devices as well as a specific
term for a Windows Mobile device without a touch-screen.
The smartphone models shown below are what were available the last time we updated this page, in November 2007.
New models are released every few months so the ones shown on this
page, and their prices, may now be out-of-date.
Don't forget that Blackberries are an alternative Push Email system
to Windows Mobile Direct Push. In fact it was Blackberry that invented Push Email.
THe HTC TyTN II - A Good All-Rounder
This Pocket PC phone is bristling with technology and has a keyboard that
slides out and folds round to give a "Desktop PC" effect -
imagine the picture below rotated 90 degrees.
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If you already have, or want to buy, a Palm OS,
Symbian or
Java MIDP smartphone such
as the Nokia N95 then
Dataviz sell
a program called RoadSync for US$99.99 which allows
these phones to operate Direct Push email with an Exchange Server.
See later on this page for details. |
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Expect Windows Smartphone design to be influenced, in the
near future, by the the innovative Apple iPhone.
The front of the iPhone is all touch-screen so uses an
on-screen keyboard and Visual Voicemail is something
we're all going to want. |
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Size: 112mm x 59mm x 19mm. Weight: 190grams.
Cost: £400 + VAT
It's too large to sit comfortably in a shirt pocket but you can just about hold it up to your ear and
use it as a phone without looking like an idiot.
The QWERTY keyboard is a great improvement over typing, text-message-style, from a phone keypad
and you can also use the stylus and touch-screen for entering text.
Important Differences Between a Pocket PC Phone and a Smartphone
You could easily miss the fact that there are 2 different versions of
Windows Mobile 6.
Standard Edition
for Smartphones |
A Smartphone is a smaller device than a Pocket
PC and is more like a standard
mobile phone.
It does not have a touch-screen and navigation is
done using buttons and/or a joystick.
It's versions of mobile Word and Excel can't create new documents and
so can only edit existing ones, although there are tricks to get around this.
It has a simple power saving scheme which means that it's "instant on".
The smaller size and lack of a touch-screen make it more rugged
that a Pocket PC. |
Professional Edition
for Pocket PC phones |
A Pocket PC phone comes with a touch-screen and stylus.
Mobile Word and Excel can create new documents and have a
spell-checker.
It has complicated power saving features which means it takes a
few seconds each time to come back to life.
It's too big to be a desirable phone and to fit comfortably into
your shirt pocket. |
Smartphone or Pocket PC phone - Which one should you Choose?
Direct Push is mostly about receiving information: being alerted to and reading emails the
instant they arrive. If this is your main reason for carrying a
mobile device then the smallest smartphone will do.
If you think you'll only be making "2 sentence" replies to
emails then get a smartphone;
for "2 paragraph" replies, the
Pocket PC phone is better.
If you think you'll be working a lot with Word, Excel and PowerPoint
documents, perhaps to make that last-minute edit before a
presentation, then it will be easier with a Pocket PC.
None of these devices are great phones: there's too much other stuff
going on - and the battery life isn't great.
Some people actually carry another standard mobile phone so they won't be interrupted
in the middle of writing an email on their smartphone.
The HTC TyTN II is a pretty amazing device.
It's big and awkward at
phone duties when compared to a modern slim-line mobile phone but remember, it's
still small, light and the only mobile device you need to carry
to access all your business communications. This includes keeping
you as up-to-date with email as if you were in front of Outlook on a Desktop PC.
The TyTN II compares well with a Blackberry and it's likely to be a
cheaper Push Email solution, depending on your data plan and, as a Windows Mobile
6 device, it's more
flexible because of the large range of software available.
You can store MP3s or
movies on the 2gb miniSD card, take photos or videos with the 3 megapixel
camera, play a large range of games and even use it as a SAT NAV device.
The Palm Treo 750 - A Cheaper Smartphone
Good looking and easy
to operate one handed. It has a touch-screen so it's still a Pocket PC phone.
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Size: 111mm x 58mm x 22mm. Weight: 154grams.
Cost: £290 + VAT
The HP iPAQ 514 - A Small Smartphone
No touch-screen, but look at the dimensions and weight compared to
the Pocket PC phones.
If your smartphone is primarily for Push Email, and you
don't find the screen and buttons too small and fiddly, this could be
for you. It's my favourite on this page. Great price too.
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Size: 107mm x 48.6mm x 16.3mm. Weight: 102grams.
Cost: £128 + VAT
Getting Direct Push Email to Work on Mobile
Devices NOT based on Windows Mobile
All my mobile phones, and those of my family, are Nokias. In my opinion they're the best.
However, Nokia do not make any mobile devices based on
Windows Mobile 5 or 6.
If you already have, or were to buy, a Nokia smartphone, such as the
N95 shown below, then, out-of-the-box, you couldn't do Push Email:-
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Size: 99mm x 53mm x 21mm. Weight: 120grams.
Cost: £320 + VAT
You can use an N95access your Arrowmail account using IMAP and
set it to check every 15 minutes.
This is good enough for some people
but it uses more battery and data than Direct Push, doesn't synchronise
Contacts, Calendar items and Tasks and isn't instant.
The answer is to install a 3rd party ActiveSync client.
The company DataViz makes a software product called RoadSync which
allows ActiveSync and, therefore, Direct Push to work on a range or phones not based on Windows
Mobile.
RoadSync costs US$99.99.
The phones DataViz support are shown
here.
They also make
another product called Documents To Go which allows Office documents to
be opened and edited on non-Windows Mobile phones.
Remember that the majority of these devices don't have touch-screens
so working with Office documents can be fiddly.
Native support for Direct Push email is obviously preferable to add-on
support ,but there are several reasons (none of them very good ones) why you might choose to purchase a
mobile device which isn't based on Windows Mobile 5 and 6 and then get
RoadSync to allow it to synchronise with an Exchange server:-
1 - |
You've already bought a non-Windows phone, not realising that it can't
work with Exchange, or you've been using it as a client for Blackberry's
Push Email and want to find a cheaper solution. |
2 - |
You just have to have a Nokia phone. |
3 - |
You don't like the look of any of the Windows Mobile based phones
but have seen a smartphone, based on some other OS, that you really like. |
4 - |
Perhaps you are a Mac user and can't stand the idea of owning a device
based on Windows. |
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