Friday, February 20, 2004
Connectivity Nirvana: We're Not Quite There Yet
Posted by Jason Dunn in "THOUGHT" @ 10:30 AM
This is an article written by a Pocket PC Thoughts reader named Andrew. It raises some very interesting points about mobility, connectivity, and some of the problems with the Pocket PC OS as it stands now. If you have suggestions on how to solve Andrew's connectivity issues, I'm sure he'd be glad to hear them!
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Lately I've been spending far too many hours trying to figure out how to make my iPAQ 2200 + Bluetooth phone act like a Windows Mobile Smartphone. What do I mean by this? Allow me to explain.
Right now, I have a "Tanager" Smartphone in addition to my Pocket PC. I really like it, particularly as a complement to a laptop, because the one-hand integration makes it easy to use while on the move. The thing that is most addictive is Exchange ActiveSync on a regular schedule - since I have unlimited GPRS, I set it to sync every 5 minutes, so that I can be pretty sure that any time I have a second to pull the phone out and check my mail, I've got the latest without having to go and hit the server again.
However, there are times that I do prefer the larger screen and File Sync capabilities of my iPAQ + BT phone combo. And trying to make a non-Phone Edition Pocket PC embody the best traits of a Smartphone is...challenging. Maybe I should just give in and get a Phone Edition device, but then, the whole point of a Pocket "PC" is the ability to customize the device and make it do exactly what you want, right? So, I've been on a quest to see just how close I can come. It's been probably a month or so that I've been actively pushing the boundaries in this area, and I thought it would be interesting to catalog my findings so far.
My Perfect World vs. The Real World
In my perfect world, I would like to turn on my Pocket PC, have it automatically dial a GPRS connection through my Bluetooth phone and have that connection persist until I turned off the Pocket PC. I would also like to be able to power-off my device instantly regardless of whether or not I have a connection open and not have any ill effects (since one of the huge advantages of a PPC is "instant on/off"). This is connectivity nirvana for me.
In the real world, there seem to be a few issues:
1.) Powering off the Pocket PC with a GPRS connection established via Bluetooth produces an error message the next time the device is powered on (minor but very irritating). But much worse, trying to reestablish the GPRS connection after dismissing the error won't work - a soft-reset of the Pocket PC is necessary before being able to use GPRS again. Perhaps this behavior is specific to the iPAQ 2200 but regardless it can be frustrating.
(Why don't I just disconnect prior to powering off? Because it requires 6-8 seconds and a stylus tap - inconvenient for quick browsing or e-mail sync while waiting in line for something, for example. Easy one-handed use is key!)
2.) There is no convenient way to establish a GPRS connection - that I'm aware of - that does not involve pulling the stylus out and tapping several small icons/buttons. An existing option that's map-able to a hardware button would be optimal, but I'd settle for being able to create a shortcut. Using a Smartphone has really spoiled me when it comes to easy one-hand access to functionality!
3.) I'm quite certain there's no way to auto-connect to GPRS on power-on using the default OS and apps. I've found one third-party application on Handango that claims to automatically redial a GPRS connection when you power on the device, but it's not optimal.
4.) Using ActiveSync I can manually initiate an EAS sync with no connection open, which will automatically dial a GPRS connection (good). However, when it's done syncing, it also automatically disconnects the GPRS connection (good for folks who pay by the MB; not so good for those of us blessed with unlimited GPRS). I tried to find a setting or registry key to change this behavior but was unsuccessful. I can use IE to similarly automatically dial a GPRS connection, but if I initiate an EAS sync while connected that way, the EAS will disconnect the connection when it's done. I'd love to know about a workaround for this.
5.) Following the Smartphone model, I've even tried using an application to turn off the Pocket PC's screen instead of powering off the device itself, since this would mean the connection would persist at the cost of battery life (the device in theory doesn't power off by itself while a connection is present). However, quite often when I've done this for more than about 45 minutes, I find that the device has powered itself off somehow. I don't think it's possible that the power button is being pressed accidentally (if it's in my pocket, for example) because I've never pulled the Pocket PC out of my pocket and discovered the screen on or that other applications were open due to pressure on the touchscreen. I guess I could just change the settings so that the device *never* turns off, but that seems risky in scenarios like the old "wake up at midnight with Media Player running, battery dead the next morning".
6.) After giving up on some of the "always connected" scenarios above, I tried setting my Pocket PC to Exchange ActiveSync using my phone's connection every 5 minutes during "peak hours", with the device dialing and disconnecting. Since the above has demonstrated that it is apparently impractical to maintain a constant GPRS connection all day, this means that my Pocket PC will dial into my phone via Bluetooth every five minutes in order to sync, and then disconnect when finished. Good enough. However, there is a problem when I am actually using the phone for voice calls. If I am talking with someone and the Pocket PC tries to initiate a connection to sync, it *hangs up* on my voice call and establishes a GPRS connection instead. Needless to say, this is not desired behavior. I verified that the "wait for dial tone" box is checked in my settings for the connection I'm using to dial; however, I suspect this is irrelevant to GPRS connections both from my limited understanding of the technology and also the fact that having the box checked doesn't fix the problem. My latest idea is to answer my phone when a call comes in and then quickly disable Bluetooth on the Pocket PC, which is not exactly optimal. : )
My hat's off to Microsoft for doing a great job with Pocket PC Phone Edition and Smartphone - but it would be great to see some of that same amazing experience for those of us who like to carry two devices.
----------------
Lately I've been spending far too many hours trying to figure out how to make my iPAQ 2200 + Bluetooth phone act like a Windows Mobile Smartphone. What do I mean by this? Allow me to explain.
Right now, I have a "Tanager" Smartphone in addition to my Pocket PC. I really like it, particularly as a complement to a laptop, because the one-hand integration makes it easy to use while on the move. The thing that is most addictive is Exchange ActiveSync on a regular schedule - since I have unlimited GPRS, I set it to sync every 5 minutes, so that I can be pretty sure that any time I have a second to pull the phone out and check my mail, I've got the latest without having to go and hit the server again.
However, there are times that I do prefer the larger screen and File Sync capabilities of my iPAQ + BT phone combo. And trying to make a non-Phone Edition Pocket PC embody the best traits of a Smartphone is...challenging. Maybe I should just give in and get a Phone Edition device, but then, the whole point of a Pocket "PC" is the ability to customize the device and make it do exactly what you want, right? So, I've been on a quest to see just how close I can come. It's been probably a month or so that I've been actively pushing the boundaries in this area, and I thought it would be interesting to catalog my findings so far.
My Perfect World vs. The Real World
In my perfect world, I would like to turn on my Pocket PC, have it automatically dial a GPRS connection through my Bluetooth phone and have that connection persist until I turned off the Pocket PC. I would also like to be able to power-off my device instantly regardless of whether or not I have a connection open and not have any ill effects (since one of the huge advantages of a PPC is "instant on/off"). This is connectivity nirvana for me.
In the real world, there seem to be a few issues:
1.) Powering off the Pocket PC with a GPRS connection established via Bluetooth produces an error message the next time the device is powered on (minor but very irritating). But much worse, trying to reestablish the GPRS connection after dismissing the error won't work - a soft-reset of the Pocket PC is necessary before being able to use GPRS again. Perhaps this behavior is specific to the iPAQ 2200 but regardless it can be frustrating.
(Why don't I just disconnect prior to powering off? Because it requires 6-8 seconds and a stylus tap - inconvenient for quick browsing or e-mail sync while waiting in line for something, for example. Easy one-handed use is key!)
2.) There is no convenient way to establish a GPRS connection - that I'm aware of - that does not involve pulling the stylus out and tapping several small icons/buttons. An existing option that's map-able to a hardware button would be optimal, but I'd settle for being able to create a shortcut. Using a Smartphone has really spoiled me when it comes to easy one-hand access to functionality!
3.) I'm quite certain there's no way to auto-connect to GPRS on power-on using the default OS and apps. I've found one third-party application on Handango that claims to automatically redial a GPRS connection when you power on the device, but it's not optimal.
4.) Using ActiveSync I can manually initiate an EAS sync with no connection open, which will automatically dial a GPRS connection (good). However, when it's done syncing, it also automatically disconnects the GPRS connection (good for folks who pay by the MB; not so good for those of us blessed with unlimited GPRS). I tried to find a setting or registry key to change this behavior but was unsuccessful. I can use IE to similarly automatically dial a GPRS connection, but if I initiate an EAS sync while connected that way, the EAS will disconnect the connection when it's done. I'd love to know about a workaround for this.
5.) Following the Smartphone model, I've even tried using an application to turn off the Pocket PC's screen instead of powering off the device itself, since this would mean the connection would persist at the cost of battery life (the device in theory doesn't power off by itself while a connection is present). However, quite often when I've done this for more than about 45 minutes, I find that the device has powered itself off somehow. I don't think it's possible that the power button is being pressed accidentally (if it's in my pocket, for example) because I've never pulled the Pocket PC out of my pocket and discovered the screen on or that other applications were open due to pressure on the touchscreen. I guess I could just change the settings so that the device *never* turns off, but that seems risky in scenarios like the old "wake up at midnight with Media Player running, battery dead the next morning".
6.) After giving up on some of the "always connected" scenarios above, I tried setting my Pocket PC to Exchange ActiveSync using my phone's connection every 5 minutes during "peak hours", with the device dialing and disconnecting. Since the above has demonstrated that it is apparently impractical to maintain a constant GPRS connection all day, this means that my Pocket PC will dial into my phone via Bluetooth every five minutes in order to sync, and then disconnect when finished. Good enough. However, there is a problem when I am actually using the phone for voice calls. If I am talking with someone and the Pocket PC tries to initiate a connection to sync, it *hangs up* on my voice call and establishes a GPRS connection instead. Needless to say, this is not desired behavior. I verified that the "wait for dial tone" box is checked in my settings for the connection I'm using to dial; however, I suspect this is irrelevant to GPRS connections both from my limited understanding of the technology and also the fact that having the box checked doesn't fix the problem. My latest idea is to answer my phone when a call comes in and then quickly disable Bluetooth on the Pocket PC, which is not exactly optimal. : )
My hat's off to Microsoft for doing a great job with Pocket PC Phone Edition and Smartphone - but it would be great to see some of that same amazing experience for those of us who like to carry two devices.
