Hiya Confucious,
You mentioned Seven before, but it looked to me like it only does emails? Can it do calendars too?
For me calendar and contacts are more important than email.

Interesting discussion.

I've been a WM user for a long long time now, but recently moved to Symbian because I was so frustrated - not with the OS, but with the handsets.

I was unable to find a small device which had both good performance and good battery life. I'd spent over £1000 in 12 months looking for the "right" handset, I'd tried Standard and Pro (prefer Pro), tried different manufacturers etc. I opted for the E71 in the end because it was about the right size and weight, it's very fast and the battery lasts for more than 18 hours (3-4 days comfortably for me).

Since going to Symbian though I've been looking at sync'ing PIM data.

1. I can sync with multiple Exchange accounts, but my Work requires a PIN lock after 15 minutes! Don't want that.
2. PC Suite just plain ol' doesn't work!
3. RoadSync (3rd party EAS client) is nice, but not $50USD nice IMO

I'm now sync'ing via Google Calendar (to keep my personal calendar out of my Work one). Automatic one-way from Outlook, manual two-way from my device.

It seems to me that a generic, device agnostic, PIM aggregator service would be a sure fire winner. Point everything to a central PIM store, and decide whether you want one-way or two-way sync for each "client". It needs to support multiple PIM clients (Outlook, Exchange, Entourage etc) and multiple device types (WM, S60, iPhone, Java, XP, Vista etc)

I've finally found a way to sync my device (Push Email, Contacts, Calendar, Tasks) with more than one Exchange server, and it seems to be working reliably!

You'll need two Exchange sync clients, your login credentials for both Exchange servers, and a data connection (WiFi works, but really you're better of with GPRS/3G)

Set each of the Sync clients to point to an Exchange server (I use one for my Personal hosted Exchange, and one for Work). You can set each client to only sync some parts, I only sync Calendar and Contacts from Work for example, but if you include emails it will keep the email accounts apart and you can reply from either address without having to change any settings or do any tweaks.

Because I used to use Google calendar as an intermediate I've got to clear some duplicates that I've created myself, but if you've always kept the calendars separate you should be fine. The same will be true for Contacts and Tasks, but email is kept separate automatically.

Cool, eh?

What you'll need:

1. Free (often built-in) Exchange sync
2. Commercial 3rd-party Exchange sync $50USD gulp
3. A "smartphone" handset

Enjoy!

Hey guys
I thought I'd pop back and give you an update "one week on"

Likes

• Speed. It's just sooo responsive it still amazes me after a week
• Built-in Web browser. I don't do that much surfing, but it's quick and easy to use
• Size and weight. Taller than a Touch, but thinner. Fits in a suit trouser pocket very nicely
• Battery life is stunning. I reckon I could get 3 days out of one charge without any hassle, 5 days if I was careful
• Phone quality is great, easy to use and clear as a bell
• Short- and Long-press on hardware keys have 2 functions out of the box (I had a Touch, no hardware keys!)
• Keyboard is actually very good, despite what some people said it might be like I find it easy

Dislikes

• Built-in calendar has no "Free", "Tentative", "Busy", "Out of Office" status things. Eh? That never seemed advanced to me, but there you go. I've worked around it quite easily, but for some it might be a big issue
• Built-in Exchange support only syncs Inbox. No sent items, no subfolders. You can buy an app that does all that, but I've worked around it quite easily.
• Speakerphone is just too quiet to be of any use whilst in a moving car
• Stupid Nokia charger. What's wrong with miniUSB?

App Issues

• Code Wallet. I've used this for years, and generally liked it a lot. Only one Symbian app (XSafe) has (al)most all the same features, but no PC Companion. I've gone with Handy Safe, which amazingly only lets you have ONE "wallet".
• CoPilot. Doesn't work properly on the E71 (they never said it did). Nokia Maps is kinda poor, Garmin quite ugly, I'm running out of options. Google Maps works great, but it's not the same thing.
• Dope Wars. There's no Dope Wars for Symbian AFAICT! :cry:

I'm always looking for useful new apps, and my impression now is that there is more for WM than for Symbian. That might be because S60 comes with so much stuff installed straight out of the box. But I also think there's more activity in WM development at the moment.

All in all I'm still very happy, but I think for some people the odd omissions (like "Free" appts) would be a deal breaker.

I've sent a dozen or more SMS, emails etc and typed some URLs, and so far have only made 3 typos.
I have quite fat fingers, so I expected to have problems, but in fact I really like it so far.


I've heard that said, but I'm not sure I agree
I think it is a bit bloaty, but it gives you the option to sync other (non-default) Outlook Calendars which is something AS has never done.
I don't use PC Suite though - I sync OTA with an Exchange server


1. Well, AFAIK, S60 is stable out of the box. I've not installed 3rd party apps yet, but I'm not expecting problems there.
2. Camera is something I never use, it's 3.2mpx but what they look like I don't know
3. "Proper" Exchange integration isn't there out of the box. You can sync Inbox, Calendar, Tasks, Contacts (not Notes AFAICT). Inbox is the only email folder that gets sync'd (not sub-folders). There is an app ("RoadSync"?) which does sub-folders as well, but it's not an issue for me
4. UI is very snappy indeed. Compared to my Blackjack and Touch it is much faster, and it's still noticeably faster than my Kaiser. Just switching it on takes 15s, compared to 60-90s for the Touch. Press a button and it responds virtually instantly.

Yeah, I looked at the Blackberry 83x0. I'm not a fan of them though - the interface looks like something from the 80s.

In terms of battery life and reliability it would have been fine, but I (possibly incorrectly) thought it wouldn't be as expandable in terms of applications.

Not sure which "Sony Ericsson" you mean. I used to have UIQ devices (P800 and P900) and wouldn't want to go back there now. The P1 (I think I've got that right) had poor reviews.


E71 fits my main requirements well - battery life, phone use and quality, Exchange sync, stable, expandable, nice-ish interface, small enough (slightly taller than my Touch) and light enough for suit trouser pockets.

But Master Yoda says I should be mindful of the future

I'm sure I'll be back sometime, but I need to give S60 a proper amount of time to get used to it.

I've been using WM for many years now, and spent about £1000 in the last 12 months on handsets in the search for my "perfect" device. I don't expect to find it really, but something pretty close.

I hated the E200 and M500, liked the Prophet, the Wizard and the C500 (had 2 of each), loved my Blackjack, hated the Vox, really liked the Touch and so-so on the Kaiser. But at the end of the day they all had serious issues for me - generally battery life on the Smartphones and Phone use on the touch-screens.

I was toying with buying a Touch Pro (Diamond + keyboard) but rejected the idea after seeing lots of initial problems with the Diamond, and the thickness of the Pro.


So, today I made the leap and bought a Nokia E71 (your words can not hurt me in my flame-proof suit!)
I'll keep the Touch, so I may be back again before too long - I do get bored easily too! - but for now I must bid you all farewell

Nor mine, because I use the worlds slowest HTC Touch - I'll have died before they get into Contacts

Aha, this might be a solution to the "duplicate contact number" issue:



Source

I read a short article in Landmobile which talks about a new "globally-recognized" standard for emergency workers searching for next-of-kin contact information.



Now, I have to say I was never a fan of "ICE" in the first place - I can't see your average ambulance driver bothering when they have a patient to deal with, quite apart from the fact that they might not want to be seen to be "riffling through the victims pockets".

This new system doesn't seem to improve things either.

Adding a zero-based prefix to an existing contact is fine, but you'd need to rename "Joanne Bloggs" to "01 wife" which would be counter-intuitive when you're trying to dial them, which would happen much more often than a paramedic searching (hopefully!).

So, instead you could create a new contact called "01 wife", for example, with all the same information as "Joanne Bloggs". But now, when they send you a text or call you it appears to be from "01 wife" which isn't too confusing (again, hopefully!), but it's not the behaviour I want from my phone. On top of that, I now have 2 contacts to manage whenever the missus changes her phone numbers.

If they'd chosen a prefix which would put the new contact at the END of the ponebook list, instead of at the begining, it would solve the incoming call/message issue of a duplicate contact. That still leaves us to manage the duplicate info though.


I can see a lot of people doing this, but I can also see a lot of people who are heavy mobile users NOT doing it because, lets face it, it's a bodge. I don't think it matters that some will and some won't, but if universality is not important why bother with a new standard?

I still think, if it's serious enough to involve somebody examining your mobile in search of next of kin info, there are plenty of other places they can get information from that "they" would turn to first.

Any ambulance drivers, police men, firemen (or women) care to comment? Or perhaps anyone who's needed emergency aid in a foreign country (how long did they spend playing with your mobile?)

I've been looking at this, but don't know of any reports on it

Cripes! Doesn't like it simple then I guess.

If he has good AV on the email server (Exchange?) then the risk is probably very small, no?
You could email an infected file to somebody, but it would get trapped.
You could move (using ActiveSync) an infected file, but again it would get trapped.

When I was a BOFH we worked on the "I'm alright, Jack" principle. If our protection was good enough our data was safe, and we weren't spreading stuff that would cause others a problem.

The greatest risk is to the device itself, and I don't know of any genuine infections of WM devices. Ever. What was this Chinese thing?

I have never seen a good "Manager Speak" article on the issue, which I put down to not being able to disprove a negative.

At the risk of sounding like Jackass from msmoblies.com I saw this and had a little smug moment all to myself, so I thought I'd share...







Source

So everyone, chip in $1 to the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal to buy iPhone users everywhere an X button.

Does that solve the lack of screen orientation options on the Diamond?

Can I just ask...
Where do you guys find the time to do this stuff?

Keeping up with my emails, RSS, and kids (in no particular order) takes all my time and energy!

I've been having the same thoughts (not for the iPhone I should say, just dissatisfied with WM lately and the annoyances you "learn to tolerate").
Niggly stuff generally, and unable to find the "perfect" hardware - for example, between 07:30 and 10:00 today my Kaiser ate 66% of it's battery. Why?

I'm probably going to get a Symbian device next (Nokia E71 looks likely), but I doubt I'll leave WM entirely.

Er, I bought a 3G handset with the specific intention of using it as a modem from time to time.

I also don't believe that there's no other limit on their "unlimited" deal. Orange just aren't