I thought I would share some of my quick tips for anyone else who has one or is thinking of getting a Windows Mobile phone. Let me know if anyone has anything interesting to add, I have a Samsung i760 WM 6 phone. I may post a detailed review of the phone at some point.
Originally this was an email I sent to a colleague of mine who was getting my phone, some of the wording may seem direct or specific to our job. These were tips that work for me, thought I would share.
1. There is no need to install anything on your computer from the cd’s that come with the phone to get your email/calendar/contacts to sync. Unless the CD has a later version of active sync then what is on your computer. I would look on the web though to get the latest and greatest version of Microsoft Activesync. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/activesync/default.mspx
2. The Verizon sync software would be for your personal email accounts, I used this in WM5 and it was ok, I wasn’t crazy about it and don’t use it now.
3. You will be syncing email, calendar and contacts over the air (no need to sync these with your computer) you should only sync files, programs and pictures with your computer. (I hardly ever sync with my computer, only to do a picture dump or install something.)
4. Cab files can be installed directly from the phone, EXE usually requires installing on the PC then syncing with the phone.
5. Google Maps is a great program to have installed. You can find it here - http://www.google.com/gmm/index.html you can even map to contacts directly from your address book.
6. Palringo is a great program; it allows you to sign into all your instant messaging accounts (MSN, AIM, Yahoo, Google) from one account on your phone. Great if you need to chat and you are stuck somewhere. You’ll need to register on the site for an account, it’s free for now. http://www.palringo.com/
7. Communicator Mobile is also an option depending on whether your company supports it.
8. You’ll need to install the Windows update to run the Office 2007 files, the phone you are looking at doesn’t come with this update. It is quick and easy.
9. Adding pictures to your contacts on your phone or in Outlook will also display them when people call you, it is a really nice thing to add. It also displays the pictures in the top of your emails in Outlook.
10. Amazon.com usually has some good deals on MicroSD cards, I think you can usually find a 2GB card (the max your phone says it will take) for about 20 bucks.
11. Read the manual where it pertains to ActiveSync – there are a lot of options to get your email delivered in the best way that will work for you.
12. Using Internet Explorer on your phone can work out really well for most sites. I would recommend changing the homepage to either the Comcast mobile homepage (if you are a Comcast customer) or the Google mobile homepage. Both will give you weather, email, news all set up for the phone’s format.
13. Be careful turning on and off folder syncing. For instance if you sync your sent items and then decide to turn that folder off, it may move those emails to your deleted items folder. If you turn folders off, just double check them on your PC afterwards.
14. The only real “bug” I have encountered is the phone not resuming synchronization after it doesn’t have signal for an extended period of time. (Plane, dead spot in the house) simply rebooting the phone fixes this issue. This may be on purpose so that the phone doesn’t constantly try and sync when you are out of range and it kills the battery, I haven’t looked into this enough to know though. Just know if you are have a dead spot in the house or if you are on a plane, check the Activesync on the phone after you move to make sure it is up to date.
Possibly more items to follow. Let me know what I should add!
