With all the hype surrounding iPhone and after reading Apple’s get ready for iPhone page, I thought I will write how disappointed I am with my Windows Mobile phone (i-mate JASJAM running WM5) and Microsoft.
I am using Vista and the program to sync my Vista laptop with my mobile is Windows Mobile Device Center. According to Microsoft,
Windows Mobile Device Center helps you to quickly set up new partnerships, synchronize business-critical information such as e-mail, contacts and calendar appointments, easily manage your synchronization settings, and transfer business documents between your device and PC. #
Lets see how it syncs.
- Contacts: Without Outlook installed on your PC you cant sync your Windows Contacts.
- Calendar: Without Outlook installed on your PC you cant sync your Windows Calendar.
- E-mail: Without Outlook installed on your PC you cant sync your E-mail from Windows Mail.
Ok wait, if I install Outlook, I can sync these simple things from my PC to my mobile. But Outlook is not a free program and I don’t care how much it costs. The most expensive Vista already comes with
- Windows Contacts.
- Windows Calendar.
- Windows Mail (Replaced with Windows Live Mail).
Why these features exists in Windows Vista, if I cant sync those to my Windows Mobile. Ofcourse I can do these things directly on any phone not just Windows mobile phone. But check how some of these simple things can be done on iPhone using iTunes both on Mac and PC. And did I say iTunes is FREE. Lets see
iPhone syncs with the address book you already use on your computer ? Address Book or Entourage on a Mac, or Outlook or Outlook Express on a PC.#
iTunes already syncs iPod Contacts with Windows Contacts and I guess it will be same for iPhone.
iPhone uses iTunes to sync with the calendar application you already use on your computer ? iCal or Entourage on the Mac, or Outlook on a PC ? just like it does with your contacts.#
iTunes won’t sync iPod calendar with Windows Calendar currently but I wont be surprised if they allow iPhone to sync with Windows Calendar.
iTunes will make email setup on iPhone a breeze by automatically syncing the settings from email accounts stored in Mail on a Mac or Outlook on a PC.#
I am not sure if iTunes supports automatically syncing the settings from email accounts stored in Windows Mail. But I hope Apple will support those Vista features and beat Microsoft to it when iPhone and new iTunes are released on June 29th.
These are just some of the basic things any smartphone users want to sync with their computer and clearly Microsoft fails with their Windows Mobile. Here is a response from someone in Microsoft to a user who asked how to Sync Vista Windows Contacts to PPC in Windows Mobile newsgroups.
Currently, WMDC does not support sycning of Windows Mail and Windows Contacts. It is something that the feature team is considering for future releases. Currently, WMDC only supports syncing of data with Outlook.
Shame on you Microsoft and Windows Mobile team.
5 Comments so far.
What are you talking about? It sounds like the iphone requires outlook to sync just like a windows mobile device. You do know that itunes only syncs with outlook, it’s the only way to do it on a PC.
Hey Ryan, iTunes don’t need outlook for contacts.
You are so right, its just an amazing no-brainer that you would want to sync a Windows Mobile Phone with a Windows PC. Microsoft have already got your money twice. Sure mine came with an old copy of Outlook 2001(XP), but that is a rather round about way of managing something that is already there. Like the way Vista has a detail view for previewing images and a preview panel for previewing images and other documents. It’s like the left hand doesn’t speak to the right. I really like my Orange C600, but Microsoft are just nuts sometimes.
Well, I have the iphone, which I like when it works, which is sometimes. I have one day left to return it, and can’t decide yet.
For most users, it does not sync with Outlook despite the instructions (just look through the Apple forums on this subject). So, no calendar sync, unlike the phones I have been using for 10 years. And everyday, something else doesnt work. My wife likes hers, but she doesn’t use it often as I must.
It is Ok if your needs are very limited, and you have a lot of time to fiddle with it. But it is not ready for the market.
I think you can blame this on your handheld device. My first PPC was a Toshiba e740, it came with a outlook CD and a product key. So did my next one, a HP iPaq 2210.
My latest one, HTC TyTN didn’t include outlook. I think this device is the same as yours, just yours is rebranded. Probably if you buy a more expensive HP you get outlook for ‘free’.