Remember the days when a Windows Mobile phone was called a Pocket PC ? To me, this defines the difference between a Windows Mobile phones and the others. A Windows Mobile phone is a true Pocket PC whereas the others are just slightly smarter than the average phone. I do use an iPhone but this is very much just for playing music, watching videos and I love the Urbanspoon app for choosing a restuarant. However I am amazed at the iPhone's limitations each and every day, and I am relieved to go back to my Pocket PC.

It used to be in the Windows Mobile world that a smartphone was a non-touch screen Pocket PC, but the new ones are just as powerful as the touchscreen models. They can now edit Office documents, have the same file system, and can just about do everything that the touchscreen devices can.

Give me a Pocket PC anyday over the other dumber phones!

Ahhhh yes! those were the good ole' days of the Pocket PC Phone...

Same here. My buddy who has both a Touch Pro and an iPhone tried to show me his iPhone could do multi-tasking by calling my phone and then opening up text messaging then closing it to surf the web. I laughed. I dont think he gets the point of multi-tasking. I took his Pro, showed him that even if i was on the phone, I can open his text messaging and leave it open while I open his web browser and quickly go back to his messaging with out closing anything. All he could say is "ohh".

 I thought this was going to be about the differences between Windows Mobile Professional and Windows Mobile Standard.

Dave Parker MVP:

 I thought this was going to be about the differences between Windows Mobile Professional and Windows Mobile Standard.

In the 'old' days this would have been true, but now any phone that can browse the internet or use email is called a smartphone.

Laura, i-Phone, that's blasphemy :)  You need to get the Bing app to find your resturants.  Shame on you LOL

Todd Davidson:

Laura, i-Phone, that's blasphemy :)  You need to get the Bing app to find your resturants.  Shame on you LOL

I know, but at least I'm talking from experience. There's nothing like Urbanspoon - I love being able to set the City set my price or type of food , and then shake.

Laura Rooke:

Todd Davidson:

Laura, i-Phone, that's blasphemy :)  You need to get the Bing app to find your resturants.  Shame on you LOL

I know, but at least I'm talking from experience. There's nothing like Urbanspoon - I love being able to set the City set my price or type of food , and then shake.

Laura,

 Tell the developers of urban spoon to check out this link. http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windowsphone/archive/2009/07/31/ready-to-port-your-iphone-app-to-windows-mobile.aspx

 This is the Team blog about the application that software developers can use to port their existing apps for the (wh)iPhone to a Superior OS and for the Windows Mobile Market Place.

hazMatt:

Laura Rooke:

Todd Davidson:

Laura, i-Phone, that's blasphemy :)  You need to get the Bing app to find your resturants.  Shame on you LOL

I know, but at least I'm talking from experience. There's nothing like Urbanspoon - I love being able to set the City set my price or type of food , and then shake.

 

Laura,

 Tell the developers of urban spoon to check out this link. http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windowsphone/archive/2009/07/31/ready-to-port-your-iphone-app-to-windows-mobile.aspx

 This is the Team blog about the application that software developers can use to port their existing apps for the (wh)iPhone to a Superior OS and for the Windows Mobile Market Place.

Hopefully Urbanspoon for WM is under development??? But I think I might email the developers - it will be interesting to see what they have to say....

One word! INTER-OPERABLE!! then lets talk! I'm getting tired....of the my "hype phone" does this...and WM does this and this and this better! (which is true! ). Lets look at the word "smartphone" A TRUE smartphone could and should...take ANY APP and be able to run it. I'm sure I will stir up a hornets nest but I'm talking a true smartphone.

Don't get me wrong...I'm a WM user thick and then.....and will put any WM device up against anything....but there must come a time when the OS does not matter when it comes to running an app. This is my first public rant on this matter...and I can't say to much more than I have! I'm a MS user...WM User and probably always will be but as a consumer and business owner...interoperable apps will become the future. I'm done...

please WM 7 get here......

Laura Rooke:

Hopefully Urbanspoon for WM is under development??? But I think I might email the developers - it will be interesting to see what they have to say....

My wife is absolutely hooked on Urbanspoon on her iPhone as well. Someday one of you will have to explain the attraction to me!

Don't get me wrong- I love a slick, goofy app as much as the next guy, but I find Urbanspoon's mobile site much more convenient than the iPhone app. Like the app, you select the city and the type of food, but then you get the entire list of restaurants (by neighborhood if you prefer) you can look at, rather than than the game of (shake), "yuck", (shake), "not THERE!" (shake), "really? Someone considered Sizzler a steakhouse?" that inevitably ensues when she whips the iPhone out. We'd probably have as much luck with my childhood Magic 8 Ball toy: ("Should we eat Ethiopian tonight?..." "Ask again later!" "Indian?..." "My sources say no!")

To me, Urbanspoon is another in that vast category of mobile apps that simply dresses up the info we used to get from a WAP page in a slick UI. (Not that there's anything inherently wrong with that, if it makes life easier- I just think in this case it makes life harder by "Urbanspoon-feeding" you the results randomly. Picture a similar app for Google or Bing searches that randomly spit out one search result per shake, and you'll understand why I'm not impressed with the app except for its mild amusement factor.

As I always tell my wife and my iPhone-toting friends when they show off an Urbanspoon-type app, "There's Already an App For That! Your browser!"

Laura Rooke:

. I do use an iPhone but this is very much just for playing music, watching videos and I love the Urbanspoon app for choosing a restuarant. However I am amazed at the iPhone's limitations each and every day, and I am relieved to go back to my Pocket PC.

Curious question (which you are obviously under no obligation to answer!)- does AT&T give you any trouble when you swap SIMs to the iPhone, since it's supposed to have the special iPhone data plan or is the iPhone your account's "official" phone and the other devices just use the iPhone data plan? (In which case does the Visual Voicemail on the account cause problems if you miss a call when another phone is using the SIM?)

In my case, my wife's iPhone is a used 1st gen unit I bought on eBay and unlocked to run on T-Mobile, so special data plans and Visual Voicemail haven't been an issue. I was just wondering what we'll be up against if we move to AT&T, which might happen if T-Mo carries out their rumored threat to charge a higher data plan rate on non T-Mobile phones. If I end up being forced to pay $25/month for 2G data (instead of $6!) on her iPhone, I might as well jump to AT&T, pay $30, get her a 3GS and enjoy 3G speeds.

Thanks!

I have 5 phone numbers on my plan, 4 belong to me and a fifth phone for my son.

One phone number is for my iPhone, one for the Advantage, one is my Razr and the fourth is my floater, currently in my Moto Q. I have data plans on all but the Razr. So I don't swap the iPhone sim card.

I end up paying about $250 a month for these 5 cell phones ,which isn't bad , especially considering how much my son uses his.

I do end up confusing people as they often text me on my main number which is now back on my Razr, but that is awful to text from, so I text back from my Advantage or my Q. I had tried to retire my Razr but I went back to it as it is still the easiest to use for plain old phone calls and still has the best clarity.

I got a reply from Urbanspoon....

 We're definitely considering other mobile platforms. Our hands are pretty full at the moment with the web site and the iPhone, but we would love to make the app available to more people.

In the meantime, you can use a mobile-optimized version of Urbanspoon through your browser on Windows Mobile. Just go to: http://urbanspoon.com/m

Laura Rooke:

I have 5 phone numbers on my plan, 4 belong to me and a fifth phone for my son.

One phone number is for my iPhone, one for the Advantage, one is my Razr and the fourth is my floater, currently in my Moto Q. I have data plans on all but the Razr. So I don't swap the iPhone sim card.

I end up paying about $250 a month for these 5 cell phones ,which isn't bad , especially considering how much my son uses his.

I do end up confusing people as they often text me on my main number which is now back on my Razr, but that is awful to text from, so I text back from my Advantage or my Q. I had tried to retire my Razr but I went back to it as it is still the easiest to use for plain old phone calls and still has the best clarity.

 

First, wow, and second, thanks for the info. I'm waaay too much of a cheapskate for that! Were it me, with your line-up of devices, I'd probably use your Dash as the main voice/text phone (great QWERTY for texting, and decent, but certainly not stellar, voice quality), setup your PPC phone (on a data-only plan) with WiFiRouter software to work as a "MiFi" and connect the Advantage and the iPhone (or an iPod Touch) to work off of the ersatz "Hotspot" created with the PPC phone.  This would necessitate lugging the PPC phone around everywhere just to use the Advantage or iPhone.

Having said that, I'm completely jealous! I'm just too cheap to abandon my grandfathered T-Mo two phone family plan with 1000 shared minutes and unlimited 2G data for $70 plan, so I'm secretly hoping T-Mo forces me off it so I have no choice but to upgrade! [/P]