This article written by Paul Mah from Tech at Play is worth reading :

It looks like the perennial discussion on the difference between Windows Mobile and BlackBerry push email is still on-going, at least at the local HardwareZone Forums.  I have posted a response where I attempt to explain the issue in a way that is more accessible to the lay-person.  An excerpt of the key points is below; hope it proves useful to you:

A quick backgrounder. In the past, I have actively used push mail on the Windows Mobile platform on at least two different Windows Mobile devices over a couple of years. I am now on my 4th BlackBerry - the first two were company-owned while the latest two were purchased by me.

Let me try to clarify on the differences between the two.

BlackBerry

By using an Network Operating Center (NOC), the BlackBerry method represents the most battery and data efficient method for push email. In a lay person’s term, the email is forwarded to your BlackBerry by the RIM-operated NOC only when there is email. And even then, only the first chunk of email is sent. In the absence of email, nothing at all happens, and your BlackBerry behaves much like a normal mobile phone.

As you can imagine, unless you receive a hundred emails an hour, enabling push email on the BlackBerry does not normally result in any noticeable reduction in battery life.

RIM is able to do that because of your BlackBerry registers itself with your Telco, which forwards the information on to the RIM NOC. The result is that the NOC now knows exactly where to forward your emails to. This is also the reason why a normal data plan is not adequate to give you BlackBerry email services.

Windows Moble

On the other hand, the push email employed by Windows Mobile uses the HTTP protocol, which is a clever piece of engineering to do away with an NOC, actually.

Imagine typing an URL into your Web browser and then hitting “Enter”. Instead of a response coming in right away, imagine your Smartphone doing that and then waiting instead for up to 8 minutes (default). If nothing happens, the Smartphone does it again just to make sure that the connection is still up.

If there is an email though, your Windows Mobile Smartphone will get a response. At this point, your WM Smartphone will perform an over-the-air activesync to retrieve it. Since your WM Smartphone talks directly to your server, no NOC is necessary, nor any involvement on the Telco level beyond the availability of a normal data connection.

Battery life is shortened however, due to the constant need to connect to the server even if there is no email.

 Cost probably Todd. An SMS costs a huge amount compared to a couple of byte heartbeat. Also, I think you could argue that data connections are "future proof" whereas the Telcos have been talking about getting rid of SMS for years.The other issue is that SMS is not a guaranteed connection. Look at News Years Eve. It can take hours to send an SMS. You can always get an email through though!

Laura Rooke:

And even then, only the first chunk of email is sent.

Windows Mobile will allow you to download the headers only. This isn't really news.

Laura Rooke:

Battery life is shortened however, due to the constant need to connect to the server even if there is no email.

Battery life on WM devices is usually shorter because of the juicy big bright Touchscreens and 3G connections. Something Blackberry's haven't had to worry about until very recently. The S620's we've used at work will go a week on a single battery. No Touchscreen, no 3G. 

There's something  missing in this guy's rundown of how blackberry works. At the moment he's got:

the email is forwarded to your BlackBerry by the RIM-operated NOC only when there is email.

...and while he's mentioned the data connection used by the WM heartbeat (which is negligable, and probably not much more than the packets that keep the data connection open) he's neglected to fill in the blanks about how Blackberry does it. It's like, there's a blackberry server, it gets and email - a miracle occurs - the email appears on the device. I know for a fact that the Blackberry relies on a permenant GPRS connection. The device tells you this. gprs for a data connection, GPRS when you have an authenticated connection to RIMs servers. I'm not certain how they do their heartbeat, but I doubt it's a million miles away from MS. Anyone know?

 OK, after a bit more digging I've found:

This server (Blackberry) is also constantly aware of the RIM Blackberry's presence, through an always reserved PDP context (Packet Data Protocol). This means that the connection between the server and the Blackberry device is always-present. When a new message arrives on the server, it can be immediately sent down to the device through this connection, giving the impression of an instant e-mail message on the mobile device.

So basically there's a GPRS data connection always open in the same way that there is with MS that handles the PDP for the push email. So there really isn't very much difference between the two systems at all. I'd be surprised if it was enough to make a difference to batery life anyway!

 OK, I've left him a message on site. Let's see if he responds.

Dave Parker MVP:

Battery life on WM devices is usually shorter because of the juicy big bright Touchscreens and 3G connections. Something Blackberry's haven't had to worry about until very recently. The S620's we've used at work will go a week on a single battery. No Touchscreen, no 3G. 

There's something  missing in this guy's rundown of how blackberry works. At the moment he's got:

the email is forwarded to your BlackBerry by the RIM-operated NOC only when there is email.

...and while he's mentioned the data connection used by the WM heartbeat (which is negligable, and probably not much more than the packets that keep the data connection open) he's neglected to fill in the blanks about how Blackberry does it. It's like, there's a blackberry server, it gets and email - a miracle occurs - the email appears on the device. I know for a fact that the Blackberry relies on a permenant GPRS connection. The device tells you this. gprs for a data connection, GPRS when you have an authenticated connection to RIMs servers. I'm not certain how they do their heartbeat, but I doubt it's a million miles away from MS. Anyone know?

Sorry- not my expertise, but I suspect unless RIM's system WAS a million miles away from MS' scheme, RIM would've attempted to sue MS for infringement (deservedly or not) just to protect their "push" monopoly.

A "heartbeat" might not even be necessary, since the mobile operator is a willing participant in this scheme (Blackberry push typically requires a special "Blackberry" data plan from mobile operators.)  My (admittedly wild) guess is that the operator is notified by RIM's servers to notify the device to initiate a sync.  Apple's upcoming "notification framework" sounds more like RIM's than MS's, where the server somehow reaches out to the phone and tells it to wake up and pay attention, presumably with the carrier's assistance.  

Could the RIM warning about a "permanent GPRS connection" just be a "CYA" for dummies- e.g. "you can only get email if the device is on and receiving a signal, so don't blame us when it doesn't update on the airplane or when you've turned it off..." 

(BTW, I was shocked by your "S620s run a week" statement!  My wife's T-Mo Dash (an S620, IIRC) got about 2 days max with Exchange Push and minimal use, whereas her Blackberry gets double that.)

Todd Allcock:

Could the RIM warning about a "permanent GPRS connection" just be a "CYA" for dummies- e.g. "you can only get email if the device is on and receiving a signal, so don't blame us when it doesn't update on the airplane or when you've turned it off..." 

I've supported Blackberry devices and you can have a telephone signal without email, but you don't get email until you have gprs. You then get a second GPRS which I assume is the notification that the PDP connection has been made. 

Todd Allcock:

 

(BTW, I was shocked by your "S620s run a week" statement!  My wife's T-Mo Dash (an S620, IIRC) got about 2 days max with Exchange Push and minimal use, whereas her Blackberry gets double that.)

Seriously? I get better than that with my Tytn II. I reckon 3 or 4 days at least with the s620. Is your signal any good?

Dave Parker MVP:

Todd Allcock:

 

(BTW, I was shocked by your "S620s run a week" statement!  My wife's T-Mo Dash (an S620, IIRC) got about 2 days max with Exchange Push and minimal use, whereas her Blackberry gets double that.)

 

Seriously? I get better than that with my Tytn II. I reckon 3 or 4 days at least with the s620. Is your signal any good?

Well the S620's retired now- my wife has moved on to the (grrrrrr...) iPhone.  It was always on it's last legs by the end of day 2 if push and bluetooth were running.

My Tilt (TyTn II) will be dead in 24 hours, but it gets quite a workout.  As my primary computing device, it's probably on and working a solid 2-3 hours a day, a lot of that with WiFi on.  Hotmail push, and bluetooth run 24/7, and it probably doesn't get a good signal- while I get excellent GSM coverage, I use it unlocked on T-Mobile USA, which has no Tilt-compatible 3G, so the phone probably hunts for a 3G signal constantly.

Todd Allcock:

My Tilt (TyTn II) will be dead in 24 hours, but it gets quite a workout.  As my primary computing device, it's probably on and working a solid 2-3 hours a day, a lot of that with WiFi on.  Hotmail push, and bluetooth run 24/7, and it probably doesn't get a good signal- while I get excellent GSM coverage, I use it unlocked on T-Mobile USA, which has no Tilt-compatible 3G, so the phone probably hunts for a 3G signal constantly.

 

Have you tried setting it to GSM only? It should make a massive difference battery wise. It'll be the WiFi that drains it as well though.

Dave Parker MVP:

Todd Allcock:

My Tilt (TyTn II) will be dead in 24 hours, but it gets quite a workout.  As my primary computing device, it's probably on and working a solid 2-3 hours a day, a lot of that with WiFi on.  Hotmail push, and bluetooth run 24/7, and it probably doesn't get a good signal- while I get excellent GSM coverage, I use it unlocked on T-Mobile USA, which has no Tilt-compatible 3G, so the phone probably hunts for a 3G signal constantly.

 

 

Have you tried setting it to GSM only? It should make a massive difference battery wise. It'll be the WiFi that drains it as well though.

Oddly, that menu is missing from the AT&T firmware, for whatever reason.  I have done it via a third-party utility, but it doesn't seem to make any difference WRT battery life, and without AT&T service, I can't see from the display indicators whether it works (since T-Mo has no compatible 3G, I never see a 3G indicator whether 3G is turned on or off!)

Either way, I have no real complaints about the Tilt.  Even though it's "last year's model" it's far beyond any WinMo device T-Mobile USA offers currently.  T-Mo just took their "Wing" (a two year-old 200MHz OMAP, 64MB RAM/64MB Storage 2G device) down from their website two weeks ago, although it's still sold in their corporate stores for $200 with a two-year contract!  Supposedly they'll be launching a version of the Touch Pro 2 by summer's end.

Hi Dave,

Apologies for the late reply.  I have just gotten back from a holiday when I saw your post; and then it slipped my mind in the midst of my work.

Maintaing a GPRS data connection does not theoretically consume any bandwidth, since no data is transmitted.  However, the need to regularly re-initialize the connection in order to ensure that the e-mail server is still reachable is what consumes data, and ultimately, battery life.  The BlackBerry, on the other hand, does not open any outbound connection beyond registering with the RIM NOC when registering with the mobile network (GSM/3G/CDMA).  The onus is then on the RIM NOC to send the relevant data packets (incoming email) to the registered BlackBerry Smartphone - if there be any.

It might be of interest to the readers of this forum that I have used 2 different models of PocketPC with push e-email (via Exchange 2003 SP2) for the period of at least a year.  Whenever battery is low, I will switch off push mail, and it will usually allow the battery life of the device last that much longer. Similarly, switching on push mail drains the battery of the device a little faster - not a lot mind you, but noticeable.  On the BlackBerry, switching off "data" has no noticeable efffect.

With the many ways to get emails immediately nowdays, the arguments over what constitute true push mail or not is ultimately moot to the average consumers - they just can't care less.  Still, I will be happy to answer any questions to the best of my knowledge.

Regards,
Paul Mah.

Via: www.techatplay.com

Welcome to The Connection, Paul, and thanks for this article and addressing our questions on it.

 Thanks for the welcome, Laura.  I can see that you own many, many more Windows Mobile devices than I ever did!! :)

Paul Mah:

Maintaing a GPRS data connection does not theoretically consume any bandwidth, since no data is transmitted.  However, the need to regularly re-initialize the connection in order to ensure that the e-mail server is still reachable is what consumes data, and ultimately, battery life.  The BlackBerry, on the other hand, does not open any outbound connection beyond registering with the RIM NOC when registering with the mobile network (GSM/3G/CDMA).  The onus is then on the RIM NOC to send the relevant data packets (incoming email) to the registered BlackBerry Smartphone - if there be any.

My only experience with Blackberries is my occasional "tech support" of my wife's work-issued one.  From what I understand, with WinMo, the occasional "heartbeats" from the device to the server are to tell the server the device is still "alive" and able to receive any needed sync triggers.  How does RIM avoid that?  Does the NOC just assume the device is always available?  Or is the wireless carrier in "cahoots" with RIM and tells the NOC whenever the device registers on (or drops off) the network?  (Or, I suppose, the NOC could just continally try to contact the device every x seconds/minutes until it reconnects, but that seems a pretty primitive way to handle it.)

Paul Mah:

It might be of interest to the readers of this forum that I have used 2 different models of PocketPC with push e-email (via Exchange 2003 SP2) for the period of at least a year.  Whenever battery is low, I will switch off push mail, and it will usually allow the battery life of the device last that much longer. Similarly, switching on push mail drains the battery of the device a little faster - not a lot mind you, but noticeable.  On the BlackBerry, switching off "data" has no noticeable efffect.

I'm continually amazed at the fantastic battery life of RIM devices.  Your explaination makes that more understandable, thanks!

While Exchange Push all remain on until the WinMo device's battery is completely dead, I did notice that MS added an automatic "shutoff" on Windows Live push email.  When my device's battery hits 20% (which happens far more often than I'd like!) , I get a message telling me my Live push will be disabled until the battery is recharged. 

Paul Mah:

With the many ways to get emails immediately nowdays, the arguments over what constitute true push mail or not is ultimately moot to the average consumers - they just can't care less.  Still, I will be happy to answer any questions to the best of my knowledge.

Agreed.  From a consumers' perspective, if it quacks like Push, it's Push.  However, the RIM battery-life advantage (probably shared by the iPhone now that Apple's long-overdue Notifications framework is finally in place) is certainly something tangible to the consumer.

Thanks again for the input and illumination, Paul!