The change from a full Windows Mobile device to a Smartphone is taking a bit of time.  Immediately you will notice that there are no advanced ways to view your inbox.  There is no native way to sort your inbox, and no search function.  The inbox display is very different, but I have found it an improvement in readability.

Once you get used to the button layout and shortcuts available, navigating through your inbox and messages is really quite simple.  In fact, I am becoming grateful to be free of using a stylus when working with email.  Once I became accustomed to entering text with the keyboard using my thumbs, my speed has actually improved over using a stylus to enter text.

Synchronization works exceptionally well with this device (when coupled with a data plan from T-Mobile).  Microsoft has really raised the bar on wireless PIM synchronization with Exchange Server 2003 and Windows Mobile.  Email, Contacts, Calendar and Task data sync is simple to set up and work almost flawlessly.

With the new features that Microsoft has added to Exchange 2003 with the current Service Pack, security is not as much of an issue.  In the past one of the major arguments against deploying mobile devices for business use was potential data compromise if the device was lost or stolen.  This was an especially large concern.

Now systems administrators have the ability centrally enforce password and device lock settings, in addition to completely wiping all data from the device in the event it is lost or stolen.  Since synchronization is almost constant, the chances of losing any data are almost nil, even if an administrator has to nuke a lost or stolen device to protect the data contained on it.

Even with the limitations of the inbox when compared to full Windows Mobile devices, this is proving to be one of the best mobile email devices I have ever used.

Since we are on the subject of mobile devices, this is very relevant.

Dr. Nancy Napier did a piece last week on her radio show Idaho Business Matters (heard on Boise State Radio’s NPR broadcast) titled “Wireless Slavery”.  In this report she details the growing concern in the business community concerning how wireless technology can affect workplace health.

She recommends a written policy on the use of wireless devices providing limits on contacting employees outside of normal hours of duty, possibly including scheduling “on-call duty” during specific days and hours.

Employees can feel obligates to answer work related calls and emails during their personal time, and it can be very detrimental to the employee’s overall sense of stress and wellbeing. 

Things are changing rapidly in the business world because of new technology.  It is very easy to find how useful these devices can be and deploy them in our business models without putting much thought into the ramifications, especially when it comes to issues concerning the wetware (human) equation.  And yes, I am one of the worst offenders when it comes to this.

It’s an interesting thing to consider.  Listen to Dr. Napier’s short piece on this subject here:
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/idaho/local-idaho-538623.mp3

 

Nancy Napier, PhD. if Professor of the Global Business Consortium at BSU.  She is widely published, and I have found her ideas and knowledge of the workplace very helpful.  For more information on Dr. Napier or listen to archives of her radio show, go here:
http://radio.boisestate.edu/IdBusMattAudio.html

As you may know, Tim and I are very interesting in mobile computing and communication.  We try to evaluate new devices that we think may be useful to our customers as they hit the market.  An inevitable benifit to this is that we end up with the ability to stay connected and compute no matter where we are (and trust me, we could en up just about anywhere).

 

The latest addition to our mobile device stable is the T-Mobile Dash.  Don't ask me how they came up with that name, somebody in the marketing division at T-Mobile who makes way more money that I do came up with that...

 

The device is manufactured byt HTC.  Outside of the T-Mobile branding it is called the Excaliber, which I personnaly feel has a better ring to it than "Dash".  No pun intended.  This is the same manufacturer that produces the MDA and SDA, two other advanced cell phone devices available from T-Mobile.

 

We have completely evaluated the MDA, and have found it to be an excellent device, so I do have high hopes for the Dash.  One major difference between the two (outside of the appearance.  WOW!) is that the Dash is a Windows Mobile Smartphone device, where the MDA is a full Windows Mobile device.  The most notable difference between the two versions of the Windows Mobile operating system is that the Smatphone Edition is designed to be used with hardware buttons only, and the full version uses a stylus and touch-screen technology in addition to hardware buttons.  The Smartphone Edition lacks the mobile versions of the Word and Excell programs, but we have found that few users actually make use of those applications, choosing to use their mobile devices almost exclusively for communications purposes.  Tim and I don't miss this capability so far, as we fall primarily into the communications user catagory, and also carry Ultra Mobile PC devices, which augment the capabilities of the Dash quite well.

 

As for the physical design of the Dash, I'm very impressed.  It is slim and sexy, and suprisingly easy to use.  I was concerned about having to fumble with such a small keyboard, but even with my long uncoordinated fingers input is much easier than I thought it might be.  The screen is bright and clear making small text easy to read, and getting familiar with the hardware button layout was quick and simple.

 

In future posts I will detail my experiences with using the Dash in my day to day work, and give some more information on how it might fit into your workflow.  If you don't use a mobile device now, you are really missing out on a great way to stay organized and in touch.  Rest assured I will talk to you more about that at some point.