From TNPC issue #4.22...

Pocket-Sized Software: Part 3

by Al Gordon
November 1, 2001

Handhelds and wireless communications seems to go together like the proverbial horse and carriage. But, to hopelessly scramble equine metaphors, there are different horses for different courses.

I have given glowing recommendations on the Palm OS platform to San Francisco-based OmniSky Corp (see TNPC #4.08).
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/422/tr.cgi?al1

But for Pocket PCs, I liked New Jersey-based GoAmerica, Inc.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/422/tr.cgi?al2

OmniSky styles itself as a content provider like AOL or Excite@home, and makes use of Palm "web clipping" (essentially simplified Web pages) applets. It is a nice solution for Palm devices, which don't support multitasking. But on Pocket PCs, which do multitask, OmniSky's integration itself into the handheld is too obtrusive for my taste.

GoAmerica goes in an entirely different direction. For them, the wireless service is the thing. It doesn't offer separate email accounts; you connect to your regular ISP's POP and SMTP servers. The bundled software, Go.Web/Go.Mail, is a streamlined package that operates separately from Pocket PC's browser and email.

If you want to simply treat the GoAmerica service as an ordinary Pocket PC modem and use only Internet Explorer and Inbox, you can do it. You never need to touch the GoAmerica software; the wireless modem will show up as a "Modem Connection" in Pocket PC's Control Panel and Internet-enabled applications. So if, for example, your business has a private Web page that requires full Pocket Internet Explorer support, you can work with that directly.

GoAmerica's software is specifically aimed at helping users get around the bandwidth limitations of wireless--CDPD supports no more than 14.4 kbps connection speeds. The browser, Go.Web, has a "preferences" menu that allows you to explicitly make tradeoffs in page quality vs. load speed--largely by controlling the graphics quality. Another important option allows you to have the Web page reoriented to the handheld's page width (PDA screens are portrait while Web pages are usually in landscape). Generally, you want to stick with the default which is to reorient, but some page layouts are incomprehensible that way. Internet Explorer doesn't offer either option.

The Go.Mail applet downloads an abbreviated header for your incoming mail: sender's name, date, time, size, and subject. If that doesn't give you enough of a clue, tap on an item and it automatically downloads the first few lines of a message--how many lines is an option that the user can set. Using the Pocket PC's tap-and-hold procedure to select a message in Go.Mail generates a menu of key options, to reply or forward, get the full text, or delete it.

While both applets work somewhat differently from the Pocket PC's native ones, the learning curve isn't very steep. You quickly find yourself appreciating the ease of use when trying to juggle a handheld while on the road.

And speaking of convenience, GoAmerica has made an important advance on that front with the introduction this year of its new Mobile Office service. I tested the Small Business Edition (there's also an Enterprise version.)

Mobile Office includes various unified fax/voice/email mailbox plans. But in my view, the heart of the package is its Document Manager service.

When you establish an account, you log into a Web site on your PC and upload documents to the site that you want to be able to distribute. Then, when you are in the field with only your PDA, you use Go.Web to access a simplified Document Manager Web page and, by clicking check boxes on the appropriate documents and then filing out a simple form, you can fax or email the documents to desired recipients. So you get out of a meeting where you promised to send Ms. Smith the Jones report, and use your handheld to send her the Jones report without having to wait until you get back to the office (or possibly forget). Also, you can really show off and use your PDA during the meeting, "Let me get you that report right now."

The service also includes the capability to read wireless email attachments that normally are not transmitted to handhelds, and there is a Web-based form letter mechanism to compose and deliver formatted business letters. Document Manager adds $9.95 to your monthly bill. It is a smart way to leverage your handheld, which otherwise would have neither the bandwidth nor the storage capability for sending out a batch of business documents.

OmniSky does not offer such a service itself, but it does partner with MyDocsOnline.com. MyDocsOnline's "Premium" service provides most of the same range of services as Document Manager. The two services have different pricing models, and users will need to compute which one works best for them.

Given the current limitations of wireless data networks, document management and forwarding is a very smart way to leverage the value of your handheld.

You can reach Al Gordon at:
mailto:al@TheNakedPC.com

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