Darryl Burling @ Work : Windows Mobile

Host your email using Live Mail and Live Domains

dburling — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 03:06:34 GMT

Mauricio set up geekzonemail.com last week. In two days he signed up 50 new email accounts - pretty impressive. He's also posted a FAQ about how he did it.

I was talking with him about it last week and he pointed out just how easy it is to set up your own domain name to point to Windows Live Hotmail. So I went and did it with my own domain (actually two of them) and thought I might share the methodology here given it was so easy.

Firstly you'll need to own a domain name. I use Discount Domains, for NZ domains - NZ domains cost NZ$33 per year. If you want a .com, you might want to try GoDaddy as their prices are quite reasonable (at US$8.99).

Once you have your domain, head to http://domains.live.com and sign in using a Live ID. Once you are signed in click the Add domain button. Enter the domain name and click Continue (by default the "Set up Windows Live Hotmail for my domain" radio box should be selected). Click the I Accept button to accept the license agreement (of course you should always read this first).

Now head over to your DNS provider and change the MX record to match the settings given to you by Live Domains. You may also want to add the TXT record. Once you've done the MX record flick back to domains.live.com and change the MX record. In my experience the Live Domains should pick up the change immediately. Once done, you can add accounts to the domain.

If the account already exists (i.e. you've used it for a LiveID without mail in the past) you'll get the option to import it. This seems to convert the account without actually bringing any settings over with it, so if you used the account with Live Messenger, your buddy list will be no more (not necessarily a good thing). The association with other Live accounts (such as Live Spaces) will be retained.

Once you add the account, you can go to http://mail.live.com and login with the account details. If you imported the account you'll need to use the password that was originally assigned to the account.

Other nice to have features include the ability to have mail.yourdomain.com point to mail.live.com. You can also have maps.yourdomain.com (using Live Maps), blog.yourdomain.com (using Live Spaces), etc.

If you want to, you can also open up the mail as Mauricio has done to allow anyone to have an email address at your domain.

You are also not restricted to using web mail. Live mail supports the Outlook Connector for Live mail (recently updated), the Live Mail Beta (if you can get it - which you can't in NZ) or Windows Mobile (including push mail in Windows Mobile 6).

With messenger integration you'll also get a pop up (configurable naturally) that tells you when you get new mail.

What's not to like? - Did I mention each user still gets 2Gb of storage? Old news, but some people don't know it...

Where tablets and laptops don't meet...

dburling — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 13:50:00 GMT

Craig recently lamented that when he was at Tech Ed in Orlando he saw lots of people with Tablets typing their notes rather than writing them on the tablet.

I thought I might add my explanation for why I personally find it tricky at times to take notes on a tablet.

Don't get me wrong, I love tablets, I own a UMPC (and recently ordered a new Q1 Ultra) and absolutely love it, but when it comes to data entry, you just can't beat a keyboard.

Now - if you are a slow typist you'll have variable mileage, but for me, its much faster to type than it is to write - much faster. Like - three times faster typing than writing. Now the trade off is that I have to open up my laptop and use it in a whole different way, but in a situation where I can I'm more likely to do that to get the speed than I am to use it as a slate and slow down for the sake of it.

Where would I use a tablet as a tablet? Where using a keyboard is simply not practical. Such circumstances might include coffee - where having a laptop open on a table could be a real invasion of space (particularly where more than one person is trying to use their laptop on the same table - remember those Craig?). Other times may include jotting notes while standing up, or my personal favorite - in an economy class airline seat - particularly those teeny tiny puddle jumpers...

Anyway, there is a time to use a keyboard and there is a time to use ink - the thing about a convertible tablet is that it gives you both options (depending on the size - Tosh M4 - I'm looking at you)

Did you see the OFONE announcement?

dburling — Fri, 25 May 2007 03:59:00 GMT

The Ofone was announced at MEDC, and we saw the video for it last week at MEDC in Australia.

Having not seen the announcement at MEDC, I wasn't sure whether it was real or not - at least for the first 10 seconds....

You decide :-)

10 Seats left for MEDC-Mini

dburling — Mon, 14 May 2007 06:29:00 GMT

I'm in Sydney for MEDC, and thought those of you who are not able to be here, might be able to get in for the Christchurch one.

In case you missed it - on May 17 (yes this Thursday) we will have the newly appointed Windows Embedded Software Architect Mike Hall and Derek Snyder (Product Manager, Windows Mobile) over to a mini MEDC type event in Christchurch.

If you want to come along, there are only 10 seats left, so book today!

RSS - Living in the cloud (or software + services at work)

dburling — Fri, 11 May 2007 03:13:50 GMT

If given a choice between a web app and a windows app, I find that I normally prefer the Windows app to the web app - the user experience and performance of a good windows app is normally pretty hard to match on the web (although there are some very cool web apps).

I've just started using NewsGator for managing RSS feeds. I've used FeedDemon before and acutally bought a copy (before NewsGator bought them), but have never really been a fan of web based RSS Readers - until now.

The thing that really sold me on Newsgator was the ability to synchronise my feeds wherever I am using the online service.

This means I can download and install FeedDemon (which is a great RSS reader on its own), and use it to add and read feeds (it even imports them from the IE feed store - cool!). Then using my NewsGator Online account I can sychronise not only the RSS Feeds that I read, but the articles in the feeds that I've read with the Newsgator Server. I can then use NewsGator Go for Windows Mobile to keep track of my feeds while I'm ~~having a coffee~~ out of the office.

Now some of you may be used to using Outlook for your RSS feeds (and this is a great way to get them), so NewsGator also have an Outlook client as well. (As a sideline, Mauricio has been using NewsGator Enterprise Server for a couple of years now, and loves it. NewsGator Enterprise Server also integrates into Exchange Server - and has some very cool features such as mobile web interface and sync via ActiveSync).

But the glue that makes all these apps work is the services - the synchronization of the feeds and the status of those feeds via web services. The service is what prevents me from having to mark stories as read - when I've read them in one place, they are read everywhere, saving me lots of time and frustration.

The software is also flexible to allow you to read some feeds at home (personal feeds) and some feeds at work (assuming you have time in your job to read RSS feeds), but use the same service to sync them all.

Yes, I could use the NewsGator Online service exclusively, however even though the new NewsGator AJAX application is nice, its still not as convenient as having the performance of the FeedDemon. But with NewsGators software+services approach, I can use whatever works best for me.

I recommend that you give it a go if you are looking at RSS readers. Its easily the best I've used. Now I've got to go and purchase my NewsGator Go for Windows Mobie... have fun!

Not going to MEDC? A tiny NZ version is coming...

dburling — Fri, 04 May 2007 05:12:09 GMT

Even if you are not going to MEDC in Sydney, you can still get to hear Mike Hall and Derek Snyder in Christchurch on May 17th.

The Mobile and Embedded team in Australia are putting on a special late afternoon event for kiwis.

A little more is on the NZ ISV blog (did you know about that blog?), but for the most part I've copied the details below :-)

Windows Embedded & Windows Mobile Seminar

If you develop solutions for the Embedded or Mobile market place come to the first Microsoft Windows Embedded & Windows Mobile Seminar to be held in Christchurch.

This seminar will show you how to get the most from the latest Windows Embedded & Windows Mobile updates to get maximum advantage for your business:

Latest Platforms & Updates: Windows Mobile 6, Windows Embedded CE 6.0, Windows Embedded XP SP2 Feature Pack 2007. Development updates, futures and roadmap information.

Specialist Focus: Hear directly from “insiders” of Microsoft’s Mobile and Embedded Product teams.

When: Thursday May 17th 2007, 4pm till 8pm

Where: Christchurch Convention Centre, Meeting Room 3 (Level 1)

Speakers:

Mike Hall (Senior Technical Product Manager Windows Embedded)
Derek Snyder (Product Manager Windows Mobile)

Agenda:

4.00pm – 4.30pm:             Registration
4.30pm – 6.00pm:             Window Embedded
6.00pm - 7.30pm:             Windows Mobile

A light supper & drinks will be provided.