GerardoDada

Last Post - Follow me to my New Blog!

2008-06-29T04:08:00Z

All good things come to an end...

After four fantastic years, my time at Microsoft is coming to an end. It has been an incredible journey and I have had amazing experiences. Despite all its challenges (all comanies have them) Microsoft is an incredible company - one in which you can really change the world. I am honored to share my last day with Bill Gates, July 1st. I expect he will get all the press :-)

So, this is my last post. I am moving to Austin, TX to run Product Marketing at a software company. It will be fun. But I will always have a passion for mobility. For the last 8 years I have been at the heart of the smartphone revolution. I have been very lucky to have an opportunity to work with almost every major player: Sun, Symbian, Palm, Microsoft, Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, AT&T, Orange, Vodafone, Verizon, tc. etc.

I plan to continue sharing my thoughts in my new blog at http://enterprisemobility.wordpress.com/. Let's continue the conversation. Shoot me a note at g (at) gdada.com or leave a comment.

All the best,

Gerardo Dada

http://enterprisemobility.wordpress.com/

Secret Hero device: the HP 910. Can it beat the iPhone?

2008-06-29T03:20:00Z

After all the fanfare, excitement and expectations for Steve Job’s iPhone 3G announcement, many people were left wanting more. From a device perspective, there were no surprises: the iPhone had everything people already knew: 3G, GPS, lower price. Still, the media went crazy about the iPhone, as expected.

One element of the keynote that surprised me is that it was completely devoted to the iPhone. Who would have thought, 18 months ago, that Steve Jobs’ keynote at WWDC would not talk at all about Macs or OS X (except for a small mention of Snow Leopard). Mobility is that important.

That same week, in Germany HP launched the iPAQ 910 Windows Mobile phone. Most people have already discounted HP after the 6925 was so late to market and the 510 failed to impress. Honestly, when I looked at photos and presentations from HP I was not impressed.

Then, a few weeks ago my friends at HP sent us a few 910s for our team to play with and show to customers. Wow. I am not going to say it is an incredibly beautiful phone, but it is not bad looking. In fact, it looks very solid and professional. Imagine a device the size of a Motorola Q9, with a full exposed QWERTY keyboard, Windows Mobile 6.1 professional edition and a touch screen.

Based on my current understanding of the iPhone 3G specs, here is how it would compare with the HP 910. Before getting into it, let me start by saying these are two very different devices because they will beappealing to two different kinds of users. The point I am trying to make is how much hype Apple enjoyed with the iPhone and how the media ignored the HP phone. True, I would have recommended Hp to pick any other week in the year other than the one the new iPhone launches.

Coolness - Obviously there is no contest. The iPhone wins. It is the coolest phone . Still, no one will be embarrassed by carrying an iPAQ 910.
Speed - The iPhone is 3G, the HP 910 is 3G HSDPA 7.2 Mbps, so the HP is a quite faster
GPS – All indications point to the iPhone having Assisted GPS, the HP has true GPS.
eMail – The iPhone connects to Exchange, iMAP, POP and MobileMe. The HP has a full ActiveSync implementation (including support for things like rights management protected email), POP, Hotmail and many others. Instead of Mobile Me (Exchange for the rest of us) anyone could get a full enterprise-grade Exchange 2007 email account for about the same price from providers like 4Smartphone.net. (Funny how Apple was ridiculing middleware (BES servers) to ten launch their own).
Input – The iPhone has an OK touch screen. The HP has also a touch screen, a real QWERTY keyboard, plus voice commander so that you can speak your commands to your phone.
Camera – Many people are disappointed Apple did not upgrade the iPhone’s 2 megapixel camera. I think it is OK for most people, after all megapixels are like dpi in scanners: people think more is better but have no need for them. 2 megapixels is enough for a 4x6 print. Still, the HP has a 3 megapixel camera, photo and video capture, and PhotoSmart mobile software.
Connectivity - Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR and A2DP, WiFi with WPA2 security, ability to use the phone as a 3G modem for your laptop. The iPhone has basic Bluetooth and WiFi and does not support any of these advanced features. No MMS either.
Applications – Steve showed about a dozen beta applications demoed at WWDC, which looked nice. The HP has well over 18,000 applications available today. So whether you are a real estate agent, student or nurse, there are dozens of powerful applications to help you do your job. The iPhone’s application platform is powerful, much more than the Blackberry outdated J2ME platform, the HP phone has the full .net compact framework and SQL Server compact edition.
Security – It took hackers a few days to hack the iPhone to unlock it. The software is unproven. Most analysts (Gartner, J Gold, etc.) warn IT departments about the unknown security in the iPhone. Windows Mobile 6.1 in the HP 910 has been though the security development lifecycle process and has received certification from the US government (FIPS 140-2) as well as international governments (Common Criteria certification). Thousands of enterprise customers trust Windows Mobile for their security.
Management– iPhone lacks most corporate management tools, implementing an unknown subset of ActiveSync features. HP phones can be managed using Exchange 2007, SCCM, SC MDM, or any one of a handful of third party applications like Odyssey software or Good technologies.
Coverage – The iPhone is available only though AT&T, who offers international roaming ($1+ per minute in most countries). The HP is available unlocked, meaning it should work in about 180 countries. Just pop in a SIM card, and the device will try to auto configure network settings. You will pay $300 more for the iPAQ 910 but there is no contract required and you can use your own SIM. Over time the savings can be significant.

I don’t intend to minimize the coolness or the importance of the iPhone: it is a beautiful device with a revolutionary user interface. However, for business users, the HP iPAQ 910 is a more powerful and functional choice.

Is Microsoft Green?

2008-06-25T01:44:00Z

I believe every company has a responsibility to be Green - companies like MIcrosoft who consume a vast ammount of resources and who are industry leaders have a bigger responsibility.

This is why I thought I would share the link for the Microsoft page that talks about everything Microsoft is doing to be green (such as datacenter efficiency) and to provide guidance to companies who also want to be responsible in the use of world resources. Today, in fact, I saw every kitchen at microsoft replaced polyestirene coffee cups with recycled paper "green" cups.

To learn more visit : http://www.microsoft.com/environment

Samsung Omnia

2008-06-25T01:35:00Z

In case you missed it, the Samsung Omnia was announced recently. Still unknown if it will come to the US soon. Anyway, it is a VERY COOL phone. Check it out...

http://omnia.samsungmobile.com/

Is Opera Mobile 9.5 the Best Mobile Broser?

2008-05-21T19:25:00Z

I use the browser on my WM6.1 phone quite often, and while the experience its not optimal, it works. There are a few sites that do not render properly and a few that use desktop-browser features that make the site not usable from a mobile phone. IE Mobile is an order of magnitude better than the Blackberry browser, but it still falls short of Safari on and iPhone.

I have been waiting to get on the SkyFire beta, and hoping Microsoft releases a IE6 for WM6 Beta I can use soon. Last week I met with HTC at theior Americas headquarters in Bellevue, where I had a chance to play with the Diamond, which is an amazing phone. As a sidenote, the Diamond ships with a very very cool game that demonstrates some of the unique features of the device - it gives you a experience unlike anything you have done in a mobile device, that's all I can say. The Diamond ships with both Pocket IE and a "custom" version of Opera. It is pretty darn good. Zooming and panning with your fingers is fun, but the pages render just like with a desktop browser.

Matthew Miller has a good review of Opera Brower 9.5 in his blog here he tests it with an HTC Advantage X7510. The screenshots tell the whole story. No more browser envy. Soon I will have to decide between SkyFire, IE6 and Opera. Choices, choices....

Check out the New HTC Diamond

2008-05-06T18:47:00Z

When I saw the first picture a while back I was unimpressed with the successor of the HTC Touch. Now that it is out, I think it is a pretty amazing phone. From a design perspective, the diamond edges are original - although to me they look more like the angles on a stealth fighter. Functionally, there are a couple significant improvements:

Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
Improved user interface - Touch FLO 3D. Check the video on Gizmodo, it is very, very cool.
4Gb internal storage and 128Mb RAM and a 528Mz processor
HSDPA 7.2 and HSUPA + Bluetooth 2.0 EDR + WifI 802.11 b/w + GPS/AGPS
3.2 MP Camera with video capabilities
A new browser with single-touch zoom and pan, and automatic rotation (via an accelerometer) and a custom YouTube client

Overview on HTC's site http://www.htc.com/uk/product.aspx?id=46040
Gizmodo UI overview video http://gizmodo.com/387544/hands+on-with-the-htc-touch-diamond

Mobile Gadgeteer on BlackBerry dominance

2008-05-01T21:41:00Z

I read a pretty interesting posting from Matthew Miller, ZDNet's Mobile Gadgeteer about threats to RIM's dominance int he business market. Here are two key paragraphs:

People may say that BlackBerry devices are reliable and their email always just works. I have been using Windows Mobile devices for years and for the last three I have to say that my Windows Mobile Standard/Smartphone (non-touch screen) devices have been ROCK SOLID. I currently have a hosted Exchange account with 4Smartphone that is great for keeping all my devices in sync. I have only been using a BlackBerry Curve for a couple of months and I have experienced two complete lockups for no apparent reason, compared to zero lockups on my T-Mobile Shadow since I bought it last fall. I think the argument for reliability is one made by people who have not had personal experience with both platforms. Either that or I am one very lucky user.

Security has also been a strength of RIM devices, but I think Microsoft now has those same security features available in Exchange ActiveSync and Windows Mobile.

For the full article: http://blogs.zdnet.com/mobile-gadgeteer/?p=1034#more-1034

The Best Windows Mobile Blogs

2008-04-29T19:32:00Z

You probably know that blogs are big at Microsoft. They are encouraged to get people to connect directly with customers and to understand real-world problems. There are a few great blogs in the WIndows mobile team. These are some of the best (please let me know if you know of others!).

“Is that a Windows Mobile in Your Pocket” http://blogs.technet.com/vik Vik is ourWindows Mobile's Technical Guru. He is incredible knowledgeable and definitely a top notch resource.

“Unwired Realities” http://blogs.technet.com/unwired_realities - This is a new blog from Rachel, who works with our partners in small and medium-business land.

Mr. Mobile http://blogs.msdn.com/jasonlan Jason Langridge is quickly becoming somewhat of a legend . He gets both the business and the technical side of Windows Mobile. Based out of the UK. I have learned a lot from Jason.

Loke Uei’s http://blogs.msdn.com/lokeuei/ Loke is in our developer resources team. He is awesome. If you are a developer, bookmark this blog now.

Rob Tiffany’s Blog http://blogs.msdn.com/robtiffany Rob is the guy who built the WM Developer Solution Accelerator, a lab where he proved the scalability of SQL Server to thousands of concurrent users, and author of a book that describes the architecture behind this highly-scalable mobile-replicated database. A key resource for anyone building enterprise apps.

Reed and Steve’s Blog http://blogs.msdn.com/hegenderfer Steve Hegenderfer has beenw orking with ISVs for a long time and he is incredible smart just liki sie partner in crime, Reed, who is an Architect. ANother one to bookmark

Jim Wilson’s Blog http://www.pluralsight.com/blogs/jimw/ and Amit’s Blog http://blogs.msdn.com/amit_chopra/ both are highly technical blogs for developers. Good resource to point your RSS readers to.

Constanze’s Blog http://blogs.msdn.com/croman/ Constanze is in our documentation tem and alwas has the scoop to any new resources.

Check the Microsoft Surface at the AT&T Store

2008-04-29T19:22:00Z

Microsoft Surface Arrives at AT&T Stores

Here is a shorter amateur version from a customer

And a short ad from AT&T

Microsoft Surface experience coming to AT&T

Brazil does their Census with Windows Mobile PDAs

2008-04-23T22:34:00Z

Over 5,000 cities and 82,000 Windows Mobile devices.

The application runs on the .NET compact framework and uses SQL Server CE.

The government saved time (6 months) and money and enjoyed significantly more accuracy while avoiding fraud. The Brazilian government is so happy witht he results, they expect expect to deploy 300,000 devices by 2010.

You can read the case study translation from portuguese here.

Windows Mobile powered Watch

2008-04-18T23:58:00Z

I am not sure it makes much sense, but it is cool. A few years ago the guys from Fossil had a Palm-OS based watch (B&W screen) that went nowhere. Still, it makes a point about where technology is going in terms of device size and availability everywhere.

http://www.windowsfordevices.com/news/NS4466992453.html

Windows Mobile 6.1 Demo

2008-04-18T01:12:00Z

Video: Windows Mobile 6.1 demo video

Guitar Hero for Windows Mobile

2008-04-12T02:29:00Z

What do you think?

More games found here http://www.winplay.com/

Mobile Field Service Best Practices Webinar

2008-04-09T21:55:00Z

Motorola and Industry Week are hosting an on-demand webcast. The webinar will cover the following topipcs:

New tools and technologies that help drive leaner field operations
Strategies and processes being adopted to drive service excellence
A perspective on the challenges and opportunities for building and sustaining profitable growth through excellence in service and parts management
Improving repair times and first-time fix rates
Increasing SLA compliance with dynamic scheduling
Increasing technician productivity by eliminating manual data entry
Reducing the billing cycle with real-time data

To watch the webinat go to http://www.industryweek.com/Eventdetail.aspx?EventID=430

Electrocardiograms on a Windows Mobile PDA

2008-04-08T20:49:00Z

This is quite amazing. A company called DRE has produced a n ECG machine that plugs into a standard PC Notebook or to a Windows Mobile 2003/5.0 Pocket PC. This product not only makes it less expensive for hospitals to do ECGs (thay can now print on standard paper or email results as a JPG file), think also about the implications of making available this level of medical care anywhere.

For more info: http://www.dremed.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/1662