Jason Langridge's WebLog - MR Mobile! : Mobility

European Data and Text Charges to drop!

jasonlan — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:57:43 GMT

Last Friday a proposal made initially by EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding won the backing of EU Telecoms ministers.

The proposal is to cap the charges of Text Messages and Data charges whilst roaming.

These caps will see a Text message costing a maximum of 9p (11 euro cents) and 1MB of data capped at 83p or 1 Euro.

This is significantly lower than the current average of 29p for a text message and some huge charges for data.

This is great news for consumers and also I believe mobile operators as hopefully these measures will help customers to use their phones without worrying about the charges or even worse experiencing 'bill shock' where they really have no idea what the costs are when roaming.

A great recommendation that has been put forward is to cut the data connection if it goes over £41 or 50 Euros to avoid this bill shock.

The proposal now goes to the European Parliament and if successful will come into effect July 2009.

Managing Devices Conference – London Tomorrow – need some free/discounted tickets?

jasonlan — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 15:39:00 GMT

I’ve presenting tomorrow at the Managing Innovative Devices and Services (MIDAS) conference tomorrow in London.

This new event organised by the Device Management Forum is a three-day conference and exhibition focusing on innovation in devices as well as applications, solutions and services to manage them. Participants will be exploring business cases and best practices, sharing experiences and discussing strategies to address current challenges as well as new opportunities.

Day 1 (today) will focus on service provider issues, Day 2 on enterprise issues and Day 3 on futures – exploring the factors that are likely to determine how devices, services, usage profiles and management challenges will change over the coming years. Additionally, the latest solutions for device and application management will be on show in the Product Expo area.

If you are interested in attending then the organisers kindly gave me some offers.

1. The first 3 registrants to quote code HTXEvm when registering for the Enterprise Day (Tuesday 28^th Oct) will gain free entry.

2. The first 5 registrants to quote code xn2wLu when registering for any day or combination of days will pay half price.

3. The first 6 registrants to quote code DqnGrQ when registering for any day or combination of days will get 30% discount.

Mobile Data Tariff comparisons

jasonlan — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:47:00 GMT

I often get lots of questions asking about the huge variety of mobile data tariffs and how they compare. It is an almost impossible task trying to track all of them however for the UK – Mobile MEG is a free source that provides details of all data tariffs.

Very useful!

http://www.mobilemeg.org/mm_data.php

People Moving Business Awards - get your submissions in by August 15th!

jasonlan — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:38:49 GMT

Quick reminder to all you mobile workers out there that you can still enter the People Moving Business Awards as the deadline has just been extended until this Friday (15 August).

The People Moving Business Awards, in association with Microsoft, The Chartered Management Institute and The Work Foundation, are now in their second year and have become an industry benchmark for excellence in mobile working.

If you are a champion of mobile working or your company is a leading the way in mobile innovation you could be a potential winner, full details of how to enter and categories can be found at www.pmbawards.co.uk

SIMable - Unlock your SIM not your phone

jasonlan — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:43:26 GMT

SIMable is an ultra thin chip, that when attached to a SIM card, immediately fools most mobile phones into thinking that they have been unlocked.

You do have to modify your SIM though using the provided SIM punch.

Whilst mobile phone unlocking is not illegal, it will in most cases invalidate the handset's warranty. SIMable requires no handset interference and thus theoretically the full manufacturer's guarantee remains intact.

To check if your phone is supported by the SIMable solution you can go HERE to check!

Mobile Phone use In flight - Hopefully common sense will prevail

jasonlan — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:43:02 GMT

A bill to prevent the in-flight use of mobile phone calls has been moved to the US House of Representatives.

The proposed 'HANGUP' bill (Halting Airplane Noise to Give Us Peace) calls for the ban on voice calls in-flight. It isn't looking to ban Internet access, e-mail or instant messaging.

I actually think this is a wonderful idea as the thought of some moron sat close to me on a flight chatting away would drive me insane (either that or drive the increased sales of noise cancelling headphones). It looks like I'm not alone though as in a Harris Interactive survey earlier this year commissioned by Yahoo's Connected Life Americas division, 74 percent of respondents said cell phone use on airplanes should be restricted to silent features. There were 2,088 adults in the U.S. surveyed.

Whilst I'm sure there is great revenue opportunity in allowing people to use their mobile phones while in flight the disruption and annoyance I hope will be of huge concern to the airlines.

We will have to wait and see how this bill progresses. :)

Royal Mail to roll out 30,000 Windows Mobile Devices

jasonlan — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 22:32:14 GMT

Some great news from the UK in that our Postal Service the Royal Mail will roll out 30,000 Windows Mobile devices to their Postal Workers.

The Royal Mail has chosen devices from Intermec to equip it's Postal Workers with!

You can read this article from Computing which has more details on this great project!

Exchange Activesync Reporting for Exchange 2003/2007

jasonlan — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 10:55:00 GMT

I regularly get asked this and I've blogged before on this topic but thought I'd just provide a new article on this topic as we had an internal email debate on this and there were some great resources identified!

I get asked by lots of customers how they can report on their Exchange Activesync usage. The resources below should point you in the right direction!

Exchange Server 2003:

Exchange 2003 - ActiveSync reporting http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2006/02/14/419562.aspx
More on Exchange ActiveSync Reporting with Log Parser - COM object availalbe http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2006/03/03/421149.aspx
More fun with Logparser and Exchange logs http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/09/12/446982.aspx

Exchange Server 2007:

Exchange ActiveSync Reporting Services http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb201675(EXCHG.80).aspx

Windows Mobile Smackdown @ Tech-Ed

jasonlan — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:09:33 GMT

Each year at our internal technical conferences (Dangerous) Dan Arildson and myself have delivered a session called the Windows Mobile Smackdown.

We even recorded a video through Channel 8 of our antics at last one which got published earlier this year.

The Smackdown is a session where we show cool applications and solutions for Windows Mobile. It is all Live demos - no safety nets.

We got asked to do the same session at Tech-Ed US this year and Dan and I hit 21 of 21 demos all live - no failures!

A number of people who attended the session asked for a list of the demos we showed and they are listed below:

Celio Redfly - http://celiocorp.com - A cool PDA Extender
Windows Mobile 6.1 - http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/6-1
Zumobi - http://www.zumobi.com - a great new interface for Windows Mobile
Windows Live Search - http://m.live.com - a fantastic application that gives you maps, directions and local information!
Communicator Mobile - http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/communicator/HA102027021033.aspx - an excellent client for accessing your corporate OCS IM and presence infrastructure
OneNote Mobile - http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/onenote/HA101956221033.aspx - this application allows you to synchronise your OneNote Notebook to your device and create/edit new notes on your device
Slingbox - http://www.slingmedia.com - access your TV from anywhere in the world on your device
Business Card Scanner - http://store.penpowerinc.com/mobile.html - take pictures of business cards and then OCR them straight into your contacts
Cellfire - http://www.cellfire.com - grab a bargain or ten!
Internet Sharing - (In Windows Mobile) - use your Windows Mobile device as a data modem
Tiny Twitter - www.tinytwitter.com - access your twitter account and tweet from your device
Team Calendar - www.teamcalendar.com - Want to get access to colleagues schedules or diaries on your device?
MSN Direct - http://phone.msndirect.com - stay up to date with news/stock information
Mobile Football Euro 2008 - http://mobilefootball.noshape.com/Download.aspx?id=ms
Dashwire - http://www.dashwire.com - sync your device to a web service and access all your content online
WiFi Router - http://www.wmwifirouter.com - use your Windows Mobile device as a Wi-Fi Router
Snap2Face - http://www.magnifoca.com/download_snap2face.html Access your Facebook photos and even upload new photos too
Windows SideShow - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=79f19684-f862-4e02-a2b0-0003b4565f34&displaylang=en - use your Windows Mobile device as a sideshow device
Windows Live - http://www.gowindowslive.com/Mobile - access your Hotmail, Live Messenger and upload to your space!
Qik - http://www.qik.com - upload videos from your device straight to Qik
Guitar Hero 3 - http://www.guitarheromobile.com - Rock out to GH3 - now all we need is a Bluetooth mini guitar!

People Moving Business Awards - Nominations being accepted now!

jasonlan — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 07:54:31 GMT

We've just launched the 2008 People Moving Business Awards and we are accepting nominations NOW!

The awards are open to all organisations large and small, from both public and private sector and we are looking for organisations that are really making the most of mobile technologies to boost both productivity and employee satisfaction.

There are a number of Award Categories so please nominate yourself or your Organisation for the most appropriate!

Awards categories

Awards for organisations

Most innovative use of mobile technology (Public sector)

An organisation that has deployed an innovative mobile solution that has directly benefited them. The winner will also be able to demonstrate direct return on investment as a result of the mobile technology.

Most innovative use of mobile technology (Private sector )

Best flexible working organisation (Cross-sector)

The organisation that can truly demonstrate innovation and success in embracing the mobility culture for both increased business performance and employee satisfaction.

Contribution to the environment through use of mobile technology (Cross-sector)

For example, an organisation that has seen an increase in the number of home workers through the use of technology, therefore leading to less cars on the road and a reduction in fuel consumption. The winner will be able to quantify the size and nature of the environmental contribution achieved.

Awards for individuals

Mobility champion (Cross-sector)

An individual who has championed the use of mobile technology within an organisation, recognizing the benefits it can have on both productivity and employee satisfaction.

Moofer of the year (Cross-sector)

An employee who has used mobile technology to significantly increase both their personal performance and their quality of life. (Moof stands for Mobile Out of Office, for more information on Moofing check out www.moof.mobi.)

Awards for technology

Best Mobile Application (Cross-sector)

For example, a unique application that enables a new way of working. The winner will be able to demonstrate both the innovative nature of the application and the return on investment to users.

Best implementation of mobile technologies (Cross-sector)

The organisation that can demonstrate how it overcame technological and procedural challenges to implement a mobile technology-related project, that has demonstrable success within the business.

You can nominate your organisation or yourself at the People Moving Business Awards Web-Site