Previously, I had posted an entry on my love/hate outlook on Apple's iPhone. Well, this week I took the plunge and committed myself to both stick by Verizon's superior network and re-enter the world of Windows Mobile.
My last PDA ran Pocket PC 2003, and it doesn't look like much has changed. The Windows Mobile interface is as unwieldy as ever and, looking at it versus Apple's new interface, it's easy to put a finger on why I've never been a fan of Microsoft's mobile OS: it's practically impossible to control with finger input!
What Apple did was get rid of the need for a stylus, the old standby input device that is essentially required to have any level of accuracy when navigating around Windows Mobile. Of course, there are thousands of third-party apps out there to customize the ever-uncool Windows Mobile experience. After spending way too much time playing with my new phone last weekend, I've finally got it to the point where I can do most tasks without the need for unsheathing that little plastic annoyance.
I started with a clean hard reset of a Verizon XV6700, aka the HTC Apache. It's not nearly as svelte as the sleek and slim iPhone, but with the extra girth comes a slide-out keyboard that's substantially easier to type on than any other mobile layout I've tried. It's a bit of a downer that storage is a bare minimum, but a little Googling turned up 4GB micro SD cards for under $100. Admittedly, the more expensive model iPhone comes with 8GB of internal storage, but lack of expansion slots could quickly leave a bad taste in the mouth of anyone with a music/video collection of any reasonable size. After paying $240 for the XV6700 (with several accessories) on Ebay, I can buy 12GB of additional storage and still come in under the $600 base price of the 8GB iPhone.
Let it also be noted that I did try a number of the iPhone skins available out there for Windows Mobile, but they all just respond too dang slowly and hog too much memory. So, here's what I ended up with.
First to go was the atrocious Windows Mobile Today screen. At Korey's recommendation, I installed SPB Mobile Shell and SPB Pocket Plus. Both programs go a long way toward making Windows Mobile finger-friendly, with the option for larger Today screen icons.
I especially like the overlays they give you at the tabbed top of the screen. If you need to check the weather forecast, just select the sun tab with your finger and it wil expand.
The new phone/text/email icons came with another SPB package -- SPB Phone Suite. And all the icons in each sub-menu are fully configurable, so swapping out any of the program shortcuts is a breeze.
Next to bite the dust was the Windows Mobile contact manager. A bit of digging turned up a program called, simply enough, ContactManager. This program replaces your default contacts program with an iPhone-esque list that scrolls with the flick of a finger. Additionally, you can jump to any letter in the alphabet by selecting it from the list on the left. While the letters themselves are small, the developers of this app made the areas in which they register screen taps large enough that stylus input is not required.
The only complaint I have is that the program is a bit twitchy when it comes to selecting a contact versus scrolling the screen. It's rather sensitive to small movements on the screen, so a firm and steady tap is required to select a contact.
One other super-cool app I've fallen in love with is Google Maps Mobile. As long as I've got a Verizon signal, I won't ever be lost again. It's a shame the phone doesn't have an integrated GPS, but you can still get turn-by-turn directions from Google. You just need to press the screen after each step in the directions, and it will proceed to the next. I'd like to own a GPS one day, but this isn't too shabby for a free program.
All-in-all, I'm pretty pleased so far now that most of the interface usability issues are taken care of. I still need to find a way to get text message reminders, though. As it is, a new text message will only alert me once and then disappear, and there is no vibrate option. If anybody know of a way around this or any other cool Windows Mobile apps, let me know.