Expert: Steven Hughes

What is the most creative thing you have done with your Windows Mobile device?

A very good question, I am sure most people have used the screen or LED flash of their Windows Mobile device as a flashlight in a pinch. Many including myself have also used the camera to a picture of something they can’t physically get to. For example I had used my camera to read an Ethernet quad box name that was behind a new multi-ton Prosthetics Milling machine that had just been installed, but no one had documented the port it was on. Many have used their devices as a webcam monitor to their house. A friend of mine has some X10 home automation hooked up to a webcam that notifies him with an email of a picture when any motion is detected in his driveway. If it is a delivery truck, he has an agreement with his drivers to leave it in the garage that he remotely opens and closes when they leave.

My usage isn’t is as elaborate, but I too have used it for basic TV viewing, listening to satellite radio, looking up passwords, reading/replying to email, making calls, remote administering a computer, checking computer log files, etc. I would have to say the most interesting thing I have used a Windows Mobile device for is using one for Laryngeal throat swallowing studies. Where in the clinical setting a laptop was too large to be used to take pictures of a throat swallowing procedure at a patient’s bedside.

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Handling security on Windows Mobile Devices is a two-fold process of securing the device, which concerns just about every personal user of a handheld device and the network it resides on(whether it be a cellular connection, home or work network, USB or bluetooth connection to your PC). For the Enterprise user an extra step is needed to allow secure access to your corporate network and mail server through certificates,VPN, etc. In a corporate environment policy should play a key role in securing your Windows Mobile devices. Basically one way to do this is copy your laptop and mobile pc policy and replace those words with handheld devices and then the toughest part - actually following that security policy.

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Bluetooth is a technology I use every day in some form or another. Trying to pin down just one favorite is like trying to pick which child is your favorite. Depending on the day and what is being done your favorite will change. Bluetooth is akin to a toolbox, with many different tools to choose from. How you use them is up to you. I generally like to start the day by having my Bluetooth headset, an Aliph Jawbone Noise Cancelling headset, pair with my Windows Mobile device as start in my morning commute so I can check voicemails and emails that start to trickle in as they are announced by Voice Command. The software that manages the auto-wakeup and shut off of both my Bluetooth and GPRS/EDGE radios is Pocketmax’s Phone Alarm (and there is even a version for WM5 Smartphone's here). On my commute in I track my ETA with my Bluetooth GPS unit with the solar powered iTrek Z1 Bluetooth GPS. I also use it as an ETA between my office locations an d outpatient clinics as well as a guide for those I have forgotten the way. The iTrek is compatible with all forms of GPS software including Google Maps for Mobile and Windows Live Mobile. Currently my favorite is iNav’s iGuidance software, which will hopefully come out with a revised version for Windows Mobile 6. (It also works great on UMPCs and other Windows enabled small touch screen devices like the Fujitsu P1610.

At work I generally continue listening to my Sirius Satellite radio I have on in my car via SiriusWM5 and my Bluetooth headset via a great freeware application called BTAudio as I answer emails and plan my day. BTAudio uses the headset profile rather than the Bluetooth headphone profile. It also uses less processing power which results in longer battery life, but at the expense of a lesser quality audio. The benefit it provides is that one ear is open to listen for the phone or half partake in an office conversation. It also works on both Windows Mobile Professional (Pocket PC Phone Edition) and Standard (Smartphone).

If I am out town on business or can’t find a wifi hotspot. I can easily be connected back to the office VPN via a Bluetooth PAN connection to my Windows Mobile 6 device. In Windows Mobile 6 it is even easier than with the previous version to use your Windows Mobile device as a dialup modem. Now with Windows Vista on my P1610 it automatically connects after I set up my device to share the connection via Internet Connection sharing over Bluetooth. If I am low on power on my device I can stop the connection and resume it over USB, effectively charging my Windows Mobile device and sharing its data connection. No longer do you have WM Modem hanging around after it’s “closed” either sucking up precious usable memory as in Windows Mobile 5. Internet Connection sharing gracefully shuts down and doesn’t hang around like its predecessor.

Bluetooth is a great utility and I still feel confident in my defense of the technology I had made several years ago, when some “pundits and experts” claimed that Bluetooth is dead. It is alive and a very useful tool on any Windows Mobile Device for the Road Warrior in all of us.

Choosing a single application on a Windows Mobile Device is a very hard task to do since I use many applications throughout the day. The general nature of using a Windows Mobile Device is its multiplicity and ability to run several applications beyond the basic programs for PIM (Personal Information Management)installed by the manufacturer. I will give you a brief description of the ones I use the most on my Windows Mobile devices(Pocket PC and Smartphone).

If I had to choose one, Ilium's eWallet is probably the most valuable one I use to manage my multitude of accounts, passwords, install codes, and other personable data on my PC, Windows Mobile 6 Professional(pocket pc phone edition) and Windows Mobile 6 Standard(Smartphone. It just makes everything easy to use and access all my important information, which is safely encrypted and can only be accessed by a secure password. It can even be installed on U3 USB key for storage and use on any PC with a USB port.

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How I save space on my Windows Mobile device works in a two-fold process and is a very similar strategy followed by many of experts and contributors mentioned in this blog. One is by not installing applications directly on the device to take up precious memory, the other is by shutting down applications and freeing memory occupied by temporary files. On the Windows Mobile Standard (Smartphone) platform I have noticed that this isn't as much of an issue as with the Windows Mobile Professional (Pocket PC Phone)or Windows Mobile Classic(Pocket PC) and doesn't require as much memory management, but may in certain instances.

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