The 81-day experiment

Day #45 of the 81-day experiment, the T-Mobile MDA last day

When walking on the streets of London, and when you’re not used to the “driving on the left” concept, you find the “Look Right” or “Look Left” warnings very helpful (painted in big letters on the pavement at the pedestrian crossing areas). I was wondering if these were mainly for visitors. Before crossing though, I still looked in both directions, especially when the thought came to my mind that visitors, who are not used to driving on the left side of the road, may be out there driving.

When I tried to login today from the Ad-Tech conference floor, I had problems connecting to the wireless network, I found myself again making use of the T-Mobile MDA as a modem. It seems that this feature is being very useful during this trip, which makes me think that for business travelers, it may be one of the important capabilities to look for when purchasing a handheld device. The speed has been reasonable for downloading e-mail and simple browsing, however I did encounter very slow response times today when trying to access some Web databases.

Today is the last day for the T-Mobile MDA before I move to the BlackBerry 8700. So it is time to wrap up and summarize my experience and impressions after having used the device for the last 9 days:

- The T-Mobile MDA main strength is its larger screen and larger QWERTY keyboard, which combined with the Windows Mobile and Office Mobile application makes it a possible and reasonable to actually compose or edit documents, something I wasn’t keen on doing with other devices.

- The MDA ability to connect my laptop to the Internet came in very handy (using the EDGE network and approximate speed of 230kbps). Most of the devices I used in the 81-day-experiment so far provided this capability (Treo 700p, Treo 700w, Motorola Q, and BlackBerry Pearl). However in the case of the Treo 700w, I had to install an add-on application to connect (PdaNet), and in the case of the Motorola Q, I did encounter some problems (which still require some additional research).

- The T-Mobile MDA is Wi-Fi capable. If you are interested in connecting to the Internet at hotspots, and other areas where wireless networks are available, this feature comes in handy.

- In terms of the device usability, and aside from the large screen and large keyboard, my personal experience with the device has been “marginal”. I often experienced slow response time when switching between applications, occasional freezing which left me wondering if the device needs to be reset, and less than optimum navigation when entering information. If you are curious about the details, you can refer to the entries on day #37 to day #44. I suspect that some of these are glitches that have been (or are being) corrected in future software upgrades and some related to my own preferences and expectations.

- Continuing with the usability topic, I found myself inadvertently hitting the shortcut buttons which happen to be abundant almost on every corner and every side of the device. It seems to be easy to accidentally press these buttons especially as I opened and closed the sliding keyboard or tried to take pictures which I did often in the last few days.

Would I choose the T-Mobile MDA as my device? Will the fact the larger screen and keyboard and ability to compose and edits document on the go lure me into it? This remains to be seen.

How do the Windows Mobile devices compare so far?

So far, I have used the Treo 700w, the Motorola Q, and the T-Mobile MDA, and it is likely that I will be using the HP iPAQ later in the 81-day-experiment. I am finding out that not all Windows Mobile devices are alike. The T-Mobile MDA interface, and the fact that it comes fully equipped with the Office Mobile applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), reminded me of the Treo 700w. They are both full featured and they both are “stylus-heavy” (you are likely to want to use the stylus and touch screen extensively). The Motorola Q on the other hand, which happens to be smaller in size and slicker in design, is more streamlined in its user interface and overall navigation (no stylus and no touch screen, a convenient back button). At the end of the experiment, I will be going over these differences in more detail.

The similar Verizon, Sprint, and Cingular devices

I mentioned earlier in the blog that Verizon, Sprint, and Cingular offer devices that are similar to the T-Mobile MDA. If I don’t use some of these in the 81-day-experiment, I will at least include in the final report a feature comparison to help you as you consider these devices.

Some picture from the streets of London today

With the T-Mobile MDA in hand, these is what I found myself capturing today (the post office where I had to exchange the old money with new money, a picture of the new money, the pedestrian button to cross the street, and local fruit market, and a colorful cab):

Tomorrow the BlackBerry 8700

Tomorrow the T-Mobile MDA will retire and the BlackBerry 8700 from T-Mobile will take over. So stay tuned for more BlackBerry action.

Day #44 of the 81-day experiment, the T-Mobile MDA in the tube

After getting done with the passport control and baggage reclaim, it was time to figure out the “tube” situation (London's underground train that I am supposed to take to get to my hotel). In just a few minutes, I purchased my ticket, and was on my way towards Olympia where I am attending ad-tech London ( http://www.ad-techlondon.co.uk/ ) and presenting on the topic of Managing the Deluge: Effective Email Inbox Organization.

The T-Mobile MDA in the "tube"

The “tube” ride is yet another great opportunity to make use of the MDA. Knowing that I had a good seat and the train was not to busy, I decided to use the much larger screen (my laptop) and use the MDA to connect my laptop to the Internet. This ended up successfully and soon enoughI was browsing at 200+kbps (EDGE speed). The connection was lost a couple of time as the train went through some tunnels and underground sections, but overall is worked well.

Welcomed by familiar signs and places

I walked out of the train station, and I was welcomed be a KFC on one side and McDonald on the other side.

I looked to see where Starbucks is. I didn’t see one right away but instead I saw someone walking by with a Starbucks cup in their hand. By the way, I wasn’t looking for a hotspot in this case (which would have been the case if the MDA didn’t already take care of that need) but for my soy latte (Starbucks being one of the few places in Europe who serve soy milk). The Starbucks was pretty close, and as you would expect, once you’re in, it looks just like any Starbucks in San Francisco, or anywhere in the world (a friend of mine was once wondering if they ship their furniture from a center location, or if they have a special deal with Ikea).

The MDA accomplished its mission so far

The MDA has done exactly what you would expect a smartphone to do when you’re on the go. That is to keep you connected, especially from locations where other means of getting connected are not easily available, and when you need to get timely updates and communicate back timely responses. In addition, the MDA helped re-capture “waiting” time and turn it into productive time (the highlight being the passport control line which was turned into a productivity time with Word Mobile—see day #43).

And last but not least, the MDA has been helping document the trip including the picture of the Red Lion pub on the left where I went for dinner with a friend.

Day #43 of the 81-day experiment, the T-Mobile MDA in London

Today started with a cab ride to the San Francisco Airport. What do I do during a cab ride? I finish handling e-mail, check the news, get an update on the weather in my destination city, and access our Web databases to review the latest Web marketing data. That is exactly what a smartphone is for, and that is exactly what the T-Mobile MDA performed nicely today.

The plane took off, the plane experienced a very bumpy flight, and 10 or so hours later and 8 additional hours of time difference, the plane landed at last. I turned on the T-Mobile MDA upon landing, changed the time zone setting, and downloaded my 50+ messages (in the MDA, you actually don’t need to change the time zone, but instead, you indicate the second time zone that you are visiting).

Cathing up on e-mail using the T-Mobile MDA

As I walked to the "baggage reclaim" which was quite far, I got caught up on the important e-mails (at least on scanning them and getting updated on things).

Long lines and more smartphone activities

Then I arrived to the passport control area. This was a humongous room full of people waiting in long lines. These strangers were no longer strangers after you see them about 20 times as the “back-and-forth” line advances and they turn around and face you again and again. Several people were also catching up on e-mail. I saw several Treo and BlackBerry keyboards operating at full speed.

Word Mobile, the highlight of the day

Suddenly, and as the line was moving very slowly, I decided to try something different. I opened the Word Mobile application on my T-Mobile MDA and started writing my daily observations in a new Word document (T-Mobile MDA uses Windows Mobile and ships with the Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Mobile applications). I wasn’t very hopeful that I would continue using Word Mobile for more than a few minutes. But 30 or so minutes later, I just realized that I am about to be next in line, and that I have already finished documenting my observations, and started to jot down some other ideas.

T-Mobile MDA advantages

This was a situation where the T-Mobile MDA larger screen and larger keyboard really paid off. In addition, I am starting to get used to the keyboard and make less typing mistakes (especially if I remember to look at the keyboard instead of the screen). In such a situation (moving slowly in a long line) a laptop or even a paper notebook wouldn't have been useful. Even the Treo keyboard or the BlackBerry Pearl SureType™ would have been slow and not as easy to work with. I would say that the MDA is the best fit in this case, followed by the BlackBerry 8700 (which has the QWERTY keyboard and nicely spaced and firm keys), and followed by the Motorola Q.

More impressions from today

When you are in a new place, you notice more things than usual. When you have the T-Mobile MDA handy, you take more pictures (of what you notice) than usual.

So here are some of today’s impressions: Slot machines at the airport, the “male toilet”, the cafe at the airport (with more smoke than the fog we have in San Francisco), and Starbucks serving coffee is real cups! Can you tell that I am in London?

Is it Tuesday already?

At some point between the time I left San Francisco on Monday and the now, Tuesday stealthily took over. So as I step outside the airport, I will also step into Tuesday on the 81-day-experiment blog. So keep on reading.

Day #42 of the 81-day experiment, the T-Mobile MDA fully connected

The morning started with a technical support call that lasted for a while but got several issues taken care of, including getting e-mail setup on the MDA, getting the MDA setup as a modem for the laptop (for when I am stranded in “hotspotless” places during my trip), and answering some of my questions regarding rates and services outside the U.S.

Setting up e-mail and the modem connection did require some work--especially when considering the modem connection.

The T-Mobile MDA has an application called Modem Link. In order to use the MDA as a modem for your laptop, you need to activate modem link on the MDA, which turns the MDA into a modem instead of a smartphone (until you deactivate modem link, which you should do after you are done, in order to be able to use ActiveSync again). That is not all however. You also need to do some involved setup on your laptop to create the modem connection. Luckily this setup is something you only do once and then you just use it when necessary.

It was reassuring to see my laptop connected to the Internet using the MDA as a modem. This is my backup plan for the next few days if/when better connections were not available during my trip. The MDA is able to connect to the EDGE network and the speed I was getting today was about 230kbps or so.

The lesson I learned later today however is that the MDA won’t serve as a modem if you don’t have the USB cable with you! After I reached to the MDA, activated the Modem Link utility, suddenly my excitement was “shattered” when I looked at the MDA and looked at my laptop only to realize that there is no way these devices are going to talk to each other! I forgot to bring the cable with me.

The international rates and services

I did learn a few things today about the rates and services outside the U.S. but still I need to do more research. There is a $15/MB charge for data usage, which would include e-mail, internet, etc. Phone usage will involve roaming charges which seem to vary from location to location and which are detailed at http://www.t-mobile.com/International/

Getting technical support in Europe seems to go through T-Mobile U.S. and not Europe. To reach technical support, I need to call 611 from the handheld, or +15059983793, or this same number from a landline (which would be an international call to the U.S.

Day #41 of the 81-day experiment, the T-Mobile MDA photos, mishaps

This is probably the best time of the year in San Francisco (the real summer "gets"  here in September or October). Today, the T-Mobile MDA camera helped me document the beautiful day including a morning session at a nearby coffee shop.

I also learned today that if you press the camera button to take a picture, and not wait for an extra second or so before you move, you might get some interesting effects such as the abstract picture of the coffee cup you see on the left.

Little mishaps here and there

The camera froze for a minute or so today and when I gave up on it and started to look for some way to reset the device, it came back to life again. This happened again later when I was trying to close another screen.

After taking one of the pictures later on, I decided to send it to someone (via MMS which seems to be working fine), and therefore opened the sliding keyboard to type the recipient’s address. However the picture and the text fields didn’t adjust to the landscape position (so here I am, tilting my head, trying to make sense out of what I am typing).

This one may be more of a usability thing, but when the I wanted to fill out the recipient’s address field (also when sending a photo via MMS), the cursor was not visible, and there was no way to get the focus to field without using the stylus (I tried to type letters, use the arrow keys, use the 5-way navigation button, but nothing worked).

In general the device seems to be slow, and that coupled with the above behaviors including the occasional freezing, may mean that this specific device has a defect or that a software upgrade is necessary. Knowing that I am preparing for an overseas trip in a couple of days, I am trying to avoid doing something dramatic such as exchanging the device or upgrading the software before I leave.

Preparing for my overseas trip

The T-Mobile MDA is going to accompany me to London on Monday, and then the BlackBerry 8700 will take over in a few days while I am still in London, and will accompany me to Germany. This will be an opportunity to experience the devices’ international capabilities and also T-Mobile’s network and support services for T-Mobile U.S. customers outside the U.S.

Tomorrow, in addition to getting e-mail working, which is crucial for my trip, I will need to get some information about the international rates for voice and data, and see how I can avoid the $1000 phone bill stories that we occasionally hear from international business travelers.

Day #40 of the 81-day experiment, the T-Mobile MDA usability

Today was an out-of-office day with several meetings and visits out and about. The calendar and contacts data on the T-Mobile MDA came in very handy. So the effort I put yesterday in synchronizing was well worth it. However not having e-mail setup yet, was not a good thing (see yesterday’s challenges). But I am hoping to get the e-mail setup handled tomorrow. Today, I focused more on some usability issues.

The 5-way navigation, the stylus, the touch screen, and the sliding keyboard

I mentioned earlier in the experiment that you have many user interface options when working with the Treo devices. I also mentioned that even though more options is usually a desirable thing, with more options comes more complexity. The T-Mobile MDA seems to take this “more options/more complexity” phenomenon to yet another level. In addition to the 5-way navigation, the stylus and the touch screen, you have the sliding keyboard.

The sliding keyboard, good, or evil, or what?

Well theoretically it is a great concept. You have a keyboard (a good size keyboard) that is hidden and you slide it out when you need it. In practice though, I am not sure if this concept works as well as it sounds. At least these are my first impressions, and of course, they are very subjective and subject to change as I use the keyboard more extensively in the next few days.

First of all, the sliding keyboard which doesn’t take much physical space in the “x” and “y” axes (not adding to the length and width of the device because it simply slides out from underneath the screen), does take additional space in the “z” axis (depth). This makes the device “thick”. Thick also means bulky, not so elegant, and not so practical.

But let us forget about form factor for now and let us talk usability. You have one more decision to make when using the T-Mobile MDA. Do I slide the keyboard or do I just use the onscreen keyboard (typing with the stylus on the touch screen)?

Let us say I slide the keyboard out to use it. Now my thumbs are further away from the 5-way navigation key (which by the way has an awkward orientation when you are holding the device in “landscape” position). My thumbs are also further away from the touch screen and using my fingers to make selections on the upper area of the touch screen not convenient.

Typing on the T-Mobile MDA keyboard requires some getting used to

Even though the keys are larger and seem to be nicely spaced, I seem to be making more typing mistakes on the T-Mobile MDA than I did on the smaller keyboards of the Treo, Motorola Q, and BlackBerry Pearl. I am often typing the letters twice accidentally. I think that the problem is that the keys are not pronounced enough and they do not offer enough “resistance” and therefore it is easy to press them inadvertently multiple times.

In terms of layout, the keyboard has the numbers on the top row which is not typical in the smartphone world (it seems that most smartphones provide a phone pad arrangement of the number keys).

So let us say that the T-Mobile MDA is a unique device. Unique devices take more time to feel comfortable with. Let us see how things unfold in the next few days.

Day #39 of the 81-day experiment, the T-Mobile MDA synchronization, e-mail, Wi-Fi

Synchronizing my Outlook data on my laptop with the T-Mobile MDA was relatively easy.  Knowing that the T-Mobile MDA uses Windows Mobile, and that I already had ActiveSync installed on my laptop (because I used the Treo 700w and the Motorola Q earlier in the 81-day-experiment--see day #10 to day #27), I just had to connect the T-Mobile MDA to may laptop using the USB cable, and as soon as I did that, ActiveSync recognized the new device and went through the setup process which ended successfully (except for one error message about a file that wasn’t synchronizing, and which I wasn’t able to resolve yet, but didn’t seem to affect the rest of the synchronization). So now I have my contacts, my calendar, and my tasks with me on the go.

Setting up e-mail

To setup e-mail, I went to the T-Mobile website, and registered. Apparently I need a temporary password to register. So I clicked on the link to generate a temporary password (which supposedly gets sent to the device via a text message). However I didn’t receive the text message. So I clicked on the link again. I still didn’t receive the text message, so I clicked on the link for the third time. I thought persistence might pay off. Nothing happened however. So I decided to give up on setting up e-mail for now, and try again later or call technical support. Well, about 5 minutes later, the first text message with my temporary password arrived. I tried to use it to register, but I got an error indicating that it is invalid. So I am assuming that I should wait for the third text message to arrive and then use the most recent password. So no e-mail on the device yet, until I finish this process probably tomorrow or the day after, knowing I will be out of the office tomorrow.

Browsing the web

The T-Mobile MDA is able to connect to the internet using the EDGE network which, as I mentioned when I was working with the BlackBerry Pearl last week, is 2 to 4 times faster than GPRS. However, browsing the Internet with the T-Mobile MDA seemed much slower than what I experienced with the EDGE network before. This could be just one of these temporary situation, but it was quite noticeable.

Filling out the Web survey form

I proceeded to fill out the same Web survey form that I used with the previous smartphones (Treo 700p, Treo 700w, Motorola Q, and BlackBerry Pearl). Filling out the form presented a number of challenges. I am sure some of them are associated with the fact that I am a new user of the T-Mobile MDA, and not used to the device yet, but they are still worth mentioning because they might give you some insights into usability.

The sliding keyboard and text entry

I switched to the keyboard by sliding it out and then started to type. First of all, it wasn’t easy to see which field I am in. So I had to use the stylus to click on the field to see the cursor. As I started typing, I noticed that I had a typo, so I wanted to use the backspace/delete key to erase the letters I just typed. But the delete key doesn’t seem to work unless I highlight the letters first, which required using the stylus. This was surprising because the backspace/delete key worked as expected when I was filling out a new appointment in the calendar application earlier.

Then I wanted to copy text from one field to another in the Web form. I highlighted the text and then pressed the menu key searching eagerly but unsuccessfully for the copy command. I will need to research this further, but it didn’t seem obvious how you would copy and paste simple text.

Then I got to a free form text field in the Web form in which I am supposed to enter a comment. Again, I had to use the stylus to get in and out of this field. Finally, after filling out a few option buttons and checkboxes, I completed the survey form and was able to save it successfully.

Count on using the stylus

I am starting to realize that with the T-Mobile MDA, it seems that using the stylus is not a choice, but more of a necessity. This felt inefficient at times especially during typing when I had to take my thumbs frequently away from the keyboard to use the stylus.

Using Wi-Fi

The T-Mobile MDA is Wi-Fi enabled. This means when you have a Wi-Fi network nearby such as a hotspot at a local café, the T-Mobile MDA detects the available networks and allow you to connect to the Internet. This seems to be desired especially for users who don’t want to have a data plan and rely on Wi-Fi networks instead. In addition, the Wi-Fi networks are likely to be faster than EDGE.

So back to Starbucks and back to Wi-Fi. I went through the process of enabling Wi-Fi on the T-Mobile MDA and entered my user name and password. However, I got an error message indicating that the login failed and the potential cause being that I may be already logged on to the account from another computer or device. I realized though that I used the wrong password, and after searching diligently for the screen where I can adjust the password, I was able to login to the T-Mobile Wi-Fi network.

However I had another challenge when I tried to open a new webpage. Basically I was taken back to the T-Mobile hotspot webpage and I couldn’t find a way to bypass that and get to the desired page. I will have to find out more about this.

Finally, I took the first picture above using T-Mobile MDA camera and decided to end the day!

Day #38 of the 81-day experiment, the T-Mobile MDA ready to roll

The T-Mobile MDA got charged today and is now ready to join the experiment. The MDA uses Windows Mobile 5 and includes a stylus and a touch screen. What is unique about the MDA is the sliding keyboard which opens up and gives you a full QWERTY keyboard.

When compared with the Treo 700p, 700w, and Motorola Q, this keyboard is something to write home about (it is probably not fair to compare it to the BlackBerry Pearl keypad because the two devices are very different in their design concept--this would be like comparing a Porsche to a minivan). If having a larger screen and having a comfortable keyboard are high on your priority list, the T-Mobile MDA may be the answer. In this case, you may also check out the XV6700 by Verizon, the PPC 6700 by Sprint, and the 8125 Pocket PC by Cingular. They all use Windows Mobile and include the sliding keyboard.

The T-Mobile MDA will be accompanying me to the U.K. next week, and then the BlackBerry 8700 will take over as I continue my trip East towards Germany. With T-Mobile and the GPRS/EDGE network, I will be able to stay connected, and report on how the devices are behaving thousands of miles away from home. For now, I still have some work to do in getting the MDA synchronized and fully connected. This will be tomorrow’s task.

Day #37 of the 81-day experiment, the T-Mobile MDA arrival

I decided to take a little detour today and instead of using the BlackBerry 8700 as my next device (as I mentioned previously), I am going to use the T-Mobile MDA first. The T-Mobile MDA costs $299 when you sign up for a plan. The plan that I signed up for included 300 minutes, unlimited data, and a hotspot account, and it was for $59.98 per month.

The MDA is wider than the BlackBerry Pearl that I was using for the last 9 days, slightly longer, much thicker, and heavier. This is not a “pocket” device (the kind of device that you can just slip into your pocket and it goes unnoticed) and it does come with a holster to prove it. This means I need to break away from the habit that I developed in the last few days, which is slipping the smartphone into my pocket. It was easy to do so with the BlackBerry Pearl but it won’t be possible with the MDA. So let us see what the next few days will bring.