Pocket PC magazine, Apr/May 2004
Page 21
Geocaching (http://www.geocaching.com) covers the increasingly popular GPS hobby of geocaching, which is a sort of treasure hunt using GPS.
Aximsite stands out
Switching now from the topic of GPS to other Windows Mobile-related sites, I want to touch on some great resources that I haven’t yet covered in this column.
With the release of the Dell Axim in late 2002, Chris Leckness started Aximsite (http://aximsite.com), which quickly became one of the premier Pocket PC sites. Its focus is the Axim Pocket PC, but much of the information is more generally useful.
The site, which has tens of thousands of registered users, offers reviews, news updates, active forums, tutorials, FAQs, downloads, links, and more. The tutorials cover basics such as installing software, doing a hard reset, and loading MP3 files and other media on your device. There is even an encyclopedia of terms related to the Pocket PC.
Following on the success of Aximsite, late last year Chris launched iPAQ HQ (http://www.ipaqhq.com), a site dedicated to iPAQ devices. The new site will include many of the elements that have made Aximsite popular, including news, forums, downloads, links, and FAQs. Chris says the goal is to offer a site where “the newest iPAQ owner can feel comfortable posting.”
More sites for Smartphones
More and more sites for Smartphones are appearing, and I’ve added a special section for them in the News category on the Pocket PC magazine Best Sites Web page (http://www.PocketPCmag.com/_top/bestsites.asp).
If you’re a Smartphone user and need help, you’ll want to check out Microsoft’s new Smartphone Personalized Support Web page (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/resources/support/smartphone/supportsetup.aspx). You can get step-by-step help, including screen shots, for configuring and using all the applications and settings on your Windows Mobile Smartphone.
Another new offering is the Smartphone page of the MobileMinds Web site (http://www.smartphoneminds.com). A new company, Mobile Minds Media, purchased the popular Pocket PC Minds Web site last summer and re-launched it last December with a new name and expanded coverage. MobileMinds.com now includes sections for Palm OS devices, RIM handhelds, and tablet PCs, as well as Smartphones and Pocket PCs. The site offers news, reviews, forums, and themes. “Our goal is to educate visitors on the value of Smartphones and how these devices improve your life, both professionally and personally,” says Corey McLaughlin of Mobile Minds Media. The new site got off to a fast start, quickly posting dozens of reviews.
A great site for freeware
The Downloads section of our Best Sites Web page (http://www.PocketPCmag.com/_top/bestsites.asp) lists a number of Web sites where you can download freeware for Windows Mobile devices. One of the most popular is FreewarePPC.com (http://www.freewareppc.com). The site lists hundreds of programs. You can see the whole list, do a search, or use the categorical listing.
Each entry describes the software, includes a screen shot, gives a download link, specifies system requirements, and includes author contact information. There’s even a Reviews section at the bottom of each product listing, where users can rate each piece of software and add comments. This will help you evaluate the quality of a particular program.
It’s my pleasure to highlight some of the best Internet resources that will help you get the most out of your Windows Mobile device. If you know of other great resources, please post a note in the “What’s Happening on the Web” section of the Pocket PC magazine forum (http://www.PocketPCmag.com/forum/).
* * *
Jim Karpen, Ph.D., is a college professor and Internet devotee. He has been interested in the revolutionary consequences of computer technology ever since writing his Ph.D. dissertation in 1984. It was a study of the “digitized word” and anticipated some of the changes that are taking place today. He has been writing regularly about the Internet since 1994. His Web site, http://www.jimkarpen.com, contains selected Internet columns written monthly for the Iowa Source magazine and weekly for ten newspapers in eastern Iowa. Contact Jim at Jim_Karpen@PocketPCmag.com.
Tips and Tricks
Edited by Rich Hall
BASIC TIPS
Display all phone numbers associated with a Contact item
The Contacts list will only display one phone number at a time. This is a bit tiresome if all of your contacts have home numbers, mobile numbers, etc. However, you can just tap on the letter in the far right column, “w” in this example, which indicates whether the number is a work, home, fax number, etc.. A screen drops down below the contact, displaying all the phone and fax numbers associated with the individual, as well as the e-mail address. If you would like the main list to display a different number, just select it from this list.
Joseph Kaplon
(above) Drop-down list displays all phone numbers and e-mail addresses associated with a contact.
Game players—protect display with screen overlays
The Pocket PC is great for games, but some action games require a lot of tapping on the screen. If you get carried away blasting enemy space ships, you can end up scratching the display. Your Pocket PC will still be useable, but a scratched or pitted screen is unsightly and distracting.
A simple way to protect against this is to use a “screen overlay.” These are transparent, thin plastic sheets cut to the size of your screen. One side is slightly sticky—not enough to leave a residue on your screen, but enough to keep it in place. Once the overlay is in place, you can tap away to your heart’s content, without worrying about scratching the screen.
(above) Screen overlays protect your display against scratches and damage.
Most manufacturers sell packages of screen overlays for their Pocket PCs. They will be available on their accessories Web page. If you can’t find them on the manufacturer’s Web site, check out vendors specializing in accessories, such as Belkin (http://www.belkin.com) or Mobile Planet (http://www.mobileplanet.com) or Pocket PC Techs (ww.pocketpctechs.com).
Enter Contacts ASAP!
The truth is, “now” is almost always the best time to enter a contact. Maybe you’ve taken someone’s business card and you wait until you get back to the office. Fine, but do it ASAP! Don’t put it off or you’ll end up with a pile of business cards, and you won’t remember where you got them or how current they are. The longer you put it off, the less likely it will happen. As soon as you enter the information, throw the card away or write “entered” on the card and file it somewhere as backup. If you’ve entered it into your Pocket PC, synchronize your Pocket PC with your desktop PC as soon as possible. (An external keyboard makes it a lot easier to enter contact information on your Pocket PC.) If you wait until you get back to the office, enter the contact into Outlook on your desktop PC and then synchronize with your Pocket PC. Finally, you can be selective about the information you enter into Contacts—for instance, you don’t have to enter every single business card you collect at a trade show. But if there is even a remote possibility that you will need the information again, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Free up storage space on your Pocket PC
If you use Pocket Internet Explorer to view Web pages, or download e-mail with attachments to Inbox, you can use up the internal memory of your Pocket PC quickly. Here are a few tips to help you free up storage space:
Configure Inbox to store Inbox attachments on a storage card. With Inbox open, tap on the Tools menu at the bottom of the page, select Options, go to the Storage tab, and check the box labeled “Store attachments on storage card.”
Don’t download attachments to the Pocket PC. With your Pocket PC connected and synchronized, go to the Options page in ActiveSync on your desktop PC, highlight Inbox in the list, and click on the Settings button. Then, make sure the box labeled “Include file attachments” is NOT checked. You can also use this screen to limit the number of lines per message and the number of past days’ messages you download when you synchronize Inbox data.
Delete the temporary Internet files and cookies that have bee
n downloaded to your Pocket PC while you were browsing the Web. Open Pocket Internet Explorer, tap on the Tools menu at the bottom of the page, select Options, then tap the Delete Files button at the bottom of the screen. Then select the Advanced tab and tap on the Clear Cookies button at the top of the page.
(above) Free up internal storage space by deleting Temporary Internet Files.
Save more space with Word documents
Documents saved in Word .doc format take up a lot of file storage space on your Pocket PC. ActiveSync will convert these to Pocket Word (.psw or .pwd) format, which saves a lot of space. Another way to reduce the file size is by saving Word documents in .txt or .rtf format. (Some people prefer these formats to Pocket Word.) The down side with .txt files is that they cannot have image files embedded in them. By default, ActiveSync is set to convert Word to Pocket Word format. But it will not convert .rtf or txt files to Pocket Word unless you change settings in the ActiveSync>Tools> Options>Rules>Conversion Settings menu.
Display Contacts in larger font
You can ease potential eye strain by increasing the size of the font for the items in your Contacts list. With the list view open, select the Tools menu at the bottom of the screen, and then choose Options. Tap on the box labeled “Use large font” (third box from the top) and hit OK. The difference isn’t huge, and the list displays two fewer contacts per page. But it helps a little. You can do the same thing in Tasks and Calendar.
(above) Left screen shows Contacts list displayed in larger font.
Save time—avoid ActiveSync “Guest Partnerships”
If you synchronize Outlook with one computer, but regularly connect to a second to exchange files and install programs, you can waste a lot of time establishing “Guest Partnerships” every time you connect to the second. To save time, establish a regular partnership with the second computer, but go to the ActiveSync Options menu on the second computer and unselect all of the options in the Mobile Device list. Your Pocket PC will connect quickly and easily every time without synchronizing any Outlook data. You can then install programs from that desktop PC, or use File Explorer to swap files.
Submitted by S. Bruce Cairnie
ADVANCED TIPS
Keep duplicate backup files on separate storage cards
All Pocket PCs come with a built-in utility that lets you back up Pocket Outlook data to a storage card. If the batteries ever run down and you lose everything in internal memory, you can restore Outlook data from the card or, if you can wait, synchronize the Pocket PC with your desktop PC when you get back to the office. It’s unlikely that the Outlook backup file on your storage card will get corrupted, or the storage card will get lost, but since accidents happen you might want to keep a second backup on a different storage card. You don’t need a very large or expensive storage card for this—32 MB will probably do, and these are available for $20-$25. You’ll want to “freshen” the backup on this card periodically to make sure it is up to date. Some users keep two cards and alternate them when they do backups. Store the two cards in different locations. For example, keep one in your carrying case or shoulder bag, and the other in your wallet.
Printing out Pocket PC Help files
The software features of the Pocket PC are fully documented in a series of onboard help files, which can be accessed from the Start > Help option. The Help feature is context sensitive. For example, if you are in Pocket Internet Explorer and access the Help feature, information about Pocket Internet Explorer will be displayed. It’s very handy to have the documentation built into the Pocket PC, but it’s sometimes nice to have it displayed on a large screen, or even printed out. Here’s how you do it:
With your Pocket PC synchronized with your desktop PC, open File Explorer on your desktop PC and create a new folder on your desktop PC. Call it “PPC Help.”
Still in File Explorer, go to the Windows folder on your Pocket PC and sort the file list by type.
Copy all of the HTML and Bitmap images from that Windows folder to the “PPC Help” folder on your desktop PC.
You can now open the desired help file on your desktop PC using Internet Explorer. Once it’s open you can also print out the help file from Internet Explorer.
(above) You can copy Pocket PC help files to a desktop PC and view them or print them out from the desktop version of Internet Explorer.
Keep important information with you in case you get hurt
You can store a lot of important information in Contacts, including emergency information in case you get hurt or die. For example, you can keep information about your life, auto, and health insurance policies, stock portfolio, IRS information, private papers, and even a copy of your will in the Notes field of individual contacts. Tag them with a new category—call it “Hurt” or something like that. Then, if the worst happens, all your spouse or relative has to do is select that category in Contacts and display this important information. Be sure that they know to look for the information in Contacts.
(above) Acrobat Reader for the Pocket PC lets you view device documentation in .pdf format on your Pocket PC.
Related to this, if you have long documents in a non-electronic format (like paper), you can scan them into an image file and use Optical Character Recognition software to turn them into a .txt or .doc file, which you can keep with you for emergencies. If you don’t have OCR software, you can just keep the image file of the document.
(Based on tips by Jim Christian)
Keep user manuals and other documentation with you on your Pocket PC
User manuals for most Pocket PCs and many other electronic devices are available as .txt or .doc files, or as files in Adobe .pdf format. With Pocket PCs, these document files can be found on the companion CD that ships with the device. With other electronic devices, you may be able to find them on the manufacturers’ Web sites. You can keep these documents with you on your Pocket PC and read them using Pocket Word or Adobe Acrobat Reader for the Pocket PC, which is available for free download on Adobe’s Web site (http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readerforppc.html). If you decide to do this, you should probably keep the documents on an SD or CF storage card to conserve the Pocket PC’s limited internal file-storage space.
Aviation solutions for Pocket PC and Palm OS handhelds
We recently discovered PalmFLYING.com, a Web site devoted to aviation solutions for handhelds. The site has a comprehensive, categorized online database of aviation-related software for Pocket PC and Palm OS devices. Also found on the site are airline and airport timetables, some of which can be downloaded to and viewed on the Pocket PC. The site also has discussion forums, handheld and industry news, FAQs, and additional features useful to pilots.
Saving Web site pictures using Pocket Internet Explorer
Saving pictures from a Web site using Pocket Internet Explorer is no trivial task. Unlike the desktop PC version of the program, PIE will not let you simply tap-hold on an image and select “Save Picture As...” from a drop-down menu. In addition, there is no “Copy” menu option. However, there is a way around this limitation that does not involve buying a third-party Web browser.
(above) Web pages and images viewed by Pocket Internet Explorer (top) are stored in sub-directories of the Temporary Internet Files folder (middle). Once you find the stored image file, you can display it with Pictures (bottom) or any other image viewer program.
The Pocket PC stores all images and Web pages that have been viewed with Pocket IE in four temporary directories. On devices running Windows Mobile 2003 they can be found in the following directory: My DeviceWindowsProfilesguestTemporary Internet FilesContent.IE5. On Pocket PC 2002 devices, the same four directories can be found under: My DeviceWindowsTemporary Internet Files. Once an image has been viewed in Pocket IE, the image file will exist in one of the four directories. Now it’s just a matter of detective work to find the file within those directories. Here are a few tips for finding it quickly:
Use a thumbnail browser such as Palbum Picture
Viewer (http://www.softspb.com) to browse the directories. The picture viewer included with Windows Mobile 2003 is of no use here since it can only look in a few preset locations.
Sort the images by size. Web images are typically larger than 10 KB. Smilies and icons are smaller.
Sort by date. If you’ve just switched from Pocket IE to File Explorer, any images on the screen will be among the most recent files.
Clear the Pocket IE History before viewing the Web site with the image in Pocket Internet Explorer. This will greatly reduce the number of files in the temporary directories.
If the Web site lists the file name of the image, the file name in the temporary folders will be nearly the same. It may have “[1]” at the end of the file name. (If two or more images have the same name, Pocket IE will append number 2, 3, etc., in parentheses after the file name.)
Once you have found the image you are looking for, be sure to copy the file to a directory other than the four temporary file directories. They are, by definition, temporary. How long an image will linger in these directories is determined by the amount of free space available and the History setting within Pocket IE.