Round Robin: Help Treo Jennifer!

By WC Staff
last updated

We're working on week 3 of the Smartphone Round Robin and besides a little trash talkin and a few delays, it's going great. “Week 3” will be bleeding into week 4, no worries there, right?

Anyhow, Jennifer Chappell, our Treo expert, is on the Tilt right now and looking for some help in the TreoCentral Forums. These might be questions you've answered before, but it's worth answering them again anyway because each day you post is another entry in the contest to win a smartphone of your choice.

Go on and help a TreoGal out, hey?

WC Staff
WC Staff
19 Comments
  • This is an official Round Robin Contest thread
    Hi Windows Mobile experts! I've got the Tilt now and it seems like a really nice device so far. I've used WM devices before and have a Treo 750, but I've never felt at home using WM for some reason. Maybe it's because I'm so used to the simplicity of the Palm OS. I want to get used to WM though and feel that I know what I'm doing.
    So far, I've downloaded Opera Mobile which looks nice. I tried looking up some map stuff on googlemaps via Opera Mobile and I never got anywhere. I clicked out of Opera and went to Internet Explorer and to googlemaps and had success. I don't know what the problem was with Opera. Strange. I'm using Opera Mobile 8.65.
    I think I'll try out Spb Mobile Shell today. I've heard good things about that.
    Can anyone suggest a nice onscreen keyboard to use? I like the slide out keyboard but it's easier not to have to slide that out everytime I want to type something, plus the onscreen keyboard is so tiny that you have to use the stylus. I used to have an onscreen keyboard back when I had an iPaq 1940 but I can't recall the name of it.
    What other apps should I try out to tweak the Tilt?
  • As far as tweaking goes - you basically have a choice between SPB Shell or finding the improved today-screen plugin from the Kaiser. There are some details here:
    http://www.wmexperts.com/articles/howto/how_to_customize_your_tilt.html
    That's just the tip of the iceberg, though.
    Not sure what the deal is with opera...
  • I'd download the google maps client. I think it's at http://www.google.com/gmm. With software keyboards, I'll parrot Surur's recommendations. I unfortunately did not get the time to test them, but I'm pretty sure that Septimus uses one of them.
  • Thanks Dieter! I downloaded Mobile Shell earlier today and have been playing with it. What a great program! I'll be putting it on my Treo 750 very soon!
    I'll be sure to read your article on customizing the Tilt! :)
  • Thanks Mike! I'll go back and read Surur's recommendations and I'll download that google maps client right now. ;)
  • For an on screen keyboard go over to pocketcm and use his keyboard. (Pocketcm keyboard). You can theme it with his themes as well. If you have bigger fingers like myself look in the forum for the big black theme. It has much larger keys and some nice layouts. For example you can hold the . button and get a bunch of smiley's to insert.
  • I wonder if its not harmful to the experience to try and use the device in a way its not intended to be used. The Tilt is not an IPhone, and you will have a poor experience trying to pretend it is. With as many hard keys as it has, I think a better experience can be had optimizing their use, e.g. remapping buttons etc. And maybe flipping the keyboard out to enter text may make you appreciate the lovely large keyboard more. Thats what most of the weight and bulk of the device is used for after all, isnt it?
    Surur
  • Thanks Knockz, I'll give that keyboard a try!
    And thanks Surur for your input! I'm actually not at all trying to use the Tilt as an iPhone. I'm just trying to use the Tilt in the easiest way for me. I haven't even thought about the iPhone except to take some pics of it and my 680 compared to the Tilt. I guess if I'm trying to use the Tilt as another device, it would be my Treo. The Treo keyboard is so easy to access because it's right there and you don't have to slide out anything. But I do appreciate the Tilt's keyboard, believe me. It's a beauty! ;)
  • Hey there treogal--
    I know what you mean about the "one-handedness" of the treo-- sometimes its easier to just respond to a text or IM that may have popped up on the screen and you don't wanna use another hand to slide the keyboard open, then rotate the device (I got tired of that sometimes when I had a 6700)
    Because I drive all over the place for work, sometimes its less intense to just pick the phone up at a stoplight, type in "ok I'm 6 blocks away, see ya in a bit" and by the time the light is green, Ive sent the message and Telenav (navigation software you should try on that tilt!) is back on screen pointing me in the right direction.
    To that end, the soft keyboard comes in handy tremendously. I recommend PocketCM and Touchpal myself. Both get used a lot on my 8125 (like the tilt but 2 generations back before they had that fancy 3g and gps!) And right now they are exactly $0! So what ya got to lose?
    (BTW, anyone know when the HTC Touch Cruise is out? I really want one!)
  • Hi Starrwulfe! Yep, it's much easier to use one hand and type out something on the Treo's keyboard. I think the Tilt's keyboard is sweet, but I just don't like having to slide the keyboard out and turn the device around each time I want to type something. Now when I've already got the keyboard slid open and I'm surfing the net, it's awesome and the best way to go.
    I haven't tried Telenav on the Tilt yet but I'm going to. I really liked using it on the Curve.
    Thanks for recommening PocketCM and Touchpal. I'll take a look at those tomorrow! ;)
    Regarding the HTC Cruise, check out Dieter's post on it which links to HTC's announcement.
  • ;) I just downloaded Pocket CM Keyboard and I'm using it now, posting this with the Tilt.. I like it a lot so far! Thanks to all who recommendeded it. I'm also surfing the net via Opera Mobile which is great.
  • I've found the Round Robin to be interesting but I wish some of the reviews were not so quick to modify the devices. As a reader I want to know how the phone works out-of-the-box and compares to the other phones; I could care less about loading the phone down with 3rd-party apps I've never heard of to suit the reviewer's personal preferences which may be very different from mine. This is, first, a comparison of the phones. Bring in the 3rd-party support late in the game only if it solves a notable problem.
  • I've found the Round Robin to be interesting but I wish some of the reviews were not so quick to modify the devices. As a reader I want to know how the phone works out-of-the-box and compares to the other phones; I could care less about loading the phone down with 3rd-party apps I've never heard of to suit the reviewer's personal preferences which may be very different from mine. This is, first, a comparison of the phones. Bring in the 3rd-party support late in the game only if it solves a notable problem.
    That would disadvantage WM, which is notable for its poor OOB experience, but also for the strength of its 3rd party software and customizability.
    Part of the WM experience is being able to hack the device. Part of the WM problem is needing to hack the device.
    Surur
  • Interesting how we're all different ... I'm reading the round robin as much for modifications and 3rd party stuff as I am the devices themselves. To me, it's about the user experience. Having only 1 way to experience a phone is a recipe for unhappy phone users. Yes, everyone will have different preferences/quirks, but getting an idea of how solvable those are is important to know. My 2 cents, at least.I've found the Round Robin to be interesting but I wish some of the reviews were not so quick to modify the devices. As a reader I want to know how the phone works out-of-the-box and compares to the other phones; I could care less about loading the phone down with 3rd-party apps I've never heard of to suit the reviewer's personal preferences which may be very different from mine. This is, first, a comparison of the phones. Bring in the 3rd-party support late in the game only if it solves a notable problem.
  • Interesting how we're all different ... I'm reading the round robin as much for modifications and 3rd party stuff as I am the devices themselves. To me, it's about the user experience. Having only 1 way to experience a phone is a recipe for unhappy phone users. Yes, everyone will have different preferences/quirks, but getting an idea of how solvable those are is important to know. My 2 cents, at least.
    If this were a hack-a-thon, great, but it's (I thought) a comparison of the phones. The strengths and weaknesses of each device, including poor native apps, from the reviewer's perspective should certainly be discussed but if the reader is primarily interested in 3rd-party apps there are plenty of places to discuss those. For that matter, we could have a separate round robin of mail clients or web browsers or whatever.
    The basic user experience is in the phone itself and that's what I want to hear about. Certainly it is good to know if a given feature can be improved with a 3rd-party app or hack but that's opening a can of worms (cost, stability, etc.). Spend the short time telling me something about the phone.
  • Thanks Mike! I'll go back and read Surur's recommendations and I'll download that google maps client right now. ;)
    Google Maps is nice, but it's similar to that found on the Palm treos and on the iPhone. For a nice WM exclusive alternative, try out Windows Live Search, at wls.live.com. I like it better than Google Maps (especailly the GPD integration), and it has voice-input for searches!
  • Is it easy to completely uninstall stuff from WM? I want to check out a bunch of these trials mentioned in the Round Robin but don't want a lot of stuff left over if I don't end up purchasing it.
  • Its inevitable that if you install a pile of free software some bits would be left behind. Best to plan for a hard reset, try them all out,then hard reset and only install the keepers.
    Surur
  • Is it easy to completely uninstall stuff from WM? I want to check out a bunch of these trials mentioned in the Round Robin but don't want a lot of stuff left over if I don't end up purchasing it.
    WM uses an add/remove program utility similar to that on Windows XP. I haven't ever had any problems with anything being left behind after an uninstall.