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<TITLE>RE: [Mobilepartners] Which mobile devices?</TITLE>
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<P><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Andrew.....</FONT></SPAN>
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<P><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Most of the questions I get are on the Treo's</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> and how to sync it to online data (I am a big supporter of SyncML)</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">. I think where we have in the past made it clear that MIT doesn't support the Blackberry device due to the nature of how email is routed through an unsecure (in MIT's world) server has pretty much scared folks away from it. I think that the Treo has been well received, and as a Treo 650 and now 700P user, I must say I'm sold on the added functionality and speed the EVDO network brings to the device. I never used to use the web on the 650 because the 1x network was too slow (coupled by the fact that not many places I svisit INCLUDING MIT's homepage(soon?), are mobile optimized)...that said, the EVDO network loads even non-mobile optimized pages quite quickly. </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">I can't tell you how many times I'm stopped around campus with people asking for directions to this building or that lecture hall (I have no idea why...is there a sign on me saying "ask me for directions?"...;o), and I whip out the 700P, navigate to the MIT webpage, and within a minute, I usually can find it. </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Anyway, on a similar note (not a PDA, but a new mobile device)....I met with Nextel/Sprint the other day, and they tell me that rumor has it that within this month, a 'hybrid' device is due out....the voice functionality on the phone will run on Sprint's CDMA network, and the "Direct connect" functionality on the phone will run on Nextels' IDEN network. The device will be a Motorola device. When I know it's out there, I'll let the group know.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Thanks for the kudos Andrew....hit them over the head enough, they'll come through....;o) (e.g. Verizon Wireless is finally allowing MIT to offer our MIT discount to students...something we've been fighting for over 2 years...)</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Procurement will be sending out an email soon to aac-aoquery to announce the new contracts with Cingular and T-Mobile, and new pricing from Sprint/Nextel (a succinct review of all our contracts, and what discounts they afford....)</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Joni</FONT></SPAN>
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<P><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">***********************************************</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Joan M. Cyr</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">MIT Information Services and Technology</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">5ESS Technical Consultant</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Room E19-687</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">400 Main Street</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Cambridge, MA 02142</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">(617) 253-7900</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">jcyr@mit.edu</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">FAX: (617) 253-5300 </FONT></SPAN>
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<P><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">-----Original Message-----</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">From: mobilepartners-bounces@MIT.EDU [</FONT></SPAN><A HREF="mailto:mobilepartners-bounces@MIT.EDU"><SPAN LANG="en-us"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">mailto:mobilepartners-bounces@MIT.EDU</FONT></U></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">] On Behalf Of Andrew Yu</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Sent: Wednesday, October 11, 2006 9:14 AM</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">To: mobilepartners@mit.edu</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Subject: [Mobilepartners] Which mobile devices?</FONT></SPAN>
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<P><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Greetings!</FONT></SPAN>
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<P><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Thanks again for joining the Mobile Partners User Group. We now have more than 30 members, and I thought I would start using this list to solicit input from all of you.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Questions for this week:</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">What devices do you see being used by your clients/customers at MIT? And, what devices do you get request for support?</FONT></SPAN>
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<P><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Just to give you an update on what I have been up to... I have been meeting/contacting with clients, end-users, and vendors (carriers, software/hardware manufacturers). I hope to be able to post some of my interesting findings through the website (yet to be announced) in the near future. Until then, here are couple of highlights:</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Currently, one of the biggest challenges seems to revolve around synchronization of TechTime calendar entries with Palm OS devices (mostly Treo's). This topic can be very convoluted as there are many different potential points of failure. So far, the most promising (and simplified) solution is to utilize SyncML client. It's been working well on most of the users that I tested so far (except for one user that I found yesterday using Verizon Wireless Treo 650). Incidentally, SyncML on Windows Mobile devices (both Smartphone and Pocket PC devices) has been working well, and I am currently evaluating similar solution for BlackBerry devices.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">On a different note, I have been in contact with all four carriers (Verizon Wireless, Sprint/Nextel, T-Mobile, and Cingular). MIT has recently established relationship with T-Mobile and Cingular (kudos to Joan Cyr). In my meeting with T-Mobile, I found out that they plan to include wi-fi with all new smartphone devices (this is already the case with their Window Mobile devices). This might be an interesting option to some users on campus that do not want to pay for the data plan and rely on the ubiquitous wi-fi network at MIT.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Please feel free to use this list to discuss any of these topics or ask questions.</FONT></SPAN>
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<P><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Cheers,</FONT></SPAN>
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<P><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Andrew</FONT></SPAN>
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<P><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">_______________________________________</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Andrew J. Yu</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Mobile Devices Platform Coordinator</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Software Release Team</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Information Services and Technology</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">77 Massachusetts Avenue, Building W92-140B</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Cambridge, MA 02139-4307</FONT></SPAN>
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<P><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Phone: 617-324-8985</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Fax: 617-258-8736</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Email: AndrewYu@mit.edu</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><A HREF="http://web.mit.edu/swrt"><SPAN LANG="en-us"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">http://web.mit.edu/swrt</FONT></U></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN>
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