[Mobilepartners] Which mobile devices?

[Joan Cyr]

Andrew.....

Most of the questions I get are on the Treo's and how to sync it to online
data (I am a big supporter of SyncML).  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.   

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. 

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.

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...)

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....)

Joni

***********************************************
Joan M. Cyr
MIT Information Services and Technology
5ESS Technical Consultant
Room E19-687
400 Main Street
Cambridge, MA  02142
(617) 253-7900
jcyr at mit.edu
FAX: (617) 253-5300 

-----Original Message-----
From: mobilepartners-bounces at MIT.EDU [mailto:mobilepartners-bounces at MIT.EDU]
On Behalf Of Andrew Yu
Sent: Wednesday, October 11, 2006 9:14 AM
To: mobilepartners at mit.edu
Subject: [Mobilepartners] Which mobile devices?

Greetings!

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.

Questions for this week:
What devices do you see being used by your clients/customers at MIT? And,
what devices do you get request for support?

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:

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.

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.

Please feel free to use this list to discuss any of these topics or ask
questions.

Cheers,

Andrew

_______________________________________
Andrew J. Yu
Mobile Devices Platform Coordinator
Software Release Team
Information Services and Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue, Building W92-140B
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307

Phone: 617-324-8985
Fax: 617-258-8736
Email: AndrewYu at mit.edu
http://web.mit.edu/swrt


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