Mindful Musings

Sprint Mobile Email was launched sometime back in November 2006 with a lot of pomp and show but is barely advertised on their website today. It seems to have lost some favor to the VersaMail application that comes bundled with the Treo 755p. However, I find Sprint Mobile Email is better for my purposes. Here is a smallish review of sorts and the strengths and weaknesses that I have found. I would also like to document tips and tricks and hacks for Sprint Mobile Email for posterity. So if you have any good tips for Sprint Mobile Email, please leave a comment here.

You can download Sprint Mobile Email (referred to henceforth as SME) from Sprint’s website under the “Digital Lounge” menu item on http://my.sprint.com after you have logged onto your Sprint account. This is only available if your phone is capable of running Sprint Mobile Email. It is a quick and dirty download and setting up of email accounts is swift. The default setup enables push for the accounts but not scheduled checking of emails. This was supposed to be, I assume, the BlackBerry killer application but the push setup is hit or miss. Frankly, I have yet to get it to work. So though it is a good idea, execution leaves more to be desired. I have GMail setup along with a work account and they both work under SME as expected.

PS: You need unlimited data and/or unlimited text messaging for SME to work. I would be afraid of the data charges if you did not.

Pros:

• Setting up of emails is a breeze.


• The application is stable. Large icons for finger clicking helps a lot.


• Lots of key mappings, including side button mapping for email.


• On demand checking of email is very simple from keyboard.


• Navigation within the app is intuitive and fast. Lots of features to purge attachments and such to reduce space usage.


• Separate emails for separate accounts. I hate mixing of emails.

Cons:

• Push does not work for me. Some people have said that it takes a while to sync. Mine did not sync, ever.


• No timed deletion of messages. I wish I could make the emails delete automatically after x days. I missed this in VersaMail as well.

Tips and tricks:

• Hold down the mail button on your Treo to receive mail or sync with the mail account being viewed.


• Once you are viewing email for an account, click on the option button to get detailed preferences etc for the account including push setup and scheduled email checking. It took me a while to find this.


• Go back to the mail listing by clicking on the mail button anywhere in the app.


• The mail button, clicked once while in mail listing, allows you to switch between mail accounts.

I have gotten so used to SME that I actually use my phone to check email every morning without having to get on my computer. That is perfect for me. I am sure I am missing some quick tips and some cool feature or irritation but I will be sure to post them here. Do you like SME? Have you used it yet?

Google does not officially support the GMail app on the Treo 755p and once you visit http://gmail.com/app with your phone on Blazer, you will receive and error message saying “not compatible with Palm OS 5 devices”. That is all true but there is a quick way to get around the problem.

There are two simple steps.

1. Download JVM for Palm OS 5 from the following link (download to your desktop computer, install through HotSync) and install it on your Treo http://www.palm.com/us/support/jvm/


2. Once that is done, visit the following URI with Blazer on your Treo, download the jar file to your phone and it will ask to install it. You should to be all set. http://gmail.com/app/v1.0.0/en/gmail-g.jar

Caveats: BUGS! The touch screen does not work very well at all on the Treo 755p with the GMail app. I am hoping that will be solved soon but the application is very navigable with the keypad on the Treo and all functions are much easier than the web version.

Enjoy!

Thanks to a Google Groups post and the helpful people on there. If you know of any other methods of tweaks, please leave a comment.

New version 1.5 now available.

To give you a quick glance of what the review is going to be about, I know why they call it the CrackBerry now. After years of waiting for the “right moment”, I finally purchased my very own Treo 755p Smartphone this past week. Ever since that time, it has been a path to discovery.

Pros:

• The phone is small enough that I can easily put it in my pant pocket, cover and all and it still feels not quite heavy.


• The Palm software is easier to navigate and use and judging from my past experience with Windows Mobile, it has a lot less control and strangely, a lot less hassle.


• EVDO is fast and web browsing is a breeze. I even setup my Slingbox with the new client Palm client and it works, albeit choppily.


• It is easy to make a call, quality is loud and clear and the speakerphone is nice though I tend to not use it very often.


• Office document editing is painless and the documents are very easy to read in the format presented. I have yet to take documents back to my PC but opening them from GMail is a breeze.


• Texting is no longer a frustrating and painful experience. I can reply quickly within reason. The keyboard took me a couple of days of getting used to, but now it is more than functional.


• The screen is brightin sunlight and easy to read.


• Very interesting escalating ringtones.


• Email “push” or syncing works well, though not for me. I like GMail to be my respository and not my phone. I wish I could set my phone to delete emails that I have read after a certain period. If I could do that, I would probably use the email feature.


• Solid feel, fit and finish of the phone. Everything feels like it will hold together (knock on wood).

Cons:

• The GMail app does not work (yet). I might have a wordaround for this soon and I will post my methods.


• Battery life is enough to last one day, but not enough to last two.


• All cables are proprietary, so new chargers and new USB cables for both home and work.


• Adding a contact from the phone screen without dialing a call is a hassle.


• Speed dial setup was a learning curve.


• PCS Vision takes a bit of getting used to on this phone. I think of Vision as a modem service now and know that I have to wait for it to connect.


• JVM should come pre-installed.


• Phone security sould be much more configurable. An $8 program provides more security than the phone does. For an enterprise level phone, each application should be lockable.


• It should come with SOME sort of a case or holder.

Ever since I received my phone in the mail and activated it, I have been using it extensively. I have had it for a few days and I am really happy with it. I even surprised myself and started using the datebook feature. I had failed in the past with a PDA. I think the convenience of having it with me all the time helps a great deal. Overall, it was worth the price. I had seriously thought of getting the Sprint HTC Mogul and that would have also been a good choice (my co-worker Bradon bought one of those) but I am very happy with my Treo 755p. I need to resurrect some of the old code that I had written to work with Sprint. I might even resurrect my old picture blog and modify it to work with videos from Sprint.

PS: Absolutely AMAZING cases here.