Michael Gannotti on SharePoint +

Before reading this I recommend reading the post
"Im Dreaming Of A Verizon Omnia Christmas- No More :-( "and all of it's comments

Wow, as someone who blogs mostly about SharePoint I was somewhat amazed by the response to my casual column inspired my temporary phone lust for the Samsun Omnia and futile attempt to secure it. No matter what your feeling on the subject were I first of all want to say Thank You! I love it when people get stirred up and passionate even if I may not always agree with everyone's statements. I also had a lot of suggestions for me to personally dump the Windows Mobile platform in favor of some devices that are viewed as cooler, sexier, and more functional. To those making those suggestions let me just say that having seen the devices mentioned I can understand various individual reasons for wanting any of them. The beautiful thing about all this right now is that there is such an array of choice and many of those choices really do target the mobile social computing scenarios I have talked about here on this blog.

Below are the things though that I need in a phone and maybe they will help to explain why, at least for me, there is only a choice for Windows Mobile platform.

Phone Device Needs:

• Seamless integration with Exchange email. This  includes real time synching so as soon as a message reaches my email box I know it on the go. Setting up a scheduled synch timing or logging in to web UI is not sufficient for me in my role. I also need full access to any sub folder I designate.
• Seamless integration with Exchange Calendaring. I need to be able to schedule and accept meeting all from my phone. I also need to be able to reply to meeting invite person or reply all to attendees. This is HUGE for me as a mobile person who might get stuck in traffic.
• Seamless integration with the Exchange GAL and Contacts. If I get an email I need to be able to click on that person and be able to add to my contacts and have it not only pull all that info locally but also synch that immediately to Exchange.
• Support for Microsoft Office. Just the other day I was mobile and offline and needed to review part of an Excel spreadsheet emailed to me, make some minor edits, and send it back. I was able to do it all from my present Windows Mobile phone, a Samsung i760. It may not be a sexy phone but it does all the above effortlessly.
• Load custom corporate applications as needed. Here at Microsoft the phone and its supporting OS are seen also a development platform and as such custom corporate applications that better enable mobile workers to get their work done. We provide offline mobile forms via Microsoft InfoPath, custom apps for accessing internal conference and training interactions, and much more. Built in .NET and targeted at the Windows Mobile platform that alone necessitates the use of Windows Mobile.
• Managed device. As a managed corporate device should it be stolen or lost a simple phone call or email to our support can have the device remote wiped of all data automatically as soon as the device is on. We also enforce corporate standards that are accessing corporate resources such as email connectivity to ensure that they are not easily compromised thereby compromising corporate data. I also need to be able to take advantage of our mobile System Center Mobile Device Manager services that enable me to gain VPN like access to internal corporate resources (Intranet, apps, etc)without the need of VPN.
• Web browsing capability
• Text capability

Device Wants:

• Unlocked GPS for geospatial activities
• High quality camera/video capability for rich media capture scenarios in social computing
• Physical keyboard (preferably slide out with large screen)
• Physical dialing keys on primary front interface
• Slick touch flow interface
• Non bulky format
• Large amount of built in internal storage/memory

Phone wants and needs will certainly be varied between individual. My wife is a stay at home home and has no access a corporate email infrastructure of any kind so my needs in this area do not apply to her. She has a non Windows Phone (LG EnV) and loves it as it does exactly what she wants it for; phone, texting, basic camera, and restaurant tip application) or others it may be seamless integration with their companies RIM infrastructure so a Blackberry makes all the sense in the world. Or it may be tie in to someone's iTunes investment and an iPhone is appealing. For my son, bless his heart, it was to have a Windows Mobile phone (because he said its what puts the food on the table so he is by default a big fan…. 17 year old boys eat a lot ;-) that was cool, so he has an HTC Touch (Verizon XV6900). I am glad to have seen all the passion people have for their phones. It really shows how much our whole connected experience is putting a heavier and heavier emphasis on the mobile platform vs traditional PC. Exciting times and exciting devices.

For now although I definitely have a desire for a slick phone that will truly enable me to live the Mobile Social dream I have to say my Samsun i760 is rock solid at meeting my stated needs. Based on Windows Mobile 6.1 it even affords me the ability to accomplish a subset of mobile social activities I desire. I definitely cannot complain about it as it truly helps me get my job done in a manner I could not do with many of the fancier devices on the market.

I guess the point I am trying to make is to each person there is a phone that targets their needs today. Now my only question is how do I get so may of you to get excited about a particular SharePoint topic?

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