Setting up at WM5 device is hard work

As a couple of my recent posts hint at, I recently purchased an iMate K-JAM, and have found the setup process for using the device for anything outside the basic "phone and PIM" usage pattern pretty average.  "Phone and PIM" usage is adequate on my very cheap, old Nokia, so if I'm going to cough up more than a grand for a device, I'd expect the extras to actually work without too much hassle.

A few examples of the poor setup experience:

  • To read protected Microsoft Reader books on a WM5 device, you have to email Microsoft to get an XML file to place in your Windows directory (full details here). 
  • Activating Adobe Reader doesn't work at all ("Your Adobe software could not be activated.  Adobe DRM Activator error (client code 46). Fault code: 2 Contact customer support").  Needless to say, my contact with Adobe customer support have gone answered.
  • I had to re-install both ActiveSync and Windows Media Player multiple times on the desktop to get media sync working between the devices. 
  • Then, after a couple of hours when I final get the media sync working, trying to sync up a DRM-protected file purchased from MLB.com brings up the following error: "Windows Media Player cannot synchronize the protected file. Protected files cannot be converted to the required quality level or file format."  What this error message *doesn't* tell you is that you can synchronize the file by selecting Tools | Options in WMP, going to the Devices tab, selecting the WM5 device or storage cards, selecting Properties, then selecting the Quality tab on this dialog, and unchecking the "Convert files as required by this device (recommended)". I hope my grand-mother never wants a tutorial of syncing DRM-protected media to a WM5 device.
  • This morning I finally got Bluetooth ActiveSync going, thanks mainly to this post by Frank. The key was to initiative the Bluetooth patnership from the WM5 device, not the desktop/ laptop.  The Toshiba bluetooth stack I am using does have a Help section on setting up ActiveSync, but it is for a the 2003 version on the mobile OS, not WM5.

I think the last statement should go to Frank.  When setting up ActiveSync over Bluetooth actually worked on his K-Jam he described at in the following way "Then something magical happened".  Nuff said.

Posted: Mar 30 2006, 10:44 PM by nick | with 4 comment(s)
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Comments

Frank Arrigo said:

it's not a simple OOBE.

but when it does work, it's really really cool
# March 30, 2006 5:06 PM

nick said:

Hadn't seen the OOBE acronym before. Out-of-body-experience? Oh Out-of-box-experience. Gotya. :)

Totally agree. My concern is - what happens when someone who isn't an IT professional buys one of these devices. All they really get is the PIM+phone experience (and maybe a nice looking color screen). Given today's OOBE experience (see - I'm a quick learner), they'll never figure out how to use the other stuff.

While looking in Google Groups to fix my problems, I noticed a lot of people with mobile device issues (obviously not all WM5 issues - plenty of Palm, etc.). We (as an industry) need to make this stuff simpler. This is something Microsoft has excelled in in the past.
# March 30, 2006 5:38 PM

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