WM5.0 Giveth & WM5.0 Taketh Away

When WM5.0 was rolled out a few years ago, users were relieved to know that they no longer had to keep such a vigilant eye on the battery meter of their Pocket PCs.  If the battery goes flat on a WM5.0 device, user data is protected against loss because it is stored in persistent memory.  This is a great feature and it works very well, but it didn't take long for users to become disappointed by the things they gave up with their WM5.0 devices.  Key functionality lost in the upgrade from Windows Mobile 2003 to WM5.0 include:

WiFI Synching  

"You shouldn't be furiously asking why we removed this feature.  You should be furiously asking why we ever implemented it in the first place." ~ Microsoft's Windows Mobile Team

Neither ActiveSync 4.x nor Windows Mobile Device Center support WIFI Syncing to a local machine; however you can WIFI sync to an Exchange server.  Since all WM5.0 (and WM6.0) Pocket PCs must use AS 4.x or WMDC, WIFI syncing to a local computer is not available to any Pocket PC that syncs through this software (WM5.0 or otherwise).  Microsoft removed this functionality due to corporate security concerns.   

See the article entitled, WIFI Did You Do That?, for Microsoft Windows Mobile Team's full explanation about why this functionality was removed.

Simultaneous WIFI & AS/WMDC Connections

". . . the wifi/ethernet sync capabilities had to be removed in ActiveSync 4.0 for security reasons." ~ Microsoft's Windows Mobile Team

If you have WIFI running on a WM5.0 Pocket PC and decide to sync the device (either by placing it in its cradle or through Bluetooth or Infrared connection), the WIFI connection will be dropped.  You will not be able to resume the WIFI connection until you remove the Pocket PC from the cradle or discontinue the Bluetooth or Infrared connection.  See, "WiFi Debugging."  See also,  HP's explanation. (This does not affect Windows Mobile 2003 devices).

Since this presented a big problem for developers accustomed to debugging software via an ActiveSync WIFI connection, Microsoft provided a workaround, which only applies to developers using Visual Studio 2005.  See the article, "Debugging on CE5.0 devices without Activesync" for more information.   

ActiveSync Backup Option

I have not read an official or even unofficial explanation for why ActiveSync's Backup function is not available for WM5.0 devices  Perhaps there is no need to backup WM5.0 devices now that user data is protected against loss if the battery goes flat, but that explanation seems a bit short sighted....isn't one of the cardinal rules of all things technical to always perform regular backups?  HP Pocket PCs running WM5.0 also no longer include the IPAQ Backup software, so if you want to backup your WM5.0 IPAQ, you will need to purchase backup software. (The backup option is still available for Pocket PCs running Windows Mobile 2003 or earlier operating systems). 

Limited or no options for synching Calendar, Contact and Task data

Neither ActiveSync 4.x nor WMDC allows users to sync Calendar, Contact or Task data by category to WM5.0 devices.  Users are now only able to specify the amount of past Calendar data to sync to a WM5.0 device.  (ActiveSync 4.x provides full functionality to Pocket PCs running Windows Mobile 2003 or earlier operating systems).

Bluetooth Dial Up Networking (DUN)

Some WM5.0 Pocket PCs no longer support the Bluetooth Dial-Up Networking profile.  What this means is you may not be able to use your Bluetooth enabled cellphone's GPRS/Edge connection to surf the internet from your Bluetooth enabled Pocket PC or you may not be able to pair your legacy GPS system to your Pocket PC.

"Bluetooth DUN is a legacy technology that is likely to disappear over time. Especially when you look at the great experience Internet Sharing provides with Bluetooth PAN. It also does not make sense for cellular radios to continue supporting a legacy interface just to enable Bluetooth DUN. In the past we received a lot of criticism about Modem Link, especially related to usability. For this reason we decided not to include it by default." ~ Microsoft's Windows Mobile Team

Since Bluetooth DUN is likely to disappear over time, Microsoft decides to kill it early by not requiring the OEMs to include it in the ROMs they provide with their devices.  It does not seem to matter that all the legacy products that rely on DUN still need it....After getting battered by user reactions, Microsoft changed their mind, so now they'll be bringing it back by default in a future WM6 AKU release, but even so, the OEMs still have the final say about whether or not they will include it on their devices.  See, "Why did we remove Bluetooth DUN" for a more complete explanation from the Windows Mobile Team.

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Posted by ProfJulie at July 15, 2007
Categories: ActiveSync,WM5.0
 
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  • July 22, 2007 Rick wrote:
    Julie,

    For the 6925 specifically, is DUN available? I spent some time the other day trying to pair it with my iPAQ 5915 GPS, but gave up in frustration. The only profile I got to work was the file transfer.
    1. July 23, 2007 Prof Julie wrote:

      DUN is missing from most (if not all) WM5.0 IPAQs.  When you turn on bluetooth on both devices and then go to the Manager > tap New > Explore a Bluetooth device > then tap the 5915 icon > do you see Dial Up Networking as an option?  If not, then the Pocket PC does not support DUN. 

      DUN has been 'replaced' by PAN (personal area network). I don't know much about PAN, but perhaps you could try that (look for something like Network Access Point).   I don't have two bluetooth enabled WM5.0 devices, so I can not test this out very well.

      julie


      1. August 25, 2007 Lutz wrote:
        You can re-add DUN for both WM5 and WM6. Head over to XDA-Developers.com to get the patches.
        1. August 25, 2007 Prof Julie wrote:
          Thanks Lutz!  I saw a posting on one of the forums I visit just this week about a patch that now allows Bluetooth DUN.  I'll have to go check it out.  Here's the link to the XDA Developer's forum where you can get the patch.
  • August 26, 2007 Rick wrote:
    Lutz and Julie,

    Thanks for this info. I will go check it out. I am a little confused, though, over which one of the devices is missing the driver. I HAVE tethered my laptop to my iPAQ hw6925 successfully (via a cable, not Bluetooth.) But it is confusing to me WHICH device needs the dial-up networking driver. I think it's the client (i.e. the display device, right? The laptop in the case of using the hw6925 to wirelessly connect the laptop via the cellular network.)

    What is the companion driver that must be present on the server device?

    So, now, if I want to tether my iPAQ 5915 GPS as the client to my hw6925 as the server, which needs the DUN Bluetooth driver and what driver does the other need? It is very hard to try the connection with a cable because the 5915 has a mini USB and the hw6925 has the HP iPAQ connector and the normal cable terminates in a full-sized USB (and Google hasn't yielded an appropriate female USB to male mini USB cable for me to try.)

    The whole reason I would really like to do this is to merge real time traffic with the GPS display, which Tom Tom will do, but you need an Internet connection. Now I use Google Maps on the hw6925 which shows the real time traffic and visually integrate with the GPS display on the 5915. Too many devices! I'm an accident waiting to happen!

    Thanks for any ideas.

    Rick
    1. August 26, 2007 Prof Julie wrote:
      I believe you need the DUN profile on the client or the device that will be accessing (dialing up) the other device.

      Under my current setup, I can use my windows mobile 2003 device (hx2415), which includes the DUN, to access the GPRS connection on my hw6925 to surf the internet.  In this example, the hx2415 is the client and the hw6925 is the slave.  Since I do not have the DUN profile on the hw6925, I could not connect my hw6925 (client) to an external GPS device that requires a DUN (slave).

      If you wish to tether your 5915 to your 6925, to gain access to the GPRS connection on your 6925, I think you will need the DUN profile on the 5915.

      julie
    2. August 29, 2007 Rick wrote:
      I went to xda-developers and checked the DUN code. It is for the hw6925 BT stack, to enable the 6925 to dial up THROUGH another cellular phone, not vice versa. So if you have a fast evdo Verizon phone, you could establish a dial-up networking connection through that phone.

      What I want to do is the reverse - want to dial-up FROM my iPAQ 5915 GPS THROUGH the hw6925 to get Internet connectivity.

      (I am dialoging with the xda contributor of the BT patch to see if it works on the 5915.)

      Just wanted to clarify for others.

      Rick
      1. August 29, 2007 Prof Julie wrote:
        Thanks for letting us know.  We'll be interested to hear more about your continuing communications with the XDA contributor.
  • August 27, 2007 Rick wrote:
    Julie,

    Thanks for the clarification.

    When you connect your hx2415 to the hw6925, do you use Bluetooth or a cable? If a cable, where did you get it?

    Thanks,

    Rick
    1. August 27, 2007 Prof Julie wrote:
      I use Bluetooth to connect my hx2415 with my hw6925.  There might be some cables that allow this type of colllection, but I am not aware of any.
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