One of the pains of receiving documents on the move is the inability to make changes.  BlackBerry has suffered from this for a long time.  However Quickoffice on Symbian at least allowed some limited editing and as such gave Nokia one of the few leads it had over its arch competitor.

The latest release of Quickoffice, V6, now gets over the frustration of not being able to open a password protected document.  Often used by legal and execs to protect documents in transit, password protection had until now had been a complete no no for mobiles.

Other useful features include support for Office 2007 file formats, improved document editing and file management.

So for anyone using Nokia’s E63, E71 and E90 handsets for business, Quickoffice V6 is an absolute must of an upgrade.

Buying business handsets with a well thought out voice and data contract should be a breeze.  The original two big UK networks (Vodafone & O2 –BT Cellnet) have had decades of experience, but try as I might only Vodafone seems to have any idea of customer service.

10 business handsets on BlackBerry or iPhone will not make a network, but it is still a significant chunk of money over a two year contract.  First up is Vodafone.  I want 10 BlackBerry 8900 and I was put straight into a business team.  Since then it has been difficult to fault Vodafone’s response and willingness to help.  But hey, the iPhone 3G is very nice, I have one and in spite of its faults it’s an inspirational mobile.

So I head off to O2.  The experience is diametrically opposite to Vodafone.  While the tele sales staff are very personable, they appear to lack any ability to talk about O2’s products.  For one thing there is no instant call pick up, secondly the person then wants to find out who you are, how you found them, be warned they are recording the call.  Then when you eventually can talk about the information you want, they have to transfer the call.  The next person along then can’t deal  with the enquiry either as you ‘must’ have a personal visit from a sales rep.  Sorry all I want is basic information on services and prices. 

So after being promised a call back, nothing.  So I phone again and the same happens, with the who, what where.  I feel that I have to bend to their sales process and please don’t ask for information as we won’t or can’t give it out. 

So O2 has now left me with another call back before Friday, but could be Wednesday, to talk about a business sale of 10 handsets.  Do I feel positive about O2, no.  Do I feel positive about Vodafone, yes.

Trouble is Vodafone think data roaming is still a 2004 activity and priced accordingly. O2, according to their web site, is much more a 2009 concept.  So I’ll grit my teeth a little more and see what O2 can do, but Vodafone wins by a mile in the customer service sweepstake.

Whilst Palm has designed PDA’s and mobiles for many years more than Apple, Apple’s COO Tim Cook is mooting that he doesn’t like the similarities between some new competitors and the eponymous iPhone.

It’s normal in mobile for legal battles to go on for years and engorge lawyers’ pockets.  So it may be with the Apple and Palm in the near future.  Disputes around multitouch (Apple), docking stations (Palm), software switches (Palm) and a myriad number of design tweaks, UI gestures, process implementation lawsuits will unfold if Apple feel they are on the back foot.  (precentral.net)

Whilst Palm has little cash to defend themselves at the moment, this may change when the lawyers fully assess Palm’s patent war chest, and start speculative legal action against Apple, Nokia, Samsung et al.

Instead of wasting time and energy on puerile patent nuances, Apple must concentrate on maintaining their product pre-eminence as the Pre will be ideally placed to be the iPhone’s technical nemesis.

On the face of it this is another boring network announcement, yet Sweden has always been an important test ground for new mobile technology and services.

The initial roll out of 4G base stations and routers in Stockholm is happening now.  Based on LTE (Long Term Evolution) standards the service will be live in 2010, and initially operated by Ericsson themselves.  This will get the bugs out of the system for other deployments.

The UK tends to lag behind Scandinavian deployments by around two years.  So expect to benefit from much faster mobile services in 2012, by which time handsets (Infineon have announced an initial LTE chip) and services should have evolved to the aspirations we now have of our mobile friend.

Most 3.5G smartphones, especially Nokia’s, are able to connect a laptop to the internet without any special data plans, or cables for that matter.  Not so for the iPhone as AT&T, O2 et al mostly offer all you can eat data plans which they feel could be abused if the iPhone were used as a net dongle.

With that in mind AT&T was mooting a $30 tethering supplement on their already expensive tariffs.  Now, according to macblogz.com, AT&T may reduce this premium to only $10.  Whilst $10 is not much, $0 is less and Palm’s Pre is already making this point quite loudly.

One moment it’s there and the next it’s gone.  Nokia, according to The Boy Genius, has pulled its N810 WiMAX internet tablet before it had properly gone into the channel.   With WiMAX on the go slow deployment path it’s understood that Nokia don’t see the reason to support the limited market.

The analysts also don’t appear to be keeping the WiMAX faith either, demoting it to a fixed wireless replacement rather than a realistic competitor to LTE 4G mobile.  With that view Richard Wndsor, telecoms analyst with Nomura Bank, has reduced his WiMAX market forecast from $8bn to $4bn.  This approach concurs with all that I’m hearing in the market.  WiMAX is a great play for urban fixed substitution and remote communities, but not for a truly mobile world.

On the other hand OQO is still keeping faith, demonstrating their nifty UMPC on Sprint’s Xohm WiMAX network.  Proudly proclaiming a 3-5 time faster download speed at 2-4 Megabits per second than any available mobile service.  Perhaps this is remarkable for the US, but it’s less so here in Europe where 7.2Mbps is offered (though rarely delivered).   With HSUPA in deployment and HSPA+ on the horizon, OQO’s and Sprint’s announcements have already been upstaged.

http://www.telecoms.com/itmgcontent/tcoms/news/articles/20017604450.html

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/01/07/nokia-pulls-plug-on-n810-wimax-edition/

There will be a point in time I don’t have to concern myself with UIQ, especially as UIQ Tech has gone into administration. 

O2 obviously decided to bail out of their remaining UIQ inventory with a knock down shop sale of the now defunct Motorola Z10 at only £80 on Pay as You Go (though O2’s web site still shows the higher price).  Though there is no touch screen or WiFi it does offer some great media features for the price.  Some astute buyers are flogging these off at £140 on eBay.

Other bargains should follow, especially the Sony Ericsson G900 with a 5Mpx camera, WiFi and 3G (though no HSPA).  As a final cheerio to my favourite touch screen platform (after the iPhone) the G900 would make a good choice for a disposable media phone (well almost).