Law Office Technology

What’s One Smartphone App You Can’t Do Without?

What’s One Smartphone App You Can’t Do Without?
from ABA Journal Posted May 27, 2009
By Molly McDonough

http://www.abajournal.com/news/whats_one_smartphone_app_you_cant_do_without/

If you have a Windows Mobile Phone, You Need Mobile Shell 3.0

Kind of over Windows Mobile, the iPhone is cooler and the Blackberry is more stable but I am keeping my brick.  SPB just came out with Mobile Shell 3.0 which really does add functionality to Windows Mobile for $29.

 

 

 

Check it out here:  http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/pocketpc-software/mobileshell/

Skype for the Iphone

Skype is now available for the Iphone.  It looks slick, my one phone call I tried on the train did not work.  I had bad reception so I will need to wait to Chicago to try again.

Mardi Gras caused me to Flash my Phone again

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=428261

I am now running Windows Mobile 6.5 on AT&T Tilt using the PDACornerUltimate Rom.  I am also using SPB Mobile Shell Again.  I am having no problems except some GPS issues.  Airtime works great and the battery life seems to be much improved.  I might need to change the radio as I have had a couple of dropped calls.  Hopefully I can stay with this version for awhile. 

 

Mobility Mess

Thank goodness there are only two really pc platforms, Windows and Mac.  On the smartphone line, they are really 5 platforms in the United States.  Two of these are brand new but should make a difference.  Here is my short run down on them: 

Mobile Phone Operating Systems in Use

1. Blackberry  (17.4%)
2. MacOS (2.8%)
3. Windows Mobile (12.0%)
4. Palm WebOS (0.0%)
5. Google Android (0.0%)
6. Palm OS (2.3%) Should be replaced by Palm WebOS
7. Symbian (57.1%) Just regular phone, not really a smartphone platform.
8. Linux (7.3%) Only used in Asia for now.

Worldwide Smartphone Adoption 2nd Quarter 2008

 
http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=754112

 

1. Blackberry

The granddaddy of smartphones and the most widely used in the law environment.  A lot of legal software is available on the platform and every wireless carrier has a blackberry device.  You have to install separate software to use the wireless sync of emails, contacts, calendar, and tasks.   

http://www.blackberry.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BlackBerry

Legal Software Supported: Amicus Mobile, TimeMatters, PCLaw TE, Worldox Mobile, Airtime
Carriers: AT&T, Sprint,  T-Mobile, Alltel, Verizon
Devices: Pearl, Curve, Storm, ect.

2.MacOS

 

Basically the iPhone.  I got the Ipod touch in November (an iPhone without the phone capabilities) and in my opinion the iPhone is the most stable and easy to use mobile platform.  The safari browser is the fastest smartphone browser.  I hate typing on it and would prefer a sliding keyboard.  There are a ton of cool apps for it, unfortunately not a lot of legal specific ones yet. 

http://www.apple.com/iphone/features/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone

Legal Software Supported: Worldox Mobile
Carriers: AT&T
Devices: iPhone

 

3. Windows Mobile

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_mobile

The big problem with Windows Mobile is that all the Carriers have bundled a ton of crappy software with it.  To really enjoy a windows mobile device you need to wipe it and install a new rom.  This is not something the average user can do.  The HTC phones are the best.  I am using the Windows Tilt or HTC Kaiser and love it, but only after I wiped the crappy AT&T rom.  The internet browsing is horrible. 

Legal Software Supported: Amicus Mobile, TimeMatters, PCLaw TE, Worldox Mobile, Airtime
Carriers: AT&T, Sprint,  T-Mobile, Alltel, Verizon
Devices: HTC, Palm, Samsung, ect.

4. Palm WebOS

Just when we thought we were done with the palm they pull us back in.  This is a new Palm operating system and the hit of this years CES.  The phone is not on the market yet so it will be awhile to we know more about it. 

http://www.palm.com/us/products/phones/pre/index.html#video
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_Pre

Legal Software Supported: NONE 
Carriers: Sprint
Devices: PalmPre

5. Google Android

The google phone.  It was just released in October so we do not know its effects yet.  My good friend Tom O’Conner had a sales person call him up and try to get him to switch to the Google Phone.  Tom made some inquires and from what he was told the phone basically only supported GMail and Google Docs, no exchange server sync or Word Documents.  Until this is remedied it is not going to make headway in any business environment.

http://www.t-mobileg1.com/g1-learn-overview.aspx?fl=true
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_android

Legal Software Supported: NONE 
Carriers:  T-Mobile
Devices: HTC TMOBILE G1

I flashed my Phone and did not get any beads

I spent Thanksgiving Day completely wiping and reinstalling everything on my AT&T Tilt, aka TYTNII, aka Kaiser, AKA AT&T 8925.

The Tilt has been a great phone but the crap that AT&T has thrown on it, especially since the upgrade to windows mobile 6.1 has really slown my phone down.  I decided to spend Thanksgiving Day wiping my phone and redoing everything on it.    My first goal in wiping my phone was to remove all the bloatware on it and installing a different ROM. 

Q: What is a ROM?

A: A ROM contains the operating system and often additional software which can be "installed" to your mobile device. Most ROMs provided by the chefs (people who create customized ROMs) just contain the operating system and additional applications. Shipping ROMs (ROMs provided by the manufacturer or official providers) also contain a Radio ROM and a bootloader.

Unlike a computer, So to put a new rom on your phone, you first have to unlock it.  Unlocking it will allow you to install any ROM that you want, however if done improperly, it can brick your phone making it unusable.  I am not going to talk about how to unlock a phone.  You will need to find that out yourself.  After flashing my ROM, I needed to reinstall the keyboard driver.

SOFTWARE

ROM

Garmin DK7 ROM Free

This is the Rom I used to run my phone after it was unlocked.  It has no bloatware and seems to be faster.  Install 7.1 not 7.0.  So after I installed it I noticed that my phone will now charge via my usb cable, something that would not happen when I was using the Official AT&T Rom.  With the AT&T Rom, I had to have 4 phone chargers (29.95 each).  With my new ROM, I just need a usb cable.  I wonder why AT&T shuts that feature off? I also wonder how the government can go after Microsoft for violating antitrust laws and not go after the phone companies for doing something way worse.  

SKINS  / VIEWS

Winterface  $19.95

Basically Winterface makes your Windows Mobile Device look like an IPhone.  It takes about 2 seconds to get to anything on the phone and you do not need to use a stylus. 

 

View of my Applications

 

View of my Contacts

Wisebar Advance 3 $9.95

This basically makes the menus on your Windows Mobile act like menus on a Windows PC.  When you click on the start menu now, you can browse all your programs and settings.  Much better then the limited Windows Mobile view.

FunContact 19.95

This makes it possible to easily scroll through your contact list with one hand and no stylus.

 

Registry

AT&T does not want you to go into your phone’s registry.  Can you imagine if Dell had the same possibility.  AT&T has the PPT button on their phone.  If you do not use PPT it is useless.  Going into the registry can help you change the button.

KaiserTweak FREE

This free app allows you to edit certain settings on your phone.  The main reason I use this is to stop my phone from going to sleep when I am talking to someone. 

MemMaid $24.95

This basically frees up memory on your phone.  Pretty essential if you are running all these apps, like I am.

PHM Regedit  Free

Allows me to edit the registry on my phone.

INTERNET APPS

Skyfire  FREE

Supposed to be the fastest Browser for a Windows Mobile Phone.

NewsGator  FREE

Allows me to view my RSS Reader on my Phone.

Typepad FREE

Allows me to blog from my phone.

Entertainment

I have the philosophy that all entertainment content should be streamed and not stored to a Windows Mobile Device.  Therefore my TV, Audio Books and Music all involve streaming solutions.

Audible Air – Free

Allows me to download my Audible Books over the internet.

NuTsie 19.95

Allows me to stream my iTunes to my Windows Mobile Phone.

SlingPlayer $29.95

Allows me to view my TV and DVR from my phone.  You have to have a Slingbox.  It works pretty well.  I watched LSU’s Super Regional stuck in traffic in Lafayette.

 

OTHER

Sharepoint FREE

I have found that the IE Browser is the only good browser to view Sharepoint in.

However, if I put an ‘m’ at the end of the url the Site will open up in a mobile version.  This is pretty blazing fast. 

When you click on a document, it will then download it your phone where you can open it up and edit it. 

Jeyo Mobile Extender $19.95

This allows me to sync my text messages into outlook so I keep a record of them.  Since this is being used more and more for business applications, I find it important to have a record of texts.

 

Communicator Mobile Free

Allows me to instant message securely with my office.

 

Sprite Mobile  Backup and Terminator $19.95

This is what I used to Backup my phone.  The cool thing about Terminator is that if I lose my phone, I can text it and my phone will text back with the GPS Coordinates of my phone.  This really works!

Microsoft Across America CLE

On August 1st, Law Office Technology along with Tom O' Conner from the Gulf Coast Technology Center, Digital Legal, and the Louisiana State Bar Association put on a seminar on how Law Firms could use Microsoft products in their practice.  Law Office Technology was able to get Microsoft to send down the Microsoft Across America Truck which was full of Microsoft Technology.  Attendees listened to three presentations and received CLE credit.  The first presentation dealt with Essential Technology a new firm would need to purchase.  The second, which in my opinion stole the show, was attorney Hector Lopez who described how his firm used Microsoft Hosted SharePoint and Hosted Exchange, along with a VOIP system to create a virtual office with none of the  limitations of a traditional brick and mortars Law Firm.  In my opinion, this is the future, today.  The last presentation, by me, described how Outlook with Business Contact Manager could be turned into a Case Management System. 

 

The Microsoft truck was filled with Smartphones, Servers, Tablet PCs, Projectors, Conferencing equipment, and an Xbox with Halo.  After each presentation Attorneys were able to file into the truck and see the technology in action.  With the success of this event, we hope to have the truck back in the spring.    

Amicus Mobile has Been Released

Here is the deal.  It only works with Windows Mobile Devices, not with Blackberry's or Palm Based Devices,  It is updated real time by a connection to your Firm's Amicus Server so you will not have to sync your device.  It cost $149.00 a user.

You can view all your files on your phone

After a phone call on your mobile, Amicus will ask if you would like to record the Phone Call and if you want to create a time entry:

 

 

Check out these links for a full list of features:

Amicus Mobile Tour

Amicus Mobile Video