Alexander’s Blog

I recently ordered an HTC EVO 4G through my telecommunication Web site. Because I am a broker for all the major wireless providers in USA, I have the luxury to pick from one of the more than 65 free phones, or get one of the high-end phones at a discount. After researching for over two months, I decided to settle on HTC EVO 4G from Sprint. I have to wait for four weeks because HTC EVO is one of the most popular smart phones in the market today and HTC can’t make them fast enough to keep up with the demand. Especially, with all the iPhone issues in the news lately, people are very interested in HTC EVO 4G. Luckily, 4G wireless network is widely available in the Seattle area.

The wait for my HTC EVO was totally worth it. I could have waited for Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 smart phone but just like any other product, it will take Microsoft a while to fix all the bugs. Although everything I have heard about Windows Phone 7 is encouraging and Microsoft is supposedly going to spend 1 billion (that’s not a misprint…..that’s a billion with a B) to market Windows Phone 7 around the world. I like Windows Mobile OS but wanted to try Android for a change.

Here are the step-by-step instructions on how to synchronize your HTC EVO Contacts list to Outlook.

1. Download and install the latest version of HTC Sync here. At the time of writing, the latest version was 2.0.40 that came out on 6/16/2010. I have tested the software successfully on Windows 7 and Windows XP SP3.
2. Start the HTC Sync software from Start, All Programs, HTC, HTC Sync. You won’t be able to configure the Sync Manager until you have plugged the USB cable from your phone (micro USB connector) to the USB port on your PC.
3. On your HTC EVO you will see a screen that prompts you to choose a connection type. There are four options:
   1. Charge only
   2. HTC Sync
   3. Disk drive
   4. USB tethering
   Select HTC Sync and then tap Done.
4. You will be prompted to select a name for your phone. The default option is “My HTC Evo 4G.”
5. As soon as you are connected to your PC, you will see a third option on your HTC Sync screen on your PC called Application Installer.
6. Double-click the Sync Manager and then click the icon next to Settings to load the Sync Manager Settings window. Here you can configure the options to sync only the Contacts, or the Calendar, or both. You can also configure how to resolve any conflicts between the contacts on your mobile phone and the Outlook.
7. Configure the settings as necessary. For example, if you have multiple Contacts lists, such as one in your Inbox and one in your PST file, and you want to make sure that you keep your Mobile Contacts list separate from your Outlook Contacts list like I do, you need to specify which Contacts list you want to sync. By default, the HTC Sync will synchronize the default Contacts folder, which may be the one in the Inbox. If you only have one Contacts list and you want it to be the same on both your HTC EVO and Outlook then you have nothing to worry about. On the other hand, if you want to keep the two lists separate, like I do, then you need to be careful or else you will end up making a mess of your existing Contact list. If you have more than one Contacts list, click on the Properties button in step 6 and then clear the box Use default Contacts folder.Note: As a precaution, you should backup your Outlook Contacts list and also export your contacts list on your HTC EVO. To export HTC Contacts list go to Contacts, Menu, Import/Export, Export to SD card. If it’s the first time you are exporting the list you will be prompted to export your Contacts list to “/sdcard/pcsc_pcsc_00001.vcf”. If it’s the second time the name will be “/sdcard/pcsc_pcsc_00002.vcf”, and so on. Click OK to export the list. You can import a backed up list at a later time if necessary.
8. Click the Set Folder button and select the appropriate Contacts list.
9. If you don’t want to synchronize the calendar, then clear the box Synchronize this category under Categories, Calendar.
10. Usually you don’t have to modify the Conflict Policy and Silent Sync options.
11. Click Automatic Sync and select the appropriate options. I prefer a manual sync because I don’t sync my calendar, I only sync my Contacts list and it doesn’t need to be synchronized too often. If you are synchronizing your calendar then you may be interested in the automatic start of synchronization.
12. Click OK to apply the changes and close the Sync Manager window.
13. You can start the synchronization either from the Sync Manager on your PC or your mobile phone HTC EVO. I usually start the synchronization from my mobile phone.
14. You will see the synchronization process start as the data is prepared from your phone.
15. During the synchronization process you will see the progress as records are added (if it’s the first time) or synchronized with your Outlook.
16. Once the process is complete you can verify that all the Contacts were added, updated, or removed.
17. The Synchronization Summary report shows you all the details.
18. It also shows you the options that you select in the Used settings section.

So far I am loving HTC EVO 4G. Because there are so many things you can do on a smart phone these days, I think securing the information should be a major concern for all the mobile phone users. I hope to write about securing smart phones, especially HTC EVO in a future post.

Troubleshooting Tips

As you can see, the process of synchronization of data between your Outlook and HTC EVO is pretty straight forward. However, there a couple of things to keep in mind when you are troubleshooting.

Make sure that you configure the Sync  Manager before you start synchronization because if you accept all the defaults it will synchronize the default folder. This is not an issue if you have only one Contacts list but if you have multiple Contact lists you may experience some unpleasant surprises.

If you are unable to get your data synchronized, make sure that you select the second option “HTC Sync” in step 3 on your HTC EVO. Sometimes if you are not looking at your cell phone, the option may default to Charge only and disappear off your screen.

Apple has been on the hot seat lately with the iPhone 4 fiasco. I have written about iPhone several times lately and explained how Apple has publicly admitted that their signal bars on all iPhones are fake. They insist that there is no flaw in the design, instead they claim that the problem is with the software because Apple is shocked to find out that their engineers used an inaccurate formula to calculate the signal strength.

“…we were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong. Our formula, in many instances, mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength.”

As I mentioned in my blog Apple Publicly Admits that iPhone Signal Bars are Fake, Apple claims that the problem is with the software but then also claims that a hardware can fix the problem. Well, not too many people, including the most ardent Apple supporters, are not buying Apple’s explanations. Of course, Steve Jobs comments (“just avoid holding it that way”) didn’t help much. There are talks about class action lawsuits, and iPhone 4 recalls. Instead of admitting their design flaws, Apple insists that iPhone 4′s “wireless performance is the best we’ve ever shipped”.

Major news publication, including New York Times and San Francisco Chronicles have been very critical of Apple and have expressed their opinion on how Apple can recover from the iPhone disaster.

Consumer Report Gives iPhone 4 a Thumbs-down

With images and videos on the Web of how you can put a tape to workaround iPhone’s reception problem, Apple’s shares are down and just when you thought things were going to calm down, the consumer report comes out saying iPhones are flawed and they can’t recommend iPhone 4.

“It’s official. Consumer Reports’ engineers have just completed testing the iPhone 4, and have confirmed that there is a problem with its reception………….Due to this problem, we can’t recommend the iPhone 4.”

“Our findings call into question the recent claim by Apple that the iPhone 4′s signal-strength issues were largely an optical illusion caused by faulty software that “mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength.”

Apple’s Katrina

If you recall, the hurricane Katrina disaster and the fallout from the way things were handled created such a huge outcry that Katrina has now become a part of American vocabulary. Whenever there is a case of incompetency and cover up, people associate it with Katrina. While some people may call this Apple’s Karina, the fact is that Apple is caught between a rock and a hard place. If it admits that they knew all along that the iPhone design was a flaw then they are admitting to lying and possible lawsuits. If they don’t admit, they are still in trouble with the public because not many people are buying what Apple is saying about the iPhone 4 problems and now the Consumer Report has confirmed in independent testing that Apple was not telling the truth.

I don’t know if the iPhone fiasco will end up being Apple’s Katrina or not but I do know that Apple’s image has been significantly tarnished because of the way they’ve handled the situation. In my opinion, Apple has not handled the iPhone disaster very well but I don’t think I am going to stop using my Mac because of this, or discount all the wonderful products that Apple has produced over the years. Everyone makes mistakes and Apple has made a big one.

Today I read Jason O’Grady’s review of his iPhone 4 on ZDNet titled “My iPhone 4 is a lemon, oh my!” With all the horror stories about Apple’s iPhone, from being notorious as one of the most hackable phone on the market today to the disastrous service from AT&T that iPhone users have experienced, it’s no surprise that iPhone 4 will not be winning any awards or raving reviews any time soon from Jason O’Grady, a respected  journalist and author who specializes in mobile technology. Jason has published six books on Apple and mobile gadgets so if he says his iPhone is a lemon I absolutely believe him. Here a are a few selected quotes from his article on ZDNet. Make sure you read his entire article.

“Say what you will about the iPhone 4, but mine’s a lemon. Reviewers have called it “the best smartphone,” “worth upgrading” and “game changing,” but they’re all bogus superlatives that don’t apply to mine. Sure, it looks great, it’s all shiny and gorgeous, but what good is a phone that can’t make phone calls?

“Dropped calls. My experience was bad almost from the beginning. The first five calls that I made — business calls, mind you — resulted in dropped calls. I began my iPhone 4 experience by apologizing to my client for the phone problems. Not good.”

“Signal loss. My next bad experience was the “death grip” issue, where simply holding the i4 would degrade its signal from a solid five bars to one or zero (my video of the flaw is here). Holding it wrong? No. The antennas are in the wrong location. Apple completely missed the boat on this obvious defect and flaw in the design.”

“Proximity sensor. My iPhone 4 constantly mutes, holds or switches to FaceTime when it touches my face. Clearly a problem with the iPhone’s proximity sensor.”

“Custom ringtones. I had to fight with my iPhone to get my custom ringtones to sync and since then it’s been downhill from there. My ringtones keep playing in a stuttered loop after I answer the call. I hear a garbled version of my ringtone ringing after I answer the call. The only solution is to hang up and call the person back.”

“Battery life. For the all hype around battery life on the iPhone 4, I’m not seeing it. I charged mine overnight, unplugged it at around 8 am and got the 20 percent battery warning before 6pm. I wasn’t using it excessively mind you, nothing out of my normal usage pattern (brightness at about 50 percent) but I was using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth intermittently throughout the day.”

Check out the complete article here. You might also be interested in Sharee English’s blog “To iPhone or not to iPhone.” I am not saying that everyone iPhone user has trouble with their iPhone but a lot of people believe that iPhone is way over hyped, is over priced and there are definitely some serious issues with service and security. It’s not the greatest thing since sliced bread as Apple would like you to believe. Just Bing or Google “iPhone horror stories” and see what I mean.

About 20 percent of the 48,000 apps in the Android marketplace allow a third-party application access to sensitive or private information, according to a report released on Tuesday.

Some of the apps were found to have the ability to do things like make calls and send text messages without the mobile user doing anything. For instance, five percent of the apps can place calls to any number and two percent can allow an app to send unknown SMS messages to premium numbers that incur expensive charges, security firm SMobile Systems concluded in its Android market threat report.

Meanwhile, dozens of apps were found to have the same type of access to sensitive information as known spyware does, including access to the content of emails and text messages, phone call information, and device location, said Dan Hoffman, chief technology officer at SMobile Systems.

Check out the entire story on CNET here. The article also references an FAQ on how to use smartphones safely.

The latest news on Google and privacy issues has to do with Google collecting unencrypted personal WiFi data. According to some reports, so many lawsuits are piling up that Google is saying guys can we just combine them all in one large chunk of lawsuit.

The problem is that Google seem to be collecting too much data in their StreetView cars. According to Ars Technica:

Put simply, a program called “gslite” sniffed packets from unprotected WiFi networks as Google’s Street View cars rolled down the street, separating out encrypted and unencrypted content. The encrypted data was dumped while the unencrypted data was then written to the car’s hard drive.

Well, it’s bad enough that Privacy International is accusing Google of “criminal intent” based on this report. Google says they made a mistake (wink, wink). Privacy International is not buying and says “It is a criminal act commissioned with intent to breach the privacy of communications.” It is not a matter of Google making a mistake, Privacy International claims, they knew what they were doing and had “intent to intercept”, which is a violation of criminal law. What Google did is “equivalent to placing a hard tap and a digital recorder onto a phone wire without consent or authorisation.”

Stay tuned. I am sure this story is not over.