Pocket PC vs BlackBerry

I’ve always loved the idea of push email on BlackBerries. You know, where email actually arrives similar to SMS, it just pops up on the device as and when the server sees it come in. You don’t need to poll the server (and waste a ton of GPRS bandwidth) every x minutes.

Unfortunately, BlackBerries suck at pretty much everything else: no apps (including no skype), limited hardware (such as models with workable wifi and GPS), so I’ve been waiting patiently to get the same thing going on my K-JAM.

The update patches are now coming available for Windows Mobile 2005 devices in the form of a Microsoft Messaging and Security Feature Pack (MSFP). The i-mate release for the K-JAM can be found here if you need it. Watch out though, the update process wipes the device first (and some Windows users complain when an patch asks for a reboot — try having your machine wiped!)

After the update you now have an option to have your exchange server push you email as it arrives. It took me about 5 minutes to configure and from then on I started to get email popping up straight on the device just like SMS. Works like magic! Highly recommended update.